The Canadian Adventure picture post

I don’t know how I did it, but today I managed to go through all 2729 pictures I took during the Canadian adventure, and downsized it to something that can fit into 1 blogpost. Really not sure how I did it, but these qualified as my absolute favourite shots, although obviously it only captures a fraction of all the beauty the areas I visited have to offer. Click image to embiggen!

Stanley Park, Vancouver

Stanley park
Granville island, Vancouver
Granville island

Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver Museum of Anthropology

Downtown Kelowna Kelowna

Okanagan Valley Okanagan valley

Wapta Falls, Yoho National Park

Wapta falls

Lake Louise, Bannf National Park
lake Louise Lake louise 2

Johnston Canyon, Banff National Park Johnston Canyon

Icefields Parkway Icefields parkway Colombia Icefield Icefields parkway 2

Jasper National Park Maligne canyon Maligne lake Maligne lake road

Helmcken Falls, Wells Gray Provincial Park

Clearwater
And last but not least not the best picture ever, but we spotted some bears on Vancouver Island (Thornton creek) and it was for sure one of the highlights of the trip Thornton creek

FO: Rye Mitts

RyeMitt

October is tempting for any knitter, so many new pattern releases, an abundance of inspiration and it’s nearly impossible to not catch a serious case of Startitis. I could feel it coming, my fingers were tingling with the urge to cast on. But the thought made me sad as well, because there were some really old WIPs awaiting my attention as well. So I decided that for at least one month, I wouldn’t cast on anything new, and finish my attention on finishing up old stuff. So now I find myself WIP-busting my way through October. Finishing the vanilla self striping socks that were over a year in the making already felt really good, and this is my second finish this month.

Pattern: Rye Mitts by Hanne Katajamäki
Yarn: Malabrigo sock in African Violet

RyeMitts8

If this shade of purple seems familiar, it’s because this was knit up with leftover yarn from my Blossom cap I knit earlier this year. These mitts were cast on at the end of May and it’s such a quick little knit it’s a mystery why I waited so long to finish mitt number 2. Interestingly though, these couple of months made quite a big difference in my tension, making one mitt a little bigger than the other. No worries though, they fit just fine so I’m not sweating it.

RyeMitts9

RyeMitts5

I knew I still had these super cute buttons stowed away especially for these mitts, it just took me an hour sifting through my house to find them. Note to self: find some sort of button organising system that is better than randomly throwing them somewhere.

RyeMitts7
Bonus number 1 is that these are perfectly in time to keep my hands warm in the office that is getting colder by the day. Bonus number 2, they are cat approved.

RyeMitts2

After finishing these I started focusing all my energy on the Tiller scarf I started in November last year, hoping to finish it before the WIP hits that 1-year mark. I need all the strength I can get to stick to my fantastic WIP-busting resolution, so keep me in your thoughts dear knitters!

FO: Pebble Beach #2 and Vanilla Socks

PebbleBeachNr2 I finished not one, but two (!!!) projects during my holiday and I finally got them washed and blocked. First up is my second Pebble Beach shawl. I made the shawlette version for myself a little while back, and when my aunt saw that one she loved it. So I decided to make one for her too as a gift.

Pattern: Pebble Beach Shawl
Yarn: Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply in Blue Lagoon

I went for the medium size, as my aunt said she’d like a nice big version and I think the size worked out really nice. Here’s a pic of the shawlette version stacked on it for scale.

PebbleBeachNr1Nr22 PebbleBeachNr1Nr2

Pretty nice size no? And with this yarn it’ll certainly drape around the shoulders nicely. Once again I’m really pleased with Fyberspates. I tried to find a nice, intense blue colour and this one certainly ticks all the boxes.

PebbleBeachNr25 PebbleBeachnr24

It did get a little boring at some point, at least knitting the repetitive part up to the border. So there’ll be no Pebble Beach #3 anytime soon, nevertheless I can really recommend the pattern.

PebbleBeachNr23 PebbleBeachnr22

As for the socks, these were over a year in the making. I cast them on as a project to knit on the train, but I guess I rarely ride the train though, hence the long in the making period (I’m full of brilliant plans). Surprisingly, this is my first vanilla pair of socks in my collection. After I learned to knit socks I got bored with vanilla socks after 1 sock, and I immediately moved on to more interesting patterns. But there’s nothing wrong with some simple self striping socks every once in a while. The yarn is Froehlich Wolle Maxi Ringel that I bought in Switzerland last year. Pretty happy they’re finished though, especially because I want to make October a month of finishing up some old WIPs.

TAATsocks2

A very happy Caturday indeed: meet Iva

Iva6

If you’ve been following this blog for a while you might know I had my heart completely broken at the beginning of this year by the sudden passing of my cat Dimmie. It took me months to get back to my regular self, my heart felt empty. Despite this, I was quick in making the decision to not get a new cat. The reason for that is that a couple of years after adopting Dimmie I developed a cat allergy. Getting rid of a pet you’ve grown to love was never an option after I got the diagnosis, but doing this to my body again seemed like a bad idea. Iva8
It was a few months later, I was still painfully aware of how empty my lap was every day, when a colleague mentioned he got himself a Siberian kitten. I had no clue, but apparently Siberian cats are hypoallergenic, and suddenly a whole new world of options opened up for me. I found a cattery that looked really good and registered for a waiting list for a kitten. No new litters were expected before mid-2016 however, so I was prepared to play the waiting game. Iva7

And that’s where Iva comes in. The cattery I registered with got one of their kittens back, in fact a daughter of Iva. Iva had had a litter of 7 kittens and had lost a lot of weight after this. They decided the new kitten would take over Iva’s role for further breeding, and Iva would get an early retirement (at the age of 2). As soon as I heard of her being in want of a new home I send out an email hoping this would work out.

Iva3

And I guess from this post it is pretty obvious that it did. We picked her up last Tuesday and we’ve quickly fallen in love. She is the sweetest thing, constantly asking for belly rubs and loudly purring. She also still LOVES to play. I heard before that Siberians can be a bit ‘dog like’ and it is so true! If you call her name she’ll come running to you and she even plays fetch, how cute is that?! It’s even funnier because our dog doesn’t know how to play fetch, and the confused look on his face while she’s bringing back a ball is priceless!

Iva