Sprinting with Noro and Java

I’m in Ictus

Evanescent Manoeuvrings on size 8 needles

 

Just putting it out there that there’s been a humdinger’ of a K1, YO, K2 happening  over here! Knitters spend a lot of time having love affairs with wool. The options are unremitting when surveying the myriad of kaleidoscopic yarns in the inner sanctum the Wool Shrine (aka your friendly neighborhood Wool  Repository). “Feel me! Buy me! Try me!” So much wool, so little time. Well the day job chomps its way into prime time knitting hours however there’s always nightfall, which in Winter-peg is currently 5:13 p.m. This is when yarn binging  generally occurs. These days I’m in ictus. In a transient state – as I am  memorized by a Noro yarn and can’t stop myself from recklessly knitting up a little sumptin’ sumptin’ .  I recently   discovered the “fagot stitch”. No guff this is what it’s called and frankly, fagoting can  rouse zeal in a knitter. There’s a beautiful rhythm to this stitch, primarily from the point of view of the continental knitter. I’m a speed daemon. I love it and quite frankly I’m hooked. I recommend a cupla’ mugs of Kick Ass Coffee to jolt you into high gear!

http://www.kickinghorsecoffee.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=41&products_id=75

Shown here: Noro Yarn, Made in Japan, Chirimen:  60% Cotton/24% Silk /16 % Wool

http://www.diamondyarn.com/d/noro/

Mutifarious creations in wool

The Kozy Koala Toque

Super soft and super warm hat for baby 6 – 12 months (or 1 – 2 years)

What will your bear be wearing when winter comes thundering in?

 

 

The Little Red Cardi

This sweet cardigan is knitted from Bamboo /Cotton. It can be made for 3, 6 and 12 month old lassies. How soft and squishy the bamboo is. It has 4 button holes. Still hunting down some cherry coloured buttons. May require a knitted cherry broach!

 

 

The Toasty Bonnet

Such luscious merino, squish soft for baby’s head. Perfect to wear under the hood of a parka. Very fancy for the little lassie!

Fits 6 – 12 months (or 1 to 2 year old cuties)

The All Dressed Up Bonnet

Made in a soft pale minty green. This hat will dress up even a pair of jeans and a hoodie or polish up a fancy ensemble [Please note that the similarities to the Toasty Bonnet -is simply a  considerably larger version sans the flo’ which could still be added but would be smaller.] Your honey bunny will be ready for Sunday or esteemed SaturDAY play-dates! Fits 1-2 year old Mademoiselle!

The Pixie Dream Cap

Cocoa Brown and pale celery could be worn by a boy or a girl. Super soft chunky wool. Would be great for a photo op’.

Fits a 6 – 18 month boy or girl.

Pixie can be fashioned  in numerous fusions of colours!

 

 

Bunnykins Chapeau

The ultimate in merino wool. Soft, supple, chunky and light. The softest cloud of wool for your little darling. Numerous colours available – from espresso brown to raspberry pudding to periwinke.

For 0 – 9 month old babes. Please note other infant items in same wool.

 

 

“I saw all these items, my dear Bunnies with my own eyes!” said Anna Acorn to the Coney Family.

 

 

Consider the chapeau

Fireworks Cap

Froths of merino wool cascade around baby’s head. This hat can be made for babies 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year. It soft and luxurious. It is made of Malabrigo Kettle dyed wool in “rasta”. Its chunky but molds to baby’s head in a whimsical, jaunty fashion. I love knitting with this wool!

