Preparing for Retreats

I'm getting ready for a couple of retreats coming up. Two in September and another in October. Nice to get ahead with samples and class notes.

First up is two days of knitting at Lauzon Lodge in Algoma Mills, Northern Ontario on September 23 & 24. We're going to knit Gauge Free mittens. No swatches, no checking gauge, use any yarn and any needle to knit any size. It's magic! Knitting from 9:30am to 4:30pm for two days should result in at least one pair of fully finished mittens. Lunch, and it will be delicious, is included for the $90. Accommodation is extra if you're not local. Sharon has 3 B&B rooms open and there is a motel in Blind River. September isn't too early to think about getting some winter knitting done and maybe a couple pairs of mittens for Christmas presents.

Here is one happy student with her mittens from the Eastern Needlers Retreat made.

Next is a retreat the weekend after in Sudbury, Ontario (yes it's the northern ontario tour). I'm teaching Two Triangles Make A Hat. Another Gauge Free workshop. Again no swatches, no gauge to check, use any yarn with any needles for any size. Yup, it definitely works. It's a great group of women and we are going to have fun!

Fall Knitting Retreat

September 29 to October 1, 2017

ssands.sudbury@gmail.com

Prices include meals, workshops, snacks, door prizes etc.

from Friday night till Sunday afternoon

Single Room $270 Shared double Room $240 per person

Here is one sample I've finished and another in progress.

Now for a striped version, almost done but not quite.

Perfect for all the odd bits of yarn you have around. It's done with 2 50g balls of yarn.

Next, still time to get samples done, is our Cabin Fever Retreat at the end of October 27-29. Our design theme is Small Changes. Three classes where you will knit one wrister using the same 3 colours. You can go home with a set of 3 fraternal wristers which gives you 3 different looking pairs. Cool, eh? Here are a couple of samples for my class which is based on 2x2 rib pattern with small changes which result in a different pattern every time you change colours.

Lyn and Elizabeth Fallone are working on their samples so I can show you the fraternal wristers. I like to set up classes where at the end of the weekend you go home with something you can actually wear and 3 wristers is a pretty good bit of knitting over the weekend.

So far a little ahead of the game. I did finish my 4 directions of the compass sweater but the photos are on my phone and I'm at Tim's using their internet and forgot my cable to transfer the pics. Next time.

How is your knitting going? I'm knitting outside between rain showers, it's one soggy summer.
Deb

Triangulate a Hat

Experiments have started. I knit my first gaugeless hat with two triangles. Just cast on until it goes around my head at the bottom of the first triangle and then work a second triangle. No need for gauge or stitch numbers. Good for car knitting as you can see. Lots of plain knitting.

 Now it gets folded in half sort of. And attached.

Now I have a tube which is great but I thought it would be a little taller. It needs some height if there is to be a turned over brim which is what I like in a hat. I tried adding at the top for a crown.

Nah. Didn't like that so it got frogged. Then I added some length at the bottom. The length would be the amount of turn back for the brim or the amount of height needed for a slouch style hat.

That seems to make more sense. There is now a brim for a slouch hat worn as is or a turned back brim.

Now to figure out what to do with the top for the crown. I could leave it for kitty ears but I'm looking for a couple more ideas. Do you have something that worked on a hat made in a straight tube?
Deb

Top Down Inside Out hats

It's December and it's trying to be winter here but one day winter, one day fall (rain) isn't really doing it. The odd day of snow is still getting me in the holiday mood. I'm coming down to the end of my Christmas knitting. Wow. Just a couple of things left on my list. Pat, pat, pat on my back.

I finished an experimental hat. It's black

 so of course, it's not so great to photograph but I'm really happy with it. This started with a photo of a hat from Pinterest that my daughter sent me saying "I want this, I want this". So here I am doing the mom thing. I looked all over Ravelry and couldn't find a pattern exactly like it. So I bought some yarn from the odd ball bin at a yarn store and started. I hadn't used this yarn before and I was changing the needle size and I didn't want to do a swatch first (shhh, did I say that out loud?!) so I started at the top.

