Scarves across Canada

I am participating in a bit of a crazy endeavour. I joined up in the summer and am in the midst of it. I had actually forgotten about it until another package arrived the other night.

I'm in Traveling Scarf group on Ravelry. The premise is that you start a scarf in some yarn and a stitch pattern of your choice. Then you pass your scarf on to 11 other people to work on, and in the end you get it back. There are examples of works in progress from other groups here and here and here.

It has been a great way to use up bits of yarn I have. I can not throw yarn away, so I have bits and pieces of every type of yarn I've ever bought. It's kind of fun to rifle through my old yarn and pull stuff out.

This is how my scarf started.

I used up my leftover Andean Silk that I made my Candystripe kerchief out of. I picked out a pattern I liked from my Harmony Guides and cast on. I sent it off to someone in Burlington and now I wait for it's return.

In the meantime, I work on everyone else's. I received Vivian's yesterday and picked out a coordinating color, and this is what we have.

The blue is not near as bright as the picture leads you to believe. So I'll finish this up today and send it off to the next person and wait for my next delivery. Getting yarn / knitting in the mail is so much fun - even if it's not for me!

Arrivee a Paris

I made it into Paris. Safely. I dragged my body around the country following the riders with my knitting needles, over the undulating foothills of the Pyrenees to the snow-capped peaks of les Alpes.

Now I can sip champagne and wear mon maillot jaune.

And I think my golden fleece is a little bit more stylish than Sastre's.

Somedays I needed a suitcase full of courage to keep at the gull lace stitch when I really wanted to knit some socks. But I did it. In less than 21 days. I have to say I'm pretty darned proud of myself.

I'll miss my friends Paul and Phil. A Bientot my boys.

So, just like a lot of the cyclists, I'm now heading for Beijing. This time as part of Team Edmonton in the Ravelympics in the event of the Scarf Stroke (why do I do this to myself?). I guess I'd better get off the bike and into the pool!

In Flux

As a knitter, you always have your list of ongoing and upcoming projects. With the world of Ravelry, we often now refer to it as the queue. The dynamic, ever-changing lists of projects. Ones you will complete, ones you dream of completing and ones that just peak your interest.

My Ravelry queue is ridiculously large, and there's truly no way I'll ever complete what's in it. Or for that matter, I'll never want to complete it all. When I see a pattern I like, I add. It's like a bookmark and reminder. It doesn't mean I have the yarn to make it, or even really anticipate making it, but I'll queue it. I think of my Ravelry queue as my dream list.

Then there's the real queue. The one that I run through my mind. What am I working on now, what has to be next, what do I want to be next. It's the one that I really try and keep to.

Currently, I'm working on my Lady Sweater. It's got a defined end date of Sunday with the end of the TdF. It's looking promising.

So. What's next?

This is always the question.

I really want to make Stinky's Thing 1 sweater to match Punky's. Punky keeps asking me about it, and they're only little for such a short time. Currently, that's what I'll do next.

Then, well, there's a baby coming. I didn't realize it was coming so quickly. I am aware that all babies incubate for +/- 9 months. But it always seems to go quicker (when it's not incubating in your own womb). So I gotta get some baby stuff going.

Then there's Rockin' Sock Club. I never did the May sock club and that's weighing on me.


The yarn is definitely not my favorite color, but it is beautiful yarn and will make a good present. I don't like to see it lingering.

Then there's the other sock for my Love's father's day present.

He deserves to have these finished. He's the best dad, and he really appreciates the hand-made socks. They need to get done.

Then there's the thing I just want to do for the heck of it. Matching Cobblestone's for my boys for Christmas. Yes, Christmas is a long ways away, but with Stinky always asking me "my sh-weater??" how can I not make him one.

Yes, he's hugging the yarn. He really wants a "ba-lue sh-weater".

The list is In-Flux. Constantly re-arranging it. Changing it. But I'm enjoying the planning, the thinking and, as always, the knitting.

Swap & Meet

It's hard to describe how Ravelry has changed the face of knitting. The community of knitters that it brings together is immense. The ability to search for patterns or problems or people who can solve your problems. Pretty much everything you need in one place. It has helped me more than once.

These past few weeks brought along with it a new Ravelry-related experience. A yarn swap. This lady had connected with J. over her skirt, and she was wondering where she could find a kit to make one. J. suggested she get in touch with me as I had an unused kit just hanging around. So I got a nice little message on Ravelry about my kit and would I be willing to trade it for something else. I'm usually leery about these sorts of things (note: loathing of the general public).

Now, there's nothing wrong with the yarn or the skirt. What's wrong is that my legs are ridiculously long. No, not in a super-model type way (I'm not quite skinny enough for that), just plain long. When you're 6'2" tall that's just the way it is. So, upon further reflection, I knew there was no way there would be enough yarn to make a decent skirt - or at least a skirt that would be decent. This yarn, therefore, has been sitting there, on my shelf waiting. Waiting for someone or something. And then along came Dehbi.

We messaged back and forth with some trade options, and I finally just left it up to her. I told her the big thing to me would be to get something that I couldn't get here. Something that was different.

A couple weeks later this arrived.

Hand-dyed wool from Chile (it's more blue than grey). Dehbi bought it there on a trip and just never used it.

Wow. I'm a lucky, lucky girl. Now I just have to consider my options. I'm currently leaning towards this.

Anyone else have any great ideas for about 850 yards of fingering weight hand-dyed from the south of Chile??