Wonderful Worsted

Apr2

Have you ever made socks with worsted weight yarn? I hadn’t, but I cast one on last night after work and by bedtime I was past the gusset! And not only is it super fast, it’s thick and squishy too. The yarn is Mountain Meadow Wool Tweed Worsted, and I’m using Agate for the body and Pumice for the cuff and toe. It might not be the softest yarn against my face, but I think it will make fantastic boot socks.

I might even make some for the boy to wear with his Doc Martens, if I can manage making socks for man-sized feet. They do take a long time, but then again, as fast as worsted weight socks go, maybe it would be fine!

More yarn showed up in my mailbox the other day. I swear, having good reasons to buy yarn is definitely a silver lining to this whole mess. These beauties came from Yarn Cafe Creations and helped pay to repair their water well. I felt good helping and I got yarn!

The two on the left will be a future shawl of some sort, and the one on the left will become socks, probably as soon as I finish my worsted socks!

I’m so glad I’ve got my knitting mojo back and will enjoy it as long as it decides to stay. I’ve also been rewatching the Twilight movies and just having something so familiar that I love so much has been really comforting. I’m thinking I’ll move on to the Harry Potter series when I’m done with Twilight. What are you finding brings you the most comfort these days?

It’s back…I think

Mar30

My knitting mojo seems to have returned (knocks on wood). I don’t know if it’s connected to finishing the puzzle and needing something else to occupy me, or if it’s coincidental, but I spent quite a while yesterday working on my Bonny Lass shawl and she’s growing nicely. I’m on Chart five of eight now.

The yellow strand is my lifeline, which I have been using faithfully and makes me feel more secure. Now watch, the one time I have a lifeline, I won’t mess up and need it! Actually, that would be great. This pattern is pure lace and I have no desire to tink or frog any of it.

It was a good weekend overall, really. Got some much-needed cleaning done, spent some time outside, got some knitting done, watched some Twilight movies for comfort, and the husband made bread for the first time. It was delicious, and made enough for pizza crust too. I have to say, there are some things about this enforced time at home that are not all bad. I mean, it sucks that we have to worry about whether we should use up our flour or milk on baked goods, but it’s lovely that we’re taking the time to do that baking, and it’s probably good for us to learn to appreciate what we have. I am very very lucky. I have a large, unopened bag of flour, three gallons of milk, and probably 20 rolls of toilet paper. (Don’t fret: we shop at Sam’s regularly. I had bought a package shortly before the pandemic started. I’m not a hoarder.) The boy is feeling restless and bored but oh, he’s being so patient and understanding about everything. He gets it, gets why it’s necessary, and he’s making the best of a hard situation. I’m so proud of him right now.

I am lucky, and if it weren’t for the background worries of infection and recession and deaths, I might be pretty content with this peaceful life at home. Maybe it just bodes well for retirement!

Happy Monday, friends. Hope it’s a good one for you.

Still not much knitting

Mar29

My knitting mojo has been on hiatus this past week, which is weird and strange since it’s a habit that I seek for comfort at other times. But I’ve had the urge a little bit this weekend so I’m crossing my fingers that I’m getting back into the swing of things. Since I haven’t been knitting, I’ve been hard at work at my darn gray/black puzzle and I’m happy to say it’s done and the glue is drying as I type!

Now I just need to order a frame and this one will be off the table and onto my wall. I’ve ordered some more puzzles, more colorful ones this time.

We’ve had gorgeous spring weather this weekend; hope you have too, and are getting to enjoy it!

Not a stitch

Mar26

There was no knitting yesterday. Crazy, right? We’re working from home, I have so much time, I should be knitting up a storm! Wait, no, there is no “should be” anything right now, so let’s say, you’d think I’d be knitting up a storm. Instead, I spent most of my free time yesterday working on this:

WHY I thought this would be a fun puzzle, I don’t know! There are so many black pieces and shades of gray and I despair of ever finishing it, but I’m just stubborn enough to do it, if for no other reason than to allow myself to buy a more colorful puzzle.

Today we have sunshine and it’s almost Friday and it was another happy mail day at my house. This is the last of my stress-purchase yarn but it’s all so GOOD:

On the left are two skeins from Orange Jellyfish Dream. The bright multicolored is sock yarn and the purple/gray was a discounted OOAK skein of fingering weight, so maybe a shawl? On the right are four skeins of SoLo, a fingering weight merino from LoloDidIt, that will become an Olive Pink shawl. Maybe I’ll get some knitting done tonight, who knows!

WIP Wednesday: Bonny Lass

Mar25

I know it’s Wednesday because Blogville tells me so, with other WIP Wednesday posts! I wasted no time in winding my beautiful Bonny Lass yarn from Kitty Pride Fibers last night. I’d already done some pattern hunting while I waited for the yarn to arrive so I just had to make my final pick. I knew I wanted lace, and I felt like it needed to be a classic half-circle shawl shape. I ended up choosing Dowland and cast on last night.

This will definitely NOT be a watching TV kind of project, and in fact, might be the first project where I faithfully use lifelines! I’m about to start chart two of eight, and I’m thinking the first lifeline will go in at the end of chart two, just to be safe. Do you use lifelines for all your lace projects?

Well, this was a day

Mar24

I don’t even know what day it is. Tuesday, maybe? I think so. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed for sure; not grumpy but anxious and unsettled. I pushed through some work and made mac & cheese AND li’l smokies for lunch, and that was good. We had a team call this afternoon and I was surprised at how nice it was to see the faces of my coworkers. I walked Duncan in the fresh air, and even though it was still kind of gray, it felt good. And then I came home and made some chocolate pound cake. Somehow, through all of that, I’ve come out on a better side. It’s not great, not perfect, but not as dismal as this morning. My happy mail today helped a little, I’m sure.

