Freshisle Fibers

Best Brother-In-Law Ever

I have the best family.  The best.  They give the best presents.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays are here.  Oh, happy times.

I'm looking forward to a rest but these next three days are jam packed full of fun.  We have this afternoon with cousins, tomorrow with our immediate family, my father's birthday on Boxing Day, and my brother and his partner arrive from Ottawa.  There will be no rest until at least Tuesday.

I did some of my Christmas shopping online again this year and it was hard not to include little gifts for myself in the shopping cart.

I haven't had the time yet to fully read through Norwegian Mittens and Gloves by Annemor Sundbo but the bits I have read are wonderful.  So much history!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Rainy Days are for Reading

It's December and time to get thinking about Christmas.  We tried.  We ventured from our island to the city last weekend.  The really big city!  Toronto.  We didn't realize when we were making our plans that we were going on the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend.  The crowds were amazing.  People lined up to get into some of the stores.  Totally crazy.

We shopped, we enjoyed the hotel, the meals, the city, but we were very glad to escape the crowds and come home.  The good part is that we are finished our Christmas shopping.  Done.  All that's left is to wrap the presents. 

I came home with some presents for myself.  All Wound Up by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and A Life in Stitches by Rachael Herron. 

It's been raining all this weekend and I've been snuggled up on my couch reading.

All Wound Up is a bit different from the Yarn Harlot's other books.  These are essays, longer stories than before.  I think they are perhaps more thoughtful and better written.  The writng is still funny, still that quick sarcasm that I love, but with more detail and depth.

A Life in Stitches is also a collection of essays.  I enjoyed the glimpses into the author's life at various stages of her life.  It made me remember knitting highlights from my own life - the purple afghan when I was about 14, my first Christmas stocking at 19, the first sweater I knit for my father when I was in teachers' college.....

Dusty puppy and I are going to have a walk in the rain today.  I've read myself out and he's had enough of being in the house because of the miserable rain.  We're going out and we're gong to get wet!

Winter Is Coming - Mittens

The first two weeks of school have passed and I've survived.  I'm starting to get my bearings and am not quite as exhausted as I was that first week.  Working full time is hard work!

I have managed to finally finish a new pair of mittens.  Winter Is Coming mittens inspired by George R.R. Martin's series of books, A Song of Ice and Fire, and of course, our own little direwolf, Dusty.

 

I loved the Game of Thrones series on television and have been slowly devouring the books all summer long.  They are so well written, so much detail, and simply a wonderful read.  The dogs used in the television series reminded us so much of our own Dusty, especially Jon Snow's dog, Ghost. 

Getting the photos for the pattern took us forever.  Trying to get Dusty in just the right position and still get good pictures of the mittens was not easy.  However, Dusty thought it was great fun and I did get some adorable pictures.  Not for the final pattern pictures, but definitely blog worthy!

 

So much love!

 

Island Waves

We're getting a brief break from the heat and my motivation has returned.  Another finished project and another free pattern.

Island Waves - free, free free !!!

 

A quick little scarf with Patons Baby Bamboo.  Very soft.  A friend also tested the pattern as a baby blanket and liked it so much that she knit two of them !

I'm especially enjoying this week of holidays.  No appointments, no company, no pressures.  I've been dyeing up a storm in the mornings and enjoying my iPad and the hammock in the afternoons.

I had hoped that I would love the iPad for reading and I was right.  Some of my summer reading has included George Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series.  I love it!  Purchasing and reading magazines with the iPad is so easy.  I have the new Vogue Knitting already and it's not even out in the stores yet.  Very, very cool.

Brr Braid Mittens

It's taken my summer holiday to finally have time to share a pattern I finished in my March break holiday!

Presenting Brr Braid Mittens.

 

These are my 'never say never' mittens.  After vowing to not ever submit another pattern to Knitty, I submitted these for the First Fall + Holiday Headstart issue and they were rejected.  Sob, sob.

I purchased all kinds of different yarns and played around with all kinds of braids and slipped stitch patterns when I was experimenting with Hermione's Fingerless Mittens.  The Rowan Pure Wool DK wasn't quite right for the Hermione mittens, but I loved the yarn.  And then I discovered a braid that didn't make me throw down my needles in despair!  The result of all that swatching became Brr Braid Mittens.

