Barbara Walker, 3T

The boys have grown taller, which means less room in their own beds for them, as they each have extensive stuffed animal collections. I took some of their toys and filled 4 big Rubbermaid bins for storage, and still they have so many left! While shoving plushes into the bins, I came across some old FOs. It's embarrassing how poorly made these are, but I was a beginner back then.


This tiger is from Kath Dalmeny's World of Knitted Toys.



I can't even remember where the bunny pattern is from.

There were 3 big sheep from a Debbie Bliss pattern, not made too badly, but I didn't bother to photograph them. By then I had realized the extent of the packing I'd have to do, and it got me down.

Last evening I went to the stitch 'n' bitch at Lettuce Knit in Kensington market (another blogger has nice pictures of the tiny store here). I hadn't been to that part of town since I lived there as an undergrad, so it was nice to be able to stroll around the University of Toronto campus before heading out to the Yarn Harlot's book signing.

Stephanie looks exactly as she does in her publicity photos, but with a slightly deeper and calmer voice than I imagined. Amy Singer of Knitty was there too - Wednesday is Amy and Stephanie's regular SnB night there. I didn't stay long - just long enough for the Harlot to show up - about 20 minutes. Looks like I missed the yarn piñata. Almost everyone there knew each other, so it was hard not to feel like an outsider. Everyone was nice enough, but personally, I enjoy knitting as a solitary activity, much like reading, so I wasn't sad to leave early.

While at the signing, I picked up Barbara Walker's Third Treasury. Knitters often say that this one is the least useful of the original 3, but I really dig the textured and lace pictures.

I love these cute bats, and am plotting to make a top-down triangular shawl with an all-over version of this motif.


This freaky face sealed the deal for me. I'll never knit it, but it's neat to look at how it's constructed.


This is the famous spider that everyone mentions.


Peace sign,



trees,


turtle.

There's also a five-pronged candelabra, but I neglected to take a photo. It's similar to the one in Melanie Falick's Handknit Holidays - or rather, the one in Handknit Holidays is based on Walker's pattern. I flipped through the Fourth Treasury, but although it had many bias-knit lace panels, nothing struck me as particularly interesting to knit.