Need A PLUS Cardigan? is now available!

Cabin Fever's newest book "Need A PLUS Cardigan?" is at the printer's as we speak. I hope to be picking it up towards the end of next week. If you'd like to pre-order a copy, just drop me (Lyn) an email and you'll get one of the first ones (I'll need to know if you're paying by Paypal or credit card and your mailing address and phone number).

If you'd like a digital download version (as a PDF) I've posted it on the Patternfish site. I'm also working on a "mobile" friendly version to work on mobile devices such as iPads*, phones and tablets and hope it will be available within a few days.
(* the current version does work fine on an iPad.)

If you've not been following Deb's blog entries over the past year (actually she's been hard at work on this for the past 18 months and Robin Hunter has been involved for nearly a year) this is a terrific book for knitting Plus sized cardigans from the Top Down. As one of the first people downloading the book from Patternfish said:

"At last..a much needed book/clear tutorial on raglan cardigans for the Ample Plus size community!
Very clear step by step instructions on how to make modifications for sleeve width/length,hems and ribbings,collars,waist/hip and bust shaping ... all the options are clearly presented.

OH! DID I MENTION THAT THE CHARTS ARE ALSO WRITTEN OUT FOR THOSE OF US WHO ARE CHART CHALLENGED?????

Thanks Deb for another fine publication."

Cheers & have fun,
-Lyn

PS If you're a store interested in carrying the book - in Canada just email me, Gemini Fibres or Infiknit; in the US Barb from Up North Fiber Art Supply is our US distributor along with Unicorn & Royal Publications.

Mini Road Trip

Eliza’s Buttons & Yarn, 110 Little Ave, Unit #8

Barrie Ontario L4N 4K8

Phone 705-725-8536 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            705-725-8536      end_of_the_skype_highlighting

Web site http://www.elizaknits.com  Email eliza@elizaknits.com

I've just gone on my shortest yarn store road trip ever! It wasn't much more than blocks from my house. My visit yesterday was to Eliza's Buttons & Yarn, Barrie's newest yarn store.

Elizabeth Fallone, designer & passionate knitter, opened her shop earlier this month. She's done a great job with the shop as you can see from the picture (I had to chase Elizabeth around the shop to get her in the picture - that's her on the right). The store is bright and airy and has a lovely selection of yarns and a very extensive collection of unusual buttons (which we know are hard to find). We're very pleased that Elizabeth has the full line of Cabin Fever yarn & books.

Her Hours are:
Monday Tuesday 10:00 – 6:30
Wednesday 12:00- 8:30
Thursday Friday 10:00 – 6:30
Saturday 10:00 – 4:00
Sunday CLOSED

-Lyn

A-Line Cardigans

When Deb wrote "Morgan's Cardigan" for our Teens & Tweens book, we had no idea how popular that cardigan was going to be! Morgan (Deb's daughter) was more than pleased with her cropped sleeve version and I loved wearing the largest size to shows. However, at every show I wore it I kept on hearing "oh, love that cardigan but I'd need it in a larger size".

"Morgan's Cardigan" (largest size)
and the "A-Line" Cardigan (small).

So, after me repeating this to Deb several times, she re-wrote the cardigan in adult sizes - and it's lovely! It's called the A-Line Cardigan #624 and here it is on the left. It's in worsted weight yarn so a fairly quick knit and very versatile.
I can tell you, from personal wear, that this is a terrific cardigan and I wear it a lot! You can wear it with jeans, with nice pants or a skirt for a dressier look and it looks great over a dress as well.
I'm just starting a second one for me in a lime green merino from Abuelita Yarns (I like this yarn so much we're going to be carrying it ourselves).
The three-quarter length sleeves, as shown, work perfectly for me but you can have it as a cap sleeve or a long sleeve - whichever you prefer! The lengths are written as petite, average or tall but, again, you can knit whichever length suits.
It's on Patternfish for download.
But that is not the end! Deb got quite a number of emails asking about re-sizing the cardigan to Plus sizes.

Here is our friend Jennifer, in her cardigan
 that Deb knit for her.

After doing some research and talking to a number of interested knitters in the plus size range, she's re-written the cardigan to Plus sizes from 1X to 5X. The A-Line PLUS Cardigan #625 has the same sleeve and length options along with additional fitting options for the fuller figure.
You can download the pattern from Patternfish here.
I believe there's a KAL (Knit-A-Long) being organised for the A-Line PLUS but I'll let Deb fill you in on that.
Deb's been doing (as you know if you've been keeping up with the blog) a lot of research on plus sizing and has been getting a lot of input from Julie. It's been really interesting to hear her work through the fitting options and design challenges. Look out for the results next year in book form!
-Lyn

Mom's newest

I'm up at camp and Mom showed me her newest projects. Her neighbours, Nan & Dave, are expecting new twin grandbabies and asked Mom to knit them each a sweater, so here they are and excuse my feet!

