A Seasonal Yarn Bomb for the Chesterfield

With the gray weather, and quickly approaching cold, things are looking a little bleak on my front street. I thought I would create a little holiday cheer for the neighbourhood with this yarn bomb!

In the past I've only used yarn scraps and leftovers from my acrylic collection to create my knit graffiti  however, this time I didn't have the right colours for my vision of a candy cane striped pole. I made a trip to the local knitting shop down the street, Mouliné, to see what they had in stock. I was able to get some great, reasonably priced chunky yarn in the colours I wanted. The bright red is Viking Balder from Viking of Norway and is 100% wool, the green is Van Dyck from Filtes and is 46% wool, 39% acrylic and 15% alpaca, and the cream is Comfort Chunky from Diamond Yarn and is 40% superwash wool, 40% acrylic and 20% alpaca.

To make my work go quickly, I used 9mm (US 13) needles. I used this Lanesplitter Skirt pattern to create the texture and slanted stripe effect.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Rosebud the Fairy

After seeing my pictures of little knit fairies, a friend asked if I would make one for her daughter. My friend and her daughter had made up bedtime stories about a fairy named 'Rosebud' who her daughter described as having a green dress with a rose on it and beautiful green hair. This is my knit interpretation of Rosebud the Fairy. A week after I sent her off in the mail, to my delight, this note arrived for me.

I'm so happy I could bring Rosebud and Lucy together!

Lamp post yarn bombing at the Westmount Public Library

Located across the access road from the Westmount Public Library is one of the vintage style lamp posts that are scattered throughout our adopted neighbourhood. I love them because to me, they're so Narnia-esque. Because of this, I decided the lamp post, (that also functions as a muster point) outside the library would be perfect for a yarn bomb.

This particular lamp post is easy to overlook because of its location close to the parking lot and a garbage can. A little splash of colour is just what it needed! I decided to experiment with knitting different lace patterns. I used the following patterns; Easy Lace Mesh Scarf, Christmas Lace, Spring Lace Scarf, Easy Lace Scarf, Simple Chevron Lace Knit Stitch, ZigZag Lace Scarf, Lace and Eyelets Scarf and Checkboard Lace Scarf. And then, for an extra touch of whimsy, the fairies.

It only took the Westmount Public Security Unit 10 minutes to arrive after I started putting up the yarn bomb. Thankfully, the officer agreed to let me proceed with my project, although he warned me it could be taken down at any time . . . I had a great response from passersby who stopped to chat about what I was doing.

I miss my Saskatoon yarn bomb team, but thankfully I've got a crafty friend here in Montreal that was able to lend a hand!

This is a project I've been working on all fall, and I've worked on it in many places. I discovered one is guaranteed a quizzical look when answering the question, "What are you working on?" with, "It's a lamp post cosy!".

So to lamp post cosy knitters everywhere - this one's for you.

Who can resist knit fairies?

After a summer and fall of knitting more kilt hose, I needed a project that was more colourful and whimsical. I decided on this pattern for a tiny knit fairy.  It was so fun that I made three! It’s a great quick project that can be completed in an evening or two. I made all of them with left over bits of yarn from my collection.

I don’t like sewing seams down the backs of my projects, so for the first fairy (the one with the yellow hair), I started with her head and knit it in the round using quite thin yarn, 3.25mm dpn and this pattern:

Using the skin colour, cast on 8 stitches over 4 dpn (double pointed needles) – a 5^th dpn is needed to be the working needle.

R1: knit

R2: k1, m1, k1 on each needle (12 stitches total)

R3: knit

R4: k1, m1, k1, m1, k1 on each needle (20 stitches total)

R5: knit

R6: k1, m1, k3, m1, k1 on each needle (28 stitches total)

R7-15: knit

Switch to body colour

R16-36: knit

Cast off

I then followed the instructions of the original pattern. The final effect was ok, but I didn’t like how the neckline puckered at the gather and I decided that knitting in the round wasn’t worth the extra effort.

For the next two fairies I stuck to the original head/body pattern and was happier with the overall shape.

Instead of twisting yarn for arms, I made a two or three stitch i-cord, or when using the thicker brown yarn, I made a chain using a crochet hook.

