I learned two important things. One is that I am lazy about checking my gauge. Correction, I was lazy about checking my gauge. Therefore many of my rejected projects just didn’t fit, including a pair of socks that would have cut off my circulation if I had ever finished them. My other issue is that I don’t always choose my projects carefully. I always suspected that this was true, and now I have proof. I had been selecting projects the same way I often buy yarn – on impulse. Rather that taking into consideration important factors such as sizing and my body type, I just went for it. Sometimes it worked out, most times it did not.

Armed with this new knowledge, I have carefully chosen two summer projects that I am super excited about.

I’ll be knitting the summer version of the WORK + SHELTER Lace Striped Sweater and the Everyday Linen Raglan by Purl Soho, a project I have wanted to make for ages. First I swatched.  Swatching is actually kind of fun. I washed my swatches and figured out my gauge, and it’s spot-on for both. These tops are both are raglans, which is a shape that seems to suit me well.

I’m excited! It feels good to start projects that I feel really confident about! What are you knitting this summer?

]]> http://knitsocial.ca/fionas-summer-projects/feed/ 4 http://knitsocial.ca/frog-party/ http://knitsocial.ca/frog-party/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 21:52:10 +0000 Fiona http://knitsocial.ca/?p=2290   Continue Reading »]]>

I think that there must be some weird retrograde or full moon or horoscope stuff going on in my life….does that sound crazy? Maybe. But something is going on and it’s messing with my knitting mojo.

I keep screwing everything up. Either the gauge is off, or the FO isn’t flattering to my body type, or the project just turns out looking different from expected.  My last few projects have turned out like this and now they are just sitting on my dresser taking up room.  Do you have projects like this too? Do you ever go through phases like this? (Please say yes….)

I need to take some action to get my mojo on track. Last night, I went through all my FO’s and made a pile of the ones I never wear. Instead of just letting let them sit around, I am going to frog them all and start fresh. However I am first going to take a good look at them and identify why they were unsuccessful. Do I need to be making more accurate gauge swatches? Measuring myself better? Do I need to figure out what style suits me best and just stick with that rather than attempting a trendy new pattern?

Realistically I know the universe isn’t out to get me – all the mistakes I keep making lately are my fault. I need to take a more thoughtful approach to choosing my projects. If I can learn something from my failed attempts then, as heartbreaking as it is, I feel that it’s OK to rip them out.

I don’t want to do it by myself though, which is why Amanda and I  will be live posting our Frog Party on Instagram for anyone else who would like to join us. If you have any projects that just don’t work for you and you want to rip them out, post some pictures of your own and tag them #frogparty.

Grab some wine and we’ll see you on Tuesday night!

Follow us along on Instagram to see what else we’ve been up to!

Kate Atherley

Pearl Chow

Catherine Crick

Fiona Ellis

Amanda Kaffka

Kim McBrien

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Helen Spaxman

Diana Twiss

Cheryl Wiebe

Kim Werker

Holli Yeoh

Class details will be coming soon, so join our newsletter below if you haven’t already to stay in the loop!

The show was well organized and the energy in the Marketplace was so positive and inspiring. We had a great time!

Here’s a few photos:

First we started with a nice long knitting break at the border.

Here we are! Fiona looking Vogue ready.

VKLive truly put on a great event.

Some amazing knitted art.

This was an unbelievable piece. It was huge.

More beautiful fibre art.

A very small section of the awesome Gnomes vs. Snowmen installation by mochimochiland.

We spotted this beautiful Icelandic wool version of the Lonely Tree Shawl by local designer softsweater.

Functional art.

The ladies of Needles and Artifice showed off some of the great designs from their book.

In the lobby of the Convention Centre, waiting for the Cascade 220 to drop!

It was wonderful to meet Jared Flood (Mr. Brooklyn Tweed himself) in the Churchmouse booth. Amanda just happened to be wearing her sweater knit in Brooklyn Tweed Shelter.

We learned an awful lot in 3 short days, and I am amazed at how these little pieces of key information have kind of reformed my thinking as a knitter. I look at patterns differently now (“ok, that’s a really popular sweater and the photo is great, but how will it fit my body? That model is my complete opposite”), am unafraid of patterns that require seaming and am actually SEEKING THEM OUT (seams give structure to a garment! And my shoulders and bust look much better with a set-in sleeve), and am much more confident in my project choices now that I know how to measure my body properly (High bust, people! I was generally off by 2″-4″ prior to learning this gem).

While we were at Knit U. I became quite disappointed as I realized that a sweater I was currently knitting most likely was not going to work out in the end. It had raglan sleeves. I had NOT measured to high bust. I picked out the pattern because it was very popular and looked lovely on the model who was my body-opposite. The only thing this project had going for it was that my gauge was bang on.

