Back to real life

Aug17

Whew, it’s been a whirlwind this past week! I thought I’d have a post up a day or two ago, but there just hasn’t been the time or energy or brainpower. We had a wonderful trip. The girl is all settled in to her dorm room and is loving college life so far. We love her campus, the people seemed friendly and helpful, and we already know it’s a great program, so I’m feeling okay about leaving her there. It was sad that night when we left, but overall I’d say we’re handling it just fine. I don’t know, maybe it’ll get worse, but so far, I’m just happy she’s where she wants to be.

We saw lots of gorgeous mountains, hiked in the Flatirons and in Rocky Mountain National Park, and spent a lot of time wishing we could move to Colorado. (Someday!) We hit bookstores and record stores galore. I found a place called The Chocolate Lab that had boozy butterbeer. (Too much actual beer. Gave to the husband and ordered a Dark Chocolate Elixir with Godiva liqueur instead. YUM.)

And yes, yarn stores! I visited three, only three, but I did some significant damage. No, that sounds too negative: I found a LOT of marvelous yarn. Too much to share in this post, to be honest, so that will be my next post. For now, I’ll share the progress I made on my newest project. It’s called the Michigan Avenue Wrap and I’m using three colors of Brown Sheep Stratosphere, their new superwash DK. The colors are gorgeous together and it’s growing quickly. I’m looking forward to having it for the cold fall temperatures.

It’s a lovely, soothing mindless knit, which is really important right sometimes. But to be honest, I’m feeling less stressed now that we have the girl settled in at school. Yes, I miss her, but it’s not hanging over my head anymore, and we can all settle into the new routine.

Can’t wait to show you all my new yarns!!

And away she goes

Aug9

Crap. It’s time. I mean, how exciting! We get to take our girl to college! 650 miles away! Right? Right. Sigh. Yeah. I really don’t know how to describe it. Of course I’m super excited for her, and it’s the right thing and I want her to go. But then there’s the whole “end of childhood” thing and not getting to see her all the time, and those parts aren’t the funnest. Parenting is weird, guys. And hard. But on the plus side, I get to visit the mountains, and that’s always a good thing.

We’re driving, so I’ll have lots of car knitting time, plus I’ll be going to The Loopy Ewe as well as other yarn stores, I’m sure. So I won’t be posting while I’m gone, but I’ll have plenty so share when I get back! Until then, I’ll share the beginning of my Zen Yarn Garden shawl.

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I chose Stephen West’s Dotted Rays – Speckled Fade. It seemed perfect for this yarn, and I’ve been wanting to knit a fade shawl. And so far OMG I LOVE IT. I love the pattern and I ADORE the yarn. It is the most decadent, splurge-y, luxurious yarn I think I’ve ever knit with. (Pretty sure that’s the cashmere talking.) This will be one of my car projects, along with a sock and a new garter stitch chevron wrap that I haven’t actually started yet. Maybe the knitting will be a good distraction.

Switching things up

Aug6

Do you like rearranging your furniture? Moving things around to make a room feel fresh and different? I do, and if I can add a new piece, all the better! Over the weekend, the boy decided he wanted the desk space a 6′ folding table provides, rather than the smaller library table he’s been using. I’ve been using a folding table for the same reason, but I love the look of the oak library table. Plus, it belonged to my dad, so there’s a lot of sentimental value too. It didn’t take long to switch out the old and bring in the new.

It was really hard to take a good photo, what with all the windows behind the desk. But I think you can get the gist. I’m quite pleased with it. It’s nice and sturdy, and doesn’t wobble when I write in my journal like the old table did. And it holds everything I need! The only drawback is that I lost my yarn winding space. But heck, I can do that downstairs, or get a small folding table for the other wall…hm, I like that idea a lot!

Wonder Woman Dishcloth

Aug5

It was the weirdest feeling: I had the time and inclination to knit, but I didn’t want to start another sock. I wasn’t in a shawl mood. I really wanted to make a hat but didn’t know who would want one, since I don’t really wear them much and the girl already has a ton. Maybe a cowl? But I already have so many. Nothing sounded good. I had all this yarn and nothing to make.

Thankfully, Ravelry came to the rescue. I browsed through my library until something jumped out at me: a Wonder Woman dishcloth! Fast, easy, and useful! And I even had red cotton in my stash already. It went so fast that I was able to get two made in one day, both out of one ball. I did modify the second one, though. It’s designed as a long rectangle, so for the second one I shaved off two stitches from either side. I like it, but I think I’d also like to try it with a couple of extra rows above and below the pattern. Still, they’re pretty wonderful!

