Summertime...and the knitting is easy

summer sock on the go

Its funny, we were sitting outside after supper a few nights ago and my husband remarked to me "summer has arrived". It just seemed that night that summer had officially arrived . It was a nice summer day, not particularly hot by our standards here. It just seemed something different was in the air. Maybe it was a nice warm breeze, the lovely scents of growing things, a robin's final song before dusk, the sounds of kids playing in the neighbourhood, but indeed summer has arrived.

We live in a semi arid area of BC. It gets hot, blazing hot here in the summer. Fortunately we do not have high humidity here, quite the opposite, it is so dry. You can wash a t shirt, hang it to dry in the shade and it will be dry in a hour.I find I knit smaller lighter projects, no bulky sweaters or throws for me! I usually knit socks or maybe lacy wraps or shawls. I love knitting socks, they are quick, portable and fun to do. My husband , who has a considerable personal  hand knit sock collection, has been bugging me to knit him some more socks. Many of his socks have worn out. I  am sure I will be knitting some manly socks this summer too.

Marmalade Skies

If it fitz I knitz!!

Hey knitsters, this is Bandit. When I first saw this pattern I was very skeptical. It looked kind of different, with one sleeve and a wrappy part. A friend knit one and I tried it on, I was sold! I wore it all day and very very reluctantly took it off . I love this sweater/wrap. It is awesome. It looks great on everybody, it can be knit using lots of different yarns.

This could be knit with a tweedy yarn to wear with jeans and a tee, linen or silk to wear over a pretty blouse or dress or with some glitzy yarn for Christmas. It really really does look good on everybody. Lots of us are knitting this pattern.

The added bonus is you get to use a pretty shawl pin, or an old brooch or some funky jewellery as a fastener.

I knit this using Lago, a Berocco yarn. The pattern is super easy, basically a rectangle that you knit flat for approx 40 inches then in the round to form the sleeve. I love it, it fits and it looks good when worn, so I will knit it again.

Good stash buster and great as a gift!

Recently we went to Victoria for a family visit. It is such a beautiful city.

Harling Point

 

 

Beautiful rhododendrons in a parking lot

 

Historic Cemetery

Monkey Puzzle Tree

Seals at Oak Bay

My favourite fellas

Happy Times!

There is a lot of gardening happening, but that's for another time.

Happy knitting friends !    Chris

A Westie Tea Cozy and some Rhubarbery

 I do drink allot of tea, probably too much but I figure I could be doing worse things in life.I usually warm up my tea in the microwave. I recently purchased a lined cotton tea cosy from a tea shop and I was amazed for how long my tea stayed so hot. I have had it on my mind to knit one for quite awhile, I had knit a Noro tea cozy several years ago but it had gone amiss. Churchmouse has some great tea cozy patterns. I did remember seeing one in a newsletter a couple of years ago.

A greener alternative to keep your tea warm

It is Seed Stitch Tea Cozy . It is a free pattern and there are charts you can use to put in a little dog, heart or a snowflake or you could use any charted motif you like. I knit this one using Loden, a tweedy wool alpaca nylon mix. Sadly this yarn has been discontinued, well actually the company who produces it  is going out of business after 110 years.Too bad. I love this yarn, it has the same composition and look as the Rowan Felted Tweed Aran so I wonder if they both came from the same mill. If you see this yarn and like it, scoop it up. It's great. I chose to do the Westie dogs using duplicate stitch. Seemed to be the easier thing to do but using instarsia would have worked just as well. I know some of you  may think it's a bit goofy but its cute and functional and hey, that's my style! It was fun and quick, nice giftie idea too.

Churchmouse also has a nice water bottle pattern too. I use them when we go camping and hope and pray they don't leak. Apparently there are some really swanky water bottles available now that are probably less prone to leaking than their dollar store counterparts. I will have to keep an eye out for them. Who knew?

