North

The pattern is from Kim Hargreaves' book North and is called North. I loved the book in its entirety when it was first published but North wasn't among the patterns that I wanted to make one day. For several reasons. It seemed too complicated (turned out to be true), too warm, and too expensive (10-11 balls of Rowan Kid Classic plus 11-12 balls of Rowan Kidsilk Haze). It looks modern and sporty on the model though, and these pockets! I love pockets because my hands are always cold. Yet, the cables - every four stitches cabled in every fourth row - are the most tedious cables on the planet. How to make a whole jacket in a pattern that requires long hours of boredom? You need a special motivation for this that I definitely didn't have at the moment.

During our last visit to England almost accidentally (as I described here) I acquired a lot of yarn. When at home I looked at 15 balls of Rowan Hemp Tweed in a pretty color of asphalt and instantly knew that they were meant to become a big, comfy, cabled jacket with a zipper and pockets. I myself don't need a jacket like this but one of my daughters definitely does. And it would be a great Christmas present. After all, fall is for making presents and I was a little bit behind already.
Again, North wasn't my first choice for this jacket but when I looked at the yarn requirements it was clear that it was a contender. I already had an unusually big amount of yarn and this jacket would look great in dark grey tweed. After Colonel cardigan I stopped being afraid of zippers. Sure, they take a lot of time and you have to be very focused while sewing them in, but if you make a mistake (or two, or three...) you can always undo and start over. The only thing - you've got to have time and patience.
Same thing with tedious patterns - they need time and patience.
I made a swatch - it was an almost perfect match. Same gauge as in the pattern (my row gauge was different: 22 rows in 4") - a sign, right?
While cleaning my house, I found a zipper I totally forgot about and it was black and the exact length required for the pattern - another sign, right?
So, my choice was made, the dice were cast. Now I had to invent something to trick myself into making this difficult jacket.

After some deliberations, I figured that the most difficult part that probably would take the longest is the back. What if I start with the fronts instead? Fronts need pockets and opening edges which make them more complicated but at the same time more interesting to knit because there is always something happening and you need to pay attention. Plus, if you have already two fronts done it is too late to chicken out and you have no other choice but to finish the project.
This is how my North got started - with the left front. I was instantly pleasantly surprised at how well the pattern was written. Yes, I must admit, North is absolutely brilliantly thought through and calculated.

My only problem was when I got to the point after the armhole when the pattern says: "Cont straight until 11 rows less have been worked than on back to start of shoulder shaping". Since I haven't made the back yet, how could I know when to stop?
No problem. Let's do some math. The armhole measures 19 cm from start to shoulder shaping. The gauge is 22 rows in 10 cm. How many rows for the armhole? X(armhole rows) = (22 x 19) : 10 = 41.8. Approximately 42 rows for the armhole from start to shoulder shaping. 42 rows - 11 rows = 31 rows for the front armhole to neck shaping. Easy-peasy!
And this is how both fronts were finished rather quickly. While they were drying I started the back.
Yes, it was hard to make - cabling 138 sts in every 4th row is not a walk in a park. But... I already knew how many rows I had to make (20 - for ribbing, 86 - till armhole, 42 - after armhole). I don't know about you, but when I know the amount of rows, work seems to be easier. I can pace myself, calculate how fast it could be done if I make that many rows per day etc.

While the front parts were drying, I started alternating working on the back and inserting zipper in the front. Both tasks were strenuous, but at least they were different kind of strenuous.

To tell you the truth, I got really tired of this jacket and its pattern at some point. And was ready to quit. Fortunately, it happened when I was making sleeves. I made them as long as the pattern required but spaced the increases more evenly (more details on my Ravelry page).

After the sleeves were done and were drying I put together the fronts (with zipper sewn-in) and back and made the collar. Again, didn't change anything, followed the pattern that asks you to fold it in half and hide the remaining part of the zipper in the seams. Cool, but took quite a lot of time.
Before I forget, 15 balls of Hemp Tweed were not enough to finish this jacket - imagine that! I ordered two more balls but needed only half of a ball for the collar.
A couple of words about this yarn. There was a knot (or two) in every ball. And they are only 104 yards long. Not good! Plus I got distracted by some strange twig-like strings that I kept pulling out of my thread (couldn't help myself).

