Little bit of this, little bit of that

I have had a serious case of startitis over the past couple of weeks in regards to my knitting projects.  Not finishitis unfortunately.  I think I have a WIP in every main knitting category now.  I just need to start a toy & some mittens/gloves to be complete! (No wait, that’s a bad idea.)

For example:

Socks:

The second of my Groovy socks that I worked on during Sock Summit & another pair of boy socks for CoffeeBoy which are honestly only worked on when it’s too dark for anything else…or I’ve had too much to drink.

Sweater:

My Calluna out of City Tweed.  I want to work on this, but the time or mood never seems right – too hot, not enough time to fully concentrate on rows that have 228 stitches & a chart to read, laziness.  It is going to be a lovely sweater though.

Hat:

A Sunny Cabley Beanie out of one of my Blue Moon purchases at Sock Summit.  It’s the pattern Clamber and I’ve only knit the brim so far.

As a side note, I really need to stop buying knitting books because it seems most of my projects are free internet patterns.  Sigh.  Although this week I ordered Made In Brooklyn.  Sigh.

Shawl/Scarf

The Prairie House Shawl out of Lotus Yarns Medusa.  I started this at knit night last week – it’s a good project for something like that.   Those are also the new Zephyr needles…I started this project with the Nickel Plated actually since I had just got a couple of sets. I had never tried them but  I didn’t really like them, for this project at least.  (I should also warn that I’m not a fan of knitting with metal needles & they were so heavy to me.)  Switched to the Zephyrs, which I like better – much lighter – but still prefer the Harmony needles overall.

Washcloth/Dishcloth

Started this for the World Record Breaking Knitting since it’s the only thing I could think of that I could use (short)  straight needles on.  Simplest knit ever – garter border, seed stitch for the inside.

To be honest, the knitting I’m most working on is a project for work which of course I can not photograph yet.  But I should be done this week, then it’s off to work on my multiple WIPs!

 

I am insane

Because this:

Probably shouldn’t mean knitting a sweater with this:

um, yeah it's a heavy weight wool/alplaca blend

But that’s what I’m doing:

also a new bag - isn't it cute?

Though at the moment, I may copy Mina & stretch out on the floor.

In her case, the top of my fabric bin.

"what? I'm hot, I don't care I'm not ladylike."

Only one week & a bit until Sock Summit!  Let’s hope it cools down a bit.

 

A new crafty obsession!

So I knew this job would be dangerous .

I’ve mentioned before how I have a sewing machine that I couldn’t get to work.  My grandmother left it and a cabinet to me when she died 25 years ago (apparently she knew, even at my young age, that I would be a crafty girl!)  My other grandmother ended up using it for many years, when I moved into a place where I could set it up (as in, not my studio apartment), she wanted to make sure I had it back.  So that & the sewing machine cabinet sat, in my craft room here & in MA, sadly gathering dust.  Sewing had limited appeal at that time – I was interested, but not in quilting and not really wanting to learn to make clothes.

When I tried about a month ago, to get it to work, Ida (as I christened her after my late grandmother) just didn’t want to work.  And I decided she was too much for me to deal with at the time – I need to start simple, as I haven’t sewed anything since jr. high.  I decided a new machine was needed.

Meet Elinor, my newly arrived Brother CS6000i, purchased this week via Amazon.  I named her after another favourite Jane Austen character (to go along with Darcy & Fredrick, the iPods)  Hopefully she will live up to her sweet, steady namesake as I attempt to relearn how to sew (and not be all dramatic, a la Marianne).

Even though she showed up on the hottest day of the year (96 degrees today & no air conditioning), I had to try her out.

Excuse the sweaty hair - like I said it's hot here!

I went with something really simple – a very wide headband/wrap, to replace one I left at my moms last week.  Could not be simpler – I guessed how long it should be, cut, sewed up the long end, then sewed the short ends together.  It’s a bit too loose (my actual first one was too tight) but it works.  I’m not the best sewer as of yet – I can’t cut or sew a straight line to save my life – but I’m learning.