I cast on 8 sts, so awkward at first but once I had about 24 sts on my needles I was good to go. I did check my gauge once I had some fabric and then went to the Need A Hat bible book to find the number of stitches I needed for my gauge. Good thing I have a copy or two around.

The only difficulty with knitting from the top is the cast off. I'm a really, really tight caster offer. A tight line at the brim is soooo not nice. I also wanted that "store bought" look where the ribbing appears to go around the edge. I trolled around the internet and found a sewn-off tubular bind off. It's a Kitchener Stitch variation so if you don't mind Kitchener stitch this might work for you too. It's a bit of a pain to begin with because you need to have 6 times the width of the cast off amount of yarn on your sewing up needle (that's 6 x 22" hat, that's a lot of yarn). Pulling the yarn through each stitch at the beginning made me wonder if this was worth it but it totally was. I love it. It's stretchy and has the proper look I wanted. I will definitely do this again.

 Experiment was successful and is in the Christmas present pile. Now to the real deal. This hat is in fingering weight. I love a light weight hat. This is the fun part, I'm knitting it inside out.

 This is the correct "look" of the hat. B who wants to do all that purling? Inside out means more knits than purls and is working perfectly.

Now it's my carry around project , The pattern is set and now I know I have a great cast off that will work when I get to the slouch hat length. Makes me a little giddy.
-Deb

It's 9am and I have sewn 3 buttons on my latest knit of the Last Minute Baby Vest in Cotton Tweed worsted,

and if you know my feelings about sewing on buttons you know this is last minute (ha, ha) and urgent. Yup. Tomorrow we leave to go to the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitter's Fair in Kitchener, ON. It's shades of Christmas Eve around here, last minute sewing and knitting and wrapping up.

10:30am.  I sewed in the ends on a new pair of Ergonomic Mittens called Striped Mitten (I have to work on  garment naming, obviously) in Northern Lights chunky, soaked the mittens and set them out to dry (I don't think all my crossing of fingers is going to help my knitting dry in this humidity). All the time drinking very cold coffee since I forgot about it while sewing buttons on, a task that seems to take my undivided attention so there is no bloodshed.

11:30am Then I edited new patterns: 1920's Stripes (hat) which match the Striped Mittens. Phew, can't believe I have this much done already. Best to get everything done before the temperature soars. Load patterns up on Ravelry. Done. Check.

Afternoon: Now I'm trying to finish that last knitted garment. Doesn't this bring back December 24th and not in a particularly good way? One more Swirl Cowl in a new variegated Cottage Colours worsted wool. I really like watching the swirl cut across the colour but I'd enjoy it more if it went just a teensy weensy bit faster.

It might be a late night! If you're going to the K-W show come by and say Hi. We're having a SHOW SPECIAL. Come and check it out.

-Deb

Eek, a Steek Retreat

The challenge for the Knitting at Lake Lauzon was to come up with a steek project. They asked for steeking, really they did. So we steeked. Steeks are beneficial when knitting with 2 colours. Mosaic knitting is 2-colour knitting where you only use one colour at a time. A great technique.

First we all worked on the Mosaic pattern. Then we sewed along the 5 extra steek stitches we added to the hat circumference.

Then we CUT.

No one fainted, everyone sewed and cut, everyone! Then we worked the buttonband and the crown of the hat. A marvelous job by all and wonderful finished hats.

Liz finished with a headband.

A terrific weekend at Lake Lauzon Resort. There will be another retreat in 2016, same weekend, same place. Looking forward to it already.

-Deb

Mosaic Sample

I've working up my first sample for a Steek workshop I'm running in Northern Ontario. It's a weekend at Lake Lauzon Resort in Algoma Mills, ON on April 25 & 26. Yikes, it's coming up soon.

Steeks work really well for 2-colour knitting because it's so much easier to do colourwork in the round. For this workshop we're going to make a hat or headband with 2 colours with a steek which will be cut and a buttonband put in it's place. Although the usual method for colourwork is to work a fairisle pattern, I decided to tackle Mosaic knitting.