Somehow it didn't look right to leave them intact even though it might be an important "hemp" part, who knows? It was easy to work with, yet, a little splitty when cabling without cable needle. A lot of last Rowan patterns are made from this yarn so I was expecting it to be a winner. Cannot tell you that it won me over. The jury is still out on this one.

Finally, the jacket was finished. I put it on and the fit was perfect. Even with long sleeves. I made size M because it is an outdoor garment and is supposed to be worn over other clothes. Still it fits me well. So if you decide to make it one day, be careful with the size, measure everything first.
It was a challenge for me to finish this one and I like it too much to give it away. Yes, most likely I'll keep it - a reminder of my battle with myself.

P.S. About your comments on this blog. They don't appear immediately. I have to approve and publish each one of them to avoid spam. So don't worry if you commented but cannot see it on the blog - it will be there eventually. Just give me some time! Any suggestions on how to speed this process are highly appreciated.

Anna

Bell... Isn't she lovely?

There are very few designers that I trust completely. In a knitter sense of trusting, of course! It means that this particular designer poured hours of deliberations and checking into her work and that I, a humble knitter, don't have to recheck and review her pattern before actually making it.
Ann McCauley is this kind of designer. When Bell was first published, I immediately decided to make it sooner or later: it looks classy and elegant, could be dressed up or down, is obviously very flattering for a woman's body. I had one concern: I really wanted to wear this one, not to put it in my closet waiting for the "sweater weather" that might never come for me. Since we became "snowbirds" I've been living in almost perpetual summer which is a little bit frightening because I have almost no opportunities to wear my wonderful wooly sweaters.
My solution was to find some summery and cottony yarn for this sweater, preferably in white. I dived into my stash and found some promising yarns but... in the pattern's descriptions it says that Bell requires 1435 yards for the smallest size, and I wanted to make it a little bit roomier, with more positive ease, therefore, I needed even more yards and I didn't have them in my stash.
So, before we left for England, I went to my favorite knitting shop in Pennsylvania - Twist. Its owner, Debbie, has an amazing variety of yarn choices and helps navigating the yarn realm like no one. Under her guidance I found Cascade Ultra Pima that is creamy white, has a very good yardage, and wasn't too expensive (ha-ha, I obviously bought more yarn, much more yarn because I just couldn't help myself but it wasn't my proudest moment and I don't want to talk about it:))))
At home I made a swatch and my row gauge was a little bit different from the pattern but I liked how it looked and felt, and I had 6 balls of this yarn already. The back was started soon afterwards but then postponed because my Dream cardigan needed all my attention and then we left for England.
We had only a week in Pennsylvania before leaving again - for Florida. I spent that week finishing the cardigan of my dreams and wore it proudly on the plane.
The only project on my needles at the time was Bell and it went to Florida with me with little hope of much knitting because we were supposed to be very busy there. It turned out a lot of stuff got canceled because of the hurricane (see details here) and I had to spend many hours just waiting: for our departure day, for our flight, for the hurricane to finally hit, and for the news of how things were in the aftermath.

During all this let's say trying time I was making Bell. It was more or less brainless knitting (rather more than less), just to keep myself going, just to do something. I picked the second size and... worked and worked without giving it much thought, almost mechanically going through the motions. It was easy with Bell. It is well written and you don't have to anticipate problems, the designer had already done it for you.

The only complication was the pattern's layout. It took so many pages (I printed it out because sometimes you don't have the Internet but still want to knit, you know)! I really prefer when the chart and its legend are on the same page, don't you? Or when you don't have to go back and forth constantly looking for an explanation of a technique. Yet, this is not designer's fault, and a lot of publishing companies are doing it because, well, they went paperless, they don't have to actually print their patterns, so no need to save space.
The one thing that I inadvertently changed in the pattern was the way of decreasing - I made all decreases on the wrong side (knit rows). When I noticed my mistake I was almost done with the back so I decided to keep it this way throughout with the one exception - the neckline. And I especially like the neckline on this garment! This neckline was done the way the designer meant it to be done. No changes at all.

