Sam's Knitting

test

2006-08-20T10:36:00.000-03:00

testing testing

Paradise

2006-08-15T12:22:00.000-03:00

I spent the weekend at Nigunak. The weather was amazing, cool and sunny with a bit of a breeze.

This is the landing, where we get in the boat to get to the camp. Nigunak is across Great Pubnico Lake, and you can't get there by car. It is about 15 minutes if the lake is high, and the boat is not too loaded down with people and stuff.

This is the view of the lake from inside the guest camp. We stayed in the guest camp this time. It has three bedrooms, with two single beds in each one.

This is a tiny basket, small enough to fit in your hand, it is made from porquipine quills.

This is the guest camp from the outside. Mom took the picture from the boat as we left to go home.

This is an old hooked rug that has been at the camp forever.

2006-08-06T11:45:00.000-03:00

Yesterday was spinning group, and I spun the cream superwash merino that I got from Doris. I want to make some argyle socks with it. I have dyed some into other colours for it as well. I really like the superwash, it is definitely very different to spin, it is slippery in a different way. I had to use a narrow strip to spin from, and it very fly away.

I also used her drumcarder to card up some of the alpaca that I got. It is looking pretty good. I started spinning it, but i haven't plyed any yet.

More sock yarn

2006-08-01T12:48:00.000-03:00

I got some more Briggs and Little from Doris yesterday, and I actually went home and dyed it up right away. She asked for blue, so I did two different colourways with blue. My favourite is the blue with brown.I have also been working on my striped sock. It will not match the other one, but I am pretty relaxed about that kind of stuff.

I start a new job soon. Hopefully, I will still have enough time for my hobbies. It seems like a good atmosphere, so I am looking forward to it. I have about two weeks until I start, so I need to get busy and do all the fun summer things I want to do before I don't have the time.

Yesterday, Shanny got invited to swim at a friends pool for the afternoon, so since we had to drive out to Argyle anyway, we dropped her off, and went to my sister's to swim as well. It was so nice and peaceful. My friends Jane and Cathy came over, and we all had a great time.

This morning I washed the rest of the bulky merino, and hung it to dry. It feels so nice. I don't have enough for a sweater for me so now I need to search for a kids pattern that calls for bulky yarn.

Hard work

2006-07-31T20:43:00.000-03:00

This lily finally bloomed. It is taller than me, and I kept thinking that something badwould happen to it before it bloomed.

Here is Shanny hard at work carrying wood with her father. Notice the little brown spot on her forehead, it is a mosquito. We cannot enjoy much time outside without the bugs attacking.

Pink,Finally!

2006-07-30T11:19:00.000-03:00

I dyed some more yarn for Doris yesterday, and I finally got a decent pale pink. It is not my favourite for me, but it seems lots of other people like it.

I have also been spinning some merino roving that I got at Hands on Crafts.

It is pretty chunky, but I love it. It is very round, and tightly plied, which I like. I have been afraid to ply tightly, but so far the tighter I ply, the more I like it. It was a little kinky before I washed it, but after, it was nice and straight without weighting it down.

Alpaca

2006-07-26T17:16:00.000-03:00

This is alpaca that I got from a woman in Shelbourne. She and her husband have a bed and breakfast, and also, some alpacas and llamas. This fibre is straight off the animal, so I need to find out what is the best way to use it.I just got a small bag of each of three natural colours, so that I could sample to see if raw fleece is something I want to deal with. So far I think I am going to like it. I juat need the proper tools. I don't have any yet, and I was able to spin some ok yarn straight from the unwashed fleece.

I'm not sure how to distinguish good alpaca from bad. I got some grey so that I could maybe overdye it, but I can tell that it is not as soft as the brown and black. It is still nice though. The black is beautiful, it has so much shine and is really heavy and drapey.

Once I experiment a little, I will decide if I want more.

A pool with a view

2006-07-19T15:10:00.000-03:00

Yesterday, I took Shanny to my sister's pool to swim and play with her cousin. I think she has one of the nicest backyard views. They live on the bay of Fundy, so that is the ocean in the background. It is so hot and humid here today, I think we awill go back today.

Bad Hat Day

2006-07-19T09:36:00.000-03:00

I started this top down hat, because I never know how many stitches to cast on, and I always get kid sized hats but this time it ended up being too big, and I ran out of yarn. I thought I might have enough if I added the pink, but no.

