Citius, Altius, Fortius

I'm sure you will have seen this title on many a knitting blog of late, but for the non-knitters I should explain.

Citius, Altius, Fortius represents Olympic endeavour, Faster, Higher, Stronger and as the Opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver began, thousands of knitters cast on worlwide to take part in the Knitting Olympics.

Conceived by The Yarn Harlot the Knitting Olympics calls upon knitters to embrace the motto above and challenge themselves to cast on during the opening ceremony and cast off during the closing ceremony. The project must be a personal challenge and the reward for success, well a Gold Medal of course!

So in the Olympic spirit I am challenging myself to stranded colourwork, something I have only done once before. After an exhaustive search (well ok after two minutes looking on Ravelry) I chose the Cross Country Chullo (Ravelry Link) which is suitably themed to the Olympics.

By Anne Featonby, a Canadian, how apt!

My version, however, is knit in Easyknits Alpaca/silk in shocking pink and teal.

I will post progress pics once there is sufficient to photograph! Wish me success!

As an aside I have a couple of completed projects to report, Andrew's Sack Boy which he totally loves and came out rather well despite my total aversion to knitting toys.

 

Then there was Rhubarb, a beautiful simple little pattern from Rowan's Purelife Recycled Collection, knit in Rowan Revive, colourway Marble.

 

And finally Cauchy for Paul by Cookie A from Sock Innovations.

 

Sadly the photograph doesn't show the pattern at all, they are knit in Malabrigo, mmm!

You lucky people...

After months of inactivity here you go, 2 posts in January.

I have photos of some more finished projects:

This is the Skinny scarf I knit for Paul, he wanted something very light and open, it's a pattern I lifted from a sock book and I used Rowan 4 ply Pure Wool. He wears it all the time which, I guess, means he likes it!

This is Pretty Thing (Ravelry link) by the Yarn Harlot, knit for my brother's partner Julie. It is knit in Fyberspates Unicorn yarn (a mystery yarn, the composition of which will be revealed at the end of the quest).

It was knit with the remnants of the yarn used for Julie's Veyla and Ishbel Beret. I still have a few metres left!

In addition to all my UFOs listed in the last post, I am working on a sample garment for one of Rowan's new Spring/Summer yarns. More on that next time.

For those who have not had the opportunity to visit Once A Sheep I thought I would list all the products that I stock and in future I will just post updates/what's new.

 Yarns:

Rowan

Debbie Bliss

Noro

Artesano

Manos Del Uruguay

Natural Dye Studio

Fyberspates

Jamie Possum

Regia

Once A Sheep Undyed

Breahga hand dyed and hand spun

Fibre:

Merino

Shetland

Blue Faced Leicester

Corriedale

Needles:

The full range Knit Pro Symfonie and Acrylic needles and accessories

 

Notions:

Buttons, Stitch Markers, Project bags, Herdy Gifts, Sheep Poo paper and cards, beautiful swifts from Sunflower Swifts, ball winders

Ashford:

Spindles

Wheels

Looms

Accessories

Patterns:

Books from Noro, Debbie Bliss, Rowan

Magazines:

Simply Knitting

Knit Today

Knitting

Let's Knit

The Knitter

Yarn Forward

Interweave Knits

Designer Knitting

Crochet Today

I have been asked (repeatedly!) when the website will be up and running and the short but highly unsatisfactory answer to that at the moment is I don't know. It's so busy in the actual shop and Paul (the technical half) works away so it's all taking rather longer than I would have liked. I can take telephone orders and of course there's always a nice cup of tea to be had in the shop itself.

See you soon.

A new decade, a new adventure

Yet again it has been a long time since my last post, and whilst a lot has happened I won't bore you with all the details but here's my summary of what's been going on.

A bit of knitting has gone on including these finished projects

Skinny scarf
Veyla gloves
Ishbel beret
Viking sweater (sorry no photo as I had to wrap and send it in time for Christmas!)

plus I still have some ufo's on the go

Cauchy Socks
Milkweed Shawl
Cinnamon Latte Shawl
Sack Boy
Pretty Thing

You may be wondering why I have been less productive than usual? Well the much awaited decision on the shop lease finally came through and after collecting the keys on 16th October, Once A Sheep finally came into being on 21st November.

