Here Be Knitting

Canada Calling: It's STILL Winter Here

Here it is, the 4th of March and we're in the middle of a snowfall warning.  

This is pretty much what our front steps look like even after the Mr. shoveled it all off this afternoon.  He blew out the snow on the driveway and I'm sure it's all drifted in by now.

Nothing to be done inside but camp out on the sofa with the wood stove blazing, knitting in hand and watching the toob.

It was very cold here in January, so I made myself a pair of heavier weight, warm and wooly socks.  I love them!

Our friends in Moose Jaw became grandparents last month, so I knitted up a bright pink blanket for the new baby.

These same friends have a cute little dog who really needed a fancy little coat:

Isn't she adorable?

With the doggie coat and blanket done, I've gone back working on the Royal Tahoe Shawl.  I'm halfway done the bottom border, but it's going to be a long haul.

I'm impatiently waiting for a parcel from Little Knits in Seattle... soft purple tweed yarn - merino, silk and cashmere - to make the Central Park Hoodie.

I've borrowed the designer's photo here, so use your imagination and think deep purple tweed. ;>D  Heh, I wish I was that slim!

Dreaming of summer days.........

 

Canada Calling: Merry Christmas!

It's snowy and cold, typical for a Manitoba Christmas.

Ken & I have been having a great time being back yard birders this year.  We were so excited when some Pine Grosbeaks paid us a visit in November.  Sadly, one male got sick and died here.  ;>(

The Pine Grosbeak is the size of a robin, and were very tame.  We had both males & females here.

We also have a dozen or more Common Redpolls, and both species were happy to share the sunflower seeds.

We've been adopted by a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers (crow size) who don't seem the least bit concerned when I walk around while they're here. The male let me run in the house to get my camera to take these pics.  Apparently I can't post the video I shot - it needs to be on Youtube first and I haven't done that.

On to knitting:

I finally started my Royal Tahoe Shawl on October 20, from the Tahoe Shawl by Nazanin Fard. While not a difficult knit, it's been going a bit slowly as I've had to put it down for smaller projects, such as socks for my granddaughter for her Christmas stocking.

This is the pattern for the main body of the shawl, complete with matching beads.

This is the border:

And here is the edging on the bottom.  

I've managed to acquire a skein of Wollmeise sock yarn from a friend who was destashing.  Although I think this is a lovely yarn, I'm not sure I understand all the fuss around it.  Of course it won't see the light of day as a pair of socks, so am looking for ideas for what it should be.  I'm thinking a nice warm cowl or shawlette to wear with my shiny black winter coat.

I've managed to maintain my weight loss so far at around 30 to 34 lbs.  It just depends on the week.  I'm thinking I need to get serious again after the New Year celebrations and try to take some more off.  A lot will depend on my physical health.  In early December I injured my knee and aggravated it last week.  I was able to see a sports injury doctor fairly quickly and he diagnosed degenerative osteoarthritis and a "mild" tear to the meniscus.  If that's mild, I'd hate to find out what a serious tear felt like.  Because of the knee issue, I've not been walking much so feel like a slug.

I'll leave you with a picture of our tiny Christmas tree and wish you all the best of the holiday season and a Happy New Year!

Australia Calling - It's Spring

Hi Shelagh,

I'm not sure where August went.  It was pretty cold, wet and miserable here in Melbourne and I think I just kept my head down and bunkered down.

Recently, it was the Hurstbridge (a small town near us) Wattle Festival.  The wattle is a glorious native and the bush around Hurstbridge is full of this flowering beauty during late winter/early spring:

Some knitters yarn bombed this year's festival:

Doesn't their installation catch the wonderful brightness of the wattle (well worth clicking on to enbiggen)?  And a close up:

We also enjoy another of their master creations in Hurstbridge (again click on to enbiggen):

I think we are very lucky to have these.  I drive past them everyday on my way to work.  They always make me smile.

How goes early autumn for you?

Canada Calling: Where has the time gone?

Hi Deb!

I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I wrote about Coracle Cove.   I'm ready for another break away from reality because the heat this summer has been unrelenting.  I've come to the realization that fall is my favourite time of year.  Nice temperatures, next to no bugs, yet still have flowers and veggies from the garden.

With regards to the weather, we've had some excitement this week.  On Sunday there were storm watches and warnings, and with good reason too.  Just as Ken & I were about to leave the house to go out for dinner, we saw clouds like this:

While we were eating dinner 20 minutes away, the storm must have hit our place with force.  We came home to find a broken tree in the back yard.  Luckily it missed the roof of our porch and landed a few feet away.

