I'm Not Dead.....

Since I have not posted since late July, I wouldn't be surprised if you thought I was dead. But I'm not!  A confluence of issues (chief amongst them, laziness!) got in the way of my blogging duties over the past few months.

One of the biggest problems was that I thought it would be a GREAT idea to knit all of my Christmas presents in 2016 and I almost bit off more than I could chew.  Having committed to huge projects for both my sister and my son, as well as several smaller gifts for our family gift exchange, I had ZERO time to work on my own projects, new designs, blogging, etcetera... AND, since they were intended to be surprises, I couldn't post any pictures of anything I was working on.  Believe me, I was working!

I compounded my problem by giving away all my gifts WITHOUT TAKING ANY PICTURES OF THEM.   So, post Christmas, I embarked on a mission to get all my gift recipients to send me photos of their goodies.  Apparently, none of them were as committed to my self promotions as I.  So it took a little time.  And a lot of nagging.


HOWEVER.  After a lengthy absence, I have lots to share with you and you can look forward to more regular posts going forward.  Because, I actually have been very busy.  In addition to my Christmas knitting, I have released two new designs, gone on a fantastic vacation, and developed all kinds of great new tips.  So the drought is over and I'm back!

Without further ado, here is the project that took four months to knit and nearly killed me!

The handsome lad in the picture is my son, Harry.  He is a stylish dude who is ALWAYS cold and he decided he would like a cabled cardigan for Christmas.  I will never knit an all over cable pattern on a deadline again!  This was complicated!  I spent almost as much time going backward as forward on this one, but eventually, I got into a rhythm and it came together.

Despite the amount of effort required, I LOVE how this project turned out.  The pattern is called Timberline by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed and the BT patterns are among my very favourite designs.  They can be complex but are so well written that you really can't go wrong as long as you follow them carefully.  I highly recommend checking them out on Ravelry.  Because this was a huge project and I knew my 22 year old  was NOT going to hand wash it, I chose a very reasonably priced superwash merino wool from Knit Picks called Swish.  It is soft, warm, and very nice to knit with.  BUT.  Even before I finished knitting the sweater, it was starting to pill.  It also grew when I blocked it, making it larger than intended.  For that reason, I would not recommend this yarn, Because, let's face it, when you spend this amount of time knitting a project, you have every right to demand that it last forever and be included in the recipient's will, to be handed down to future generations.  Forever.  Sadly, I can't see this sweater standing the test of time.

The other big project I took on was this very simple turtleneck sweater for my sister, Jill.  Everyone, say, "Hi, Jill!"

 

This sweater, called "Minimalist Pullover" by the redoubtable Joji Locatelli was a fantastic pattern.  A super well designed, top down turtleneck that should have been a breeze.  BUT.  It was knit in fingering weight yarn (very fine) on 3mm needles (very small).  It took forever.  But again, I love how it turned out and Jill says she wears it all the time.  I used my favourite yarn, Madeline Tosh Light which is 100 % merino so it's very soft and warm.  Plus, they have the BEST colours.  This one is called Leopard and I love it!

In addition to the two BIG projects, I knit an oversized cowl, a brioche stitch scarf, and this hat for our family gift exchange.

Yes.  It's a Chicken Hat. No, it's not actually intended to be worn by the dog, but she looked awfully cute in it.   'Nuff said.

Then I learned that my son's best friend and roomate, Greg was going to be joining us for Christmas.  Clearly another hand knit gift was going to be required.  So I knit the Pebble Peak hat by Susan Lawrence in the leftover yarn from Harry's cardigan.  Harry says Greg is too ugly to model it, so he graciously offered to model it for him.

I'm pretty sure he didn't intend for me to use all of these on my blog, but that's what you get for being my son and calling Greg ugly.  (For the record, Greg is NOT ugly and I love him like a son).  This was  a GREAT pattern.  You can't see it in these pics but the top of the hat features a funky open loop that it created using the Kitchener stitch grafting method.  Amazing.  It was a revelation to me.  It is not hard to do and it looks like there is no seam at all.  You have to try it; there are multiple great videos on YouTube waiting for you!

