Today’s been a really pretty day and I’ve had only one meeting which means lots of time to knit and to do a bit more planning for the workshop I’m having in April at the (yarn) shop where I work. It’s been almost a year since I’ve done one … life is so wonderfully busy and I count my blessings every day.
Before my meeting I worked on my second sock for a little bit. I’ve put them aside for several days and it’s time to get them off my needles. I’ll be focusing on them and the sweater I’m knitting for my college roommate for the next few days. I’ve neglected the sweater for a couple of days while I finished Noah the Horse (click for the magic link). Anywhooooo …
Two-Color Brioche is a different colorwork stitch. Two colors of yarn are used to make a super squishy thick fabric that almost looks like it’s got horizontal stripes. And it’s reversible (if done right.) Brioche is two rounds combining to make a double fabric. A pattern of slipped stitches with a yarn over “shawl” and then a knitted or purled stitch, knitting the former round’s shawl stitch and it’s slipped partner as one. The main color (white in my sample) is the more prominent colorway. The first brioche round is made by knitting the slipped stitch and it’s shawl and then with the yarn forward, slipping the next stitch and making a yarn over “shawl”. The following round is worked with the the contrast color and slipping the stitch with the yarn over and to the front and then purling the paired slipped/shawl stitches as one. The stitches and their shawls are always counted as one stitch. The pattern that I’m going to recommend to my students is Easy Brioche Hat for Beginners … two colors of worsted weight yarn and the pattern I followed for my sample OR Beginner Brioche Slouch hat with two DK weight yarns.
I finished the hat for my workshop sample … and to help me remember how to knit 2-color brioche. I don’t knit a lot of it and I needed a refresher. I have made a couple of “mistakes” or mis-stitches but over all, I’m happy with it – the pattern and the knitter. I am choosing to present the sample to the class with the reminder that even as the teacher, I still make mistakes and mis-stitches. I have no idea how I missed them, but I did. It’s all good – it just isn’t reversible. And it may be the medium size but it fits on my giant noggin. (You can see the two mistake stitches … likely that I missed a “shawl” (yarn over) somewhere, somehow. Can you see me shrugging my shoulders. It’s all good. And I will re-do it in good time. Luckily there is enough yarn left over for a second hat (I think. I need to weigh it to be sure.)
I’ve used my ChiaoGoo shorties two days in a row to finish both this hat and Noah the Horse. I’ve not used them a lot because I didn’t think I liked the super short needle tips, in particular. However, I have discovered that I like them when a sixteen inch needle is too long. I was happy to have them both times and I’m now thinking that the next pair of socks that I knit will be made on shorties! Why not try something new?
This evening I’ll be pulling out the Vanilla Sweater for my college roommate and getting going on it. I’m using Rauma Finull Garn which is the same yarn that the sweater was designed with and I love knitting with it – it’s reasonably priced, 100% wool, blooms like crazy when it’s blocked, and comes in a bunch of great colors. She chose a really lovely heathered lavender colorway.
The snow is melting in the sunshine. This morning I took my photograph a little bit late and it is starting to feel like coffee on the porch season. I can hardly wait.
Whew! All day yesterday it snowed. Tiny flakes for an entire day … and left us with about 4 inches of snow. Hopefully the last of the season. You won’t hear me complaining, though, because the snow means that we’ll have water in our well this year. I’m so grateful to have the snow because it means we’ve had a winter and spring will come (even though it’s technically spring already.)
Yesterday was the perfect excuse to spend the day in my atelier knitting! And, for the most part, that’s what I did. I wrote a newsletter for the store (work) in the early morning and had breakfast with my hubby but the rest of the day was dedicated to being in my studio – catching up with calendar details, bill paying, flight booking and knitting.
