Ellen, This Is Beatrice. Beatrice, This Is Ellen!

Beatrice is the new doll on the block. I mentioned her briefly in the last post. She now has clothing and today got all dressed up to meet Ellen. Beatrice is hand knit similar to Leezel except Bearice is knit with acrylic yarn. She is stuffed with pure washed sheep's wool. Her clothes are also knit with acrylic, so she is completely washable.

Ellen likes her already as she thinks Beatrice is quite fashionable. Beatrice has highlights in her hair and she has lovely shoes. Ellen is crazy about shoes but never gets the chance to wear them, so she's always interested in the shoes that everyone else is wearing.

I have plenty of work to do so I'll leave those two alone in the studio and let them get to know each other!

See Ya Later Ellen!

Ellen was reminding me all day to remember the photo shoot because I am going out of town for a week tomorrow. It rained the whole day today. I waited and waited hoping it would stop, but it didn't. So, when it was almost dark I took Ellen out on the back patio with her umbrella to get a few photos. Ellen was pretty pleased about that but had difficulty holding her umbrella. The wind kept blowing it sideways! :-(

Ellen is modelling an "in progress" bulky collar named "flirt" designed by Brenda Lavell in the book Knit & Wrap by Nathalie Mornu. This is the 2nd design I've knit from that book. All the designs in there are really nice. I'd love to knit them all. This collar is being hand knit using a yarn named Bulky by Blue Sky Alpacas. It's 50% alpaca/50% wool and true to it's name - bulky! So soft though!

The photo on the bottom of this post is of the peplum of a short sleeve cardigan I am machine knitting for myself. It's a thread lace pattern using the 1/1 pattern card - knit with Paton's Silk Bamboo and the lace weight yarn left over from Andrea's wedding dress. The back and two fronts are complete with only the sleeves left to do. 

I thought that the airlines would consider knitting too dangerous to do on planes, with the needles being so pointy. So, last week when we went to the airport with Andrea and Stephan I asked an Air Canada agent. She said it is allowed. Needless to say, I'm delighted with that! Have to go find something small to knit. Hope I don't need to cut the yarn. No scissors allowed!

See you next week Ellen!

You're a Sweet Kid Ellen!

Ellen's not really a kid. I just thought that was good title because the cowl Ellen is wearing is made from a yarn from Berlini (Italy) named Sweet Kid. It's 72% kid mohair and 28% nylon. A dream to knit! I found the pattern (named Whisper by Amy Micallef) in Knit & Wrap by Nathalie Mornu. It's a nice book and has lots of patterns for cowls, collars, wraps and the like. This cowl is as light as a whisper. And...the jewels are Swarovski crystals!

I finished the cowl on Monday and seeing it was such a lovely afternoon (and I was off work because it was the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday) I thought I should take Ellen on a photo shoot so we would have something to show you tonight. Ellen thought the bright colours really suited her! The warm neck was an added bonus!

We went to St. John's to Southside Road, which is across the Harbour from Harbour Drive. In some of the pictures you can see the historic Cabot Tower on Signal Hill, the houses on Signal Hill Road, the Signal Hill Walking Trail and the fishing boats at the marina. Lots of seagulls around and a few crows.

But You Don't Have a Boyfriend Ellen!

A few weeks ago I knit a sweater for John. The neck was a little too wide so I wanted to sew in some elastic thread so it wouldn't lose it's shape. Had the opportunity to finish it this afternoon. It was a beautiful Fall day so Ellen and I decided that seeing I had to go to Michael's for beads for the current project, we should drive a little further and visit Middle Cove Beach. 

We were a little longer at Michael's than expected (pretty busy place on Sunday afternoon), but on my way out the door I noticed the large group of Harvest People on display. I put my beads in the car, grabbed the camera and got a few shots. I like the crow peeping over the top. :-) Ellen thinks the Harvest People are her country cousins. Then, when I turned around, there were bunches of artificial flowers on display in a bin. At first glance it looked a mess, but I liked how the sunlight brought out the colours in the flowers.

Off we went to Middle Cove Beach. Along the side of the road all the dogberry trees flashed their red at us as we passed. Most of their leaves have fallen and blown away but the bright berries are still hanging on. A local old wives tale says that if there are lots of dogberries, there'll be lots of snow. Looks like we are going to be close friends with the snowblower and shovel! Mental note to knit new hats!

When we arrive at Middle Cove Beach, Ellen and I do the photo shoot on the parking lot (better stability for Ellen). Ellen said that she would model John's sweater as a "boyfriend sweater". At first I thought Ellen would just turn around and act as a male model, but she wasn't having any of that, so I went along with the boyfriend sweater idea. Turns out it looks very nice on her. I've heard that men prefer plainer knits so that's what this is, a machine knit, all stockinet stitch sweater. It's knit with Knit Picks Palatte which is a fingering weight yarn. That's means it's light weight and knit on smaller needles. It's also 100% Peruvian Highland Wool.