Mom used the new book "Need A Baby Cardigan?" (which we'll start shipping next week) and the "Need A Hat?" book for the hats.
-Lyn

A Snug Shrug!

Now that I'm back from the NENA (New England Needle Work Trade Show) in Sturbridge, MA, and Deb's back from doing the Knitters Frolic in Toronto, I thought I'd better get caught up on posting Deb's new pattern!
It's called #626 The Snug Shrug and it's a super cute little shrug just perfect for the evening over a summer dress or top or to cover up in cool air conditioning. You can download it from Patternfish and we also have it available on our site as a pattern or kit. There are two versions:

The version on the left is worked with two strands of superwash yarn. One strand is a hand-dyed fingering weight yarn in light and dark blues and the 2nd strand is Sterling (63% superwash, 20% silk, 15% merino & 2% silver) in a solid black (the silver adds a lovely, subtle, sparkle!). Kits are available in blue with black as shown and a lovely, rich, brown with black. 

The version on the right in white is a soft, fluffy merino superwash boucle which is worked on a larger needle than the ball band calls for to make it very soft and light (this kit is available in winter white as shown, grape heather & blue heather).  

-Lyn

Need A Sock?

Did you think our sock book had gone away? Nope! Here's the front cover as it stands today.

Deb and I are up at the cottage (camp) and we'll be working on edits and pictures this weekend. Still lots to do!

Want to see more pictures? 

Don't these look totally comfy?

Mmmm, don't you just want a pair?
The pumpkin pair are in our Cabin Fever Silk & Silver hand-dyed.

How about a manly pair?

OK, back to work on the pictures!

-Lynda

Cat Bed?

I've been trying to work on a stole .... but Emmy thinks it's her new cat bed. I can't put it down for a second without her climbing right onto it for a snooze. Something about the combination of Silk & Silver, fine mohair and a merino/angora blend? This cat has good taste!

The blue item in the front is a new lace shawl from Sophy which I'm test knitting in our Silk & Silver which I've dyed in a combination of purple, blue and turquoise. 

- Lynda

It's Here!

Yes! Teens & Tweens has arrived! Here are a couple of images from the book. I'll post all the colour pages on the gallery on the web site.

The Cabled Hoodie above, Kendra's Tunic below:

The Waffle Scarf & Mittlets, below left, Mirror Stripes Pullover, below right & bottom left, and the Tam & Zigag Scarf bottom right:

Now to update the web site!

-Lynda

Teens & Tweens

While Deb and I are working on the editing I thought I'd let you see the cover! It's a family affair, the girl on the left is Thomasin, daughter of Sophy, our Shipping Goddess and accessories designer. Michaela, top right, is the daughter of our photographer, Leanne, along with her girlfriend. The middle boy is Oscar, Sophy's nephew. The boy at the bottom right, is Leanne's son, Chris! 

The cover and inside colour pages went to the printer today and fingers crossed I got it all right. We actually print on two different presses - the colour pages on a huge offset printer that prints a gazillion pages a minute and the inside pattern pages on a smaller digital printer.


OK, now back to editing as Sophy found some changes I need to make!


- Lynda

Yes, I'm still honeymooning with the stripes. We are doing wonderfully well. But I've run out of black yarn for the moment so I'm taking a small break and working on editing patterns. Trading the needles in for the keyboard means my fingers are still a-twitching.

Just the sleeves to do, we're on the home stretch. If you want to see one of the other Teen sweaters we are working on, check out  http://mommabearknits2.blogspot.com/ . Bernice has her sweater done! I am trying to catch up.

-Deb

Lace Shawls

Thought I'd drop in a photograph of the shawls I'll be taking to Stitches West in 11 days. (Wow! That show snuck up fast!) I've really enjoyed knitting these shawls and it's so interesting to see the different effects with different yarns and colours.

The shawl on the right is knit in our Cabin Fever Silk & Silver fingering weight (superwash merino/silk/sterling silver) which I dyed in shades of black/blue and hints of purple. You can't see it in the photograph, but the silver gives it a lovely, subtle, glitter. Very pleased with that. The pattern is leaves surrounded with ripples and the border has little clear beads with silver in their centre.