I spent the majority of the day working on these little (and I mean little) overalls. These are part of a gift that I’m knitting for a very special person and glad that I am nearing completion. Today the overalls are blocked and drying, pocket and all. I’ll begin (and hope to finish) a little shirt to go under them today. Once this project is done, I’ll start another one. I just haven’t decided if I want to finish another UFO or start a new one. You’ll find out when I do!
I also started a sample hat in brioche stitch that I am considering for a workshop at the store. I spoke to the boss about it on Saturday and she’s good with me doing it (and just about anything.) I had a very successful stranded colorwork workshop and she’d really like me to repeat that but I’d rather do something different and I think a 2-hour, one time workshop based on a technique like Brioche will be a good one. This particular hat is a 2-color brioche but the technique is basically the same whether it’s one- or two-color.
Two-Color Brioche hat for a future workshop
My Friday morning class is interested in doing the colorwork cup cosy that I taught in the other workshop so I will offer it to them and will maybe do it again one day but … it’s time to learn something new, right? I’m knitting for the first time with Malabrigo Worsted and it’s lovely to work with and very soft. I’m not sure how the hat will fit me but it’s really meant to be a sample for the workshop and the store, too. Hats are such a manageable project and a good palate cleanser, too.
Today I need to get a few tasks done around the house … bake up a batch of banana bread (in muffin form) to use up the overripe bananas and the laundry is overflowing once again. While the hubby digs us out, hopefully for the last time, I’ll be in the kitchen. I may also roast a bunch of veggies for lunches this week. I love roasted veggies with some couscous or soba noodles for lunch – hot or cold depending on the day. Tomorrow I’m back to meetings and preparation for a big event at Maine Arts Academy in early May … my role as board chair is nearly over and it’ll be fun to hand the reins to another board member and become “past chair!”
I’m back in NYC to help watch our granddaughter while her dad is away on business and mom is working, too. It’s tough to be parents today. Both parents are required to work in order to be able to afford a decent life. Add raising a child … yikes! It sure does take a village.
I arrived here Saturday after spending a bit of time with my college roommate in Westport, CT. We’ve been friends for nearly 50 years. How is that even possible? The first couple of nights I stayed with my son and his partner and we had a family dinner on Sunday night. With all three of my kids in one place is the best place to be. Yesterday I moved over to my eldest daughter’s house and I will be here for the duration.
I haven’t been doing much knitting since I arrived. I got a few rows of my Thistle on the Moor vest done yesterday and a few rounds of my vanilla sock done on the train Saturday (I left my car in CT) but that’s it. I will get some knitting done tomorrow when Sylvie is in school but I’m making way less progress than I had hoped. LOL.
This morning was an early up and out to get Sylvie to school. I’ve got a couple of hours to prep for a board meeting tomorrow evening and get some laundry done. My daughter has the day off today and we are heading to the playground after naptime! It’s been beautiful weather yesterday and today but it promises to get colder again at the end of the week so we are taking full advantage and heading outside.
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!
February certainly flew by! This morning I woke up at 8:00 o’clock when my alarm went off … I could probably have slept longer. We were exhausted when we got home yesterday late afternoon. We got up in Denver just prior to 2:00am for our 5am flight – come to find this …
TSA in Denver International Airport doesn’t open until 3am but they suggest you get to the airport two hours before you are scheduled to board your flight. Our boarding time was 4:45. We got to the airport at 2:30 and not a thing was open. Ugh! AND TSA Pre-check doesn’t open until 4! Needless to say, we were among the first people to go through “standard” security. (And all of this was without coffee!) Once we were at our gate (after waiting for the trains to get running) we could only get coffee from a vending machine. What an opportunity missed – someone could have a small food cart with coffee and pastries or muffins or something and make a decent living! And the airlines could do a better job of communicating with customers on those early morning flights, too.
