Poppy power

30 May 2007 2 Comments

by fabricfan in fabrics, garden, knitting


This colour of poppy is my favorite. It might be fun to play witth this image, I might get around to drawing it. I haven’t done any drawing for ages.

A happy accident, we obviously dug up a lot of the bearded iris and the yellow and blue were put back in the same area. I love them together and the maroon one is incredibly dark. They are all strong smelling and I don’t find it a pleasant fragrance.
So today, was dyeing day for the sock yarn challenge between the Friends Knit Together girls and me. We sent pictures either by email or snail of a colour scheme to aim towards. I can’t post the pictures until they receive them and it will be lucky if they get in the mail tomorrow. I dyed the silk and wool and the wool with the donegal tweed from Knitpicks. I did one skein for myself. I was trying for pastel for my self, lets just say parts of it are. The donegal flecks are neat as well.
My yarn hasn’t arrived yet, although the tracking on the package says it has been delivered. The tracking lies.
I am off shopping tomorrow, French Laundry, is closing their Main Street location and of course the fabric is on sale. 8000 metres, cotton, knits, lace, between $3 and $10 per metre. I only made up the denim that I bought last year, but I wear that outfit constantly.
Knitting, I was merrily knitting along on the baby jacket and was ready to cast off the shoulder seam on the front when I realized I hadn’t done the neck shaping. It has been ripped back. My jacket, I have reached the body and the enormous caston. I will knit a couple of rows and then try to see if it needs to be ripped back or not. I’ll be settling in to watch Canada’s next top model and So you think you can dance, I like knitting along while watching mindless tv.

This may take awhile.

26 May 2007 2 Comments

by fabricfan in knitting

I’ve started my jacket from the Knitting Experience, The Knit stitch by Sally Melville. I am doing the Best-Friend Jacket on page 66. It is knit in garter stitch from cuff to cuff, making adjustments to the width of the sleeve, I have left out a dozen stitches and intend to make it with no more increases. The sleeve is very deep in the pattern and join up halfway down my ribcage and I don’t need the extra bulk in that area. This is a hand dyed cotton, thick and thin yarn from Chile by Araucania Yarns, Patagonia number 212. It will be interesting to see what the next ball of yarn will be like colourwise.

Gone to a good home.

22 May 2007 2 Comments

by fabricfan in doll making

This is my African Queen, made a few years ago from a pattern by Julie McCullough. Her hair was one of the dollar store finds, already braided and beaded, which I then wrapped with wire and attached to her head. Her neck rings were an earring. Her fabric was from Fanny’s fabric and I just loved the swirling pattern.
She has gone to reside in a new home and is going to be given an appropriate name. I have given her to my hairdresser, who is from Morocco. He looks forward to sharing her with his daughters.

Garden plus shawl

18 May 2007 3 Comments

by fabricfan in garden, knitting


Since taking this photo this afternoon, I have cast off the shawl. I still need to do something with all the ends and give it a gentle blocking.
I took these of selected areas of the garden and am quite surprised at the clematis, it was new last year and the colour is whiter now and the flowers are larger, the poppy came out yesterday and the yellow iris was a little earlier this week.

Forgot the camera

07 May 2007 1 Comment

by fabricfan in vacation

We drove up to Prince George, which is a 9.5 hour drive. I realized that I had forgotten the camera as we were going over the Fraser River. There is a lot of talk about the river flooding if there is a fast snow melt in the mountains. When we don’t have the camera, is always the time we see wild animals and sure enough, we saw a lot of deer (maybe 20). We left the wet lushness of the Fraser Valley with its blooming flowers and trees and waterfalls from every vertical piece of rock and mountain, and entered the bareness of the canyon, the river was running pretty fast but wasn’t too high yet. It was certainly muddy brown, it’s normal colour, with white ripples in the eddys. The trees change to lodgepole pines and the ground is quite barren.

Next is the semi desert of the cariboo, sagebrush everywhere. The mountains and cliffs become orange and ochre coloured compared to the slate and granite colours we had seen earlier. Then it was the area around Williams lake, farmland and horses everywhere. The trees were just starting to come into leaf, a yellowy green.

Next day we continued the drive up to PG, windy but sunny, depending on the height of land the new leaves came and went, but the pine beetle scourge this year is more noticable with the dead trees everywhere. The snow has not been gone for long, some backyards had it melt this week. There are still farms with horses, large herds of different types of cattle, sheep, llamas, a couple of donkeys.

I found a yarn store, got some sock yarn! Saw the Two Rivers gallery, coveted a necklace. Didn’t get it.

On the way home yesterday, we decided to take a different route, and cut across south of Clinton to Whistler. Seeton lake took my breath away, turquoise, it was incredible. The road deteriorated until we got to Pemberton a couple of hours later. Duffy lake had snow down to the road level and there is a fair amount of snow up on the mountains.
After Whistler, we hit the sea to sky highway construction for the Olympic games in 2010, it is simply unbelievable. Hugh cliffs of rock have been removed, gulleys filled in, where the highway was once 2 lines between the mountain and the cliff it is now 4. I have never said OMG look at that, so often, in such a short period of time. We were glad it was a Sunday, as no construction was going on and I think it would have added another hour to the trip.

Mail was delivered

01 May 2007 1 Comment

by fabricfan in knitting

My knit picks came today, superwash wool in back, then gloss, then the donegal. Yarn for the baby sweater in front from Three bags full and id tags from knit picks. The donegal is white in comparison to the other yarns, there are flecks of colour in it. I wonder how they be affected by the dye I add. They all feel wonderful.
Regarding the shawl I have been posting about with all my worries. I finally listened to that little voice that said rip it out. It is is the only way that I will be truly happy. So I am now knitting a stole some rows with the same size of needle as before and some rows with a larger needle to make it more airy, and I will put a fringe on the end when I am done.