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Friday, February 1, 2013

ISLAND Book Tour // Recap

Shannon and I are back from our mini book tour of the Mainland and Sunshine Coast and it's taken me all week to recover and get caught up with work. This post is a little later than I had intended but I couldn't let the week come to an end without posting my recap of this wonderful weekend! You'll have to bear with me, Shannon took so many great photos, it was difficult to chose. 

. . .


 { Wine & Sushi }

 { Nikkibikki and her amazing Red Heart dreads!!! }

{ the ever so fabulous duo behind Knit Social - Amanda & Fiona }

{ Kynna & I in our matching Raes }

Our first stop was at Urban Yarns on Friday night. If you are a regular reader you know that this is one of my favorite shops to visit. Anina, Jan, and all the staff at Urban Yarns made sure that we kicked off our tour with a bang! There was sushi and wine, and lots of gorgeous yarn to pet, there was even a draw for a skein of Madtosh! Now that's my kind of party! 

It was so great to have a chance to chat and meet new people, I loved seeing so many familiar faces, each visit to Urban Yarns trumps the last! Thank you ladies for throwing such a fabulous party!!!




{ Sue & Carlys } 

{ Friends from my old Langley Knit Night - Fedoska and Jen } 

 { ...a new friend Rachel! }



 { These were gluten free if you can believe it! }

{ Melissa of Sweet Fiber Yarns and Carlys wearing the Oatmeal Pullover }

On Saturday we hit the road to Langley to visit 88 Stitches. I loved this stop! It was my first time meeting Sue, the owner, and her talented daughter Melissa, of Sweet Fiber Yarns - they were both so warm and welcoming and made us feel right at home. When people started rolling in, it was more of the same. Everyone was so incredibly warm and friendly, I can see why people love this shop so much. There were even knitters that came all the way from Chilliwack. I loved meeting so many new people and getting to chat with so many of you!

Diane (I really hope I have your name right - come after me if I don't!) was so sweet, she came all the way from Chilliwack and brought gluten free cupcakes for US on HER birthday! ...complete with polka dot napkins!!! ...I want the recipe! They were DELISH! Sue and Melissa spoiled us too, we each came home with a bag full of yarn!!!

Thank you for welcoming us into your store ladies, we enjoyed every minute of it!




 { Island Decor }


{ check out this spread made by Anna herself - she's amazing! }




 { Caitlin, Shannon, Sylvia, and Anna }


After 88 Stitches we drove back to Vancouver to hit up Baaad Anna's. This event was Fun - with a capital F!!! 

I first met Anna and her staff at Knit City and loved them all, there are some memorable personalities residing at Baaad Anna's! So it was especially fun to meet again on their turf. This shop is so welcoming and the diversity of the knitters that frequent this store is awesome. There were so many new faces and Shannon and I connected with so many knitters, we wanted to take them all home to knit with us! There were also lots of familiar faces and people we'd met from other events, it was fantastic! And Anna truly outdid herself, there was so much thought put into all of the details, from the table top decorations to the amazing spread of homemade treats, everything was well thought out and in keeping with the Island vibe. 

We had so much fun we didn't want to leave!

...we'll be back Baaad Anna's!





{ Janna's Mom came wearing the Arbutus Janna had knit for her! } 

Sunday involved 3 ferries, that's right, THREE! For our last stop on the tour we walked on to the Langdale ferry and were met by local yarn store owner Kim Fenton. She took us the scenic route back to her shop in Gibsons and boy am I grateful. I've never seen the Sunshine Coast and to me, it felt like I was back on the Island, or better yet, on one of the smaller islands. It had all of the charm you would expect from a coastal town and I could tell it had a rich and vibrant creative community just from passing through. 

I loved Kim's shop, it was so open and spacious, and I loved all the white space! The pace of the event matched the pace of island life and it was a nice break to have people trickle in one by one rather than all at once. There was even down time to chat and knit! So fantastic! ...there was also a pressie waiting for me when I arrived - thank you Raincity Knits!

I met so many kind knitters and even saw a familiar face or two!

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I hope this wrap up post wasn't too long, I was truly overwhelmed by the attendance at each of these events and the amount of positive feedback there was for the book - it's hard not to go on and on about it. 

Thank you Urban Yarns, 88 Stitches, Baaad Anna's, and Unwind for hosting us in your shops and throwing such incredible parties! Each time we packed up I was filled with the overwhelming feeling that this was the best stop yet - each store unique and special and so worth visiting.

