April and May

Well it seems that not only am I knitting slowly but I am updating slowly too. So here is another post with two months worth of completed objects. April was very slow on the knitting front but I finished a pair of socks albeit a pair I started on 1 January and I knitted a dishcloth.

I started the socks on 1 January as part of the Ravelry SKA group animal theme for that month. The pattern is The Gardener by Leslie Comstock and I had favourited it a while ago so I took the chance to knit it. The yarn is Madeline Tosh Sock, colour Grapefruit, which I had bought on my trip to Denver and had saved for this pattern. I have now used all the yarn I bought on that trip.

As I like using knitted/crocheted dishcloths, I am using up all my ends of dishcloth cotton. In April I knitted another Hex. I divided the small amounts of dishcloth cotton into two piles – variegated and solid – and then alternated between the two when I ran out. As this was a dishcloth for my use I knotted the yarns at the changes and didn’t worry about which side the knot fell on. Not too bad a result.

May was more successful. I have shown photos of the mystery sock I started in May; I made three sections for WCOBBS blankets which I will post about separately; a scarf, which will also have its own post; a completed pair of socks started in April and I completely frogged a pair of socks that I started last December.

The designer in the SKA group for April was Rosehiver. Her designs are wonderful and still free which is amazing and really she should start selling them. May’s mystery was her design and she also designed these socks. So it was a no-brainer that I would knit one of her designs when April came around.

The yarn is Kypria from The Sanguine Gryphon before they split into two separate companies. I really like the finished article and they are my new favourites.

Stitch Markers With a Difference

In my last post I mentioned the gift from my friend Clair. She has now opened her ESTY shop Purple gecko Studio so I can go into more detail. Her gift to me was a beaded bracelet she had made herself but the unusual design feature was the stitch markers. Along the bracelet are lobster claw fasteners with beaded stitch markers attached. So if you are out with your knitting and need a stitch marker you have one on you. Or if you never know where to keep your stitch markers now there is no problem. And they are so pretty the knitting uninitiated will just see a bracelet. Clair has also made some necklace/pendants with detachable stitch markers.

So go on order some for gifts and don’t forget to get one for yourself too.

Friends

I really wanted a catchy title for this post so that it would turn up in search engines and the whole world would know what wonderful friends I have and generate some traffic for their blogs or ESTY stores. Instead there is the non-imaginative title but the sentiments of this post will be the same even if it was titled Harry.

I informed the spousal unit that I would be out every Thursday until we move so I could spend time with my knitting friends who I have said are a bunch of fun people brought together by a mutual enjoyment of fibreness. The first Starbucks gathering occurred on 25 September 2008. (I know because I blogged about it.) So that is nearly 4 years of knitting togetherness of people who met on the web. And despite the concerns of one daughter, we have not attacked, maimed or murdered anyone with our pointy sticks. People are still joining our group (yes we are that fun), babies have been born and people have moved away. And now it is my turn - to move, not have a baby. I really hope I find a similar group when I finally move into my new house.

But this past Thursday was amazing. They gave me a basket filled with goodies that were so special for me to remember each of them by. I was totally surprised, grateful and honoured. (In other words gobsmacked.)

As we, mostly, meet in Starbucks I shouldn't have been surprised to receive a couple of mugs, a Calgary one from Lacey who came out on Thursday even though she is very pregnant and an Edmonton one from Sharon who actually popped in for a visit last week, so it was great to see her before I moved. From Shannon the awesome crocheter I received some notecards but not just any old notecards, these were her photos of Alberta.

Becca made some stitch markers and although she is American, one of the markers is Canadian and they are so wonderful my husband knew immediately what they were. My pinky bff (I've started to use that expression because it makes me laugh) Clair made me a bracelet with a difference which I won't reveal here in case she decides to sell them. I'm still waiting for the present from her husband as my leaving will increase their disposable income. Clair is easily overcome by yarn fumes and it is not difficult to encourage her to spend money in a yarn store followed by coffee.

And now a plug for Cara's Esty shop Chasing Fire Ceramics. She made me some maple leaf buttons. Short of them being dipped maple syrup, how much more Canadian you can get? So support a new vendor and buy. And Susan knitted me a dishcloth. I am not going to use the dishcloth. One day Susan will be famous and I can sell the dishcloth for loads of money.

And then there was yarn. The ever talented Vanessa gave me some lovely soft baby alpaca. Vanessa joined our group when she worked in Starbucks and now has her own Esty shop - Mochanut. The other Claire gave me Wollmeise sock yarn. Claire is a Wollmeise fiend. She has nearly 3000 items in her queue and over 6000 items favorited on Ravelry, as well as having two small children she finds time to knit big shawls. Mary, another lace knitting and fibre buyer extraordinaire gave me some Juliespins. This is another dyer the group raves about but I have never used and this yarn has sparkles.

And there's more! I also received some handspun. Heather spun 70% dog and 30% merino. But not just any dog, her big, soppy malemute! And Myrna gave me some of FatCatKnits handspun and wrote that she would think of me every time she used her air conditioning. I wonder why?

I wanted the ethernet world to know what wonderful friends I have and that they will be missed. My husband's comment was all these goodies would need a moving box of their own.