It was hard to photograph Bell well - not only it is almost white, it has a little bit of shine that combined with the sunlight makes pictures blurry. Plus my photographer/husband was even busier than usual lately and not really willing to take any pictures. The ones that I used on my Ravelry page and here were taken in a hurry one evening when the sun was almost out and we both were exhausted. Yes, I am making excuses because I am not fond of these pictures but they are the only ones of this sweater that I have for the moment.

 After I put them on my Ravelry page Ann McCauley contacted me (blushing!). She liked the fit and the end result but was concerned about the yarn. She had used the Cascade Ultra Pima for another project several years ago when the yarn first came out and after a couple of wearings it looked fuzzy and had small pills.
I do hope that Bell will look as lovely in a year from now but I don't know how this yarn will wear. I promised Ann to take pictures of it in a year and send them to her. Let's wait and see. I'll post them here as well.
By the way, I used only 4,5 balls of yarn = around 1000 yards. Keep it in mind if you decide to make Bell.
Meanwhile, for the first time in my life I performed a surgery on my knitting. There are many rewards when you decide to keep yourself exceptionally busy. For example, my house is very clean now, and I got rid of a lot of stuff that I don't need anymore. And I fixed some of my old knits that were discovered in my closet and deemed to be worth of wearing.

This top was eaten by moth before I even had a chance to wear it. It had a big hole right at the bottom front. The pattern was from Rebecca knitting magazine that was popular (and translated to English) at the time and many people were making it (this is the only explanation that I could come up with for why I made it in the first place - ruffles are not my style, plus it is made out of wool but without sleeves, so no idea where and how to wear it).
Anyhow, surgery of a knitted garment has been on my bucket list for a while now. It turned out to be much easier than I thought. After all, moth have already done most of the job. I just had to find the end of the yarn thread and unravel it. Picking up stitches of a finished, washed, and blocked garment was easy. And I used ribbing instead of the original crochet finish and Kitchener cast off that I've been using a lot lately. I like how it looks now. Ruffles are fashionable again, so maybe I can wear it one day. And I overcame my fear of knitting surgery - YAY!!!!

Dreams come true

Technically this was my last #summerofbasics project. I liked the idea of finally tackling something that I've admired for a while but that seemed too challenging or time consuming to make. It was that last push needed to make me realize how many wonderful, interesting, challenging, and beautiful patterns were in my mental queue.
This particular pattern is also from a Japanese knitting book. It was published in Keito Dama # 156, Winter 2012, and in this book - Best Selection Of Aran Knits - that I got for our anniversary from my husband (he bought it on Ebay after I found and sent him links to the books I wanted).
Since I get a lot of questions about the sources of Japanese knitting patterns I decided to write it all down here for those who want to find same books or magazines and make same patterns.
If you are looking for a knitting book that is not sold in American bookstors or on websites with yarn and knitting supplies you'll find them most likely on Ebay, Etsy, and Yesasia. Sometimes on Etsy you can even find an electronic version of a book/magazine and get it almost instantly. In all other cases you'll have to wait for up to 2 weeks (that is how long I usually wait for my orders from Yeasia). Once I ordered a Japanese knitting magazine from Amazon and had to wait for 2 months. I was really worried but eventually got it. So plan accordingly.
Buying rare knitting books seems a good investment to me, since there are few things in fashion that haven't been discovered and used before. Everything is coming back eventually in this or that form, you just have to pay attention. Japanese patterns are feminine and classic, with good math and clear charts. In my opinion they are timeless.

This pattern looked very appealing on its photographs in man's or woman's version. It has EVERYTHING the real classic cardigan needs if you ask me: intricate but familiar cables, pockets, long ribbed sleeve cuffs with thumb openings (LOOOOVE this because my hands are always cold), and a hood.
I had this yarn in my stash - Queensland Collection Kathmandu dk - for what seemed like ages. It was silky, tweedy, oatmeal colored with some grey and black speckles, and probably predestined to become this cardigan, which was why it lingered for so long in my basement.
After some deliberations I decided to go without a hood because I couldn't imagine a situation where I would actually wear it.

