Tag Archive | Saroyan scarf

Three WIPs

The new job is going well, and I’m catching on quickly to most things. I think the biggest hurdle has been the Spanish accent of one of my bosses. I struggle a bit with accents, so I’m really hoping that with time, I’ll get more used to it and it’ll be easier. As it is, I’ve had a couple of scary moments where I asked “What?” once and didn’t want to ask again, and then had to ask someone else for help later. Thankfully, he’s a very nice man, so he’d probably be patient with me too. It’s just hard to admit you can’t understand someone, isn’t it?

I’m enjoying bolstering the knitting group at work too. I knit every day, and one day at the cafe, one woman sat with our group because of my knitting. She used to knit, keeps projects handy, but struggles to find time. Of course I told her about the knitting group, so I’m hoping to see her there soon. I go to every lunch meeting I can, and I’ve got the other AA who started with me knitting too. She learned the knit stitch as a child, and I donated a pair of needles she could try again and see if she liked it. She made a mug cozy in about a day, and is now working on a chevron baby blanket! There’s one other woman there who’s a dedicated crocheter/knitter, so she’s always got her yarn too, and we can talk about stash and what to do with leftover yarn and weaving in ends and understand each other perfectly.

But despite my daily lunchtime knitting, I haven’t finished a project in a while. Instead, I thought I’d share what I’ve been working on. I’ve got three biggish WIPs that are moving slowly. First is my KC Royals Crackerjack scarf. I got bored with it a while back and set it aside, but recently realized it makes great lunch break knitting so I made note of all the wins and losses for the last two months (yeah, I neglected it that long) and within a few days I got all caught up. I really like the random look to it, especially if I don’t think about the fact that the big blocks of white and gold mean they lost a lot.

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My Saroyan is progressing nicely too. I’m loving the pattern and the yarn. (How could you not love a hot pink cashmere blend yarn?)

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I just started the second skein last night while watching the Olympics, and I can see a definite difference in color. But it’ll be the middle of the scarf and at the back of my neck when I wear it, so I’m trying to let it go.

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I also have Fractal Danger on my needles, in my newest Manos del Uruguay Alegria.

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This is a Martina Behm pattern, so it’s full of delicious garter stitch. This was my lunch break knitting this week, but I had to keep track of the rows just enough that it was hard to eat and chat at the same time, so I think I’ll cast on for a new hat for this week. I might do Yoda hats, since those are strong sellers on Etsy and I can almost make them without any thought at all.

Yesterday, the husband needed to donate something to the Habitat ReStore, which just *happens* to be next door to a lovely big LYS, so I decided I’d ride along. It’s somehow appropriate, given the location of the Olympics, that I came home with some new Malabrigo Rios.

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I keep buying new yarn despite having less knitting time than before. This might be a problem soon.

On the way home, we saw this:

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Yep, a little chihuahua in a cart on the back of a scooter. I love it.

Now, I’m going to spend the rest of my Sunday baking, knitting, and watching the Olympics. The real question is whether I make myself work out before doing the fun stuff. (I KNOW. Don’t tell me. I KNOW I should. But I don’t WANT to.)

Enjoy your Sunday, friends!

Reyna & Saroyan

Yesterday was a happy day:

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That’s my new dishwasher! When we bought this house, it came with an old dishwasher. It worked, mostly, but it also wasn’t installed correctly so when we opened it, it would rock forward. The silverware container was small, cramped, and partially broken. So we decided that part of my first paycheck would go toward a replacement. And it’s fantastic!

But I also finished my Reyna yesterday. After a morning of chores and errands, I picked it up after lunch and realized I was running pretty low on yarn. That meant I could only get five more rows in before binding off, and that went very quickly. Then Grace said she would try it on for me.

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She approved. It then went upstairs for washing and blocking. I blocked it a little aggressively, because it was a wee thing and I wanted it bigger. Can’t wait to unpin it later today and try it on. I really really enjoyed making this shawl. The pattern was fantastic, and it’s not often you come across a pattern that works so well with variegated yarn. I’m pretty sure I’ll be making another Reyna.

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While I was blocking, I figured I might as well go ahead and block the Secret Beach Scarf too. I’m a little embarrassed to share this photo because it’s such a crap blocking job. But it’s SO LONG, and I’d used up all my KnitPicks blockers and just couldn’t stand the idea of doing T-pins all down the length of this scarf. It’ll be fine. Right?

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So, big shawl done. Bulky cowl done the other day. You know what that means: time to cast on something new! After much (and I mean A LOT) perusing, I finally chose a pattern for my Dream in Color Classy with Cashmere. The winner was Saroyan.

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I feel like this is one of those super popular patterns that’s kind of required for knitters, much like the Hitchhiker, and I can see why. Isn’t it lovely? So much fun to knit, though part of that is the super-soft merino/cashmere yarn. I adore the leafy border. I have a playdate with my Knitting SIL this afternoon, and this is what I’m taking with me.

Enjoy the last bit of your weekend, friends! Monday will be here all too quickly.