We started off a week ago with an overnight in Portland, Maine. Thankful we decided to drive down to Portland the night before our flight because overnight snow would have made the drive challenging. We took off after a de-ice around 5:30am and flew from Portland,ME to Baltimore, MD to Austin, TX to Reno, NV. Visited with my cousins and aunt and uncle who live there. My aunt is experiencing short-term memory loss and that was difficult to see. We’re going to have to do the travel so we can visit at least once a year. She is like my second mother to me and grandmother to my kids and it’s important to me that I keep the connection with her. On Sunday we toured the place where my aunt and uncle are living and then went out to Virginia City where the gold rush created the town way back when. There are original buildings and a lot of history there. In the right season there are gun fights in the streets and people dress in period clothes. We saw a couple of wild horses on a hillside on our way down the mountain. They also live in my cousins’ neighborhood! We had a big family dinner on Sunday night with my aunt and uncle, their two sons (my cousins) and their spouses and three of the five grandkids (my first cousins once removed?) It was fantastic to see them all and I look forward to going out again … and hope to be able to stay a bit longer next time! Getting to Reno was quite a challenge from Portland, ME. I’ll try from Boston next time. And we thoroughly enjoyed our visits to our western family!
Portland, ME snowy morningDe-iceReno from the skyVirginia City, NVWild horsesWild horses closer upSunrise and Gus
Then we jetted off to Denver, CO to see our youngest and her family which includes our now 6-month-old grandson, Mac. Boy has he changed since we were there in September! He’s now a smiling, laughing, engaging happy boy and we loved spending time with the kids. We got to celebrate Amy’s 33rd birthday and Mac’s half birthday on Tuesday with carrot cake. I had an interesting time with elevation this trip, both in Reno and in Denver, but stayed well-hydrated and tried to get some good rest at night.
BennyRolling with MacPoppy play
I brought knitting with me, of course, and did do some knitting on the way out. I have been working on my Thistle on the Moor vest and my second Ranunculus and I had a pair of vanilla socks. I’ve gotten most of the leg of the socks finished but I’m concerned they’re going to be too big.
I’m knitting Summer Lee’s I’m So Basic Socks in a sock set of Frabjous Fiber’s Mary Ann in a white/cream speckled main color with a teal cuff, heel, toe accent color. I like the hand of the yarn but the pattern told me to cast on 72 stitches for a 9″ foot circumference and I fear they’ll be too big – I always cast on 64 stitches for my socks on a US1. I’m going to put them on my leg and see how it fits before I go any further.
I worked on my Thistle on the Moor vest on the way out and I’m almost 2/3 done with the lace design repeats on the front. The rest of the vest is really simple stockinette stitch so it was good travel knitting. I am enjoying the Berroco Lanas Light yarn. It’s 100% wool but it’s not scratchy! I think it will bloom really nicely when I block it, too.
And I worked on my second Ranunculus. This one I’m knitting with Berroco Dulce in the gray colorway. It’s got a cotton core with alpaca fluff and the core has bits of peach and blue and maybe other colors but it’s very subtle. This version will likely be a more wintery version as compared to the silk one I made first. I’m not sure about how the yarn will hold up and I always feel like I have a bit of fluff in my eye but it’s very soft fabric and I’ve made good progress. I’ve gotten past the yoke and am working on the raglan increases and almost to where I will separate the sleeves. I have a very limited amount of yarn but I think it’ll be enough for at least 3/4 length sleeves. Time will tell.
I haven’t taken any photos of my knitting other than this one … taken while the baby was at his 6-month check up (getting four vaccines!) and the old folks and the dog enjoyed some time in the fresh air and sunshine. The weather was glorious but there’s no snow in Denver. I’m concerned for what that means for the summertime … this has been the least snowy winter in the last 40 years.
Today is for laundry and unpacking and settling back in. We are already missing the Reno and Colorado crew and can’t wait to get back out there. In the meantime, we have a week of “normalcy” and then I’m off to help my daughter with the granddaughter while her dad heads out to Las Vegas for work and mom is working, too! I’m looking forward to seeing the NYC family for a bit! My son-in-law was supposed to be going to Israel for a week, too. That’ may be cancelled because of the new war our government has entered into. Either way, I have to figure out if I want to drive my car, take the bus or train. So many options.