After some more deliberations the neckline was also changed in my mind. V-necks look better on me than crew-necks, I really don't need a cardigan that would be too warm - just warm enough.  It is not too hard to change this part of a pattern, especially when the back is already finished and you know already how many rows it takes. Just calculate the amount of stitches to decrease on the neck side, and distribute the needed decreases evenly over the rows after the armholes (this was where I started decreasing, but you can start earlier or later, your choice).

Then I made a swatch and discovered that the woman's size would be too tight for me. I am a tight knitter, and for this cardigan I really wanted some positive ease. That is why I had to work with the pattern for a man's cardigan, which is no big deal because they are practically the same.

After the back was finished I decided to add 3 stitches to both fronts: one selvage stitch, one purl stitch, and one knit through the back loop stitch. That is why, when all was finished and button bands were sewn to the front parts, the seems are not that visible. The button bands ribbing continues the K 1 x P 1 on the fronts.
Also I picked 9 sts for the button bands (I don't remember the exact number, but it was less in the original pattern) and worked them the same way I did for Helga Isager's Ebony. I think it looks more polished and professional when done this way and I am going to use this method again and again.

All parts of this cardigan have a provisional cast-on, which means that at the end, after having assembled the whole thing, you pick up stitches and do the ribbing. Even though, it slows down the finishing, I liked working this way because I could finish everything with Kitchener cast off - again, looks better and more professional to me, plus it is very stretchy. You don't want the ribbing on your cardigan to be too tight, especially on sleeves.

I used my old store bought cardigan as a sample for this garment, checking constantly with its measurements. That was another reason why doing the ribbing at the end was beneficial - I could make it as long or as short as I wanted.

All in all I am very happy with the end result. I dreamed about this particular pattern for a long time, and finally my dream came true. That is why I called it Dream Cardigan.

As I said the finishing took a while, especially since I couldn't wait and started finishing it with jet lag after we just came from England. Needless to say that I had to unravel everything and start all over a couple of days later. Yet, I prevailed and finished it before we left for Florida.
By that time the only project that I had on my needles was Bell. So I took it with a couple of balls of Cascade Ultra Pima. Little did I know, how much I needed this project while waiting for the hurricane and evacuating from Florida. But this is another story that I'll tell next time. Stay tuned...

What to expect when you are expecting a hurricane

Well, this is a knitting blog and I’ll try to keep it mostly about knitting. And yes, I’ve been knitting lately and have some finished projects to share. But today I decided to talk about the last hurricane – Irma – because I keep getting messages, mails, calls, and posts on my Facebook wall with questions about it. I had to write this all down and get it out of my system and this is my blog, so I can do as I please. Plus, some people who are going through difficult times can relate to my experiences and feel less lonely or, maybe, use my “anxiety avoidance” techniques. After all, that is why I keep posting here. When I started writing and getting feedback it made me feel more normal or mainstream, more connected in the broad sense of the word. It turned out there are quite a few kindred spirits in different parts of this world who have same taste in knitting and same priorities in life.

One more disclaimer – there will be no pictures in this post. I don’t like blogs without pictures myself but, sorry, they don’t seem to be appropriate this time. So, if you get easily bored without pictures, stop reading now. Today my goal is not to entertain but to give as much information as possible.

So here is my story and some “life lessons” that I hope could be useful to anyone in an extremely stressful situation.

We went to the Florida Keys several days before we learned about Irma and were supposed to spend a week there putting some finishing touches to our new house. We had return plane tickets and a rented car with a full tank, so when the mandatory evacuation was announced (all residents got the message) we were ready. And it was announced 5 (!!!) days before the storm was supposed to hit. So we had plenty of time to get ready for a hurricane’s arrival as well as we could while waiting for the time of our departure. It was our first hurricane on Keys so we were a little amateurish. Next time we’ll be better prepared for sure.