Next I decided to try the pattern that got me wanting to sew –  The Drawstring Bag Tutorial.  I did pretty well, once I figured out what I was doing.

Yah!  I made something!  It just took a couple of fat quarters from Joann’s.  I was so ridiculously proud of it, I immediately called my mom.  I’ll probably make more (I have a serious fat quarter collection already!)  It was very quick & while my seams are really wonky, it’s not that noticeable.  My mom is actually coming up to visit this weekend & is all excited about having a “sewing bee” with just the two of us.  Of course, she wants to see some fabric stores…I’ve got to control myself though (of course that never works when it comes to yarn, so I don’t know why it would with fabric.)

Oh did I mention I placed my first employee purchase at Knit Picks?  Yep, got paid & immediatly ordered some stuff I needed (another size 0 circ to replace my broken one) and some stuff I couldn’t resist (City Tweed HW!), although I completly forgot I wanted order some of the Harmony cable needles!  Dur!

And I have been knitting as well!  Progress has been made on the Cables & Os!

After 2 & half years, I’ve separated the front & back & started on the armholes.  Woo!  It’s still slow going, but at least the rows aren’t taking me a half hour each to do.

And I finished a sock

Socks that Rock Lunasea - from my stash even!  I didn’t even cast on with my new STR!  This is my on the go project – C&Os has been my home project – so it’s just a plain ol’ sock.  I do like the pooling actually on this, I think because most of it is one color, just the blues in there, so it doesn’t look so weird.  Anyway, I was good & cast on for the second immediately, even with all the new temptations around – I’m determine to actually finish a pair of socks this summer!

Well off to take a cooling shower (I so do not like the heat) and  play with Elinor some more!  I wonder how long I can use the “but it’s work related!” excuse when someone questions all my time spent doing crafty things?

 

Busy Days

Note – I began this post 2 days ago.  It’s been one of those weeks.  Sorry, this also turned into quite a long post for me.

After several weeks of not having anything to do (with the exception of when CoffeeBoy was here), I’ve suddenly had a busy couple of days.  Starting work, especially since I haven’t worked in over 3 months, has definetly contributed to that – more on that later.

First I want talk about Black Sheep Gathering – my first and still favourite fiber festival. I wasn’t able to go last year, obviously as I was still in MA, but I did go 2 years ago, Friday with my mom, Saturday with my friends.  This year I only went with my mom but we had such a fantastic time. Soon after I arrived, after chatting with Donna at Lavender Sheep and Sharon at Stitchjones, I immediatly headed to Blue Moon.  They are crackdealers, I swear. Now Twisted carries Socks That Rock, but what they don’t have is…Mill Ends.  And at BSG, not only did they have mill ends, they had Raven Clan mill ends.  I could not resist.

I tried to be good, I did limit it to 5 of  STR – 3 Raven Clan (2 MW that might be Pallas Athena and Raven and 1 HW that might be Rook-y), 1 other HW (maybe a varation of Kaw Kaw?) and 1 other MW (I think it might be a varation of Henpecked maybe?) and  If any other STR fanatics have suggestions, I’d love to hear them – you can see close up pictures on my Ravelry Stash page.

And not only did the Blue Moon Fever strike me, it got my mom as well.  My mom, who not long ago gave me all her sock yarn because she didn’t like knitting socks, decided she really wants to knit socks.  The night before I taught her how to magic loop and when she witnessed the frenzy at Blue Moon, she decided she really really REALLY wanted to knit socks.  I wish I got some pictures of those too – I steered her towards the HW & MW – I think starting on LW got her to give up too quickly.  I also wrote up some very basic, very detailed, instructions on knitting socks on ML with a short row heel.

The student teaches the teacher  We’ll see if she sticks with it…otherwise I may find myself with even more sock yarn!

I did actually get a couple of other sock yarns.

