FO: Folded

Pattern: Folded

Yarn: Valley Yarns Huntington

Needles: 3.5 mm and 4.0 mm (US 4 and 6)

Mods: I knitted the sleeves flat and seamed them, adding an extra stitch at each side to allow for the seams. I despise knitting sleeves in the round, I have no idea why.

Notes: I love Veera's patterns. The lines are simple, flattering, classic, yet somehow really modern. Folded is no exception- it's a lovely, perfect little sweater. I wnat to knit one in every colour, that's how much I love it. And when I had it with me in Sudbury to visit my parents for Canadian Thanksgiving, my mom was in love with it. I don't blame her- it's super comfortable and I love this colour.

What I did not love, however, was the yarn. Huntington was a dream to knit with, I really liked everything about it until I wet blocked the sweater and was horrified at the results. The yarn bled, and the whole sweater grew. And I don't mean it grew a bit, I mean it transformed itself into a gigantic curtain of sweater and scared the heck out of me. I actually put it in the tumble dryer, that's how desperate I was to get it back to it's small size again. And then the yarn pilled and fuzzed and immediately looked like some broken in, old sweater that had seen the inside of both a washing machine and a tumble dryer multiple times. 

It made me want to cry. Hours spent knitting a sweater I adore only to have it look like an old hand me down before I've even got photos.That's why there's no close up- I couldn't' stand to wallow in the fuzz.

There was a lot of cursing going on at my place that afternoon, let me tell you. The worst part? I was totally going to give this to my mom for Christmas, since she loved it so much. But I can't gift a prematurely-aged sweater. I'm so sad.

Chicago Style!

Such an amazing city! Eliza toured me around, and we checked out the amazing Art Institute of Chicago, which was having a well-timed Apostles of Beauty exhibit on the arts and crafts movement in design. Frank Lloyd Wright was a part of this movement, and he did quite a bit of design in Chicago and the surrounding areas- in that photo mosaic there are is a photo of a house that he built. Many slices of pizza were had, and loads of baked goodies were consumed. So much food! And I got to crash Eliza's great book group. The book in question? Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.Also fascinating was her father in law's woodworking studio- he's an amazing furniture designer, and his pieces were so incredible, I forgot to take photos (this happens to me more often than I'd like to admit). But check out all the gorgeousness here.

And of course, when knitters get together, it's all about the knitting, isn't it?

Knit 1 in Chicago is sadly closing down, but they are having a really amazing giveaway- purchase one of their patterns, and you will be entered to win one of 60 $500 prize packs! This is how Karen (the owner) is clearing out her inventory, which is such a creative idea. When we visited, we were able to try on some of the samples of the patterns, and picked our favourites:

Eliza's choice, above

my choice, below

 That caplet just had to be mine, so I bought the pattern on the spot. I'm so in love, I've already cast on:

 Cascade Magnum in 9408, a lovely heathered reddish brown

Trisha was the one that alerted me to this bittersweet giveaway, and we had a great sit down to talk about all the things we love about patterns, yarn, and the perfect LYS.

 Pictures from Knit 1, with Trisha and Karen (shop owner and designer)

Check out all the gorgeous patterns here. You have until February 14th to purchase a pattern and enter the draw for the prize packs (it's not restricted just to the US- so no matter where you live and knit, you can win!). Good luck everyone-  I'd love to win one of those $500 prize packs!

We also checked out Nina and Loopy Yarns, and I found myself stocking up on some Malabrigo laceweight from both:

'Olive' colourway on the left, and 'Paris Night' colourway on the right

And Eliza generously gave me a skein of her handspun:

All said, it was a wonderful weekend getaway. Thanks to all the wonderful Chicago people I met while I was there, you made my trip memorable!! And an extra thank you to Eliza and her husband, for being wonderful hosts.

Decisions, Decisions....and Boatloads of Knitting

Look at this beautiful pile of Tanis Fiber Arts Aran weight, in the grape colourway:

Of course, now that I have a lovely, cuddly pile of this delicious yarn, I'm not exactly sure what I want with it. Definitely a pullover or a cardigan. Which only leaves me with, oh, a few hundred patterns, according to the Ravelry pattern search. So, I've decided to let the yarn tell me what it wants to be, via swatching. Here's the one long swatch I knitted up to see how the colours responded to different stitches:

I'm considering the Minimalist Cardigan (seed stitch), February Fitted Pullover (gull lace stitch), Garter Yoke Cardigan (garter and stockinette), Francis (seed stitch and stockinette), and Vaila (stockinette & ribbing). Which is more of a long list than a short list, to be fair.

And you know what this swatch tells me? It ALL looks great!! I was really hoping for a clear winner, but the yarn just knits up so well in all stitches, with no strange pooling. Which is great, but also makes the decision process that much more challenging. Any thoughts?

And I've been working on a lovely little confection, the Whisper Pullover. I'm modifying it quite a bit, and so far love the results. I'm ashamed to admit that this is my first time working with kidd mohair, and I have to say I love it- the garment is so lightweight and smooshy, it's like a cloud of pink cotton candy. I'm really looking forward to wearing this when it's all done.

I've also recently completed a new project, but it is a test knit, and I can't fully reveal it until the pattern goes live. So here is a little teaser shot:

 (why yes, I did think it looked a bit like I knitted with a bag of cheezies, too...)