2022: Wk of 11/13-19; Hubby Sweater Update, Holiday Traditions

HUBBY SWEATER

Making progress on Hubby’s sweater. The sleeves have been joined to the body. Still can’t understand the pattern instructions so I’ll plan to kitchener the sleeve underarm to the body. I’m still hoping to have it finished before we leave for Florida in a week. It’s not too warm of a sweater since it’s a cotton/silk blend (Berroco Summer Silk) so he may be able to wear it on those occasional cool mornings in February. If it doesn’t fit, I’ve already warned him it goes to the long term time out corner as I’m not going to delay working on other projects to reknit this sweater that I now hate. (Fortunately due to knitting stripes and breaking the yarn after every stripe, lengthening the sleeves won’t be hard – just remove the cuff, add stripes and kitchener back onto the sleeve).

A GIRL AND HER WOOL

I’m especially glad I ended up ordering an advent calendar from A Girl And Her Wool this year. She announced this week that after almost 4 years, she is ending her yarn dying and thus her shop. I loved her concept of letting you order exactly how much yarn you wanted versus being forced to buy 100 gr skeins. I could order 60 gr of MC and 10 gr of contrast color to make a pair of socks and not have a lot of yarn leftover. Her business was doing well and that was part of the problem, it was taking over her life as she also had a fulltime job. I’m glad that she walks away knowing she can start-up and run a successful online business.

HOLIDAYS ARE HERE!

In the US, Thanksgiving is an opportunity to celebrate friends and family with food so it’s my favorite holiday. Looking forward to turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie with my in-town kids and father. Then it’s Christmas cookie baking on Friday followed by putting up the Christmas decorations on Saturday.

Hope you have a wonderful week.

This is a year of projects (YOP12) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts.  YOP started it’s 12th year in July and I’m starting my third year in the group. I’ve been knitting for six years.

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2022: Wk of 9/18-24; Socks, Sweaters, and More Favorite Things

HUBBY’S SWEATER UPDATE

I do love knitting with this cotton/silk Berrocco Summer Silk yarn. Just so soft! Since it’s all stockinette for 17″, it’s a nice mindless knit for TV watching now that the network series are starting their new seasons.

AUTUMN SOCKS

These socks are getting the majority of my attention since it’s already autumn. I want to wear them NOW! I think the fit is going to be okay. I’m making them a little shorter than normal to help pull in the extra width at the ball of my foot. I love this yarn too. (Seems to be a pattern). I’m ready to start the heels today. Orange and black are also the colors of our local football team so hopefully they will get to be worn into the playoffs.

BABY BLANKET UPDATE

My great grandson’s baby blanket got a little knitting attention and is going to need to get a lot more. I’ll be traveling back to Indiana in four weeks for my granddaughter’s first birthday so I need to have the blanket done by then. Hubby’s sweater will have to take a back seat until I can get the blanket finished.

FAVORITE THINGS – CHRISTMAS IDEAS??

A few weeks ago I posted how I like clear containers for all things knitting so that I can see what’s inside my “tin”, notions pouch, yarn “bin”, and even knitting tote bag. Another thing I like to help make knitting more enjoyable is “fun” stitch markers/progress keepers. These can range from cheap to somewhat expensive. Here’s some ideas to put on your Christmas list or as a gift to a knitter you know.

I love using my colorful o-rings that come in lots of sizes on Amazon. I bought small ones for my sock needles, medium sized for my Size 4-6 needle knits, and large ones for my Size 8 and up needle knits. These are available via Amazon. I like to place them every 10 stitches when I’m casting on and every 20 stitches while knitting. I like to use these on big projects where I use one color for the front stitches, a second color for the back stitches, a third color for the right sleeve, and a fourth color for the left sleeve. I also recently bought stitch markers from Katrinkles that literally say front, back, and sleeve for added clarity on what the heck I’m knitting at the moment.