The far leftis more Cashmara - the yarn I fell in love with at the Knit & Crochet show.  Decided I needed some purple!  Then the pretty chocolate minty yarns is from StitchJones – that is my fave color combination so I couldn’t pass it up.  I’m actually thinking about doing my craft room in that color scheme actually.  Anyway, that was all of my purchases…at least at Black Sheep.

Sadly, the alpacas weren’t there this year but we did see some cute sheeps & goats!

baby goats!

Howdy.

Nice horns, buddy.

All in all, it was a great day.  Not least of which was spending so much time with just me & my mom.  While I do visit my family every other week or so, I rarely get to spend just time with my mom.  But we have a tendency to be bad for each other – we are such enablers.  My mom got me back for the STR the next day.

I’ve been buying more & more fabric – nevermind I still haven’t gotten my sewing machine to work yet.  I just really want to make come cute bags – I’m not as interested in quilts or clothing at the moment.  For instance, I bought these the other day for $1 each at consignment store down the street.

So that got my mom excited, as she’s more of a sewer than knitter.  So on Saturday she “suggested” we go to Joanns “just to look”.

Yeah right.

my entire weekend haul.

Siiiiiiiigh.  Do I really need another hobby?  Anyway, they had the Sugar & Cream plus all the Fat Quarters on sale.  Then I deciede, since I lost my fave headband somewhere in my mom/sister’s house (easy to do there), I thought I might get some fabric to make some new ones – I loved my headband, it was a really cool large one I got at Last Thursday last month.   I wore when driving since my hair is too short to put up & just blows all around when the window is down.  And then I picked up a pattern for a nice messenger bag, but no fabric for that.  Yet.

Let remind you – I Still Haven’t Actually Sewed Anything Since Jr. High.  Mom keeps promising to come up & check out my sewing machine, but that hasn’t happened yet.  Maybe it’s best for both of our wallet’s sake.

And my new job is going to be an even bigger enabler.  So the news is I am now working for Crafts Americana as a Customer Service Rep.  In case you don’t know, or don’t click on that link., they are the parent compnay of one of my favourite places on the ‘net – KnitPicks!  Dream come true.  :)  I am very excited – I started this week, just training, and it’s all I can do to not just pet the yarn samples all around.  Plus there are lots of fun people – Melissa works there (though in a different depaartment, so I don’t see her much) and all the folks I’ve only “known” through Ravelry or the Knitting Community. Yes, I even met Xena. (she’s really sweet & cute).    I”m just so thrilled, especially after sending off at least 50 or so resumes (probably more) and KP is the only place that called me back AND the place I wanted to work at most.   Also good – short commute (15 minutes!) though it is weird driving to work again after several years of not having to.  And let’s not forget that discount…when should I make my first purchase?

(CB’s first comment on hearing I got the job – “Yah, congratulations!”  Second comment? “I don’t want to come home & see the house overrun with yarn.”  Silly boy.  I also work for Connecting Threads so fabric might be a bigger issue these days…)

This post is getting so long, so I’ll have to wait to blog about some of my other adventures – new knitting, an vinyl party at my friends, and seeing Food Inc last night.  Everyone needs to see this movie.

 

It’s not easy being green

Well, I guess that’s not really true for me, but hey, I’m always happy to quote Kermit.  Green is my most favourite colour – I go through phases where everything I’m working on and everything around me is green.  I”m actually in one now –  both of my main knitting  projects are green!

First off, I finished a Scrollin’ sock:

Really quick knit actually – less than a week from start to finish.  It’s been a great at home pattern – the repeats go quickly &  it’s easy for me to memorize.  Best of all,  I immediately cast on for the second, which seems to be my issue of late.

