As I keep reminding myself because days mean very little anymore, today is Wednesday, so I will share my brand-new WIP! Finishing my Sonny & Tubbs socks left me with zero socks on my needles, and that is never acceptable. I had to cast on pronto, and I was excited to finally be able to pull out my LolaBean Jimmy the Model set! (If you’re not familiar with Jimmy the Model, look for him and/or LolaBean Yarn Co. on Instagram. Jimmy is her husband. They are delightful together and on their own!)
My son says he keeps glancing over and seeing Jimmy’s face, and it catches him off guard every time. For me, I like to catch a glimpse of a smiling face! The bag was a collaboration with Mrs. Brown’s Bags and it’s fantastic: roomy and very well-made.
I did work on my Sea Swell shawl last night as I watched the shit storm that was supposed to be a presidential debate. I’ll just say I had to refill my wine glass twice, and it took me a while to unwind to go to bed! Here’s hoping any future debates go more smoothly.
I got too confident, that’s what happened. I was knitting socks with my fabulous Sonny & Tubbs yarn from Show Me Yarn and when I started the second sock, the stripes were lining up perfectly. I was so happy. But then I hit the heel and all hell broke loose, though I didn’t realize it at the time. Two days ago, I was working the foot and wanted to see how close to the toe I was. Well, that was a disappointment because I discovered I’d made the legs different lengths, but it wasn’t a big deal.
But wait, the heel turns were different colors too? Oh yep, I started the heel flap too soon on the second sock. Fine, I didn’t need matching stripes on my socks.
Last night I finished the socks. As I always do, I line them up against each other to see how closely they match. One foot was significantly bigger than the other. WHAT the heck. Friends, it’s a good thing I don’t need matching socks.
Yes, that’s right: on the second sock, I carried the ribbing down the foot, instead of doing a stockinette foot like the first sock. ARGH.
At least they fit. And besides, Sonny and Tubbs didn’t match either!
My other shawl got done sooner than I anticipated, and was blocking by late Saturday morning. Did I then wind my Rasta? Nope. Did I start my LEGO set? Nope. I was good and heeded the hint of finish-itis that’s starting to bloom, and I picked up my Mermaid Shawl. I’ve been working on it all weekend and today I faded in the last color. But good grief, this shawl is killing me.
It’s endless. I have two more short-row wedges left to knit, then an I-cord bind off. So the next time I think I want to make a big five-skein shawl, just slap me, okay? Or at least tell me to use purples and pinks! The silver lining is that the last color is the best, the deep blue-purple meant to represent the deepest part of the ocean. And darn it, I do love an I-cord bind off once it’s done.
I also managed to bake peanut butter chocolate chip bread and start the new Jodi Picoult book this weekend. If only we could squeeze in one more day before Monday!
I have zero FOs this Friday. Not really any that are very close either, though if I have some solid knitting time this weekend, I might get through one of them. I’ve been focusing on a shawl with some new review yarn (early review: it’s scrummy, as Mary Berry would say). It’s aran weight so you’d think it would go quickly, but my brain has been tired at night the last couple of weeks. It’s a good thing, though: I’ve been doing more writing/ content creation stuff at work, and even though it’s taxing my brain, it’s so good. It’s so much more fulfilling than just doing social media stuff. So cross your fingers that this trend carries on!
Anyway, shawl. It’s also a black yarn, and I am old so my eyes need good light for black yarn, especially when it comes to lace. Last night I was zooming along but lost track of which row I was on, and I just didn’t want to deal with trying to read my stitches in black yarn at 9 pm. That’s my goal for today, because I’m on the home stretch with this one and I’d like to be done soon!
You might think I’d like to be done so I can return to current WIPs. Maybe. Or maybe I want to cast on something with some new Malabrigo Rasta??
A cowl with this would be fast! And perfect for the fall weather that’s looming. But yes, I’d also go back to WIPs. I’d like to finish Tubbs so I can move on to new sock yarn. I always have new sock yarn calling my name. And I’ll also spend some time on my new LEGO set. I’ve embraced LEGOs as therapy for when I’m feeling anxious or stressed and I have a big new set waiting for me!
Honestly, I struggle with buying these, as much as I love them. I abhor what JKR has said about trans people, and I worry about doing anything that might support her or make other people think I support the views she espouses. But I have so much love for the HP world itself, the movies are serious comfort movies for me, and I have a lot of great memories with my kids that involve the HP world. So I am conflicted, seriously conflicted. I was talking about it at dinner the other day, and the boy had a great suggestion: donate to a trans rights organization as well.
Today I googled “trans rights charities” and donated to GLSEN: “GLSEN believes that every student has the right to a safe, supportive, and LGBTQ-inclusive K-12 education. We are a national network of educators, students, and local GLSEN Chapters working to make this right a reality.”
They’re both small actions in the grand scheme of things, but I do like the balance I feel with the donation.
That’s my weekend sorted: knitting and LEGOs! Fine, and a few chores too. Anyone doing anything fun this weekend?
For my knitting date yesterday, I packed three projects, because of course I would need that many for maybe six-ish hours of knitting, right? I had a sock in progress, sock yarn to cast on, and a garter stitch shawl WIP. I bet you knitters out there can guess how many I worked on. Yep, the socks in progress and that’s it. And it wasn’t even six-ish hours of knitting because a couple of those hours were spent hiking! Still, Sonny & Tubbs are looking pretty good.
And the stripes are even matching up, how about that?? I don’t get that very often, and I don’t really care, but when it does happen without much effort on my part, I find it rather magical. I also find new yarn magical, especially new birthday yarn that is purple and pink and named after a fantastic 80s song!
This is Tainted Love from Rock and String Creations and it might have to be my next pair of socks, as soon as I’m done with Tubbs up there. I’m pretty lucky to have good friends in my life!