Yummy Thrums

2006-07-16T21:11:00.000-03:00

I finished the first thrummed mitten, and I am happy with the orange for the thrums.

I also dyed some sock yarn for Doris, but it didn't turn out the way I intended. That seems to be the way it goes every time I dye yarn for her.

I made these stepping stones last year, and we finally put them in the ground this Spring.

Inside the thrums.

Eye poppingly bright

2006-07-15T21:10:00.000-03:00

This is the merino roving that I dyed last night to use with the blue from yesterday.It is very bright, but I think it will work.

I finished this sock this afternoon, it is also very bright, but I like that in a sock! I dyed some roving(polwarth, I think) in a whole bunch of colours, and navaho plyed them. I really like the yarn I got with this. It is really soft and more like real sock yarn.

I used a star toe, It is my favourite, because I always screw up grafting, and also it fits me well.

It is really hard to take a picture of your own foot! I wish I had realized that the pink was going to end up on the heel, and then not repeat, because it is one of the colours I liked the best.

It's not what I thought it would be

2006-07-14T16:16:00.000-03:00

This is even more polwarth, from the last big dyeing fest.

Again I love how pre drafting makes it pretty.

I navaho plyed this from a slightly thicker than my usual single.

I lked the roving and the yarn, but knit up it has lost some of its livelyness or something. I just find it a bit boring somehow. I think I may try adding another colour to it, maybe do some thrum mitts, with yellow or orange thrums to perk it up a little.

What do you think? Yes, you! my only bloglines subscriber, who ever you are!

I like it

2006-07-10T22:13:00.000-03:00

I think I like this yarn better as a single. It knits up nice, and after washing, it hangs straight and doesn't kink up. It is even softer than the two ply or three ply polwarth that I spun.

Abraham Darby

2006-07-09T18:08:00.000-03:00

My new roses have finally bloomed. This is the only picture that is not blurry. For some reason my camera will not focus on close up things, even if I have it on macro. The background will be in perfect focus but the rest is all blurry. It drives me crazy, especially now that mom has her good camera, and I am used to using hers. I guess I have outgrown mine, but they are so expensive.

I am spinning some more of the red hat roving, this time I decided to try to do a thicker single, and not ply it, to see if I like it.

Green

2006-07-06T14:33:00.000-03:00

Or maybe a little brown. This is polwarth that I dyed different colours of green and I guess brown as well. This is after I predrafted it. I love how soft and smooth it looks.
I am knitting a pair of mittens, I finished one and the other has the cuff done.
Close up of the roving. I can't get the pictures uploaded in the order that I want. They seem to be random, not the order I put them or the reverse either.
Close up of mittem.
I got two skeins of about 100 yards each. I did a two ply yarn, and I love the subtle stripes.
Close up of the yarn. I need to work on my consistency, the parts that are evenly spun and plyed, I really like.

Forgetful

2006-07-05T16:18:00.000-03:00

This is one of many yellow roses on an old bush that was growing on the back of one of our old barns. They are so nice, and they continue to bloom for a long time.

Somehow I managed to forget to go to spinning group, even though it is one of my favourite things that I look forward to each month. I think probably the double funeral had something to do with it. I am going to knitting group tonight though. Shanny has soccer, but I'm hoping Doug can take her home with his mother, so I don't have to be late again.

I haven't spun or knit in the last few days, I've been too edgy for that. Things are settled down a little now, so hopefully, I'll get back to it. It was nice to visit with all the family yesterday, and hopefully tomorrow, as some are sticking around for a few days.

I just found out that I will be late to knitting again, Charlene is sick,and can't drive.

Not the best Day

2006-07-01T16:38:00.000-03:00

This is a picture of my Grandparents the way I like to remember them. That day, Grampie got down on the floor on this knees to play with Shanny. It was about three years ago. He died yesterday, and we expect Grammie to go today or very soon. They were together so long, I don't think they could live without each other.

Mom told me today, that they had made their own funeral arrangements 16 years ago, and that they wanted a simple funeral, and for us to go out to eat together after. This makes me laugh, because if there is anything we Goodwins know how to do, it is go out to eat.For years, my grandparents have gone out to eat every day if they were able, and if any relatives were visiting we would all meet up to eat. They had a few favourite places, and would usually go to the same place every day for months, until one place closed for the season(we are a tourist town).

