FO Friday: Siobhan Part One - Yarn Travels and Love at First Sight

Every now and then, a project just jumps out at me. I see it and I know immediately that I need to make it. That was how the Siobhan shawl came about.

Last October, my mom and I took a trip to San Antonio, Texas. We did all the normal tourist things, saw the Alamo, visited the Spanish missions, went up the Tower of the Americas, ate barbeque and Tex-Mex, drove up to Stonewall, Texas to visit the LBJ Ranch and Texas Whitehouse, and took a ghost tour.* In addition to those things, we also shopped for yarn. I like to try to find a local yarn store whenever I travel; yarn makes a great souvenir. My mom is also a knitter, so she was up for doing some yarn shopping. We happened to be visiting during the 2016 Hill Country Yarn Crawl and made it to 5 of the shops on the crawl.

One of those shops was a place called Inskein Yarns, a cute little shop in Northwest San Antonio. If you are a fiber artist and in the area, stop by. The staff is amazingly friendly and helpful and they have a great selection of yarns.

While browsing, I came across a shawl up by the check out. Something about the shawl caught my eye, the colors, the texture, the design; I’m not sure what it was, but I knew I had to make that shawl in that yarn. I asked about it, the design was created by the shop owner and the yarn was from a local indie dyer. That was all I needed to know, I bought the yarn and the pattern on the spot.

Design wise, Siobhan is a simple shawl, with a couple of interested elements. The body of the shawl has a stitch pattern that creates a great texture that works well for hand-dyed yarns. The bottom of the shawl has these great little loops, which add so much to the overall look. Overall, the knitting wasn’t difficult and it was fun to knit.

Detail of the loops on the bottom of the shawl and the texture of the shawl body.

The yarn, as I mentioned before, is from an indie dyer in San Antonio, Irish Girl Crafts. The yarn base is called Tullamore and is a blend of superwash corriedale wool (75%) and nylon (25%). The color way, Amber’s Fire in the Sky, is a combination of white, purple, yellow, and orange (there may be another color or two in there) and is gorgeous! The colorway makes me think of Disney villains. It is possibly the combination of purples and blacks, or maybe the fact that I started knitting this project on my way to Disney World. Either way, it is a great color combination, I may have to watch the dyer’s Etsy store to see if she ever lists more for sale.

 

*On a completely unrelated note, I have participated in three ghost tours now, Key West, New Orleans, and San Antonio. I highly recommend checking one out if you are visiting a city that has one (there are lots). Even if you aren’t big on the whole looking for ghosts thing, it is a great way to see some forgotten corners of your destination and hear some local legends. I don’t know that my mom is big into hunting ghosts, and she still seemed to have a great time on the San Antonio one.  

WIP Wednesday: Clearview Cowl

Progress has been very slow and very uneventful on the Hyperion Pullover. The yolk is a honeycomb lace pattern, which looks very nice and will be delightful for a summer sweater, but is also rather time consuming to knit. It is also one of those stitch patterns where I actually have to pay attention when I'm knitting. That works great when Kiddo is sleeping and Husband lays claim to the remote, but on nights I'm watching something I want to watch, or when I'm taking my knitting somewhere, or for the hundreds of other times when I'm knitting while doing something, I need an easier project.


So I decided to cast on for the Clearview Cowl. It came in a kit that I picked up on a girls' weekend in Stillwater, Minnesota a couple of years back. I didn't really have immediate plans to knit it, the colors were wrong to go with my winter coat, so it sat in the closet for a couple of years.


However, this year, I got a new winter coat. It is a lovely shade of gunmetal grey, which is lovely and doesn't show stains, but is rather drab. However, handknit accessories are a lovely way to perk up anything.


I am only a couple rows into this project, but I'm all ready a big fan. It is a rather mindless knit, a row of knits, a row of purls, with a color change at the start of each row.

All 250 stitches are scrunched on the needle, it will be much bigger when it is finished.

The yarn, though, THE YARN is what makes this project. I'm knitting it in the recommended Road to China Lace by the Fibre Co. It is an exquisite blend of alpaca (65%), silk (15%), cashmere (10%), and camel (10%). I really cannot overstate how delightfully soft this yarn is. The colors are gorgeous, too. I'm using rhodolite, a beautiful pinky-purple color, and grey pearl, a lovely soft grey.

The camera did a terrible job capturing the colors of this yarn.

I seriously love this yarn. It is super light (partially because it is a lace weight yarn), but I have no doubt that it will be super warm. I was so excited about this yarn that I went out and bought the sport weight version, Road to China Light, in the same colors to make some matching mittens.

Progress is going slow on this, mainly because it is lace weight yarn on tiny needles, but I am loving every single minute of it.

This shot captures the colors a little bit better.

FO Friday: Tauremorna Mitts

When I first started knitting, I thought fingerless gloves were one of the dumbest things ever.


I didn't understand why anyone would want a pair of gloves that doesn't cover their fingers. I live in Wisconsin, I understand cold temperatures and dressing for the weather, fingers are the part of the hand that get cold first. It didn't make sense to me.