The shawl in the middle was the first one I did and it's in the Fibre Isle bison light sock weight yarn in it's natural colour. Very light and delicate and lovely to work with. The pattern is leaves and medallions and the beads on the border are clear glass.

The shawl on the left, which I just completed, is knit in Shelridge Farm's superwash merino in DK weight. The colour is "celery" but it said leaves to me! I'm taking these to the show as kits as we stock or dye all these yarns.

All of the shawls are knit from the top-down beginning at the garter stitch centre. And all the shawls are done using the "Knitting Lace Triangles" by Evelyn A. Clark. I am a big fan of hers! 

I've been writing up, and test knitting, the accessories for the teen book over the last few days so knitting up the samples, in hopefully their final format, is my plan for the long weekend while watching the Olympics. First off is the scarf to match Deb's Waffle Jacket. The mittlet looks lovely and I think the scarf will be terrific.

- Lyn

Getting Ready for Stitches West

February is creeping ever closer and I'm trying to get ready for the Stitches West show. Karen, from SheepStrings Yarn Art Studio and I are again sharing a booth. We have to ship our goods early in February so time is getting short! I'm madly knitting away on some samples and doing a bit of shopping. I like to have some new items at each show, either our own or some cool things I've seen. So this year I'll have our new patterns (Last Minute Baby and Delicious Diamonds), some kits of the the terrific JJ Jacket and new Beaded Mittlets plus some new yarn I've dyed and am knitting the shawl right now, pictures to come. And I'll also have some new pretties, see below:

Adrianne, who does these, works with pewter and these are shaped like spools of yarn. Very beautiful and have matching earrings as well (I don't have quite the swan neck to wear the earrings myself, but am having trouble picking out only one of the necklaces to wear).

The "dog tags" are very funky.

And these ae sweater sticks/shawl pins. The top ones are coloured, wooden beads, pretty, simple and light. The stick on the right is absolutely stunning on a heavier stole or sweater that needs a closure. Very celtic looking as is the round pin below.

If anyone is going to the show and wants me to bring anything in particular - please let me know soon! 

-Lyn

Birthday Sox

I just had my birthday and I thought I'd share my Birthday Sox's from Deb.You might notice that they've been worn, natch, and are about to go into the wash.

I pretty much always get socks on my birthday from Deb, but it wasn't always that way. Well, it was for years, but one year Deb decided that I should learn to knit socks (now you need to remember, Deb is my older sister and the one who taught me to knit ... so, you get the picture). So, that birthday ... *gasp* ... no socks!!! I was devastated. So, while I may be stubborn (like my older sister, mmm?), I'm not stupid. I learned to knit socks. And guess what? Yup, socks started showing up again on my birthday. And, it's weird, I can easily knit myself socks and do as well, but somehow, it's those birthday socks I look forward to each year. Thanks Deb!

May you have a safe and happy holiday season,
- Lyn

It's a winter wonderland here. Just a couple days of snow and everyone's worries of a green Christmas are over. I walked home on Wednesday on the Lightfoot Trail. It was a bit of a slog as you can see, snow up to my knees. And I was almost properly dressed. I had wool socks on, 2 pairs of wool mittens, a wool neckwarmer and a wool hat. About half way down that stretch I was wishing I had thought to put my long johns on or at least had thought to wear my flannel lined jeans. It was a lovely day and a beautiful walk.

Yesterday was a bit of a family day for me. My dad came over and we put the wood panelling back on this wall. My mom walked over and made us lunch which was really nice. Because of water damage, we had removed the panelling in the spring. My husband and I had reshingled the roof in the summer and Tom came over and sealed up the last 2 places it was dripping. So now I think we're water-tight (my fingers are crossed). It's so nice to have it done. I still have to put up some trim but it's sure nice too look at wood and not plastic and pink insulation.

I got to some knitting in the evening.

Moving right along.

-Deb

Step Forward

I'm stepping forward on a couple of projects now. The process of 1 step forward, 2 steps back, is pretty normal for me, not being an abstract visualizer I have to do it to see it. But it usually leads to something good and a giant step forward. I started up my scarf again and after aborting the Feather and Fan pattern after a couple of inches I've settled on the Dewdrop pattern (the blue Treasury of Knitting Pattern book).

Here's a closer look at the pattern. It's fairly easy to memorize and if I can just get the row beginnings worked out I will be able to do this without carrying the pattern around with me.

And now for my new Teen cardigan.

I'm pleased with the collar which runs into the Front Panels which will go down the entire length. Ignore the colour of the button. It was the only one I had at home which is the right size, nice and big.

