Sun and Summer

Wow, months have gone by since my last post, my apologies! During the summer months I work in a mining camp in Northern BC, this has taken time away from knitting and of course blogging. The summer is coming and going at an insanely quick place and i'm loving every minute of it. My work has provided me with once in a lifetime opportunities that will never be forgotten.

Crevasse Training - Don`t look down!

 Work has taken away from my knitting - true.. But that doesn't mean i've stopped! Over the summer i've been continuing to work on improving my skills and learn new ones. I've branched into colorwork, lace and more detailed patterns. My proudest accomplishment is completing the Big Lebowski socks. They involved 3 different types of colorwork.. Stranded, fair-isle and intrasia. I will say that intrasia was NOT my favourite but i'm a big fan of fair-isle and intrasia. Stay tuned for more projects soon!

Cables and Colour

When i'm not working, i'm knitting. This summer my goal was to learn to cable and i've done it! I made a sock! This sock marks a number of learning curves for me, those of you familiar with knitting terms, I learned the following on this sock: Cables! Magic Loop technique and short rows. Unfortunately the sock is too big for me (had the wrong needle size, have to work with what you've got when your on the side of a mountain!) but they'll fit the hubby. I've learned that I love cables, they are so much fun to make and (I think) look fantastic. Cowl and Company will likely have a number of lovely cabled cowls this winter, so keep your eyes peeled!

I also love colour, so I made a SUPER long (long enough to wrap 3 times!) cowl from a yarn colour set by Sunshine Yarns. I just kept knitting stripes until I ran out of yarn. I looks Christmasy but I love it, it is squishy, soft, merino wool goodness! May be a cowl I have to keep for myself!

Off to Work I go!

Tomorrow morning i'm off to work, for those of you who don't know I work in a remote mining camp in Northern BC. My experience there last season is the reason I taught myself to crochet. We often have the evenings off and there was little to do other then board games. So I began to crochet, this exploded into an obsession with crochet (and yarn!) which has branched into learning how to knit. I wonder what new skill i'll come home with after this season? My goal is to learn how to cable knit; i've always loved the looks of cabled sweaters and it would be really neat to be able to make my own.

This year I have a different position at camp so I don't know how much free time i'll have, we'll have to see.. I'll try to keep my blog updated, the views up there are spectacular and everyone should really have the opportunity to at least look through pictures! No new knitting updates today, i've been busy packing away.. For now, a picture of camp last season. Enjoy!

New name, new projects!

As I have been learning to knit, i've realized that my (old) blog name was no longer fitting, so i've changed it to 'Stitch In Time'. What do you think? I'm open to suggestions for a good, catchy name relating to my favourite crafts.

My most recent adventure has been learning to fair-isle knit. I have always been fascinated by some of the amazing colour-work that can be done in knitting. I hope to one day get there, for now it's baby steps! So here it is, my first try at fair-isle knitting and I am pretty proud of how it turned out. Yes, another tea-cozy, you can never have enough right?

I would also like to share a bigger project I have been working on. It is a crochet top (with knitted ribbing for the sleeves, bottom and collar) and I have been slowly working away at it for about 1.5 months. I am loving the results so far, can't wait to get it done! I am currently working on the ribbing around the neck, it is a lace weight and because of that it is taking FOREVER but it really is looking fabulous.

 

Spring is in the Air!

The weather has been so perfect lately in Vancouver, 15 degrees and sunny! Couldn't ask for a better way to spend the long weekend. I took my knitting and crocheting outside for the first time this year, sat in the garden with a lovely cup of tea. In doing so I was inspired to finish a tea cozy that I had been slowly plugging away at. I turned the tea cozy into a rose garden using crocheted roses and a green, knitted cozy body. I'm officially bi-craftual! Combining both knitting and crocheting, who would have thought! My inspiration led to the completion of this lovely tea cozy.

 

 

The pattern is based off of the Seed Stitch Cozy pattern by Churchmouse Yarn and Teas. The roses are based of a tutorial that was completed by Annies Attic

Tea Anyone??

I decided to try making a knitted tea cozy the other day, i'm a very new knitter (as in.. a month) but I was feeling ambitious! So I looked up a pattern and fell in love with one by Churcmouse Yarns and Teas. It is a lovely seed stitch pattern with a cute little I-cord top. I purchased the pattern and realized I didn't have the right needles for the project, I needed a set of DPNs (Double Pointed Needles). This started to make me nervous, I had never used DPNs before and if you aren't familiar with them they are pretty intimidating... But I was determined to make this pattern so I walked up to my local yarn store, Three Bags Full, and picked out gorgeous hand-dyed yarn and the appropriate needles. I'm happy to say that my mission was a success and I was able to produce the cutest tea cozy I have ever seen. I couldn't be more excited, I think it kind of looks like a delicious blueberry. What do you think??