I put Ellen back in the car and went for a walk along the beach to get some photos to show you how beautiful it is there (on a nice day)! We start with the river on the right. The water was low enough in the river that I could skip a couple of rocks and take pictures in the middle of it. The ocean was pretty calm today, but every now and then there was a series of waves that were larger and would crash against the cliffs. Pretty impressive! I love the smell of the salt water and the sounds of the ocean. Wave watching is really captivating! 

Gloves With No Fingers Ellen?!

I've never knit fingerless gloves - until now. I've seen them in pattern books and on models but never really saw the need or the sense of them, being the practical person that I am. However, lately I've been drawn to them more than ever and seeking patterns for them. Strange as it may seem, I now really like them! So, I decided to knit a pair - simple ones mind you. I found an easy cable pattern in Knitting at Home by Leanne Prouse and just happened to have compatible yarn. Yaay!

When I started knitting them a few weeks ago John asked what is the purpose of fingerless gloves and who would wear them. I just said that I know people who would wear them, at the same time wondering what I would do with them. When they were finished I tried them on but they didn't suit my hands. I was disappointed with that because last week when we went fishing I had my sweater pulled down over my fingers and immediately thought of the fingerless gloves I was making. Anyway, I decided that they are a Christmas gift for a fashionable person. 

Ellen wanted to model them which I thought was totally ridiculous, then she enlisted Alana's help and off we went to do a photo shoot on the back patio. It's really windy here today (gusts up to 60 kms) and only 8 degrees C so Ellen had to be sheltered. Poor Alana dressed up in her sweater and jacket but still nearly perished with the cold. I promised to make her a cup of tea (lemon and ginger) for being a good sport and helping Ellen and me.

Alana questioned the purpose of fingerless gloves also, but soon got into the groove and came up with some pretty fashionable ideas. She likes them!

A Wedding, Ellen!

Last Fall when Andrea and Stephan announced their engagement and set a wedding date for October 1, 2011, Andrea asked me to knit her wedding dress. I had just bought the knitting machine (Brother KH 260 medium gauge - 150 needles) and had no experience with it, so the thoughts of whipping up a wedding dress didn't appeal to me at all! Then, Andrea, with the help of her two sisters and their combined charm, eventually talked me into it. I honestly didn't have a clue where to start so I asked Andrea to sketch some of her ideas and I'd try to put them into a pattern. She sent me a picture of a mannequin (not related to Ellen) wearing a toilet paper dress. At first glance I wasn't impressed with this approach but quickly realized that Andrea was thinking in terms of fashion and I was thinking in terms of knit and purl. I would have to convert the fashion into knit and purl without any further input from the outside world.

Now that I had some idea of where this was going I started to source the yarns. I went to Toronto to visit Andrea, measure her from head to toe and have a look around the yarn shops of Toronto. We found the base white pima cotton and the fancy buttons in Toronto. A good starting point, but what about the rest of it? Then I remembered seeing the Tilli Tomas yarns online. My brother and his girlfriend were planning a trip to Florida so I asked them to pick up the Tilli Tomas Beaded Plie (silk with beads). When they went to the specified store, it was in the process of closing the business and the beaded plie was no longer available. Darn! Start again! I wrote Tilli Tomas and they directed me to one of the many online shops that carries their brand, so I ordered online. My Mom had told me about Knit Picks last Fall and I had purchased some sock yarn that I was pleased with, so I began looking on their website to see what I could find. I came across a lace weight baby alpaca/silk blend called Shimmer so I ordered some of that along with a lace weight kid mohair. By this time we are into the middle of March 2011.

I did the tension swatches in April and took a week's vacation from work to knit the dress. That turned out to be a very busy week and I didn't actually start the dress until Saturday, then back to work on Monday. Now I'm feeling a little behind. So, nights and weekends of knitting, seaming and crocheting. We figure about 100 hours in total. John patiently watched TV (hockey, baseball and a few movies) while I worked away at the dress. :-) My goal was to have the dress complete by May 31 because I knew when the warm weather set in, I'd want to be outside. I finished the dress at 11:00 p.m. May 31. Yaay! Ellen modelled it and we did a quick photo shoot before work on June 1, John and I packaged it with a rose scented soap, then John brought it to the post office to ship to Andrea, both of us with fingers crossed that it would fit Andrea.

When Andrea received the dress and tried it on, it fit perfectly! Whew! However, we decided that it needed a sash at the waistline with long tails for a big bow at the back. The sash has been posted in Ellen 

Got Sashed (Again)!

Andrea and Stephan arrived last Monday to prepare for the wedding. We did one dress fitting during the week and all was well. Andrea thought the dress was comfortable and very special. Now I'm glad that Andrea and her sisters encouraged me to make the dress. It was a very worthwhile and fun experience. Ellen also thought it was quite special. Not every mannequin has the opportunity to model a knit wedding dress! Ellen sends her best wishes and congratulations to Andrea and Stephan!... and, her thanks to Andrea for permitting her to share in the wedding dress experience!