no more plastic shopping bags

Posted on May 7, 2008 by Leslie

I was recently surprised to learn that those ubiquitous accessories of consumer culture, polyethylene plastic shopping bags, have been banned in multiple countries (unfortunately not the US or Canada). They’ve been banned for good reason, as not only are they cluttering up both cities and countryside, choking animals and contaminating soil as they photodegrade into small toxic bits, but they’re also largely implicated in the formation of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I see no reason for plastic shopping bags to continue to exist, as the reusable alternatives are both inexpensive and convenient. Now, as for my part in all this:

This is my version of the Saturday Market Bag. It’s knit from organic cotton and stretches to hold a rather large amount of stuff, yet it squashes down to a small and portable size. I modified the original pattern by using a toe-up sock cast-on so as to knit it in the round (I hate seaming, and a seamless bag is a stronger construction anyway), and grafted the handles to the edge of the bag using Kitchener stitch. This is a great summer project and I’ve already started making a couple more using up some cotton yarn in my stash.

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pondering the 100-mile yarn diet

Posted on April 17, 2008 by Leslie

Even though the phrase ‘carbon footprint’ has only recently entered my official vocabulary, for a long time I’ve made the effort to shop locally whenever possible, especially when it comes to food. It makes a lot of sense to me: things are fresher (and often therefore healthier), there’s a better chance that small-scale farms are profiting as opposed to large corporations, and less fuel is consumed getting items from the producer to me.

I’ve met a number of people lately who’ve been applying the same concept to their yarn/fibre buying habits: only buy locally produced yarn, from within a 100-mile (or 160 km) radius of where you live, and I’ve been toying with doing the same thing. Since I spin and now make the lion’s share of my knitting yarn from raw fleece, I’d have an easier time of this than someone who relied on a mill for their yarn–there are far more sheep farms than woollen mills out there. I’m not sure I’m ready to take on this challenge, but I’d be interested to hear from people who have:

What are your criteria for the 100-mile yarn diet? Does the yarn you buy have to be milled within 100 miles of you, or is yarn that’s milled elsewhere but dyed locally (I’m thinking of my own love for Rubber Grapefruit here) be acceptable? What about grown locally but spun elsewhere? I’m curious to find out what others have done with this.

Posted in Knitting, Spinning, sustainability | 5 Comments

I love teaching!

Posted on April 17, 2008 by Leslie

Seriously, I do. I’ve taught two classes at Ariadne Knits so far, with another scheduled for early May and more in the works. The response from my students has been overwhelmingly positive and I’ve loved being able to share the craft with others. I’ve noticed that people generally start out the class a little nervous, unsure of what they’re doing and how to get from fluffy unspun wool to yarn. However, there’s this moment where everything clicks and people smile and relax and suddenly they can’t stop spinning. I scheduled a break during the second class and announced, “Okay, now we’ll break for 15 minutes and there will be no official instruction. Feel free to get coffee or snacks, or keep spinning if you want.” Just about everyone kept spinning which, when I think about it, is exactly what I did when I was taking spinning classes too.

Not only does it feel great to teach others and have them fall in love with the craft, but I’ve met a lot of wonderful people through these classes as well. I’ve been making a lot of new friends and connections, and it’s exciting to be involved in the fibre arts scene as it starts to really take off in this area (Ontario/Quebec), and in spinning itself (which I see as about to become ‘the new knitting’).

I’ll be doing one more beginning spinning class at Ariadne in June and adding in a Spin 102 class as well, and meanwhile I’m starting up some beginning spinning classes at Workshop Boutique here in Ottawa. It’s keeping me busy but I love it.


Photo from my first class at Ariadne Knits.

Posted in Spinning, yarn stores | 1 Comment

sharing the knowledge

Posted on March 2, 2008 by Leslie

For a while I’ve noticed that there aren’t a lot of opportunities to learn to spin in this region, which surprised me given this area’s long history of fibre arts activities. There are a couple of guild-affiliated classes around, but they tend to be expensive and offered more for guild members rather than the general public. So, a couple of months ago I started posting on message boards on Ravelry about looking for a place to host a spinning workshop. The owners of Ariadne Knits graciously offered me the time and space at their shop, and as of now I’m scheduled to be teaching there (scroll down to get to my class) at least once a month. I’ll be teaching afternoon workshops on beginning spinning on a drop spindle (with the possibility of other topics in the future) and as of now, my March and April classes are fully booked. It’s exciting to be be able to share my spinning knowledge with people in a fun, affordable way, and at such a great venue. It’s funny that I couldn’t find anywhere in Ottawa to do the workshops but easily found a place in Montreal. Not that I mind going to Montreal at least once a month! I’ll post pictures after the first class.