Then, I decided that Harry needed a hat.  I saw a really fun funky pattern called Scrapalong.  It was more of a recipe than a pattern and I thought it would be a great way to use up some odds and ends of leftover yarn.  That turned out to be true.  It also turned out to be HUGE!  I am still unclear as to why it turned into a Rastafarian hat.  I'm willing to admit that I could have done something wrong, but, since it turned out to be too big for Harry, it went to his friend Cass, who through sheer volume of hair and personality turned out to be the perfect person to fit this hat.

You are ROCKING that hat, Cass!

I also knit a hat for my husband, but since he never wears anything I knit for him, I decline to feature him in this forum.  So there.

That brings us up to date as of Christmas 2016. Which leads me to my next Purl of Wisdom:

"Don't promise people hand knit sweaters for Christmas.  They will take over your life!"


Next post, I'll tell you all about our fabulous trip to the Florida Keys!

Hang in there, we'll be caught up in no time!

There are Better Things I Could be Doing With My Time....

I've been doing a lot of knitting lately.  And I spent the weekend clearing out my Mother-in-Law's house after recently selling it.  She lived in that house for fifty-four years and never threw a single thing away.  Another time I'll tell you about some of the things I found there, but today I mention it simply for the dubious justification it lends to what I did yesterday.  Because I was feeling tired and in need of a little low level entertainment.  You understand, right?

For those of you who spend any time on Facebook, there has been a lot of news about the new app, Pokemon Go.  There was a time, when my son was little, that I could reel off the names of the first 150 Pokemon as easily as I could recite the periodic table.  (and yes, I can still recite the periodic table.  I am a nerd).  So when I saw a post saying that the game was now available in Canada, I was curious.

The app is free.  (still justifying).  So I downloaded it to see what it was all about.

The first thing it asked me to do was pick a name.  Simple enough.  Then it allowed me to pick clothing items for my avatar.  Right up my alley.  Soon I was nattily attired in a sporty blue and white ensemble and ready to look for Pokemon.  Instantly, a Charmander appeared right in my living room.  I threw a couple of poke balls at it and I was the proud owner of this cute little guy.

 I felt like one of the cool kids.  But it was night time and I am basically lazy, so I turned it off and binge watched The Killing on Netflix for the rest of the evening.

Next day.  I checked my living room again in the morning, but sadly, there were no Pokemon hanging out there this time.  I was going to have to go outside.  But frankly, I am a fifty year old woman living in a small town and I didn't really want anyone to see me wandering around trying to catch little virtual monsters on my phone.  So I compromised.

I had some errands to run.  So I decided to drive to my various errands.  Check at each stop from the privacy of my car to see if anything was there, and retain some dignity.  At least publicly.  First stop, the library.  Something told me that this would be a hot spot of activity.  I mean the game is trying to encourage kids to get outside and explore the World, right?.  What better place to encourage them to go than the library.?

 Sure enough, I caught a Weedle from the comfort of my car in the parking lot.  Then I realized that the library was also a PokeStop, a place where I could "level up" and collect more poke balls for my arsenal.  But apparently, the parking lot was too far away.  I needed to walk up to the front door.  Hmmm.

I got out of the car and tried to look casual as I walked to the front of the building.  There were two teenagers and a nine year old boy, obviously there for the same reason as I.  So I just headed for the front door.  Which was locked.  Shit.  I forgot that our library is closed on Mondays.  I wandered over to the bench in front of the place and sat down, trying to look like I was pondering politics or something suitably adult.  I glanced at my phone and it was doing Pokemon Go type things, but I needed to buy time.  I put my phone to my ear and spoke loudly into dead air.

"Hey."  Pause, as though someone else was talking back to me.

"Yeah, it's closed on Mondays."

"No."

"No."

"O.K.  I'll have to do it tomorrow, I guess.  Just wanted to let you know."

"Yup.  Ok.  See you tonight."

I snuck a quick peek.  Success!  I put my phone firmly in my purse, walked back to my car and drove away.  I'm pretty sure I fooled everybody.

