On my needles...

Gemini in hemp...

Hello there :) 
Baby is sleeping, so I have a moment to share what knitting I've been doing since he was born; two of Jane Richmond's designs actually (no surprise there).  Above is my second go at Gemini.  It's the perfect project since I really needed something I could do running on no sleep, and I've done it once before and know it's a breeze to knit. This time I'm using 100% hemp from Hemp for Knitting (a BC based business) in an emerald green. I joked to Danny that I actually manifested this yarn since I was specifically on the hunt for some cellulose yarn, to knit something for the KAL over at Luv in the Mummyhood, and lo-and-behold I found three skeins of this beautiful stuff for a mere $3. I couldn't believe my eyes.  This happens to me a lot. I find things that I'm looking for in thrift shops all the time. My sis-in-law is appalled at how often this occurs :)

This Gemini has a lot of mistakes, but they are not super noticeable so I decided not to rip back to fix them.  Let's be honest, I do this with pretty much every knitting project I do.  None of them are flawless.

Hemp is awesome!  This is what I love about it:
1. It is the world's premier renewable resource
2. The hemp plant doesn't need any pesticides or herbicides since bugs don't think it's yummy, and it grows too fast for weeds to be an issue.  Unlike cotton, which uses more pesticides than any other commercial crop!  "In fact, over half of all agricultural chemicals in North America are used for growing cotton." (lanaknits.com). Yikes!
3. It gets softer, and the drape becomes nicer the more you machine-wash and dry it.

Grace in merino...

Okay, this one has tested my patience a bit.  But in the end I think it taught me patience, since I didn't give up on it.  I must has ripped the lace section back six times already.  And I'm a slow knitter, so it felt like a lot of time wasted.  It turns out there are a few mistakes in the original pattern which are corrected now, so once my Gemini is done I think I can give this one another go. (UPDATE: Jane has now added stitch numbers and a chart to the pattern)

I over-dyed a chartreuse green with logwood to get this great olive colour.  I'm really loving it.

back to knitting.....
janna