lots of things happening

It has been quite a busy week around here. With Tuesday's etsy update, wrapping and packing till a million o'clock (which is super fun and I love doing!) - there has not been the knitting time I would have liked. We can't have everything, right?

Even though my fingers weren't knitting, it seems that my mind was ticking along and making some grand knitting plans. Most of these plans I am keeping to myself, only because there's less pressure to actually make them should I forget / move on...as I am prone to do. I have managed to channel my scattered creative energy into one new project this week, and it's a good one! 

I briefly mentioned in my post about the Viola Breaking into the Pretty KAL that my ambitious knitting list included a jumper knit in Speckled Mist, the colourway I designed for Loop. Well, it's happening folks!!! In my true fashion, I've already had to rip it out once...it's possible that I may have to again, but I don't mind a bit because I'm just loving the knitting! The yarn I dyed for Loop is Merino Fingering, and I've realized that I don't have a sweater knit in this stuff yet. Thank goodness that's about to change. I'm loving the super high twist springiness that's going on, and love knowing that it's also going to be durable because of it!

Once again, I am also making up the pattern as I go along (the reason for lots of ripping out). The trouble with me and creating patterns is that I have a vision of exactly what I want to make, but then I have to use math...and well, that's it. So I knit by trial and error; not the fastest, but it works for me.

Anyhow, here's the little bit I've knit of the neck so far...

...the plan is a simple (ha!) top-down raglan...still deciding what will happen at the bottom so stay tuned! I've also decided to use a variety of batches of Speckled Mist together in this jumper. This colour has a mind of it's own, let me tell you! I hung onto a little selection of skeins that are all quite varied, just because I loved them. Now they're all getting knit together. Sounds mental, probably. We'll all have to wait and see what happens!

 Another sad side effect of all my business is that I have not reported on the studio's progress in a while! Well, lots has been happening, but here's the big stuff...

...and I mean big stuff. Look at this truck! 

Last I mentioned we were all sweating away, digging out this hole (except Lucy the dog did not help, but mostly stood in the center of everything). The hole has since been filled in with gravel (lots of blisters later!) 

The hero of concrete day, Shane! A very handy friend who just so happened to totally know what he was doing; having worked on many a concrete floor before this one. The floor would not have happened without him. I'd still be poking dried up concrete with a shovel right now if he hadn't turned up!

...I have no clue what I'm doing here...

This big stick is called a Darby, so I learned something!

By the end of the day, I was covered in concrete and I barely did a thing!

Here's the finished floor. The change in the room is unbelievable! My brave father tackled the job of cutting lines into the dried floor. I decided to take photos of all the dust drifting out the door instead...

a finished shawl and the beginning of a studio

Here it is at last, my finished Quill shawl! I rarely work on one project at a time...not sure that I've EVER worked on one project at a time before this. Anyway, it's happened. I put it down to the fact that I loved the yarn and the pattern, and the combination of the two of them together so much that I just was not interested in knitting anything else (like the gazillion important gifts that I should be knitting). 

I've loved this pattern from the very beginning, and when the beautiful Polwarth and Alpaca emerged from my dyepots I knew that it was meant to be. For a long time I had gone off of shawls entirely, or perhaps that was just the cold Canadian winter making me knit endless jumpers in an effort to survive. Whatever the cause, this project has brought back my shawl love!

The yarn is so light, soft and airy. Almost weightless, but completely cozy when knit up. I hardly even understand how such a wonder could be possible...and I ought to after working in the John Arbon mill for more than two years! I shall simply say it is some Arbon magic and not try to puzzle out this mystery any longer. 

I followed the pattern almost completely, initially intending to knit more stripes with more colours. When the time came to begin adding the stripes, however, I found that I loved the simplicity of the main colour I had chosen and opted to knit just 3 thin stripes around the very edge of the lace border section. I also chose to knit two extra repeats of this section, to ensure that I would have a very big and ultimately cozy shawl in the end. Success! The knit on edging was addictive and such a fun treat after miles of garter stitch. Phew, can you tell that I love this shawl?!

Just in case you're wondering where that lovely backdrop is, I shall tell you. It's the beautiful meadow at the store. My future home as well as the future headquarters of Viola. Pretty exciting stuff!

If you receive the newsletter, you may already know that renovations have already begun on the little shed that is to become my future dye studio. The week before last a little team of diggers helped to clear the old earth floor out and make way for the gravel that will eventually be covered by a new concrete floor. Who knew concrete could be so exciting?!

Much to my dismay, the digging did not revel any more buried treasures. It seems that the deer bones, rusty bits, old pepsi can and broken plastic comb will have to suffice. The only thing our weekend of digging yielded was a large hole and more rocks that I ever thought could possibly be in the ground. So many that I'm now distracted by wanting to build a stone oven! Anyhow, here is a silly picture of me with a pick.

The rather large pile of dirt that was removed from the shed is a satisfying reminder of all our hard work

And, here is the glorious hole that we dug! Doesn't look like much but by next week it's going to be a smooth concrete floor. To be honest, I didn't want the concrete and argued for keeping the charming dirt floor from the start. Turns out that there are some very sound reasons for all of this work, and I get to use a sledgehammer, so that's fun too.

Shop Update!

The next shop update is scheduled for...

Tuesday, July the 28th at 4pm EST

...I'm really excited about this update, mostly because there is a lot of stuff that I reeeeally want to keep in here! But I'm being strong, and sharing my favourites. Hope you like them as much as me!

My main source of excitement is the fact that there are lots of big jumper quantities of ECLIPSE colourways, on my Merino Fingering base. Truth be told, there was a point this week when I had convinced myself that it was possible to knit a few dresses out of these 4 ply lovelies...I have since reconsidered.

You'll also find Merino Singles 4 ply as well as jumper loads of MCN worsted.

Hope you enjoy!

Regarding shipping charges, I am changing the way that I combine and charge shipping. The charges on Etsy have been updated - making single skein cost less! As many of you must be aware of already, etsy does not allow for very accurate shipping estimates. I have done the best I can with the changes I made. Going forward I will be combining shipping on all multiple orders from the same update. If you have been overcharged on shipping, I will send refunds based on the totals from the post office receipts and not the etsy estimate. If this sounds complicated to you, it is! This will only be a short term solution, as I am sorting out a better shipping calculator. If you have questions / concerns please send me an e mail at violafibers@gmail.com

In other news, Construction is finally beginning on the new (but very old!) dye studio. Within the year, Viola is going to be making a big move from Toronto to Mooresburg. This weekend, conversion of a little shed is beginning! I can't wait to see it all take shape, and build a more spacious and efficient workspace!

First off was clearing out all the bits and bobs that previous owners have distribulted (we've found some real treasures so far!) The best, obviously, are a selection of deer bones that were swept into a corner, sadly they have been trampled a little bit.

Now we're moving along to digging out the old earth floor (looking forward to unearthing a few more treasures!), filling in with gravel and preparing for concrete to be poured.

More updates to come when I return from my week of digging. Feels nice to be putting in some hard work...