Last post of 2011!!

My yarn for the Cloud Chaser.

Almost at the end of the year and it seemed like a good time to squeeze in one last post in 2011.  It's been a year full of yarn, knitting and fun.  A big thank you is due to all of our customers for your continued support!  We can't do this without you!!!

With a new year brings a new project and our very first Knit Along!  I've been itching to cast on the Cloud Chaser since my yarn arrived but I've been holding out.  Patiently waiting for the new year before I even do a gauge swatch.  I'm really looking forward to casting on!  The official cast on day is January 11 with our first Stitch Night of the new year.  But I completely understand if you can't wait till then!  Thank you to everyone who has joined.  I'm really looking forward to hearing about your progress and seeing photos!

Juliet and I want to wish you all a very Happy New Year!   All the best for 2012.  May your year be filled with love and yarn!

I'm in love!

We just got in some new leaflet patterns and I'm in love.  When I looked at the Challah pattern I knew I would have to knit it.  I love how the designer has the three pieces braid together but also have sections where they are knit all together as well.

Apparently I will have a very warm neck as I am also in love with the Ruffled & Ruched scarf!  This frilly accessory with a flower is very versatile.  And I love how the pattern has an option to knit it with either DK or Worsted weight.  So you can have a heavier one for winter and a lighter one for spring if you were so inclined!  Both of these patterns are now available in the shop as well as some adorable slipper patterns like the ones pictured below.

And the Beekeeper's Quilt pattern is also available in store now too.  I posted about this one on Facebook a little while ago.  I'm starting to put together my sock yarn leftovers!  This project will take a long time but I love that it's an easy project you can take wherever you go.  So when in doubt...knit a honeycomb!

Mini Juliet and one funny tree!

I received an amazing gift in the mail a few days ago.  Needle felted ornaments of my dogs!  Sandy who is the wonderful knitter and dyer behind the Dandelion Lane products here at Knits by the Sea made these adorable ornaments for me.  Thank you Sandy for these amazing gifts.  They look exactly like my girls!

And it just so happens that I went and got a tree this year!  I have had a tree every year for Christmas except for last year.  So I was very excited to go with my friend Sarah and pick one out!  I think it definitely falls under the "Charlie Brown Tree" category but I love it just the same.  I was short on ornaments so I decided to needle felt some up quickly to help!  Nothing as spectacular as what Sandy made for me, but they do the trick!  Here is a mitten that I made.

Needle felting is perfect when you need something like an ornament made up quickly.  If you have any last minute needle felting needs we have lots more fleece that has arrived in the shop!

Knitting and Hiking in Ucluelet

It was a perfect way to spend a rainy day off on Monday!  When my girlfriend suggested coming to visit her in Ucluelet and knit and go for a walk I was in!  The three (well, four if you count my dog Parka) had a great time exploring the Wild Pacific Trail.  With great look outs and lots of trees we didn't really notice it was raining.  And Parka was very happy with her new doggy pack and enjoyed tearing around the trail and then making sure we kept up.

Black Rock is a great spot for knitting if you are in the Ucluelet area.  The cozy couches, warm fire and delicious desserts make it the perfect spot to spend an afternoon.  I tried the very yummy white chocolate croissant bread pudding with vanilla ice cream.  I forgot to take a picture of the before.  So this is the after shot.  So tasty!!  I've been on a finishing mission so Monday's projects were for others and I'm slowly making progress.  With so many breaks to enjoy my yummy latte and dessert productivity was slowed a little.  But that is what days off are for!

It's Getting frosty!

We have been unusually lucky with the weather here in Tofino for this time of year.  I remember constantly wearing full rain gear for my dog walks at this time of year.  But the sun just keeps on coming out which I'm not complaining about!  The fun part about this sunshine (or just lack of rain) is that it's a little cooler and that means we get a little frost!  Now I don't usually miss snow except when it is getting close to Christmas.  So I will take what I can get here in Tofino.  And that would be frost!  Pictured here is a frosty morning walk with the dogs at Cox Beach.

Juliet and Parka exploring together.