And now today I feel like my palate has been cleansed and I can start fresh. I have the urge to cast on both a new sock and a new shawl! And maybe one more dishcloth.

ShaZAM! It’s done!

Aug4

Wow, that was like magic: this project flew off my needles! I cast on three projects last Sunday, and suddenly I’m back down to one (a sock). You needn’t be too impressed at the speed of this one, given that it was a one-skein cowl in worsted weight on size 8 needles, with a very simple lace pattern that was really barely lace. It was my comfort knitting last night. It’s not been the best week, or two weeks, or summer, to be honest, for a lot of reasons, but yesterday I was in a serious funk. I escaped for Mexican food and a margarita with the sister, which was a lovely treat that helped a lot, and when I got home I picked up the cowl and turned on an old episode of ER. I didn’t expect to finish, but suddenly I was at the end and binding off before the show even ended.

The pattern is sha-ZAM! on Ravelry. This was a fun knit. I love these one-skein cowls; they’re so easy and fun to wear. And it was a treat to get back to some squishy soft Malabrigo. Makes me look forward to fall, when I can actually wear things like this again. (NOT winter! Note the difference, please, Mother Nature!)

And now, with almost empty needles again, I am eager for my next shawl project, and it’s going to be amazing! I have 3 skeins of Zen Yarn Garden Serenity 20 Fingering in a gorgeous Vivid bundle that I’m itching to cast on. I mean, it’s a whopping 1200 yards of 70% superwash merino, 20% cashmere, with 10% nylon.

I’m pretty sure this is going to be my first WestKnits project, but I’m debating between The Doodler and the Dotted Rays – Speckled Fade. Have you made either? Both? How do I choose??

Fastest Shawl Ever

Aug1

I bound off my Denim Sprinkles shawl on Monday night, just eight days after casting on. I have never finished a shawl that quickly before, but the combination of the gorgeous yarn and addictive pattern meant I wanted to work on it all the time, and BAM! It was done!

I did have to improvise though: the pattern calls for 380 yards of fingering weight yarn on size 5 needles. My yarn was 437 yards of heavy fingering/sport, so I went up to a size 6 needle and assumed I’d have more than enough yarn. Oops. I ran out with three rows and a bind off left. Luckily, I had some sock yarn in white that matched perfectly, so the eyelet edging is all white, and I think it’s absolutely perfect. A happy accident, as the husband said. Even unblocked, I could tell this was going to be an awesome shawl, and it needed blocking badly.

In that before shot, the edge is undefined and wavy, and the shawl itself sort of squishes all together. But then you wash it and pin it out and let it dry and it becomes a whole new thing of beauty!

If you like lace shawls, I highly recommend Sugar Sprinkles. It’s easy enough for beginners, interesting enough to not be boring, and makes a wonderfully wearable shawl. I’m pretty sure I’ll be making this one again! The yarn is Ancient Arts Fibre Crafts Passion 8, in the color T-Shirt and Jeans, and I loved it. It’s definitely heavier than I would use for socks, but it’s perfect for shawls, and I bet it would make an amazing sweater!

I probably won’t ever make another shawl so quickly! What’s been your fastest shawl?

Denim Sprinkles Shawl

Jul28

This is my last new cast-on after clearing off all my needles last weekend. The Ancient Arts T-shirt and Jeans yarn was still high on my list of “must knit” but I didn’t want it to be socks. Partly because white socks never seem like a good idea, and partly because I wanted it to become something more visible than socks. While going through my Ravelry queue, I found the pattern for the Sugar Sprinkles shawl, which I’ve been wanting to make for quite a while, and it checked off all my boxes: Long narrow shawl, variegated yarn, lace, right yarn weight and yardage. I bought it, downloaded it to my pattern app (I use Knit Companion) only to discover it was already in there! I think I must have downloaded it when she did a short free period, but I forgot about it. Oh well, the $4 is totally worth it.

This is a really fun knit! I love making eyelets, and the pattern switches back and forth often enough that I don’t get bored quickly. This was my progress on Monday night, and it’s been my evening knitting (when I’m not too tired to knit). This morning I took it outside again to get a progress photo.

It’s so fun! I think it’s going to be a great addition to my shawl wardrobe. But here’s the thing: it’s gotten long. Like really long. There are over 250 stitches on the needle, and when I tried to spread them out to show the size of the shawl, about 10 stitches jumped off one end! And you know yarnovers just love to spring free. ARGH. I managed to catch most of them, and I got it kind of fixed, but I’m pretty sure my stitch count is off now and I’ll have to do some fudging to get it back. Thankfully this is a forgiving pattern where being a stitch or two off doesn’t really hurt the look of it.

