Knitting In The North

Yarn Along

~ I'm joining Ginny for her weekly Yarn Along again this week - books & knitting, what's not to love? ~

 

 

 

This week, I've been very much enjoying Sharon Astyk's Independence Days.  It focuses on food preservation, with a lot of great information and some interesting recipes to encourage local eating year-round.  Although it may be a goodly amount of time (if ever) until I find myself accomplishing all that this lady does in the areas of food production, I am finding her thoughts and suggestions very motivating and encouraging. 

 

In the very exciting knitting department, the first of February arrived yesterday, making it legal to cast on for my Creature Comforts Cardi.  I finished the ribbing last night, and am looking forward to a window sometime this afternoon to do the set-up rows for this lovely cable.  I love the early days of a project, when I'm infatuated with the pattern, the yarn, the colour, the feel, the sheen.  So immensely satisfying.

 

Swatching Along

 

 

 

Joining in with the Yarn Along again this week, and it's a Yarn Along with a bonus - this week there is a giveaway, and it's not too late to join in yourself!

 

Sticking with my obsession with green things right now, I'm swatching with some lovely Noro Cash Iroha that's been hanging out in my stash, with plans to cast on for the Creature Comforts Cardi as my project for Vestuary.  I'm so looking forward to this one, the yarn is soft and the leaf cable pattern is gorgeous!

 

The book by Michael Pollan, Second Nature, is a collection of essays that I'm enjoying quite a bit.  Things have been super busy at work, and an essay is just about the full amount of time and attention span I have right now.  Plus, it's all about gardening - what's not to love?

 

Yarning Along

 

 
 

 

This week, while I join in with Small Things at her weekly Yarn Along, I've switched from escaping into good fiction to looking to the days ahead. 

We've had more snowfall warnings here in the past week than we did all last winter, and while I shovel (and shovel and shovel) the white stuff, I've been dreaming of this year's garden.  We cleared space in our backyard in the fall for a new garden bed this spring, and I'm trying to be practical while we decide what to plant.  I've been watching what we eat, what we buy, and what everyone seems to prefer, so we can focus our planting to get the maximum benefit.

Because we have a relatively short growing season here, learning some preservation methods seems to go hand in hand with the gardening.  Along with the canning books, I'm thinking about what to freeze, what to dry, and even if we could manage to make and use a mini-root cellar.  Obviously, not everything can or will be done this year, but at the moment, I'm in the heady dreaming stage, and I plan to enjoy it while it lasts!

The plain vanilla socks on my needles are for my father-in-law.  The lack of stitch pattern and colour changes is making them a bit slow going, but I'm going  to tuck them away for next Christmas, which is motivating all on it's own.

 

Yarn Along

 

 

 

Over with Ginny at Small Things, all kinds of great yarny people have been sharing both what they're knitting, and what they're reading.  Being a girl who loves books almost as much as yarn, this sounded like fun to me.

Chalcot Crescent is a novel I discovered using this fabulous site called Whichbook.  Whichbook allows you to find book titles based on your mood.  It's kind of hard to explain, but very cool to use - I definitely recommend you check it out!

The knitting is a little baby sweater for my quickly growing nephew.  He's already outgrown the sweater I knit him this fall, and so I'm working on the Adorable Chenille Cardigan from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms.  I'm not using chenille, though, it's more of Knitpicks Comfy Bulky.  You would think, based on the amount I've been using this yarn, that I must love it deeply.  Actually, I'm kind of mad at Knitpicks, as this bulky yarn is really a chunky yarn, which caused me all kinds of trouble when I was knitting Stuart's Christmas sweater.  I doubt I'll order it again, and I'm somewhat inclined not to order from Knitpicks again, period.  I had this in my stash, though, so I figured I'd better use it up, and I love how quickly a baby sweater in chunky weight knits up!

 

Library Skirt

 

 

 

One of the main reasons for my lack of posting last month was that I got a new job!  I was offered a part-time job at our local library that was just too good to pass up.  Training for a new job, though, added in to finishing up two college classes, plus caring for this little brood & trying to keep our home from coming down around our ears proved to be a tad more time consuming than I thought it would be, and I found I needed to let absolutely everything go that I possibly could.  We survived, and things are coming back into order now, thank goodness.

Around the same time, I came across the Lanesplitter skirt pattern, and became obsessed.  I rummaged in my stash, and found I had enough Noro Silk Garden in my stash to knit this up, and cast on!  Now, the skirt is finished, and is waiting to be blocked and have the waistband put on.  I think it will be perfect for wearing at the library - I'm so glad to have a job where I can wear things like this!

 

Repurposing

What - take a break from a brand spanking new project for the lack of one measly stitch marker?  I don't think so!  That's what repurposing is all about, right?  (I'll admit, this may not have been the purpose in Stuart's mind when he gave it to me, but it works!)

 

This is the beginning of the Montague Bulky Lace Vest, from New England Knits.  I'm feeling the need to accomplish something, and hoping this project will do the trick!

 

 

Summer Knitting

I borrowed this book from the library, and immediately put poor Buttercup on the back burner to cast on this little clutch.  I had some nice cotton yarn sitting in my stash, and after growing a bit weary of the soothing sea of stocking stitch, felt a little lace project was just the ticket.    (I think a pair of summer slippers are in order, too, if I can keep the book from the library long enough.)  Mmmm.... Veronik Avery sure knows her way around a ball of yarn! 

 

 

WIP: Buttercup

Apparently, I saw The Princess Bride a few too many times in my youth, because all I can think of when I hear the title of this knit is that movie.  (I still love it, actually, and tend to answer "As you wish" when someone I love asks me to do something...)

 

At any rate, here she is, my very own Buttercup (Rav link).  I purchased the yarn for this, Berocco NaturLin last spring when Stuart & I were on our honeymoon, but got occupied with other things once we returned (you know how that can be).  I'm past all the increasing for the yoke, and have finished the feather & fan lace section across the front.  The sleeve stitches are on a bit of yarn, waiting for their turn, and I'm in the sea of knit, knit, knit that the body consists of.  There's something very soothing about stocking stitch, I'm quite enjoying it.