block 'n tackle knitting

Favourite circulars. Favourite bowl. Favourite blog. 

A friend and I went to the local annual fibre festival this morning, and I came home with this beauty of a locally dyed yarn.

It's been a lovely week, and there's absolutely no excuse to stay out of the garden. Here's the newest addition to our deck space. Japanese maple And here's what else I got up to: Sweater-beginnings, with colourway: "Jellyroll"

It's hard to pick up in a photo, but this simple stitch makes my sea silk yarn absolutely lustrous.  Here's how to do linen stitch, which is not only lovely, but has the added charm of not curling, yay! Work linen stitch on an even number of stitches. Row 1: K1, slip 1 with yarn in front, and repeat this to the end of the row. Row 2: *P1, slip 1 with yarn in back, and repeat this to the end of the row. (Note: when slipping your stitches, always slip as if to purl.) That's it! Only two rows to repeat, and so pretty. 

Cotton worsted yarn in light blues and grey knit up in a day for a summer cap! For pattern, see my Simple Christmas Beret.

Yes, it's spring (see the hydrangeas?) and yes, I'm knitting a black sweater, with stripes of fuzz. What of it? I'm a rebel.

I thought I'd post a pic of another project currently on the go. This one is a blanket I'm crocheting, freeform, to match some of the greys in our new living space. I'm interspersing the neutral, sportweight, grey yarn with strands of fun, somewhat sparkly black, blue and purple eyelash yarn -- all acrylic, because that works well for blankets. It's going to take awhile, but I'm liking the results of the puff stitch and single crochet stripes.