Winner!!

Look what came for me in the mail from Cast On Cast Off, St. John's, NL. Cast On Cast Off  had a draw last month and my name was picked. How lucky!! Thanks bunches for picking me. The yarn is Bergy Blue Heritage 2ply from Briggs and Little. Of course, the knitting book, Saltwater Gifts by Christine LeGrow and Shirley A. Scott, is fabulous! It is filled with lots of colourful photos and easy to follow NL knitting patterns. A must have book for knitters.

Enjoy!!

• Newfoundland knitters rescue trigger mitts from extinction
• Saltwater Mittens    
• Saltwater Classics
  

Cast On, Cast Off

A couple of days ago, I dropped by Cast On, Cast Off to get some yarn. They don't have a web site but they are on Face Book for those of you interested in seeing their yarns. Don't you just love the name of the shop?!!

Go HERE & HERE  for two previous posts to see some photos of the shop.

Here's what I purchased:

My sister knits lovely socks but I'm going to try my hand at mittens. I've never made mitts before but I've knit many other things so this shouldn't be a problem. Guess who gets the first pair? Someone who loves pink and purple and is 6 years old. This colour will match her purple and lime green winter jacket.

Wish me luck!

The pattern I'm using is a free one: The World's Simplest Mittens. Lots of free patterns there too.

Enjoy!!

Cast On! Cast Off!

Cast On! Cast Off! I just love the name - it's perfect for this cosy little yarn shop at the western end of Water Street, St. John's (across from Victoria Park). Walking in the door, you immediately feel welcome. Even on a dull, rainy day, the shop's large windows makes one feel at home. Katie Garibaldi is the owner. Please check out her web site to see which yarns and accessories she is carrying.
These photos were taken a couple days ago.
Enjoy!

Small Project Bag

Clever Cat Knits

On Sunday, there was a mini craft fair at the Sheraton Hotel Newfoundland. Many of the vendors were new to me. One booth that caught my eye was Clever Cat Knits. Beautiful hand-dyed yarns were hung carefully to catch the eye of anyone passing by. Of course, a multi-coloured skein of kid mohair and nylon has found its way into my yarn collection.

Clever Cat Knits is based in Calvert, Newfoundland.  All the fine yarns (silks, wool and blends, baby alpaca, kid-silk, mohair . . .) are hand dyed by Sue in her kitchen. When she isn't an anthropology student at MUN, Sue designs and creates her own patterns to accompany her hand-dyed yarns.

Some of her yarns / kits are available at Cast On, Cast Off and Wool Trends in St. John's, at Bidgood Crafts in the Goulds and at George St. Yarn Shop in New Glasgow, NS. During the tourist season, you will find her yarns at The Avalon Colony Gift Shop in Ferryland and at Alderberry Blum in Witless Bay.

Here's my little gem!

Shopping!

Today was a sunny one and I took advantage to do a bit of shopping. I finally made it downtown to visit a new yarn shop, Cast On Cast Off (don't you just love that name). They opened on Saturday. I'm not going to say much more about them yet as I am going to do a blog post, with photos, in the near future. Needless to say, the yarn there is beautiful - such vibrant colours too. The striped sock yarn below, won't become socks. It will be used in needle felting and fiber lace scarves. I just couldn't resist the multi coloured yarn with the green, brown, turquoise and plum colours either.

I wanted some #8 pearl cotton, so my next stop was Fiber Lily, another new shop. This one has specialty organic fabrics and much more. I will also be posting about this shop too.They were already out of many of the vibrant colours of pearl cotton that I saw there last week. Should have stocked up then. I was assured that more was on the way! I plan to use them with the wire from Michael's.

Here's what I bought:

Cast On Cast Off

Fiber Lily (the wire is from Michael's)