Restorative Weekending

It's a new week, and I'm happy to say that the weekend was a restful one. Ruthie thankfully slept in a little both days -- until almost 7 on Saturday! -- and that combined with taking a decongestant before bed allowed me to get some much-needed sleep. Saturday I woke up without any sinus pain for the first time since this infection started, and I'm hoping that means I'm past the worst of it. I would still happily sleep longer and nap, but that's pretty much the case anytime.

Other than a trip to Costco (we very badly needed tissues, among other things), dinner out with the Mister, and walks with Ruthie, I didn't stray much from home all weekend. After we had a bit of "sprinter" last week, it got cold again, with rain on Saturday and snow on Sunday, so I was quite content to curl up with a warm puppy, a book, and my knitting. And I got quite a lot of knitting done! You'll have to excuse the very poor lighting, but here is a pre-blocked but finished Static cowl:

I really enjoyed knitting this pattern and can see myself making it again. This one, unless I decide it's perfect for someone I know, will be added to the charity pile; I really knit it to meet the requirements of the challenge and to use up the yarn. Once I weave in all the ends and block it, I'll take some better photos and give you all the details.

I also used the weekend to finish and block my sweater swatch, and it looks like I'll have to go through the process again with a larger needle, as I'm getting 18 stitches and 38 rows with a US 7/4.5 mm and the pattern calls for 17 stitches and 34 rows. I'll see what happens when I go up to a US 8/5 mm. There's always a chance that will be too big, in which case I'll use a 7 and perhaps make a larger size to compensate for the difference in gauge. But I'll wait until the next swatch is done before I determine my next step.

In the meantime, I've pulled out some fingering scraps and am holding them triple for another charity hat (apologies again for the photo -- there really was no natural light to be had yesterday):

I'm once again knitting the Sagamore Flyover hat (Ravelry link), which is so easy and fast to knit and has great texture. I've knit a ton of these with fingering scraps for some really warm hats. I'm using up some bright Fibernymph Dye Works leftovers in this one.

This is going to be an interesting week. The Mister is traveling for work and will get home just in time for us to all leave for Chicago for my cousin's daughter's bat mitzvah. Wednesday is my all-day work retreat, though I suspect I might have a relapse of my sinus infection and be unable to attend (oh darn!). At least it's a short week because of our trip and we all have next Monday off to look forward to. Let's hope there aren't any curveballs thrown our way!

The End of a Long Short Week

It feels like it's been a very long week, even though technically it was a short work week thanks to having Monday off. But there's been a lot of stuff going on -- extra meetings, two trips to the orthodontist (one scheduled, one not), and general changes to the schedule -- that have made it stretch out. But it's finally Friday, and I'm looking forward to wrapping up the week and putting it behind me.

I did indeed finish the brioche cowl, though I still need to weave in my ends and block it, which I hope to do later today.

I'm absolutely delighted with how it turned out (though I'm generally happy with anything in a rainbow). This version is a bit shorter than the original, which used six mini skeins rather than five, but it's still plenty tall enough to keep my neck warm -- and I do mean my neck, because Mo <del>stole</del> was given the original sample, so I'm keeping this one. Once the finishing is done, I just need to take some new pattern photos, make some minor edits to the pattern, and send it off to Knit Picks.

Mo is working to finish up a blanket for her newest cousin, so we haven't gotten back to our shawl knitalong. Rather than starting another knitting project, I decided to start spinning something new. I thought I'd turbo-charge my stash spin-down by doing a combo spin of three past Southern Cross Fibre club shipments:

I pulled out three colorways that looked similar, and I'm spinning each one onto its own bobbin and will then ply them all together. What you see here are three colorways from three years -- left to right, Woodland Stream (September 2022) on Falkland, Rainforest (January 2023) on Bond, and Gran Cenote (August 2021) on Falkland. Falkland is technically a merino, but it's a bit toothier than the merino you're probably used to and feels very similar to Bond, so I think these three will play nicely together. I've started with Gran Cenote and have spun almost a quarter of it; I split the fiber lengthwise into four long strips, just to break the colors up a bit, and I'll do the same thing with the other two colorways. I don't expect this to be a fast spin because it looks like it'll be a three-ply fingering, but that is my default yarn, so I'm hoping I can get it done while reading or watching something without too much thought.

