Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Today's The Day!

Today is my son's 19th birthday - meaning he's all legal now. He left some beautiful notes on the counter this morning - thanking all of us for everything. Could it be that's he's grown into a man now? What happened to my curly haired, into everything, drive me crazy baby boy?

And another big deal is that....."drum roll"

York Region Living is coming to the shop tonight to film a segment on Knit Night! I'm so excited I can't stand it - apparently, I'm supposed to show Matt (the reporter) how to knit. Yikes!
And on the knitting front - I'm on my last sleeve of the Noro sweater. I cannot wait for it to be finished so I can wear it. It's so much fun to knit!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Happy/Grumpy


Crap - look what happened two nights ago! Snow! Slippery roads - and it's only October. This makes me grumpy!




This on the other hand makes me extremely happy! I am knitting this cardigan from the new Noro Collection Book 3 by Jenny Watson (Silk Garden 272). There are some fantastic Noro designs this year and it's just all so much fun!


This has the potential to make me both grumpy and happy. Happy because I'm knitting with Tanis Fiber Arts Green Label Aran in Chestnut which is fantastic. Grumpy because I don't have an extra set of arms to knit the Noro sweater and this at the same time.
And it's a pair! I finished BOTH socks of the Slip Stitch Cable Socks in Koigu. Happy, happy! They were supposed to be for Laura for Christmas but I'm thinking I might give them to Jeremy's girlfriend for her birthday which is in 3 days. Sometimes you just have to give what's finished, right?

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Noro mania

Yesterday I went to the wholesalers....yup more yarn! On Sunday when I was at the shop, I had a good look at the new Noro pattern books by Jenny Watson and decided that what Pick Up Sticks needed was more Noro yarn. The new patterns are must knits. So here's what I got:

Silk Garden Chunky!

Cashmere Island...oh my!





Silk Garden Lite








Today's my day off - it actually snowed a bit this morning while Emma and I were waiting for the bus. However, there are a ton of online orders to fill and all that Noro to put away. Can't decide what to do - maybe I'll just wait to see if Lisa calls me!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

A Yarny Secret

I have a yarn-y secret - it's a new weight of yarn from one of my favorite Canadian Indie Dyers - an aran weight - which opens up a world of knitting possibilities. I feel like I've made some grand discovery because this girl is so talented! Her colorways remind me of Dream in Color but much brighter - the colors to the left are what has arrived so far. There's 7 or 8 more on order.




The colorway pictured here is Chestnut and it's all for me. I'm knitting a sweater for the store - well ok - it's actually for me but I'm telling myself that it's for the store which explains why I just had to cast it on despite all the other stuff still on needles.
What am I knitting with it? Basic Chic Hoodie from Chicknits. You can buy one for yourself here.
In other news, all Fleece Artist, Handmaiden and Perl Grey is on sale this week (Oct 18-Oct 29)for 15% off - both online and in the shop. Lisa's busy counting it now to get our inventory right before we do the big announcement!
There's a yarn crawl next Saturday, November 1st - all the participating stores are offering a 15% discount to yarn crawlers!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The sign to welcome knitters is finished! It certainly brightens up our entrance to the shop. I can't thank Mary enough for all her hard work. I'm just thrilled with it. Not much on the knitting front to report - I'm knitting but everything is looking pretty much the same. I'm happy to report that I did not cast on that Noro Shawl....yet. I've got to finish my Clapotis and two pairs of socks first. We're going to be famous here at Pick Up Sticks....well, at least locally. A film crew is showing up in a couple of weeks to film a segment on our Knit Night. I got the message today when I got in - I didn't even try to get this, it just happened! How great is that!

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was wonderful - ours was ok - it was difficult without my grandmother. I realized that Grandma coming for dinner really makes these special occasions special. Grandpa is doing well - Suzanne, his caregiver, says he's recharged his batteries and is now getting out of bed. He's a miracle - that's for sure.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

to my Canadian friends! I'm actually not sure why Canada and the US have different Thanksgiving days - I suppose if I was more historically aware I would know the reason but I've been too busy knitting.....Here's Grandpa's socks - all done and drying - I had about 2 inches of yarn left over. Phew!

I started these socks last night while watching Grey's Anatomy. I think the pattern is fantastic and much simpler than it looks. I'm using Koigu (which I don't sell)that Lisa bought for me. This is the first pair of Laura's Seven. The pattern is Slip Stitch Cable Socks from the Little Box of Socks. I've got these patterns in the shop and it's a very worthwhile purchase - all kinds of fabulous patterns.

This is a Noro Sock shawl from Laura Chau. She has it for sale on her blog and there is also a similiar version for free here. It just takes one skein (I'm going to use Silk Garden Sock - she used Kureyon) - I have a feeling this just might get cast on today too. Clapotis is not further along - maybe I'll work on that to try and avoid casting on yet another project - mmmmm - probably not!