I knit-wit deez gals

THE KNIT-WITS

I present Gayleen and Susan  hanging out  at the Knitting Bee.  Looks fun n’est pas? I’ll come right out and spill the beans – we have a few loose ends as a formal knitting group. It’s taken some time to hammer out an agenda for the Bee’s. Eventually we came up with: “Gayleen, Susan and Karin are to convene at semi-regular intervals and  knit!”. Sounds simple but I daresay the optimism was a tad  naive. At the beginning I imagined it was going to develop into a cutting edge movement, the knitting forefront! Hm m m … at some point I may have gotten a little ahead of myself with this whole endeavor. In spite of good intentions, some time down the road to knitting class, our wheels started spinning. Flummoxed we were all were taking the side roads to the class.  Until we made our respective U-turns,  steered our way clear of the detours (i.e. distractions, cancellations, excuses, personal drama) but in due course, we’ve each navigated back to the “Bee”, schlepping our wool and needles.  Our “Knitting Bees” had become a smoke-screen for just chumming. A stratagem had to be developed. We all took our turn at controlling the chaos. I am beholden to these 2 women, who I’ve both known for many years. We had recently reconnected as a threesome and we were all feeling kind of nostalgic albeit unsure how to proceed.  Initially I was skeptical when Susan proposed we form a “knitting bee”. Back in the day, when I was 19 or 20 I was a knitter, even a crocheter. I hadn’t given knitting any reconsideration for years and years. I wasn’t easily persuaded that knitting was my next exit. Did we seriously need an excuse to get together? Why was I feeling a deep sense of foreboding at making yet another horrible sweater that no one was ever going to want to wear? If I were ever to knit again, I had to take an oath that, if I picked up those needles, I’d have to once and for all complete something other than a scarf or a blanket!  It was Susan’s persistence that got the ball rolling. Susan made a convincing case to Gayleen and I. We had to regroup, form a productive knitting group. Knitting was a valid reason to convene and as Susan pointed out, we had to get serious and start making “stuff”! Quite frankly, I didn’t know what I was getting myself into but it was clear, a leap of faith was imminent. So what you’re getting is this: I was reluctant to revisit knitting. I have no acceptable explanation only excuses my skepticism had raised its ugly head.  I was lazy and unfocused and you guessed it, cynical. By the time we assembled for our first ‘Knitting Meeting’, Gayleen was taken aback that i indeed knew how to knit. When she finally saw me knit and purl she was flabbergasted. It wasn’t subterfuge – it just wasn’t,  you know, plastered on my resume. It was then that I vaulted. First off, I bought myself some bamboo sticks and wool at the Wolseley Wardrobe. I commenced to seriously researching YouTube videos on knitting/purling/increasing and decreasing stitches/casting on/ & binding off . I knit and unraveled so many swatches it would make your head spin. Then I started sussing PDF Pattern downloads from free sites and paid sites. Next I was purchasing books and buying needles and wool of every size and colour and thickness and variety. Sadly I’m dating myself but the internet was barely registering on the richter scale the last time I played with knitting needles and wool. Equipped with my new MacBook, the world of knitting was now my oyster. This was a whole new ball game. I’m a continental knitter, for you fellow-amateurs out there. Europeans/Germans knit the continental way.  I still can’t remember who taught me and I guess it’s not important now anyway.  Susan and Gayleen knit English. Another-words it was the stiff upper lips vs. the pragmatics. But I digress. I have knitted up a virtual storm in the past 12 months and it has made me see new possibilities regarding a small business. Our little “knitting bees” as Susan calls them,  have prompted me to actively pursue creating marketable items with a fervor. Since then I find I am doing the bulk of the knitting at the “bee”. Gayleen is frustrated and wants to have a movie night instead. I believe Susan is still willing to bring her wool but I think it is turning into a “Movie-Bee” night. Knit-Shmit! I think Susan and Gayleen were my reinforcements as I knitted my way through skein upon skein of wool. They kept coming to the Knitting Bee, out of arrant curiosity, erstwhile supportive of my obsession. Our Knitting Bees go way beyond knitting – as you may already have divined. They are about problem solving, bolstering, empowering, encouraging and nurturing. We laugh and complain and we honor one another. We listen. We communicate. Then we disperse sated and satisfied (to clarify it’s not just the snacks or the wine). Knitting is about the threads coming together to form something reliable. We knit therefore we are, and we are friends who try their level best to listen intently and to decipher each others mysteries and nuances.

Thanks gals!

Susan Elizabeth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gayleen