Canadiana Part II: KnitTraders and A New Leah Mercer

nitting news!

I haven't visited Kingston, Ontario, in a long time, but they have a great Little Yarn Shop, KnitTraders, and I love getting the KnitTraders newsletter in my inbox. It's always full of interesting news and ideas, and adds to my growing list of projects I'd like to start.

Here's one, from a Canadian based yarn company, Spinrite: "a free, online Lookbook, filled with all manner of knit and crochet projects (like this EH! pillow) sure to please all Canucks."

There's also this happening, which I really unfortunately just don't have time for this summer, but could maybe try over the winter!

Summer Shawl Along

with Trisha for Canada 150 
Welcome to our second annual Summer KAL.
This year we will be hosting a shawl knit-along that features Canadian yarn and Canadian designers. 
-Simply pick a shawl pattern from a Canadian Designer.Can you believe it? There are over 700 patterns that fall into that category on Ravelry alone.-Check out all the Canadian Yarn  possibilities at KnitTraders, including the stunning National Parks Collection just in from Fleece Artist; The Oh Canada colourway (or any of the other magical colours) from Happy Cat; all the stunning options from H'ewePhoria including a great new assortment of semi solids; alpaca from Silver Cloud Alpacas, (who are just up the road in Elginburg); classic sturdy yarns from Topsy Farms and Briggs and Little, Grazioso from our friends at Sweet Paprika. Plus many more. Make your selection and you're all set to join in. -Post your patterns and yarn choices on our Ravelry Page to inspire others. 
-Follow us on Ravelry, or if you're in the Kingston area please join us in-store on Tuesdays from 1-3pm and/or Thursday from 6-8pm.
-And feel free to email KnitTraders or drop in to ask any questions you might have.
PRIZES   PRIZES   PRIZES
OVERWHELMED at the thought of making a fancy lace shawl? There are stunning yet easy patterns available that are well within the reach of anyone who can knit and purl. Ask the friendly and knowledgeable staff atKnitTraders for their advice.Let's Celebrate our Canadian Knitting tradition now, and create something beautiful to remember this great summer of pride and joy. 

In other Canadian news (my last Canadiana post featured a YouTube playlist I'd made), author Leah Mercer has a new book coming out!

One fine autumn evening, Anna returns from work and starts making dinner, eager to welcome home her husband, Mark. It's just like any other day in their ten-year, Pinterest-perfect marriage -- until he says he's leaving her.
Discovering that the man she thought she knew better than anyone else is capable of abandoning it all sends Anna reeling. She believed the life they'd built together -- and the bright future they'd imagined -- counted for everything. How can he walk away?
The truth is Mark is battling secrets of his own -- secrets Anna knows nothing about. A painful past and an uncertain future threaten to bring his life down around him -- and he'll do anything not to expose her to that.
But unravelling the past is lonelier than Mark could ever have imagined and, as the days turn to months, Anna worries the separation will break them forever. Can she bring him back from the brink of self-destruction before it's too late, or will she discover that she never really knew him at all?

I don't know how to review this book -- anything I say will be giving away spoilers! It's intense, and very moving, and involves characters who believe they're acting for the best, even as they alienate themselves from those around them. Some misunderstandings are resolved, but other problems greater than the people concerned are simply unsolveable. Does that explain anything? I'm trying not to reveal the secrets that are slowly unravelled throughout the book.

One thing I do hope, that in a future book we might catch a glimpse of Anna and find out how she is, a few years down the road!


As for my own writing and ROW80... CampNaNoWriMo is progressing slowly. I have an idea for resolving the time frame difficulties of my YA time travel story, but still haven't uncovered the central conflict (I can see all you plotters rolling your eyes at this). Also, I keep breaking off to do more edits on The Charm of Time. I've nearly completed the missing scene (referred to as "Friday", since the book takes place over a two-week period), and can now go back to editing on paper. Starting with "Sunday"...


Two gratuitous food photos to break up the text, from different places and different days:

Lunch

Dessert

Eaten something good lately?

What projects are you hoping to start?