 

I knit the man size version first and then because I had more yarn!!! and I was still in love with both the yarn and the braids, I knit a smaller women's version.  Both sizes are available in the pattern.  Enjoy!

LaidBack Knitters in My Hands

I needed a pick-me-up this week and I got one.  I finally have 10 Secrets of the LaidBack Knitters in my hands.  It's wonderful.  Better than I expected.  I'm so pleased.

 

There are wonderful stories and tips and hints alongside some amazing patterns.  The photos are beautifully done.  Just the kind of knitting book I enjoy.  There are definitely some patterns, other than my own!!, that I want to knit.

These are the Watermelon Vine Socks on my feet almost two years ago.  Publishing takes forever! 

 

The weather forecast isn't great for the weekend.  Today is supposed to be our only sunny day so I'm planning on enjoying it outside working in the sadly neglected flower beds.  Dyeing and shop updates are also on the agenda for the weekend.  And, of course, rest and sleep are priorities! 

Happy Easter Weekend

We had more snow this past week, but it's quickly melting away.  Today is sunny and bright and that helps.  The muddy, wet paws season continues.

I'm enjoying my Easter weekend immensely.  My brother and his partner are home for a short visit, my mother is feeling much better, and we're readying the house for some major re-do's.  The kitchen, main entry, office, and dining room are getting new paint this week.  Our upstairs main bathroom is being torn apart and readied for new tiles.  Talk about spring cleaning!!  It will be like a brand new house again once all this work is done. 

I also finished another Curling Rock Hat.  This one is baby sized.  Very cute and tiny.  Our closing curling club banquet is coming up next weekend and I may just have to take my curling rock hats to share.

 

I'm also anxiously awaiting my copy of 10 Secrets of the LaidBack Knitters.  Enter a contest to win your own copy - here.  The official website for the book is up and running which makes the anticipation even greater.

Off Season

My knitting is off season.  I've finished a hat that I won't be able to wear for awhile.  The boring grey hat has become a new addition to my curling attire - a Curling Rock Hat.

 

During the Tim Horton's Brier, there was a shot of the crowd with a young child wearing a similar hat.  I've been obsessed ever since.  I couldn't find a pattern out there in Internet land so I've written my own.

Curling Rock Hat - available in the shop as pattern alone or as a kit with pattern and yarn.

 

The lighter grey with dark stripe is for me and the darker grey with lighter stripe is man sized.

Watching curling on tv isn't quite over yet.  The Ford World Men's Curling finishes up this weekend.  Maybe I'll wear my hat as I watch Jeff Stoughton's Team Canada win the final!

More March Break Joy

The March Break holiday continues with joy.  The weather has been wonderful.  Lots of bright, sunny days.  Perfect for enjoying the outside with Dusty puppy and furry friends.

 

It's a strange feeling to have them hurtling at you at full speed while you're trying to take a picture!  The snow is slowly starting to melt and the muddy paw season will soon be upon us.  My least favourite time of the year.

 

We managed a quick trip off the island to Sudbury and I came home with some new knitting books.  I love all things Kathleen Taylor.  Her Fearless Fair Isle Knitting is beautiful and I love that there are matching mittens and socks for many of the gorgeous sweaters.  Smaller projects seem to fit better with my schedule.

 

She also has a lovely pattern in Sock Yarn - One Skein Wonders.  Plus there are so many other great patterns in this book that I couldn't resist.

I don't have much knitting or new patterns to share from my time off because I've decided to do something I said I'd never do again.  Never say never.  I'm going to submit another pattern to Knitty.  We'll see.

I did finally decide on a pattern for the precious Wollmeise gift from Christmas.  Sticking with something tried and true, Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks book has a lovely pattern, Baby Cable Rib socks (Ravelry link), that I think will be perfect.  So far, so good.

 

My last holiday weekend will be busy with my brother and his partner visiting and I'm curling in a mixed bonspiel.  I'm not quite sure how I'll juggle my time so we'll actually have a visit.  And then, Monday back to the grind.  It's been a great holiday!