Thursday, October 17, 2019

Rescue

A perfect Thanksgiving weekend was had by all here. Instead of the usual turkey routine, I asked my butcher around the corner for some turkey legs, which I turned into turkey pot pie for the main feast. This is what everyone here really wants more than sliced turkey with gravy, etc., so I obliged, especially since Isabel had travelled across the entire continent to be here. Here she is on the Glenora ferry last Tuesday, as we took advantage of the spectacular fall weather.


Along with her luggage came an old tam (this one) which had had an unfortunate encounter in a backpack with burrito sauce. The accident had occurred some time ago, so we both were concerned that it might mean the end of the hat. Clearly, the customary soak in Eucalan would not be enough. Instead, I soaked the tam for about half an hour in Sunlight dish soap and water, then gently rubbed some bar Sunlight into the stain and even more gently massaged it around. The cream background colour is the old (good) version of Patons Classic Wool, so the possibility of a felting accident was top of mind. Luckily, that was avoided, and we learned that burrito sauce is no match for the magic of good old Sunlight. I generally don't like scented products, but for some reason can't seem to get enough of that lemon bar soap smell! Here is the tam, clean and fresh, along with Isabel's Yule tam blocking over dinner plates on top of our radiators.


 My knitting over Thanksgiving consisted of this.


Instead of using a bulky yarn, I'm using a chunky (Cascade Eco in #8014, the not-quite-palest of the natural, undyed shades). I've gone up two sizes to produce the desired finished measurements at a slightly different gauge. I hardly ever knit other designers' patterns, but this one has been calling to me for a while, and so far the instructions are very well written.
While browsing Ursa's project page on Ravelry, I happened across Espace Tricot's version in a beautiful Norwegian yarn that they carry, and lo and behold, five skeins of it arrived at my front door this morning.


The colour is actually a bright olive green, but the rainy skies and low light this morning aren't showing off the gorgeousness of the wool. Not sure what this is destined for yet, but I can hardly keep my hands off it. All of this activity, including an avoidance of social media for the next week or so, is part of my plan to deal with Rhinebeck envy. Hope it works!

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Every Colour

Time for a new Fibonacci Neckerchief. The old one finally died at the end of last winter and I put off doing anything to replace it until now.


The yarn is Riverside Studio's merino singles in "Dryad". I think it contains some of just about every colour, but the shades are muted, the effect being as if natural dyes had been used. It ought to go with everything. This won't take long, and that's a good thing since our delightful weather is about to turn colder in time for Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

KnitEast 2019: Scenes

Back from KnitEast, getting ready for Thanksgiving (making cranberry sauce, ordering local bread and pickles, etc.) Too busy for an extended post, so here are simply "scenes" from last weekend.

View from my room.
The front lawn.
Wool at the local supermarket. By Sunday night they were cleaned out.
View of the Baptist church at dusk.
Stephanie and Lucy (both knitting on Steph's sweaters) during the fashion show.
Pencil illustration by one of my students to help another student. Thank you, whoever came up with this.