It is a gorgeous day today! The sun has remained out all day and there’s not a cloud in the sky. I’ve been sitting in a virtual meeting and watching a pair of Bald Eagles out of my office window. This is the second day that I’ve been able to watch an eagle show while sitting in my atelier – and I am hoping for many more. They must be up to something … this is a lot of repeated and long-lasting views of a mature pair and an immature pair and an adult. It takes the eagles a long time to get their mature feathers so I am hoping they’re finding a nesting place near our house. There was an eagle’s nest a little ways south of our house years ago but it was blown down. It’d be great to know we have more than one nesting pair on our lake.
Meanwhile, last night while I was watching the Super Bowl and Bad Bunny I finished my second Melt the Ice red hat. This one I made in a “reject” cake of red Malabrigo something that was given to me because it was returned or rejected by a customer and it was already caked up. So, I set it aside with the knowledge that one day I would have a perfect project. That day has come. I know the yarn isn’t Rios because I made the first Melt the Ice hat in Rios. This yarn is heavier and less smooth. I am thinking Worsted or Washted? As soon as I can get to the shop, I will know what it is. BUT I loved knitting with it and the hat is a much better size for adult heads than the first one was. I made the first one according to the pattern exactly. It was small. Small for me and even small for my husband. This hat I made on a US 8 needle and I did 7 inches of ribbing and a few rounds of stockinette before the decreases. It’s a much better size.
Both hats are lovely but the little one would fit my 3-year-old granddaughter, I think. I can wear the newer one. I still have some red Rios and I think I’ll knit a third hat for my hubby on larger needles and with some extra ribbing again. Maybe six inches of ribbing and then a couple inches of stockinette? I don’t know but the ribbing is endless at six inches!
I’ve also made a dent in the Paper socks. I got the first sock completed and the second sock started … and some good progress on the leg. Once this pair is finished, I think I need to do some shorty socks and see how they go – there are a couple of pairs I’d like to try … Rose City Rollers and Laura Nelkin’s Larch Peds. And then I’m going to move over to some colorwork socks that appear in Summer Lee’s books. I just bought the second book Sock Obsession. There are some fun ones and I have quite a sock yarn collection. Ha! Ha!
Paper sock
I’m using a blend of the Yankee Knitter sock pattern and the heel from The Crazy Sock Lady’s Hermione’s Everyday Socks. I love the heel. It’s a little bit different texture and the garter stitches make a nice easy way to pick up the gusset. She say’s it’s a modified Eye of Partridge heel. I say, I love it!
This afternoon I’ll be working on my Le Bandana in my Good Trouble yarn. It’s coming along. I’m finding the pattern a little bit boring but it’s not bad for watching the Olympics at the end of the day. I like the yarn … I’m just a little bit wishing that I’d chosen Andrea Mowry’s Traveler Cowl. I’ve even thought about frogging and starting over … but my daughter’s Levitate Wrap yarn should be available by the end of the week and I want to start working on her sweater. I’d love to have it done and send it to her before Easter. Think that’s possible? I also have two sweaters and a vest that are making my fingers itch … my black Knitting for Olive Wilson sweater is one and I found a bag of yarn in my cupboard that I have carried with me for ages … the mohair that matches it perfectly has been ordered and I have more than enough for a sweater for me. I’m thinking the Harlow V Neck Sweater. I purchased gorgeous green linen yarn for the Broadgate Tabbard which I started and put aside because I don’t have the bandwidth right now to knit something super complicated but I’d love to have that completed before spring and summer. We’ll see.
I am forever enjoying the learning process that knitting puts in front of me. I love exploring the different patterns and yarns and I love getting to know myself and what I can and can’t do when my heart and soul are in that fight or flight mode and anxiety. My knitting calms me and brings me to a safe place where I can breathe and create.