Getting the shop decorated and fitted out was a lot of hard work completed with the help of some lovely people. The long-suffering Paul who gave himself sore knees, back and hands doing all the "heavy work", my mum who worked tirelessly painting and decorating (you really should have seen what we had to cover up, a bit like an explosion in a paint factory), also my children who helped out with fetching and carrying, my dad (recovering from an operation) was marvellous disposing of all the debris at the tip and making teas and coffee on demand.

I want to give an extra special Thank You to the Gourock Stitch n Bitch who gave freely of their time and enthusiasm helping to get the job completed in an amazing 4 weeks.

After a fabulous opening supported by my great friends in Gourock Stitch n Bitch plus a host of "new" customers I felt really encouraged that there really was a need for a new Yarn Store in the area.

On the 28th November I hosted a Trunk Show starring Ysolda Teague and her fabulous designs and patterns. I had a wonderful day, and it was so busy that it wasn't until late in the day that I could finally have a good look at the finished designs Ysolda and Saz brought over to Once A Sheep.

It was great fun seeing everyone trying on the designs, always flattering and always in beautiful yarns.

This one is for John's Mum!!


Thanks Ysolda and Saz, looking forward to seeing your next project (there will be a next project I'm sure!) and maybe seeing you both back in Gourock.

Stitch n Bitch now takes place in the shop every Wednesday morning from 09:30 and every Thursday evening from 20:00. The sessions are really busy now which is fantastic and I have met some really lovely people who have joined the groups lately.

I will fill my next post with details of all the loveliness I have in stock and I hope to be featuring a new design for the blog which should be more recognisably Once A Sheep.

Time to hibernate........

More FOs this week. This is the delightful Mr Smith. (Whimsical Little Knits 2, Ysolda Teague). He's actually part of a Christmas gift for a certain little girl so he's been put away in a dark cupboard to hibernate for a while.

Maisy loves him so much I suspect I will have to knit a whole family!



This is the Icing Swirl Hat also from Ysolda in Whimsical Little Knits. This was the project that the pattern and yarn were bought for whilst at Iknit and cast on immediately. I had to do a little tinkering with the pattern to get the right degree of slouchiness but I really like it on. I knit it magic loop so I could try it on as I went, it's such a great technique, I wish I had learned it years ago. Excuse the odd photo (and the multiple chins) but it was a self portrait taken in front of a mirror. The idea was so that I could see what it looked like at the back.


It is full enough at the back so that I can wear my hair clipped up underneath it, exactly what I had envisaged.

I am at least a third of the way into the Cinnamon Latte shawl now and it too is knitting up very nicely and after a years dormancy it is actually knitting up pretty quickly.

I really have to get started on Christmas knitting now as I have all sorts of great ideas but in practice I don't have the equivalent time to produce the finished goods! Maybe the intended recipients will be happy to get their Christmas gifts at Easter this year?

Finishing and starting

I have finished some projects, hurrah!

The lovely Angee from Cookie A Sock Innovations, knit in Trekking Pro Natura. I love the way the mock cables "pop" in this yarn and so comfy too. I think the bamboo helps.

The equally lovely (and knit by thousands) February Lady Sweater. This is knit in New Lanark organic DK. Whilst it feels a little coarse to touch it softens beautifully when knit and more so once washed. I used a 2 colour design as I thought Iwould not have sufficient of the darker colour, however it used so little yarn in total I probably could have made it all one colour after all. My good friends tell me, however, that it is lovely as it is. I certainly love the way it drapes and it seems to flatter all shapes and sizes. Technical notes: it's a top down knit in one piece so no making up at all. Perfect for those of us who hate seaming and with the bonus that you can try it on as you go to make sure it's the size you want. The FLS is modelled by Maisy as I really can't abide seeing myself in photos.