Next stop, the Vape Store.  No Pokemon lurking in the parking lot here.  But I felt that was a good thing.  Don't want to encourage our youth to congregate here!  On to Old Navy!

Old Navy was a positive bonanza!  Again, this seemed like a good thing.  Encourage the kids to get their preppy on at reasonable prices! Although.... I suppose there are geopolitical ramifications and the strong likelihood of the economic subjugation of Third World Countries to consider when purchasing inexpensive shirts,  Maybe not so good.  But I digress.  A Magikarp popped up on my steering wheel.  I got so excited that I missed it three times.  It disappeared.  Bummer.

I went inside to exchange a shirt for my Mother-in-law and while I was waiting, I checked the app to see if any other Pokemon were nearby.  There were indications that several were lurking in the plaza. So I walked along the storefronts, holding my phone in an extremely awkward right side up, facing forward position down at my side so no one would know what I was doing.  It vibrated.  A Pidgey!  I totally lost my cool and just went ahead and caught it.  My shame temporarily vanished and I caught a Caterpie too.

Driving home, I was curious to see how frequently I would encounter Pokemon.  So I left the app open and propped the phone in my cupholder and set off.  Now, I am a responsible adult.  I've heard about the idiots who had driven into trees and off cliffs playing the game while driving.  I had no intention of reacting if the app buzzed.  I just wanted to know how far I would need to travel between sightings.

The drive home was 12 km.  My phone was buzzing and beeping pretty regularly, but I was going 80 km/hour.  So, although it seemed like those fuckers were everywhere, on foot, you would have to walk a fair distance to encounter that many.  The best part was glancing over to see my avatar running like hell in the cupholder as I sped along.

When I got home, I promptly messaged my son about the new Pokemon I had caught.  Just so he would know exactly how on fleek I was.  He was impressed by the Charmander.  He also expressed admiration for the Weedle and told me some interesting facts about what it would evolve into.  He gave up pretending to care when I told him about the Pidgey.  There was zero response to my news about Caterpie.  Clearly the bonding experience was over.

To be honest, it was kind of fun.  But to be really honest, my curiosity is satisfied and it is unlikely that I will go so far as to take an actual walk holding my phone out in front of me to catch more.  I have little to no interest in doing whatever you have to do to evolve the damn things.  Like, I'm not going to feed  them, or train them or any such bullshit.  My parenting years are behind me.  And I'm definitely not interested in battling with them.

So now what?  Are they dying in my phone because I am neglecting them?  Shit.  What have I done?  Is there a way to release these things back into the virtual wild?  I really didn't think this through.  Which only goes to show that I should have just stuck to knitting.

A (Not Very) Humble Brag

I'm just going to start this post with a warning.  I'm feeling very proud of myself and although I will, as society dictates, try to appear humble, I'm pretty sure that what follows will still be pretty self congratulatory.  So be it.  Sometimes we just have to celebrate our own little victories and to hell with it.

If you've been reading this blog at all, you will know that I have recently been having a lot of fun designing my own knitting patterns and selling them through Ravelry.com  As much as I enjoy it when a pattern catches on (and better still sells), I really enjoy the creative process so it doesn't bother me too much when a pattern doesn't get a lot of attention.

I like to learn new things and I like to share my knowledge so if I manage to do either of these things, I feel pretty awesome.  With this in mind, I try to do both when I design a new pattern. My favourite techniques combine simplicity with dramatic results.  Although it's nice to occasionally knit a project because it challenges us, I feel like most knitters have limited time and resources.  I think a lot of techniques seem intimidating especially to beginners.  So I really love it when I can make a fantastic result accessible to all knitters.

So I was pretty excited when I learned about mosaic knitting, I knew it was something I wanted to master and share.  You know those Icelandic sweaters we talked about with the intricate, multi-coloured patterns in the yoke?

This is an example of fair isle knitting

That's not mosaic knitting.  That is called fair isle knitting and it requires the knitter to change colours often within a single row of knitting.  It requires complex charts of stitches and the ability to read them.  It requires time, patience, and manual dexterity.  In short, it looks fantastic but it's a bitch to knit.

