Fort Amherst Finally, Ellen!

I've been saying for months that I am going to visit Fort Amherst which is just a hop, skip and a jump out the Southside Road. I finally had the opportunity to do that and got a bunch of pictures to show you.  Ellen stayed at home that day because we were in between projects. Not a happy camper about that! She's a bit sulky sometimes you know, but thankfully, gets over it quickly, especially when I let her try on the cashmere vest that I am hand knitting for myself. Of course, it's much too big for her, but no matter. She's delighted with it. I have the back completed and the front started. 

Jade Sapphire Cashmere is really divine. While I'm knitting I stop every now and again to pet it. Even when I ask other people if they want to touch it, they squeeze it first, then pet it like a dog. They can't help it! Speaking of dogs, I met a handsome fella at the Pond last Saturday. His name is Jake and he was super-friendly. I even got a Doggie Paparazzi picture.

And, we're working on another machine knit sweater just like Alana's from last week. That one should be finished by this weekend so Ellen will have something to do during the weekend.  Yaay!

A glance back while walking along the road to Fort Amherst

Former sea creature I found

Road to Fort Amherst

Part of the East Coast Trail start here

Lighthouse at Fort Amherst

Fog horn on top of roof

More fog horns above the brick section

View of Cabot Tower from Fort Amherst
(You can see the Signal Hill Trail along the edge of the cliff)

Jake

Mmmmmm..... cashmere

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!

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!

It's Fall Ellen!

Yesterday it finally sunk in that Fall is here. It was one of those windy days where it's sunny and warm , then 15 minutes later it's cold, cloudy and raining. So, I went to the local farmer's market, Lester's Farm Market, to get some fresh vegetables. Seeing that this week I've been knitting for the SPCA Fall Fair, in keeping with the animal theme, I thought that I should revisit my children's childhoods and go to the petting farm located at Lester's. A few years ago a llama lived there, and I wondered if he was still around as a picture of him would go great with a fibre blog post. He wasn't there yesterday and everyone was too busy for me to ask where he was.  I took some pictures anyway. The bunnies reminded me of angora (though they were not angora bunnies), the Emu reminded me of Emu brand yarn I used to buy years ago and the donkey, well, he was just a nice guy that came over to say hello to me.  

Last night I finished the hat for the SPCA, so Ellen was up bright and early wanting to go on a photo shoot. Beautiful day, with the hat and scarf all finished, so off to the Park we went. My oldest daughter came along also which Ellen said was competition! Wherever I go and set up Ellen we always get a few curious stares or children tugging on their parents clothing asking what's going on. Today was no different.  :-)

Last night when I was sewing up the hat I thought I'd do something different with it. Sometimes I find that hats don't sit properly on the back of the neck so I stopped sewing about 2 inches from the bottom, left 2 flaps, then sewed them up leaving a V on the nape of the neck. I guess they could be left as open flaps also. The hat definitely fits better and even though the idea needs to be perfected, it works well and doesn't look odd. While I was trying to get the hat to sit properly on Ellen, my daughter was commenting on how it looked. I had to admit, it's difficult to model a hat with no head and I forgot to bring a bowl to allow Ellen to properly model the hat. Enter Alana! A real life model - how cool is that. She said that the hat and scarf were cozy. The only thing about real life models is that sometimes they want to keep what they've modelled! Ellen said she'd never do that!

Then we took a stroll through the Park because it was such a nice day and I wanted some flower pictures. The story of the weekend is below in photos.  Enjoy!

Oh! The green stuff in the glass is a smoothy I made from the spinach and kale I bought at the market and the sunset is from Friday night.