Toronto's Downtown Knit Collective; LYSs, Yarn

Guilds of the world--listen up.

The Downtown Knit Collective (DKC) sets the standard. About 50 of their 280 members hosted the Vogue tour group for a fantastic fiber afternoon at the University of Toronto.

Carly Scott, Executive Editor of Vogue Knitting, is with us and she brought many of the pieces in the Fall, 08, magazine. I hadn't seen too much of interest in the magazine---that's changed!!! In person, like great art, sweaters can truly be seen and these were works of art. She even brought a few pieces from Nicki Epstein's new book and they were dynamite. Sorry, no pics.

FYI -- I wasn't aware of the videos and commentary by Carla on the Vogue website. It allows you to see the garments from all sides and moving. Check them out here.

Linda Pratt, who used to own Great Yarns in Raleigh was also there. She now does marketing for Westminster Fibers (Rowan, Kertzer, etc,). She brought sweaters from Rowan and Nashua publications.

After some mighty swanky refreshments, the speakers began.


Fiona Ellis shared some of her work. I was most interested in her design stories.

Some lesser known locals including Kurt Dunn who is knitting three stained glass windows, one each of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Kurt studied with Kaffe Fassett and the windows literally glow because of the blends of colors and textures. They will be huge and stunning.


My favorite knitting mind, Debbie New, was there and was hilarious. In the past Debbie has knit portraits, stained glass, a one-strip sweater, and a boat. Now she is knitting kaleidoscopes and sort of whirligigs. Incredible.

Lots of door prizes. I won a package from Soak--a big bottle, about 30 single wash size packets and a stunning baseball hat.

Dinner at the Royal York together and a special gift--another bottle of Soak.

Knitting purchases for this day. A copy of the Nashua magazine just released. I had to beg and plead with Linda Pratt to sell it to me, but I got it.

Sunday we went shopping!

The first time we got on the bus this lovely young woman came up to me and said, "Jane Prater, my name is Beth Levine from Boston, and I read your blog." Well, I was just blown away. She had discovered me through the blog of the World Renowned Turtlegirl76. ( Is there anyone out there who doesn't read Cristi's blog?)

Today when we got to Lettuce Knits, Beth insisted on a "yarn harlot" moment and her mom took our picture.

Louise is a great lady, but not much of a photographer. She is seated on my right and Beth took this picture.

If you look closely, you can see the young owner of the shop with her 5-week old baby tied to her front. She opened just for us and gave us 10% off --and--wait for it---several packets of Soak!!

I purchased one skein of Handmaiden Casbah. This is the first time I had encountered this yarn. It is 80% Merino, 10 % Cashmere, 10% Nylon;
325 m/115g
Machine washable, sport wt.





Feels luscious, so it will probably be a scarf thing.

I was disappointed that she only had a few skeins of the hemp I had hoped to buy.

Next stop was Romni Wools. Romni is reminiscent of the 7th Avenue shops in NYC. Thousands of cheap plastic bins stacked to impressive heights. They carry just about everything you ever heard of, but not Allhemp3--the object of my quest.

I managed to adhere to my goal of purchasing responsibly. I bought
1. Rowan Mag #37

2. One skein of Classic Elite Alpaca Sock Yarn which I had never seen. According to Rosemary, the Chicago winters are tolerable only if you have several pairs of socks in this yarn.
60% alpaca, 20% merino, 20% nylon
100 grams = 450 yards
8 sts/in on #2



Handwash-----definitely a scarf.


3. One skein of Malabrigo sock yarn!
100% merino superwash, kettle dyed
3.5 oz. = 440 yards

Soft? It's Malabrigo.

Royal Ontario Museum and fiber--Sat. morning

Okay, now a bit about yarn and stuff. The Royal Ontario Museum has a small, but quality textile department. I only spent a little time there. Just took pics of things that interested me and moved on.
This is a pine and walnut four shaft loom originally from Northern Ireland. It arrived in Lake Huron County in 1845. Samuel Pentland became a professional weaver and used it to weave a variety of woolens for garments and the home.

I learned to weave on a loom of similar design and antiquity at the Hezekiah Alexander home in Charlotte. But not in the 1800's.
This tapestry loom uses rocks to weight the warp and provide tension. Looking at looms through the centuries always make me respect the intellect and ingenuity of fiber workers. I'm going to build one of these some day and weave this way just to see the problems.
This is a two shaft strip loom common in western Africa. The weaver suspends this from a tripod and ties the warp to the house to maintain tension. Like Kinte cloth, the final yardage consists of many of these strips sewn together to achieve the desired width.
This is a vertical single heddle frame loom. It was typically used in Togo and Cameroon. The yardage is wider than the loom above, but still needed to be joined together to get more than a table runner.

I'm not just a weaving freak. I also love antique clothing. Can't you just see turtlegirl76 in this. It is handmade.
I skipped the lectures on kimonos and costumes. I've seen that often. Instead I headed down to the First People's exhibit. I'm a nut about Native American stuff. On the way, I was stopped by some Chinese art. This Buddha was impressive and very decorative.


This is a Chinese tomb mound--specifically the tomb mound of General Zu Dashou ofYongtai Village near Beijing. 1656, Qing dynasty. Inside is stone coffin platforms for the General's body and for each of his three wives. I had to wait until someone showed up so I could put them in the photo to show the scale of this thing. (see guy in left lower corner)
I loved the carriage. Always do. The red earthy colors remind me of lots of yarn in my attic.

Check out this detail of the wheel. I think I can knit both the wheel and the side panel.

Yes, most of my photos are for designing purposes.

At the First People's exhibit, I found this inspiration.


And for a friend . . .
In the gift shop--I can make that!!!