A Newfoundland Shawl

Hey y'all! As I mentioned in my last post, I recently got married. While I didn't get to add quite as many handmade details as I originally thought I would, one of the things that I really wanted to do was knit a shawl that I could wear. And I did...

Original photo by Afterglow Images. Cropped by me.

This is the Newfoundland pattern by Anne-Lise Maigaard (part of her Canadian Geography series) and it is practically perfect in every way! I've had this Madelinetosh Tosh Lace yarn in Alabaster in my stash for a little while and knew that I wanted to use to knit my shawl. I stumbled across the Newfoundland pattern and knew right away that it was the one as Alex and I had already decided to honeymoon in Newfoundland.

Original photo by Afterglow Images. Cropped by me.

I didn't wear the shawl for the ceremony but wore it for a number of our pictures. It wasn't a major part of my wedding day attire, but I really wanted to have something I had made myself to mark the occasion.

Surprisingly, it took less than a month to knit. Considering that I hadn't knit with lace previously, and that I had to frog and restart it once, I think that's pretty speedy! It blocked out so drapey and soft; I don't think it could have been more perfect for what I wanted.

Pattern: Newfoundland by Anne-Lise Maigaard

Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Lace in Alabaster

Started: 11 March 2016

Completed: 4 April 2016

Notes on Ravelry

Knit All the Things!

Hey y'all! Last month I participated in a little Instagram swap with friends called Knit All the Things - it was super-super-fun! Not only did we swap yarn, patterns, and other knitting-type lovelies, many of us made a little something for our partners as well.

I decided to use Shannon's free pattern and made a Reversible Box Tote for my partner, Meg. Instead of adding the pocket, I decided to paper piece this little "knit" insert. I realized after mailing my package that I could have actually turned this bit of paper piecing into a pocket, which not only would have been easier but also more practical. Oh well, c'est la vie!

Here is the finished tote. I used an Art Gallery print for the outside and paper piecing, and a print from Zen Chic's Comma for the interior. I quite like how it turned out and Shannon's pattern is fab! Of course, I forgot to take a picture of everything else I included in the package (Hazel Knits and Madelinetosh yarns), but I did get a picture of what I received from the lovely Jennifer!

Eeep! Isn't this the best package ever?! I love everything and I am super-excited to have some beautiful sock blockers of my very own. Gosh, I am one lucky girl!

One can never have enough socks. -Albus Dumbledore

Hey y'all! How's it going? just a quick reminder that the giveaway I'm hosting is ending tomorrow, so if you want to enter, be sure to hop on over soon!

Everyone knows I love socks - I have in the past written a whole post just about socks. This post is, once again, all about socks! They are my most favourite thing to knit and I love wearing. In the original sock post, I mentioned that I wanted to knit a whole bunch of socks based on some of the Harry Potter inspired sock patterns freely available on Ravelry. Well, I've now completed two pairs!

These are my most recently completed pair - they're called the Moody Stockings and the pattern was designed by Erica Lueder. These are my favourite socks to date - I am in love! The pattern is gansey-inspired and, as the designer notes in the pattern, they require "constant vigilance!" (that's an HP-reference just in case you've never read the books).

I used Shibui Knits Sock in Sand which I bought at Eat, Sleep, Knit and 2.25mm needles. I just bought these sock blockers and frankly, I really dislike them. They are far too thin and flimsy. I have my eye on a wooden pair that I really like but the shipping to Canada is crazy.

I knit these socks for Alex as a Hanukkah gift, and boy, let me tell you, they took much longer to complete than socks for my feet since they're much bigger! These are based on the Phineas pattern by Rosemary Waits. While the pattern includes the charts for making the socks "man-sized", it did not include any information for turning the heel at this size. Luckily the number of stitches matched the number of stitches in a pattern from Wendy Johnson's Toe-Up Socks for Every Body and I was able to use her instructions.

This picture shows the colour and variegation of the yarn much better. For these I used Raventwist Starri in Night Rider and the same 2.25mm needles.

I case you've never read Harry Potter (or you're a little rusty), the Moody Stockings are named after Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, retired Auror and member of the Order of the Phoenix. The Phineas socks are named after Phineas Nigellus Black, great-great-grandfather of Sirius Black and former Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (the least popular head of the school ever).

I am so going to knit more Harry Potter inspired socks - they are just so fun!!