That's the end of the first skein of wool. It's almost a garment already. A short capelet? A large neck cozy? I can see where it's going now. I'm sure there will be a couple more hurdles to get over but it's coming together.

-Deb

Rip it

My goodness, blogspot's site has just improved a lot. Wow. Now I can underline, oops, nope. I can highlight, OK now I can't get out, rats, how do I get out of here? There, Phew. This might not be a great idea for me. I'll just stick to what I can do. Although, there are some possibilities here.
You haven't heard too much from me because I haven't felt like I've been very productive. It may have something to do with 1 step forward and 2 steps back on several projects. I knitting this,

which had some problems, so I frogged it. Yes it's gone, gone, gone. But I reknit it in this colour, more Valentine-like I thought and very gorgeous too.

And I had a scarf half way done but have decided as I look at it more and more that the colour is too dark for the pattern and so this got ripped out too.

I reskeined the wool, wet it and it's drying looped over a door handle as we speak. It should be dry by tonight. I'm going to simplify the stitch pattern since the very dark navy hides the pattern but I sooo love the colour. I think a simple Feather and Fan pattern would be more suitable.

In the meantime I've reknit the buff coloured wool,

into this but it's going to get frogged too. I know! I'm thinking of buying a condo on the shores of the frog pond.

This sweater is for a project which I haven't told you about. It's a Teen booklet which will be finished in the spring (May, 2010). The sizing will start at a 28" finished sweater and go up to a 40" sweater (small/medium adult size) with the emphasis on the 12-15 year old teen. But that doesn't take the rest of us out of the loop if the sizing works. I think I may knit one of the sweaters for myself. This is my first attempt at my entry, a long cardigan with a large collar and cuffs. I like the pattern in the collar but I made the panel in the front too wide with too great an overlap. I was going for a double breasted look and on paper I thought it worked but it's not doing what I wanted. So I'm back to thinking of a single row of buttons and this is getting the rip it, rip it, rip it treatment.

I wonder if I could launch a small boat on the frog pond to take a little trip around and see what other knitters are doing there (it's always summer at the frog pond). Is anyone else sitting on the shore? We could wave to each other and maybe meet for 'happy hour'.

-Deb

New Pattern Now Out

I've just posted Deb's new pattern #622 Last Minute Baby on our web site and in a downloadable format on PatternFish. Here's the final image ... but you've watched the work in progress the last little while! It's a top down, super fast knit using heavy worsted/aran weight yarn. You change the size by adjusting the needles. If you need a quick baby gift, this pattern is the one!

I've got some lovely yarn to dye and try it out myself!
-Lyn

Ravelry Group

Yesterday I set up a Cabin Fever Group in Ravelry (http://www.ravelry.com/groups/cabin-fever). While I was still trying to get the group image to stop being totally squished two "threads" (I think that's the term) were already being added!

Bev was totally on top of the whole group thing and started a thread about Your Fav Cabin Fever Pattern and the knitter with the question was right there with her. It was very cool. So, Deb and I sat down yesterday afternoon and Deb answered the question and we tried to figure our way around the group.

I think you can set up rules and post them (need to learn where and how) but right now our initial thing is we'd like people to put their name in with their comments/questions/discussions. Or is this not done? I'm not totally sure of the protocol. However, Deb and I prefer to have names to respond to as it seems more personal. Like a real conversation.

So, please feel free to join in! If anyone has suggestions about set-up or things I need to know or should know to administer or moderate the group please drop me an email, either at our email in Ravelry or info@cabinfever.ca - I'd appreciate it. This is a big learning curve for us!

I just finished the test knit for the yet un-named beaded mittlets (which will likely BE the name) from Shirl the Purl. Have made a coupla changes and went over them with Deb yesterday before I sewed in the ends. They came out terrific but I'll pull off the cast-off edges and add a couple of decreases just to keep them snug. After you wear mittlets for a bit, if there's not a decrease there, they tend to stretch a bit around you fingers.

You may, as I did, think that these are a tad large for my hand. They fit but are not "snug". Both Deb and I have relatively small hands (and stubby fingers). I tried these on several other people, including Al, and they fit great. So I am planning to knit these again, in DK weight for smaller hands. The red version(which will be the Medium/Large size) was done in Shelridge Farm's W4 (worsted weight) in Cranberry (lovely red) and I think I'll do the DK version (Small/Medium) in their yarn in one of two green's that I have. Can't quite make up my mind which one.