Today I told Covid to eff off and had the most wonderful day. Sarah from Mildly Granola only lives about three hours from me, so today we made plans to meet mostly in the middle for an outdoor socially-distanced knitting date and it was SO MUCH FUN. We met at a rest stop, which was actually next to a park, and it worked out so well because we could set up our chairs in the grassy picnic area for knitting and snacking, and we were within walking distance of a clean indoor bathroom. Then we walked across the street to the park and had a fantastic four-mile hike.
For all our grand plans of knitting all day, we actually spent longer hiking than we did knitting. The weather was gorgeous: sunny and lower 70s. We saw a hawk and a deer and a lake and a lagoon and just walked by ourselves for ages, with almost no other people around. It’s so nice to spend time with someone you can let down your guard with and share all your worries with. Okay, maybe not all, but some. I just feel relaxed and calm and almost peaceful, which is weird and unusual for right now but I like it. It was very restorative, which is why we’re definitely going to do it again before winter comes! Happy Sunday, friends.
I’m late to the Color Quiz party from Nothing But Knit but I thought it would be fun to play along anyway!
What is your favorite color? How is this color reflected in your crafting? Is there anyone reading this who doesn’t know it’s purple? The bulk of my projects are purple, my blog has a purple background, many of my craft accessories are purple…
Do you prefer bright colors or more subdued shades? Bright colors for sure! Purple, pink, turquoise.
Does your color mood shift with the seasons? Do you carry one color all year and just change the accent color? I think there is a bit of shifting, with bright, vivid colors for spring/summer and jewel tones for cooler weather, but there’s always some shade of purple in there.
Is there a color you avoid? Or maybe it’s underrepresented in your crafting? I don’t like yellow at all. I don’t buy yellow yarn unless it’s for a specific project. I’ve used it in a couple of Wonder Woman-themed projects but not on its own for me. And since I dyed my hair purple, I don’t wear red, so I don’t knit with it much.
When you pick out your crafting supplies how important is color to you? Is it the first thing you consider or is it a bit further down the list? Color is the number one factor, followed by feel. Even if it’s purple, it has to be soft!
Do you ever consciously choose a different color palette just for the change? Nope. The few times I’ve made things in less-than-favorite colors, the projects drag and I don’t enjoy it as much, so I just embrace the purpleness!
My recent shawl-knitting obsession fell by the wayside the last week or so. I couldn’t resist casting on a new sock with some of my birthday yarn, and this sock practically flew off my needles! I mean, this is obviously a progress shot, but it’s done now. The yarn is Bootheel sock from Show Me Yarn in the color Sonny & Tubbs.
Once I finished the first one, I decided I needed to be good and finish a lingering pair of gift socks. I was partway through the leg of the second sock so I knew it wouldn’t take too long. But here’s the problem with making gift socks: they’re not as addictive if they’re not for me! Especially if I’m doing colors that don’t speak to me. So it’s possible that sock-knitting is primarily a selfish thing for me. Anyway, I finished the second sock and now have a pair ready to mail.
The eagle-eyed among you might notice the socks don’t match exactly. The main yarn is from a 50g skein of Happy Feet. I had two skeins but weighed the first after making the first sock and thought I’d have enough for the second. Well, not quite. I ran out with about 3/4″ left of the foot to knit. That wasn’t enough to make me want to add in the second skein and two more ends to weave in, so I just started the green early. The recipient won’t care a bit, I don’t think. It’s funny how I’m so much a perfectionist in every other area of my life, but in my knitting, it’s all just “Eh, that works!” Maybe that’s just one more benefit that knitting brings to my life!
Hello. It me. I’m the work in progress today. And every day, actually. I don’t know know why the blogging hasn’t been happening the last several days. I’ve been knitting, I’ve had time. Just no motivation, I suppose. I’ll ease back into it by sharing my birthday goodies from last weekend!
My work team sent me a box to open during a Zoom meeting, which was fun. There was a Wonder Woman theme, which is perfect. My boss even made the cupcakes (and they were delish)!
Saturday was my actual birthday and I made out a like a bandit. The husband picked out five gorgeous skeins of yarn, plus a couple of enamel pins and a wrist ruler. And dog shoes! The boy bought me a LEGO set, which was a fun reversal after us buying him LEGOs for so many years.
But Saturday was also National Local Yarn Store Day! Of course I HAD to visit my favorite LYS, right? I went out to Yarn Social first thing in the morning, all masked up, and had the store to myself for most of the time. Though I didn’t go around petting all the yarn like I used to do, it was still so nice to be back in a comforting, familiar environment, and I came home with more treasures than I’d planned to.
I also got to have a nice phone call with the girl, who’s back at school, and a small socially-distant family party. The weather was beautiful, I had plenty of time to relax and knit, and I couldn’t have asked for much more. Now if only every weekend could be like that!
I missed WIP Wednesday, so you’ll get the WIP without the alliteration today. Late last week, or maybe last Saturday, I cast on for a new shawl with my new yarn. This is the Hope and Feathers shawl with my Lolodidit Halloween yarn. I really did think this was going to be sock yarn when I ordered it but boy was I wrong, because it’s PERFECT in this pattern.
My zigzags don’t seem as prominent as the ones in the original, but I’m sure that’s just because there’s not as much contrast in my yarns and I still think it looks awesome. And this pattern is seriously addictive. I worked on it all of Saturday and Sunday, until I got distracted by my other projects on Monday. I’m eager to get back to it!
I also got a little bit of happy mail earlier this week, a skein of yarn that I ordered from Bumblebee Acres Farm back in August. It came with a set of mini minis, and I find them adorable but am not quite sure what to do with them.