"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks." Harry stared. 

"One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. 

"Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. 

People will insist on giving me books." -Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Sock Sacks!

Just before Sewing Summit in September, I went into a bit of a sewing frenzy (no doubt aided by the crashing of my computer). I made quite a number of things, including matching a couple of Sock Sacks - one for me and one for my super-awesome Sewing Summit roomie.

The Sock Sack is a pattern available on Craftsy from Ramona Rose and it is awesome! This is the one that I made for DD featuring the cutest bunny fabric from Modern Whimsy and a little Lizzy House. The purple accent fabric on the zippered divider and bands is Kaufman Quilter's Linen (one of my absolute faves!).

This one I made for me and it lives in my purse. I keep both my knitting and EPP in it at the same time. For mine I used the transistor fabric from Melody Miller's Ruby Star Rising (gifted to me by the lovely Debbie, who you might all know from the workroom here in Toronto) and Riley Blake's Saddle Up. The Saddle Up fabric is facing the wrong way (the FQ can only be cut a certain way to get the right fabric amounts), but I just got it into my head that I absolutely had to use this fabric for the interior. I used the same Quilter's Linen for the band but swapped it out for some pearl bracelets for the pocket. The only thing I changed from the original pattern was to omit the interior tabs and to make my own drawstrings rather than using ribbon.

The original Sock Sack pattern only has a divider in the middle but Ramona Rose put a tutorial up on her blog for turning this divider into a pocket, which is the addition that just sends this pattern over the edge! Although the pattern is meant for accommodating knitting two-socks-at-a-time (where you have two balls of yarn, one can go on each side of the divider so as not to get tangled), I thought it was fabulous for just knitting in general or for carrying more than one project. I keep my knitting on one side of the divider and my EPP supplies on the other, with all of my notions and tools in the little pocket.

Sock Sack in action! I took this picture on the plane on the way to Sewing Summit; I knit and did a little EPP on that trip. Trust me, I got some weird looks from some of the other passengers! The flight attendant asked me what I was doing and she gave me the blankest look when I tried to explain it.

Even if you don't knit, you could definitely use one of these little sacks to carry around other hand projects!

Socks, one of my favourite things!

Last night I commented to Alex's youngest nephew that socks are one of my favourite things, to which he promptly replied "no, they're not!" (which in turn caused Alex and I to start singing These Are a Few of My Favourite Things while chasing him around the house). But really, they are. Ask Alex. Or my Mum. I have all different kinds - plain ones, colourful ones, wool ones, cotton ones, fleece ones, and, of course, hand-knit ones. So far I have knit three pairs of socks (one chunky and two fingering weight) and am working on my fourth pair now.

This will become a pair of Hermione's Everyday Socks and I'm loving them already! I modified the pattern to be toe-up rather than cuff-down: I cast on 28 stitches using Judy's Magic Cast On, increased two stitches on each needle every other row for a total of 56 stitches, and I'm reversing the chart so that I work from rows 4 to 1. The yarn is Fibranatura Yummy which has, unfortunately, been discontinued.

Working on these socks reminded me that I haven't shared these socks that I finished a while ago.

These are my By the Sea socks in Madelinetosh Sock in Iceburg (this colour is discontinued I think). The sock pattern is actually available for free on Wendy Johnson's site and is called Seaweed but I renamed them because of the the names of both the pattern and the yarn colourway.

This yarn is so hard to photograph - it's a really nice blue in real life. I actually have a lot of completed knitting that I've never shared on the blog (including my first adult-sized cardigan) because it's hard getting a picture of myself wearing it all - socks are much easier!

In case you didn't already know, I'm a little bit of a closet Potter head and I have plans to turn all of Erica Leuder's Harry Potter themed (free) sock patterns into toe-up socks for me! I cannot wait for my Hermione socks to be done!

The only gift is a portion of thyself. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well now, I'm finally getting around to sharing some of the things I made my mum for Christmas! I made most of the Hanukkah and Christmas presents this year, which was fun, but also a bit stressful and time consuming!

I started this Ship Shape Tote in Alexia's class at Sewing Summit - I love it! Originally I was going to go for a more neutral colour theme, but my mum likes colour so I decided to go a bit bolder. I included prints from Tula's Prince Charming, Joel Dewberry's Modern Meadow, Paula Prass' Woodland Delight, and a few other collections. The handles are Kona Medium Grey and the inside is a grey leaf print from Ikea. The pattern is well-written and came together really easily. It is super roomy and I would recommend adding a pocket or two to the inside so that you won't lose smaller items in the bottom since it is so big.