The problem is, it’s not a great one to take somewhere like the movies – I do have to look down at it once in awhile to get the stitches straight.  ”But,” I can hear you say, “You have a boring dull stockinette sock that you were working on last week.”  Sadly I ran into a problem.  Or rather on – I stepped on my size 0 circ the other night.  Unsurprisingly, it broke. (I seem to have issues with keeping a hold of my size 0s).  So now I could just CO for the second on my dpns, but the main reason I like magic loop is I don’t have to worry about dropping a dpn somewhere, say in a dark theater.  Or I could just place another order at KnitPicks (oh, such a difficulty – I’m dying to try the new City Tweed, which I recently got to fondle.  Lovely stuff, perfect for a sweater.)

Or I could cast on for another sock in a different yarn with my other free long circ (my other one is being used for the Devon socks…also not a great project to have for purse knitting).  My eyes keep getting drawn to this…

Lotus Yarns Mythos Sock Club for May - Medusa, 70% superwash merino 30% SeaCell. 100% delicous.

Or maybe this…

STR Mediumweight Lunasea

While I really want to try out the Lotus Yarn – I always love trying out new fibers & I’ve never used seacell before – my only empty circ needle is a size 2, which I think the mediumweight STR would look better on.  And I might want to save the semi-solid Medusa for a more complicated pattern.  Not to mention it’s nearly the same colour as the KP Essentials I’m using on Scrollin’.

So I guess I just talked myself into STR.

My other project is an old hibernating one.  Anyone remember this?

I’m really embarrassed – I started this in April 2007.  Yes, that’s right, over 2 years ago.  It’s Cables & Os from No Sheep for You and I dig it out every few months & work on a repeat or so before it goes back into hibernation.  While picking out some clothes the other night for a job interview (fingers crossed!), I realized that I really want this sweater – it’s KP Cotlin, perfect for cooler summer days & air conditioned offices.  And such lovely cables.  So it’s back on the needles again…hopefully until it’s finished.  I still have (man this is really embarrassing) 3-4 inches to go on the body before the sleeves, then the yoke, then the sleeves.  I think the reason I keep putting it down is it just takes so darn long to do one row and it’s my first sweater on smaller than size 6 needles.  And a more complicated pattern than I’ve done so I keep having to tink back to correct a mistake, which takes the row even longer.  Sigh.  I thought about frogging it actually, but when I pulled it out again, I fell in love all over again.  So I am determined.

Another green theme is continued from my last post – green eating!  One thing that sparked my interest in organic & homegrown food was my own little garden.  Finally I’m getting some items in bloom!

A teeny tiny tomato!

sunflowers growing on a daily basis - amazing these things started 2 months ago from a tiny sunflower seed!

a pumpkin blossom! Not really green, but I'm excited because I thought my pumpkin plant had died until last week when it started growing all of a sudden

And last, but not least, a sure sign that Summer is in Portland…Roses!

my rose bush that, again, I thought had died over the winter. Hearty plants, those roses.

Have a great week everyone!  I’m off to Eugene on Thursday for the second of the multiple fiber fests in OR this summer - Black Sheep Gathering.  I’m looking forward to it, I’m going  with my lovely mom who is so excited we went 2 years ago & had fun, though I just discovered the Alpacas won’t be there this year.  Sad!  But look out Blue Moon STR mill ends!

Update:  I got a job!  It’s with a dream company – a local yarn/knititng company I adore – you might be able to figure out who that is, but I’ll give more details after I start on Monday!  YAH!

 

Sock Knitting Obsession

Whew. The bad thing about going a couple of weeks between blog posts is where to begin again. So I may as well start with socks – which is all I seem to do these days.

While CoffeeBoy was here, I pretty much just worked on a plain pair of socks – it was good to take along to the movies (go see Up. Right now.) and, since I was the designated driver 90% of the time, perfect for bar knitting.  I finished one.

It’s some Yarn Pirate sock yarn I got in a swap – it’s lovely and I like the striping.  It’s just plain stockinette and a true afterthought heel – I found myself nearing the heel and, not wanting to mess with it just then (I think we were actually going to see Up.  Did I mention I freaking love that movie?), I just knit a half a round with a spare piece of yarn, then picked up stitches when I was ready.  It turned out pretty good, though I think I may have done too many decrease rounds.

