First, let me show you the PHM jacket on its intended recipient.

I was so happy to finally wrap this up and hand it over. I’m relieved it fits and he seemed to be tickled by it. Exhale.

My friend Michelle keeps giving me the gears because I didn’t charge him for the hours I spent working it. Honestly, in the beginning, I wanted to make it. That’s why I offered. I obviously didn’t know what a pain it would be. But now it’s over and I never have to make another if that is my choice. And that is my choice (right now).

MOVING ON…

I traveled to PEI for the seventh time a few weeks ago. I love PEI so much – the feel of the place is just so… GOOD. I don’t know that I can find the right words to describe how it is for me when I go there.

Enchanting
Amusing
Full of wonder
It feels spacious
I feel content
I feel ease

I could honestly go on. But I wrote a whole article on my Substack if you’re interested: “My Island Love Affair”.

Cause I know you’re here for the knitting, let’s get on with it. Right?

I feel like all I’ve been talking about is that jacket… actually, I have. But I’ve had a few other projects on the go, albeit small ones.

I tested two mitten patterns for my friend Mary with yarn I had in my stash. How perfect!

The first are my favourite! I’m trying to convince her to give them a fancy name. Don’t you think they deserve a fancy name? I knit them out of some 80/20 fingering held with some silk/mohair I dyed ages ago. I love these so much I’ve taken out more yarn from my stash to make another neutral pair.

The second pair are the Double Wing Mitts. I knit them out of Lett-Lopi I’ve had in my stash forever. They worked up crazy-fast.

When she releases the patterns, I’ve asked if she would give me a discount code I can provide to the viewers of my podcast.

WHILE I WAS IN PEI, I headed to Fleece and Harmony. I used to go to Belfast MiniMills but they closed their store and only make mill equipment now – which Fleece and Harmony are using. But I wanted my PEI yarn to make my PEI Jennifer Steingass sweater like I have the last three times I visited.

This year’s sweater is the Goldwing:

Isn’t it stunning? I love her patterns. This will be my fourth Jen Steingass.

These are my colours:

I love them together. But guys, I’m doubting that pink next to my face. I’m going with it anyway because I only have enough to do the top part of the sweater. My fingers are crossed that I can pull off this colour. And it’s a really fun knit.

Here’s how she’s going:

While I was at Fleece and Harmony, I also got enough yarn (and a bit extra) to make the Spring Tide by Tania Barley. I’ve been absolutely obsessed with this cardigan since the first time I saw it on Instagram.

Here’s the colour I’m going with for the cardi:

This green is so beautiful I can hardly wait to start this piece. I know it will be a labour of love but I’m still very much looking forward to it. (As a rule, I try not to have more than one large project on my needles at one time.)

Just because I needed to work with these colours, I got a few bonus skeins that are not yet slated for a specific project..

While still in PEI, I drove out to Green Gable Alpacas. What a treat that was! I was given a farm tour, got to meet all the alpacas, including that few-days-old cria (I’m pretty sure they called her Grace), and got to have a wonderful chat with the owner – who happens to be from Ontario.

Obviously, I got yarn. I haven’t decided what this will be yet, but I’ll take suggestions.

That’s it for the yarn I purchased in PEI.

But I spun a lot while I was there – batts made by my wonderful friend Michelle from Au Fil des Jours.

I eventually moved on to Nova Scotia. I started a new pair of socks with yarn I got from a variety store in Antigonish, NS. This store had a wall of Briggs & Little! So fun.

And because I had run out of fibre to spin, I headed over to Ma’s Wool Co and got more. Unfortunately, I never got around to spinning in Cape Breton – I was too busy looking for lighthouses.

Then I stopped in Sydney, NS. Mostly it was to check out Tracy’s Rolling Yarn Shop – a shop that started as a yarn truck but is now also an amazing brick and mortar. I immediately clicked with the owner, Tracy. We sat and had a long chat. I left with a vase I fell in love with that she had hooks in, a hug and talks of bringing her and her yarn truck to Cornwall. Stay tuned for that.

Obviously, I bought some yarn there too! On top of the many, many fibre braids from Fleece Artist/Hand Maiden.

Honestly, I’m not sure what’s going on with me and pink right now. We appear to be having a moment.

All in, I feel great about my trip. I had the most wonderful time and feel like I made a few friends along the way.

I DO feel guilty about how much I spent on yarn and fibre. I’m sure I’ll get over it, eventually.

Tell me what you’re working on! I also need ideas for what to make with all this new yarn so share your ideas.

Chat soon!

M

I honestly can’t say I enjoyed knitting this piece but I also can’t say I didn’t. It was challenging but not difficult. It’s all just knitting and purling after all.

What got me were the uneven stitches that come with intarsia. I think that creatives are often prone to perfectionism. So all these oversized stitches drove me a bit bonkers.