This weekend we'll be celebrating my newest nephew's (ceremonial) bris and baby naming, and my aunt and uncle are coming in from Michigan to meet him. The ceremony is on Sunday morning, but we'll be having multiple family dinners and lots of extended family time -- good times for the soul! I hope you have some good things planned for the weekend ahead!

Dispatches from Swiftsburgh

Happy Friday, friends! It's been a long week, and it's going to be a long day, but on the plus side, I don't have to work today. I'm taking one of my two annual personal days (because if I don't use them, they disappear at the end of the fiscal year, which is the end of June). Of course, just my luck, we got an email late yesterday that the office would be closing at 2 this afternoon ahead of the long weekend -- the university is closed on Monday for Juneteenth. This is reminding me of the one time in my employment when the university closed due to snow and I was already on maternity leave!

In any case, I am ready for the long weekend, which is shaping up to be a busy one here. Tonight and tomorrow night, Taylor Swift is performing downtown, and in addition to the city's issuing a proclamation renaming us "Swiftsburgh" today, there is quite a lot of hype. Whether or not you're a Taylor Swift fan, there's no denying the economic impact her tour stop will have on the city -- the estimate I heard was that it was anticipated to bring in $12 million. The Swiftie in my household is very excited to attend her first official concert this evening, and I'm just hoping to be able to stay awake! I think a nap this afternoon will be in order.

Yesterday I realized that we were almost halfway through June and I hadn't had something on the wheel in almost two weeks, which is not acceptable to me if I'm going to continue to use up my fiber stash. So I pulled out this Southern Cross Fibre club shipment from last July, Hens and Chicks on Bond wool, which happened to be inspired by a photo I posted in the SCF Ravelry group:

I split it for a fractal two-ply (lately my favorite thing to do) by dividing it in half lengthwise and then dividing one half in half again. I started the first bobbin and took some progress shots along the way of the different colors, and I put them in a composite:

Meanwhile, after finishing my mother-in-law's socks, I started two other projects. First, I'm knitting up another sample of my Obfuscation cowl using a set of mini skeins from Knit Picks that I'm knitting in rainbow order:

And Mo and I have started a little knitalong together, our very first! We're knitting the Mas Vida Shawl, which is a bit of a stretch for her knitting skills, so we are doing it row by row together (and I did the start for her, which involved Judy's Magic Cast-on and was very fiddly). This is an excellent visual example of how individual gauge can be -- we're both using the same weight of yarn and the same needle size, but obviously one of us is a lot more relaxed:

Mo's shawl (on the left) is being knit with yarn from Ex Libris Fibers that she bought last month. I'm using some deep-stash yarn: Fibernymph Dye Works Harmonia, a superwash merino/cashmere/silk base that Lisa doesn't dye anymore. I don't know exactly how old this yarn is, but it still had her old label design, so it's several years old at least.

Finally, some happy news -- look what arrived in yesterday's mail!

I didn't pay for tracking on the broken pair I sent back to Skacel, so I didn't have any way to know if it had been received until this replacement came. Three cheers for great customer service!

I hope your weekend is full of good things. I'll be back on Monday to report on the concert!

Unraveled, Week 44/2022

Good morning from a very foggy Pittsburgh! Goodness, it's been a week. Rainbow is back to school today after being home with me the last two days. She was feeling better by the end of the weekend, but she still had a fever until yesterday, so therefore she was not allowed to be at school. She was disappointed to miss two days (how many kids are upset about missing school?!), but thanks to how connected they are because of the pandemic, she was able to check in with all her teachers, get the material they covered in class, and do her homework. I wasn't really taking care of her all the time like I had to when she was little, but having her home was still a disruption to my normal routine, and on top of that I had a 40-page report to get through for work the past two days. I'm very happy to have the house to myself for a bit today!]