I also made her this manicure kit following Rashida's Nice and Neat Manicure Kit tutorial featured on the Art Gallery Fabrics blog. The outside is a print from Joel Dewberry's Deer Valley collection (I always seem to use a lot of Joel Dewberry when making things for my mum).

And the inside and binding are all Tula (again! One thing that has always struck me about Free Spirit is how well they match collections together over a season or two... anyway...). I picked up a couple of manicure items and slipped them into their little slots, unfortunately I was having no luck finding one of the shorter nail files but hopefully my mum can find one - there is lots of space left over for her to add whatever she wants. This tutorial was really well written and I pretty much always love any pattern that Rashida comes up with!

These little oven mitts were made using fabrics from the Blush collection by Basic Grey and they are lined with both quilt batting and Insul-Brite. These are a little bit bigger than your standard finger mitts because my mumma has big hands! She was pretty happy that I made them bigger and I hope she uses them a lot.

Now onto the knitting!!

These are the Camp Out Fingerless Mitts (a free pattern on Ravelry) made using di.Ve Autunno - the yarn is so hard to photograph but is really pretty. It's a mix of green and black but the green variagates throughout from light to dark. Again, I made these bigger because of mum's big hands (went up to 6mm DPNs) and I added a garter cuff to keep them from rolling.

Using the same yarn, I made Calorimetry to match (a free pattern from Knitty). It is shaped using short rows and the construction is so cool! Check out the Knitty pattern to see it being worn - it's really neat! I thought my mum would like it because it's less likely to mess up her hair than a hat or standard headband, ha!

And last, but not least, I also knit her a set of leaf-shaped washcloths (again, a free pattern). My mum has been crocheting dishcloths for years but I thought she might appreciate someone else making her a set for a change - and they're shaped like leaves so I couldn't resist! These went into her stocking with a few other bits and bobs.

Phew, just posting all of those brings back frantic memories of trying to get everything finished in time! I'll be back on Thursday with the debut of my new quilt pattern, just have to put a few finishing touches on the write-up and it will be finished, hurray!

Holiday Catch-Up + the Giveaway Winner!

Hey y'all! So I guess I took a bit of an inadvertent break there! With Hanukkah, Christmas, and our anniversary (and the fact that I made most of the presents for each and have been applying for jobs), the time just slipped away from me. But I'm back now, woot! I thought today that I would share some of the presents I made for Alex for the holidays.

We'll start off with Hanukkah (since it did come first and all). But what could this be?!

Why, it's a guitar strap, of course! Alex has been playing guitar for a number of years, and I thought it would be pretty fun to see if I could make him a new pretty strap to enjoy. I pulled out a bunch of Denyse Schmidt fabrics from both Hope Valley and Chicopee in colours that I thought he'd like and told then him to pull out any he didn't like particularly.

I used his old guitar strap as a basis for my measurements and pieced the patchwork part together (it's backed in Kona Medium Grey with a heavyweight interfacing in between); both the brass buckle and ring came from an old messenger bag of Alex's that I bought him almost four years ago but that broke about a year ago. I cut the brown leather end bits from an old purse of mine and based them on the ones from his old guitar strap. It works perfectly!

Now onto Christmas - these slippers took me almost four Harry Potter movies to knit and man did the chunky yarn and big needles make my hands hurt!

I used the Non-Felted Slippers pattern which can be found free on Ravelry and only made a couple of changes to make them bigger (the original pattern is about a ladies medium) - my pattern notes can be found on Ravelry here. I really like these slippers because I think they have a more masculine feel than many other slipper patterns I've seen and they are super-chunky and cozy.

I also made him this zipper pouch! The white wood grain fabric is Ikea and the denim-y looking fabric is actually wool suiting in sort of a grey-blue; the deer is an iron-on patch that I bought ages ago with Alex in mind and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally use it!

I'm starting to get the hang of this zipper thing (this was only my third I think), so this time I decided to be a little adventurous and try zipper tabs - seemed to come out alright I think! I also used a metal zipper because I thought it would give the pouch a little more ruggedness.