I started this post yesterday, Sunday when the big one was coming! LOL. It has now been here for less than 24 hours and we’ve had about a foot of snow. It’s beautiful light and fluffy snow. As I type this morning, the flakes are getting bigger and, according to my weather app, it’s going to stop early this afternoon. Hopefully we (the royal we) can get some clean up done before it begins again this evening. We’re only supposed to get a couple more inches overnight and Tuesday is supposed to be cold but sunny.
We ran a couple of errands Saturday after we sat through a 4 hour town meeting. Things are still done here the old fashioned way, in person at a town meeting. Full-time residents are invited to participate in the democratic process and vote to approve (or not) the town budget. It was a fairly grueling meeting as our taxes have gone way up over a relatively short amount of time and it seems they’re going to go up more. It feels like the majority of town residents don’t want the services to be cut (we have a library, a town history building, a rec center and a volunteer fire department with very old, outdated facilities) and yet, don’t want to pay more taxes. I’d like to see the town cut expenses somewhere but I can’t really criticize because I’m not involved enough to really know how they operate. I may become more involved.
Anyway, we treated ourselves to lunch at the Red Barn (filled our bellies with fried seafood) after the meeting. It was yummy.
Sunday we ran out ahead of the storm so I could get yarn. I have learned about the “Melt Ice” hat that came from Norway in the 1940s as a silent protest against the Nazi’s occupation of their country. There were enough of them then to be banned by the Nazis in a couple of years! Anyway, the pattern for the hat was rewritten for knitters today and is the top selling pattern right now on Ravelry. We’ve had a lot of customers in the store late in the week buying red yarn and I decided this morning that I have to make a couple of red hats. So my husband and I got into the car to make a run into town to procure some red yarn. I chose a DK Patagonia Organic Merino and a light worsted Malabrigo Rios.
We zipped back home with a stop for a green pepper for our chili for dinner. My plan was to start knitting right away but I ended up in the kitchen baking what I am now dubbing “Snowmageddon Cookies” (aka peanut butter blossoms). They’ll be yummy to nibble on while we watch the snow fall for the next 24 hours. We are supposed to get up to 16 inches of snow over the next 24 hours. The biggest storm we’ve had in years. And it’s also going to be cold all week.
I have fully recovered from my bout with the flu and I am so grateful for modern science and vaccines. It wasn’t fun but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been either. I had a lot of time to knit over the three weeks that I wasn’t feeling well.
I have finished my Gansey Afghan. Yay! And I am so happy with the finished blanket. I am seriously thinking of making another one for us to have (me to have) in my studio. Maybe in orange!
I’ve been working on my husband’s Christmas socks and am making good progress there. I really like this pattern, too, but they’re worked on a smaller needle with pretty heavy-weight yarn so they’re hard on my hands and I can only work on them for a limited time. But I’ve only got one more repeat of the cable pattern before I can speed up to the cuff. There’s a little bit of color work and then I’ll be done! I still love the Raggi yarn so much and wish we could still stock it at our LYS! It makes the warmest boot socks!
Thompson River Socks in Jarbo Raggi
I haven’t worked on my Ranunculus at all. I decided to cast on my good trouble “Le Bandana” shawl. I cast on with my sport weight yarn on a US 4 and I’m not thrilled about the fabric. It seems stiff and I’m concerned about the drape or lack thereof. I have more yarn than the pattern calls for so I wonder if I go up a needle size if I’d like the fabric better. I think I am leaning toward giving a larger needle a try. This is Lola Bean Yarn Company’s Soy Bean base in the Good Trouble colorway that I pre-ordered. I love the colors and it will match the red hat!