Not my favourite

2006-06-29T19:51:00.000-03:00

This is polwarth that I dyed in pinks, purples and browns, but I think that I should have left out the purples. It looks a little too"red hat society" for my taste. The pinks ended up being too saturated and look more red.
I spun a thicker single and navaho plyed it to make a chunkier yarn than I usually get. I'm not that struck on the colours, but I love the feel of the yarn, it is so solid yet soft.
I made a hat out of it, and it actually almost matches a sweater that I'm making Shanny from one of the Lopi books.
Detail of hat.

More Spinning

2006-06-29T19:19:00.000-03:00

This is polwarth that I dyed in pinks and browns. At first I thought that it might be too bright, but I really like it.
I made a pair of mittens out of it and I also spun a slub single and made a hat with it. I gave the hat and a matching scarf to one of Shannon's friends for her birthday.
detail of mittens
mittens. This is a closer representation of the colour than the top picture.
This is silk that I spun from silk hankies, I like the way it looks in the skein, but the yarn does not have enough twist, and I did not enjoy working with it.

Spin!

2006-05-25T09:13:00.000-03:00

This is corriadale with sari silk threads added in.

This is the same only with some wool locks added.

This is all hand dyed corriadale. The medium purple is boucle, and is plyed with navy cotton thread. It looks cool, but takes forever, and is not my favourite to knit with.

This is also corriadale hand dyed, I am nearly finished a pair of socks with it. It is two ply, and I love how the colours turned out.

These are small bits of polwarth that I dyed in all different colours. I am spinning them up into stripes that I plan to navaho ply.

This is also polwarth. I love this fibre! I find the corriadale gets sort of felty or something when I dye it but this doesn't. Also this is so soft and nice. It is not as slippery as merino, so it is easier to spin.

Here are the stripes!Eye-poppingly bright.

So I have been spinning a lot. I got my wheel for my birthday in March, and I have been spinning almost every day since. I finally feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it. I definitely want to know more about spinning different ways. It is amazing how much you learn by spinning different fibres. I have been spinning some silk hankies, and they have taught me a lot. They are not as fun for me, but certainly a learning experience.

Cabled Riding Jacket

2006-03-02T15:50:00.000-04:00

I finally finished this jacket. I had many many problems with it, but I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. There seem to be a few errors in the pattern which are made more difficult by the fact that the shaping and cabling are both fairly complicated. Add to that the mistakes I made, and it was frustrating to say the least. It is very warm, and fits me well, which was something I doubted all the way through, even though I knew that my swatches grew when washed. It is still nerve wracking to see that the sweater you are knitting is clearly a couple of sizes too small, until it is washed and blocked.

Slowly I am starting to finish the things I have started. I am working on a green raglan zip cardigan, that needs one sleeve and one front. It shouldn't take long to finish since it is all stockinette.

Also, I think I just figured out how to put my picures in with my text instead of all at the top! If you haven't noticed, I am kind of clueless about all things technical.
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This is the back of Brilliant Retro. So far I am really liking it. The yarn is not bad for extremely cheap synthetic stuff, and actually feels pretty good.It is knitting up faster than I thought it would, considering its gauge.
That's all I have for today. I have decided to try to start posting more regularly, but knowing me, it is not all that likely. Doug is going to be fishing more now, so maybe it will happen.

(Late) Fall Colour.

2005-11-07T14:42:00.000-04:00

This picture didn't turn out nearly as nice as I thought it would. This is the tree that caused us to buy this house. Doug was working with the guy who owned it before us and took him home one day. When he saw it, he told the guy to let us know when he was ready to sell. It was about a year, but we got our gorgeous, huge ,Japanese maple. It is so big that I didn't think it could really be a Japanese Maple. One day in the Spring after we moved in, a car came up the drive way, and it was one of the previous owners of the house, she told me that her husband had planted it, and that it was what I thought it was.

The first Fall, we moved in just after the leaves fell off. Last year it did not change colour at all(the weather was really crappy). Japanese Maples get their colour later than regular maples, so we have been waiting and waiting to see if it would this year. It finally did last week, and already lots of the leaves have dropped off. The tree is close to 30 Ft. High and wide. We have another one that we planted, and it looks like it will do well here too.

I know to some people it might seem wierd to buy a house based on the yard, but to us it seems easier to fix the house up, than the yard. Trees like this only come with time not money.

Perfect

2005-10-24T19:01:00.000-03:00

Not my knitting or my photography, but this situation is perfect for knitting.
I have my cozy fire, my chair, my knitting stuff, and my diet coke. I plan to finish the second front of the Debbie Bliss shawl collar cardigan tonight if possible.