To give the wings a more rounded look, I used this pattern:

CO 4 stitches

R1: knit

R2: k1, m1, k2, m1, k1 (6 stitches total)

R3: knit

R4: k1, m1, k4, m1, k1 (8 stitches total)

R5-9: knit

R10: k1, k2tog, k2, skp, k1 (6 stitches total)

R11: knit

R12: k1, k2tog, skp, k1 (4 stitches total)

Cast off

Happy fairy making!

Baby Surprise Jacket

I knit this little sweater as a baby gift for a friend from the infamous Baby Surprise Jacket pattern designed by Elizabeth Zimmermann. I found the pattern in her book, The Opinionated Knitter.  The sweater was knit with a 100% Merino superwash wool from Fleece Artist in Nova Scotia, purchased from Beehive Wool Shop in Victoria, BC . The buttons are from my mom's collection. The suggested needle size for the yarn was 3mm, but I used a needle size of 4.5mm to give the sweater a looser knit to make it an airy, yet warm sweater, hopefully perfect for a fall day in Saskatoon!

The unbombing and rebombing of the Bakery sign

Someone complained to the City of Saskatoon about my yarn bombing at The Night Oven Bakery. I complied with the bylaw officer's request and took it down. I decided the best thing was to move it closer to home to another of my favourite bakeries, Christes Il Secondo. Under the cover of night, my yarn bomb team helped me put the sign up in its new location.  Enjoy! Preferably with a latte and cinnamon bun . . .

The Community Yarn Garden

Chain link fence is a reality in most urban landscapes. Practical and cost effective, it’s the most common material used to fence schoolyards and public parks. Unfortunately, chain link fence is bland and unattractive, providing little aesthetic value to a neighbourhood.  The idea of beautifying the chain link fence surrounding W.E. Graham Park behind Ecole Victoria School on 12th Street and Dufferin was inspired by “The Flower Garden Fence” created by the Ladies Fancywork Society in Denver, Colorado.

When I decided to decorate the fence using yarn, I knew I’d need something weather resistant if I wanted my creations to have staying power.  I decided to use Phentex yarn. Made of synthetic fibres, Phentex is known for its strength, colourfastness and resistance to staining, mildew and sunlight.  I owe a debt of gratitude to the Cote/Rawlyk family who provided me with two large boxes of Phentex yarn for this project!

Here's my loyal yarn bomb team affixing the flowers to the fence with small zip ties.

Many of the flower patterns I used are found in Lesley Standfield's books 100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet and 75 Birds, Butterflies & little beasts to knit and crochet.  I also used the carnation, gerbera daisy and pansy patterns from the ODDknit website, and a pattern for a large five petal flower that you can find here.

My hope is that others will add their own creations to the fence!  I put out an open invitation to anyone who would like to craft a flower, plant, bug or little critter to add to the garden.  I would love to see how much of this fence we are able cover!

Yarn bombing at The Night Oven Bakery

When my friends Bryn Rawlyk and Beth Cote opened The Night Oven Bakery a couple of months ago, I wanted to send a congratulatory message to acknowledge the culmination of all their hard work.  As a fibre artist, I set out to say it with yarn!

For a street pole adjacent to the bakery, I took inspiration from The Night Oven's logo that was created by Ben Lamothe, and knit a crescent moon. For the block letters, I used the free patterns you can find here.

I decided the parking lot could use some colour so I also knit covers for the cement post and drainpipe. The result is a tapestry of the colourful collections of acrylic yarn that I have inherited from various friends, relatives and neighbours. Some of it has even been recycled from my last yarn bombing project, demonstrating the resilience of that good old acrylic!

                    

            

I had a great team that helped me do all of the installation. Armed with darning needles, a ladder, staple gun and zip ties, we got the job done.

      

Now take my advice and head over to The Night Oven Bakery, check out the installation, buy an amazing loaf of bread and treat yourself to a croissant and a latte!

Knit kilt hose

I was approached by a member of the Calgary International Airport Pipe Band about knitting kilt hose for some of the band members. Kilt hose, I learned, is the fancy name for the intricately patterned socks that are worn with a traditional Scottish outfit.  The band provided me with yarn and a pattern and I went to work! The yarn is Vintage by Berroco and is an acrylic, wool, nylon blend that is machine washable.  The pattern is very similar to this vintage pattern I found on Etsy, but it has been modified by the addition of long cuff for turning down below the knee. It was slow going at first, but once I got into the rhythm I was able to work quickly without having to check the pattern every three stitches! Here are some photos of the finished product on my son, who was kind enough to model the socks.