And these photos (except this one of course) have all been brought to you by this baby - my new DSLR! It was my anniversary gift from Alex and I love it; Alex's anniversary gift is sitting under it not quite done. I'm making Alex his own quilt but couldn't get it all completed prior to our anniversary since he works from home. I just wrapped up the top and gave it to him. I'll show the whole thing when I get it all quilted and bound.

Now I bet you want to know who won my Blogger's Choice bundle from FQS, right?

Congratulations Jenelle! Please get in contact with me via email with your address and Fat Quarter Shop will get your bundle sent out to you!

Phew, alright, I'm done. That was a long post but I'll be back soon with even more holiday gifts and even more crafty happenings around here!

A Little Catch Up

So, it's been a while since I last posted! It's been a rough couple of months - what with not having a job and such, but I'm trying to keep myself busy and not dwell too much on all of the negatives. Let's do a little catch up post here! I've been crafting quite a bit and have a few things to share, so let's do a few now and then some more later in the week!

I finished the first of my Seaweed Socks - woot! The pattern is available for free on Wendy Johnson's site and the yarn is Madelinetosh Sock in Iceburg (which is a discontinued colourway). I'm just about to start working the gusset for the second sock and hopefully I'll have both socks fully done within the next week or so. When they're both done I'll take some better pictures so that you can really see the colour.

I stitched up this little Bob and Doug McKenzie duo as a gift for my mum. The pattern is from Wee Little Stitches on Etsy and was super fun to stitch! Seriously hard to photograph so in case you can't read it the line on the bottom says "take off, you hoser" (you may need to be Canadian to get this one).

I also knitted up three teeny-tiny preemie hats for charity; I'm going to make more since I can probably get five or so hats out of each skein and they really are super-fast. I feel good knowing that such a little thing I've made can bring some serious warmth and comfort to others. The pattern is available for free and there are five different variations on the hat; I'm planning on making one of each version in both pink and blue.

And, a little announcement, Pretty in Patchwork: Holidays is now available for purchase in the print edition!! It came out on August 7th and should be available in all major bookstores as well as online at places like Amazon and Indigo. Also, just in case print isn't your thing or you want to get the book instantly, it is still available as an ebook as well.

In case you don't remember (or weren't around these parts when I first announced it), this is my pattern from the book - the Countdown-to-Christmas Advent Calendar! My pattern mixes English paper piecing, stamping, and a little patchwork to create a fun and easy calendar with pockets just big enough for a small chocolate or toy.

I have a few other things and announcements to share but we'll wait and do that a little bit later! I hope y'all enjoyed catching up with me here. I'll talk to you soon!

Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Thursday everyone! I made a few things over the last little bit that I haven't had a chance to show you yet, so let's get to it!

These are my June blocks for the Joy circle of do. Good Stitches. We used the Patchwork Wheel tutorial from Elizabeth of Don't Call Me Betsy and I think they turned out quite nice. I used a mix of prints for these including quite a few from Tula Pink, some Kate Spain, some Heather Bailey, solids, and a few more designers.

I have more (read: better) pictures of them, but unfortunately they are on my computer which is in the shop after the hard drive melt-down. Luckily I take a lot of pictures on my phone to share on Instagram while I'm working on things so at least I have this one to show! By the way, if you're on Instagram and want to find me my name username is KayePrince.  

I finished my Diagonal Lace Socks a couple of weeks ago and I just love the way they turned out! The pattern is from Wendy Johnson's Socks From the Toe Up but it is also available on Wendy's blog as one of her (many) free downloadable patterns. The yarn I used is from an indie dye, Aspen Moon Arts, on Etsy; it's 70% superwash wool and 30% nylon, and the colourway is called Harvest Corn. These are the second pair of socks I've knit but they were a first in many ways - my first using the toe up method, my first using magic loop, and my first actually using fingering weight yarn (the first pair were super-chunky). Yes, I am quite pleased with them.

I also stitched up this little guy just for fun! The Royal Guard was first published in Cross Stitcher magazine last year but can now be found as a download on The Making Spot (if you have not checked out that website, run and look - seriously!). I have no idea how I'm going to use him yet, but I had a ton of fun just stitching him up! I stitched up another little giftie for my mum this week but it'll have to wait until after I give it to her because she reads my blog (hi Mum!).