I have numbered stitch markers from Twice Sheared Sheep that I also like to use while casting on or tracking my stitch count while managing increases or decreases. I love my M1R/M1L sweater stitch markers for top down sweaters although for my bottom-up sweater I’ll be using my SSK/K2T sheep stitch markers. These are both from an Etsy seller. Sadly I have found that the black printing wears off too fast if you don’t put a drop of clear nail polish on them to protect the printing.

Finally, it’s fun to have seasonal or just cute charms for progress keepers. I made these from charms and lobster clasps I picked up at Hobby Lobby. Etsy also has lots of cute progress keepers. I like to put a “fun” pair of stitch markers in the center of the top side of each sock and a square stitch marker in the center of the sole side of each sock especially when knitting 2 at a time socks. Helps me keep track of which sock is the “first” one and which side gets the heel.

Amazon O-rings

Etsy Stitch Markers

Hobby Lobby Charms

Katrinkles

Stitch Marker and Progress Keepers

Twice Sheared

Hope you have a wonderful week of crafting. This is a year of projects (YOP12) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts.  YOP started it’s 12th year in July and I’m starting my third year in the group. I’ve been knitting for six years.

2022: Wk of 9/11-17; Sock and Sweater Updates

HUBBY’S SWEATER UPDATE

I’m happy to report that the second time was the charm in not twisting my stitches on this bottom up pullover. Fingers crossed that the waist will not be too tight. The hem is knit with fewer stitches than the body. I figure worst case I’ll rip out the hem and reknit it straight from the body stitches. This is an easy knit now that I’m past twisting the hem so I’m getting lots of practice knitting Continental.

SOCKS UPDATE

What a surprise, I got a lot less knitting done this week at the beach than I thought. I did make a little progress on both my Fixation socks and my Autumn socks. The Fixation socks will now become my car knitting since I’m in no hurry to finish them. I don’t want to get caught again with no knitting in my car. Nothing like sitting for an hour waiting to get the oil changed with nothing to knit.

I’m knitting my Autumn socks Continental style and forgot how much looser my stitches are. The sock is too big!😲 With only 2″ before starting the heel, I’ve decreased the stitch count from 68 to 62 and I’ve added 2×2 ribbing to the bottom side. If it still ends up too sloopy, I’ll have to frog it.

WEDDING WEEK

What a wonderful week long wedding celebration. The weather was perfect. Way too much good food to eat. The bride and her family are happy but exhausted. This is the beach mansion they rented for the week.

Hope you had a wonderful week. I look forward to getting back home for the next two months!!

2022: Wk of 9/4-10; Cast-ons!!!

SOCK CAST-ONS

Between finishing my Autumn cowl and my Dragonfly socks recently, it was time to cast-on more projects. With a week of beach knitting coming up, socks were a logical choice. Both are going to be vanilla socks. The first pair is going to use the leftover variegated yarn (Deep Dyed Yarns) from my Autumn cowl. I think a plain pattern is called for to let the yarn itself shine. Plus the matching cowl is mainly vanilla stockinette. I may do a stripe of the pumpkin colorwork on the leg portion. The second pair is more of my beloved Fixation DK yarn which is great for knitting while walking. Since the bride and her maid of honor (her sister) are VERY health/exercise conscience, there will be a 5K as part of the wedding festivities. Plus my husband and I enjoy starting our mornings at the beach with an hour walk.

HUBBY’S SWEATER CAST-ON

Ugh! The reason I hate swatching is that it takes me so long!! 5000+ stitches takes a lot of time. I’ve used this yarn before and have swatched but unfortunately that didn’t help. I started swatching with a size 8 based on my previous swatch but I’ll be knitting Continental since it’s all stockinette. I ended up with a size 5 and still didn’t match gauge. I’m just going to knit a size smaller. I like the fabric and I’m already worried I’ll be playing yarn chicken so I don’t want to go to a smaller needle size. I’ll check my gauge as I knit and adjust accordingly. It will be easy to add stitches if needed. The swatch did allow me to try out different stripe patterns so my hubby could pick – alternating stripes of light grey, dark grey, white, and red or split up the red stripe so that there is a small stripe of red between each stripe of light grey, dark grey, and white. He chose the small stripe of red between each stripe. I totally agree. I’m using Berroco Summer Silk, one of my favorite yarns.