Because I was curious to see what other patterns are out there, I did a bit of internet searching and found an this pattern on the Canadian Living website. If you know of any other interesting aran sock patterns, I'd love to know about them!

A retrospective of baby hats

When I starting knitting enthusiastically, about four or five years ago, many of my first projects were baby hats. Baby hats have the combined attractiveness of being a smaller, manageable project, yet have so many possibilities for different stitches, patterns and shapes.

One of the first I made was the Classic Cap pattern from Amanda Keeys Baby Beanies: Happy Hats to Knit for Little Heads.

 My next hat was the Neon Brights pattern from BabyKnits Hats & Booties: 15 Matching Sets for Noggins and Tootsies by Edie Eckman, Bonnie Franz and Debbie Ware.

Followed by the Elf pattern from the same book.

After these hats I decided to explore the worlds of stranded knitting and intarsia!

It was Easter time and I got a bit ambitious for my first project. I decided I wanted to knit a little hat with some Easter chicks on it for my god daughter. After realizing that cross stitch patterns could basically double as knitting patterns, I found a cute little picture that I thought would work for a knitting pattern. I made myself some graph paper and mapped out all the colours to use. Using a basic hat pattern given to me by my husband's aunt, I went to work. As it turns out, while doing stranded knitting, carrying all those colours of yarn behind your work can make for a pretty bulky project!

The results were good, but I decided I needed to do something with fewer colours. My next hat was this cute little train pattern that came with the basic hat pattern from Auntie Marion.

For my next hat, I wanted to do another, more colourful pattern, but wanted to avoid the bulk of all the carried yarn. For my next hat, I used the intarsia technique instead. It worked well, but I had to keep a lot of little balls of yarn around. I wound the yarn onto clothes pins to keep track of it, but I it was a lot of work for a little toque! The elephant pattern came from 1000 Great Knitting Motifs by Luise Roberts.

All of the hats were knit with acrylic yarn from my collection.

A Wardrobe for the Dolls

Doll clothes are a great way to use up the little balls of yarn left over from a bigger project. I decided it was time to explore the "designer wardrobe" part of Arne and Carlos' Knitted Dolls book.

The leftovers from my first pair of socks became a sweater.

I used the yarn from my leg warmers to make a skirt.

A ball of wool that came in a mixed bag of yarn from the Village Green Thrift Shop was made into a dress.

Some acrylic yarn from my collection made a lovely lacy nightie.

Sally the Eco Fairy Hybrid Doll

I'm one of those knitters who is constantly thinking one project ahead. The first time I knit something, I like to stick to the pattern, but I'm always thinking about how I can slightly change or tweak it to make it a little different or better the next time. After knitting a couple of Arne and Carlos dolls, I started thinking about how I'd like to try making a doll that had more realistic proportions, mostly the same as the other dolls, but a little bit different.  Recently a friend showed me the pattern for the Sally the Eco Fairy doll. The doll is adorable and I love the cute little pointed fairy ears! As a pattern, I like the proportions and the shapes of the hands and feet, but the directions are to knit each part of the body separately and sew them all together at the end. One thing I love about the Arne and Carlos pattern is that the doll is knit all in one piece. I decided to try and adapt the pattern by knitting in the style of the Arne and Carlos doll, but in the proportions of Sally the Eco Fairy. It was a little challenging at first because Sally's limbs are knit from the thigh and shoulder down, whereas the Arne and Carlos limbs are knit from the fingers and toes up. I eventually figured it out something that would work. I made a slightly smaller nose and opted for eyes that were sewn on instead of the more complex inserted eyes from the Arne and Carlos pattern.  The experiment was a success!

All the materials for this project were from the stash in my closet. The body and hair are acrylic and her dress is Bernat Handicrafter Cotton in Sage Green, Soft Violet and small variegated ball of an unknown colour that was in my collection. The pattern for the dress was inspired by this variation of Sally the Eco Fairy.