I am going to finish the editing of the pattern today, then cast on with a pink pair (worsted weight) for the 2nd test knit and the 2nd Christmas present. After I do that, Deb will take a turn and then we'll have them out. Would be nice to get them done soon as they'll make great Christmas presents (the red version is already pegged for one of Al's girls) and they are fast! A really quick knit.

-Lynda

I'm in LOVE ...

Oh, oh, oh ... I'm so pleased. I've been working away at this shawl, two steps forward and four steps back ... or at least that's what it felt like at times. I could so easily keep the leaf pattern in my head but the medallion pattern, which I really like, not so much. And when I get more than 300 stitches on my needles ... well that's a long rip out when you notice a mistake that you can't fix.

So here it is off the needles:

And here it is, pinned on the spare bed (I had to stand on

the dresser to take this shot) but ... oh, I am SO pleased, it is sooo beautiful : )

Just for fun, I timed the knitting of the last row of the medallion pattern. Turns out it was an HOUR!! Wow. Mind you, that included working it, counting it twice, grumble, grumble, not the same numbers on each side, figuring out what the mistake was, fixing the mistake, counting 3 more times, each in a different way, just to be sure (can you tell I was getting very fixated by this point of the shawl?).

I decided then that it was time to do the transition row for the edging and a good thing I did. I actually skimped on the edge and skipped 2 rows (which I don't think you can really notice) as I was getting really worried about getting it finished with the yarn I had left. The last few rows really used up a lot of yarn. I ended the edging with 3 beads on each scalloped edge and I had a tiny butterfly worth of yarn left. Whew, that was close. I found myself knitting faster and faster as I was coming to the end. Like if I went faster I could get to the end before I ran out? I really wanted to get it done with 100g of the yarn - mainly because that's what I had. That's serious motivation.

Not sure you can actually see the beads in the photograph. I used clear glass beads as I didn't want them to draw too much attention but still have a subtle effect.

The "off the needle" size was 36" x 18" and the "wet, pinned out" size was 64" x 24". I'll be interested to see what the size is, once I take out the pins.

I feel an amazing sense of achievement as this is my first lace weight, lace shawl. I actually feel quite excited and want to immediately cast on for my next one. Mmmmm, I want to make one in a heavier weight yarn ... Buffy gave me some in DK that is a lovely, creamy, soft green ...

Tomorrow, some more dyeing.

- Lyn

PS - Here's the shawl all nicely blocked and done. The size hasn't changed, so I assume that it would be possible to block it a bit larger but I'm pretty pleased (OK, really, really, pleased) with how it looks now.

I love Wednesday's

On Monday, Deb and I drove up to Shelridge Farm to visit with Buffy & Don, to stock up with more yarn for the shop and to have further development talks with Buffy. We're working with Buffy to come up with a dye technique which she'll do just for us. It's great fun, sometimes frustrating and a very, very interesting exercise. While we were working with Buffy, Don was working in the kitchen and sent each of us home with an amazing, home-baked baguette. Al and I had ours with supper and I had the tiny leftover bit as toast the next morning. Wow, can Don bake bread!

I'm just testing knitting Shirl the Purl's new Beaded Mittlet in Shelridge Farm's W4 (worsted weight) in Cranberry. It's lookin' good!

If you're wondering why the title of this post is "I love Wednesday's" is because that's my day for working at home. Deb goes into the office and I get to sit quietly at home and work. It's hard to work (as in testing patterns or developing new patterns) in the office with customers coming in, the phone ringing, discussions with Sophy as she's packing up orders ... it's not really ideal. Naturally some days, like yesterday, I had to do work on the web site and answer emails but I also did get some work done (see above and below).

This is my progress on the lace shawl I'm doing in the Fibre-Isle's Lovit Cashmere (60% fine merino superwash, 30% Lyocell cellulose & 10% premium cashmere). It's lovely to work with.

I started the shawl with a leaf pattern (lower part) which is terrific to knit and easy to keep in your head. I used the first 50g ball doing the leaf, but I wanted to "open up" the pattern for the lower part of the shawl. So when I changed balls (and spliced the yarn so hopefully you won't see the join) I changed to the medallion pattern. Now this was just as I was going to bed, so I did the very clever transition pattern from Evelyn Clark and went to bed. This morning I had to get up at 6:00am just to sit and start the actual pattern. I am VERY pleased at how lovely it looks. Evelyn's transition means that one pattern actually flows into the next quite seamlessly. I am very impressed. I am going to get some of her books "Knitting Lace Triangles" for the shop as I think this is easily the best book I've seen for getting started.

OK, time to actually shower and get to work!

-Lynda