I took a short break from Lace Wings....

On my way to visit with my sister-in-law and her family in Port Hope, I made a detour to the Black Lamb. As a novice drop spinner, I needed to seek out anyone who could give me some feedback on my technique. Store owner, Laurie was very kind to give me a one on one lesson on plying my handspun. She spent an hour with me as she helped me improve my plying technique.



After my lesson, I spent another hour browsing through her quaint store...I picked up some roving in an assortment of of colours...brown, pink, green ,red, orange....I have no plans for them yet....I also picked up 2 bundles of Laurie’s hand dyed blue faced leister roving....I can't wait to start spinning!



Don't worry Lace Wings...I will get back to you.

a piece of Canadian heritage

Look what I got! I asked for a knitting bag and this is what I got...
the HBC Signature bag! A great purchase from the Hudson's Bay Company at their flagship store on Queen Street in Toronto. A very roomy bag made from 100% wool with leather trim and cotton lining.

Lace Wings takes off

I am determined to complete the Lace Wings shawl. It accompanied me to last evening’s SnB at Lettuce Knit. It was Amy to the rescue once again. Two weeks ago, she sugguested stitch markers and circular needles. The stitch marker tip was successful, since enabled me to count up to multiples of seven. After struggling with my ancient metal straights, I succumbed to purchasing circular Addis. Amy...thank you, life with SeaSilk and Lace Wings is much simplier.

De-stress yourself

Whoever said knitting is relaxing? I have been struggling with my first lace project for several weeks now. After many trips to the frog pond, I am stressed out. I have been very irritable, tense and unable able to concentrate. In other words, miserable....

In order to make life happy for those who live with me, I decided it was high time to de-stress myself....no, I did not go out shopping for more yarn nor did I start a new knitting project!
I decided to look for a yoga class...yes, yoga. I did not have to search very far for a calm and serene environment. I found the Yoga Lounge,only two blocks away. Since I did not want to try this alone and they had a 2 for 1 deal, I convinced my mother-in-law to join me for the Monday evening gentle hatha class with Sarah. I thought the keyword to the class description was gentle...wow, were we led down the garden path. It was quite the workout. We worked up a sweat; and they called this a gentle class?

Overall, my first yoga experience was a very good one. I think I will return to the Yoga Lounge and continue to de-stress myself. I believe it is a good investment in my well-being. Now if I could find a pose that will allow me to focus on my breathing, stretches and knitting at the same time....hmmm?

Back to the basics

I have a family of non-knitters. They do not understand why I would hand spin my own yarn. When I use my drop spindle and spin the soft wool rovings into yarn, I experience a great sense of accomplishment and pride in my creation. I learned how to use a drop spindle when I took the Learn to Drop spindle class at Lettuce Knit last month. Spinster, Laura was our instructor for two 2 hour sessions. My first skein is from Fleece Artist roving and I have a generous 17 yards of super chunky! Any ideas what I can do with it?

To the frog pond and back again...

No real progress here...I feel this is a mission impossible after numerous re-starts of this shawl. I am extremely falling behind on this project if I want to have this shawl on my shoulders by September. I've brought Lace Wings to the Wednesday Knit Night two weeks in a row now. This week's tip: use enough stitch markers to help me count and keep my place.

Also, in the frog pond was the beginnings of the French market bag. I am using Lamb's Pride -worsted- in oregano and kiwi.

Plan for the weekend? No visits to the frog pond!

We've come a long way, baby....

It is 1985...I am knitting sweaters in the round with plastic circulars. I was not very sophisticated since I did not know the difference between acrylic and wool.

Fast forward twenty years... and I find myself in a yarn shop in Toronto, like a child in a candy shop, attracted to the myriad of colours and textures of the different yarns.

Socializing with other knitters is a lot of fun. My knitting community is so warm and welcoming...the weekly SnB nights is an opportunity to be creative and expose a little of our wild side.

The internet is the basis of networking with other knitters around the world. There is so much out there....blogs, discussion forums, online shopping, and websites.

Knitting has come a long way, baby...just look around.

"We go forward looking in the rear view mirror. "(Marshall McLuhan)

To the frog pond and back

My first attempt to progress to the next knitting level began two weeks ago when I purchased a skein of Handmaiden's Sea Silk from my favourite yarn shop in Toronto.

Megan, the store owner,provided the encouragement and moral support I needed to start my first lace project. We chose the one skein Sea Silk Shawl

I started the shawl with much enthusiasm...frustration after frustration with the YO's, repeats, stitch markers, losing track of the number of rows, stitches...off to the the frog pond it went! I lost count after four times.

There is a glimmer of hope... I went to the weekly SnB night at Lettuce Knit along with the three inches of the shawl I have worked on thus far. I sat next to Amy who was so kind and comforting when she confirmed that I was on the right path to the next level. Knitting on.....

The Eclectic Knitter

Welcome to my blog. This is my place to examine my knitting perspective...

I am writing of the "eclecticism" I experience in my obsession with knitting. I frequently use the word eclectic to describe one who is creative, diverse and free. The eclectic knitter expresses oneself in colour, texture and style. In a yarn shop, the knitter peruses the myriad of fibres using his/her senses of sight, smell and touch. Visualisation of their next knitting creation is found in many places...a magazine, a book, on a website, in their mind waiting to be translated on to paper.

I am the lone knitter amongst my family and friends. I regularly browse the internet looking at knitting blogs and websites. On a social interaction level, I am inspired by the creativity, diversity and freedom of expression as I meet other knitters at the weekly SnB nights in Toronto.

Once again, welcome to my perspective....