So now I have three projects on my needles, and that seems like a good number for me, at least for now. What’s a comfortable number of WIPs for you?

I’m a Ravenclaw

Jul27

Family Fun Day was a hit, I think. We toured the American Jazz Museum at 18th & Vine, which was really cool. Best part for me was the Ella Fitzgerald exhibit, complete with one of her gowns!

We had bison burgers at a fun restaurant, bought too many records at the record store, and saw Ant-Man and the Wasp at a fancy new theater which had leather recliners, complete with seat warmers! It was quite a day, but by the end I think we were all tired and ready for some quiet time.

I did take some knitting in the car with me, of course. Once I’d finished Jungle Boogie, I had to cast on a new pair immediately. Apparently I’m unable to go without at least one pair of socks on my needles at all times. It was hard to choose which yarn, though! At first I thought I’d use my Ancient Arts T-shirt and Jeans, but the more I looked at it, the more I realized it needed to be something even better than socks.

tshirtandjeans

I set it aside and rummaged through my self-striping yarn, finally deciding I needed to make the Biscotte Yarn Ravenclaw socks to go with my Gryffindor socks. I cast on Monday during my lunch break at work, and this will be my lunch/car knitting. Can’t go wrong with a vanilla sock in self-striping yarn! I did manage to get a few rows in while at the movie, but once I dropped a stitch I decided to set it aside until I had some light.

I don’t know that I’ll make the full set of houses. Yellow is my least favorite color, and do I really want to wear Slytherin socks? Okay, yes, some days I would totally wear Slytherin socks. But then if I make those, I have to make Hufflepuff just to have the complete set, right? Right. Bring on the yarn!

Sha-ZAM!

Jul26

With empty needles, I happily poked through my stash to see what I should knit next, and four pretty little skeins jumped out at me. The first was a skein of Malabrigo Rios, an aberration because I’ve been knitting so much with fingering weight yarn. I had an urge to make a cowl, one of my favorite things to knit. I love to knit on circular needles, I love the feel of merino wool in my hands, and I love to play with different patterns. And best of all, I love having so many cowls to wear when it’s cold.

This skein is the color Aniversario. I’ve bought this colorway before but it’s one where there’s huge variations in colors. I made a Hitchhiker Beyond in this color, but it has a lot of blue/indigo. This skein is mostly red. I chose a fun, free one-skein cowl pattern called Sha-ZAM! and it’s going very quickly.

I’d forgotten how much I love Malabrigo. It’s so soft, with that yummy squish factor. I definitely need to make my next sweater in Malabrigo!

Two weeks from today, we leave to take the girl to college in Colorado. (EEK!) I’m freaking out a little, but I’m also super excited for her. And I can’t wait to visit my mountains again. Anyway, before she leaves, I decided we needed some family time, so I declared today a Family Fun Day and we all took the day off work. We’ll visit the Jazz Museum, have some lunch, go to a fantastic big vintage record store, and who knows what else. Maybe a movie? I won’t get much knitting done, but that’s all right. Knitting can wait.

FO: Jungle Boogie Socks

Jul24

This is the final finished object from my busy weekend of knitting. Finishing the sweater and the Easy shawl felt so good that I wanted to wrap up the last project on my needles, the Jungle Boogie socks. I was just past the gusset decreases so it was easy stockinette in the round for a few inches. I watched some Fixer Upper and read some of An American Marriage (it’s super good so far) and grafted the toe late Sunday morning. Time to boogie!

Here’s the one tiny flaw in these socks: I can’t figure out how to photograph that bright, almost glow-in-the-dark green! I tried in different places, with different light, with different camera settings, and it just stumped me. Suffice it to say it’s really really bright, and these are amazing socks! I absolutely love the color combo. I’m especially proud because these are my first socks where the stripes match almost perfectly.

The yarn is Show Me Yarn Bootheel in color Jungle Boogie. Their yarn has quickly become my favorite sock yarn. The colors are vivid and fun, and the yarn is soft in my hand but still sturdy and firm, making socks that feel durable. It washes wonderfully and feels great on my feet. I’m sad that I only have one more skein in my stash. The contrast color is Amethyst Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solids.

And with these socks done, my needles were EMPTY. That is a rare occurrence, and it felt so refreshing. But the best part about it was feeling free to cast on all the things!

Oh, and good news: my sweater has been washed and dried and it relaxed so beautifully! The yarn is much softer, and it has a lovely drape. The sleeves are way too long but I ended up with a sweater I can wear, so I call that a win.

bonnyknits

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