Le Bandana in LolaBean Yarn Company “good trouble” colorway
I’ve also been working on a new pair of socks. The yarn is so deeply stashed that I’m not sure how long ago I ordered it. Dare I say we were still living in Florida? It’s very possible. I bought the yarn from an indie dyer, The Yarn Enabler, after I bought her Number 2 Pencil sock yarn. This one is her Paper colorway … dyed to remind us of the notebook paper we used in school. I’ve got the first leg knitted and need to choose what heel I’m going to knit. I’m basing the sock on the Yankee Knitter pattern. I use a 1.5US dpn and cast on 64 sts. I’m knitting the leg in stockinette stitch to show off the yarn. Aren’t they fun?
I have also cast on my Melt Ice hat in Malabrigo Rios. The pattern is written for fingering, DK/sport and worsted. I chose Rios because it’s a light worsted, maybe even closer to a sport, and it’s soft. I chose the Ravelry Red colorway. I love the color across all of the Malabrigo bases. I expect it will bleed a bit when I block it. I’ll have vinegar at the ready!
There is six inches of 1×1 rib to begin the hat … I’ll be ribbing for a while!
I have pulled a couple of my hubby’s hand knit wool sweaters to snow wash them. They need it. I’ve never tried to snow wash sweaters but “they” say it works and I have before photos to see if I can prove or disprove the theory. I sure hope it works! I’d be really bummed if I spent time out in the cold and the sweaters were still dirty! I’ll let you know if it happens.
I’ve found a cute crochet pattern for a car key fob holder(?) that I thought was really silly. I pulled some cotton out of my bins of left-over yarn and have very slowly begun to give it a try. I will show you my progress as I make some. I’m not a confident crocheter and I am painfully slow. BUT I’m trying and we’ll see if I succeed!
Speaking of learning, I had an opportunity to teach some new knitters ten days or so ago. One of my friends and co-workers was my super helper because what I thought was six students turned out to be six-teen students. That’s a big group to teach to knit in one hour! BUT together we taught them how to cast on and knit. There are a few in the group who had knitting experience and they will teach further. This group was part of Colby College’s Jan Plan class that’s being taught by my friend Katherine Ferrier. The students will learn to mend, to hand sew patchwork, to knit/crochet and yarn bomb and I may have forgotten something. I’ll be heading to Colby after work on Thursday to see what they have accomplished in their short month-long class. It was really fun to work with Katherine and to see the students pick up knitting. I look forward to seeing their yarn bombing! I love helping new knitters learn to knit – and grateful for Bette’s help!
Jan Plan “Radical Stitches” Class – I hope I got the title of the class right!
I’ve written way too much today but I wanted to get caught up. I’ll leave you with this morning’s post from the porch. It’s so pretty in the snow! The rocks along the shoreline are all covered up! I hope this snow and cold kills some ticks!
This darned bug! I didn’t sleep well last night and there is finally a new cough medicine at the pharmacy for me this morning. Hubby will be fetching it soon. Meanwhile, I’m trying to get enough energy to vacuum my atelier which is knee-deep in dog hair. Anybody who thinks short haired dogs don’t shed much … our lab sheds like he’s getting paid for it! I may be allergic to him so I wonder if the mountains of dog hair floating around are adding to my coughing problems. I may have to vacuum in a couple of rounds.
I wish I’d bought stock in tissues! I have been going through tissues like crazy … seriously, perhaps a box or two every day! Is that sharing too much?
Yesterday I worked a lot on my Gansey Afghan. I am really enjoying the pattern and it’s a good, low level challenge for my brain right now. It’s not boring because of the different texture patterns but it’s not a huge challenge either. And it’s really pretty. I have been thinking about making another one for me, an orange one perhaps, for my atelier. We shall see. I do have a long list of things to knit already formed.
I have one virtual meeting today and I managed two loads of laundry yesterday. I had run out of clean pajamas! My hubby changed the sheets on our bed so I’m in compliance with my allergy doc’s advice … does anybody wash their bed sheets every week anymore? I’m allergic to dust mites and even with a new mattress, new pillows and no curtains or rugs in our bedroom, that was her recommendation. I think I need to buy another set of sheets!