Yet another reason to be happy today is that it's Wednesday, which means it's time for my weekly link-up with Kat and the Unravelers -- my favorite blogging day of the week! I hope you will forgive the quality of the photos (due to the aforementioned fog).

I found myself rather anxious while Rainbow was unwell (because right now, with all the illnesses going around, how could I not be?), so plain knitting was all I could really handle. That meant more scrappy charity hats. The most recent one may be my favorite yet, probably due to all the really bright colors I selected. And I've already started another, though this might be the last for a while -- I'm nearly out of scraps and I want to send off the ones I've knit this weekend.

One of my goals for today is to finish up the colorwork cowl I've been designing, which should be doable as I've got maybe two dozen rounds left to knit (and, conveniently, a staff meeting to sit through later this morning). I already have my tech editor on alert for the pattern, so once the sample is done, I'll be motivated to write up the instructions.

I haven't gotten a ton of reading done this past week but did finish two books.

The Round House, which won the National Book Award for fiction, is our next Erdrich-along book for discussion. It was a hard read in the sense that it deals with some very upsetting topics and is quite emotional, but as usual, Erdrich presents them and discusses them in beautiful ways. The story is told from the point of view of a 13-year-old boy, and that Erdrich can do this so convincingly really tells you about her skill as a writer. The story deals with the themes of revenge, justice, and whether doing something truly wrong can be the right thing to do if it serves a larger purpose. It also touches on a theme that's common in Erdrich's books: who has jurisdiction over the land and how ambiguity in this area can have far-reaching consequences. I gave this one 4 stars.

Yesterday afternoon, I finished listening to The Chosen and the Beautiful. It's a retelling/reimagining of The Great Gatsby, which is not one of my favorites, and I really only picked this up because it's being discussed this month on the Novel Pairings podcast. In this version, narrated by Jordan Baker, there's an element of magic and the presence of some dark supernatural elements, all set against a backdrop of rising xenophobia. Jordan has grown up as the Vietnamese American adopted daughter of a socialite, and she finds herself navigating a society in which she is both a thing of fascination and someone who doesn't quite fit in anywhere. It's an interesting take on the classic, but I didn't love it, probably because I've never loved Gatsby, but also because I found some parts of it confusing. I'm looking forward to hearing it discussed on the podcast. I gave it 3 stars.

I'm currently reading a nonfiction book about WWII from Netgalley, and next up to start is The Marriage Portrait. What are you making and reading this week?

Unraveled, Week 33/2022

Wednesday again! As per usual, I'm here with an update on my making and my reading and linking up with Kat and the Unravelers.

After finishing up my Twofer Tank, I've been focused on some smaller projects, specifically some design projects. I've been very slow with my design work this year, but I'm feeling my mojo slowly coming back. Yesterday, in fact, I finished up a pattern layout for my hat re-release that just needs some photos before it's ready to head off to my tech editor. The coordinating cowl isn't far behind.

I'm also preparing to cast on a new sweater for me! Late last week I applied to be a preview knitter for Kerri Blumer's new design, and on Monday evening, I got word that I'd been accepted. Yesterday I knit and blocked my swatch. It's still just a tad damp, but my stitch gauge is spot on and my row gauge just slightly off.

The yarn is the Lindy Chain that I bought earlier in the summer, and the chainette construction is taking a little getting used to, but I really like the fabric I'm getting. Once I get started on the sweater, it should make for some mindless knitting (lots of stockinette in the round), and I think it will move pretty fast even though I'll be using size 3/3.25 mm needles.

Reading has been a little slower this past week because my knitting has required my eyes a bit more, but I've finished two books.

While I'm not necessarily attempting to read the entire Booker Prize long list, I will probably try to read the short list when it's announced, and because Oh, William! may be on it, I figured it would make sense to read My Name Is Lucy Barton first so I'd be familiar with the characters. This was a very quick read -- I started it at bedtime one night, got about 20 pages in, and then read the rest the next day. I know that the sparse language of this book is often cited as one of its best features, but I constantly felt that I was missing something. I was a bit frustrated that Strout hinted at things in Lucy's past and never actually explained them. I'm still a bit confused. So this was an okay read for me, not great. I'm not sure I'll read Oh, William! unless it makes the short list.