I have three rhubarb plants, I. don't need three but rhubarb is so easy to grow and we all like rhubarb here. This is a great rhubarb muffin recipe, Healthy Whole Wheat Rhubarb Muffins. Super good and very moist. The only mod I make is I add more spices to the mix. Its a one bowl mix and quick and easy. This coffee cake
Rhubarb Coffee Cake is really really good too. I am going to make some strawberry rhubarb salsa this week. I have a salsa thing going on right now.
With fish tacos..yum!!

Happy knitting friends   Chris

Out of blogging hibernation

It's been quite a while since I have made a post. I have lots of knitting projects and ideas to catch up on that's for sure. Time does really pass quite quickly, whether we like it or not! I have taken lots of pictures but now when I look at them I realize they were taken in wintertime. My projects do seem to follow the seasons quite a bit. I have lots of sweaters I want to knit but now is not the time.I will be more inclined to knit those come September. This time of year I am drawn to bright happy knits!

I knit this cutest little baby sweater for a young friend who is having a baby. No I am not a grandma just yet! When a long time knitter as myself hears a baby is coming and the mom loves handknits and is learning to knit herself, well it is pure cr*ck. Baby knits are so much fun. They are small and can be fairly quick to knit. Baby patterns are so cute and adorable and there are so many lovely yarns to choose from. As I remember we had  Beehive 3 and 4 ply wools and Beehive Astra to choose from when my kids were little. Pastels ruled the day, there was a pale bink, pale blue, yellow, minty green and white. It sure is nice to be able to choose lots of different colours now.I have saved some of my mom's baby knits books from the forties,fifties and sixties. They are really nice to look through. Most of the garments are knit with very fine yarn, you sure dont see 3ply yarn very often anymore. I guess you could use a heavy laceweight or a light fingering as a substitute. I think a sock or fingering weightt could be substituted for a 4ply

 This lovely little sweater is Baby Tea Leaves. It is knit with Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in an orchid colour. Not only is this one of my favourite colours it is also a favourite of the mom to be. Double bonus. I really enjoyed knitting with this yarn. It has a super tight twist and the stitch definition is great. It is not splitty and the colour palette is lovely including some beautiful bright jewel tones. If my memory serves me correctly her palette has been more subdued and had included more subtle muddy colours in the past. I love the ruching on the sweater! Adorable!

Ox Eye Daisies and Hansa Rugosa Roses in my backyard, if you squint it doesn't look too bad!

Gardening has been rather late this year, actually just started this weekend. As I was out I was approached by two sets of neighbours. Both sets inquired if I was ok as no one had seen me in awhile and my front garden sure looked weedy. Ouchies!! Talk about a Tough Crowd! I assured them I was still alive there were no new garden beds in the backyard or mysterious smells. My garden style is a semi organized chaos but I guess it was a little too chaotic! My front garden is really for the benefit of the neighbours as I really only see it coming and going from the house. I am the only one with a big front garden in our cul de sac so the pressure is on! I haven't been able to do any gardening for the last few years and there sure is a lot to do. I spent the weekend pulling out lots of weeds and garden bullies (with a head cold, dear neighbours!). Some plants just take over. I lost several long established perennials and rose bushes over the winter. I wondered about that as we really had a pretty easy winter. It was very dry and not much snow cover so I am wondering if that was the problem.Hmmm. Oh well. We went to the Greenery a few days ago and I bought a few plants.Seems like another trip is in order. Hooray!!

I have a lot of  assistance from Archie too.It can be challenging gardening with a terrier. Oh are we digging? I can dig too? Lots. just watch me go! He also goes bonkers anytime a hose or a sprinkler is used. Don't know how this is going to work out. He sure does make us laugh. It is our daughters dog and he is her baby but he has lived with us for a lot of his two years.

Having some issues with my margins, so excuse my untidy paragraphs.Time to go soak in a hot bath and get some sleep. Apparently garden work is in order! Happy knitting friends.  Chris