Category: Knit Notes

Pewter Tree & Sock Tree

January 3, 2022 / Hughena MacDougall / 0 Comments

The Pewter tree is the latest tree we have added. I think this is the fourth year. Once again we found ourselves acquiring a collection of likenesses. They seemed to be getting lost on the traditional tree, so we thought they needed a tree of their own to be properly displayed.

This tree is about 4′. Some years I put two sets of mini lights on it, but other years it remains unlit. The tree topper is a plain silver star.

Santa and two of his reindeer take up residence under the tree.

Santa and two reindeer under the pewter tree

There are Seagull, Amos and Piper pewter ornaments, as well as other silvery ornaments that aren’t pewter but blend nicely.

You will notice, in the above pictures, that I put ribbon with snowflakes on it, as garland on the tree.

There is a set of six ornaments depicting the nativity.

There are tiny ornaments that hang near the top.

Some have a bit of colour incorporated.

We like the idea of having a tree just for these ornaments, as we can enjoy their beauty on their own.

As an avid knitter and particularly a lover of knitting socks for myself, as well as others, a sock tree only makes sense. There are over 120 socks on this 3′ tree, which is pre-lit with white lights. This tree remains up year round and gets moved around to various locations.

The socks on the tree are all hand-knit by me. There is always a bit of yarn leftover from a pair of socks, so I knit a mini sock after each larger pair is completed.

At the top of the tree are three very special items. Two are socks and one is an angel. One sock is made using red yarn that had a slight sparkle in the wool. I made two mini’s from this yarn. I gifted one to my late, dear friend, Alayne, when she was battling leukemia. I keep the mate to hers at the top, so I can quickly find it and think of her and because she was ‘top’ notch. The other sock is multi-coloured and is from a larger pair I made for my late cousin Norma Billard. The third item is a handmade angel created by my dear friend Judy Guptill of New Hampshire. All three of these have special meaning and deserve to be at the top.

Alayne’s sock (l), Judy’s angel, Norma’s sock (r)

As you can see there are socks of all colours. Each mini sock reminds me of the pattern I used and who they were knit for, if I didn’t keep them myself.

The tree skirt was made by Mom and the material has stockings/socks on it.

Another tree skirt made by Mom. The material is perfect for the tree.

This tree is getting overloaded so I may need to find a larger tree in the near future. But what will I do with this smaller tree then? Oh, I have plans. 😉

That ends the tour of our trees. I hope you enjoyed reading about them, as much as we enjoy having them.

All photographs taken by me.

My Passions – Knitting, Socks and Knitting Socks

July 20, 2021 / Hughena MacDougall / 4 Comments

I don’t remember learning to knit. Like learning my ABC’s, 1 2 3’s and Do Re Mi’s, it was just something I learned, with no recollection of doing so. What I have been told is that when I was about 4 years old, my Mom was knitting and I asked her to teach me. She wasted no time and had knitting needles and yarn in my hand immediately. I do remember my first project was a headband. I also remember not liking to purl, but apparently that is normal for new knitters. I’m over that now.

1969 – I was either 3 or 4, but thinking closer to 4. My first knitting project was a white headband.

I’ve now been knitting over 50 years. I love it and rarely a day goes by that I haven’t knit. My favourite time is between 6:30 and 7am, when I catch up on the overnight sports, while knitting before I go to work. Over the years I’ve knit dozens of Lopi sweaters (remember them), Irish Fisherman knit sweaters, once making on for the late Liam Clancy on a challenge from him, afghans, blankets, baby outfits, mitts, hats, scarfs, neck-warmers, socks and more. Occasionally I have knit as an extra source of income. I remember receiving a frantic call on December 10 (my birthday, that’s how I remember) wondering if I could make a particular sweater for a gentleman, as a Christmas gift for his wife. I accepted the order and did complete it which also included having to locate the yarn. Dear lord, whatever was I thinking? I was unemployed at that time, so I could dedicate many hours of daily knitting. It was a pattern with a lot of intricate cables and some of which I’d never done before. I finished it on December 23rd. Never again would I do that.

Mom, Liam Clancy modelling the sweater I made him, Me.

My obsession now is socks. I love socks. I have no idea where my love of socks began, but I believe it was when I had a newspaper route and I’d get so many pairs of socks for Christmas. I like all kinds of socks from commercially made to homemade, from light weight to heavy weight, from long socks to shorties, from multi-coloured to one colour, from wool to cotton; I just love socks. Knitting socks is my all-time favourite thing to knit. There are so many patterns, so many types of yarn, so many colours of yarn, so many combinations of toes, heels and ribbing. It’s fun to experiment with variegated yarns, to see how they pool when knit in a rib, or stockinette stitch or in a pattern. Sometimes it works and sometimes it most definitely doesn’t work.

Standfield’s wool socks that are 37 years old. Can’t wear them out.

I often have small amounts of yarn leftover after making a larger pair of socks. I use the leftovers to make a mini sock to hang on a tree. The tree remains up all year and whenever I look at it, I remember the people I made the socks for when I look at the matching mini sock.

I’m also working on a blanket using leftover sock yarn. Some of the yarn has been given to me by friends who knit socks and don’t use the leftovers. This is a work in progress and will take time to complete.

