Tag Archives: Belfast

WIP Wednesday

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Wednesday, March 4, 2026

The lake looked like the surface of the moon this morning. Fog across the lake and the sunshine on new snow. We are so lucky to live here. I went into town this morning after my hubby cleared the driveway to pick up some groceries. It’s actually warm this afternoon – 49 degrees! The snow is melting and I’m up in my atelier working away. I think I will open the window a crack and get some fresh air in the house.

I’ve been knitting like mad. What’s new? I have so many projects on my mind and in my Ravelry queue. I’ve also made a few yarn purchases. I told my co-worker friends on our girls day out yesterday that I’ve made an impulse buy for a hand-dyed mohair sweater for myself. I had to buy the yarn to get the pattern, so … I did. I’m going back to work tomorrow before I’m gone again to help with our granddaughter next week. I’ll earn the money back. I also ordered some yarn for a Vanilla Sweater for my college roommate, Carrie. She loved mine. AND I have bought yarn to make my daughter’s sweater. The mohair has come in and I can get ready but first I have to finish at least one of the WIPs on my needles.

Ranunculus #2 in Berroco Dulce

I have been working away at my second Ranunculus. I had hoped to finish it today and wear it to work tomorrow but maybe I can finish it Friday and wear it on the weekend. We shall see. This is the project that I’ve put most of my time and effort into. It’s a quick knit and if I’d made good notes on the first one, I’d be further along. But, alas, I’m winging it again. I’ve got the body length at 8 inches and have begun the ribbing. Meanwhile, I also started the first sleeve wondering if I will be able to make long sleeves before I run out of yarn. I think I have plenty. This yarn is very soft and I like the way it’s looking but the fuzz is obnoxious. I think the finished garment will be very wearable, though. I don’t have far to go on this one.

My Thistle on the Moor vest is also coming along. Believe it or not, this is still the first ball of. yarn that I’m working with. I have a few more rounds to go before I’ll have to add the second ball. I don’t think I’ll need the third ball at all. I’m almost two thirds of the way done with the lace thistle motif down the front of the vest and I have one more repeat of the chart to go. Can you see the thistle in the second picture? I love this! Berroco Lanas Light is a wooly wool but it’s not really rough. I am liking working with it for the most part. If I just had more days in the week, I could get this finished.

The third project is my vanilla socks. I’m using Summer Lee’s I’m so Basic Socks pattern just to change things up. I think these may be baggy socks because her instructions say I should cast on 72 stitches. I think I know better but I’m knitting on. We’ll see how they turn out. The yarn is a sock set, a 100 gram ball of speckled yarn for the main color and a teal blue mini for the cuff, heel and toes. I haven’t worked on these much this week. I’m the only one measuring my progress with my SISC (self-imposed sock club.)

I have one FO. My little cousin asked me to make her a beanie when we were in Reno. I found this cake of Lion Brand Mandala Watercolors in my stash (away from where I can see it) and I think she’ll like the color. Her room is pink. This hat knit up in a flash, I used the Daily Beanie pattern which is free on Ravelry and the bulky yarn. I used a US10 needle and knit the hat to 8 inches before I started the decreases. It’s super soft and will wash and dry well. All important things when knitting for kids.

Yesterday we went to Belfast, ME for a girls’ day and visited another Maine yarn shop, Heavenly Yarn which has switched ownership in the last year or so. I love the space that Heavenly Yarn is in, an old building with squeaky wood floors and I love the layout of the shop and the samples. I bought a couple of hanks of Harrisville Highland yarn because I have never knitted with it and I like to try different yarns. I think I’ll knit myself a new pair of snowflake mittens. As my friend Bette says, my first ones have yellow snow. I’ve been wearing them for ten years. There’s nothing wrong with them, I just “need” a new pair. One without yellow snow. LOL

A couple of days before I leave for New York … I’d best get knitting!

More FOs … not all knits!

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Thursday, August 10, 2023

We started our day today with coffee on the porch but it was too warm for a bathrobe. We must be heading into a few days of summer heat again. It’s all good. We have thoroughly enjoyed the cooler mornings over the past few weeks.

I’ve finished a few more little things and wanted to share them with you. I’ve been taking classes from Creative Bug – they had a special deal going with 60 days free to try it out – and I’ve taken a couple of Cal Patch’s classes and a couple of Heidi Parkes’ classes and they’re all sewing classes. While I was watching Heidi’s class on making a needle case, I was inspired to actually sew it myself right then. I went to my fabric stash and found two favorite fabrics – a lobster print and a hummingbird print – both from the days when I was making fabric masks for the family. I made a lot of masks. I appliquéd the little hummingbird patch onto the lobster fabric and then bought a piece of felt to sandwich-ish in the fabric to make the little needle case. I’ve learned a lot about needles, stitching, hand-work and sewing from these classes and while my FOs aren’t big, they’re mighty. They mark a stepping off point for me and a new potential passion, too.

Outside
Inside
Finished!

My second FO is also a sewing project. I have had this little panel since attending the quilt show in Augusta, ME probably 10 years ago. I bought a few similar panels and remember making one as a gift somewhere along the line, but this one has been sitting in my cupboard for almost (or maybe more than) a decade. It was time!

This is a fabric (much edited) version of the little golden book, The Tawny Scrawny Lion. I wasn’t familiar with the book but I love the idea of little books without words. The reader can make up the story to go along with the illustrations (or the reader can Google the book and tell the same story.) Regardless, this little book will be winging its way to New York City to a very special little girl who is so deeply loved by her Yaya! I know that she’ll love this little book and she won’t rip the pages.

Pom Pom Socklets by Purl Soho

Last but certainly not least, a pair of “peds” as we knew them back in the day … but these aren’t the sedate peds of my past. I decided to knit up some fun, bright, color-blocked shorties and this is the first pair for my daughter, Kate. I decided to make them all crazy and different. The only thing missing from these finished socks are the pompoms that will be attached at the back of the heel. Just like my mom did in my childhood days … and I did, too. I’ve got several more pairs to knit. My thought is to make a pair for all of the “girls” at our family beach gathering in September. Think I can do it? Three more pairs before September 5? Time will tell. This is a free Purl Soho pattern that I used to make the U of F socklets for my favorite graduating (graduated) senior that I cared for when I was a school nurse. The kids used to ask me to knit them socks when they came into my clinic and my answer was always, “no!” (and emphatic no to be sure!) But this kiddo was different and I’ve stayed in touch with her family and when she graduated, I knew just what to send her for a gift (and a gift certificate to the U of F campus store.)

My sweetie and I took a brief road trip to the coast yesterday because I needed to get some sewing supplies. I thought my time at Fiddleheads would be brief but I was looking at the fabric store with new eyes – the eyes of a garment sewer. It was exciting and intimidating. There is so much to learn about garment-worthy fabrics. I’ve learned that quilting cottons are not always a good garment fabric because they don’t have the same drape. But I managed to do some damage and bought a bit of a cotton lawn and a pattern to make some harem pants for my Sylvie. And I also bought some hand-sewing needles and wool felt to make more needle cases. They’re fun and quick. I found a basket of bolt end cuts of fabric and they had two pieces of linen that I had to take home with me, too. One is a 3-yard cut of a khaki colored linen that is enough for a dress, I think. The other was only a bit over a yard of fabric but it’ll make half a shirt or a pieced shirt … time will tell. I feel so fancy talking sewing!

Gone knitting.