I needed a new audiobook to listen to over the weekend, so I turned to my "to read" list on Libby and found Evvie Drake Starts Over available. I know many of you have already read it, as it came out three years ago; I've had it on my radar and just never got around to it. But this was just perfect for the time. Is it fine literature? No. Is it predictable? Yes. But it was absolutely enjoyable. The writing is witty, with many references to public radio (Linda Holmes works for NPR), and it was an easy listen. It kept me good company on my workouts and while cleaning bathrooms. I gave it 4 stars.

I'm currently trying to make my way through my last unread Maggie O'Farrell book that's been published, The Distance Between Us, which I'm enjoying but is taking longer because (a) I'm reading it on paper and (b) I keep falling asleep while reading (due to my being tired, not the quality of the book!).

Apropos of nothing, here's our latest gardening triumph -- we have a baby honeydew melon!

We'll see if we can keep it alive until it's ready to be eaten -- and if whatever keeps eating our tomatoes gets to it first!

What are you making and reading this week?

Pattern Release: Obfuscation

Dear readers (especially longtime readers), do you remember when I used to design and publish patterns almost every month? It seems like forever ago, and there's no denying that the pandemic has really dampened my creativity. I had to go back and check to see when I last published a pattern because I honestly couldn't remember (it was July, by the way). I'm just starting to feel the designing mojo coming back, and I think going to Rhinebeck really kick-started it.

Today's pattern, my first new release in four months, is a direct result of that trip. Remember that set of mini skeins I picked up at Indie Untangled? My brain started going the very night I bought them and I had a plan for them before I went to sleep. When I got home, I moved the idea from my brain onto my needles.

"Obfuscation" is the act of throwing something into shadow or darkening it. My idea for this cowl was that as each new color/mini skein was introduced, it would push the previous color to the background. I immediately thought of brioche stitch, as it's not only fun to knit and creates an extremely squishy fabric, it also creates a fun blended effect when worked in two colors.

Though this might look like a complicated knit, if you have knit basic brioche stitch before, you'll find that it's a piece of cake. The stitch is the same the whole way though; all that changes is whether you're using one color or two. In fact, I'd say the most complicated (or maybe fiddly is the better word) part of the pattern is weaving in your ends carefully so that the cowl can be fully reversible.

The pattern is written to use one six-skein set of fingering weight mini skeins (I used a set from McMullin Fiber Co.), but I've also included a customization section should you want to use scraps/leftovers or change the final dimensions. The beauty of this design is that it's immensely adaptable, and I plan to make another as an infinity cowl/long loop at some point!

You will find the pattern on both Ravelry and Payhip, and in both places it is on sale for $1 for the first week with the coupon code MINIBRIOCHE. 

I hope you like this one, and I certainly hope I have another new pattern to share sooner than four months from now!

Happy weekending!

Shuffling toward the Weekend

We have made it to Friday -- thank goodness! Yesterday was an especially long day for me. After my usual walk (nearly 5.6 miles), my biweekly work team meeting, and lunch, I was back out to go to donate blood. Donating is something I have been actively trying to do as much as possible for the last couple of years, and yesterday marked my 1 gallon mark since I started using the Red Cross blood donor app (that's eight donations since November 2018). I have been a blood donor since high school, since I first became old enough to be eligible, but for many years I was an infrequent donor. There's a severe blood shortage right now, in large part because supplies have been depleted during the pandemic, so I am trying to schedule a donation for about every 8-10 weeks. This is just a reminder for those of you who are able to donate blood that it's an easy thing you can do to make a big difference! I'd also encourage you to donate via the Red Cross if you can; a lot of blood banks actually charge hospitals for blood and blood products, but the Red Cross never does.