I have also finished the Icing Swirl Hat by Ysolda in Whimsical Little Knits (1). Book and yarn bought at the IKnit weekender in London (more of which later). In the pattern photo this is a slouchy pinwheel style hat but when knit in Manos Del Uruguay Classica in shades of red (mmmm) it came out like a beanie! So a little tinking and adjustment to the pattern was required otherwise it would have been an ultra fast knit. I love the finished hat and as I knit it magic loop I was able to try on as I went to ensure I got just the right slouchiness. It's going to get an awful lot of wear this winter. I knew the yarn was perfect for me, after I had bought it I looked inside the label and the name of the maker turned out to be....Karen!

I have made good progress on the Milkweed shawl and have about 10 rows to go, but my, those rows are getting awful long now. It's definitely a project that requires a lot of concentration so my work on it is limited to when the house is a no-child zone (not often when there are 3 of them).

Paul's Cauchy socks have been put on the back burner a little as I have rekindled an old flame in the form of the Cinnamon Latte shawl. Dormant for a year, I found this project at the back of the stash cupboard and fell in love with the pattern again. Now that I have joined the border and picked up all 576 stitches in the round, it's going swimmingly.

What should I tell about the IKnit weekender (11-13 Sept)? After a 04:30 start on Friday Mhairi, Kimmie and myself arrived at the Royal Horticultural Halls before the doors opened at 10:00. We made a pledge to not buy anything until we had been around the market hall once. About half way round the resolve had seriously diminished. However the number of stalls had increased significantly over the previous year and we felt we should continue around and make sure we had seen everything before unleashing the credit cards.

After that 1st once round we were shattered and rather overwhelmed with choice so lunch and a fortifying cup of tea followed. It was beautiful weather so we ventured outside to a local deli, delicious!

It was quiet in the hall on the Friday so it was very pleasant to go back and start the decision making about what to buy first and second and third and....well you can imagine. We stayed on for the party even though we were propping our eyes open with matchsticks by that time and we were so glad we did as we got to enjoy the extraordinary and amazing performance by Gaggle. This was a choir that was so unlike any choir I had heard previously, with all original pieces (one of which was tailored to suit the knitting/crochet audience to hilarious effect) and wonderful voices in a fabulous acoustic setting. Really, truly memorable. Bed called after a quiet meal in the hotel.

Saturday we were up early as we all had classes to attend, Mhairi took Estonian knitting and Kimmie and I took Toe Up Socks with Yarnissima. Once we had got the cast on sorted (about 3 attempts each!) the sock was knit quickly and completed in the 3 hour class. Now I confess I have not turned into a speed knitter, the entire sock only measure 3 inches! But what a wonderful way to learn this technique, I will be having a go with the next pair I cast on, might even try 2 at a time!

The afternoon was very relaxed with more shopping and lots of knitting in great company. In the evening we went to The Hope and Anchor, a GastroPub within 5 minutes walk of our hotel on The Cut at Waterloo. If you find yourself in London, I can heartily recommend this place for the finest meal I have had in many years. The staff, the ambience, the food and of course that Damson Gin were outstanding.

On Sunday we found our way to Socktopus near the King's Road where, after a massive brunch at Megan's, we enjoyed the Old Maiden Aunt trunk show. Lilith for those who don't know OMA has a studio in West Kilbride, not 30 minutes from my own home. But that didn't stop me acquiring the beautiful Lon Dubh from the Homecoming Collection. Lilith has a wonderful eye for colour and I am hoping that I will be able to attend one of her dying workshops very soon. Alice at Socktopus stocks a fabulous range of artisan yarns and I couldn't resist a few more purchases whilst there.

My tally for the weekend was:
1 Zauberball
2 Alpaca/silk skeins from the utterly lovely John at Easyknits
1 skein Japanese silk with Nepps from Knitwitches
1 skein Manos Del Uruguay Classica
1 skein from Old Maiden Aunt
2 skeins Chameleon Colourworks
4 skeins Artist's Palette Buttersoft DK
1oversize Toft Alpaca Ash button
A slection of beautiful buttons from Textile Garden
A little pot of red dye from Helen Deighan's Dyes
3 cards from Tillyflop
Whimsical Little Knits 1 and 2 from Ysolda



Restrained? Hmmm I thought so at the time but it does look quite a lot when written down.