How did we feel knowing that our new house that we spent 3 years building and surrounding area are going to be right in the eye of a hurricane? Well, you can imagine. If you cannot (and apparently a lot of people couldn't because they kept asking me) I’ll tell you.

1) I discovered that the expression “calm before a storm” is literally what happens before a storm. The weather was great, everything was beautiful, peaceful, and quiet. It was hard to believe that something of that magnitude was coming. 

2) I knew that soon we’ll have to leave and the amount of damage from the storm could prevent us from staying there, at least for a while, so I tried to enjoy and cherish every moment.

3) Didn’t work, because anxiety and fear have a paralyzing effect, at least on my brain. Somehow, anticipating something that hasn’t happened yet is more difficult than dealing with the aftermath of a disaster. For a while the only thing you are able to do is looking into a void or playing a solitaire.

4) Sleep becomes a luxury. It is not difficult to fall asleep but much more difficult to stay asleep.

But stress, almost like sex, gets better and easier with age. All my life anxiety and panic have been my faithful companions so I had to learn how to deal with them. No, I don’t know how to “keep calm”, I am all shaking and nervous inside, but I certainly can “carry on” as usual because this is the only thing that helps you to get through days (and nights).

I learned that the best thing to survive the anticipation is to keep as busy as possible and to go on through all the routine things that you normally do. It is hard, especially at the beginning, but this is the best remedy from panic and depression. Also, exercise. You’ve got to exercise as much as possible – the endorphins work their magic and life doesn’t look too bleak after a long walk or a good swim. And you sleep much better.

I was able to knit. To my own surprise I knit quite a lot while we were traveling home to Pennsylvania and waiting for the hurricane to finally happen. And afterwards. Knitting helps with focus. 

I don’t remember ever trying so many new, time consuming recipes. Somehow cooking took a lot of nervous energy from my body. And, since I had to taste my food all the time, it helped with eating because I kind of lost my appetite for a while.

To avoid: watching news on TV. That was the best thing that I could do to keep my cool. All necessary information about the upcoming event you can find on National Hurricane Center’s website, you don’t need a TV for it. This is where the news companies actually get their weather reports which they all embellish with colors, graphics, and sound and present as “breaking news”. The media made people scared. It is useful if you want them to leave the dangerous area but after a while it gets old and a little bit over the top. I was sitting in Miami International Airport with my back to a TV set. Every time somebody would sit across and start watching TV I could see how their faces changed. From calm and sober they became scared, fearful, and sad. I wish they would give some useful information, like where we could find gas, food, and water. Which airlines still have tickets and to what destination. Which hotels, motels, or b&b still had vacancies.

Normally I am not a big fan of Facebook but during the crisis time it became totally unbearable. Yet, at some point, my husband found there a group of Keys residents and it was an enormous help. We got all the information from there: regular posts from local government officials, many survival tips, video and photo reports immediately after the disaster, rules and regulations of how to get back, everything. I cannot thank enough people who posted there.

Unfortunately, people who don’t live in the affected area kept watching the dramatic news coverage and we started receiving messages like “Get out of there!”. “What are you still doing there!”, “Are you crazy!” in droves. Some of them – at 2 or 3 AM. Because we have friends in Europe and Russia, and they were so worried about our safety that the idea of time difference and the fact that we might be asleep didn’t cross their minds. Some people were so terrified and emotional (not our relative, btw), that it took a while and several messages back and forth to calm them down.

I am infinitely thankful to all the people who reached to us before and after the hurricane: there were so many, I was genuinely surprised. And at some point my husband even said: “I am suddenly glad that we don’t have that many friends because I am not sure how many more times I can repeat the same things”. Yes, that’s us – mean and sarcastic as usual!

We were perfectly safe all the time. Our house and all houses built with accordance to the last Florida building code withstood the 100 m/h wind, rain, and surge without significant damage. To all my “snow birds” friends who read this blog – all Keys residents, knitting club members, that I know, still have their houses.