I've been a very good blogger lately - don't ya think?
I

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Under construction.....

Mary Artymko, a very talented local artist, stopped in yesterday to begin work on the bulkhead as you walk in the store. There's more to be done but this is the start - nice, eh? I'm almost done Grandpa's socks - I should have them ready for a picture tomorrow - I love the Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn! Oh - and guess what arrived today - a big box of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Select - their premium sock yarn. It's gorgeous!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Is It That Time?

Is it time to think about Christmas knitting? Probably - I have some ideas - I want to knit my eldest daughter 7 pairs of socks. She used to make fun of me for knitting so much until I gave her socks last year for Christmas - no she hounds me relentlessly for more socks! I want to knit thrum mittens for my sister-in-law, mother-in-law and niece and nephew - plus there's my grandchildren. I guess I really should get started. Let's make a list:

Laura - 7 pairs of socks
Joey - thrum mittens
Joanna - thrum mittens
Owen - thrum mittens
Paige - thrum mittens
Katelyn - sweater
Lindsay & Dan - baby blanket for the new baby arriving in the Spring
Aunt - thrum mittens for walking
Uncle - thrum mittens for walking
Andrew - one pair of socks
Jeremy - one pair of socks
Jordan - thrum mittens
Liam - sweater
Quinn - sweater
Emma - sweater

That's 9 pairs of socks, 4 sweaters, 7 pairs of thrum mittens and a baby blanket. Hmmm! Yup - better get going!

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Grandpa's Socks

My grandfather will be celebrating his 90th birthday on October 19th and these are for him. We went to see him yesterday and he is pitifully weak and wouldn't get out of bed. He would hardly speak to me except for kissing my hand. He's gone down hill very quickly since my grandmother passed away in June and really - looking at him yesterday I cannot figure what it is that's keeping him here - especially when I know how happy he would be to be with my grandmother again. I've learned so many lessons from my grandfather - unfortunately, the grandpa that he was is long gone due to dementia and a weak heart - but as recent as our last visit he remembered to tell me how to fry fresh zucchini with flour and egg. Whenever I had a problem, even as an adult, his answer was - it never gets darker than midnight. I can't tell you how often I've thought those words over and over whenever I'm worried about something. He's always answered how are you doing grandpa? with good, thank God. He is a man of great faith - he always told us whenever God turns the page and your name is there, it's your turn so no sense worrying about what's going to happen. He had a wonderful sense of humor - just two years ago, when he met his great, great grandson for the first time - he told my grandmother not to get any ideas about having another baby. He's led a long and wonderful life - he is a grandfather like no other - as his first grand daughter, I was fortunate to spend many, many of my growing up years with him - he is the reason I love horses, I was a regular at the race track with him. When the first subway opened in Toronto, I was just small but grandpa took me for a ride on it that very first day - in fact, we made several trips up and down the subway over the whole day. He even still has the stone I got stuck in my nose when I was three years old. So...these socks are for him - warm and cosy for his days in bed, each stitch with a little bit of all of the love I have for him. Noro Silk Garden S252
See what came in the mail today - I am a needle pig! I don't need them but had to have them - aren't they pretty?

Friday, October 03, 2008

Got my knitting!

Today I drove myself and therefore ended up arriving with my knitting. Here's the Clapotis under construction. I've made some adjustments to the pattern because Casbah is more of a sock weight than what was originally called for - so I did 14 repeats of Section 1, will do 18 repeats of Section 2, work Section 4 and 5 as written.
Also - instead of using markers which really get in my way and slow down the progress, I purl the stitch which will be dropped. So in between the stitches that are knit in the back there's a purl stitch hiding. Sorry for the blurry photo ;)

And this arrived today - a new dyer that's producing a wonderful, springy, gorgeous Aran weight. I love this yarn just as much as I love her sock yarn! Just ordered 8 colors - 10 skeins of each. Better start looking for a good Aran pattern because I will want to cast on as soon as it arrives. Any suggestions? Have you tried Flat Feet? The arrival of this box caused lots of commotion in here - I ordered 66 sets and every single one was different - that meant 66 photos, 66 resizes and 66 new entries on the website - phew!

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Clapotis from Casbah

Well, well, well! I just went to take pictures of the work in progress however, guess where my knitting is. The trunk of my Honda - Greg drove me to work this morning and he said he would get the stuff from the trunk but he forgot. Hmmmm! So now I have to post about something that's been on my mind.

Why are people famous for doing nothing? Kim Kardashian was just voted off of Dancing with the Stars (thank goodness!) and I can't figure out what's so special about her. I mean if my dad had been on the defence team for OJ Simpson and driven him all around LA in a white Bronco being chased by police, I might just bury my head in the sand and never look up again. But instead, she's famous? Something is definitely wrong with that. And the show Keeping Up with the Kardashians - who on earth wants to keep up with the Kardashians?