WIP: Versio Sweater with Schaefer Yarn Company Finger Lakes Yarn

Just a little knitting update on this holiday Monday here in Canada (Victoria Day!). I have the day off work so I have decided to take some time to myself and do a little knitting (and blogging!). It is very hot outside today and while I did take a little time to sit outside with an iced coffee and enjoy the sunshine, I'm back inside and ready to keep on knitting.

I'm back to working on Versio using the beautiful yarn that I purchased in Watkin's Glen, NY - Schaefer Yarn Company's "Anne" wool. It is in the shade, "Finger Lakes" that you can only purchase at stores in the Finger Lakes region.

For those who may remember (or you can check out my past blog post), I knitted the entire sweater using this yarn last year and found it was WAY too big after I blocked it. Not only was it too big, but it seemed out of proportion. I have made some adjustments with the size that I'm knitting, as well as the needles I'm knitting the sweater on. Hopefully, things will work out better this time. It is such a shame to spend all of the time knitting a sweater and not have it look beautiful in the end!

I'm not sure about my readers out there who knit or crochet, but do you find yourself knitting more or less in the summertime? I know that some people might think of knitting as a winter craft, but I love to knit all year around! I do spend some more time outdoors, but there's always time to be made for knitting. What do you think? I am curious!

Knitter's Frolic 2013

It was my third year attending Knitter's Frolic and it was my favorite time yet! I had to work until pretty late the night before, so I wasn't able to arrive to the marketplace until about 11am. Even though I always hear that the place is packed first thing in the morning when it opens, it was still quite busy! I also found so many nice yarns to knit with, so it was a great success!

This first wool - I really wish I could remember the booth that I purchased it from, but the lady running the booth was so nice! I bought 5 skeins of Manos Del Uruguay Alegria in beautiful variations of cream, light to dark blue and turquoise, to caramel and gray. I really hope that I can make a beautiful sweater out of this wool!

I could not resist this bright and colorful Manos Del Uruguay Maxima wool in a whole rainbow of colors! Pinks, oranges, yellows, blues...I think this will make a really nice hat or scarf! I bought 2 skeins of it from Rose Haven Farm Store (Picton, Ontario).

I bought a kit (I love the kits at Knitters Frolic - makes everything so easy to make!) from The Needle Emporium booth (blog!). It is the Austin Hoodie with 3 skeins of Lorna's Laces Solemate in a light turquoise "The Outer Drive". I bought the Ravinia kit last year from the Needle Emporium using the same wool and it turned out so beautifully!

I purchased these two skeins of sock yarn from the Sweet Fiber booth. I didn't see this booth last year so they might be new to the Frolic, but I loved all of the different colors of hand dyed yarn available! I might make a shawl with these, or socks and gloves, or maybe a top! Who knows!

This was my last purchase at the event and it was after seeing the finished product on a mannequin at their booth. It totally drew me into the booth and I couldn't help but want to make it! The pattern is Liesl and it uses Louet Euroflax Linen yarn. This is fantastic because I'm always looking for non-animal sourced vegan yarns to try out. I bought the kit from Adirondack Yarns from Lake Placid, New York.

While purchasing all of this fantastic yarn certainly was fun, the highlight of my day was taking a class at the Frolic! This was the first fiber class I've ever taken, and my first at the Frolic. The class was Spindle Spinning instructed by Barbara Aikman.

I've always wanted to learn how to spin yarn and I decided that a basic spindle spinning class would be a great way to start. Only after a short time, everyone in the class was spinning up their own yarn from merino fiber! There were only nine people in the class, so Barbara was able to teach us all within the small group (we sat in a circle). She was also able to provide us with individual attention and help us out. Barbara also provided us with any background info on spinning and gave us plenty of resources to keep going with the new hobby. The first ball of white wool was the very first one that I spun from fiber! Then, we got to choose some colors and next came the beautiful darker blue wool. We were able to take some fiber home with us, so I chose the light blue fiber to spin into wool. Later, I'm going to ply the dark blue and light blue wool together!