Okay, I'll step off my soapbox now. My point about yesterday was that I did a lot of walking yesterday. The blood drive was held on campus, about a mile and a half from my house, so when I got into bed last night, I'd managed to rack up 21K steps! I was asleep before the Mister last night, which is a very rare occurrence. Despite that, my Fitbit tells me that I did not get a great night of sleep (perhaps because I was up at 4 a.m. with a charley horse in my calf?), so I have a feeling I'll be dragging a bit today. I'd hoped that yesterday afternoon would be quiet and allow me to just sit, but I got a work project in that kept me busy until shortly after 5. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that today is better.

Before all the activity yesterday, I did manage to finish my brioche cowl! I wove in all my ends and blocked it on Wednesday evening, and because the radiators are now on, it was dry yesterday. I am delighted with how it turned out. I have a tentative name for the pattern, so now I need to get on with writing up the instructions.

I've also made some progress on my brother's socks; last night, rather than casting on a new project (because I was so tired), I just carried on with the first sock, which now has a completed heel and gusset.

Today I am hoping to cast on for the sock yarn hat for Rainbow, but I'd also like to do some spinning. We'll see what I'm in the mood for.

Every weekend I say that I'm looking forward to down time, and yet every weekend seems to get crazy busy and filled up with errands and chores. This weekend, though, I think I am going to get some enforced down time. Rainbow is scheduled to get her first COVID vaccination tomorrow morning, and then tomorrow afternoon, I have an appointment to get my booster! I learned this week that certain mental health conditions are included in the list of underlying conditions that make one eligible to get a booster now, and now that we're planning to travel over the holidays, I figured it would be a good idea to do so. I didn't have too bad of a reaction to my second shot (I was tired and a bit achy), but I expect to have a similar experience to the booster and plan to use that as an excuse to take it easy. I also expect that Rainbow will be fine, but she has a tendency to be a bit dramatic, so if she wants to spend the day after just relaxing, I won't object.

I hope your week can end on a happy note and that you have a relaxing weekend as well!

Unraveled, Week 16/2021

Wednesday again! It feels like it's been a very long week, even though we're not officially halfway through. Obviously work has kept me very busy, and then there was the verdict yesterday, which had me in knots until it will announced. I'm still feeling the tension, however, because tomorrow I have to go back for a follow-up mammogram after some "nodules" were found on my previous scan. I've been assured that I shouldn't worry too much and that this is not uncommon, but try telling a naturally anxious person not to worry and see how well that goes!

In any case, it is Wednesday, despite the fact that it's snowing right now and feels more like February than late April. As per usually, I'm linking up today with Kat and the Unravelers to talk about knitting and reading.

Last night, because I was feeling so wrung out by work stress and verdict anxiety, I decided not to pick up the first sleeve of my Aldous and instead finished up this brioche cowl for the charity pile. It's nothing terribly exciting, but it used all but 6 grams of the yarn leftover from the two charity hats that I just knit (the yarn is Fibernymph Dye Works Cozy, a worsted weight superwash merino).

I had a little more of the blue colorway than the yellow/green, so I did a few rounds of 1x1 rib at the top and bottom in just the blue (which you can see better on the inside). I don't remember how many stitches I cast on for this -- I just cast on until it more or less filled my 16 in. circular needle and then made sure I had an even number -- but I did plain-old two-color brioche until I didn't have enough of the yellow/green to work another round and then finished off with the blue. I ended up using 42 grams of each color or about 185 yards in total. It feels really good to have used up just about every last bit of those two skeins of yarn.

Very little reading has been happening this week, but I did quite a bit since last Wednesday that was excellent.

I'd had Writers & Lovers tagged "to read" on my Libby app since hearing it recommended on the What Should I Read Next? podcast, and when I was ready for a new book and saw it had no wait, I thought I'd give it a try. This book grabbed me and pulled me in from the first chapter. I can't put my finger on exactly why this book had such a hold on me, but it felt familiar and comfortable and I just could not put it down. I suppose I identified with the main character -- a woman in her early 30s struggling with the recent death of her mother, the writing of her first novel, her love life, and trying to work off huge student debt -- despite the fact we seem to have nothing in common besides our gender, but I felt so at ease in her thoughts. I gave this book 5 stars and highly recommend it.