This is my first bottom up sweater. I will do my best to never knit another one!!! I have ripped it out already because I find it nearly impossible to keep from twisting the 250 stitches as I try to knit the first few rows! I did learn a new cast on technique since I needed a stretchy cast on. I used Tillybuddy’s cast on. I have also reviewed jogless striping videos. Fingers crossed I am successful on the second attempt or hubby has already agreed I will switch to a top down crew neck pullover despite his preference for a V-neck.

PROJECT BAG

With all the new cast-ons, I needed a new small(er) project bag. The fat square material I had bought over a year ago limited how tall I could make the bag. This one “is fine” but I’d probably prefer not as wide. I will do that with the next bag I make. I can get away with a small bag on my sock projects. This bag could hold 2 skeins and a small notions pouch. It’s actually a good choice for colorwork socks where I need multiple balls of yarn. One of my goals for the year was to make a project bag with some fabric inspired by local artist Charlie Harper. I didn’t use that fabric since I’m out of practice making project bags. I’m glad I didn’t use it since I would indeed make the next project bag different. I’m going to consider this new bag as meeting my 2022 goal of making a project bag even if it isn’t the Charlie Harper fabric.

Hope you have a wonderful week of crafting. This is a year of projects (YOP12) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts.  YOP started it’s 12th year in July and I’m starting my third year in the group. I’ve been knitting for six years.

2022: Wk of 8/21-27; Sock FO and Halloween Cowl Cast-on

DRAGONFLY SOCK FO

I did finish my Dragonfly socks. I hadn’t remembered I’d already knit this pattern. And I knit it with green yarn. Hmm. I’m pretty consistent apparently. But I gave the first pair to my daughter a few years ago. Now I have a pair of green socks with a slight lace pattern for me.

I have wound the yarn for the next pair of socks. I think it looks fall-ish since it’s brown and grey with a bit of orange. I plan to knit Olina which is even more of a lace pattern. Hopefully it will be okay with this self striping yarn. I plan to wait till September to cast-it on.

HALLOWEEN COWL CAST-ON!!

My Halloween Cowl is getting all my knitting attention at the moment hence the desire to wait to cast-on the next pair of socks. I really love the variegated yarn I’m using for the striped sections. It’s the Black Hills colorway from Deep Dyed Yarns. It has the sparkly silver filament in the yarn (which makes it a lot easier to knit the black stitches!!). I’ll be starting the colorwork stripes of pumpkins this afternoon so we will see if the variegated works as I’m imagining. The cowl is Halloween based so it has a stripe of ghosts. I’m going to see if I can create a stripe of leaves so that the cowl is more autumn based and thus I could wear it Sept thru November.

NEXT??

The cowl should knit fairly quickly so I’m already thinking about my next “big” project. I’d love to start a Love Note for me since it will go with my new green socks but I’m feeling I need to get back to knitting that sweater for my hubby. I’ll be using Summer Silk yarn from Berroco which I really love. It will be a fairly lightweight sweater since the yarn is silk and cotton making it perfect for him in Florida. I really should get it done this fall. We have another beach vacation coming up in mid-September so I need to plan what knitting projects I want to work on. Sadly I will be doing most (all??) the driving so I won’t get much (any??) knitting on the travel days. I still have some leftover Fixation yarn to make a pair of “walking yoga socks” for our daily walks on the beach.

I got to enjoy my sister and brother-in-law being in town. Hubby made a wonderful dinner before we went to the soccer game last night (a tie). Tomorrow we will go up to my father’s for an authentic Korean dinner (my brother-in-law is half Korean). Yum.