But this sock is very boring.  Mind numbing dull.  Which works for out & about knitting but not for knitting at home.  Maybe I’m in denial about Second Sock Syndrome, but I had to cast on a more interesting pair of socks.  I swear, I’m going to knit the second one!  As well as the other single socks I have!  Swear! There’s only one other one!  That I can think of!

Ahem.

This is the lovely Essential Kettle Dyed Yarn from KnitPicks.  I’ve seen some complaints about it, but really, I have none.  It’s nicely variegated  - same with the other skein I have in my stash.  I’ve been buying more semi solid sock yarns lately because I’m more interested in intricate patterns – this one is from More Sensational Knitted Socks; it’s called Scrolls and I really like it – pretty easy to memorize (it’s similar to Reversi actually) and looks really interesting.  Plus it holds my attention.  So the Yarn Pirate sock will go with me to the movies (maybe I’ll go see Up again!) and the Scrollin’ will stay at home with me.

And speaking of MSKS…I will be taking a class with Ms Charlene Schurch at Sock Summit!   I’m very excited, as really, the Sensational Knitted Socks books are what got me into sock knitting – it helped me understand construction & I refer to both books constantly.  Easily the best knitting book purchases I’ve made.   And yes, I managed to get registered during the whole server kerfuffle.  I actually didn’t have too much of an issue – yes, I did get logged out a couple of times, but still managed to register (only once!) for the classes & events I really wanted.  I am sorry for all the people who didn’t get what they wanted (but not sorry for the jerks sending horrible emails to Tina & Stephanie – I’m glad you didn’t get in.) but I’m pleased with my choices.

In case you were wondering, I’m taking Colorful Stitches (with Cristi and Carrie - Yah!) and Top Down Socks That Use Up All The Yarn (the class taught by Charlene Schurch), plus I’m attending the opening ceremony and the Luminary Panel.  I wish I could have taken a Cookie A class, but really, I can’t complain too much.  I’m really looking forward to August!

Well I don’t want to have a miles long post, but I do have more to say – I’ll leave this for now.  By the way, I finally freaking gave in to Twitter - as you may see over on the sidebar.  I was in such denial for so long, but I am enjoying it – it’s nice & clean to read (sorry Plurk) and I’m having fun following people – some of my faves (other than people I already know!) are Augusten Burroughs, John Hodgman, and Neil Gaiman, plus a lot of the local Portland foodie links.  Sigh.  I tried so hard not to do it, but now I’m addicted.  Feel free to add me if I haven’t added you!

 

Summer of Socks

After a brief stint of  comfort knits & toys, I’m back on pretty much only socks now.  I keep casting on for more – maybe it was a mistake buying more long circular needles because if I have free needles, they need to be put to use, right?

I did finish up a pair in time for CoffeeBoy’s visit next week:

More Boy Socks

Started: April 19

Completed: May 19

Yarn:  KnitPicks Bare Superwash Merino/Alpaca/Nylon Sock Yarn and KnitPicks Essential (Ash)

Pattern:  Tubey from Son of Stitch & Bitch

Needles: Size1US

Notes: This will be the 4th pair of socks for CoffeeBoy, hopefully these will stand the test of time (and CB’s doing his own laundry) –  two pairs have felted or shrunk, one pair bled everywhere so they are now pink.  Sigh.  Anyway, these are not the most exciting socks to knit, but CB likes them so of course I’m going to make more.  I’m loving this new Bare yarn – soft & fuzzy!  One day I’ll have to get the actual Imagination yarns, but the Bare is lovely to work with.  Anyway, I used Tubey again for inspiration, but it’s my basic top down sock, slip stitch heel & plain toe.  I did go down a needle size for these (usually I knit the socks on 2US because…well, it goes faster) so maybe these will last a bit longer.

More socks!