Nadia Owusu's debut memoir Aftershocks was another phenomenal read that I couldn't put down. The daughter of a Ghanaian father and an Armenian American mother, Owusu beautifully and lyrically writes about her parents' split, her mother's abandonment of her, her complicated relationship with her stepmother, her struggles with mental illness, the death of her father (who she saw as the one stable constant in her life), and her ongoing difficulty in understanding her identity and a search for her home. This isn't an easy read, but it is extremely well done. I certainly hope that we hear more from Owusu, as it's clear that she is an extremely talented voice. I gave it 5 stars.

Finally, I rounded out my week with a volume of poetry. I've recently started listening to the Novel Pairings podcast (following Mary's recommendation) and listening back from the beginning. One of the earlier episodes was about poetry, and one of the hosts mentioned a new-to-me poet, Carol Ann Duffy, and specifically this collection of her poems, The World's Wife. I couldn't find it from the library so ended up buying a Kindle copy, and I'm delighted I did. All the poems in this collection are told from the point of view of women in myth and history. Some are sad, some are saucy, some are laugh-out-loud funny. It's a quick read (I started reading one night at bedtime and finished the next morning) and one I'm sure to go back to. I gave it 4 stars.

I am still reading The Giver, which I really could finish in an afternoon if I wanted to, but I have chosen to read it at the same pace as Rainbow so I don't inadvertently spoil anything, and on Monday I started reading The God of Small Things, though with my work schedule this week I haven't gotten very far. I hope to spend some time getting lost in it toward the end of the week.

How are your knitting and reading going this week? I hope you have more time for both than I have so far!

See you back here tomorrow for some more poetry!

One Little Word, One FO, and One New Design*

Can you believe today is December 1?! The end of the year seems to be going by at warp speed, which I wouldn't mind so much but for the fact that I still have a lot of holiday knitting to do!

We are changing things up a bit and posting our One Little Word reflections today, even though it's not the last Tuesday of November. Honoré is gracious enough to be our host for these monthly link-ups, and today works best for her, so I'm going with it. So what did I savor in the month of November? This month, I took things quite literally:

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, in no small part because of the food, but also because it means getting together with family and friends for no other reason than to enjoy each other's company. There are no religious rites or rituals, no foods we're required to eat or required to abstain from, and the whole atmosphere is one of relaxation and gratitude. Obviously this year was very different. There were only three of us around the table, though we shared cooking duties with my brother and sister-in-law (they made the mashed potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and green bean casserole). I didn't want to make this year any more depressing than it already was by skimping on the meal, so I made sure we had all the elements we're used to. Friends, I successfully roasted my first turkey! I also made our favorite cranberry sauce and my great-grandmother's challah stuffing, my absolute favorite part of the meal! And as we have every year for the past several years, Rainbow and I baked pumpkin cranberry muffins (though we only made three dozen this year instead of our usual six dozen). While I certainly savored the food itself, I think what I savored the most about this Thanksgiving is that we were able to have it pretty much normally except for the company. We had a Zoom call just before we ate and saw our parents, my sister- and brother-in-law and nephew, my aunt and uncle in Florida, and the Mister's aunt and uncle and cousin in Atlanta. So it still felt like we were with a big crowd, but there were many fewer dishes to wash at the end of the night.

I'd hoped that in taking the whole week off from work I'd find extra time for knitting and spinning, but in actuality a lot of last week (at least through Thursday) was spent in the kitchen. And I really didn't mind it, especially as I had a helper for a lot of it. I didn't anticipate just how much work it would be to cook a Thanksgiving dinner, and while I certainly could have cut a few corners, I wanted to have as authentic an experience as we could. So it was a busy week but an enjoyable one.

I did finally find my time to knit on Friday afternoon, when Rainbow and I sat down to watch the final two GBBO episodes of the current season and I cast on for a gift to myself that I've been meaning to make all year. I finished that project yesterday afternoon.