Hope you have a wonderful week of crafting. This is a year of projects (YOP12) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts.  YOP started it’s 12th year in July and I’m starting my third year in the group. I’ve been knitting for five years.

2022: Wk of 8/7-13; Ranunculus update and New Cast-on

RANUNCULUS

I did rip back the ribbing as I had made multiple mistakes. The ribbing in the pattern is a 1×1 Half Fisherman’s Rib. It is much more attractive than the 2×2 ribbing I did. The pattern calls for going down 2 needle sizes for the ribbing but I only went done 1 to allow for my tummy and hips. I have finished the body and should finish the sleeves today as I plan to make very short sleeves. I’ll only be adding about 8 rows to each sleeve before binding off.

I’m liking the fit and I love the collar. I love the yarn, 10 Questions colorway in Hella Hank by Emma’s Yarn, but it definitely hides the pattern in the yoke. I will be knitting another Ranunculus with a solid color yarn so as to show off the yoke pattern. I’m thinking of going down a needle size or two to get a tighter fabric that won’t require and a top underneath.

With the focus on the Ranunculus this week, very little got done on my Dragonfly socks. They should be an FO by next week so I’ll post a picture next week.

BABY BLANKET

We are going to be visiting my stepdaughter, our granddaughter, and new great grandson this coming Saturday. So while I won’t get a blanket done in a week, I did decide to start one for the new great grandson. Hoping I will have it done by Christmas. It will again use up some of the acrylic yarn I have. I am just knitting a basic garter stitch striped blanket so it doesn’t get any more “brain dead”. It will be a good project to take along for the trip since I don’t need a pattern.

IN LOCAL NEWS…

Still trying to start-up a monthly knitting group. There were only 3 of us yesterday as 2 folks cancelled at the last minute. Hoping for a bigger turn out in September.

It’s been a quiet week on the home front for which I’m grateful. We have caught a break from the heat so I’m hoping to spend some time outside on my deck knitting this week for a change. I’m looking forward to my sister and brother-in-law coming into town this coming weekend for an extended visit. We are going to meet up with my brother and father at a pizza joint we used to visit 50+ years ago when I was in high school to celebrate my brother’s birthday and retirement.

Hope you have a wonderful week of crafting. 

This is a year of projects (YOP12) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts.  YOP started it’s 12th year in July and I’m starting my third year in the group. I’ve been knitting for five years.

2022: Wk of 7/17-23; Shawl and Shrug FOs

FOs!!!!

Happy dance time!!! I finished both the Stephen West Spiraling Cables shawl for my stepdaughter and the Ladybird Shrug for me. I’m very happy with both.

The shrug color doesn’t go with the initial dress I was planning to wear it with but I think it looks nice with this dress. Now I just need an occasion to wear the dress. Probably Christmas Eve since the dress is velvet. The pattern calls for creating a ribbed border that would run around the neck, down the front sides, and across the lower back. I decided I liked it without the ribbed border.

WIPs

So that just leaves me with the Spiraling Lace socks. Need to finish the ribbed cuff on this one and the leg and cuff on the other. Should be done today or tomorrow. That will catch me up on a pair of socks or a shrug per month. (More happy dancing.)

NEXT…

Cast-on Time!! (Still more happy dancing. I know, I know, I should get back to knitting my hubby’s sweater.) I will cast on a Ranunculus for me this week. I’m using Emma’s Yarn in the 10 Questions Colorway. No idea why it’s called that. To me it is fall colors hence my desire to cast-on now.

This will give me both the Ranunculus and the pair of socks, Dragonfly, that I took on the schooner trip but didn’t knit on, for my trip to the Outer Banks in North Carolina the end of this week. I already have the toes knit. I think I’ll take some leftover Fixation yarn to make a pair of yoga socks as a third project. This trip will be the opposite of Maine – very hot. But the house is right on the beach so I’ll have the breeze while at the beach and air conditioning while at the house. No motion sickness! I’m looking forward to 10 days with our friends and their daughter and fiancé. They are getting married in September. We even get to be part of the taste testing of the wedding caterer. I’m giving my daughter a hard time, not really, because we didn’t get to be part of their wedding caterer taste testing (something about being a 10 hr drive away!!)

