Off My Needles: Saltwater Rae

 I finished my Saltwater Rae!

 

As you may recall I did make one very large mistake in making this project and had to take a little break from working on it. It's been an excellent in-between project and I will miss having it on the needles because it was portable, easily memorized, and perfect if you only had time for a row or two.  

...and Saltwater by Sweet Georgia Yarns is an extremely powerful colour. So powerful in fact that when our friend Grace brought her skein to knit night Shannon and I both went home and had vivid dreams of the colour at which point we caved and purchased our own skeins that following week. 

Be warned, if you encounter this colour in person, it is undeniably irresistable. 

...and also nearly impossible to photograph.

On and Off the Needles...

An "On the Needles" post is long overdue, the trouble is I've had a ton of secret knitting on my needles and haven't been able to share.

In my down time, instead of casting on something new, I have chosen to raid my Work-In-Progress stash. See all those bags to the left? Each one contains a project that has yet to be completed. These projects range from elaborate swatches to almost finished garments... The top row is for projects that are in long-term hibernation, the lower level (brown bags) are more recent projects, shelved because they are lower in priority than deadline knitting.  

And for the record, as sad as this may seem, that one shelf + that box of odds and ends = my entire yarn stash.

Here is what I've dug up...

These kids mitts are a brown bag project although they were clearly misfiled because they have been years in the making. I've found very little standard sizing information for hands (especially children's) and so each size is a result of Elsie's need for a new  pair of mittens as she grows. I really like the pattern, it's quick and easy to follow. I really should get around to releasing it, I just need to knock a few other priority knits off the list first :)

Next...

This top shelf project has been in the works since Victoria Fibre Fest 2009. This is when I discovered local indie dyer Indigo Moon. Trish was offering a free skein with every 4 purchased, and since I had my eye on a silk/wool blend the savings were too huge to pass up! To date, this is the most I've ever spent on a sweaters worth of yarn.

The yarn is Silken Pleasures in Teal. It's really luxurious yet hard wearing and the colour has that special quality similar to blue jeans, it's almost like a neutral the way it goes with everything. It was a challenge to design with because the silk made the yarn look a bit krimpy. I decided on the trinity stitch and because this stitch is a little more difficult than some of my other favorites, I decided to use alternative construction methods to make this design more enjoyable to knit. This lead to many, many different prototypes, a ton of knitting and ripping, and massive amounts of pattern writing and rewriting.

 

 The funny thing is, it's taken me so long to wrap up this project that to my knowledge, this particular yarn is no longer available. Which means I will have to find a substitute, ironic seeing as the entire concept was to design around this gorgeous yarn. I don't see this project wrapping up any time soon.

 This is SweetGeorgia Yarns Superwash Worsted in Tumbled Stone. Felicia does carry a silk/wool blend as well, I just don't have any in my stash that I can swatch with.

Of course I had to swatch in Cascade 220... force of habit I guess. 

And lastly, my Saltwater Rae and I have finally made ammends, it's well on it's way to completion. It's actually been a perfect in-between project that I can pick up any old time and bring with me anywhere... it's the most relaxing project I have on my needles, and I'm thankful for that.

What's on your needles?

In the Garden // Seeds

Can you believe my seeds are already here? Now I really can't wait to start digging in the garden!

West Coast Seeds is speedy! They even send Thank You seeds! My order felt enormous when I was placing it, as if they would need a giant box to hold it all, and now that it's here it's really not much to look at! But I know better.. The last few years I've planted hundreds of tomato seeds but you know what? You only need to plant a few per variety, you would think that was just common sense... apparently not!

Now to come up with a planting chart so that I can visualize when things need to go in the ground.

In the Garden // planning ahead

I was amazed to read that Teresa had already done a  gardening post this year AND had even placed her seed order! ...the very next day my West Coast Seeds catalogue arrived in the mail, how is that for timing!

I took an entire evening (distracted of course by my motherly duties) to slowly flip through and hone in on varieties of plants that I wanted to grow. Last year I was not organized enough to place a seed order and had to choose from seed racks at local nurseries. I've narrowed down my list, this year I'm being very selective about what I grow, and I am very excited to be able to choose varieties of plants that are proven winners in our coastal climate. 

...has anyone else started planning their 2012 vegetable garden? 

And the Winner is...

Peaknitty! 

Thank you so much for all of the lovely comments about the new look and congratulations to our winner!

Unplugged...

Belated Holiday Wishes to Everyone!

I decided to unplug over the holidays. My daughter was home from school for two weeks (one week due to a cold and the other for Christmas break) so working over the holiday season wasn't even an option. So for those of you who have emailed me, sent me a message on Ravelry, Facebook or Etsy, I apologize for the delay and I am slowly getting caught up on my responses. 

One thing I didn't get to do before going on holidays is blog about an early Christmas gift that was sent my way. About midway through December I received an unexpected package in the mail from the seriously 

 talented knitter/blogger/crafter extraordinaire MisoCrafty...

 Is this bag awesome or what!? It's the larger size project bag so it can accomodate a huge amount of yarn, knitting, notions, you name it.

This gift could not have come at a better time. Incidentally my Jordanna Paige bag broke, the strap gave out rendering it totally unusable. In all fairness the bag was getting used on a daily basis and I'm sure I exceeded it's load carrying capabilities by lugging my camera around in it on occasion. It was my only winter bag (yes, I retire my bright orange canvas bag at the end of summer... because it's my summer bag!). So I litterally used this project bag as a knitting bag & purse over the holidays. It carried a pullover project, my wallet and all of my little essentials from my old purse... with room to spare! Thank you Melissa for saving the day!  

I know from reading her blog that Melissa is a serious perfectionist and now I can vouch for that, this bag is really, really well made. You can find her bags in her Etsy Shop, I didn't see any of the larger bags in stock but the smaller ones are a heck of a deal right now, she's having an extended boxing day sale.

. . .

And as you may have noticed, the comments are still open on my launch party post. Today will be the last day to enter to win my entire collection of patterns. The winner will be announced tomorrow!