Sophie X2

I've been watching Podcasts each morning while Teddy, our dog, naps for two hours. It's nice to have that quiet crafting time to look forward to on a daily basis. While watching/listening I've completed two Sophie Scarves, not so much because I need them, but just to keep my hands busy with an easy, mindless project. 

I do love this size, shape, and style of scarf. I made a similar one last winter and, in the cooler months, I found it to be just right for keeping the chill from my neck on our morning dog walks. The small size means there are no ends dangling annoyingly. It can be wrapped twice and tied, and if it is not wrapped and tied, the modest length allows it to be tucked neatly into a coat. 

I knit these two in "Colorina" from Hobbii.com, which is a soft 80% acrylic/20% wool blend. Each scarf took a little less than one entire ball, though due to the finer gauge I knitted until the increases brought the width to 41 stitches rather than the number called for in the pattern.

The red/orange one is knit with colourway 12 Sweet Secret and the black was knit with colourway 15 Silhouette

It's a popular pattern and has been knitted 9758 times on Ravelry alone!

DRK Everyday Cowl

A relaxing and enjoyable knit. The pattern is the DRK Everyday Cowl by Andrea Mowry and the yarn is my own 3ply handspun, a merino/kid mohair/silk blend.

It was about 6 mornings of mindless knitting while watching Podcasts. The knitting was repetitive enough to be relaxing, but the pattern had enough unusual shaping to keep it interesting. 

Thinking that a scarf/cowl doesn't need exact fitting I foolishly did not do a gauge swatch. Nearing completion I realized that, as is, it was not going to fit over my head once seamed. I decided to just pick up stitches along the short slip stitched edge to knit a little rectangle of garter stitch to extend the neck opening.

Ta Da! my fix worked. I love the result. So comfortable and easy to wear.

 Turns out my 3ply handspun was more like a fingering weight yarn than the DK the pattern calls for. The thing is, I LIKE this weight! I don't think I'd want it to be heavier. I may make more cowls from this pattern in the future, but I'll work out the math so that I can keep the lighter weight.

Hosta and Froggy

Have I introduced this little monster? No?

How about this character?

No, not Froggy either?

Hmmm, it seems I've been a little remiss lately, working away on projects but then forgetting to blog about them after they are completed. Both had their debut as Show and Tell at guild meetings, but then got tucked away and forgotten.

This little handspun one-eyed "Imaginarium Monster" was completed in April. She was crocheted to fulfill a challenge for the guild's spin-in coming up this fall. Last year each person who came to the spin-in was given a skein of yarn from a former guild member's estate and asked to "do something" with it for the following year. Mine was a skein of rather scratchy natural coloured handspun.

The yarn was too coarse for anything that might be worn close to the skin, and in it's natural colour was rather uninspiring, so it sat forlornly wondering if I would attend the Spin-In without it. Then one day while overdyeing a shawl with black dye I decided to exhaust the extra dye in the pot by throwing the unloved estate-challenge skein in to sop up what remained. The skein turned out a satisfactory charcoal colour. That over-dyed estate-challenge skein made it most of the way through the pattern but I had to supplement with my own handspun yarn to complete the arms and leaf-hands. I look forward to bringing "Hosta" to the Spin-In.

This little guy some of you might recognize as he seems to be popping up all over the internet in various forms. He is from a pattern by Claire Garland called simply, "Frog". I've seen some renditions of the finished frog selling for US-$125! I initially thought that that seemed a lot for such a small project. I thought perhaps I'd make a half dozen or so to sell at the Christmas Craft Market. 🤣

Um -- NO. Make that a HELL NO! Way way too fiddly and too much work for me to make over and over again. No fear of there being a plague of frogs coming off MY needles! And after all those shaping decreases and increases there is no way I am going to cover up all that work with a little handknit sweater like I see many of the frogs wearing.

I've got a couple more finished projects to show, but they can wait for another day. 

Teddy's Big Adventure

Teddy had a whole new experience today -- his first ever kayaking trip. Because it would be Teddy's first trip out on water we wanted to keep the trip short and close to home. We chose the Hope River Slough, only minutes from home, in case it didn't go well. 

Teddy did VERY well though. He was a great little boater.

There were a few moments, right at the beginning, where Teddy wasn't sure what was expected of him. 

After a reassuring kiss from Momma and some repositioning of seating arrangements,

Everything was all sorted out and we were on our way.

Papa came along too, as Teddy's official "Papa-razzi".

The weather was great but the water was murky and launching was a challenge due to a strong back eddy in the launch area. 

I was glad I put a dog bed pad in the bottom of the kayak because it wasn't long before Teddy's boredom --

And the warm sunshine made Teddy sleepy.

The bottom of a gently rocking kayak is a great place for a fresh air nap.

Kona's Memorial Tree

Today would have been Kona's 14th birthday. Sadly she passed away in April of this year. We planted a Venus Dogwood tree today in her memory.

She was a wonderful dog and she is dearly missed. 

Dry Run Success

I've been wanting to get out in the kayaks again. My husband didn't think Teddy would fit, nor do well in the kayaks, so we didn't go out at all last year. With a little help from fellow Cavalier owning kayakers on a forum on Facebook I managed to convince him to at least give Teddy a chance. 