Posted in ravelry, Spinning, yarn stores | 4 Comments

babies everywhere! (and Ariadne Knits)

Posted on January 9, 2008 by Leslie

I have so many friends who are having kids right now (and oddly, all of them have had girls so far), so it’s bootie/baby sock mania for me. I found this pattern for lacy baby socks and quickly knit up this pair:

The pattern calls for size 0 needles and the smallest I have are 2’s, so the socks would fit a toddler better than a baby. I also added an extra row to the heel flap in order to avoid the ridge of reverse stockinette on the heel of the original pattern. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill’s Supersock (hand-dyed, machine washable, and soft–perfect for baby gifts) in the Dusk colourway and was purchased at Ariadne Knits in Montreal. Ariadne’s been an online shop for a while but only recently opened the doors of their brick-and-mortar shop. I have to say, I was really impressed with the shop. It has a very inviting layout that’s both airy (with the huge windows and uncluttered shelves) and cosy (with the woodstove and places to sit). The owners have done a great job stocking popular yarns that can’t be found elsewhere in Montreal (Cherry Tree Hill, Lorna’s Laces, and O-Wool, to name a few) as well as offering creative patterns exclusive to the shop, classes with well-known fibre artists and designers, and fun extras like embroidery kits. Although I went in just looking for a skein of yarn, I ended up spending a couple hours chatting, knitting, and drinking coffee with the owners. It’s definitely going to be a stop on my itinerary every time in Montreal.

I need to blog more pictures, including the other booties I’ve been working on, as well as my new spinning wheel(!). Unfortunately these past several weeks’ worth of grey, dim weather have meant the lighting in my apartment has been terrible for photos. There was actually about 15 minutes of sunshine this morning but I missed my opportunity with the camera. Maybe this is a good impetus for me to build a lightbox.

Posted in finished object, Knitting, ravelry, yarn stores | 5 Comments

bon voyage, wee tiny socks

Posted on November 26, 2007 by Leslie

The wee tiny socks, ready for their new role as mail art:

My first attempt at using watercolours since kindergarten. Oh, and that’s a ship diagram between the socks (with navigational lights).

Posted in finished object, Knitting | 2 Comments

Adventures in felting

Posted on November 26, 2007 by Leslie

I don’t have a lot of experience with felting (or, to be more correct in this case, fulling). In fact, I can only think of one felted object I made before I decided to jump in and make both a felted sheep and a felted bag. Not the easiest task when you only have access to a coin-operated washing machine (so no control over the cycles, like agitation), so it took a little determination to go ahead and do it. I also forgot to take “before” pictures of the unfelted items. Anyway, I used Noro Kureyon and Lamb’s Pride for the sheep, which turned out pretty well:

That’s a bit more stitch definition than I’d like to see, though, so I think it’ll get another run through the washing machine. I do like the face and the curling-forward ears:

The bag was a bit more work. The pattern is for a messenger bag, whereas I wanted a smallish purse I could use as an alternative to my more sedate black leather purse. I went for a half-size bag, which involved some calculations when it came to the slip-stitch mosaic flap. Rather than sizing down yarn and needles to preserve the entirety of the mosaic pattern, I just decreased the number of all the stitches by half. In the end I think this was the best course of action, since a smaller version of the pattern might have become blurred and unrecognisable during the felting process. One trip through the washer yielded this (yes, I’ll be spending a lot of time picking lint off this thing):

The problem with slip-stitch patterns, as great as they are because you only work one colour at a time, is that they tend to pull in. This becomes especially apparent when felting, as you can see in the image above. I’ve straightened out the edges while they dry but really I’m not too concerned with it–I kind of like the wavy edge. The bigger nuisance is how the strap came out:

The strap felted very well where it attaches to the body of the bag, and almost not at all further out. I’m not sure yet whether I’ll cut the felted sections out and reattach the wider, unfelted portion, or cut the whole thing off and put it through the washer again sans bag. I’ll probably do the latter, and just throw the strap in the washer again with the sheep. Hopefully the results will be a bit more uniform this time.

Posted in felting, finished object, Knitting | 1 Comment