A little marsh fun…

Since my knitting right now is still all works in progress that seem to have been in progress for…well…lets just round it off to a year haha!  I thought I would start my first post about my life on the west coast with something other than knitting!

With spring in the air and the daylight laster longer it was great to take the girls (my two dogs Parka and Juliet) for a fun evening stroll.  I just had to share these few photos since it seemed to work out perfectly as a little comic strip.  Juliet could clearly hear something in the bushes but wasn’t too sure what to do about it.

 

 

It worked out as a little mini episode of “Marsh Dogs”…maybe not as riveting as “Swamp People” but it wouldn’t need subtitle like “Swamp People” does!

Christmas Week Continues!

Partridge in a Pear Tree at Buschart Gardens 12 Days of Christmas Lights Display.

As I had stated before I think most of us can agree that this is pretty much Christmas week.  Between Christmas and New Years there seems to be ongoing festivities and general good food that continues.  But this is when people also start to wonder what (if any) new years resolutions you will be making.

Generally I don’t make resolutions.  Goals…sure!  But resolution that are made on New Years Eve always end up being let go so much sooner for some reason.  This year I have decided I want to make some knitting goals.  Having organized my stash I have realized there are quite a few projects that need attending to and it would be great to have some of these off the needles.

 

Time to contemplate what I want to finish and what I want to start.  One thing is for sure – I will be knitting the Sivia Harding Jo’s Pride Hooded Shawl for the Sivia Harding Knit Along in January.  Can’t wait!  Hope you can join us for that knit along!  

What do you mean….

It’s almost Christmas!  I feel like I’m just getting into the spirit of things with my tree all decorated and the house finally coming together. After all, I did have to decorate the tree twice. It fell on me…so I had to turn it so it wouldn’t do that again…which meant redecorating it.  For some reason…second time…not as fun.  I want to extend this Christmas feeling for as long as possible!  Just love the holiday feeling.  AND I love that it’s socially acceptable at this time of year to have Bailey’s in your tea or coffee…in the morning!

So I’m just making it Christmas week next week.  I’m sure many of you have lots of family plans and parties that make it Christmas week anyways.  So lets just make if official!  And have pancakes every morning, Bailey’s with our coffee and endless Christmas movies on the TV.

I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas AND a Happy Holiday Season for those who don’t celebrate Christmas.  May it be filled with lots of love, happiness and yumminess.

XOXO

Ellie

Interview with Felicia Lo from SweetGeorgia Yarn!

Meet the creative lady behind SweetGeorgia Yarn Felicia Lo in her Vancouver based studio. We talk about how she got started, what inspires her and we got a behind the scenes look at her studio where all the magic happens.

Getting through the boxes

Hooray my furniture arrived from Toronto!  And then I realized…that means unpacking a whole lot more stuff!!  Blerg!  Things are slowly getting settled in the new home by I must say I will be a very happy lady when I’m able to crush the final box!  This unpacking has interrupted my knitting (again!).  But it has been fun to figure out how to make my seating in my house conducive to knitting and also prevent the kitty from crawling on top of it.  My beautiful new yarn bowl from Cheryl at the Tofino Tea Bar now has a special place next to my cozy chair.  And I’m testing out the basket again but this time elevating it off the floor.  As last time it was on the floor it became a perfect little spot for the cat.  The fun side of unpacking I guess!

My new yarn bowl. Thank you Cheryl!

Testing the basket option again for holding projects.

One of the benefits of moving

Is rediscovering your yarn stash!  It’s like Christmas all over again!  And with having the incentive of avoiding unpacking…WELL…the knitting needles were flying!  I started and finished my Sunshine Shawl and a lovely cowl out of cashmere….CASHMERE that I had not knit up…oh the shame for leaving it for so long!!

And with my lovely new spot when the sun came out yesterday I wanted to take advantage and get some photos of my finished projects!  Hopefully this finishing momentum will continue.  I do have a certain vest that needs to be finished as well (thank you Janet for the reminder!).

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Meet the lady behind Gourmet Crafter Yarns!

I had a chance to catch up with Alexa Ludeman who is the dyer behind Gourmet Crafter Yarns at Knit City in Vancouver in October.  She also collaborates with her friend Emily Wessel to create beautiful designs and has two books out now – 9 Months of Knitting and Pacific Knits.  In this interview we talk about how she got started into dying and what her inspiration is!  The Antler Cardigan we discuss in the interview is pictured below!

The Antler Cardigan available in Pacific Knits or on Ravelry.com.

Dyer Alexa Ludeman and her newest addition to her family!

How to block a hat!

So I’ve been asked before about blocking hats.  Since we are well into hat weather here in Canada I thought this would be a good time to share!  Hope you enjoy!  Have a knitting question you need answered?  Send me an email at info@knitsbythesea.com and I will try and do a video answer for you!

My new neighbours

There have been lots of changes these last two months and that includes a personal relocation for me.  Although it was very hard to say goodbye to Tofino I’m excited to explore a new part of the island.  In order to be a little more centrally located I have moved to a little town just north of Courtenay called Oyster River.  I am excited to be able to be still be living near the ocean and also to get a little taste of living on a farm!  I am living on an organic apple farm with lots of fuzzy neighbours around me.  And the best part is I don’t have to do any farming…just enjoy the scenery!

So I have been enjoying meeting my new neighbours which include goats, sheep and horses.  Looking forward to exploring the area further.  Are you familiar with this area?  Would love some suggestions on things to do and places to check out!!!

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What a weekend!!

It was a weekend of cozy knitting, great company and a fun teacher.  A big thank you to everyone who came out for Knits by the Sea’s first fall retreat!  And thank you to Fiona Ellis for making the weekend so much fun.  More pictures of this great event will be posted on our Facebook page soon so if you weren’t able to make it you can see what it was like!

We had a fun weekend learning all about cables and knitting as meditation.  And thanks to Flickerine for providing a lovely yoga for knitters class to start off our first morning.  Some of the swatches people were working on were just amazing.  Would love to see more of your projects if you would like to share!  For more information on upcoming retreats you can visit our website here.  Sivia Harding will be joining us in March!