Mosaic knitting, on the other hand, can be used to achieve similar fantastic results without ever changing colours in a row.  It is done by strategically slipping stitches on row, then knitting them in the next row when you have changed colours simply, as God intended, at the beginning of a row.  Magic!

These are examples of mosaic knitting

This seemed like a perfect technique for an idea that had been milling around in my head for a while.  I envisioned a pure cream background and stripes of a fair isle style pattern done in red, grey, yellow and green.  In my head, it seemed reminiscent of a German fairy tale.  Hansel and Gretyl maybe.  I wanted simple single colour stripes in the top section of the shawl.  I wanted a couple of really bold patterned stripes using all the colours at the bottom.  And I wanted some kind of border that echoed the colours throughout.

The simple stripes were, well, pretty simple to figure out.  I was sooooo proud of myself when I experimented and managed to produce a pretty good looking stripe.  Then I was looking on Ravelry and saw someone else's design that seemed to incorporate the exact same pattern that I had laboriously come up with on my own.  Apparently, it's a thing.  I probably could have found it somewhere online and saved myself a lot of effort.  Oh well.

The intricate multi-coloured stripes were from a stitch dictionary I found on YouTube which I modified with a cool spiky eyelet border.  It looked suitably Grimm.  (Get it)?  However, this was the first time I was attempting to fit a fixed pattern stitch into a shape that was increasing every row.  It seemed simple enough.  I made a spreadsheet.  I calculated stitch counts by row.  I did a  little math.  Remember this picture?

And after all that, it still didn't work.  A knitting friend suggested that I chart out the pattern first to make it easier.  That confused me even more.  Remember, math and spatial logic are not my friends.  I really struggled with it.  Every time I tried to figure it out, things weren't working.  I got a lot of suggestions from well meaning people about how to learn what I needed to know.  And although, I appreciated their suggestions, I didn't take any of them.  I can't help it.  It was something that I needed to take apart and build from the ground up for myself.  I needed to get inside it and understand how it worked.  I needed the struggle.

So I persevered.  And I got it wrong some more.  And then, finally, I saw where I was going wrong.  I adjusted some more and it was like the clouds parted and the angels sang and.....well, anyway, it worked.  Seriously though, there is no better feeling than the moment you figure out something that has been kicking your ass for days.

Was it smooth sailing from there? I wish I could say yes, but....No.  It still took a few more days of knitting, adjusting, and calculating to get it just right.  To make it look like I wanted it to.  To make it super clear and easy to follow for the people who, hopefully, invest their money and faith in my pattern.  Because the whole point is to do the hard part so that other people can follow my instructions and have simple, instantaneous success.  But I had learned something from the first mistake.  And the second.  And so on.  But the solutions were coming faster with each problem I solved and it was getting easier to spot the errors and correct them.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/trail-of-crumbs

Until it was done,  The sample is knit.  The photos are taken. It had a name:  Trail of Crumbs.  And the whole thing is available online for your knitting pleasure.  And whether it is popular or not, I take a lot of satisfaction from the fact that I forced myself to step out of my comfort zone and attempt a more challenging design.  That I stuck with it when it got hard.   And that I got through to the other side with considerably more knowledge than when I went in.  After all, there's more than one way to define success.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/trail-of-crumbs

A Girl's Gotta Eat

The fridge was looking pretty bare today so I put my knitting aside to fill it back up.

That statement makes it sound as if I am a responsible adult but, in all honesty, my knitting was pissing me off so I needed to put it down before i broke something.

I suffer from a fairly major setback for a knitwear designer.  I can't count.  Apparently.  Also, I hate math.  Even the simplest math conjures up images of my Grade 9 math teacher, Mrs. Christian and her pinched disapproving face.

All of this paper represents my efforts to correctly calculate 8 rows of knitting for my newest shawl, Gretyl.  8 rows.  This is in addition to the computer spreadsheet I built to calculate stitch counts for every row, the computer generated stitch chart (which is also not working) and the actual sample which I have currently attempted to knit and ripped out three times.  So far.

So, today I decided to cook.