Thanksgiving

2005-10-10T15:08:00.000-03:00

We went to Camp Nigunak yesterday for Thanksgiving dinner with the family.It was pouring rain, but Dad came and picked us up in the boat anyway. These pictures are from other years because I forgot my camera, but not much has changed.

We had our dinner at the Main camp, because it is bigger and we had guests in the Guest camp. It was yummy as usual. After we all lazed around in front of the fireplace and relaxed. I like it at the camp when it is rainy, it seems so cozy.

There are only a few weeks left before we close up the camp for the year, and it seems like we never get to spend enough time there. It is great to totally get away from it all, and still have some comforts, like refridgeration and hot water.

Usually I bring my knitting, but we only went for the day, and I knew it would be dark, so I didn't bring any. I did knit most of a clog this morning, but it is not that exciting.

Are you OK?

2005-09-23T23:32:00.000-03:00

N.J. If you are out there please let me know how you are doing!

This hurricane is freaking me out because I have friends in and around Houston. It is so strange to see all the stuff on T.V of a place you lived. Living here in Yarmouth, I rarely see anything on T.V. that is about Yarmouth.

Janey, Hands on Crafts is open. The stock is still quite low, but she has some fleece artist, lots of Briggs and Little, sock yarns, Galway, and a few others. The store is at 314 Main St. Let me know if you are going to come, and I'll come meet you. I hang out and knit at the store quite a bit.

I ripped the loop d loop sweater back to the last good row(not far) And now I still think there is a problem with the pattern. I will email Teva Durham to see if I can figure it out , because I love this coat.

Why do I never post?

2005-07-02T10:21:00.000-03:00

I have this strange posting problem. I want to, and I have stuff to say, but I never do it. I think it is mainly a picture thing. I hate uploading the pictures. I have knit lots on the cabled riding coat from loop-de loop. It is beautiful, but I am stuck on the part where the cables start to bias after the waist. I started the sleeve so that I could keep going and not lose momentum. I read on KR that she had added the errors to her website, but I can't get it to open on my computer. Maybe she is not quite finished it. I'm hoping it is an error, so it will be easy to fix. I really love the book, It has some really different stuff in it. Not everything is stuff I could wear, especially here in sticksville, but it is all interesting, and the book itself is beautiful and well made. I have searched, and so far can't find any mention of this pattern anywhere else.

2005-05-03T15:50:00.000-03:00

Kitty Pi

2005-05-03T15:48:00.000-03:00

Debbie Bliss baby sweater

2005-05-03T15:43:00.000-03:00

crack for knitters

Pictures

2005-05-03T15:37:00.000-03:00

I finally took a picture of my cat in her felted cat bed. She really likes it, as you can see. I used recycled yarn for the wool part, and it was quite slow to felt, but turned out ok in the end. I like using old sweater yarn for felting, but you never can be sure if it will felt well.

Last night I finished the baby sweater, It only took two balls of Marks and Kattens Dream, and less than two days of knitting.

Yesterday The Fleece Artist kid mohair I had ordered came in. It is so beautiful.I am making the London Calling sweater from Stitch and Bitch Nation, only it will be all pink. Fleece Artist is now selling solid colours that co-ordinate with her varigated yarns. They are amazing, and so much easier to use in clothes that I will actually wear.

I have knit about four inches so far and it looks to be the correct gauge and size. I tend to make things too big for me, and this time I am hopeing to do better. There are only two sixes, and I have a 35 in. bust, so sm/med should be right.

Crochet

2005-04-22T23:20:00.000-03:00

Today I started to learn to crochet. I made #5 Short sleeve top from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2005, and it has a crocheted edging. Since I had never done any such thing before,I had to ask for help. Mary at my LYS helped me out, and I got part of it done, but I have to go back to find out how to do the rest.I'm hoping I will like how it looks, and that it will stop the curling that is still out of control. I got the new Debbie Bliss book, Special Knits, and it is beautiful! I want to make at least half of the patterns. I really like her cashmerino yarn, and it is featured heavily in the book.

New yarn store

2005-04-01T16:15:00.000-04:00

We are soon going to have a yarn store in Yarmouth. This is an incredible fact! The lack of good shops in this town frustrates me to no end. The woman that is opening the shop is someone who actually knows what good yarn is. I'm sure she will have to start small, but she has said that she will order whatever we want, and the knitting group will be able to meet in the store as well. Now I will have a store where I can hang out and meet other like minded people. I am finding it difficult lately, that I have so few friends that enjoy the same hobbies as me.