And so naturally this brings me back to more knitting!!  I was shocked to discover I have yet to knit myself a pair of fingerless gloves *gasp*.  With being so behind on my Christmas knitting it didn't seem appropriate to start a project for myself.  If only I was that strong! I have managed to finish the first one.  But I'm forcing myself to wait until I'm finished my gifts before I complete the second one.  I am using the pattern Optimistic Mitts which is free on Ravelry.  Pictured here is the first one without the extra flap done yet or any ends woven in.  I'm knitting it with the leftover of my Malabrigo Worsted that I used to make my yoga socks!  It's a quick knit if you aren't already over committed with holiday gift knitting!

Thanks for a great night!

A big thank you to everyone who came out to our Salebration last night!  It was lots of fun and Juliet and I were so happy to have so many of you come by!  Thank you for making it such a special evening.  Everyone enjoyed the free patterns and it was fun to see all the different designs.  We still have lots left though so be sure to come by the shop!  There is a big box of free patterns just waiting for a home.

Juliet would also like to say thank you to Moku and Oliver for joining her!  It was a little dog party as well last night.

Lucky goes to the beach!

Just for fun Parka and I decided to go for a bike ride and take Lucky along.  Lucky has been to Victoria, Coombs and even Nanaimo but never been to Chesterman beach!  And since it wasn't raining it seemed like as good a day as any!  Parka seemed to enjoy the adventure as well.  She was unsure as to why she couldn't play with Lucky though.

Taking a little break.

It was a great day for photos.  And we found a sun star that seemed to be missing part of it's legs, sea stars and lots of fun little creatures in the tide pools.

It was trying to be a sunny day!  

And of course the best way to end a little beach adventure is with a chocolate elixer from Chocolate Tofino!  

Sacrificing the steek for NYC

So my big plans for steeking have been changed in a big way!  I was really looking forward to knitting the True North sweater for our Amy Swenson knit along starting in January but it looks like this may have to wait until a little later.  I have just registered for the Vogue Knitting Conference in NYC in January!!  I'm extremely excited to be going but this means some travelling and fair isle knitting with bulky colours is not a travel friendly project!  So I will be casting on the Cloud Chaser in January instead. I'm a huge fan of this vest and it is the pattern that first introduced me to Amy's work.  The True North will have to wait until I get back!

The Vogue Knitting Conference will be from January 14-16 in NYC and I am very excited to be taking 4 classes and 2 lectures while I'm there.  Plus I have a 2 day pass to wander around the market place.  Looking forward to learning some new skills to bring back to the shop!  The shop will be open in my absence.  My mother will be flying in from Toronto to hold down the fort!  I will be sure to post photos and do at least one blog entry while I'm there!

A sale, sample and chewed needles!

 A big thank you to everyone who came out on Friday night for Jingle into Christmas.  It was so great to see so many people out and so many familiar faces.  And a big thank you to Stellar Coffee for making yummy coffee all night long!  Be sure to check out their website as they have great gift baskets for the holidays.  Perfect for everyone on your list!  Juliet had lots of fun greeting everyone who came in.  She was exhausted by the end of the evening with so many visitors!

I found a use for the leftover yarn from the Jacket from Hell.  And fortunately this time the project was quick, easy and fun!  I knit the Rustling Leaves Beret from the new book Coastal Knits (available in store!).  I haven't blocked it yet but I was so happy to finish it so quickly I decided to wear it right away.  Will block it tonight!

And apparently I have yet to learn my lesson.  This would be needles #3 that my bigger dog Parka has chewed.  They are just too much like sticks for her to resist.  One of the many reasons she is not allowed in the shop.  Another reason is she still thinks yarn is fun to play with.  It has given me a good excuse for switching projects.  I wasn't a big fan of how this was starting to knit up anyways.  SO I've decided to knit some hand warmers instead.  Sadly there is no saving the needles.

The cute face of a needle destroyer.

Gift Registry

Have a Knits by the Sea wish list?  Tired of dropping hints to all your friends and family about what exact yarn and colour way you want?  We have the solution for you!!  This year we are offering a gift registry!  Come to the shop, fill out a form with all the yarns, patterns and notions you want and we will keep it here on file until Christmas!  So now all you have to do is tell your loved ones to go to Knits by the Sea and we will help them with the rest.  This gift registry will be a permanent addition to the shop so you can use it for birthdays, anniversaries or any other occasion you think someone might need some help in what to get you.  