On other news Maisy began school, half days initially and now full time. I am so happy that she absolutely loves school and can't wait to do homework in the evenings. She looks so grown up in her uniform with her little tie and blazer. Brings a lump to my throat most days when she goes into school. She takes the school bus home now and is becoming so independent, something I don't feel quite ready for.

And finally:
Congratulations to my lovely daughter Rhona who has been awarded a certificate of Prestigious Merit at school
Good luck to Andrew who begins his BioMedical Sciences degree at Strathclyde University next week

I have been busy, really...........

I have just noticed that I haven't blogged about knitting recently and it's not like I haven't done any, so this blog is dedicated to recent work.

Well apart from a brief update about Once A Sheep, the shop. Basically there is no update as I still don't have a property. The unit I particularly want is still under offer and I am awaiting a decision from the landlord. So back to the knitting.........

Paul's cousin's wife has had her baby, a girl called Lois. Lovely name and a bonny baby too, all 10lb 6 oz of her! I had knit a wee cardigan for her

but after finding out her birth weight I have quickly knit up a second cardigan a wee bit bigger. Both are knit in the same Patons Smoothie DK which is so lovely to knit with and feels just like bamboo without the "give" and best of all it's machine washable. I'll be sending these off along with the baby pinwheeel blanket featured a wee while ago.



My brother and his partner and daughter came to visit for a week recently. I realised (too late) that I had not knit anything for Ruby Rose (two and a half years old) so began what I thought would be a quick knit stocking stitch top down cotton smock, Heidi from Yarn Forward. However with 180 odd stitches it turned out to be quite full and has taken rather longer than anticipated. Only the second sleeve to complete now and I can send this one off too.



My June socks were completed in time, though only just and whilst I loved the finished look of them I discovered on Thursday that I had made life very hard for myself by misinterpreting row 7 of the pattern Duh! I think I will knit these gain and compare the correct version to my "designer" version! The photo was taken late at night in bad light, Stephen I am awaiting your photograph which should be much better. These are Kai Mei from Cookie A. Sock Innovations.


I completed my July socks (in the sock a month challenge on Ravelry) which was the Switcheroo sock from Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns. I didn't continue the pattern onto the foot as I was afraid it would be uncomfortable in a full shoe. The lovely yarn is Natural Dye Studios CHI socks in Sweet Violet. I really like the way these came out. I have used Magic Loop for the last 3 pairs of socks I have knit and love this technique. I think I will give two at a time a go next time. I haven't cast on any more socks yet as I'm trying to finish some UFOs this month.


Talking of which, I am still knitting the Milkweed Shawl in Fyberspates Unicorn yarn. I am about halfway through but put it aside for things with immediate delivery deadlines. This is an easy pattern written in charts and in full which is great for those of us with chart blindness. It is knitting up very pretty but I will save the photograph for when it is finished and blocked.

I also completed, a little while ago (but failed to blog), another unicorn project, The Crest of the Waves scarf. Another very easy pattern and I'm looking forward to some cooler weather so I can wear it out!

And finally Carrie helped me to learn how to crochet a couple of weeks ago and I jumped in feet first and joined a CAL (crochet-along for the uninitiated). It's the Posy CAL designed by Queenieamanda of Natural Dye Studios. I think I may have over-committed on this one and rather than a shawl I might be aiming for a hankie just now!

p.s. sometimes I hyperlink to Ravelry, only members can view Ravelry but I can highly recommend a (free) subscription.

A trip doon the watter

Last Saturday a few of us went on a fabulous knitting trip on the Waverley, the world's last ocean-going paddle steamer. The forecast was for "dreich" weather so suitably dressed in jeans, long sleeved tops with waterproofs we headed down to the Custom House Quay in Greenock.

Of course the sunset the night before should have given us a clue as to the real forecast. Red sky at night etc....


Kimberly and Lewis treated us to ice creams on the quay whilst we were waiting with the sun blazing. Here's Carrie (suitably dressed!) discussing Kimberly's Kai Mei socks.

Then the Waverley appeared puffing down the Clyde from Glasgow.

Here's Val under steam (well she wasn't personally under steam but you know what I mean), look at that sky, no rain in sight there!