There was a trailer park right next to our property that was hit the most. And that was the place where all the correspondents parked and took the pictures that were constantly reproduced on TV. I immediately recognized the place and was appalled at how wrong and non-informative this “information” was. It didn’t help anyone, it was false by omission (most houses are standing), it was depressing and negative. 

A couple of days after Irma hit the Keys I felt almost sick when in doctor’s waiting room I heard two ladies discussing who was hit most – Huston or Florida Keys (like there was a competition) – and deciding that it was definitely Huston. Ladies, no one besides the first responders, was allowed to go to the most destroyed and damaged places on Florida Keys, definitely not  TV people, so you have no idea about the real damage and cannot even talk about it (these were my thoughts but of course I didn’t say it aloud). I do find it a very bad taste to make a humanitarian crisis a topic of small talk. But then I’ve been always exceptionally bad at small talk.

When I saw the pleas from newspapers correspondents to eye witnesses from Florida to call or to write to them because they needed information for their articles (again, it was on Facebook, of course), I got just angry. If you want to write about something, go there and eye witness it yourself. Otherwise, it is very easy to retranslate something that is not exactly true, or only partially true.

I understand that disasters get particularly good ratings so they will always be a major part of news circle. And schadenfreude is still inherent to human nature even though during Middle Ages it was considered to be a sin. If you absolutely have to watch this type of “news” and become emotional seeing other people’s suffering, here is the best solution – send money to the charities in the affected area. Money can really help and you’ll be able to sleep better.

As to the conversations like “Who were the idiots that stayed on Keys through the hurricane?” and “Why would you want to live in a place like that?, I shudder inside when I hear them.

You don’t know the situation and other people’s reasons; you cannot possibly imagine the risks and rewards of staying there, so it is not for you to judge.

And people live everywhere. In Georgia where sometimes it is unbearably hot, and Alaska or Canada where sometimes it is unbearably cold. In Pennsylvania even, where every winter there are snow storms, and no electricity, schools and roads are closed, and you cannot leave your house. And in Florida Keys where sometimes there are hurricanes.

Florida Keys will be rebuilt and people will be always living there because it is an incredibly beautiful place and because all locals are incredibly resilient people.  Now, I promised no pictures this time but I have one – sunflowers for my friends from the Keys.

We are alive and it means we’ll be fine. Eventually. Right?
And I will write about knitting soon. It's a promise.

This is how we do it

I've been asked many times when, how, and sometimes if I wear my handmade clothes.
During our last trip to London - city with a perfect sweater weather all year around - I asked my husband to take pictures of me in different knits just to prove that I REALLY wear them. Not as often as before, but still. So if you are curious to see my work and me together with London on the background - read on, but caution - a lot of pictures ahead!
I love visiting London - the only city where you can get a good tea anytime any place and nobody would ask you where you are from. One of the major London's attractions for me of course is my daughter who comes and stays with us for a while. And we have short but precious moments together.

London is a place where great theaters are, and we love theater. This time, for example, we were lucky to see Hamlet with Andrew Scott (if you live in London and haven't seen it yet, please, try getting a ticket, it is so worth it). I don't think I will ever want to see this play again - it was just perfect.

But let's get back to my "show and tell" and talk some clothes.
Prior to leaving for England we were told that the weather there was rather crappy - cold, windy, and rainy - and that warm clothes were the only clothes that we should bring. I packed accordingly.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, upon our arrival the weather changed and during the day it was mostly warm and sunny. Some of the sweaters that I brought turned out to be too warm and bulky. I packed only one cardigan, and a warm one to boot. Big mistake. Needed more cardigans in different shapes and forms - they are so easy to take off on subway and put on back on a street. And some sweaters proved to be perfect for this type of climate and urban lifestyle in general. So here I present my knits in London: hits and misses.
1.Black lace, or Wolfriver

 I wore it on the plane and it kept me warm, but it was too warm for walking on London streets, and absolutely suffocating on subway. Even hanging up behind my back. Should be used in winter or colder weather.
2. Loving

This one was worn the most and proved to be absolutely perfect for this kind of weather (low 70s, chilly mornings and evenings). Mandatory selfie in a store:

This garment is optimal for indoors and outdoors, light and effortless, ideal for day to evening transition. Wore it a lot.
3. Patriot

I like it because it is warm but not too bulky. It was cold and rainy for a couple of days and I had an opportunity to wear it. Its advantages - could be worn with or without a shirt, works well underneath a jacket, covers my butt and keeps it warm.
4. Japanese Sideways sweater

This sweater was also perfect for the weather and our activities. It is lightweight and airy, easy to wear hanging behind my shoulders. Was worn a lot as well.

