February 2011-2018

Love ... yarn, snow, and shoes   2018

In one of my past newsletters, the theme was  - 
Fantastic fibers for freaking frosty February. 

This year, I can't come up with any better idea for February knitting - Love yarn! Yarn to knit in February should be:
Fabulous and Fashionable
Fine and Fast to Knit
Fantastically Fluffy
Floral and Friendly
Infinite and Fun
Your Favourite
Let you fantasize ​​

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Fiber Footprints   2017

 Footprints in the Snow
2017. Two days before St Valentine's Day, we had first real snow at Harbourfront. And of course 'we' took a walk ...
Now Ms Winter is officially here ...(not that I missed her very much :-) These boots were made for my sweet Amelia in 2015.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Walking in the Snow
Walking in the snow can be fun. You just need a warm and comfortable - knitted :-) outfit!!!
This red sweater was made 20 years ago. The skirt was my first knitting project in Canada - 2010.
Happy knitting and walking in the snow!! Click on the photos to see more skirts and sweaters.

Snow...buddy!   2016

This project was done on St. Valentine's Day - the only day this winter when we had -24(felt like -34!)
Almost gone with the wind: I made the ornaments - snowflakes - first, not having any particular idea
of where they could be applied.
Just Like That: After giving it some thinking, I just decided to jazz up ... my jean jacket!
Freeze: It was still light enough for the photo session, and Anna as usual agreed to model. We bundled up and faced the frost. It was freezing cold.

Snowflakes: The pink snowflake detail looks fantastic on denim.
New Model: This snow-buddy didn't mind trying the jacket on (even though I could not provide a runway for him), (well ...  he could not run away anyways :-)
 Where did the snow go? The next day, there was no snow at all. And no snow-buddy- melted away :-(

   My Sweet Valentine   2015

February 24th, 2015. Our sweetest, cutest, the most adorable "Valentine" is the three-week young (!) Amelia.



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Click on images below to go to Baby Knits

Best yarn: For these booties, I picked the best yarn - Misti Alpaca: 50% Alpaca, 30% Merino Wool, 10% Silk, 10% Nylon. Hand Paint Tone on Tone. Made in Peru. Another best pick was Loyal - 100% wool. Made in New Zealand. I blended the Misti Alpaca and Loyal to make the booties' sole thicker. These booties are warm and high. Handmade booties are always a good gift for a newborn. It's my first baby knit. Definitely not the last one :-)

February Fantasy   2013

Swan Lake. What can be more beautiful than the after-storm serenity? This tranquillity is like  knitting to me ... with the only difference that knitting is a very warmcoolness ... :-) Click on image to go to February 2013 Newsletter.

Wintery Toronto   2012

I am using the question "Mais ou sont les neiges d'antan?" from Francois Villon's poem as a refrain in this newsletter. You can interpret the translations suggested in Adam Gopnik's Winter in your own way.

Oh, where are the snows of yester-year? 
This photo was taken in January 2010 - lots of snow! In 2012 - not so much, at least here - at Harbourfront. The snow of 2012 came and melted. But where are the memories of the past years? Good old days, dreams, friendship ... The snows of yester-years melted and took away all we couldn't keep. Where are the snows we knew?
Adam Gopnik's Winter
"The romance of winter is possible only when we have a warm, secure indoors to retreat to, and winter becomes a season to look at as much as one to live through." p.4
"Winter lead the world to Switzerland. ... In the middle of the nineteenth century (..) Switzerland was the ultimate  Romantic destination, the place you travelled to witness scary winter and sweet winter to gether - the place where scary winter (snow-topped Alps) actually became sweet winter." p.28

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I made this Alpen style knitted wool cardigan about ten years ago. It's very warm. The edges are crocheted. The buttons are metal. What else..... casual elegance and relaxed fit.

My New Year toast is: To the new old snows! 
Stay warm in winter :-)

2012 Fashion: Snow
Adam Gopnik's Winter
"Russia is, with Canada, the other great winter nation, a place where snow is not a likely happenstance but a fixed certainty." p.24 
On the right, you see my sister modelling (in Russia) her winter crocheted skirt
Adam Gopnik's Winter
"...winter creates a suspension of normal rules; ... it enforces a dramatization of normal events. We act out in winter cities. When we're cold, we stamp our feet, we shiver - we show that we're cold."
Adam Gopnik's Winter
"Cities in winter are natural stages for holiday theatrics. The city street in winter is intrinsically made for a show." p.120
Click on the image to go to other 'winter' blog pages.

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Snow, hello!   2011

Rainbow Scarf.
Handspun yarn. Knitted. You will definately get lost in the beautiful colors of the Rainbow Scarf - you have them all here: Cherry Blossom Pink, French Rose, Dusty Rose, Ruby, Salmon Pink, Tea Rose, Violet, Indigo, Iris, Lavender, Lilac, Purple, Green, Jade, Lime Green, Teal, and whatnot!
Green Scarf.
This winter I have travelled a lot. What do you think a knitter can do on the plane? Correct. Knit of course!On my way to Russia I made the Green Scarf (cotton)
​​Pink Scarf: 
On the beach in the Dominican Republic I knitted                                                                                                                             the Pink Scarf  (mohair, loop yarn)
​Click on images to go to Snow, Hello Newsletter.

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