At the beginning of the year, I set a goal to finish nine projects. This was part of the Make Nine challenge, to work mindfully and purposefully through the year. The challenge got me to look at a number of WIPs I had, and it was the motivation I needed to finish two of them: the Pabaigh sweater and the Nomad Cowl  I attended Knit City Montreal, and the yarn I bought made the Ice Cream Social shawl. I made three gifts towards the Make Nine challenge: a Pixie Dust…

A few weeks ago, I knit a test swatch for the shawl I'm testing. I knit the swatch, gave it a wash, and pinned it to a blocking board, using my gauge swatch ruler. A tool like this certainly isn't a necessity. I could have achieved the same result (figuring out my gauge) using any old ruler I have around the house. That said, to me, it felt like a tool that was quite nice to have. And, it got me thinking, what are some other "nice to have" knitting tools I've acquired over the years.

In the past few weeks, I've been testing two different patterns for two different designers. Very aware of my capacity and wanting to make the deadlines, I knew both would be manageable. The first pattern I'm testing (present tense as I'm still very much still working through the pattern), is a shawl for Holly Kent. I tested a cowl for her last year, and the timing of this test opportunity was well suited for me because I've been wanting a simple, fingering weight shawl to add to my winter wardrobe. The pattern is two sections, a simple stockinette (which I flew through) and a lace section, which is taking a little more time to get through.

In one of her books, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, aka the Yarn Harlot, broke down indicators of addiction and her knitting habits. I can't help but feel a certain kinship with her while thinking back on my dash to get a vanilla sock ready for some passive knitting. On Tuesday, I went into Toronto to see a musical. Musician Alan Doyle, frontman for the former band Great Big Sea, co-wrote a musical called Tell Tale Harbour, and being a big Alan Doyle fan, I bought tickets to see the show months back.

This year, I have been knitting with the Make Nine Challenge in mind.  The Make Nine Challenge encourages makers to “slow down, to make less with more intention.” The challenge is “meant to be flexible, a tool you can use to evaluate your motivations and needs for working towards specific things as the year goes on.” As 2025 is marching along, how have I done with the challenge so far? At the start of the year, I identified a few projects that had been in progress for a while, making those priorities to focus on and finish.

Happy Thanksgiving from my increasingly cooling corner of Canada. I’m writing this as I sit outside, listening to Game 2 of the ALCS where the Toronto Blue Jays (GO JAYS) are trying to even up the series. I’m cozy under a blanket while working on the hoodie for my nephew. Want to see my progress (I’m gonna show it off either way): When I wrote about this project last week, I was afraid I was going to be short yardage. I was able to get the same colourway for the contrast, matching what was in my stash.

Remember those math problems from elementary school? Here’s one for you: Lisa is making a sweater, and she needs 825 m of yarn. The body needs over 400 m, the sleeves need over 150, the hood needs 200 m, and the pocket needs 35 m. Each skein of worsted yarn has 200 m. How many skeins does Lisa need? The obvious answer is 5 (200 m x 5=1000 m; 4 would be 800 m and too short for the sweater). Now, how many skeins did Lisa actually buy? 3. Yup. 3.

Last week, I posed about how I've (significantly) added to my yarn stash this year, but I'm pretty pleased with a few efforts to whittle it down. I was in a scrappy mood, and I made a Scrappy Marl (RAV LINK) hat, a free pattern by Beata Jezek. I made a few modifications to the pattern as it was written, and I'm looking forward to cooler weather here in Ontario so I have a reason to wear it! This is the yarn I pulled from the left over bin to make the hat, lots of browns (mostly from my…

For the second year, my Knitting BFF, Victoria, and I went to Knit City and left much poorer than we started. Last year, we made a weekend of it and went to Montreal. Je t’aime, Montreal. When it was announced that this year’s Knit City East was going to be in Toronto, both Victoria and I had mixed feelings. It was great that it was closer, but, we weren’t going to make a weekend of it like we did for Montreal. As Victoria lives much farther from Toronto than I do, she did get a weekend visiting with family, with Knit City right in the middle.

This year has not been great for the stash. And by that, it’s grown this year. A lot. That was not the goal. Now, hear me out. The first excuse I’m going to trot out is that a new yarn shop opened in my community this spring, and she had a summer of trunk shows. I love this yarn shop, the owner is simply wonderful. How could I NOT buy yarns at the trunk shows. To try and justify my actions, I was rather purposeful with a few of the skeins, and I have enough to make a faded sweater.

A little under a month ago, I wrote about starting a cardigan for my niece's second birthday. The birthday party was less than a week after I started knitting, but knowing that she's two and it was August, not making the deadline wasn't going to upset anyone. Well, how long DID it actually take me? 12 days, from cast on to when the final button got sewed on. Here are the project particulars: Pattern: Pixie Dust (RAV LINK) by Dani Sunshine Size: 3 (I wanted her to be able to grow into it)

My niece's second birthday is this week, and I've been gathering things for her gift, including a new outfit: a graphic tee, a pair of jeggings. What would make that outfit complete and autumn ready would be a cute little cardigan. I started looking around the store until I realized (at an embarrassing late point) that I could just knit her one. Now, timing wise, I very highly doubt I'll get it done before her party this weekend, but seeing as Ontario is experiencing our 487th period of extreme heat for this summer (I'm exaggerating, but it's been HOT), she won't need a cardigan for a while yet.

