What a great city Montreal is, yet not one where people usually choose to spend a spring break. But it's close and Mother Nature was ridiculously kind to us with magnificent sunshine all last week, and there is always lots of great food and beautiful things to see.

You will all be glad to hear that the concept of knitting is alive and well in the city. Witness one of the "knitted" toques which adorned many of the bus stops. Actually it isn't really knitted (are you surprised?) but an extremely clever design of black stitching on a padded fabric that looked a lot like stitches. Notice they even took pains to shape the ribbing around the bottom, although the stitches didn't change to represent the knits and purls which we know produce this indented effect in real knitting. But they get major points for trying.

Actually the whole toque-on-the-bus-shelter thing was part of an ad campaign for milk and a comforting evening of entertainment coming up soon. The poster pictured here, which is in fact a picture of an actual knitted piece, is really impressive for the quality of the reproduction and the persistence they show in getting their message out there: The ad campaign is EVERYWHERE throughout the city. But the most impressive version of the poster that I saw was an entire subway car covered with a reproduction of the knitted fabric. It made me wonder how long a real knitted "metro car cozy" would last at those speeds.

We also got to go to the Museum of Fine Arts which was featuring a presentation of the stained glass work of Louis C. Tiffany, son of the great Mr Tiffany from Tiffany and Co. of NYC and consequently "Breakfast at Tiffany's" fame.

I saw this beautiful piece that I've pictured here, and it was my one little glimpse of real spring flowers in these magnolias. What surprised me most when examining these pieces of stained glass up close is that the individual pieces of glass are not flat. Some can be up to an inch thicker in some sections than the piece next to it, or even from one part of the same piece to another part of it. I guess it's part of what makes the amazing textures and colours jump out at us.

Well, back to the store today. It's nice to have work that one is glad to get back to after a holiday.

Our Littlest Customer

We really should look into what is required to claim a record with the Guinness people. I'm sure that our newest customer would qualify. Mira Margaret is pictured here in her mom's arms, complete with knitted Wagnerian headguear just hours after her birth at 1:46pm last Thursday. Little Mira dropped in at the WOOL-TYME Kingston Knit and Chat later that same evening for a visit on her way home from the hospital when she was just 5 hours old.
My guess is that with her costume, she might even show up to watch the Olympics with us at Jakk's tonight. Who knows?

DAY 7 Knitting Olympics

Last Saturday I was lucky enough to take a wonderful workshop on digital photography aimed specifically at artists and crafters who are needing to take accurate yet appealing pictures of their projects and designs. The picture at left is actually very accurate for colour, and despite the sombre tones and mixture of 2 multi hued yarns, it still shows up the cable designs relatively well. And I was able to achieve this effect in about 3 minutes of picture taking and 5 minutes of uploading and "tweaking". All the knowledge of the world is out there, just waiting for us to find the time to take advantage of it. How fun...

Actually aesthetics aside, this is a picture of the first of 2 sleeves that I had set myself to finish during the Olympics. I'm about 1/3 of the way through the second one, so I may even shoot past my mark. Would that be like a downhill racer who makes it across the finish line and keeps right on, barreling through the crowd? Or the short track speed skater who continues doing laps until they are dragged from the oval? Oh well, whatever gets me to the ultimate goal of finishing the sweater before the summer.

It's a sweater for my brother who will be 50 in September. He lives in Victoria and likes the outdoors. I love the brown/green mixture of blending the 2 yarns, and how it makes the cables almost a secret that you have to look for and follow to fully appreciate.

Speaking of the West Coast and the Olympics, is it just me or is the coverage a bit less exciting this time. On the other hand, have you ever heard O Canada with such force as it was sung at the ceremonies for Alex Bilodeau's gold medal?

My daughter had to tell me that this strange couple who do the interviewing in the morning on CTV (she looks like she just walked off a shoot for Vogue and he looks like he's trying to channel Roy Orbison) were actually meant to be funny. I just thought they were silly for real.

