Out with the Old, In with the New

It's a gloomy, slightly soggy Friday morning here in Pittsburgh as the remains of Debby are moving through. Fortunately it looks like most of the rain is going to stay east of us (we could still use the rain, but I also want to go for a run this morning and don't care for running in wet shoes). The good news is that the humidity is supposed to go way down after the rain moves out, and I am more than ready for that!

As promised, after I posted on Wednesday, I did cast on some new projects. First, I started a new charity hat so I'd have something mindless to work on. I knit the crown during a couple of work meetings that day and now have started just working in the round until it's long enough to do the ribbing.

The yarn I'm using might surprise you -- it's totally acrylic! This is the remains of a skein of Lion Brand Mandala Ombré that was originally on the giveaway table at the retreat last month. Mo crocheted a hat to add to the donations that were being collected for Knit the Rainbow while we were there, so I brought the rest home to make my own hat. It's actually not too bad to work with, though it is a little splitty because of the way it's made (it's a cabled yarn, so it's a bunch of two-ply yarns twisted together without the stickiness of wool to hold it together). I do like the colors, and I'm sure it'll make someone happy.

I have also started a new pair of socks for moi!

This is a skein of Fibernymph Dye Works Bounce in the colorway Sugarplummed. I've had it in my stash for at least a year, and I'd actually wound it and taken it to the retreat last month thinking that I would fly through my father-in-law's socks and need yarn to cast on another pair. Ha! I thought I'd do an actual pattern rather than just plain-old stockinette to change things up a bit. It's basically this pattern (Ravelry link), though I didn't buy the pattern and instead just figured out how to make the chevrons work with my gauge and my stitch count. It's a pretty easy two-round repeat with the stitch pattern worked only on the front of the leg/instep, so it's moving fairly quickly. I cast on Wednesday evening and already have about four inches of the leg knit.

This weekend we have some fun things planned. This evening some cousins are coming to stay with us on their way home from vacation, so we'll have dinner together tonight and breakfast tomorrow before they leave. I'm also planning to go to the big used book sale at a local church that I've been looking forward to all year since I missed it last year and had major FOMO when I saw the amazing stack of books that my sister-in-law bought. A library hold on a new release just came up for me, and the weather is going to be spectacular on top of all that. I'm sure there won't be enough time for all I want to do, but that's life!

Have a great weekend, friends!