Since I was already frustrated, I needed to cook things that would satisfy the following criteria:

• work the first time, 
• be delicious, and 
• not tax my fried brain.  

I wanted low fuss, high reward.

So first up, banana bread.

 I am currently obsessed with banana bread. Can't get enough of it.  It makes me happy.  I stumbled across a fantastic healthy-ish recipe from Cookie and Kate thatI think is awesome.  Especially when you add 3/4 cup of miniature chocolate chips.  As I do.  And an extra banana.  Which I also do.  It uses whole wheat pastry flour which adds fibre but keeps things fluffy.  It uses coconut oil which is a great healthy fat.   Also maple syrup because I am Canadian and it is lower on the glycemic index than refined sugar.  And the best part?  One bowl.  Score! Here's the recipe (with my modifications).

Cookie + Kate's Healthy Banana Bread a la Cathy

3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup maple syrup
2 eggs
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup miniature chocolate chips ( minis are best 'cuz they don't all sink to the bottom)!

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.

Whisk the oil and maple syrup together in a large bowl.  Add the eggs, almond milk, and vanilla.  Whisk away.  Now add in the baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Whisk.  Throw in the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until just mixed.  Fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour batter into a parchment lined loaf pan and bake for one hour.  That's it.  You're done and you're welcome!

The next recipe isn't even really a recipe.  It's just a quick "cheater's" Bolognese.  The yum factor depends entirely on the quality of the ingredients.

All you do is chop half a vidalia onion finely and saute it in oil for about five minutes.  Add in about 1 tbsp. finely chopped garlic and give it another thirty seconds or so.  Add a pound of organic lean ground beef and brown it all up.  Stir in a big jar of your favourite jarred pasta sauce.  Mine is Victoria White Linen Marinara Sauce which is available at Costco and is the absolute best.  Let the whole mess simmer on low while you cook up a bag of your favourite dried pasta.  Today I went with veggie rotini.  Add sauce to pasta, stir and you have enough pasta bolognese for a crowd or to store and eat over the next few days.  Seriously, it makes a lot.   If you love your family more than I love mine, you could even pour the whole thing into a greased baking dish, top it with shredded mozzarella and bake it for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  Then you can call it "pasta al forno" and feel really superior.

And finally, because it's hot outside and I didn't want to heat up the house any more, I threw together a quick and easy chicken salad.  I came up with this recently for a weekend at the cottage and now I want to eat it all the time.  With banana bread.  It's super easy, super healthy, and well balanced.  Just serve on your favourite fresh greens and you can feel really virtuous while you wolf it down.  Here's the recipe:

Cathy's Cottage Chicken Salad

1 pkg of cooked chicken breast strips, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup seedless green grapes, sliced in half
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped

Throw all the above into a large bowl.  Then in a separate bowl, mix the following:

1/4 cup Vegennaise (or your favourite mayo)\
1/4 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Tbsp. Honey
1 Tbsp. Lime Juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Served on your favourite fresh greens, (and banana bread) this is a whole meal.  Perfect for summer!

And of course,

I tried to explain to Izzy that I couldn't share my banana bread with her because of the chocolate chips,but .....

And now, back to my knitting.  Enjoy!

Things My Mother Taught Me

My Mom has been gone for almost 21 years.  I don't have any pictures of her, nor do I have a collection of family heirlooms that were passed down to me. What I did have, I lost to a house fire that destroyed most of my possessions several years ago.  Not that it matters.  I'm not really a "thing" kind of girl anyway.  Even without pictures, her face has never faded.  Not even a little.

I remember the white cats eye sunglasses and frosted pink lipstick she wore in the seventies and the power suits she wore in the eighties.  I remember the scent of her signature Oscar de la Renta perfume, the fuzzy pink sundress she wore when she did the laundry, and the way she smiled with her mouth closed to hide the little gap between her front teeth because she was self conscious about it.

I remember her voice because it is the voice of my conscience and the source of my moral standards. When I run to the grocery store in my boyfriend sweatpants and well worn Canada Day t-shirt, I still sense her disapproval. And when my son smiles it is doubly special because he is smiling with her lips and I feel warmed twice over.

