It was very important that I write my previous post when I did – Wed 25 July – because the very next day, I went on the Sheep Ahoy Knitting Cruise from Boston to St. John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia. I have posted pictures of the fun I had, but I’d also like to highlight the knitting I did.
I started knitting a Color Affection shawl, in some Novita Polku that I bought in Finland in May. I started the shawl the first day, which was mostly lounging around while we were in the port of Boston (where we all embarked) and then while the cruise ship was traveling. I continued the shawl on Friday 27 July, and then on Saturday 28 July we landed in the port of St. John’s, New Brunswick. I chose to take a bus to Fredericton, to see the city hall, learn some history, and visit Yarns on York to meet local knitters and take a class on Newfoundland Mittens, aka “Newfie Mitts”. I got a bit done, but I believe I will rip out what I’ve done, make it smaller, and do the “windows” in the multicolored black and the background/wrists in the green. Still, here’s the progress shot, even though this will be frogged later:
On Sunday, I chose to do one of the two classes offered at The Loop in Halifax. The class I chose was one on how to do thrummed mittens, and the instructor Mimi was amazing. I did not take the class for the Bermuda Scarf/shawl, but I heard that the 2nd class was not as great, probably due to the first class running very late and Mimi running out of steam (teaching 2 classes in one day is tough, and who knows if she even had time to eat!). Given that, I’m glad I did not stay for the 2nd class (I did buy the pattern and yarn for it, so I can make the shawl), and instead did a 10-mile bicycle tour of Halifax. At any rate, I did enjoy working on the thrummed mittens, and here is my progress (I haven’t done anything with it since that weekend):
And the inside looks like this:
I learned lots of great tips from Mimi, like using a wool with a lot of lanolin in it, so it’s “sticky” and holds the thrums in better.
There was a lot of knitting that weekend, and in the few weeks that followed. This past week I finished knitting Tony’s scarf, after having to spin more yarn and buy more on Cape Cod while helping a friend do the Pan-Mass Challenge at the beginning of August. I still have to finish the scarf by weaving in the ends and blocking it, but it’s finally the right length, and Tony will be able to use it this coming fall/winter.
I also finished the scarf I was weaving (the June Spunky Eclectic weaving club), but I still need to block it before taking a picture of it. A new weaving club for August is on its way, so I’ll have something new to warp soon.
I am not going on a plane until the end of September, and my next travel is scheduled for mid-September, around Rosh Hashanah – I will be going to the New York City area for 2 weekends (coming back to Boston for a wedding in between). I hope to finish the Color Affection Shawl soon, and get pictures of both it and the woven scarf before long.