There is nothing better than finding a nice yarn shop to visit. When I travel, it is one thing I try to find and have found some dandies in Edgartown, Massachusetts, Freeport, Maine and closer to home in Tatamagouche and Baddeck, Nova Scotia. My favourite was Baadeck Yarns in Baddeck. (No, that is not a spelling error. It is a play on words.) Baadeck Yarns was located in the home of the owner of the shop, Pat Fields. Pat was wonderful. She was always willing to help with a pattern, find the perfect yarn, suggest a new product or just let you browse. Her shop was beautiful and even if I didn’t buy anything, I just felt a calmness being amongst all the gorgeous fibres, the colours, the displays, the large spinning wheel in the loft, and the peacefulness that came with a visit. It was therapeutic. Sadly Pat closed her shop last year. I still miss it and I’ve not been to Baddeck since she closed.

Spinning wheel in the loft of the former Baadeck Yarns.

On a happy note, there is now a mobile yarn shop called “Tracy’s Rolling Yarn Shop”, owned by Tracy Stubbard. Tracy tells me she started knitting dishclothes when she worked at a call centre, but then got away from knitting. In 2014 a co-worker taught her how to knit socks and she has just grown from there knitting many things, but she always has a pair of socks on the go. In 2017 she was diagnosed with cancer. After her treatments finished she started working with Pat at Baadeck Yarns. When Pat said she wanted to retire, Tracy jokingly said she would buy a bus and take Baadeck Yarns on the road. Then 2020 arrives, as does Covid, a second cancer diagnosis for Tracy, and Pat retires and sells her house where her shop was located. In the meantime Tracy had already bought a trailer and was working to make it look like a yarn shop. She purchases Pat’s inventory and it just grew from there. Now Tracy takes the yarn shop on the road to places like Cheticamp, Baddeck, Antigonish, Arichat, Bouladerie, Port Hawkesbury, etc. and when not on the road she sets up in her own driveway in Dominion. In Tracy’s words, “I’m grateful that I was able to follow through with this, as everyday I wake up is a blessing. And it’s the most rewarding job, because all the customers are happy and they are loving my concept!!” I know I’m loving her concept and have visited her Rolling Shop three times already. She has a lot packed into her trailer. It reminds me of visiting Baadeck Yarns, as she has wonderful displays, she arranges her colours and types of yarn to make it so eye appealing, and her quality of yarn is second to none.

Richard Devrieze yarns. Look at those colours.

Fleece Artist – one of my favourites. Love the names like Lupine, Nova Scotia Tartan, Cape Breton Tartan, Lotus and Tracy’s Purples.

If you are a knitter, do yourself a favour and visit Tracy’s Rolling Yarn Shop. Follow Tracy on Facebook by searching Tracy’s Rolling Yarn Shop for her travel schedule and/or check out her website www.tracysyarns.ca .

I hope you enjoyed this latest blog post. Leave a comment, ask a question, make suggestions for future blogs, or message me if you like. I hope to post more often in the future.

All photos taken by yours truly.

Baadeck Yarns

July 25, 2020 / Hughena MacDougall / 2 Comments

The Welcome sign at the bottom of the driveway at Baadeck Yarns.

A couple of December’s ago, I went on a ‘fibre frolic’ with two friends; Alayne Martell and Andrea Temple. They picked me up at my house and we headed out to Baadeck Yarns, in Alayne’s Volkswagen. We weren’t more than 15kms from home, when we suddenly found ourselves in a snowstorm. By the time we got to the Trans Canada Highway in Queensville, we were in a blizzard. We trudged along with Alayne driving, Andrea in the co-pilot’s seat and me sitting on the middle of the back seat. The visibility was soon nonexistent, but we continued on. Someone suddenly said ‘Who’s idea was this anyway?’ and all three of us just cracked up laughing. But onward we went. As quickly as we drove into the storm, we drove out of it, with blue skies and sunshine, only to drive into it again. Once we were beyond Whycocomagh, the skies turned blue again, the sun was out and the roads were bare. We arrived in Baddeck, none the worse for wear, and promptly went to Baadeck Yarns. The girls were looking for various fibres and colours for their weaving artworks, while I, as always, was in the market for wool of any kind but particularly sock yarn. This is one of the best shops I’ve ever visited. It is bright, with nice lighting and natural light. The yarn is displayed beautifully and there are always many hand knit items on display. It is such a fun, pretty and warm shop, that one can’t feel anything but happiness when moseying about. The three of us went about, checking the many weights, styles, and colours of yarn, reading labels and looking at the many notions. At one point, I turned around to see Alayne laying down on the floor. I said ‘what are you doing?’. She looked up, while holding a skein of yarn, feeling its texture and with eye closed and said ‘just feeling the fibres on the bottom shelf’. Oh how we laughed. Pat, the owner of the shop, was doubled over. We had such a wonderful time visiting the shop that day.

Last week social media told me that Baadeck Yarns was closing. WHAT? How could this be? Pat was retiring. Initially I was sad and then realized how selfish that was of me. Pat has been at this business for 26 years. She deserves to retire and enjoy life, in a different way. She told me she will now have time to knit. Of course I had to make one last visit. Here is a sampling of a few pictures I took that day.