And finally, I started a new pair of socks yesterday and this is the yarn I'm using. It's Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Iceburg (which is a colourway that has been discontinued); I'm using the Feather Lace pattern from Rosemary Falk, and am super-excited that they are less-than-standard stitches around so I think they'll fit my super-narrow feet better! I will show my progress when I've got a little more going.

I am now going to go read a book or watch You've Got Mail (in honour of Nora Ephron) in bed since I got stung by a stupid, ruddy bee today in the sole of my foot (while wearing my bloody shoes!) and need a lie down. Poor foot. Rubbish bee.

LinkConnector Validation

My Little Not-At-Market Crafty Party!

Hey y'all! How's everybody doing? As you can probably tell from the title of this post, I am not at Quilt Market this year - pretty darn sad I must say, but I have been following my peeps and all their exploits online so at least I get to live vicariously though them. It's okay though, hopefully I will be back in the Fall (or next Spring at the very least).

Remember back in this post when I shared the Go Anywhere Bag I made and said that it was the second one that I had made? Well now I can finally share the first one that I made as a gift!! Hurrah!

This little bag was a birthday present for my bestie Jennifer - it was quite late in arriving since I didn't get it sent out quite as speedily as I would have liked and that was compounded by the fact that it ended up coming back to me with Jennifer's address (which I had written in permanent marker) completely rubbed off the outside of the package! So of course then it had to go out again, but it arrived this week (unscathed, thank goodness).

I used the Go Anywhere Bag pattern by Anna Graham of Noodlehead which I think is just fabulous! The two exterior fabrics are a blue chambray and a print from Patty Young's Flora & Fauna line (it just occurred to me that I bought this fabric at Crafty Planet in Minneapolis with Jennifer during my first Quilt Market). The main interior fabric is from Tula Pink's Parisville and, just like the other version, I did two pockets on the inside.

And again, just like the other one, I bound the two exterior pockets rather than using piping or simply folding over the layers and top stitching. This particular fabric is from Oliver + S' City Weekend. And yes, for anyone who might be wondering, in the first picture that is a little model of Green Gables holding up the bag *wink*!

Just this past week I was asked to join the Joy Circle for do. Good Stitches - fun! Tonight I made my very first blocks for May...

For this months blocks we followed the tutorial for Boxed Strings that Becca posted to her blog. We're not cutting them up and re-sewing them at this point though - Becca will do that once she receives them all. The idea here was to go for fun, girly fabrics that would be appropriate for a teenage girl or young woman.

I am super-excited to be participating in this bee and doing a little good for charity; I also can't wait to get to know the ladies in my circle (hey girls!), many of whom are fellow Canadians.

I also started knitting a new pair of socks! These are the Diagonal Lace Socks from Wendy D. Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up. I'm using the magic loop method and the yarn is a Harvest Gold fingering weight (superwash merino/nylon) from Aspen Moon Arts on Etsy (shop is on vacation right now while the owner moves). I've had this book sitting on my shelf for quite awhile now (quite possibly about two years) and I finally just said to myself "okay, let's do it". I've never knit socks from the toe up before but I knew even before trying it that it would be my preferred method.

Now, I must get back to my sock knitting and crying not-crying over missing quilt market! Let me know what you're up to this crafty weekend - did I mention it's also a holiday weekend in Canada? Happy (193rd) birthday Queen Victoria!

(Please ignore the giant gaps between my toes...)

This world is but canvas to our imaginations. -Henry David Thoreau

Last weekend - St. Patrick's Day to be precise - was my friend Kim's birthday so of course I had to make her a present! Since Kim is super-stylin' and stuff I decided to make her a clutch purse.

The clutch is my own design, but is pretty darn simple! I wanted to make the type of clutch that could be carried as a bigger pouch but could also be folded over to "clutch" in the hand. It measures about 10x14" and I really like how the proportions all worked out.

The faux-bois fabric is home dec weight from Ikea and all of the leather bits and hardware are reclaimed from old purses that I've cut apart. The interior (which of course I forgot to take pictures of) is a chocolate brown cotton and there's a small zipper picket inside too! Frankly, when I finished this up I was really tempted to keep it for myself - obviously I didn't do that and I am happy to report that Kim loves it!

And, just in case you wanted to know, the April issue of Simply Knitting included this awesome little owl row counter that so cutely matches the owl needle gauge I shared in my last post! Eeep, too too too much fun!