I think about her a lot when I knit for two reasons.  First, because she taught me how and second, because my hands are her hands.  When I see them holding a book or a pair of knitting needles, I am transported back to our overstuffed apartment where she sat in "her" antique chair and blocked out the sounds of our squabbles and the television which was always too loud because my Father was hard of hearing.  She created her own bubble of stillness in the chaos.  Her only contribution, the turning of a page or the click click of her needles.

After I flunked out of Brownies due to my inability to knit, my Mother finally taught me how.  Before would have been better, but I'm not bitter.  Strangely, although she knit continental style, she taught me English style.  She was a picker, I am still a thrower.  There seemed to be no knitting instruction she couldn't interpret but I only saw her knitting three things:  plain socks for my Father, an impossibly old fashioned and frilly baby cardigan, hat and bootie set, and Icelandic sweaters.  All of these in unthinkable multiples.

Not my hands.  My hands are incapable of this.

Socks are hard.  You have to knit them on sets of four double pointed needles to create the small tube shape.  You have to use short rows to shape the heel.  It requires patience and manual dexterity.  I have never mastered either.  Especially when socks are widely available for purchase at reasonable prices and I rarely wear them.  My husband is welcome to buy his at WalMart.

It was sort of like this but frillier.  Really.

The baby sets were intensely feminine but my Mother made them for baby boys and baby girls indiscriminately, changing from pink to blue yarn as the occasion demanded.  Seriously, these things were so elaborate and fussy they would not be out of place at Royal Christening.  She made so many that there are probably a few still out there somewhere.  At least I hope so.  She was too ill to knit by the time my son came along.

She made exactly four Icelandic Sweaters.  One for my Father, one for herself, one for my sister and one for me.  Matching naturally.  These sweaters she knit with extremely scratchy, chunky weight yarn.  (That's thick for those of you unfamiliar with the terminology).  They also required the carrying of three different colours of yarn across the back of the Fair Isle pattern in the yoke.  This translated to four layers of extremely thick yarn across the chest.  It's an elaborate technique and it also requires time and patience.  After the first one turned out virtually unwearable, even in our Canadian winters, I am uncertain why she soldiered through three more.  I suppose she wanted to be fair.  Or perhaps she wanted to share the experience of Menopause with her family because that's what wearing one of those sweaters felt like.  We all dutifully stored them in our closets and took them with us when we moved, but no one wore one more than once.

Not the actual sweater but are you hot just looking at it?

So not only did I learn my love of knitting from my  Mother, I also learned the following "Purls" of Wisdom:

• Socks are hard.  Buy them at WalMart instead
• The patterns that are fun to knit are often completely impractical to wear.
• Use the right weight yarn for the garment you are knitting if you ever want to wear it.
• A handmade knitted garment is an act of love.  It is the product of hours of patience, sweat, and sometimes cursing.  If you are lucky enough to receive one as a gift, you should treasure it forever.

Sometimes It Just Works

Designing knitwear is a funny business.  I got started because of a Facebook Design Challenge and I enjoyed it so much that I just wanted to create more.

When I started Francoise Danoy's challenge, I had an image in my head of what I wanted to knit.  But as I worked through the steps of her process, it changed completely.  My results were a little mixed.  I liked what I had designed and thoroughly loved the process.  But I didn't LOVE the finished result.  Her process began with finding a source of inspiration and creating a mood board.  Next step, selecting stitch patterns that came from that inspiration.  It was interesting and surprising.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/silver-birch-summer-wrap

For my next project, I approached things a little differently.  I found inspiration from the stitch patterns themselves and worked to create harmonious combinations in colours that I liked.  I decided that I liked working this way better and I liked my finished project more.

Now I had two finished patterns and I was itching to put them out in the World.  (Remember, I need a lot of approval and the dog couldn't be less interested in my knitting).  But I had read a lot of good advice from people in the design challenge who suggested that it was best to have a few patterns to offer before  opening a store.  So I decided I needed one more before I launched.