This is almost the right color green. I’m not sure why it refuses to photograph well but, alas, it does. Anyway, the directions say to knit until it’s 48 inches long. I haven’t measured the length yet but I think that I’ll knit until about 12 rows shy of the end of the fourth repeat of the chart which should use up most of my yarn before the last 11 rows of garter stitch to end the project. AND end having bits and bobs of yarn left over. The last afghan I made, for my bonus daughter and her hubby, used just over two balls leaving me almost an entire 900 yards of yarn “left over”. Ugh! At that rate, I’ll never not have a ton of yarn. LOL
It’s a beautiful sunny day today and the lake out front is empty of ice fishermen but their shacks dot the ice as far as the eye can see. It’s so quiet here. How lucky we are to be able to live here in this special place at this crazy time in our nation’s history. I’m so saddened by the division and hatred at all levels of our government and locally, often between just the average Joe who has to be feeling the financial hurt that we are feeling. Groceries are so much more expensive and healthcare costs are rising as are insurance costs and real estate taxes. My credit card bills have been on the rise exponentially without buying anything “extra”. I feel very fortunate to have a roof over our heads that won’t require any big expenses (likely anyway) because it’s new enough and we are going to try to rent our guest cottage this summer to bring in some money, we hope, to help with the ever-increasing real estate taxes in our town. We are fortunate, indeed, to be able to afford it. For now. Many others our age, in our community can’t and they’re at risk of losing their homes.
This is the first time I’ve “written” 2026! Happy New Year! I’ve ushered the New Year in with a cold kindly gifted to me by my hubby. I’ve been feeling pretty zapped energetically and haven’t done much other than knit. (Is that a good thing or a bad thing?)
I’ve been working on three WIPs and specifically wanted to write about my Musselburgh which has been a yarn challenge. I started off with a pink yarn, Hu Made Twist fingering weight in the Sakura Petals colorway that I bought in New York City last winter. I matched it with a strand of Berroco Aerial silk mohair in the Strawberry colorway. It’s a wonderful blend. BUT despite thinking I’d make the entire hat in the pink, I ran a bit short and had to figure out a second color to finish the hat. I went to my stash and chose a charcoal gray alpaca blend and started to knit. About an inch or two in, I thought I should have added a strand of mohair to this as well … but I didn’t have any dark gray or black … at least I didn’t find any for a bit. So I worked on my Gansey Afghan.
Gansey Afghan in Hayfield Bonus Aran
AND then I found some black mohair when I was cleaning up a little bit. It was left over from my sparkly City Lights Hat and hidden away under my needles. So, I added the mohair in and started knitting again. I had about two inches of charcoal alone and a line where the black mohair began but I was ok with that. The hat is for me AND the brim of the hat will be folded over hiding the gray. But last night I ran out of black mohair. Now I have some choices to make. I either buy a new ball of black mohair and continue knitting OR I knit a bit with what’s left of the pink and then finish with gray alone (or buy mohair and knit with 2 strands at the end.) I’m bummed because I really wanted to get this hat finished this weekend and should be able to if I had the right yarns in my stash. This is where knitters get in trouble.
My other choice is to frog back and take the black mohair OUT of the hat and reknit in the gray only. I’m thinking this is what I am leaning toward. One of my goals is to move yarn OUT of my stash and not add to it this year. Little bits and bobs are not what I want hanging around in my atelier. The lazy me wants to just keep knitting but the knitter me is not happy with the piecemeal method of making this hat work. And, frankly, it’s not really working. And, more honesty, I am also not happy with the gray at all. I’d rather be working with a brown or rusty brown yarn because that’s what the flecks in the pink yarn are. So, I think my first job today will be to frog the gray – at least back to the beginning of the black mohair – and see what happens.
I put all of my stitches on a barber cord and used my needle to pick up the right leg of every stitch all the way around just a row or two above the “line” where the black mohair meets the gray alpaca and then frog all the stitches back. and Ta! Da! I’m back at the spot that I THINK I want to knit from again … that is if I decide to keep knitting in gray.
