Baloolah

Today it's overcast and misty here in Ontario.  It's really feeling like the start of Fall and I keep thinking of all the knitting I need to get done before winter is here!  Accessory knitting is something that seems to happen easily for me on this side of the world as we're heading into winter.  I love the quick satisfaction of it - you can try out a new stitch pattern or colour combo without having to slug your way through an entire garment.

(One thing I realized about winter in Canada the first year we were here is that accessories are a necessity.  In New Zealand I'd send the girls out to the school bus with a hat on and I'd be lucky if they'd wear it for 5 minutes, gloves were annoying and scarves just got in the way.  But here in Canada you don't leave the house in winter without everything being covered!  My two-year old boy even let me wrap him up in a scarf so that only his eyes could be seen and didn't even complain!)


My latest design, Baloolah, is a great stash buster pattern for those odds and ends of colour you want to use up.  Just choose a neutral base and mix and match the colour-pop section with whatever you have on hand - you could even have a different colour for each section!

The sample was knit in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky, but would work well in any yarn weight.  It's knit in the round as a tube with increases and decreases to create a diagonal fabric.  Being knit in a tube it's double thickness - so double warmth!


Thanks to the great team at Holla Knits for including me in this collection!  I'm already looking through my stash to find some yarn to make another one as my Big Miss has claimed the sample as her own!

You can find the pattern for sale on Love Knitting, Craftsy, Ravelry and Holla Knits.
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Instagram

So I've fallen down the rabbit's hole that is Instagram!  I love everyone's fun and colourful knitting inspiration and it's such an easy way to keep people updated on what's going on in my little corner of the world.  You can find me on there as a.bertram.

I'd love to know if you're on Instagram also or of any other knitters you think I might like to follow.  In the meantime here's a little knit I've been working on this week (via my Instagram):
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Oh Look...Yummy Yarn!

I love getting parcels in the mail, and squishy yarn ones are my favourite!  Last week it was this lovely package of goodness:

This is Cascade Heritage Silk in Aqua Foam and it's destined to become an adult-sized Wasabi.  Yes that's right, I'm finally writing up the adult version!  Hopefully I'll have it ready to go by the end of August.  At some point I'll be needing testers as well, so if you're interested in knitting yourself a cute little cardigan let me know!
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Wasabi

If you've been following for a while you might remember one of my earlier designs, Wasabi.


This was my first design accepted for publication and I was super excited about it!  (You can read my blog post about it here.)

This is still one of my favourite patterns and I'm planning on making another one (or three!) for my girls this summer.  The original is still being worn by my Little Miss, even though it's missing a couple of buttons!

Anyway, as Petite Purls is no longer publishing and has shut down their website as of January 2015, I needed to publish this pattern as a pdf so people could still access it as it's one of my more popular patterns too.  So, while I've been updating my other patterns I decided it was as good a time as any to put Wasabi into a pdf also.

You can find it here on Ravlery, and it is also available here on Craftsy and here on Love Knitting.


I always intended to make an adults version of this pattern and I'm expecting that when I want to knit one for my Big Miss (who has recently turned 12!) that she won't fit the biggest size anymore.  This will mean a re-write to make it work for her so I might as well just do a proper upgrade and do the adult pattern!  Keep watch on here and maybe by the end of summer I will have a call out for testers!  (Just in time for the NZ/Aus summer!)
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Elsewhere

Do you Love Knitting?  Or are you Craftsy?

I'm working through updating all my patterns with a new layout and logo and if you've purchased one from me through Ravelry then you'll be getting the update notification as each pattern is updated.  I'd love to hear your feedback on the new layout!

While I was at it, I've also been adding my patterns to Love Knitting and Craftsy so those that don't do Ravelry can find me in other places too!  Are you on Love Knitting or Craftsy?  What other knitting/crafting websites are out there to join?
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I've had a busy year...

I know I'm a very sporadic blogger but it's time to give the blog some love again!

So a quick run down on a few major events to catch you all up...

I had my first adult design published!
Riverdale was included in the Winter 2014 edition of the online magazine Twist Collective

I had my second adult design published in an actual printed book!
Buddina was included in the Spring 2015 Knit Picks collection Golden Morning

I started a full time job (so designing took a back seat for a while).

Then I had a baby girl and we now have a genuine Canadian in the family!

And we moved house.  During a snowstorm.  Three weeks before the Baby Girl arrived.

Now we have summer holidays and my big girls home from school so I need to come up with ideas to keep them occupied for the next ten or so weeks!  Any suggestions are welcome :)
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Darn it!

I have a hole in my sock.  My nice warm knitted sock.  The pair I had only just finished when winter started.


I have a little left over yarn and know how to fix it but how far should I go?  The fabric is wearing thin in other places too.

I never really appreciated knitted socks before coming to Canada.  I always found them too hot to wear.  Not so in this land of cold!  This pair of socks have been worn almost constantly since they were finished, which is probably why they have a hole already (and having all wooden floors at home).


The funny thing about these socks is that they were a classic case of Second Sock Syndrome or SSS.  I made the first one the beginning of 2010 and started a different sock instead of making a second!  That next sock was finished and also never had it's mate started.  So you could say I had a pair of socks, just not a matching pair!  (Since then I have actually finished three pairs of socks - two were gifts and the other was for a KAL so they all had deadlines.)


Mixed in with my yarn stash that came over from NZ were my two single socks.  It didn't take me long to realize that warm woollen socks were a good idea in this country, so I dug through my part balls, printed out the pattern and got knitting on the first second sock!

Then other, more urgent knitting projects got in the way of starting the next second sock.  Until I got a hole.


Now I'm racing through the next one and already planning another pair!  Hopefully I don't get SSS this time, but it seems necessity is a great motivator for me to finish!

Any one else had issues with SSS?  What's the longest it's taken you to finish a pair of socks?


~ Amber ~
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