Hope you have a wonderful week of crafting. 

This is a year of projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts.  YOP started it’s 12th year in July and I’m starting my third year in the group. I’ve been knitting for five years .

2022: Wk of June 26-July 2; MidYear Review & Shawl Update

1/2 YEAR REVIEW – PROJECTS

I do a calendar year plan but I still like to check at the midpoint to see how I’m going. Always good for a chuckle.

WIPS – Complete the 4 carryover WIPS	😁DONE!!
SOCKS/SHRUGS/COWLS – Complete 1 per month I have 4 socks and 1 shrug done with 2 socks and 1 shrug on needles. I’m betting by the end of July I’ll be ahead of the game with 6 socks and 2 shrugs.	🙂CLOSE – 5/12
SWEATERS/SHAWLS/TEES – Complete 5 Surprise, surprise. I’m a bit behind. I have one tee and one shawl completed. But as discussed below, I will likely finish a shawl this month putting me back on track.	🙂CLOSE – 2/5
BABY KNITTING – 0 I didn’t set a goal for this year but I did knit a baby sweater for my new granddaughter. Helps explain why I’m a bit behind on my sweater goal as the fingering weight baby sweater took a lot of time to knit.	😁AHEAD!!
MISCELLANEOUS – 1 I wanted to do an advent calendar project since I already have minis from 2 advent calendars and I’ve ordered 3 more!! I do have yarn “packaged” up for a striped sweater using advent minis but truthfully there is a Halloween cowl I want to knit that’s a higher priority to me. Hubby’s sweater also has to be finished before starting an “advent” sweater.	😝BEHIND – 0/1

So not bad. I’m okay with where I’m at the year midpoint.

1/2 YEAR REVIEW – GOALS

Average 1800 stitches per day each month Not surprisingly I missed this in May due to gardening and my daughter’s wedding. I barely met the goal in June. I am still averaging 1800 stitches per day for the year.	🙂CLOSE
Make something Brioche Still struggling with this. I will go back and review the online Brioche class I bought from Patty Lyons before starting the Newspaper sweater. This goal will likely move to 2023.	😝NOPE
Knit Continential I continue to work on this. I can do rows of knits and purls but struggle when the knitting has increases and decreases like a lace pattern.	🙂PROGRESSING
Yarn Out > Yarn In 3 advent calendars will do that to you. Plus finding a new LYS. And a 75% off sale.	😵EPIC FAIL!!
Make something colorwork I am planning a Halloween cowl and maybe some advent socks.	😉PLANNED
Review Stash – Queue Was humbled by how long it will take me to knit my stash. I’m fast approaching SABLE. Sadly being aware of how much yarn I already have has not slowed my yarn acquisitions.	😁DONE
Knit “new to me” Designer/SPECIFICALLY JOJI, EMMA, STEPHEN WEST, PETITE KNITS Knit several “new to me” designers so far – Stephen West, shrugs and sock patterns. Joji (Brioche) and Emma (colorwork) sweaters likely to move to 2023 plan.	🙂KINDA DONE
Learn to Crochet Not a priority. Thought it would help make blankets quicker but blanket making is not a priority for me. Someday…	😝NOPE
Learn to Knit without Looking Still a work in progress. Only can do with all knit rows and DK or thicker yarns.	🙂PROGRESSING
Track Days Worked on Project Yes I have added to my knitting plan spreadsheet. I also now track the number of stitches I knit on each project so that I can better estimate how many stitches a project will take and thus estimate how many projects I can get done in a year.	😁DONE!
Sew a project bag with Charlie Harper fabric Sadly this is a low priority project as I already have plenty of project bags. The fabric is so cute but would just be another bag that I have to figure out where to store. I won 3 project bags this year in giveaways. Now I need to giveaway project bags.	😝NOPE
Knit an Animal Toy I still want to do this but probably will wait two or three years to make one for my granddaughter.	😝NOPE

Definitely not doing as well on my goals as I am on my projects. But I don’t mind changing my mind as the year progresses. Actually I expect it. It’s not a big surprise learning to crochet didn’t turn out to be a big desire. Not a big fan of crochet so I don’t want to use my “good” yarn on crochet projects. Also things happen making sewing a project bag not needed – no matter how cute the fabric. It will get done someday….