The yarn is A Bonny Lass from Kitty Pride Fibers at Dye Hard Yarns and it’s just as gorgeous as I thought it would be. I can’t wait to wind it and cast on for a big, lacy shawl. The bags are from Aunt Steph’s Handmade Gifts. She was going to be a vendor at KITH, but when that was cancelled, I found her Etsy shop and managed to restrain myself with just these two bags. There were so many others that tempted me though, and I found the prices very reasonable!

As for actual knitting, this is my most recent WIP. It’s the Round and Round Cowl and I’m using a self-striping yarn from Biscotte Yarns. I love their yarns but have found that the socks I make with them tend to felt faster than other yarns, so I figured this nifty black and white would make a good neutral cowl.

But tonight I’ll be winding yarn before I do any knitting. Gotta get my Bonny Lass ready to go. Happy day, friends!

Sock It To Me Monday

Mar23

Thank goodness for knitting, am I right? I mean. Heck. I have no idea what I’d do with myself if I didn’t have knitting. Okay, sure, I’d read, and I did read a whole book yesterday which was great. And I’d work on puzzles — I’ve got a Twilight puzzle going but it’s all shades of black and gray and it’s currently driving me bonkers. So yes, thank goodness for knitting. I’ve been using my sock knitting for work days, for those short breaks during the day, so I don’t have a ton of progress to show. This is the Vestigial sock (which sounds weird. Look up “vestigial“. This is my vestigial sock, haha! Why is this pattern even called Vestigial? I don’t know!).

I love this yarn so much. It’s almost self-striping but with such gentle color transitions, and the colors are all springy and happy. I finished the heel while on a Skype Saturday Night knit night with Sarah at Mildly Granola and I made at least one mistake but it looks like a perfectly good heel so who the hell cares? Not me.

Here are the non-knitting things I’m grateful for night now: Dogs that want all the cuddles and snuggles I can give them. A husband who has the time and inclination to cook dinner almost every night, and who is brave enough to do the grocery shopping because the germ thing freaks me out a little. Working for a company that is supportive of working from home, and having a job that is easy to shift to working from home. A son who has stayed in good spirits and is fun to talk to, and who is old enough to entertain himself so that I don’t have to do it while also trying to work.

Those are the big ones. I hope you all are doing all right. I go back and forth with some stretches that are more anxious than others, but overall, I know I can manage being at home for another few weeks. Oh yeah, one more thing: I’m grateful we can still go outside!

Happy Monday, friends.

#TBT : Happy Blogiversary to me

Mar19

WordPress reminded me that I started my blog six years ago today. My first post had pretty rainbow yarn in it, and pretty rainbow hats, and I still love those things. Since then, I have written over 900 posts and gained over 700 followers, and I’ve found a lot of blogs that I love to read as well. I’ve also completed over 385 projects in that amount of time, and met one blog friend in person. It’s been a pretty good six years. Thanks for being part of it!

Also, happy first day of spring!

WIP Wednesday

Mar18

A few months ago, I made a snug little cowl called Just Try It with some luxurious merino/cashmere yarn. I even had enough yarn left over to make matching fingerless gloves, which I’ve worn several times and love. But for some reason, I never tried the cowl on until Sunday when the house was chilly and I needed to get cozy. That seemed like the perfect cowl for the job. Alas, it did not go over my head. One end was too small and too tight.

Now, for a brief moment, I did stop and ponder, “Hm, I wonder who this would fit that I could give it to?” Then I realized it would have to be a child of some sort and well, did I mention this yarn has CASHMERE in it?? Kids are knit-worthy, but maybe not to that extent. Plus, this gave me an unusual treat: I could knit with this yarn again!

The cowl was quickly and easily frogged and I have cast on anew, this time with additional stitches, and I’ll use Jeny’s surprisingly stretchy bind off when I’m done.

Have you ever frogged a completed project to re-knit the yarn?

Two for Tuesday

Mar17

It is Tuesday, right? Things are starting to get a little muddled, and it’ll probably get worse before it gets better. And with my WIP count down to two, I needed to cast on some new projects to make sure I have plenty to keep my anxiety in check. My Penny sweater is going so well. I’m loving it! It’s lace front and back, so no miles of plain, boring stockinette, and it’s sport weight on size 6 needles so it’s going a little bit faster than the fingering weight Boxy. But also, on that note, the pattern calls for DK, so I have no idea why I ordered the sport-weight Malabrigo Arroyo instead of a DK weight like Rastita. But hey, I did a gauge swatch and made the appropriate adjustments, so it should be fine!

F746BB59-4973-4039-907F-7A0327BB211F_1_201_a I also started a new worsted weight cowl. The yarn is Delicious Yarns Frosting Worsted and oh, it IS delicious to knit with. I love how soft and supple it is, or maybe that’s just my mind playing tricks on me as I switch between fingering, sport, and worsted weights. In any case, this project is growing quickly, but it’s on hold for the moment.

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The pattern is Wormwood, and it’s one of those bandana-style cowls which I love to wear, but I found a couple of errors that were giving me a little grief. So I messaged the designer, and she said she’ll be putting out an updated pattern in the next few days. I’m going to wait until that’s out before I knit more. Or at least I say that now!

Besides extra knitting time, the silver lining to being at home more is that I know my dogs are super happy. Duncan has been beside me 90% of the time, and the other two are pretty close. I hope you all are finding moments of peace at home as well.