Well as I'm committed to a certain amount of television watching in order to complete (and perhaps exceed) my goal, I was channel surfing last night and came upon the coverage on APTN (Aboriginal Peoples' Television) and was delighted to hear that one of the Canadian men's hockey games this weekend will be broadcast in Cree. At 8pm they switched from English to French reporting and they said that they were thrilled to be presenting the women's curling between China and France (I think) and they were predicting a great match. It reminded me of the episode of the Mary Tyler Moore show (for those of you who remember it) when the newsroom hired a lovely young woman as a sports announcer who glossed over NFL scores and gave maximum story time to an up and coming young female diver.

That to me is what makes the remote control and satellite television such a bonus, you can find interesting coverage where you can hear hockey broadcast in Cree and see how China interprets Canada's second favourite sport: Curling.

For those who haven't made it in to the store for our SWEETHEART SALE, there are still a few days: Buy 4 balls of any of our regularly priced yarns and you get the 5th ball FREE. It's a great deal on whatever you want. Hope to see you before Saturday.

SWEATER BOOT CAMP -

We're always looking for new classes and workshops to offer at the store. Alana and I have been working together with the regular Tuesday/Thursday on-going classes, and she was mentioning how she would love to offer a class where many of the questions that we answer each week get covered. Basic but extremely important questions like how to choose size and yarn weight, how to "pick up and knit", why there are different types of decreases and increases, etc.

So in the spirit of our insanely popular Sock-In-A-Day class (the next one of these is on March 12th by the way) we came up with the idea of a SWEATER BOOT CAMP - a 3 class/2 week course where participants would begin by planning their project, get the guidance needed to complete the 5 requisite pieces for the project cardigan (shown above), and come back 2 weeks later to learn about putting it all together.

Obviously there is only so much knitting that can be expected of a person in 2 weeks which is why the project chosen is this cute little baby jacket knit in bulky weight yarn. Seriously, the back can be knit in just a couple of hours.

The idea has been extremely popular so far and seems to be offering people a chance to build their confidence by challenging them to a simple/no frills design that serves as a basis for any future sweater knitting projects.

See the second last post for date and pricing details. Do consider this class for yourself or to recommend to a knitting friend who is ready to go beyond the hat and scarf; it should be lots of fun. And as after any BOOT CAMP experience, I'm sure there will be a few weary muscles and brain cells, but it will provide some great memories and a real sense of accomplishment.

The Events- Knitting Olympics 2010

Well folks, I'm not sure about you but I'm getting geared up: 18 days to cast on! Oops, to the Opening Ceremonies I mean.

I've been a big fan of knitting while watching the Olympics since 1992 when my youngest, then 2 1/2 years old, watched the women's figure skating event and announced that she didn't like HER, pointing to Tanya Harding in close-up as she awaited the judges marks. Astute, I would say.

Below, I've listed the official 2010 Knitting Olympics events as compiled by the International Ravelympics Committee ( the IRC, not to be confused with the IOC) in which you can participate (pick 2 if you're ambitious and have lots of viewing time.)



For those who aren't familiar with the origins of the Knitting Olympics, it all began a mere 4 years ago when Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (bless her heart) mused on her Yarn Harlot blog: wouldn't it be a cool idea to challenge ourselves as knitters in the spirit of the Olympics, choosing a project to complete during the 2006 Games that would stretch us as crafters? She also (foolishly) offered to register everyone who signed up and their chosen project. From that excited little musing, thousands of knitters agreed that it would indeed be a "cool idea" and joined the cause. To hear Stephanie tell it, she spent the next several weeks in her pyjamas, half crazed, trying to keep up with the never ending supply of excited knitters who wanted to get on board.

The rest of us, who were a bit slow off the mark, have been waiting for the last 4 years to get on board this time.


So here are the events that you can choose from. Remember - choose wisely, realistically, and with a commitment to the challenge.