SPIRALING CABLES SHAWL #2

Made a lot of progress this week on my stepdaughter’s Stephen West shawl. She is happy with the black yarn instead of the tan I used on my shawl. I’m playing a bit of yarn chicken so I’ll be aggressively blocking it to make sure it’s big enough. I’m a little over halfway done as I’ve started the trellis half. The trellis pattern is much more complicated cabling so I have to follow the pattern more closely. It’s too complicated for me to memorize. Fingers crossed I can get it done this week but I’ll probably be finishing it when I get back from Maine.

YARN ACQUSITION

Really??! I’m supposed to resist a 75% sale on yarn. I bought 6 skeins for only $30. That’s 2 tees. Love the spring/summer colors and the shine that the 15% silk adds. I said I wanted to make a second Anne Hanssen Structured Top with a solid color so that’s the plan for the new spring green yarn. Seeing Eyelet to Eyelet is my pattern planned for the orangish sunflower yarn. So my queue is well into 7 years!!

Hope you have a wonderful week of crafting. This is a year of projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts. 🙂 YOP is starting it’s 12th year. I’ve been knitting for five years and I’m starting my third year in the group.

2022: Wk of June 12-18; Shrug and Socks Update

SUMMER SHRUG

I did end up frogging almost the entire shrug. I ripped it back to just the few lace rows so back to row 10. I like the small stripes much better than the big blocks although all the color changes makes the knit much slower as I have to tie magic knots every 2-3 rows.

SOCK TOES

Here are the toes for 2 pair of socks that are now in “time out” until I go on my trip in 3 weeks. The should make good schooner knitting.

NEW LYS

I did visit the yarn shop this week that is only slightly further away (3 minutes) than the yarn shop I have considered “my LYS” for the past 5 years. I was thrilled with it. While the shop is smaller, since it’s 100% yarn there is more yarn. And most important to me, the shop owner loves fingering weight yarns so there is LOTS. And she holds knit sessions Mondays at dinner, Tuesdays at lunch, and Thursdays in the afternoon. Turns out the owner lives only a few miles from me. Despite my excessive stash, I felt I couldn’t leave without buying something. I picked up some mohair as I want to knit the Love Note tee with some leftover ITO Shimo that I have. She also had a wonderful display of self striping sock yarn so I picked up a skein of bright summer colors. Since you are supposed to knit with yarn purchased at the shop for knit sessions, I’m now prepared should I chose to go. But at current gas prices, it’ll cost me $5 to make the trip so probably not. I’d rather spend the money on yarn.

SWIM SPA

After the disaster of our in ground pool last year, we purchased an above ground swim spa (you swim in place against jets of water). It arrived just a few days after my husband’s birthday so it was perfect timing. We had to hire a huge crane to lift the pool from the driveway down to the concrete pad next to our bedroom (house is built into the hill thus the bedrooms are on the lower floor). All the rain we’ve had allowed us to fill the pool. (We have a cistern so we live off rain water not municipal water.) My husband has already started swimming in it.

FRIENDS and FAMILY

This was a fantastic week for me with lots of reconnecting with friends and family. I had two lunch dates with friends I haven’t seen since last year. My niece was in town from Texas which made a nice excuse to get together with my father and brother. Plus I got to take her sight seeing in Cincinnati for a day.

That’s it for this week. I hope you have a wonderful week of crafting.

This is a year of projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts. YOP is in it’s 11th year. It’s my second in the group. I’ve been knitting for five years.