Can't come into the store?  Check out our online shop and either use the wish list option there or email us at info@knitsbythesea.com.  If you email us your list we can keep it on file here in the shop for when family and friends come in or call us!  So start dreaming up all the projects you would like to knit and crochet and come in or email us your wish list today!

Jingle Jingle!!

Juliet all dressed up for last years Jingle into Christmas

It's coming up to that special time of year again in Tofino where the shops stay open late and have sales and refreshments!  Knits by the Sea will be participating again this year and we are very excited.  Last year it was a great turn out and it was so great to see so many people out and shopping locally!  This year we will be offering 15% off everything in the store this Friday November 25 from 6:00 - 10:00 (some exceptions will apply) and 10% off everything in the store all day Saturday.  Stellar Coffee from Ucluelet will be joining us on the Friday.  Come and taste some great locally roasted coffee with a little extra Christmas "cheer".  They will also be taking orders for their gift baskets.  A great gift for everyone on your list - locally roasted delicious coffee!  Can't make it to Tofino for the sale?  Call in and we can take your order over the phone!

And just in the new Vogue Knitting for winter!  The issue includes a fun interview with Martha Stewart and as always some fun patterns.  Be sure to check it out!

The Jacket from Hell

It's such a pretty jacket for being so awful to knit.  Most of you who have come to the shop while I was working on it or talking about it will know it better as the F#^*$ing Jacket.  And I think it has really earned the title as the Jacket from Hell as well.

It all started with me being asked to be a bridesmaid in my cousin's wedding in Toronto last year.  I thought it would be nice to have a lacy jacket to wear over the strapless dress in case it was chilly.  Found the pattern in Vogue Knitting and off I went.  There were some false starts...but I had left myself plenty of time I thought to figure this out.  WRONG.  Some errata helped with some of the issues.  Managed to get the body done in time but I was furiously knitting the sleeves on the airplane ride to Toronto.  Then...I was stuck!  Could not figure out why the pattern wasn't working.  I have restarted the sleeves more times than I would like to admit.  Many glasses of wine have helped when tearing it out.  Figured out how to knit the sleeves over a year later as I couldn't face it for quite some time and cast them off in early November.  I thought my days of struggling with this jacket were behind me.

Me trying to piece the jacket together

NOPE!  Who knew that piecing it together would be as difficult as knitting it.  Yup...it was difficult right to the bitter end.  But now I have a lovely sparkly pink jacket that I have sworn at so many times if I had a swear jar I was putting money into I could of at least enjoyed wearing it somewhere warm...like the Bahamas!

A fun adventure!

It was quite the fun filled day yesterday and I have lots of pictures to show for it!  Carol one of the shops regular stitchers invited me and Sarah with her to visit her friend Jane up at Westerly Wynds farm.  Jane is well known in the area for her amazing farm and love of animals.  Being a former vet for the area many people got acquainted with her when their animals needed care.  Now retired Jane and her husband keep very busy with their farm.  The farm is located about 30 minutes outside Ucluelet but because the road is a logging road a proper truck is needed to access this farm.  It is a very remote farm with nothing but beautiful ocean views and trees surrounding it.

Upon arriving Jane immediately took us on a tour of her farm and we had a chance to meet lots of different animals.  Two great greeters were one of her cats Maxie that followed us for the whole walk and one of her beautiful big "guard" dogs.  

Our first stop was to visit the angora bunnies!  So fluffy and cute.  Honey Bunny was kind enough to let us pet her.  

Then we went to the beautiful look out point.  Jane was pointing out some spots for Sarah.

There were lots of varieties of birds to see.  My favourite were the peacocks.

And getting to see an angora goat was lots of fun.  He was not allowed to roam free like the other animals.  He has a tendency to ram things.  And he greeted us with some very strong rams on the gate.  Jane said his favourite thing to ram is shiny little cars.  Such a cute face for so much trouble!

And of course there were lovely alpacas roaming around the farm.  I managed to get pictures of them after they were put in their pen for the night.

It was a very fun visit and a pleasure to meet Jane.  It was great to meet all her little animals.  And we didn't leave empty handed!  With all those lovely angora bunnies she had lots of angora fleece!  I managed to leave with a big bag full of lovely shades of angora.  This angora will be available in Knits by the Sea very soon.  It is a MUST feel when you come by.  So lovely and soft it is really irresistible.  It will make any non-spinner decide it's time to try!