We soon passed by the ill fated Captayannis, a sugar boat holed and sunk in 1974, we got quite a good view of her as she lies on her side on a sandbank. We stopped at Helensburgh to pick up some more passengers and headed off to Dunoon.


In Dunoon we picked up Sandy and Ali and as we set off again, we all opened up our picnics for lunch. It was so hot by this time that we were having to strip off our outer layers and slap on the sunscreen. But we weren't complaining!


After a further stop at Rothesay to pick up more passengers we headed through the Kyles of Bute toward Tighnabruaich.

The Kyles act a bit like a wind funnel so it was a wee bit breezy but as we rounded into Tighnabruaich the wind dropped, and we were accompanied to the pier by some beautiful local boats.


It's so pretty here, if a little bit remote.

We stopped for an hour or so and walked into the village for a nice cuppa tea! Meanwhile the Waverley steamed off for an hour's mini cruise to raise funds for the pier association.


On the way back much knitting, chatting, cake eating (of which no photographic evidence I'm afraid) and general hilarity!


And here's a gratuitous engine shot for those of you interested in old steam engines!

We have decided, despite the sunburn, that it will become an annual event so all aboard for next year's trip!

When you're tired...........

you just have to sleep. After a busy day with friends, what's a girl to do?

WWKIP

We all had a fantastic day at Carrie's on Saturday for WWKIP day. Carrie is a wonderful hostess, a fabulous cook and great company. (And Abby is just gorgeous, more of Abby in a mo!)

It started out a little grey and so we sat indoors


knitting and enjoying a beautiful lunch of grilled (barbecued to us Brits) chicken, home made Quiche, fried sweet potato and butternut squash (my favourite) and a pasta salad with roasted veg. Mmmmm.

The weather brightened and became very sunny and warm so we decamped to the more "public" back garden and variously knit or spun whilst we tucked into dessert and homemade lemonade or tea. Look at the height of that cake, another masterpiece from Carrie. But just who was it that got the first largest slice?
You know who you are!!


And this (still huge) slice was mine alongside the white chocolate mini cheesecakes made by Kimberly. I followed this with a slice of Moira's mums Early Grey tea loaf (gorgeous!) So no diet on Saturday.

Necessity being the mother of invention,


Carrie improvised a great table for the garden, can you tell what it is yet?

Who's that looking uber cool and stylish in her new sun hat? Long time no see Sandy, so nice to catch up again, hope that leg clears up really soon.



Gotcha Moira, I know you hate being photographed but I finally caught you!

Mhairi and Kirsty, sisters, enjoying the sun!


Innes, getting to grips with her new camera before getting out her wheel and spindles for an impromptu lesson.
The gorgeous Abby joined us outside and was very taken with Kimberly, particularly her necklace and her......nose!

(photo is a bit blurry as I was laughing so much)

I had a thoroughly great day and spun quite a lot of my cherry alpaca

that has been sitting waiting for me to get back my spinning mojo.

Thanks Carrie!

On the "Once A Sheep" front, they say no news is good news but I still have no news on the lease (aaargh!) but I do have a viewing on a second property so there is still another possibility. I'll keep you informed!

My Iknit weekender tickets (Sept 11-12)

arrived along with my pass to two workshops "Socks Upside Down" and "Adult crochet" (that's crochet for adults by the way not the more lurid other possibility!) Really looking forward to this as I can't make Woolfest this year.

Meanwhile we have been busy in the garden and now have a (rather large) new deck,


patio and paved and gravelled area. It's not quite finished as you can see

so I am hoping for more good weather so I can get out and do the finishing touches. We also spent all of Sunday building Paul's new workshop. It turned into a bit of a marathon session and we were both suffering with sore backs by the end. But it is all finished and just needs filling with all of Paul's "best tools".

Mum and dad arrived back from their Balkan cruise on Saturday with gifts of some absolutely fabulous fibre from Estonia (weird how the fibre smells different to British sheep?) and some gorgeous sock yarn from Finland.

Looking forward to working with both of them, though not at the same time as enjoying the litre of Absolut vodka from Sweden!
Thanks mum they are lovely xx