2022: Wk of June 5-11; New WIP

Hello from rainy Cincinnati. My wish that June would bring clear skies was not to be. It was grey and drizzly for hubby’s birthday party but all had a good time anyway. I do treasure every time it is dry enough to enjoy our decks.

NEW WIP

I did finish the Quirky socks. So I got to cast-on a new project – my son’s girlfriend’s shawl. I’m knitting Summer Shrug by Dana Young. It’s a very basic pattern; 6 rows of “lace” (3 rows of YO, k2tog with a purl row between the YO rows) at the beginning, followed by 40″ of stockinette, finished with the 6 rows of “lace”. I really want to be complimentary of the pattern but I just can’t. I bought the pattern through Ravelry but if I had looked on her Etsy page I would have seen the criticism that it was pricey ($6) for an extremely basic pattern. On the other hand it’s only $6 so lets not nit pick. It’s knit flat as a long rectangle and then the edges are seamed for a few inches to create a slight sleeve. I’ve modified the pattern by putting I-cord edging for what will become the top and bottom edges of the shrug (thank you Steven West for teaching me this in your Spiraling Cables shawl). The only positive of the pattern as that she does provide mattress stitching instructions although I’ve learned from watching podcasts that I should use Bickford seaming for a more invisible seam.

I am using a skein of yarn that is basically a fade through 4 “yarns” that I got in a yarn swap. I cut the yarn into 4 balls since I want to have the second half match the first half. I will use half the mini ball before switching to the next color’s ball. The construction will mean the ‘stripes” will be vertical instead of horizontal. I found a mini that continues the fade if I need more yarn. Turns out I’m not liking the big blocks as stripes. I’m going to show it to my son’s girlfriend later today to get her thoughts both on the colors and the big blocks. It’s likely I’ll rip back to the “lace” and make much smaller stripes. This is a quick knit since it’s just stockinette. It’s a nice change to use a large needle, US 9, instead of the US 0 I use for socks.

WHAT’S UP NEXT??

I have the toes knitted up for one pair of socks to take on the Windjammer cruise I’m taking off the coast of Maine in 4 weeks but I want to take along a second pair as I expect to spend LOTS of time knitting on the boat. So I got the yarn divided in two and wound into balls. I’ll work on getting the toes knit up today. I’m going to use the Simple Spiral pattern as it’s supposed to be easy to memorize while having a slight lace to it.

Plus I really do need to watch the Patty Lyons Fix It video for brioche and work on my swatches. Guess the shrug will be hibernating for a few days.

ADVENT CALENDAR – ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!!

After sharing my 5 year stash plan last week, you would think that I’d be successful in resisting purchasing more yarn. But no. I watched a YouTube video of one of my favorite dyers, AGirlAndHerWool, this week. Wouldn’t you know she is offering a very good price on an advent calendar. Did I mention I’ve already purchased 2, count them 2, advent calendars? Supposedly one of the advent calendars I bought I’m putting away until 2023 so that means I only have one for 2022 right?? She offers 10g mini skeins so I bit and ordered one. I have no self control!! It really is an expensive way to buy yarn but I know I’ll enjoy the little surprises every day in December. 10g will be perfect for the Sea Glass Tee. Downside is I’m going to have to figure out how to store all these new minis.

KNIT IN PUBLIC

Yesterday was “Knit In Public Day”. World Wide Knit in Public Day was started in 2005 by Danielle Landes. It began as a way for knitters to come together and enjoy each other’s company since knitting is often a solitary craft. I’m trying to get a monthly knit session set up with knitters that I met at my LYS so we met yesterday at Panera. We got to “knit in public” and kick-off a monthly knitting group. It was nice to catch up with folks I haven’t seen in a year or more.

That’s it for this week. I hope you have a wonderful week of crafting.

This is a year of projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts. YOP is in it’s 11th year. It’s my second in the group. I’ve been knitting for five years.