I think I am in love. Have you tried this? There are lots of advantages, especially when worked in the round.
1.  Work with only 1 colour on a round at a time, perfect. No need to carry a second colour.
2.  The charts are easy to read once you know the trick. The trick is that each row of the chart must be worked twice with the same colour of wool.
3. The charts are easy to work with. Working with the dark colour, knit the dark stitches on the chart, slip the light stitches.
2.  The second round in the same colour is a snap. Phew. Always nice to have a comfortable, easy round. Work the stitches that are in the colour you're working with and slip the other stitches. You can have fun with the stitches on this round. By knitting the stitches you produce stockinette stitch or by purling them, garter stitch.

I see possibilities here. I worked the green (light colour) in stockinette stitch and the blue (dark colour) in garter stitch. What if I did it the other way around and made the green in garter stitch and the blue in stockinette stitch? How different would it look? What if I made the background the light colour and the shape in the dark colour? What if I did it all in garter stitch?

As you can see I have some more mosaic knitting in my near future. I can't wait to see what will happen.
-Deb

Swirl designs

I've been fascinated by making my knitting swirl. You can make a pattern rotate around a hat, socks, wristers, a bag or anything knit in the round. This is how it works.

1. There's a decrease with a matching increase so that the stitch numbers stay the same.
2.  The swirl goes to the right or left or depending on where you put the decreases and which way they lean.

A decrease ("/") which leans to the right (K2tog) with an increase ("-") worked after a knit stitch (like a Kf&b: knit into front and back of same stitch) which moves the knit stitch ("V") to the Right looks just like this on your needle:
           -V  /
         -V  /
       -V  /
Now you have a design moving to the right. In this hat the Swirl Round was worked every second round with a knit round in between to facilitate working the garter stitch pattern. The angle of swirl is a little more vertical.

Swirling in the other direction?
Make an increase before the knit stitch and it moves the knit stitch to the left (although once again a Kf&b seems to work fine). The corresponding decrease should lean to the Left (SSK) as well.
  \ V-
   \ V-
    \ V-    
A new design swirling to the left. This sock has the Swirl Round worked every round which makes the angle of the swirl more pronounced. The increases and decreases pull the fabric in so about 10% more stitches are needed before beginning the swirl.

-Round and Round sock in Saucon Fingering cotton/acrylic sock yarn

How do you get started? Divide your stitches into sections (as many as you like) and place markers so that each section has the same number of stitches in it. The same sequence is worked in each section.

How to Set-Up the Markers? The Right swirling pattern is easier to work with the Kf/b increase and a K2tog.  I would set it up visually between Markers as: 
* / ......  -V *           (it looks like this on your needle)
written as:  *Kf&b, knit to last 2 sts, K2tog; repeat in every section.

The pattern may not seem as obvious when you set it up with the Markers. Having the K2tog at the end of a section means the decreases will gobble up the stitches to the right where you have lots sitting there. The pattern becomes clearer as you work. The swirl itself is underlined here and straddles the Marker.  
* /  .....  -V * /  .....  -V * /  .....  -V *

Where can you fit in a stitch pattern? Making your stitch pattern dance in a circle is lots of fun.
*/ .....  -V, stitch pattern*
written as : * work stitch pattern, Kf&b, knit to last 2 sts, K2tog; repeat in each section.

- 4 sections with DK weight yarn and garter stitch pattern.

- 6 sections in Chunky weight wool

 

For the crown, continue to work stitch pattern and decreases only (no more increases).

OR how about putting the stitch pattern here?
*/ stitch pattern, -V*   
The swirl decreases cut across the stitch pattern. This was really interesting to work. You have to incorporate the increases into the stitch pattern as you work but the affect is really great.

-New Pattern: ribbed Swirl Infinity Scarf and Hat
 shown in Heavy Worsted weight yarn from my stash

 

You can work the Swirl Infinity Scarf and Hat  in any weight of yarn from worsted to chunky weight.

 

I included a free SWIRL DIY Hat Recipe in our latest Cabin Fever Newsletter. Email: cabinfever.ca@gmail.com if you want a copy sent to you. Have fun swirling.