Then I gave in and made a pair, just to see what the fuss was all about.







And I got it.




First, fingerless gloves are warmer than I thought. Not Wisconsin winter warm, warmer than I would have guessed. My understanding is that it has something to do with keeping your pulse points warm, but I'm not expert on that. They are perfect for the spring and fall months when it isn't warm enough for gloves or mittens, but still chilly on your bare hands.




The utility of having your fingers free should not be underestimated. Among other things, it is virtually impossible to securely fasten a carseat while wearing mittens.  For the super cold winter weather, I also have a pair of flippy top mittens for the same purpose.


I discovered another great use for fingerless gloves at work. They are fantastic to have for when the office is chilly. They keep your fingers warm while still allowing you to do everything you need to do to get work done. I keep my Zombie Doomsday mitts at my desk for that exact reason. They work so fantastically well, that my friend decided that she needed a pair, too.


If you know me at all, you know that I only knit for a select group of people. As one of my friends, and fellow knitters, likes to say


"Knitting for others is like sex, if I like you enough, it will be free. If I don't, you can't pay me enough to do it."


While the list of people isn't the same, I think that sums up the sentiment quite well.


Anyways, the friend that requested the mitts passed my requirements, and I agreed to make her a pair of fingerless gloves. The end result being these:

The pattern is called Tauremorna Mitts and they are knit in Malabrigo Yarn Mechita. Mechita is a Merino wool, so it is soft and squishy, and this color, English Rose, is tonal shades of pink. The design itself has a cable design on the top. All the cables are just a single stitch wide and done without a needle. They were an enjoyable knit, didn't take too long to complete, and probably only used about 1/2 of the 420 yard skein.

They were received with the proper accolades and a couple of days later, my friend sent me this:

So at least I know they are being used and appreciated.

WIP Wednesday: Hyperion Pullover

At this moment, I don't have much on the needles for Work In Progress (WIP) Wednesday. I have several projects in the hopper that I'm getting ready to cast on, but the only active project is the Hyperion Pullover. However, I haven't progressed beyond the first sleeve. As of last night, I had about 3 inches done, but then decided that it looked too big and ripped it out to start over.

I am excited to make this sweater, I haven't made one in a long time. The construction is different from a lot of knitted sweater, you cast on for the cuff of one sleeve and work the yolk across to the other sleeve. After that is done, you pick up stitches around the bottom to finish the body of the sweater. As much as I hate picking up stitches, it will be an interesting challenge.

I'm knitting it in Comfy Fingering weight yarn from Knit Picks. It is a Pima cotton and acrylic blend, perfect for warm weather. The color is blackberry, a lovely dark purple.

Because this project is barely started, I only have pictures of cast on stitches and some yarn.

The mess of yarn is from frogging the last attempt at this sweater.

Hopefully, my lack of other projects will allow me to focus my energy on this project to get it completed fairly quickly.

Door County Weekend

Peninsula State Park

Husband and I decide to take a little mini-vacation together this summer. Seeing as how the last time the two of us took a weekend away together, without other family, and without needing to was way back when Husband won a two night stay in the Dells at a work Christmas party, when he still worked at the resort, so it was at least 4 years ago, we figured we were due for a little get away.


We opted to take a trip across the state to Door County (for those unfamiliar with Wisconsin geography, Door County is the peninsula that divides Green Bay from Lake Michigan, the "thumb" of the hand that is Wisconsin). We had spent a couple of days there right after our wedding, and always talked about going back, but never gotten around to it. We knew from previous experience that it is a pretty dog friendly place, so I tossed out the idea of bringing Pippin along. We had only attempted to travel with Pippin once before, an ill fated camping trip cut short by spending an night of storms in a tent with a thunder phobic dog and were pretty nervous about doing it again, so decided that we better only plan on making this a weekend trip, just in case.
The first step in all of this was to find a dog-friendly place to stay. It didn’t take too much searching before I discovered the Beachfront Inn in Bailey’s Harbor. Not only did they allow dogs, they offered a special package catering to guests with dogs. Excellent. The package included a two night stay at the hotel, a gift certificate to a local restaurant that had dog-friendly outdoor dining, a day pass to a state park, and a gift certificate from the Door County Visitor’s Bureau. It all sounded good, and they had one dog-friendly room available for the weekend we needed. We booked the stay and I started to research additional animal-friendly things to do.

Day One

In the car and ready to go!

It’s a four and a half hour drive from our home to Bailey’s Harbor. That’s a long time in a car for Husband and me, and an impossible amount of time for Pippin. I needed to make sure we provided him with enough chances to get out, stretch, and bathroom. I worked out stops about every hour to hour and a half on the way, which seemed just about right for Pippin. When we packed up the car, we made sure that Pippin had the whole backseat to himself (with the exception of my knitting bag and his supplies), and found a canvas seat cover to protect the back seats.

Our first stop was in Steven’s Point, where we picked up lunch, and ate and visited with Husband’s aunt, uncle, and cousin. It was nice to catch up with everyone, and Pippin enjoyed a bowl of water, some ice cream, and a walk around their yard.

