Tag Archive | Christmas in July

Sock It To Me Monday

Another pair of Christmas in July socks got finished this weekend. It helped that I only needed to make one sock, the mate to the one knit last December, and it helped that it was all stockinette so I could just knit around and around. Saturday I knit while reading Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid on my iPad — it was super good and I finished it all in one day. Yesterday I knit while watching Alice in Wonderland (the Johnny Depp version). Allergies are kicking my butt at the moment, so familiar movies and easy knitting are my jam.

9BB94B12-9AEB-44EC-B4A8-4520B14C62B1_1_201_a

Look at these socks: they match! Like, the stripes match! And that was pure luck, because I never try to do that. I didn’t even look at the yarn when I was starting the second sock; I just picked up the end and cast on. I’m quite tickled with them. And now they’ll get put away for a few months and I’ll forget about them until around November and be tickled with them all over again.

This means I have zero socks on my needles. I’m working on my emPower People cowl for now, and when that’s done my goal is to finish my Stargazer Shawl, but I don’t know if I can be sock-free that long. We’ll see.

And here’s something happy for Monday: remember the fingerless gloves that I finished in a hurry for the nephew? He seemed delighted with them and I was told the next day that he said “I love my gloves so much and I’m so happy she knitted them for me.” And he wore them to church despite the hot and humid Midwestern summer weather. See what I mean? Totally knitworthy!

FO Friday: Socks

Jul10

I have two Finished Objects to share today — technically four, actually — because I finished two pairs of socks today!

One the left are Vanilla Latte socks in Orange Jellyfish Dream yarn, color Intergalactic Planetary. And the right are obviously my Christmas in July socks, also in the Vanilla Latte pattern, with West Yorkshire Spinners’ Fairy Lights. Both pairs are slightly mis-matched in size but not enough to bother me, certainly not right now. But now I’m out of socks to knit and it’s also only July 10 so I cast on the second sock of a pair of Christmas socks I started last December. These are all stockinette so it should be a speedy project.

While knitting, I’ve recently binged Pick of the Litter, Little Voice, and Lenox Hill. And I’ve read and loved The Authenticity Project, Friends & Strangers, and The Two Lives of Lydia Bird. What are you streaming lately that you love?

Sock It To Me Monday

Jul6

Apparently it was a three-day weekend for a lot of people, but it didn’t feel much different for me. The husband spent his extra day off in his workshop, and I puttered around making masks and knitting. We’ve seen family pretty recently and didn’t have any plans for gatherings, so it was a very quiet holiday, and I’m okay with that. I finished one Christmas in July sock and am ready to start the gusset on the second now.

96A4CCDF-2D55-49A3-9289-23F7B1586ED4 I also did another fast project, a drawer liner out of leftover sock yarn. I’d made a little one before, for my Kaweco pens, but this is a full-sized version for the drawer. It has the purl ridges to keep pens separate, but I’m going to make one more that’s all stockinette. They’re fast and fun and I love using up the sock yarn.

Happy Monday, friends. Here’s hoping we can all find a bit of happy this week.

WIP Wednesday

Jul2

It is July! And I finished some projects last month! That means I got to cast on two new projects yesterday. They’re both KALs and both should be done by the end of the month. One is a Christmas in July sock KAL that Mildly Granola suggested, and I pulled out my West Yorkshire Spinners yarn in Fairy Lights for that, along with solid red for the cuffs, heels and toes. I’m doing my favorite simple pattern so they can be my mindless fun/travel knitting.

AD54B104-9E1B-43CC-96D9-74CB08F07ED8_1_201_a

My other new project is a shawl KAL with Under the Olive Tree Knits. Jem released a free one-skein pattern called Stargazer, and it was perfect for a skein of yarn that I’d pulled out of my stash recently, wanting to knit it. You can find download options on her website.

B547B90E-4827-4694-A346-F1AFE89FED9E My yarn is Andromeda sock yarn in a fabulous color called I Love You Berry Much and I do love it berry much indeed! The pattern is a fun mix of stockinette and simple lace, and I can tell already it’ll be addictive.

We’ve had a slew of birthdays in our family the last few weeks and have started doing some small social-distanced gatherings. As hard as it is not to hug my nephews and nieces, it’s so nice to get to see my people again. And yesterday was the boy’s birthday: he’s 17 now! How did that happen?? He’ll be a senior this year and it just doesn’t seem possible. He also joined me for a rare live music performance. Our town has always done a community summer band and the girl participates every year. This year they only did one concert, with the musicians spaced six feet apart, and streamed it live on Facebook. Family members were allowed to come, so the boy and I took our chairs and our masks and enjoyed the music in the summer night. I’ve missed live music so much; this was a treat.

I’m not sure what we’ll do when the weather doesn’t allow us to gather outside anymore, but I guess we can cross that bridge when we come to it. Hope you all are enjoying your summer so far!

A Dog in Need

Jul17

I know I blog about knitting and yarn and crochet and all that, but I am a mother first. I have two human children and one furry doggy child, and if any one of them needed help, I would do anything I could to make that happen. I am not alone in feeling that way, and I wanted to take a moment to put a call out there for someone who could use a helping hand, Rory at Kind Spirit Jewelry. This is what she said this morning:

I am really bad at asking for favors but I’m giving it my best shot here. I do quite a bit with helping and donating to animal shelters/welfare groups. I am finding myself on the receiving end this time. My dog has torn his ACL and needs surgery soon. I need to raise around $1000 to fund his operation. His lower leg bone is pushing internally against his leg and causing some internal bleeding and swelling. He can not walk at all using that leg. He is over 100 pounds so you can imagine the difficulty he has getting around and the difficulty I have carrying him up and down stairs. All jewelry sales will be going towards this fund. Any support is greatly appreciated, be it either thru sales or thru forwarding the links to my site and fb page in an effort to boost sales. Thank you for considering my cause. Blessings ~Rory
www.kindspiritjewelry.com
http://www.facebook.com/kindspiritjewelry

Through the magic of Facebook, I found Rory through a high school acquaintance. She makes all her pieces by hand, using leather and wire and beads and metal–anything that inspires her. She does a lot of custom orders. Her jewelry is beautiful, and for a long time I just admired her pictures.

But I also noticed something as I read her posts: her spirit is just as beautiful as her jewelry. She puts so much kindness out into the world each and every day. Her custom jewelry is made with love. She does a lot of cancer awareness pieces, and donates many of them to charity auctions. She is an animal lover, and creates special pieces to donate for those causes too.

My dad passed away a little over two years ago, and a few months back, I found a silver tie tack that belonged to him, and I immediately thought of Rory. I had a vision in my head of what I wanted this tie tack to become, and she worked with me to make my vision come to life. I love what she sent back to me.

After that, I had an idea for my daughter’s birthday. Katie had recently become obsessed with the show Doctor Who, so I messaged Rory again to get some ideas flowing. We went back and forth, sharing thoughts, and my daughter had a gorgeous, unique piece to open on her birthday.

I don’t do this kind of thing often but if anyone deserves a kindness, it is Rory. She’s not asking for donations, and neither am I. I’m just asking you to please take a moment to check out her website and her jewelry. Think about doing some birthday shopping, or early Christmas shopping. You could get something really special and do some good at the same time.

Find Rory at kindspiritjewelry.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/kindspiritjewelry