New Projects

Polaris is currently on temporary hiatus as other projects have distracted me. I did get the batting and backing organized before I set it aside. 

First up, it is time for the winter Olympics. I live in a winter country so, yes, I watch. Snowboarding is my favourite sport, a long with free style skiing. I have actually never gone downhill on a board. I have done Xcountry skiing, but not in a long time. 

Olympics require a knitting project. It needs to be sufficiently interesting to fill the times between competitors' runs. So I chose a yarn that was waving at me from my stash, and cast on a shawl.

The yarn is from Fireweed Fibre in Winnipeg. It is Sweet Pea Sock, in the colourway "32 Is The New 23".

I am knitting another Through the Witch's Garden Shawl., by Melinda Measor.

I got this far, yesterday, watching Big Air.

My partner for watching the Olympics is my new puppy, Princess Daisy. 

She is about 10 weeks old, and arrived at our house on Saturday. She came a long way, from the North of Canada, North of Iqaluit. She took a plane from her community to Iqaluit and another plane from Iqaluit to Ottawa.

Northern communities often don't have health care providers for their animals, and might get a visiting vet once or twice a year. So they have a puppy problem. Daisy's mother and her entire litter came to Ottawa through a rescue organization. Mom has been spayed and returned to her loving family and the puppies are now up for adoption, here. 

I saw her on the website, and I knew she would be a good fit for our house. She loves snow and enjoys watching snowboarding with me. 

Finishing Up

 When I make socks or hats, I don't normally block them. The socks get blocked into the shape of your feet as you wear them. The hats are much the same, and a lot of the hats are acrylic anyway.

However, scarves and shawls are a different story.

Yesterday, I took 3 scarves/shawls and soaked them to block them. It turned into a bit of an adventure. After the water cooled, I saw that the water in the sink was bright turquoise. After 9 more rinses, this is what the water looked like.

Better, but still blue. My hands were also blue by this time. Hopefully it is surface dye, and it is all out now.

This is the culprit. 

It is a long skinny scarf, in a merino cashmere silk yarn. Lovely yarn to knit with. The pattern is called Valiant, by Clare Slade. I started it last May and finished the knitting yesterday. It's about 2 m long. This is the lace.

I also blocked Boublay. I started it in February of last year and finished the knitting in March.

its a little neckerchief with bobbles and a beaded edge. The yarn is Uneek Sock. I have the second ball from the sock set, so I can knit another.

The most neglected shawl is Sobriquet. I started it in February of 2024, and finished the knitting the end of March 2025. Since it is the same yarn as the hat I made 2 weeks ago, I thought I should block it to make a set,

This bear was a big help in modelling the shawls. She is a fashionista from a department store in Chicago. My sweetie saw her when he was there on business, and knew I would like her. Her head is the wrong size for hats, but shawls are her thing.

Time to pick a new project to cast on.