It's 9:30 p.m. as I write this and it's 28C - STILL!  The a/c is running full tilt.  There are storm watches & warnings out tonight too.  I wouldn't mind some more rain, but the wind - nah.  Don't need it.

As for knitting - I've been doing a boring market bag, with no pictures  ;>(   I'm still working on the pink mohair scarf at knit nights.  There's no rush for it for a few months yet.  Once things cool down a bit, I intend to start the beaded shawl with the Royal (blue) Wedding yarn (which I posted about a while ago.

An update on my weight loss journey... I'm now down 33 lbs, but it has been very slow since late June.  I think I've gotten a bit tired of low carbs, so have allowed myself a few "treats". I'm still walking regularly - I've gone from a size 18 to size 12 jeans and am very pleased with that progress.  My grandson is coming to visit in a week, so once he's gone home I'll be back at it again.  The good thing is, I haven't gained any back, so staying the same for a week or two is a victory for me.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of my garden and flowers and hope you enjoy them.

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Australia Calling - I has new shoes!

I saw these over at The Rainey Sisters and just had to have them:

They are from Dansko.  I couldn't find these particular ones in Australia (although Dansko are available here) so sourced mine, untried and unseen from eBay.  They fit great, look good and are super comfortable. 

Next up - compulsory (or perhaps compulsive!) yarn acquisition.

Australia Calling - Works in Progress

Hi Shelagh, An update on the knitting that I have on the needles at the moment. I'm working on 3 large projects and, surprisingly, they are all proceeding pretty well at the moment.  First up, a fairisle cardigan for Allan:

It is Bridgeport by Todd Gocken from The Knitter magazine issue 40:

It is knitted in the round and the blue and grey stripe you can see in my photo is the steeking line/s.  I am knitting it in the recommended yarn and colours as Allan liked the combination and I wasn't brave enough to play with colour (!) - Rennie 4 ply in Oyster and Atlantic Spray.  It is my first fairisle knit and, obviously, first steeked project.  I'm nervous about that, but also happy enough to cut away when I get there.  I'm enjoying the knitting although only manage somewhere around 5 rows a night.

Here is a close up:

Second up, is Rothko from The Knitter Issue 36:

The Rowan Felted Tweed is gorgeous - soft, lovely charcoal heathered colourway.  The Kid Silk Haze colours do not show up very clearly - the "red" is actually a deep pink and the "white" a pretty light pink.  They work really well with the Felted Tweed and create an interesting coloured pane effect while still being an easy knit.  Another photo, this time of the front from the back with the ends of the yarn still to be finished:

Lastly, The Long Line Gilet from Debbie Bliss in her yarn Glen.  It is a heathered pink which again creates a lovely fabric.  I really like the Long Line Gilet - it really suits our Melbourne weather of needing lots of layers in winter.  I've finished the back already and had it done in less than a week - very fast for me:

I've folded the back here to get a photo that looks ok on the iPhone.  I think it will be a flattering look for me, especially with the blacks I wear in winter.

What's on your needles at the moment?

Australia Calling - Lilli our Wonder Dog

Hi Shelagh

Each week, Lilli gets a lovely big bone as a treat.  This week, Io put the bone down and Lilli, instead of pouncing and hurrying away with her catch, did something very strange.  She sat and looked at the bone, looked at Io and gently barked.  She then did this again - looked at the bone, looked at Io and then gently barked.  And again....  Io was wondering what was going on with Lilli and finally looked at the bone.  She had put it down with the glad wrap still on the bone!  Poor Lilli, she must have been beginning to wonder what she needed to do to get Io to work it out :)  Dumb humans.  Here's a photo of our clever girl:

This weekend, we went down to Cape Paterson for a short break.  It was cold and wet but beautiful and really nice to get away.  We caught this photo late on Saturday:

On Sunday, we visited Waratah Bay and Sandy Point.  Almost empty at this time of year - the beaches were long uninterrupted stretches of hard sand and soft waves.  At Sandy Point, there was a couple with their golden lab who was probably feeling like she was in dog heaven - retrieving a ball thrown into the sea, over and over again.  I felt bad we had left Lilli at home with the girls, but it was nice to be there by ourselves.  A quiet weekend of coffee, nice food and open fireplaces - pretty much this girl's idea of heaven.

Australia Calling - Wing o' the Moth

Hi Shelagh

Your holiday looked like such a relaxing treat - the garden photos were gorgeous.  One day, I would love to get to Canada!