I also need to mention the zillion yarn tails that needed to be woven in. I swear I spent more time trying to tidy up the back of the work than I did knitting the damn jacket.

Then, like a big dummy, I decided I would sew in a liner to hide all the grossness on the inside. I didn’t take into account that the liner would affect the elasticity of the overall garment. So when I tried it on, the sleeves didn’t sit right and there was no fixing it… unless I removed the lining.

So the 10+ hours I spent sewing in the linings by hand was partially a waste of time. I left it on the back and two fronts though. But if Sandy tries it on and it sits oddly, we’ll just remove the linings on all the pieces and he’ll just have to look at the mess when he wears it.

I’m not really sure why someone would choose to make more than one intarsia sweater! Haha. My friend Michelle and I were chatting about this on Tuesday. These Mary Maxim sweaters were huge when we were kids. We grew up laughing at how cheesy some of them were (naturally, we thought we were too cool for them). But they were everywhere in all there acrylic glory!!

I’m happy for Mary Maxim though. They must be laughing to the bank these days thanks to Ryan Gosling and the costume designers from Project Hail Mary.

If you’re on the Tube and you want to know a bit more about what I’ve been up to, here is my newest episode:

Cheers!

I wanted to leave a note here to let you know that I’ve started writing over on Substack. I’m still Mimimustknit and I still write about knitting there. But I’ve also started writing about other things.

I decided to start writing there because I love the idea that my “essays” get delivered to your email inbox. How cool is that?!

I find it difficult to keep track of all the people I want to hear from when I have to deliberately go looking for new posts. I LOVE getting the blogs, essays or newsletters delivered right to my email.

If you feel the same, here’s how you can find me. Subscribing to my posts is free. I know there are a lot of paid communities there but mine is free.

I’ll be back soon with an update on my Project Hail Mary jacket.

I was pretty excited this morning when I went through the photos and wrote out my pattern. I’ll be recording a few videos for the techniques too. I’ll post the basic pattern here for free but I’ll also publish a paid version with the videos and all the gauges you can use with the details on needle size, stitch count and yardage. Eeeeeek!

After we got the photos taken and warmed up a bit (that wind was arctic yesterday), we went to work on a basket I started about 13 years ago. Yes, you read that right! I made the body of this basket with a group of women from my old spinning guild but I never finished it. It’s been living in a tote for all this time, taunting me. So I asked Louise if she would help me finish it (hers is finished and we used it as a model). How cute is this basket?

I laid awake last night (because hot flashes – also, I figured out how to insert emojis) and imagined how I could sew a little liner for it so my knitting needles wouldn’t fall through the little cracks. The possibilities… of new fabric. Shhhhhh, you heard nothing!

When the basket was finished and my hands were raw, I spent some time working on my crochet star (see last post: https://mimimustknit.ca/bookmarks-knit-or-crochet/) and a pair of socks.

THEN, we started imagining what it would be like to host a knitting/creative retreat in our area. We talked about other pattern designs, a circular sock knitting machine (that we are considering sharing the cost of), etc. WE. HAD. SO. MANY. IDEAS.

I adore spending time with creative people. We feed off each other and there’s literally no limit to what we can imagine.

This morning, I finished my crochet Bookmark for Wine Lovers. I read the instructions wrong at the end and used the secondary colour to finish the side. I think it looks cute like that. Right? Hope the designer doesn’t mind.

It’s still wet but it’s going to be so cute when I put the fringe on! I can’t wait to use it. I think I did ok for my first try?

I ordered some snaps to use with leather so I can make a shawl cuff to go with my new finished Wiley Shawl. I tried to make one yesterday with fabric snaps but it was a fail.

OMG! I can’t believe I almost forgot that THIS happened…

I read Project Hail Mary and saw the movie last week. Amazing book, great movie. When I saw this sweater on Ryan Gosling, I thought “sweet Baby Jesus! That looks just like a Mary Maxim sweater”. But I didn’t give it a second thought. WELL, yesterday, I noticed that it’s all over Instagram! It was even on CBC, NBC… What is happening!?

I posted it in my stories and two people asked me to knit them one. I’m dying… I couldn’t stop laughing all day yesterday.

So, yarn order is going in when I have the last of the measurements. Pattern already purchased. This is actually happening! I’m making a Mary Maxim sweater (but not in the acrylic kit they sell on their site – squeeky acrylic gives me the ick so I try not to use it if I don’t have to). I will use yarn made in Canada at our very own Briggs & Little in Nova Scotia – the oldest woollen mill in the country.

So, that’s what I’ll be doing for the next few weeks I gather.

Off to Montreal tomorrow to hang with the kid. He told me to bring my “gym clothes” so we can go to the gym together. I wonder if he knows that I work out in my underwear most of the time at home. I would NEVER subject anyone to that IRL so… now I have to find some appropriate workout clothing. Garh!

What are you working on?