On the Needles

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Monday, August 27, 2012

Everyone needs a Big Hug…

 

& Kiss!

 

I love hugs, and am constantly asking for hugs from my family. I’m less so with my friends and acquaintances but if any of them were to offer a hug I wouldn’t turn it down. 

Children’s entertainer Charlotte Diamond, has a song called, 4 Hugs a Day. I remember hearing it as a kid and loved it. When I was 18, I received a community cookbook from my ‘Connections Canada’ 4-H twin and her family. Like most community cookbooks it has inspirational quotes placed throughout the pages. While flipping through it I discovered this one:

 

We need 4 hugs a day for survival

We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance

We need 12 hugs a day for growth.

 

I’ve quoted it to my family on more then one occasion. And joke with them that the reason I’m short is because I didn’t get enough hugs while growing up.

Knowing this about me it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn I fell in love with, A Big Hug & Kiss by Jeanne C Abel, as soon as I saw it. Unfortunately, it was in an ad in a knitting magazine for a retailer in the States. They did have an online store but shipping was going to cost more then the pattern so I put it off. I joined Jeanne’s group on Ravelry and asked if there was any place in Canada I could buy it but no luck. It was probably about a year before Jeanne created a Patternfish account and offered it for sale there. Even more time passed before I had  a way of buying it.

Then came the hunt for the right yarn. It’s made with a bulky weight 100% cotton yarn. That’s not a yarn that is readable available at any of the LYS. I searched online for something that would work but money was a factor and although spending the $50 to $60 on the yarn was justifiably. Spending another 20 on shipping wasn’t. So again I waited.

In March 2010,  the local fibre festival, FibresWest, was held. I wandered into one vendors booth,  Jane Stafford Textiles, and was so glad I did. I discovered some extremely soft, bulky weight cotton. Labelled simply Island Cotton V. And unlike other fibre festivals I actually had money on me. It took me less than a minute to decide that it would work and that I would buy it.

The combination of this yarn and pattern were wonderful. It resulted in a heavenly soft fabric that engulfs you in a cozy hug. Oh, did I mention that it’s a Moebius.

 P1000370 P1000365 P1000366 P1000368

Just realized that these pictures make me look incredibly short. Their self portraits so I had to kneel to be level with the camera, that was sitting on the table.

Friday, August 17, 2012

A now for some actual knitting content

 

I apologize. I disappear for 2 years and then my first post back has nothing to do with my hobbies.  But I’m going to make up for it with a rundown of some of the things I’ve knit over the last 2 year.  I’ll split it up into different posts.

First, I didn’t finish my Knitting Olympic project. I did get all the knitting done but I have sewn it together yet. Partly because I hate sewing. Also because I misread the instructions and knit it 4 inches longer then it is suppose to be. I can’t make up my mind if I should leave it or rip it back and try again. I am leaning heavily towards the latter but I’m not sure I’m up for it. I should do it in the next couple of months and try and get it done for this fall/winter.

I didn’t realize my mistake until after I washed and blocked it. The schematics weren’t making any sense because of it. As far as I can figure, when I read the directions for how long to make it I interpreted them as being the length from the ribbing to the end instead of the whole length, including the ribbing. 

 

The back of the Central Park Hoodie.

cphback 

The fronts.

cphfronts

And the sleeves.

cphsleeve2 cphsleeve1 

Thankfully the sleeves don’t have to be changed. Although I think I might block them again to get some of the kinks out.