An update on my Sunshine Socks – I’ve been working on them while watching season 2 of Veronica Mars – funny, I finally have cable, yet I keep watching my old videos.  Anyway, I like the  pattern a lot, as always with Cookie A.  I probably should be further with these but…

…I had to cast on with my new Cashmara yarn from the Knit/Crochet show last week.  Oo, I forget how much faster socks go on DK weight yarn.  I’m doing another Reversi – and hope these last.   I would have had a complete sock but I had to rip back – I did the pattern heel and got half way down the socks & worried I would run out of yarn on the second sock.  So I did a simple short row heel instead.  I’m also planning on not sewing up the toes right away on this sock until I’m sure I have enough yarn – if not, I’ll have rip back again.  Now that I think about it, I guess I should have done an afterthought heel.

But to be honest, most of my days (nice days that is) have been spent working in my yard – I kind of got lazy for a week or two and spent way too much time being a depressed couch potato and I am fighting falling into that again.  So it’s been yard work for the past couple of days – and I really need to invest in better sun block. Ow!

Here’s my latest project – my “orchard”

That’s a nectarine, plum & peach tree planted there, along with my grape vines that are finally coming in.  I doubt I’ll get much fruit off of them this year, but we’ll see!  Obviously, I still have some work to do in this area.   It’s suppose to be beautiful the next few days, so I think I’ll get more done!  :)

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

You are my Sunshine

It’s been a dreary couple of days here in the Northwest – a few sunbreaks, but mostly rain rain rain

taken off my front porch - the end of my driveway always gets so flooded

So I decided I needed some sunshine to cheer me up:

Like I really need more sock yarn.  I bought this for a couple of reasons –  I was really in the mood for some yellow – most of my sock yarn is more muted and the ones that are bright were too variegated for what I had in mind.  Yellow is a colour I don’t really go out of my way to get – it’s hard to put my finger on what kind I like   Anyway, I keep seeing this cheery colour pop up on blogs lately (too many to list, but Turtlegirl’s new Bugga purchase is a great example) and I needed to have some desperately.

I also wanted something I can work on when I go to the open craft night at Twisted – I don’t feel right going to a knit night and working on a yarn not purchased there.  (Let’s not think about the other sock yarn I have in my stash from there.  They are not yellow, damnit.)  Of course, due to a sick kitty I wanted to keep an eye on, I ended up not going last night anyway.  (Mina seems to be okay now by the way). Well, there’s always next week.

The pretty bag is also from Twisted

Finally, I recently purchased Cookie A’s new book and I wanted a semi solid to work on some of the patterns (again, let’s ignore the 2 skeins of KnitPicks Essential Kettle Dyed I just bought, as well as a Malabrigo Sock  that is a semi solid. Not yellow, damnit.)  This Cherry Tree Hill yarn was perfect – it’s their new Supersock Select Semi Solids and lordy is it soft soft soft.  I’ve actually never worked with Cherry Tree Hill yarn before but I don’t think this will be my last purchase from them.

yes, those are my Boos watching me in the background

Even balling it up was a delight, I just want to roll around in this yarn. 

I ended up choosing Devon for the pattern & I got through one full repeat last night.

look at me, using stitch markers and everything

I think I’m going to like how these turn out!  Of course, I’m also working on a half dozen other projects, some with deadlines – gifts for mother’s day and socks for CoffeeBoy (who will be here 3 weeks from today, I can’t wait!).  But at least now when I need a bit of sunshine in my life, I can just admire my socks!

 

Sooo…

It’s been awhile.  Most of it has to do with my internet connection – or lack there of.   I was able to pick up a free signal…if I stood out on my porch and the wind was right.  So while I was able to check my email & such, it made blogging a bit more of a pain.  And really, I didn’t have much to blog about.  Oh I have been knitting – just not finishing a darn thing.  So really, even if I did bring my computer to the coffeeshop to sit down and write, I didn’t really have much to say.