5. Christmas sweater
The problem with this sweater was its length. I didn't pack any skirts, only pants, and in order for this sweater to look well on me in pants it needs something longer underneath, otherwise proportions are wrong. Yet, most of the times it was too warm outside to wear it with a shirt.
Here I am wearing it with jeans - and I am not particularly fond of this look.

6. Juno
This one was another hit during this trip - lightweight, could be tucked into pants, easy to take off and carry in a bag, perfect. And it goes with everything! Even graffiti on Brick Lane!

7. Riverband
The only cardigan I had in my suitcase (oh, how I regretted it later!), short and lightweight. Easy to take off and carry in a bag, real lifesaver in the evenings. I wish I had a thinner cardigan that could be worn under a jacket, but glad to have at least this one with me.

8. Swallowtail shawl by Evelyn Clark
Actually, I brought 3 shawls with me - I miss scarves and shawls, used to wear them all the time. My daughter promptly appropriated two of them (and I am so glad that she did because I don't wear them anyway), so I was left with just this one - it was knit many years ago and have been serving me well.

One night, when we were leaving theater after a play, I was even complimented on it (maybe not exactly complemented, but asked about it), so it is still in good shape.
Now, the main lesson from this trip: I need more cardigans. They are easier to put on and take off when you navigate through a crowd of people, and, unlike sweaters, could be worn in three positions - on, off, and unbuttoned.

Another takeaway from the trip: yellow and pink colors. I don't remember seeing so many different shades of yellow ever before.

This time yellow was literally everywhere. And I must admit that I loved it and developed an actual craving for yellow-green, yellow-brown, and neon yellow (I think, I've already mentioned that I have this physiological reaction to colors, that cannot be helped).

As to pink, only one shade was omnipresent on London streets - dusty pink or pale pink. Must admit that I started liking it as well and wanting to have more pink in my wardrobe.
I brought an insane amount of yarn from England this time. Yes, so unlike me, ha-ha!!! You can see on this picture just a tiny part of the lot.

In order to buy the new Rowan magazine we went to John Lewis (and I really wanted to buy it while we were there, because... we were already there!). We had to go there 3 times before I finally got it (my husband kept making jokes about John Lewis being the major tourist attraction in London).
I finally found it only by chance - not on display, but in a pile on a table for craftsmen under some other stuff (really surprising way of selling knitting books, if you ask me).
Yet, every time when we visited the store looking for the last Rowan I would find some new yarn without which I couldn't possibly leave and buy it. As a result we also had to buy an additional bag - a carry on - just for yarn. I feel so bad now but, I guess, it is a great motivation to knit faster.

Here is a little preview of my next project. It is a cardigan (didn't I tell you that I need cardigans?) from a Japanese knitting book and I've been eyeing it for quite some time. But to be a cardigan of my dreams it needed some changes. So changes were made and now it is almost finished. However, this is another story for another time. As for today's tale, it is finished. I do hope it helps you somehow when you plan your next trip to Europe.

This is war, Peacock! Casualties are inevitable!

In July we usually go to Canada for the Shaw festival. Every year I am looking to this trip with anticipation. It is a wonderful possibility for us to unplug, enjoy theater and each other, and just relax and eat great food. After spending many long months in Florida building a house, we deserved this break.

If you love theater (we obviously do) this is your place to come. Usually plays are very different. There is something for everyone: one play for children, one musical play, one or two experimental plays, one or two famous/classical plays. This year the festival new artistic director – Tim Carroll – brought in new ideas and interesting choice of plays as well as much more actors – audience interactions to re-energize the event.