And to all of the lovely knitters we met or reconnected with, thank you for coming and showing your support and for all of the love - I'm completely overwhelmed.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I tried really hard to document the entire trip in real time complete with geo-tags so that even those who couldn't be there, could be there virtually by following along. Here are the shots from my Instagram feed in chronological order...



...I actually stole this collage idea from Shannon, I thought it would be fun if I posted mine too, to compare our two different perspectives on the same trip. Here is a link to her Instagram feed.

Check out her awesome recap of the event over at luvinthemommyhood.com.

. . .

...and have an amazing weekend!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Off My Needles...

I've come to realize lately that I've been slacking when it comes to keeping my Ravelry project page up to date. Maybe that's why I haven't written a proper Off My Needles post since March

Without further ado, let me get you all caught up with what has come off my needles since then... 

 Do you remember these?

I've taken so long to blog about this FO that they now look like this...


I love these slippers so much! I can't say enough good things about them, they are super fast, the pattern is incredibly easy to follow, and if you've never felted before don't let that stop you, I hadn't either before I knit my first pair. Melynda includes detailed instructions that make it so dead easy. 


My Mom loved my pair so much I decided to surprise her for Christmas with a pair of her own. This was the fifth pair of these slippers that I have knit. 

Oh and this is Elsie's new move, she never wants me to take her picture anymore, and then after we get started she breaks out this pose, she's only got one move but it's totally adorable when she does it. 

...it was her idea to model Mom's slippers.



I knit a pair of rainbow socks for Elsie



I finally finished a pair for myself



Can you tell this girl LOVES rainbows? Now that her rainbow hat is complete she would like rainbow mittens and a rainbow scarf.



I made this hat for Elsie right after designing this basic Earflap Hat for Petite Purls, the pattern was published the following year. 

The mittens are my kids mitt pattern that has yet to be released. I've knit so many of these mittens using Cascade 220 but this pair, made from Spud & Chloe, has held up so much better because of it's a cotton content. All of Elsie's other mitts would felt right away because she would get sweaty little hands from playing. I've decided to rewrite the pattern using this yarn because it's ideal for children. 



This yarn was a bit heavier than the Spud & Chloe Sweater so this hat ended up a little large and because it’s 100% cotton it has a tendency to grow. This hat will fit her for years to come.



  This Child's Classic Raglan was knit for KnitPicks, it's a size 4 and now that the sample has returned to me I wish I had knit a size 5 because Elsie is getting so tall and will be 5 in just a few short weeks. 



I've been wanting a red hat for some time now. I decided to use the skein of Malabrigo Rios in Ravelry Red that I had splurged on to make it happen. This hat brightens up even the grayest of days! And the yarn is so squishy and soft, I highly recommend it.



B asked me for a new hat last winter to replace her Elizabeth hat. I designed Kathleen for her but loved it so much I couldn’t part with it in the end - I know, I'm a terrible sister right? This year I designed this hat for her as her Christmas gift. I knew she wanted olive green and that she loved the Beatrice stitch pattern because it reminded her of leaves.


My sister Emma loved my Arbutus so I surprised her for her birthday with this. It’s knit from a skein of Madelinetosh DK in the colourway Celadon that Anina at Urban Yarns so graciously gifted me on my last visit.


I designed this for my friend Grace who wanted to knit a wedding cardigan. Choosing the colour for the sample was really difficult, I swatched in many colourways and nothing felt right. I am so in love with this rich Deep Olive by SweetGeorgia, it was worth all of the hunting.
As I was knitting this cardigan I knew it would be my new favorite sweater and now that its off my needles I was absolutely right, I love to wear this cardigan and I couldn’t be happier with the way this design turned out.
This colour really blew me away and I did a ton of swatching before coming up with the design for this hat. The colours in this skein were just so beautiful I knew I had to get it right. It's Madelinetosh Vintage in Cove.

I love, love, love this colourway. While I was knitting these mitts I thought of a million other things I wanted to knit in this gorgeous subtle blue. If I could, I’d knit one of everything in this exact yarn. It's Madtosh DK in Chambray and it goes with absolutely everything!



I had to knit so many prototypes to get the tiers on this design just right - while also using up every last inch of yarn. It was worth all the effort because I am so happy with the end result, I wear this cowl all the time.