I didn't really have a firm idea for my next pattern so I looked at my yarn stash.  As I sorted through my yarn, I came across two skeins of yarn that I had bought in a bit of a frenzy at a knitting party at Northbound Knitting, a fantastic local indie dyer that I love.  I had purchased three skeins of a colourway that combined rich indigo with sunny yellow and cream.  Yum.  But when I got home, I realized that one of the skeins was a heavier weight than the other two and so wouldn't work for my original plans for it.  In that same frenzy, I bought another skein in the heavier weight (also by mistake) that was a subtle blend of pale yellow and light gray. Because I tend to use fingering weight most of the time, I decided that I needed to find a way to make these two oddballs play together.

I knew that I wanted to offer this next pattern for free because I hoped that it would help to generate some attention.  So I wanted to keep it really simple.  I cast on for an asymetrical triangle shawl.  An easy and popular shape that I happen to really like.  I knit six rows in garter stitch with the yellow.  Pretty.  But the blue combo was a much more dramatic, variegated yarn.  I really liked the way the drop stitch pattern on my first shawl showed off the variegated yarn and I think most knitters will agree that they are tricky to work with.  They look beautiful on the skein, but don't always knit up in the most attractive way.  So I did a simple drop stitch section with the blue.  Gorgeous!  I knit another yellow stripe.  Then another blue.  I was liking it, but I wondered if it was too simple?

But then I remembered that it was going to be free, so I just kept alternating the stripes until I ran out of yarn and then I cast off and wrote it up. It reminded me of Van Gogh's painting, "Starry Night."  So I called it the Van Gogh Shawl.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-van-gogh-shawl

Want to guess which pattern went crazy?  Yup.  The Van Gogh Shawl.  It was the pattern that wrote itself.  I loved every stage of this process.  It grew from materials that I loved.  From this experience, I gleaned three more "Purls of Wisdom."

• Use the good yarn
• Choose stitches that highlight the good yarn
•  Keep it simple

And that's the process I follow now.  It led to The Monet Boomerang, which is enjoying some modest success. 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-monet-boomerang

And, as promised, here is a sneak peek at my newest design, The Degas Ballet Shawl.

It's still on the needles, but I am loving the way it is coming together and I'm looking forward to sharing the finished product with you soon! 

He's Still in the Picture, Sort of...

My husband and I have been together for 31 years.  He's a terrific guy.  Really.  So when I started this blog, I pretty much forced him to read every post with the full expectation that he would do his duty and tell me it was great.  His response?

"You make it sound like you live alone with the dog."

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned him.  I know I said he likes burritos.  So I browsed back through a few hundred pics of the dog, yarn, and knitting projects to the last picture I took of him to share with you.  Here it is:

Oh dear.  But, OMG look at that puppy!

That, by the way, is the newest member of our family.  She is my sister's puppy, Shelby, and she is perfect.

So I scrolled back a little more and finally found this pic from our trip to Alaska six years ago.

Despite the fact that I apparently only take really bad pictures of him approximately every six years, he is still very much in the picture!

But the blog is called "Knitting with my Dog," so I think it's pretty clear that he's not going to have a starring role.  Doesn't mean I don't love him and love doing things with him.  It just means that I am a fully formed adult who also has fully formed separate interests.  If he wants to be a star, he will have to write his own blog called "Riding my Motorcycle and Starting Another Project Around the House."

And just so you don't think that I have forgotten my priorities, here is a picture of me knitting with my dog.  On a boat.

We (my husband, my dog, and I) spent a beautiful weekend at a friend's cottage near North Bay in Northern Ontario. Such a peaceful and gorgeous setting.  It's the kind of cottage I like.  It's a cottage, not a luxurious house.  It's a little rustic.  There is indoor plumbing but no television.  

But the outdoors is the focus.  Its rugged and rocky and situated high above a beautiful quiet lake and you want to spend all your time out there just soaking it all in.

And the only responsibility you have all weekend is to throw this stick into the lake for this dog. Over and over and over.......

It was a great weekend with great friends.  Thanks McAllister Family!  

Tomorrow, we'll get back to the knitting!