And just so you know, I’ve finished the first of my hubby’s Christmas socks and it fits! That’s always a very good thing. Today the plan is to cast on the second sock today. So, for now I’m going. to set the hat aside and work on the sock … or the afghan. I’m trying really really hard NOT to cast on something new until I finish just one thing. I need a first FO for 2026!
With only a few days left of 2025 I thought I could take some time on this miserably wet, cold, damp, icy, dreary Maine day to review my knits for 2025. I got quite a bit done this year and I am really happy with most of the things that I made. And I made some great knits for very knit-worthy people in my life.
I finished Dolores and made two of her outfits for her. She had been hanging around in my WIPs since 2018! She is now finished and I love her. I really need to create a space for her now … perhaps in my IKEA storage piece in my sewing room. She’ll need a whole cube to herself.
I knitted a couple of Love and Light hearts and they’re such fun to give away! My grandchildren both have one in their rooms and there’s one in Sylvie’s “special” room here at Yaya and Poppy’s house. I made a linen Anker’s Summer Shirt that I really love and have worn already several times. It’s a great color – especially with white jeans! I knitted a bunch of hats but my favorite by far was the Alpine Bloom hat I made for myself. It fits my big Rockwell head and I just loved knitting it. I knit a fun Musselburgh for Sylvie that she seems to love (she bragged about it at school) and another adorable hat for Mac.
I finally finished the mitts for my daughter to replace her old ones. She’s really happy with them and her boyfriend is a knitter and he’s also intrigued with them. I bought my first sweater kit from the Wooly Thistle and knitted up a Vanilla Sweater in Rauma Finull Garn and I love, love, love the color! My college roommate has asked me to make one for her. And I made a bunch of little sweaters for Sylvie, Mac, a new client from Louisiana and a few for myself.
I participated in the “bang out a sweater” with MDK twice this year and made my Cardoon sweater that I love, and my Bolin sweater, too. I also love my orange poncho and I can’t wait to wear my new Stockholm Slipover. One of my favorite knits was the Little Tern baby blanket that I made for our little Denver nugget, our grandson. This was the second time I’ve knit the blanket and I loved it just as much this time!
My records say that I have finished 65 things so far this year. I hope I can finish one more Musselburgh and hubby’s Christmas socks but I won’t fret if I don’t. I am satisfied with my 2025 number. 10 pairs of socks (some little ones), 17 hats and four headbands, 5 adult sweaters and one vest, 7 children’s/baby’s sweaters. And then add in a few baby blankets, mitts and mittens and a few other miscellaneous things. It’s been a good knitting year. I have exceeded my 2024 number by two! I guess I’m pretty consistent year-to-year.
I bought a pair of new Bullet Journals this year (one for this year and one for next year) and I’ve moved over all my important information into the new lavender book. 2025 has been a busy, full year and my gratitude practice has improved. I’ve taken good care of my body, seen my doctor for an annual check-up, made some changes in diet and lost some weight, volunteered in my community, spent quality time with almost all of our kids, and we really appreciate my kids for helping to get our guest cottage painted and hubby got the bathroom renovated. We spent a week at the beach with my kids, almost a week in Denver with hubby’s youngest and a long weekend with his eldest. We hope for more time together with our kids in 2026.
2026 goals: be kind. Listen more. Give myself more time to “do nothing” and I am going to take the first step to becoming a Master Knitter and enroll in the TKGA Master Knitter (part1) program. It could take me a year to finish the requirements and it’s a commitment for sure! I’m saving my pennies this year for a trip to Scotland in 2027 and we are going to attempt to rent our guest cabin here on the lake. How blessed we are to have such a full, creative life.
Gone knitting. (Actually, I’m heading to the kitchen to bake banana bread. We had some really ripe bananas.)
Queen Bee Knits 