Tis the Season!

It's that time of year again, when the Boyd household becomes even creepier than usual...

I have spent the last two weeks hunched over a sewing machine, creating ghoulish garb, while the other creatures of the night have labored over the new effects for the haunted house. This year's eerie extravaganza will see the addition of a singing pumpkin light show and jumping ghoulie version 2.0. This is what happens when you mix technicians and Halloween--not for the faint of heart!

Even with all of this going on, there is time to spin. The latest yarn is, of course, inspired by the season-

Black Magic! Two plies of fine worsted-spun black merino top and one ply of semi-woollen-spun Firestar in the purple/black/orange colorway. Tufts of Firestar were also added in randomly during the plying to add bursts of sparkle and texture. The resulting yarn is about 14 wpi and about 3 tpi, strong and lustrous, but with a glowing halo of the Firestar. (Notice the ghostly blur at the bottom right of the picture. Spoooooky!)


I had a little too much fun photographing it!




And the close-up.

I intend to spend my weekend knitting it into a shoulder-warmer, your basic triangular shawl pattern with i-cord fringes of varying lengths for a ragged, creepy effect. Oooh, spooky, indeed!

Car Knitting

Another 10 days on the road--this time to move Miss Lexi to her new home in Vancouver. And a lot of driving. Actually, this trip, I actually got to be the passenger. So, lots of car knitting. You know, knitting that doesn't require too much concentration so you can look at the scenery or put it down and pick it up again with stops and starts.

This trip's list of accomplishments:

Redesigned and reknit wrist warmers from recycled cashmere. These were actually a sampler to see how the yarn reclaimed from an unravelled sweater that I was given last fall. I had worked a pattern, but I was not happy with it, so a few hours of car time were devoted to experimenting and frogging. The end result is not too bad.

Just when you thought the rainbows were over...leftovers became wrist warmers for Julia. Same pattern as above.

The big project, if you can call it that, was the baby sweater commission. I knit up an adaptation of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Tomten Jacket from Knitting Without Tears in acrylic. I modified the sleeves a bit and changed the hood shaping, but kept the spirit and look of the original design. I also reshaped the body a wee bit to suit the sleeve alteration, and to accommodate the sturdy little fellow the sweater is intended for.

I also finished up the second sock for the pair that I have been carrying in my purse since July, but they went onto Julia's feet before I could snap a picture!

In between knitting sessions, we saw quite a bit of the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. Dropped by Maiwa and The Beehive for quick fibre fixes and looked around at real estate, squeezing in a couple of tragically short visits with friends, and not getting to see everyone I wanted to. Oh well, with family in Vancouver, I have lots of excuses to go back...

Oh, the piece-de-reistance...I found this in a little gift shop in Victoria.

Too perfect!