I don’t often work with summer yarns like cotton and linen because I prefer working with wool and wool blends and I have to say that this yarn really was a treat to knit with. It's Quince & Co's Sparrow and it's also the perfect blue. 

. . .

Well now, that pretty much brings us (and my Ravelry page) up to date! 

...oh, except for one secret knitting project that's just come off the needles, until next time!

Friday, January 18, 2013

ISLAND Book Launch Party // Recap


 Last Saturday, Shannon and I organized a book launch party at Knotty by Nature to celebrate ISLAND with our friends and family. It was a great turn out and we all had so much fun meeting new friends, showing off the samples, and enjoying some of the amazing food put together by my amazing friends Rebecca and Arika (thank you both for such an amazing spread!). 

 { Shannon, Arika, and I }

 { Rebecca and I }

 { Obligatory Shoe Shot - we take these often }

 { Patricia and Julie - thank you both for coming! }

 { Becca and Marita}

 Kylee (our model) and Nick (our photographer) ~ this is a classic Nick face. They both wore polka dots just for me! Aren't they the best!

 { Jana and Grace }

Grace arrived wearing a Renfrew hat, an Arbutus cowl, and a Georgia cardigan. She apologized for being all Janed out, I told her that in light of the occasion, it was totally acceptable and actually encouraged. 

 { Cate walked around knitting her legwarmers - she actually finished them later at the pub! }


 { My Family - Auntie Laurie, Uncle Peter, Me, my sister Emma, Kylee, my brother Nick, my brother in law Liam, and my Dad Jerry }

 { Melissa, Liisa, and Rebecca }


THANK YOU so much to everyone who made it out for the party and making it a huge success! I hope fun was had by all! 

Special thanks to Stephanie and Ryan for hosting us in their awesome shop, Shannon for taking all of the photos, RebeccaArikaMandyShannonGrace, and Cate for the huge amount of help you lent towards making this event amazing! Photographer Nicholas Kupiak and model Kylee Shaw for being a part of this project and it's launch!!! And big BIG hugs to each and every person who decided to stop by and show their support for the book, it means so much to Shannon and I.

. . . 

...and if you missed the party because you're across the water, don't forget we're headed to the mainland January 25th-27th for a mini book tour!


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Random Pic of the Day

I haven't posted a Random Pic of the Day in a very, very long time. I love this shot so here ya go...


Tuesday, January 15, 2013

ISLAND // Book Tour



Now that our Blog Tour is underway and we've gathered to celebrate at our local launch party, it is time to make our next big announcement.

Shannon and I will be packing up our samples and hitting the road for a mini book tour at the end of this month! 

Here are the stops on our mini tour :


Friday, January 25th from 7 pm - 9 pm
4437 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC

. . . 


Saturday, January 26th from 1 pm - 3 pm
#602-21183 88th Avenue, Langley, BC


. . . 


Saturday, January 26th from 7 pm - 9 pm
2667 E. Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC


. . . 


Sunday, January 27th from 1 pm - 4 pm
8-1161 Sunshine Coast Highway, Gibsons, BC

Event Page on Facebook

. . .

...if you are local to the Lower Mainland or the Sunshine Coast, come on out and see us at one of these stops! 



Monday, January 7, 2013

ISLAND // Book Launch Party


Saturday, January 12th from 6 pm - 9 pm
Knotty by Nature, 1704 Lillian Road, Victoria, BC

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This Saturday we will be having an ISLAND Book Launch Party at Knotty by Nature! Come celebrate with us and enjoy food and drink, view all of the samples in our trunk show, pick up a copy of the book or have yours signed, and come mingle with photographer Nicholas Kupiak, model Kylee Shaw, Shannon Cook and I, and all of our knitting friends! 

To find more info on this event, to see who is attending, and to RSVP visit...





Thursday, January 3, 2013

ISLAND // Blog Tour




















I am so excited to announce our ISLAND blog tour! We have some amazing stops lined up for you and an opportunity to win a copy of the book at each one! So please follow along as ISLAND makes it's way across these fantastic blog stops...

J A N U A R Y
   8th - Vancouver Yarn
 10th - KD Quilts
 14th - Canadian Living
 17th - Celtic Cast On
22nd - Canary Knits
 24th - Hey Jen Renee
 29th - The Yarniad
 31st - Knitted Bliss

F E B R U A R Y
   5th - French Press Knits
   7th - Truly Myrtle
 12th - Noodlehead
 19th - SweetGeorgia
 21st - A Playful Day