Finally, some finished knitting.  The Wing o' the Moth Shawl from Anne Hanson. I've owned the pattern for a long time (pre Ravelry days!) and it was good to finally get an FO:

It was knit in Wollmeise 100% wool, 4ply yarn and used most of 2 skeins.  It was a straightforward knit,  which provided enough challenge to keep me interested.  It is now winging (terrible pun) its way to an Odd Duck Swapper as part of a Creepy Crawly Swap.  I hope she likes it :)

Here are some close ups:

And, finally, the obligatory artistic shot:

How about you - getting much knitting done or busy in the garden instead?

Canada Calling: Back from vacation

And sorry to be.  Ken & I went all out this year to travel outside of Manitoba, but stay in Canada.  I had come across a b&b while surfing the net a couple of years ago, and since then have been wanting to go there.

This is no ordinary b&b.  Instead of one room, it's a whole apartment - 700 square feet! Living/dining, full bathroom and very large bedroom with a king size bed.   We opted out of the daily breakfast since I never know how long Ken will sleep in while on vacation.  Besides, it's vacation, right?  We like to take it easy, sit around, read, explore and have no schedule to it all.  We're always so busy at home that it's nice to kick back.

It took a bit of travel to get there: from our place in rural Manitoba to the Winnipeg airport, fly to Vancouver, pick up a rental car, make our way through downtown Vancouver (I missed a turn at the airport)  to the ferry terminal at Horseshoe Bay.  After a 40 minute ferry ride, we arrived at Langdale terminal on the British Columbia Sunshine Coast.  It was a 30 minute drive to Sechelt where we picked up a few groceries, then another few minutes to Coracle Cove (I managed to miss another turn), but we made it!

Although we knew ahead of time there was a very steep driveway to navigate,  I really hoped the brakes were good as I made my way down.  The following picture really doesn't show the steep angle. I think I should have got right down on my belly to show the true angle.   I confessed to our host the next morning that I had nightmares that night about driving back up. 

However,  it was all worth it to have our own private suite on the waterfront. 

Right outside the patio doors was a charming covered patio which came in handy for the couple of times it rained.  We could sit out there having morning coffee.  Our host thoughtfully provided a pair of binoculars to use.

It was great for bird watching, particularly the Spotted Towhees and Rufous Hummingbirds that came to the hanging bird feeders. I tried many times to capture the birds on camera, but was never quick enough.  

The view from the deck was wonderful:

There was ample seating provided on the hot tub deck and further down, a floating dock with chairs.  With all this peace and quiet, why go anywhere? 

I wish we had the growing season they have in B.C.  I love to garden, and it was a joy to see the beautifully landscaped grounds here. 

The flowering shrubs were out of this world.

Mid week we took a walk along the Sechelt Sea Wall which was great exercise.  When we turned toward the road, we happened upon a little flower garden hidden by the trail.  While there were some lovely flowers in it, I was most impressed with the Himalayan Blue Poppies.  I tried growing them once, but obviously Manitoba doesn't have the right climate while B.C. does.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end ......

Australia Calling - The Weekend and Some Knitting

Hi Shelagh,

I've been sick the last few days - a fluey thing that laid me low and kept me home from work.  The home from work I quite like, the being sick not so much.  I'm feeling much better today and back off to work to try and catch up.

This last weekend, we ventured over to Daylesford:

This is Lake Daylesford.  It was a lovely, cold autumn day.  The sun didn't hold much heat but the wind stayed down for most of our visit.  I love the sun sparkling on the water.  We enjoyed a late lunch:

The cheeses are local to Victoria and were absolutely lovely.  The coffees were good too and this little coffee shop was located at the back of a second hand bookstore right on the edge of the lake.  It was a really nice place to spend an hour.

On the knitting front, I am working on the Wing -'o-the-Moth Shawl.  I'm in the Odd Ducks Swap Group on Ravelry and the latest swap I've joined is the Creepy Crawlies Swap and my spoilee loves moths, so I'm finally getting to knit this pattern.  I'm on the last chart and down to the last 15 rows, but as you know, these last ones take forever!  I'm knitting it in a Wollmeise deep red (almost the favourite colour of my spoilee):

Pretty hard to see the detail with my poor photos.  I'll take another few shots when I've finished and blocked the shawl.

Finally, I wanted to show you The Blue Lake at Mt Gambier.  It is in South Australia and we visited there on our recent break.  The blue of the lake really is this blue.  It is one of the most amazing things I've seen; it literally took our breaths away: