My name is Shaulaine (Xiao Lan or ‘Dawn Orchid’ in Chinese.)
I am an engineer by day (Engineering Physics 2004, McMaster.) I enjoy my work, but yarn and colour are a personal and creative outlet. Most of what I knit is of my own design, so I develop some of it into patterns to share here. I thought that if it’s something I want, then perhaps others might want it too. I have classical, old-fashioned tastes … probably born from a life-long diet of Jane Austen, Dickens and Lucy Maud Montgomery books. I like my sweaters to have graceful lines and some tailoring. If your tastes run in this vein as well, then you may find something you like here. All my patterns are graded in 9 sizes. They are thoroughly test knit, and always supported – just email me if you get stuck!
I also dye yarn so that I can enjoy the freedom of designing both the yarn and the pattern to achieve the sweater vision in my head. I particularly love untreated Blue Faced Leicester in rich but subtle colours, but have found it hard to acquire at times in the exact shade or degree of variegation that I’m after – so I dye my own. It’s available for sale here, if you’d like some as well:)
I love to sew, embroider, crochet, and leatherwork as well, and enjoy hybridizing some of these techniques with knitting. If I try something that works out well – or at least interesting – I document it in the blog.
When I’m not knitting, a lot of my spare time goes into my garden. My dad is a master garden designer (http://www.gardencandensis.ca,) but for myself: I just like to dig in the soil, hang out with my plants, and inspect daily growth with a beer in hand. My garden beds are primarily made up of cultivar conifers, a wide variety of perennials (blue in particular), several species of japanese maple, and always, always… roses.
I enjoy a peaty single-malt most days, and whenever I can get away from my work, I love to hike and canoe throughout this very beautiful country.