And really at this moment, I still don’t.  I finally have a internet connection I can actually use in the house but I feel at a loss. You’d think, with no job & not much of  a social life, I would have multitudes of FOs to show off.  Wrong.  I have none.  Part of it is the fact it’s been absolutly beautiful and I’ve been trying to take care of the yard.

pretty picture of the tree in my front yard

The yard has taken up a lot of my time – with the exception of a couple of trips CoffeeBoy & I took out here, it hasn’t been cared for in over a year.  Not to mention, this is the first time I’ve lived alone in a house with a yard to keep up with.  So it’s been quite an experience.

Another factor is general restlessness.  I knit for a bit, then I have to get up & do something else.  I don’t know if it’s the projects I’m working on, or what.  Maybe I need an instrant gratification project or something.

I did finish a sock.

 

Groovin' sock

But instead of casting on for its mate like I normally do, I co for a pair of socks for CoffeeBoy.

Mostly because I’m doing quite a bit of reading and it’s so much easier to work on the borring stockinette while reading  than trying to mess with a pattern.

The yarn is the newest in the Bare line at KnitPicks – the Superwash Merino/Alpaca blend and it is as lovevly as it sounds.  My worry is CB washing & drying them – though they are superwash, I worry about his tendency to just throw everything in the dryer – he did that with the first pair of socks I made him & he thinks they shrunk up a little.  Sigh.  Good thing I love him.

I’ve been making some inroads on setting up the house…to the surprise of no one, I had to get my yarn out in the open right away.

that's most of my yarn...though there are some storage bins stacked underneath.

It just made me happy to have it all out.  I put the shelves up myself – my father would have been so proud (he was a woodworking guy – I still have much of the furniture he made me).  Between the yard & shelving I’ve been putting up, Home Depot has become my best friend.  It’s also right next to my gym – where I’m pleased to say I’ve been making a concious effort to go at least 5 times a week.  

So that’s a brief update of what’s been going on – hopefully now with much easier internet access, I will be around more. To end, here’s another pretty flower from my yard

Happy Earth Day!

 

Some WiPs

I’ve been so restless since getting back to Portland – I’ve been trying to keep busy so I won’t be so sad.  Most have my days have been spent working on the yard – I planted a tiny garden out back & have about 6 big pots of plants on my deck, plus I have been doing all the yard work that has been neglected for a very long time.  It’s touch living alone in a house with a big yard.  And yesterday, the movers showed up so I’ve been working on trying to unpack, which is exhausting.  But I’m managing.

 

This restlessness has taken root in my knitting as well.  I’ve been pretty good at having one or two projects on the needles at a time the past couple of months.  I currently have 3 I’m working on and a bunch I have in mind.

First up, some groovy socks!

This is the Handgefaerbt merino sock yarn I ordered last fall – it’s really nice.  The pattern is Groovy Socks  and I think this might be my new mindless pattern – it looks really cool and super simple to memorize.

Next!

This is the pretty pretty pattern Ishbel with my pretty pretty Lotus Yarns Mythos Yarn Club shipment #1.  It’s my first lace project and seems to be going well – I made an error near the beginning but it’s not that noticeable.  I’m doing the small version but I heard on Stash & Burn that Nicole is also making an Ishbel but suggested doing the plain portion for the large size for maximum use of the sock yarn.  Great idea!  So that’s what I’m going to do – I have about 15 more rows of the plain stitching to go.

Next!

I found this great deal on this wool/soy yarn at Ben Franklin – two 220 yard skeins  for $8 and it’s super soft – I was concerned it would be similar to Patons SWS, which while I do like, isn’t that comfortable to wear. Nope!  I knit up the swatch & it feels so nice.  Decided I really needed another cardigan similar to my Central Park Hoodie (which I wear everywhere) and decided on Cassidy - similar but  more complex cables. Of course, it’s getting a little too warm for a wool sweater but, eh, I’ll love it in the fall.

I also got my KnitPicks order this week so I have all sorts of ideas on items to make with that – I knit up a washcloth with the new  Simply Cotton and it is lovely.  I can’t wait to make more.

But for now, I’ll be working on my other multiple projects,  including my non knitting ones