the great white north

i was home barely a day last week when it was time to take off again for the next teaching gig. i just managed to get my mail squared away before i had to leave again. this time, however, it was just an hour’s drive from home into the more remote, northern part of northeast ohio.

they get a lot more snow up there than we do here . . . and i think we get a lot. i stayed in a B&B at the top of a wooded hill that looked like a gnome’s cottage in a fairytale (i;m not kidding, haha). unfortunately, i didn’t get any good photos—it was dark and snowy when i left each morning and dark when i returned in the evening. even the the alpacas they have were covered with mounds of snow, haha.

classes, however, were delightful—the northcoast knitter’s guild had a record turnout for attendance and both days of classes were filled to capacity. we spent all day saturday exploring techniques and getting started on a pine and ivy shawl project, which participants will continue (i hope!) as a guild KAL. they do a LOT of social knitting together in between meetings in this guild; it’s a very supportive group. on sunday we did an all-day sweater fitness class, which is always a lot of fun.

i have to hand it to this group—most of the participants took both classes and we worked hard both days! they treated me to a fun weekend, too; i’m so glad to have met such wonderful knitters so close to home.

meena even brought me a beautiful gift on sunday morning—a set of vintage circular needles with an interesting join

it is surprisingly smooth. she just wanted me to have them—wasn’t that nice? thank you meena; it was lovely to meet you and hear about all of your travels (she’s been to some VERY interesting places).

here and there, i even got some knitting done myself (though not as much as i’d like and no pattern work, as i should have done). teaching all day always leaves me pretty wiped out—i usually fall asleep early with my knitting in my hands, heh.

i finished the leg on my roger sock and started the heel. these are knit in new yarn, soon to be available from lorna’s laces which contains outlast® acrylic, a heat management fiber that helps to regulate body temperature. beth gave some of us a skein of this yarn last year at TNNA to experiment with. i decided that socks were the best choice for mine, since i have so much trouble keeping my feet warm. i’ll be finished with these soon and plan to wear them during my upcoming travels to test their wearability. so far, i’ve really enjoyed knitting with the yarn though—it’s one of my very favorite LL colorways (catalpa) and the yarn has a beautiful hand. janel knit a pretty sock with it in september, too.

i managed a few rows on my luscious scarf, but did not finish it yet—i’ll work on this some more in class today. it’s getting there though . . wanna put your face into it??

that’s right, snuggle up close to the grreat northern yarns minky cashmere-y yumminess—that’s baby talk for great northern yarns mink/cashmere DK, my go-to yarn for light, soft, winter warmth, mmmmm.

i gave my finished hat a bath the other day before i left the house and the fiber bloomed in the most delicious way . . .

see all that gorgeous minky haze?? that’s super soft too—not at ALL prickly or itchy. not close enough yet?? how about now

i’ve gotta get this pattern written up before i go away again . . .

in fact, i’ve got quite a bit of pattern work to do this week; blog posts might be scarce, just sayin. i’m leaving thursday for a really big trip—i won’t be home for almost four weeks; i’ve never been away from david that long (this may sound silly, but i think i’m a little scared!). fortunately, he’s meeting me for a little reunion in the UK halfway through.

anyway, i have a lot to get organized before i take off. i may just take lots of pictures and then blog about them later, while i’m on the road. i’ll try to get one more post in though, i promise—i have LOTS to talk about with you.

anyway, one thing i did work on over the weekend was david’s forest toque. i actually finished the handspun one BUT . . . .

when i got home, we discovered it wasn’t long enough. this one is knit with a lighter-weight yarn than the original and it now appears that it needs an extra repeat of the motifs to compensate. so i ripped out the bindoff and put it back on the needles—almost done for the second time now, just a few rounds to go.

meanwhile, the yarns arrived from mountain meadows wool to knit the other samples. karen and valerie sent me some of their laramie worsted in colorway coconut (left) and their new DK weight in colorway sprout (right). this is the squishiest merino yarn you’ll ever meet—the kind that makes you enjoy every stitch.

the yarn has a very elastic, soft depth that encourages pleasant cabling—important when working heavy cables like these. lots of lanolin in the fiber keeps my fingers from getting too dry as i work—that’s a nice perk during these cold months.

i immediately cast one on in that cheery green color—guess what?
this one will be for me; you probably knew that the minute you saw it, hee-hee! david will get a gray one. they also sent a beautiful denim blue and a skein of white (always a favorite; that would look great on david, too).

the pattern for this hat is all written and jocelyn has test knit it—she gives it a thumbs up for fun knitting and good directions. once i write in the tweaks it needs, i can send it for proofing and then we can release it.

speaking of yarn, a couple of packages arrived in the mail friday after i left for kirtland and were waiting when arrived home last night.

first, from kris at the painted sheep, two lively skeins—the top one is jasmine lace weight yarn, a 50/50 merino/silk blend in colorway mixed berries. below it is a skein of shimmer merino/tencel in colorway tulips.

then there was a package from suzan at barking dog yarns containing three lovely hand-dyed skeins:

this first is a skein of her sirius 2-ply merino sock yarn in sailor’s sky, a wonderful mix of blues.

then there was a skein of galaxy 8-ply merino sport in colorway chestnuts on the fire (LOVE!). this will make nice, cushy accessory pieces for fall and winter.

and last but certainly not least, we have a skein of incantation 50/50 merino/tussah silk lace yarn, in colorway mojo, a beautiful cornstraw/gold shaded solid.

i’ll be dreaming on what to do with these lovelies while i’m riding the rails over the next few weeks.

ok, then . . .i gotta run; i have dentist appointment in a few hours and some stuff to do before i go. see you later this week.