In a dry land test today Teddy passed with flying colours. He's not afraid of much and he never gets motion sickness so I was pretty sure he would do well. Teddy confirmed that. He was more than happy to sit still in the kayak, even when I purposely rocked it back and forth and made paddling motions. 

I do have to leave the "dashboard" console off my kayak, but that's not too much of a big deal. I usually keep a water bottle there in the cup holder and my phone stashed in the dry box, but I can keep them elsewhere. They just won't be as easily assessible.

(A view of the kayak consoles in the above picture.)

Teddy's reward for being such a good boy in the kayak was a trip to Mr Pets to be fitted for a life jacket.

He doesn't look happy in the picture but, I assure you, he is quite happy to be wearing it. He even played fetch and had a nap in it with no problem. 

Goodbye Dear Friend

I had to say goodbye to a dear old friend a few days ago. Kona was not "my" dog, but for the past seven years or so she has been my friend, walking buddy, and daily companion. Her absence is deeply felt.

This first photo is one of my favorites. She was such a gentle sweetheart, and she loved her stuffies. In this photo she managed to pick up a "bouquet" of them, five in all, to greet her dad when he came to pick her up after work.

The photo above is not a great one, but for me, it remains a great memory. At seven years of age, she was still a puppy at heart, and she had great fun that snowy day in December of 2016, racing back and forth along the heavily snowed in path of Townsend Park.

Such a beautiful girl, here laying her heavy head across my knee in hopes that I will stop weaving for a moment to give her some one on one attention.

Kona was a wonderfully well behaved girl who could be trusted to lay quietly at my side, not disturbing a thing in my weaving room full of enticing yarny temptations.

Kona and I walked together at least five days a week, through the deep heat of summer, 

and in the bitter winds of winter. 

 You'll be dearly missed my old friend!

Imaginarium Monster

 A while back my daughter destashed my way, a crochet amigurumi monster book, "Edward's Crochet Imaginarium" by Kerry Lord. It sat in my fibre arts library unused for a long time because I find crocheting tightly rather hard on my hands -- or at least I did at the time. Since receiving a wonderful set of ergonomic crochet hooks as a gift that has changed. 

I've tackled creating my first monster. He (she?) is made completely from handspun yarn. The division for those bulbous toes and fingers, as the pattern was written, was darn near impossible, but once I worked out my own "toe-up" version it was much easier and a lot of fun.

The pattern book is a modular type of thing with mix and match parts you can put together in any combination. Combined with yarn choices and colour placement the variety you can achieve is endless -- and FUN!

The knobby tail, scruffy hair, and belly button were my own innovations. The project was fun and interesting enough that as soon as the last stitch was done on the first, I started on the second. 

The eye on a stalk is the start of a monster being made to meet a guild challenge that is due in September. Stay tuned!

DRK Everyday Socks

Socks. A minor finished project. 

Simple mindless knitting to occupy my hands while I watch episodes of "Fruity Knitting", a favorite knitting podcast that I highly recommend to anyone interested in knitting, wool production, sheep, or hiking. It is very well done with loads of interesting content. There are even small nods to crochet, weaving, and spinning.

"I'll Knit If I Want To", is another knitting podcast I regularly watch. The sock pattern I used for these socks, the "DRK Everyday Socks" is one designed by that podcaster, Andrea Mowry of "Drea Renee Knits".

The socks fit very well, but I find having ribbing on the soles a bit to textured for my sensitive feet. I think next time I'll knit them with stockinette soles instead, but keep the ribbed tops.

A New Band

Late last December I dressed three of my looms to "start the New Year off right" without naked looms. Then the looms sat, mostly untouched. Well, I finally have the smallest of the projects finished. It's just an Inkle band, but it is one I do have a purpose for.

Years ago I bought myself a medical alert bracelet that you can buy interchangeable bracelets for. They are expensive, so right from the start I was determined to make my own. Initially I tried making beaded bracelets, but they had a tendency to break and, with that, came the risk of losing them. 

I then tried making decorative Inkle band bracelets for it, and that was far more successful. I have quite a collection of them now, and often make them so that they coordinate with items in my wardrobe.

This is the newest bracelet and it's made from that recently finished Inkle band. I often get questions from Inkle weaving enthusiasts wanting new and creative uses for their beautiful bands, so I'll answer them here.

The findings I finish the bands with are available through Etsy, and if you are lucky, sometimes you can find them at local beading supply stores. The ends that finish the band are called "ribbon ends" and I connect those to the lobster claw clasps with split rings.

The tools I use are flat round pliers that I use to get a good grip on the split ring when I am turning it to feed it onto the ribbon ends and lobster claws, flat round nylon jaw jewelry pliers which I use to close the ribbon ends without damaging them, and split ring pliers used for opening the split rings. Those last pliers are less expensive if you pick them up from a fishing supply store. 

To prevent the cut Inkle band from fraying and possibly pulling out of the end findings, I use a good glue that works for joining porous and non-porous materials before I pinch those end findings closed.

My personal preference is to aim for a fit that is close enough that it doesn't move around on my arm, but long enough that it is still easy enough to do up.

In case you're curious, I wear a medic alert bracelet any time I leave the house because I have a couple of severe allergies, one of which would be unexpected by the medical community and could be life threatening if I was unconscious and could not warn them.