Donation made to MSF!

Thanks to all who bought the Chrysler Crown Shawl pattern in January, I was able to make a $75 donation to Médecins Sans Frontières Canada. Just to be really open & clear about this, here's a shot of part of the receipt:


On the weekend I finished my Miralda shawl. Here's how it looked after blocking:



And once again, it was using lovely alpaca/silk laceweight from Silent Valley Alpaca.

And now I'm on to a secret project, to be revealed later on. What I can tell you is that I'm using this lovely silk/linen blend, Muireann in the lovely "Oh Ruby" colour from The Woolen Rabbit. Oh, and beads are involved. The Muireann is delicious stuff to knit with and I'm making excellent progress given that I only started on Saturday.

Awesome Response!

There has been an awesome response to people donating some profits from their patterns to help Haiti. The end of the month is coming up in a few days & right now the total I'm set to donate is at least $69. That's just incredible. And since it is way more than I'd normally sell, I decided to spend some of my portion on patterns too. I bought both of Ysolda's collections. Don't ask me why I waited so long to do that, because I've no clue, but it worked out well for donations as she's giving 80% to Doctors Without Borders. I also bought Kristen Rengren's Harlow pattern. I have appropriate stash yarn for this, just not enough time. All of this donating means that the total for the Yarn Harlot's Tricoteuses Sans Frontières / Knitters Without Borders is now over $1,000,000 since 2004. Crazy, no?

Progress on Miralda's shawl was good for a while but has slowed with a silly work/life schedule. I'm in the home stretch and I've started the final chart. I'm about 10 rows into it and it's easy to remember. The decreasing should mean that it's still possible to finish it this weekend for my first entry into the 10 shawls in 2010 group! Stay tuned for pictures.

It's not too late! Buy the Chrysler Crown Shawl before end of day Jan. 31st & I'll donate half of the price to Doctors Without Borders.

$6 CDN

Ravelry and Help for Haiti

For the knitters out there who are already Ravelry members, there are a large number of designs (over 40 pages of them now) where the designers have pledged at least a portion of the sale towards help for Haiti. Please visit the list and see if there are any patterns there you've been longing to buy.

I've added the Chrysler Crown Shawl to the list of patterns. 50% of sales for January are going to Doctors Without Borders.

$6 CDN

A few of the participating designs and designers that have me tempted are:

• Ysolda Teague (also here)
  
• Melissa Wehrle (also here)
  
• Calm Waters Cowl by Sara Amoroso
  
• Harlow by Kristen Rengren
  
• Connie Chang Chinchio (also here)
  
• Anne Kuo Lukito (Also here)
  
• Miram Felton (aka MimKnits)
  
• Kristen Hanley Cardozo (also here)
  
• Francie by Rebekkah Kerner
  
• Wooly Wormhead (also here)
  

10 shawls in 2010: the start of the first

On Jan. 1, I cast on for Miralda's Triangular Shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia.

I'm using 4.0 needles (Addi Click), and gorgeous alpaca/silk laceweight from Silent Valley Alpaca, a local producer. This was the lovely stuff that I bought at the Almonte Fiber Fest and I'm really enjoying the knitting process because of the feel of this wool.

I'm having some fears about not having enough yardage to make it through, but hopefully this first skein will last a few more rows and it'll all work out in the end. So far I've finished the first two charts and have moved on to the section with the nupps in it.

The thing that I'm looking forward to is that this shawl is knit from the outside triangular edge in, so the rows are getting shorter & shorter. It doesn't feel like they're getting any quicker, but soon I'll just be racing through them and finished. Perhaps. Here's how it looks today:

2010: the year of more knitting

It's probably no surprise that I intend to knit in 2010. And why wouldn't I? 2009 was an awesome knitting year. I wrote two free patterns and then finally invented my own lace knitting pattern: the Chrysler Crown Shawl. I'm thrilled with how it turned out, yet still wondering how I can ever match it.

2009 also ended quite well, knitting-wise.

1) I got Romi's fabulous book as a prize from Peggy for pointing them at my Mirage scarf pattern.


2) I made knitted presents for all Zoé's teachers and had no trouble finishing.

3) I made 2 berets from Peruvia. Once I got started on the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret I couldn't stop! And I gave one to Louise.

4) Louise gave me these (Miss May and Spice Market!!!):


I think she's lost her mind, but it's hard to argue when someone is giving you Wollmeise even if you think they shouldn't.

5) I recently read Connie Chang Chinchio's post about a tubular cast on and had a bit of an a-ha moment where this really made sense and made me think of a bought sweater whose edge I couldn't quite puzzle out. This was it!

Looking forward to an excellent 2010!

10 shawls in 2010?

I've gone & joined another group on Ravelry. These enterprising folks are aiming to knit 10 shawls in 2010. This seems much more likely to be something I'll do than, say, a pair of socks a week or a sweater a month. Heck, I'm working on a new shawl pattern right now and I'm going to have to knit it in full at least once in the next few months! And I know I have some great patterns from MimKnits and Knitspot that just need to be knit. And Aeolian does look lovely, doesn't it? And I do happen to have plenty of laceweight yarn to play with.

Add to that the fact that there is contest on Denise's blog to come up with suggestions for patterns. What's the prize? A lovely skein of silk yarn from Lost City Knits. You can see some of her wares on the web site for her lavender farm.

There's a break before starting this challenge though, which is good as I'm just finishing up the last of my Christmas knitting & blocking (yay!). No official casting on until 2010! Perhaps in the next week I'll magically find the time to work the kinks out of some pattern ideas.

Enjoy your holidays! I know I'll have a great time with my family. The kids have been looking forward to Christmas for a while - so much so that I haven't dared to leave any gifts under the tree!

Finishing up some stuff

So I've had a few opportunities to knit lately. Since August I've been having issues with gall stones. That meant a few trips to doctors. At one visit I finally found the time to tuck in all the ends on a baby cardigan I'd knit ages ago. I even found buttons in my stash. Perfect. Finally. I'm so happy with how the stripes look on this little sweater. This is the end of some Phildar cotton (Coton No 4?) I bought in Calgary in December 2006.


I spent a week & 1/2 at home recovering from the laparoscopic cholecystectomy: the gall bladder is gone! Yes, this meant more knitting time.

The first weekend, when I was still on some heavy duty painkillers all I could manage was simple scarves. I made 2 more Mirages. Yes, I know, it's my own pattern, but it's simple & all I could really handle. Yay, stashbusting. Plus they're presents for Zoé's teachers.

Mirage 1: Mei Mei Baby Bamboo, 3 balls, almost all used:


Mirage 2: Oasis solid, 1 ball, sapphire, almost all used:


Later, I was feeling more adventurous & tackled a Star Crossed Slouchy Beret from the Tosca I had hanging around. It was a quick & relatively easy knit and took a ball and a bit. The hardest part was finding big enough needles, and I don't think I quite used what was required, but the end product is wearable. I'll need a picture of it on to see what it really looks like.


Finally, a recent acquisition will have to be knit soon. My curiosity has limits. Ever since Anne Hanson at Knitspot started posting about the mink & cashmere yarn she was using to make some lovely mittens and a cowl, I'd been intrigued. I finally gave in to temptation and purchased some in green & black. Expect to see some leafprints or something similar soon. Oh, and no mink were harmed in making this yarn!