Canada Post Delivers!: Yarn That Is

A box of goodness arrived from Elann today.

Look what's inside: glorious yarn and yummy sweater patterns.

I finally got to touch my Peruvian Highland Chunky yarn. I'm not disappointed with the Oxford Grey Heather colour.

Elann is teasing me with sumptuous brochures of more yarn and more patterns.

I love knitting sweaters. But, I am strong. I won't be tempted until I finish Jared Flood's version of the Urban Aran Cardigan. Maybe.

Happy temptations!

I Enjoyed My Knitted Things Today

Today was a beautiful sunny clear blue sky day.

Despite the sun, the northerly wind kept a chill in the air. I grabbed my camera and some knitted things to keep warm. My mom's cheery yellow knitted eyelash scarf and my owl hat did the job.

I dropped my felted camera case by a tree, while I took pictures. It looks at home on the floor of the forest that surrounds my house.

I enjoyed my knitted things today.

Happy March!

Yarn Snarl, I Snarl!

I was cozy in my pjs and happily knitting my Multnomah shawl when an unexpected yarn snarl intruded on my bliss. Yes, this is the offending snarl.

This snarl emerged from the centre pull of my Patons Kroy Sock yarn skein. When I untangled it, you can see my discovery. Both of its ends were broken from the skein leaving me high and dry in the middle of a lace row on my shawl.

The knitting goddess must have been looking down on me. I was able to knit to the end of my row with a bit of yarn to spare. I had only knit about five rows with this skein.

In the past, I’ve knit with skeins where the yarn emerges in a knot tieing broken ends together. But, this is the worst yet. Quality control where are you!

I hope there are no other snarls this Fiber Arts Friday at Wonder Why Gal’s. I’ll be checking to see.

Happy Fiber Arting!

Back to the Future: Vintage Stoles and Chill Chasers

Every once and awhile I browse through my mom's old pattern books. Right now I'm knitting the Multnomah Shawl and my eye was naturally drawn to the patterns for stoles and "chill-chasers". Any of you shawl knitters know the difference between the two?

This is from a 1952 magazine called "Smart Knitting". I wish I could fill out a knitted blouse like this. Oops, this is all about the stole!

The lace pattern for the stole above is quite simple. It's a repeat of  *yo, P2 tog*.

This stole is a bit more complicated, as you can tell from the face of the wearer. With this one, the knitter wraps the yarn around the needle on one row and drops it the next row to make long open  lace work. It reminds me of hairpin lace.

For 20 cents this pattern book could have been yours in the 1950s.

If only they were still that price! Oh well, enough of vintage. I better get back to the present and knit my shawl.

Happy knitting!

Hurry Up Canada Post: My First On-Line Yarn Order

I found it very strange buying yarn and not first being able to touch it. Plus, I had to take the chance that the color on the computer screen would be the color of the yarn I get from Elann via Canada Post.

Twenty skeins of Elann Peruvian Highland Chunky in Oxford Grey Heather are on their way to my local post office.

This is all in aid of making hubby Jarod Flood's take on Paton's Urban Aran Cardigan. Luckily, Elann also had the Paton's pattern book "Street Smart" which contains the original pattern.

I guessed estimated the amount of skeins to order by scouring for information on Ravelry's forums and finished projects. Mocha Heather yarn was my original color choice for the cardigan. After thinking it over, I decided grey would suit hubby better than brown.

I'm excited about this project. I haven't knit a sweater since the summer. The Urban Aran Cardigan is loaded with cables which I love to knit.

Hurry up Canada Post!

Happy yarn buying!