All in all, it was such a fun way to spend an afternoon! I will be busy with knitting projects for a very long time - at least until next year's show!

FO: Ravinia Cardigan Sweater

Ravinia is finally completed! I finally finished all of the knitting, stitching in the ends, sewing the buttons on, and the blocking...and it looks beautiful and fits perfectly! This project has been a long time in the making. I originally bought the yarn and the kit back in April of 2011 at Knitter's Frolic. Then, I casted on back in July of 2012 and everything was looking great.  In February 2013, I had knitted the base of the sweater and just had one arm to go! And it is finally done, and we traveled to the conservation area at Mount Nemo to take some photos (thanks, Paul!)!

I purchased these beautiful handmade wooden buttons from Anthony's Wood Shop on Etsy.  The purple wooden buttons match perfectly with the purple-gray yarn. 

The yarn I used came with the kit - Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport Solid in "58ns Kerfuffle". I knitted this in a size small.  Here is a link to my Ravelry page for the project!

I love how this cardigan can be worn with the buttons done up, undone, or partially done up for a whole bunch of different styles - and they all look good! The actual knit pattern is beautiful and stylish.

One of the best parts about knitting this sweater? It is all knit in one piece! No sewing sections together at all. The finishing only involves stitching in the yarn ends. From the Ravelry page:

The design begins from the neck down and is worked in a circular fashion to the bust line. The body is then knit from the hem up in an easy lace pattern and joined using a three needle bind off.

 

Thanks for checking out a finished project that was a long time in the making (as most sweaters tend to be for me!)

Mountsberg Conservation Area

Today, we visited Mountsberg Conservation Area and I did not expect to see all of the amazing wildlife and farm animals there! We went primarily just for an area to walk around with trails and were completely surprised by the wild birds of prey exhibit, as well as the barn full of cute animals.

Walking a little ways from the parking lot was the Birds of Prey area. From the website:

Tucked within Mountsberg Conservation Area, the Mountsberg Raptor Centre is currently home to 15 different species of native birds of prey. Many of the Raptor Centre's resident birds of prey have permanent injuries that have left them incapable of surviving on their own in the wild. In many cases, these injuries were caused by human activity. With the help of these feathered ambassadors, the Mountsberg Raptor Centre teaches the community about the native birds of prey that share our environment and how to reduce the negative impact we can have on them.

We were able to see so many different hawks, vultures, falcons, owls, and even bald eagles! Every bird had a large area to spread their wings and move around, and there was a larger area for them to fly around, too. It is wonderful to have a rescue centre like this for birds that cannot survive in the wild. There is a birds of prey demonstration on weekends, which I'd love to go back and see sometime.

We explored some of the trails today, too, which included walks in the forest, visiting an area where maple trees are tapped for their sap to be made into maple syrup, and walking along a reservoir where many geese and ducks lived.

Saw this fuzzy caterpillar along the path!

The highlight of my day was visiting all of the barnyard animals at Mountsberg. There were horses, goats, sheep, chickens, and bunnies! The cutest were the baby goats and lambs, who were very adorable and gentle. One of the baby goats was especially rambunctious, jumping around all over the place and bouncing off the wall! It was also very sweet how one of the bunnies was hopping around in the pen with the goats - I think that one of the rabbits must have developed a friendship with one of the goats, as they were sleeping side by side most of the time.

I put together a little video of the farm animals at Mountsberg! Enjoy! And be sure to visit this wonderful conservation area if you get the chance. It is located at: 2259 Millburough Line in Campbellville, Ontario. For more information, please visit their official website.

A Spring Walk

I'm out for a lovely walk on a beautiful sunny day! It is still a bit chilly so I'm bundled up in a hat and scarf. Many squirrels are out gathering peanuts from other people that are out and about. I walked around two small lakes today in my area and saw many quacking ducks and Canada geese. What a beautiful day! Enjoy your weekend!

Snow still on the path here!

Squirrels were everywhere

Canada geese getting some sun

A beautiful Spring day!