This past weekend was a long weekend for many in Canada, and I took full advantage. I booked Friday off from work, giving myself a four-day break, and although the wildfire smoke made its way to my corner of Ontario by mid-weekend, I didn't let it deter me from sun, books, and knits. What did I work on? Well, the super secret, duplicate stitch involving project is finished. I got the last rounds of ribbing finished and also finished the duplicate stitches. I just need to wash and block. The recipient will get it as a gift sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Why did no one tell me that duplicate stitches are so much fun? My latest (still secret because it's a gift) project included duplicate stitches. This was a new-to-me technique, so after watching a video tutorial, I got started, and goodness, it's greatly satisfying. The project involves duplicate stitches which eventually spell out words. The first word is a little wonky because it was the first time I've done this technique, but as I kept going, I felt the ease and my confidence set in. I've been cross-stitching longer than I've been knitting, and because this pattern has the stitches arranged in a grid, the technique was giving off cross-stitch vibes for me, perhaps another reason why I've been enjoying it. Rather than little 'x's all throughout my knitting, I'm making little 'v's. Different shape, same feeling.

At the start of the year, I was inspired by the Make Nine challenge, to “slow down, to make less with more intention.” For me, this has meant taking time and focusing on projects, some of which were sitting idle for months, and working on finishing what I started. So, now that the year is half finished, how am I doing? The first thing I finished was the Pabaigh (RAV LINK) sweater by Kate Davies Designs. As much as I love stockinette, this project stalled for a while because of the back and forth of it all.

When I went to Knit City Montreal back in May, I only bought yarn that I could use to make this shawl. The pattern was bought before the event, and I had it in hand so I knew how much yarn I needed to buy. I couldn't be happier with how the colours all come together. Photographed like this, it's hard to see that the main colour is a tweed, with flecks of brown and black throughout. Last year, at Knit City Toronto, I was able to hit up a number of booths, buying 10 mini skeins to make the…

I don't know if I'm taking the Make Nine spirit to heart, if I'm enjoying the simple lace pattern, or if I'm enjoying watching the brown tones come together, but my Ice Cream Shawl is taking shape! This is the project that I bought yarn for at Knit City Montreal over a month ago. It has gone from this: To this: And finally this: I've finished the first section, where the contrast colours are the lacy sections, and I'm not on the second part, where the main tweed is lacy, and the contrast will be garter ridges between.

Last week, I cast on my Ice Cream Social (RAV LINK) shawl, or, as I've taken to call the project, Crème Glacée à Montréal. (Also, if there are any Parisian French speakers who stumble upon this post, Quebecois French calls ice cream crème glacée! You gotta love regional differences in languages!) I've typically sat and worked one colour block section (or two at the beginning) at a time, and I am just loving the 1970s vibes I feel like it's giving off, with the different shades of brown.

Here's what you've been waiting for. The yarn: Before heading to Montreal, I bought Ice Cream Social (RAV LINK), a shawl pattern by Lisa K. Ross. It needed two skeins of a MC and six CC minis, a perfect Knit City yarn goal. I didn't have a plan in mind, but I had envisioned a more colourful project. Now, that's not to say I'm disappointed with my purchases. I'm not. The furthest thing actually. It's funny that I started with something bright and colourful in my head and ended up with something more subtle, subdued, but will be very versatile.

Another Knit City adventure is in the books! This past weekend, Knitting BFF Victoria and I hit the highway and spent a lovely weekend in Montreal, which is where Knit Social was hosting this year’s Knit City event. I’ve been close to burn-out at work, so taking a few days off and having some fun was well needed. Knit City was last in Montreal in 2023, and we made a weekend of it then too. Thursday was largely spent on the road. Once we arrived in Montreal, we checked into the hotel, then walked 20 minutes for some poutine.

I knew this sock was going to be an issue. First, I love this yarn. It's bright, it's fun, it's named Lisa, which happens to be my name too. I wanted Lisa's Lisa socks to be more than just plain stripes. I cast on my usual 60 stitches and worked 20 rounds for the cuff. The design can come later, I thought, and then I found Jaywalker (RAV LINK). This pattern makes striping yarn zig-zag, and I thought it would be perfect. But then I read the pattern. The smallest size said to cast on 76 stitches.

How did you celebrate Local Yarn Shop Day this year? There's a new yarn shop in my city, and it is a beacon of joy. The owner is a lovely person who is big on community, on building relationships, and having a variety of products in her shop. There have also been a few yarn shop closures in my area over the last year or so, so this new shop truly is a valued addition. This summer, the owner is hosting a number of trunk shows, calling it her Trunk Show Extravaganza.

Well, I got my second Make Nine 2025 project finished this week, the Nomad Cowl. I wrote last week that I was nervous about having enough yardage to finish it, and I was absolutely right to have been fearful. I did NOT have enough. As it was knit from the bottom up (a new way for me to knit one of these cowls), I was able to simply stop knitting at any time. I kept weighing my yarn, and once I hit about 12g remaining, I knit five rounds in seed stitch, which is what the top border would have been.

Why? WHY? Why do I do this to myself. It ultimately boils down to me not paying attention to yardage. It's not the first time and it won't be the last. Since adding my Nomad cowl (RAV LINK), by Winter's Weather Knits to my Make Nine 2025 list, I've been working on it through last week and making quite a bit of progress. As always, it's fun to watch it take shape and grow larger, but the ball of yarn is growing smaller, smaller than it should be I fear.

Pabaigh is finished! I feel like I was blocking the life out of it, but I got it to the measurements, pinned and hoped... And it went from this: To this: I'm so happy with the length, and I'm glad I went through the process of picking up and knitting the bottom again to add the extra inches of length. I know I waffled about the drape of the cowl, but after blocking and trying it on, I think I'm happy with it. If I change my mind at a later time, I can always revisit it.