Asymmetrical Scarf

I finished knitting the scarf. The pattern is a modified version of one of my free patterns on Ravelry - Asymmetrical Scarf. There are lots more photos and details of this project on Ravelry.

The yarn is Cosmic Blue Label Fingering Weight yarn by Tanis Fiber Arts, the colour way is Kaleidoscope (the first yarn for the 2015 Year In Colour Club from TFA). It is such a beautiful, sparkly yarn in real life, and so soft.

I had 5g left from a 115g skein after I made the little tassels - it is nice to use the whole skein of yarn.

My first version of the Asymmetrical Scarf

If you aren't a member of Ravelry (it is well worth joining, it is a fabulous resource for knitting, crotchet, spinning, weaving) here is the link to download the PDF for the Asymmetrical Scarf. It is an easy pattern to memorize, with enough variety to keep it interesting to knit.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Knitting

I have almost finished knitting the scarf (the tiles on the floor are 16").

High winds and blowing snow today (-30 windchill)

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Cabled Hat

I finished knitting this hat yesterday. The pattern is Cabled Canuck by Tanis Lavellee. A lovely, very straight forward pattern.

The cables all meet nicely at the top (my oldest son kindly modelling for me). The yarn is Tanis Fiber Arts Green Label (100% merino), in the colour way Super Tartan (this is a one of a kind - OOAK - colour way from the Boxing Day sale). I have used this yarn a few time and it is lovely - soft, great stitch definition, holds it's shape well... All of the colour ways look amazing too (Tanis Lavellee is a hand dyer from Montreal). I made a couple of hats with the Lucky Penny colour and it became one of my favourites - you can see somethings that people have made with Lucky Penny Green Label here, and I especially like this Dragon hat (with arm and leg warmers too). You might have to be a Ravelry member to see some of these links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Rob Peter to Pay Paul Quilt

I finished the Rob Peter to Pay Paul quilt today. This was a quilt top I pieced almost 2 years ago - it is a 'stash buster' quilt using all kinds of scraps of Asian fabric I had. I cut it out with the GO! cutter.

I free motion quilted double continuous curves in the concave squares, and open heart feathers in the arcs. The batting is Hobbs Heirloom Wool. I used 50Wt cotton thread with a #80 regular needle for the quilting.

The backing is 'Plush' - a polyester backing. It is incredibly soft and light. I like how on the back you can't see the thread, just the design - I can see why people make whole cloth quilts with minky.

After washing the quilt came out all lovely and 'krinkly' - I think it might have to do with the backing because I washed the quilt I made last week the same way and it didn't shrink at all (it had wool batting as well, with flannel backing I had pre-washed).

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Trip to the Zoo

Today we went to the zoo to see the polar bears.

Last summer, at the Winnipeg Zoo, a large polar bear exhibit opened, and I have been wanting to go see it in the winter.

We chose an extremely cold day, extreme windchill warnings, over -40℃, but at least all the polar bears were in the water, so we were able to be inside to see them in the tunnel.

There are three polar bears.

Some hardy animals were outside too.

Bison

Moose

Arctic Fox

Muskox

Ibex

Cariboo

This is inside the tropical house - so warm!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Free Motion Quilting!

FMQ - bliss!

The birds seemed to be enjoying the sun.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Another Quilt

I prepared another quilt for quilting - the Rob Peter to Pay Paul quilt top. I used spray baste for the first time. The backing is 'plush' - a knit backing similar to 'minky', and I was told that I needed to glue it so it wouldn't stretch. Hopefully it will be easy to quilt.

I had a few comments on the wool for my hat - it is Green Label from Tanis Fibre Arts, and the colour way is "Super Tartan",  one of the OOAK colours Tanis offers for sale a few times a year on Etsy. The yarn is lovely - I have used it a few times, and it is very good quality, plus this colour way is amazing, but all of her colours are wonderful.

The wind and snow has left beautiful snow drifts in the yard.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

More Knitting

I always have a couple of knitting projects on the go at once - a simple one (the scarf I showed yesterday) and a more complex one. After finishing the shawl last week I started a cabled hat (since there is still a couple of months of hat wearing weather left!).

All that snow yesterday has left the yard with lovely snow drifts. On the very right edge of the picture you can just see a flock of partridges sheltering under a pine tree (it was pretty windy).

A close up.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

New Knitting

I have decided to pull apart my sweater (my Mom kindly offered to buy the yarn - since the plan for this year is to not buy any new yarn, fibre, fabric... , buying new, replacement fibre is fine - thanks Mom!). I have been knitting on this 'boomerang' scarf (my own design), with pretty, sparkly yarn, from Tanis Fibre Arts.

We had some snow today, making driving conditions treacherous. We did stop to help push someones car out of a snow bank in the city.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Storm at Sea Quilt Finished

I finished the Storm at Sea quilt!

This is the first proper quilt I have finished since last April! I used a walking foot to quilt simple wavy lines. It is the first time I have done this type of quilting, and I think that free motion quilting is easier.

This was a really lovely quilt to piece - I pieced it last spring. When I was quilting I was surprised how well it was pieced - if I do say so myself! The ruler for cutting the pieces worked so well - it was easy to cut and even easier to piece. I love Creative Grids rulers, this one is the Storm at Sea ruler - it really is ingenious!

This is a photo from last May, when all the individual blocks were pieced,

and this photo is how I lined up the points with a pin, to make sure they matched.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Sweater Knitting and Quilting

One of my goals for 2015 is to knit sweater with yarn that I have dyed and spun. It is progressing nicely, but I have realized that I won't have enough yarn, and I keep putting it aside to knit something else - hoping for something to change! I now realize I have to either restart it - maybe a sweater with short sleeves, or try to dye and spin more yarn - I just worry about being able to match it.

I did get a start on quilting one of the quilt tops (photo of the Storm at Sea after pinning). I decided to try quilting wavy lines with a walking foot - something new for me - following the line created by the change in colour dominance on the quilt. The red backing is flannel I had - part of my 'using up my stash challenge'.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Spellbound Shawl

The shawl is all blocked.

The pattern is Spellbound by Boo Knits. Her patterns are so lovely, fun to knit, and look much harder than they really are.

The yarn is SweetGeorgia Yarns, Merino Silk Lace (50% Merino, 50% Silk), in Coral Rose. This is the first time I have tried this yarn, and I found it a bit linty, and shawl is showing signs of pilling, hopefully it won't look too bad.
This is Finish #2 for 2015.

I have to add a couple of outdoor photos -

This morning the full moon was beautiful, creating a lovely shine on the icy snow in the field.

This rabbit was enjoying some carrot peelings.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Finished

This shawl came out huge - it is blocking on a single bed sheet, and almost fills it.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Knitting

The shawl is almost finished.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥

Quilt Tops

I finished piecing the Double Wedding Ring quilt
Now I have three quilt tops waiting for quilting.

A Rob Peter to Pay Paul,

and a Storm at Sea.

It is time for me to start quilting!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!♥