Stop number two was in Appleton, at the Outagamie County Dog Park. This was Pippin’s first experience with a dog park, so we were a little bit nervous about it. Our concerns turned out to be pointless, as Pippin thoroughly enjoyed himself at the dog park. I think he would have been perfectly happy to stay there all weekend.

We continued on our way, making a third stop in Sturgeon Bay. Fist Husband took Pippin for a walk while I browsed at a local yarn store, Spin of Door County and bought myself a lovely skein of handpainted sock yarn. The color way is called sea wash and it combines teal blues, greys, whites, and browns. We also stopped at Stove Dog Bakery; which, as the name suggests, if a canine bakery and store. Pippin left there with a bag of homemade cookies, a new bandana, and a walking harness. The staff there was wonderful, letting Pippin browse with us, supplying a bowl of water for dogs, and allowing us to remove the harness from the packaging in order to make sure it fit Pippin (he tends to fall between sizes for doggie clothing).



The beach at Beachfront Inn

Finally, just before dinnertime, we checked into our hotel in Bailey’s Harbor. To say that the Beachfront Inn is merely dog friendly, would be an understatement. From the welcome treats in our room, the off leash beach area, and the lobby where the owner’s dogs allowed visitors, this was very much a hotel for dogs and the people that love them.

Dinner that night was just down the block from our hotel at the Harbor Fish Market and Grille. Pippin enjoyed his own bowl of water, complimentary dog treats and a hamburger, without a bun, served on a bed of kibble.

Day Two

After a lousy night’s sleep (unfortunately, our hotel room was directly below a patio, and the scraping of chairs scared Pippin and kept us up), we headed out to begin our day. First stop was for breakfast, a little place in Ephraim, called Good Eggs. It was basically a little place in a converted garage, but the food was fantastic.

Checking out Eagle Bluff Lighthouse

The majority of the morning was spent at Peninsula State Park. We drove along Shore Road, making several stops to enjoy the beautiful scenery, including one at the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse. We then parked by the Eagle Tower, and enjoyed a hike through the woods and along the lakeshore. While the nice breeze off of Green Bay was nice, it still was pretty warm out there. By the time we got back to the car all three of us were beat!

Eagle Bluff Lighthouse

We grabbed lunch at a place just outside of the park, Julie’s Park Motel and Café, which had a dog friendly patio. Pippin enjoyed both his bowl of water and the dog treat given to him by a complete stranger. We then decided to head back to the hotel to catch a nap and escape the hottest part of the day.

With renewed energy, we headed out to explore downtown Fish Creek. We grabbed some frozen custard at a little shop called Not Licked Yet, where Pippin enjoyed a complimentary doggie ice cream cone. I was a little bummed because we had missed the Heritage Days celebration, but we browsed through several of the little shops until it was time for dinner. We had decided on a place in Fish Creek called Gibraltar Grille. They not only had a pet friendly patio, but run a monthly “Dog Pals” contest on Facebook. The food there was amazing; I recommend the Scallops and red pepper risotto, which was delicious.

Cana Island Lighthouse

We enjoyed the cool evening breeze off of Lake Michigan while exploring a county park beach and the Cana Island Lighthouse just outside of Bailey’s Harbor. The lighthouse and grounds were beautiful and the wind coming off of the lake felt refreshing after the hot day we had. Despite our midday rest, we were exhausted from the day and headed back to the hotel.

Enjoying the wildflowers at Cana Island

Day Three

Day three we headed for home, but not before enjoying some fantastic pastries and coffee at the Door County Coffee and Tea Company in Carlsville. We had wanted to hit a couple of shops near there, but we got going a little too early on a Sunday morning. We did, however, browse at the coffee shop where I picked up some coffee beans (roasted on site) and some local cherry jam. We also hit a store called Grandma Tommy’s, where we grabbed some local cherry wine before heading out for home.

You could tell Pippin was tired for most of the ride home. We made a second stop at the Outagamie Dog Park in Appleton, and another at a rest area, but the drive was pretty uneventful. We were all happy to be home.

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic get away for us all. I was impressed with the number of pet-friendly places for us. We’re already planning on going back next year, but this time renting a cabin and staying for a little longer.

Sock in progress

Surprisingly, despite the long drive, I didn't get much knitting done. I did some work on my sweater (for which the deadline has now passed) and started a new pair of socks. The socks are a pattern called Michigan Lakeshore, which seemed fitting considering that we were staying on the shore of Lake Michigan. They are made from Adorn sock by Three Irish Girls. The color way is Father Time, a blend of blues, brown, grey, with a little green and white mixed in.

The grounds at Cana Island Lighthouse

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It's Going to Be a Great Day!

There are few better ways to start a Saturday than to find a box from Knitpicks waiting on my front porch. Contents include some Wool of the Andes Tonal in Gypsy Queen (red) for the Milk Run Shawl (Rav. Link) and some Comfy Worsted in Celestial (blue), white, and black for a Tardis iPad sleeve, and my replacement needle tips in size 8.

Life is good.