Hairband Phase!

So I've been on a real hairband kick lately. They work up so quickly and feel so 'springy'. I saw a pattern designed by Yuliya Tkacheva and I fell in love. Her designs are so beautiful, but many of them a slip-stitch crochet, something I haven't yet ventured into... Seeing her designs has inspired me though and I may just have to give it a spin.

Anyways, on to the patterns! So far i've made 2 of the 4 Easy Headbands and they have turned out really cute. I've been using a 2.75mm hook and some light weight cotton, crocheting really tightly then lightly pinning/blocking the finished product. Used elastic cord to close the headband and voila! The perfect spring time headbands. How cute are these??

Guess Who's Knitting?!

That's right, i'm learning to knit! I'm teaching myself continental style knitting using youtube videos and ravelry as my resources. I've finished my first 'real' project and i'm pretty stocked about it. I love how it turned out! This cowl taught me how to knit and purl in the round, how to use circular needles and of course how to fix dropped stitches. The pattern I used was the Purl Ridge Scarf which is perfect for a new knitter! What do you think?

 

Crochet Slippers for All!

So i've been on a crochet slipper kick recently, specifically 'spring time' themed slippers. I've made pairs for my mom, friends and of course myself! They are super easy and quick (perfect for taking on my bus rides to school); anyone who knows the basic crochet stitches can make these slippers! They are based on a combo of patterns which I will gladly share with you know.

The pattern in which my slippers are based on is the Drops Crochet Slippers . I wasn't a fan of the strap or edging on these slippers so I made some alterations. I did a simple SC border with a flower from a pattern off of The Life Artistic Blog.

Cute right? They fit perfectly. I use a standard worsted weight acrylic, I've made these in Caron Simply Soft, Vannas Choice and Loops and Threads. I then decided I wanted to try making my own flower (feeling adventurous). I had never 'designed' anything before but thought what the heck, i'll give it a go! My girlfriend wanted a pair of spring time daisy slippers, this is what I came up with:

 

What do you think?? Here is the pattern for these daisys
Daisy Flowers:
Make a magic loop
SC 14 in loop
Change colour - SC in 1st Ch. (Ch 3, skip St, SC in next stitch) repeat around
(SC, DC, TC, DC, SC) in each ch.3 space, slip stitch to beginning

Hope you like them!

School, Knitting, Open House, Oh my!

First things first, Ziggy and I's trial went well! We didn't qualify in anything BUT accomplished some things that have been holding us back (getting our contacts and 12 weave poles, yay!). That is long past now though, sorry for not updating you all sooner.

More recent news is that Cowl & Company is hosting its first EVER open house! How exciting! We've invited family, friends and previous purchasers to our house for tea, goodies and crafts. Hopefully it is successful. I've been busy crocheting away to get a bit of a stock pile up.

I am also learning to knit! Scary stuff. I've been learning for about a week now, teaching myself off of youtube videos and helpful people off of Ravelry. So far so good I think... I've made a few dishclothes and i'm now working on a cowl. I will say though, knitting takes A LOT longer then crocheting! Is it just me? Hopefully a newbie thing and I get faster...



And finally, a few pictures of my Crocheted Creations

Slippers! Made for a friend - No pattern for these :)

Artfully Simple Cowl - Free Pattern off Ravelry

More Crocheting and Agility!

Eek! I haven't updated in forever, my apologies! I had a bit of a dental emergency in which I broke a tooth, then had a root canal on said tooth. The root canal went well, we though, until the tooth broke AGAIN a week later! So I had to get the tooth pulled... No fun at all!

Aaaanyways, so i've been really busy with school, agility and of course crocheting. My crocheting and yarn addiction continues to grow and grow. When i'm out of school I wonder how many things i'll be able to make with all my free time?? Ziggy has been doing really well with agility, we are going to another competition this weekend; i'll keep you posted.

Now for some finished crocheted lovelies, I wont post them all but i'll highlight a few of my favourites:

A lovely chunky button cowl made for the cold weather! Too bad its spring like weather here...

This Asrai Fairy Stole was a pattern test that I loved. Uses lace and DK weight yarn, a nice twist!

This Dots N`Dashes Bolero worked up SO quick! My first official `garmet`

Well, thats all for now folks! Hope you enjoy my blog, more FO to come!
Please check out my Sister and I's store, Cowl & Company, it has been going really well so far! I've been really enjoying this adventure with my sister. She has started to crochet as well, who knew!

Back to Schooool..

Well with a new year comes a new school term.. joy! Only 3 semesters left though (including this one) and i'll be graduating as a Mining Engineer! How exciting! I've been busy crocheting away as usual, for fun, for markets, for friends, for pattern tests, for CAL, for everything! I've also become addicted to Wool Watcher (never heard of it? you MUST check it out!) Here's a few of my latest finished objects