Aerial Unwind - Bag Jump - Beading Biathlon - Bobsled Cable - Cross-Country Charity - Curling Designer - Biathlon Designer - Original Dance Designer - Pattern Skeleton - Downhill Dyeing - Felting Freestyle - Fleece to FO Long-Track -

Flying Camel Spin Free Dance - Giant Slalom/ghan - Hat Halfpipe -

Holiday Jumpstart - Skiing Junior Olympics - Labyrinth Weaving - Lace Luge

- Mittens Moguls - Nordic Colorwork - Combined Platter Lift Samalong -

Machine Skate - Scarf Super-G - Short Track Shawls - Single Skein Speed Skate -Skelegurumi - Snow Cross Sock Hockey - Stash Compulsory Dance -

Sweaterboard Cross - WIPs Dancing.

More in the next few days about my own choice.

SPRING CLASS LINEUP 2010

FAIR ISLE KNITTING

The basics of chart reading and yarn stranding and the 2 handed method to make beautiful classic designs are covered in this class.

WHEN: Sat. Feb. 27 1-4pm

COST: $35 (material list available)

SOCK-IN-A-DAY
Our most popular class. Come and learn the basics of sock knitting that can be adapted to create beautiful socks for any foot, in any yarn.

WHEN: Sat. June 12th, 10am-2pm.
COST: $45 (includes materials)




Introducing our latest class concept:
SWEATER BOOT CAMP- Parts I and II
Want to gain enough knitting confidence to create beautiful sweaters that fit?
Make this simple baby sweater in 3 classes and just 2 weeks and acquire skills that can be applied to all of your knitting!

Part I
WHEN: Fri. March 26th 7-9pm (yarn and fibre selection, gauge, choosing the right size and pattern reading). AND Sat. March 27th 1-4pm (cast on your sweater and learn how to knit the 5 basic pieces that you need).
COST: $35 plus materials (about $25)
TEACHER: Alana Baig

Part II
WHEN: Sat. April 10 1-4pm. (Return 2 weeks later to learn how to pick up stitches neatly, create button holes, the invisible mattress stitch, blocking and more.)
COST: $35

DO YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW TO KNIT BUT WANT TO TAKE

BOOT CAMP PART II TO HELP YOUR FINISHING SKILLS?

Pick up our BOOT CAMP sweater kit, knit your pieces and join us for PART II.

An Afternoon of NEEDLEFELTING

Come and play with wool fleece and other fibres to see what you can create and have crazy fun too.

WHEN: Sat. April 17th 1-4pm

COST: $35 (includes all materials)

ILLUSION KNITTING
Can you see the keyboard in this scarf? Illusion knitting is so fun. Learn to follow patterns and make your own designs.
WHEN: Sat. April 24th 1-4pm
COST: $45 (materials list available)
TEACHER: Rachel Bearse.

SPOILER ALERT for those who like little lambs.

I've just spent the morning printing up my daughter's lab manual for neuroscience at Guelph U where she will be spending part of this semester studying the brain of a sheep. I'm not sure why they have chosen the sheep brain but it did strike her as a bit close to home, as she has been surrounded for most of her life by the outer offerings of the sheep.
Ah, the circle of life!

Don't you just love this picture? Deb White passed it on to me as part of a larger review of "Computer security" products that you can knit to keep your identity safe. As you can see the needles are still on this w.i.p. around the monitor, but the final product, which created a sort of inverted turtleneck completely enclosing the user and the monitor, was a bit strange even for knitting computer geeks.

Later on this week I'll be posting the list of classes that will be offered at the store this spring but I just wanted to let you know about the SWEATER BOOT CAMP coming up in March/April. I think it's such a great idea for those who are really enjoying their knitting, but want to get a good grounding and develop confidence in the basics of sweater making or for those who are just a bit nervous about leaving the safe world of scarves and hats.

We'll be using this little bulky knit jacket as a learning tool to introduce all the different aspects of sweater knitting: yarn choice, sizing, gauge, on the 1st night, then the next day participants will return for the cast on and pattern reading part of the program. 2 weeks later they are ready with their 5 basic pieces knitted to learn about picking up stitches, button holes and the mattress stitch.

The Sock-In-A-Day class has been so popular and succesful in teaching people by giving them a good quick overview of how to get from start to finish in a project that seems a bit daunting if spread out over a longer period of time. Using those same principles, we're hoping to introduce confidence in sweater knitting to a whole new crop of participants.