The acting is superb:  in Pennsylvania, we don’t see performances of this level often. Everything else is also executed on the highest level of professionalism.

The Shaw festival takes place in a tiny picturesque town of Niagara-on-The-Lake from April till October and is getting more and more popular every year. If you live in a driving distance from the place I’d wholeheartedly recommend coming and checking it out. This year we saw 11 plays on 4 different venues in 12 days.

We discovered this festival about 6 years ago and since then try to go there every summer. The weather in Canada at this time of the year is much better than in Pennsylvania (to say nothing of South Florida). We can take our daily walks through beautiful and peaceful countryside. Usually our final destination is a farmer’s market where we buy some fruit that we eat on the spot and go back home.

 Next to the market there is a little chapel that is apparently considered the smallest church in the world. Every day buses and cars bring lots and lots of Asian tourists who relentlessly take pictures of the chapel. Apparently, they all have it in their tourist guides as one of the world wonders or something. Anyway, it was hard to get a picture of it without tourists, but I managed.

There are also vineyards and wine testing in the area, great food and quaint antic stores – what’s not to like!

Before leaving for Canada I got sick and spent a day in bed recuperating. Soon I got bored and decided to make something from the leftovers of Fanion that I used to make Bo. I chose Blue from Kim Hargreaves Crush. Not only because it is light and summery but also because my gauge was spot on and I had enough yarn to make it. Plus it was black and white – and this summer black and white became my knitting trend.

I picked size M because I didn’t want the tank to be too snug on my hips. Boy, was I wrong! The result is cute, but VERY revealing and stretchy. I like it on the pictures but am not sure how to wear it in real life.

More pictures - on my Ravelry page.

Military style jackets with multiple zippers have been always much-coveted but unapproachable designs to knit for me. Two reasons: they definitely look better when store-bought and they are too difficult to make because of the zippers.

Zippers are hard to insert in knitted garments: unlike knitting they don’t stretch. I did it successfully once many years ago but it was so time consuming and all over so much pain everywhere that ever since I avoided garments with zippers.

I don’t remember when I bought this Phildar pattern (it is not on their website anymore and not on Ravelry) but decided not to make it for above mentioned reasons.

Till this spring when I unearthed it, took a closer look and decided to try it with the leftovers of great yarn. Again my gauge was spot on. I used this yarn twice before – for a Kim Hargreaves cardigan for my daughter (didn’t photograph it but it looks and wears well) and this pattern, also from Kim Hargreaves (yarn held together with Rowan Kidsilk Haze).

Soon I discovered that the original pattern as it was written is rather tight fitting. Not exactly what I am looking for in a jacket. That is why instead of knitting the smallest size as I usually do I settled on size 42/44. Among other changes: full length sleeves and  3 garter sts at the front borders – but otherwise I just followed the pattern.

Yet, I got constantly distracted. I made this and this instead of finishing my zipper jacket. Which is not how I normally operate. After some soul searching and deliberations I figured that the main reason for my procrastination was the necessity to insert zippers at the end. Yet, unraveling everything that was already finished by this time looked also kind of stupid so I made a decision to take this unfinished garment to Canada with me, work on it in between walks and plays, and see what happens.

As a result when we came back to Pennsylvania I had all the parts of the jacket finished. And I got zippers in a close shade of green and required length (from this website). And 8 days before leaving for another trip.  

All this trouble was not in vain. I got myself a cute jacket that is light and soft to the skin, goes with all my clothes, and could be worn underneath other garments. The buttons were bought in an antique store in Canada and are from a real military uniform.

Again, more pictures - on my Ravelry page.

This is the Summer of Basics after all and what can be more basic than a jacket military style!

I wanted to call it Colonel Mustard (Clue is one of my favorite movies of all times and I know it by heart) but its color is greysh-green. So it is Colonel Not Mustard for now. Do you have any other suggestions?

This summer I managed to make already two projects that were postponed for several years. It is August and we are leaving on Tuesday but hopefully by the end of the month I’ll be able to finish at least one more knit that I’ve been wanting for ages (or two?!!!).