I prepared to rip out the entire skein of yarn I had knit already and find something new to work on. But I can be quite lazy and the thought of ripping out all that work really annoyed me. So I took another piece of information from Knit U. and took a close look at the schematic. Thank goodness for the schematic. I made careful measurements and really analyzed the shape of the sweater (no sleeve shaping, no waist shaping) and decided that this sweater was going to work after all.

So I’ve been busily knitting away on it and have reached the point where the sleeves are to be seamed. Now seaming has never been my strong point. My seams up until now were laughable, and I would just try to hide them. I can’t even tell you what I was doing wrong, they just never looked right no matter how many books on finishing I read or videos I watched. For some reason having someone show me in person was the way I needed to learn this particular task.

I am very proud to tell you that my arm seams are amazing. They look virtually seamless. The amount of pride that I am taking in this is probably comical, but who cares because I feel empowered. I can take on any project now because I have crossed another threshold of knitting. And that feels pretty darn good.

Just look at that beautifully invisible seam.

Follow us along on Instagram to see what else we’ve been up to!

Here’s a visual round up of what caught our eye at the event:

My favourite colours! A beautiful display of Harrisville Shetland at the Jane Stafford Textiles booth

Kattikoo always has a beautiful display of organic fibre and yarn in vibrant colours.

A Nui Shibori scarf in progress at a class taught by Fiona Duthie of Kattikoo.

Woven pillows by Leola’s Studio

Amazing Lace – an unbelievable display of lace workmanship by the Vancouver Lace Club.

The cutest stitch markers ever, made by Shawna of Caliope’s Fibre. Also, there is Amanda, being tempted by some bumblebees. I liked the owls.

One of our favourites – yarn by Gourmet Crafter, a.k.a. Alexa Ludeman of Tin Can Knits.

I can’t believe Knit U. has come and gone already. It felt like we had been planning for and anticipating this weekend retreat forever, but once it started it just flew by! So it is with mixed feelings that we write this post – happy because it was an amazing weekend full of knitting, learning and laughter, but also sad because we have to wait a whole year for the next one.

Twenty of us arrived at Springbrooke Retreat Centre on Friday afternoon. There were some familiar faces and friends from past Knit Social retreats as well as lots of new attendees, including two mother and daughter teams and a pair of friends who had traveled all the way from Florida for Knit U!

After a wonderful afternoon snack (a special thank you goes out to Marion, our host and chef, because without her amazing food our retreats just wouldn’t be the same), we played a group knit trivia game which awarded our retreaters a beautiful custom dyed skein of yarn from Two Tigers.  Then it was down to business as we we settled in for our first class with Kate Atherley.

If you haven’t taken a class with Kate yet (aka Wise Hilda and Knitty’s technical editor), I highly recommend that you do. She is an excellent teacher: patient, warm and also quite hilarious. Plus it seems she knows everything. I feel like a much more polished and confident knitter after taking Kate’s workshops on Sizing & Fit, Finishing Skills, Fixing Mistakes and Yarn Knowledge this weekend. Seriously -I think I could even tackle steeking without stress now.  Thank you  Kate!

Amanda at 88 Stitches

Other highlights of the retreat include: an epic Show and Tell session on Friday night which showcased some stunning knitting triumphs and hysterically funny disasters; our “White Elephant” gift swap featuring items graciously donated by Sweet Georgia Yarns, Jane Richmond Designs, Raventwist, Kattikloo, Cooperative Press, Ancient Arts, and Rain City Knits; the quote of the weekend “If you find two sheep stuck together in the rain, you know what they’ve been doing” and of course our annual pilgrimage to 88 Stitches. We love this store. The owner, Sue, is so friendly and generous – everything was specially discounted for our exclusive shopping night plus she served us yummy snacks and wine, and she gave us all lovely goodie bags as we left. 88 Stitches is also the home of Melissa of Sweet Fiber and Judy Marples of Purl Bumps, who set up a beautiful trunk show for us.

Melissa of Sweet Fiber

I think some of the most coveted items this weekend were Heather’s sassy tee shirts…

Look at all of these amazing knitters! Thank you ladies, it wouldn’t have been the same without each and every one of you.  Thanks for coming to Knit U. You all graduate with flying colours.

It’s FINALLY time for Knit U., our knitter’s retreat with the one and only Kate Atherley! We have so many fun things packed in to this weekend, but most of all I am looking forward to putting my feet up by the fire and knitting.

Starting Friday March 8th, follow us along on Instagram and watch us get schooled!