Finishing

2005-03-28T19:45:00.000-04:00

I have actually been getting some stuff finished lately. I finished the sweater from knit 1, but it is a little big. I have thought about trying to felt it a little, but then it might get too small in the sleeves. After that, I finished the matinee coat from the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino book. It looks really cute, and the edging is great. Now I am trying to finish a pair of socks made in a cotton wool called Opal.I think these will fit really well, and I only have about two inches of ribbing left. After this, I need to finish the twisted kisses scarf and hat, and I will have finished all my ufo's, except for a poncho and a shawl that I plan to rip out anyway.

My new craft room

2005-03-11T20:50:00.000-04:00

Today I didn't do much knitting, but I finally moved all my craft stuff upstairs to my new craft room. Doug and I switched craft rooms (he draws and needs storage space for all his geeky collections) so now I am upstairs. He had a friend over, so I got them to move one of the couches up. It was tricky since the stairs are small and cramped, but they got it in the room, so now I can sit in there and knit. Mom and Catrina (my sister) stoped in today, so I took some pictures of Hayden (my neice) in her cashmerino coat. She is so cute, and looking more like her big sister every day. After I got everything moved in the room, I decided to make some little socks to match the coat, with the left over cashmerino. There is almost a skein left, and the socks are tiny so I should have enough.

N.J., are you out there? If you comment, I will post a picture of the quilt I made.

2005-03-11T20:48:00.000-04:00

Hayden

2005-03-11T20:45:00.000-04:00

Cashmerino Coat

2005-03-09T09:46:00.000-04:00

close up

2005-03-09T09:45:00.000-04:00

one inch left

Finally some time to myself

2005-03-09T09:23:00.000-04:00

Last night my sister and her husband got home from their vacation in Cuba and I droped off my 2 1/2 year old neice Ryan. I had forgotten how much time it takes to accompany someone to the bathroom every time they need to go. Shannon is only 4 1/2 but it a huge difference. Yesterday I started the One Button Cardigan from knit 1, and I am almost finished the back.I am a bit blog challenged, since evidently this is coming after the pics instead of before; but that's O.K. I guess. I hand dyed the yarn with food dyes. It was a tan colour before. I got the yarn out of a sweater from Frenchys. If you've never been to Frenchys, you are missing out. It is a thrift store, but with tons of clothes, and they are in big bins divided according to what they are. So, if you are looking fo sweaters to frog, you head for the women's sweater bin (there are lots more there then in the men's.)and dig in. Everyone has their own method for going through the bin. My mother is a Frenchy shopper extrordinere(?) so I do it her way, and push all the stuff to one end and sort through one sweater at a time. Everything is priced by type as well, and women's sweaters are just under $4.00 Canadian. I knitted this on six mm needles and got 14 st to 4 inches. I get lots of really nice yarn this way, and it is great for felting, baby things, small stuff, and sometimes sweaters if the sweater you frog is big enough. I will show some more stuff later.

The Never Ending Baby Sweater

2005-03-06T16:46:00.000-04:00

O.K. so I guess that since the point of this is to say I'm finished the cabled coat with hood, from the Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino book, my title is kind of a lie. It did seem like it was never going to end. This is the first sweater that I ever started, and the second I have finished. I am happy with how it turned out, dispite a few small "changes" from the pattern. I started this before I really knew anything about knitting, all I had made were a few scarves and a pair of socks. I didn't know that the yarn was fine and the ribbing and cabling would make it take forever. Once I started reading blogs and actually knitting the thing, I started to get a little nervous. A lot of people don't like Debbie Bliss patterns, so I worried that the pattern was wrong or that it would be the wrong size, but it turned out great. I made the 9-12 month size, and it fits the baby now with the cuffs turned up and if the sleeves were longer, it would fit her 2 1\2 year old sister too. Ribbing is miraculous! I really love the cashmerino it is so soft and great to knit with. I would like to try the heavier gauges, but I have heard that they pill and look bad right away. I will try to post a picture of the baby (my sister's) wearing the coat, tomorrow, if I can figure out how.

Testing, testing, one two three...

2005-03-05T21:16:00.000-04:00

This is a test to see if I can do this blog thing. Surely I can if so many others do. Right? Right?