- Deb



 Cabin Fever Ravelry Group

How's your Christmas knitting coming? I'm on a couple of the last items - the boyfriend list.

On the right is the crown of a brown hat for Lynda's boyfriend. It's chocolate brown, nice guy colour. I'm doing Lynda's pattern from the Need A HAT booklet, thought he might like that. The orange is for my daughter's boyfriend. He bought himself a 'old school' 3 wood (golf club) and would like an 'old school' cover for it. How can I resist such a request.

-Deb

Wow!! Vogue Knitting ....

Yes! Our new hat booklet, "Need A Hat?" has been reviewed in the Fall 2009 issue just out. WooHooo! See page 20 "Made in Canada" by Lee Ann Balazuc. Pretty exciting stuff.

- Lynda

Need A Hat?

Yes, it's here! Hot Off the Press!!

After a fair bit of technical hair-pulling the booklets arrived Thursday afternoon and Sophy and I immediately packed them up and shipped them to Sturbridge, MA, for me to sell at the trade show next week (and hopefully for Deb to show and sell when she does her classes at Reba's store The Fiber Loft in Harvard, MA). On Friday we sent off our first store shipment to Diane of Georgetown Knitting & Crafts. Karen, of SheepStrings in Dwight ON, stopped to pick up copies to take to the Knitters Frolic Show in Toronto and for Miko and Jennifer at The Purple Purl.

As an interesting aside, Karen stopped by my house on the way home from doing the show (mainly to get fed I think) and told me that people had trouble believing that they could use ANY yarn for ANY hat in the booklet as much as Karen assured them they could (Karen is one of the designers in the book, see page 45, hat #10 so she knew this was true, lol). They bought the booklet on faith ... and hope. I think they'll be pleased.

I've put more detail and bigger pictures on the Cabin Fever web site if you want to go have a look!

-Lynda

Just wanted to update with an email comment from Diane:

Hi Lynda and Debbie,
Seeing I am the first store to receive your new hat book - I will be the first to comment - What a great book!!! I think there is a hat there for everyone!! Good job!! I bet you do not ever want to knit another hat for a long time!!
Diane
Diane & Bob CrawfordGeorgetown Yarn & Crafts

170 Guelph St.Georgetown,

ON L7G 4A7Phone: 905-877-1521

Fax: 905-877-3614

knitting@cogeco.ca

http://www.canknit.com/members/dcrawford.html

2nd attempt at a slip stitch hat

Not too much knitting got done last week between getting everything ordered, organised and packed up for the Stitches East show in Baltimore, then shipping out books and things for the Rochester Guild talk and our book signing at Embraceable Ewe in Hamburg (both on the way back home from the show), all while carrying on with business as usual (and it is our busy season). And no relaxing on the weekend either as I had company!

But I wanted to try another slip stitch hat for our new booklet and the first attempt was not ideal ... you could barely see the pattern at all! So, here is the 2nd attempt. It's a "mock cable" slip stitch. I can't be bothered to use a cable needle for a 1 stitch cable and as I'm working in wool, I just slip it off the needle and hold it behind with my fingers. Works great and no constant seaching for that darn cable needle!

I'm having a hard time, as usual, planning the trip knitting. I'd love to take (and try very hard to finish) my pullover, I want to finish the mock cable hat and I'm winding some yarn to do some adult sizes of my new flap cap. The knitting is tricky because I hate having idle hands at a show but when I get busy, then the knitting is up and down and up and down and it's very easy to make a mistake (it is not at all unusual for me to rip out any knitting I've done while at a show unless it's a really easy hat or sock). And I really can't take anything I have to concentrate on! However, there's the LONG drive (we take turns) and the evenings in the hotel room ... And it's far too dangerous NOT to take knitting as then I end up buying yarn and starting something new! I've way too many things to finish before I start anything else new. Well, except for my Christmas knitting. :-)

I will have to make some decisions soon as we'll be leaving at the crack of stupid tomorrow morning.

Now I'm off to print off directions. I love Mapquest!

-Lynda