Pattern: Woodland Loafers by Claire Slade (Ravelry link)
Yarn: Fibernymph Dye Works Ridgetop DK (80% Romney/20% Falkland) in Wild Bergamot and Floof (75% mohair/25% silk) in Rain Cloud Gray, held together
Needles: US 8 (5.0 mm)
Started/Completed: November 27/November 29
Mods: omitted the loops at the back of the heels and did a round of purl before binding off

I'd purchased this pattern in the Giftalong last year but didn't get around to making them, probably because there's very little bulky weight yarn in my stash, so they were on my 20 in 20 list for this year. In lieu of a single strand of bulky, I opted for these two yarns held together. Though the main yarn is labeled a DK, at 220 yards per 100 g, I'd call it a worsted, and that combined with the halo of the mohair/silk seemed to make a reasonable substitute. I think an actual bulky yarn would probably result in a more robust fabric (mine is a bit limp and floppy when not on a foot), but the fit is just fine. The pattern is fast and a lot of fun to knit. It's actually completely seamless -- you knit the sole flat first, then pick up stitches all around to work the rest of it. Quite clever! And I'd estimate the pair took me only between four and five hours to knit, making it a good option when I need a last-minute gift. I'm sure there will be more pairs from me in the future!

Finally, I wanted to let you know that I published a new pattern this morning, the brioche cowl you saw when it was in progress. This is the Chevroche Cowl (Ravelry link):

It's available on Ravelry and Payhip and is $1 off the full price for the first week (coupon codes are on the pattern pages).

*Bet you thought I was going to say "and a partridge in a pear tree"!

Mojo Overdrive

I'm not sure what happened in the last week, but I'm suddenly finding myself with tons of knitting mojo. I know that's not a bad thing, but I wish I could figure out how it happened so I could make it happen more often! This is all by way of an explanation for the project spamming I'm about to do in this post, so hold on to your hat.

First, I finished my mother's socks last Wednesday. They are currently soaking in a warm bath and will soon be set to dry on a warm radiator (it's snowing lightly right now, so the heat is kicking!), but in the meantime here is an unblocked shot:

I used my regular vanilla sock recipe for these, working over 64 stitches with size 0/2.0 needles. My mother has narrow feet, and these were just a big snug for me, so they should be perfect on her. I used almost exactly three-quarters of the skein of Emma's Yarn Practically Perfect Sock in the colorway Juneau, leaving me about 100 yards to use for a baby hat or add to a scrappy project. I've now got two more pairs of socks left to knit for holiday gifts, both man socks, so I really do need to cast on the next pair soon.

After the socks were finished, I needed to shift to a different project for meetings, so I pulled out my Hitchhiker. It has grown quite a bit; out of the original 119g, I have 64 remaining, so I am almost halfway through my yarn. The color change is much more noticeable now.

What kicked my mojo into high gear, however, was a new design sample that you saw the start of last Wednesday. Once the socks were off the needles, I turned my attention to it and it alone until it was done, and I am thrilled with how it came out.

One of the hardest things about designing for me is getting the knitting to match what I see in my head, and this one actually turned out even better. I even managed to get the pattern written up and off to my tech editor over the weekend! Now I am working on a coordinating hat with the remaining yarn, and it's teaching me a lesson in humility.

What you're seeing here is actually the third attempt at this hat. I had to rip back to the brim on the first attempt when I found I'd dropped a stitch on the very first round of brioche increases/decreases. On attempt number two, I found that I'd missed an increase and had to tink back four or five rounds. But I am on track now and am paying close attention to what I'm doing so that I don't repeat either of those mistakes. I think it was the universe's way of telling me that I should figure out my math first (I had just cast on and was designing on the needles, but I really needed to do the math to know when to start the crown decreases). Once I fixed the missed increase last night, I got out my calculator and did the necessary math to finish. With any luck, this hat will be done in the next couple of days; I have already promised the pattern to my tech editor by later in the week.

Finally, I'll end with a bit of stash enhancement:

I've decided that I really need to getting more yarn out of the stash than adding it in, but this particular skein was a prize, so I'm not sure it really counts. Obviously this is from Fibernymph Dye Works, and it's Lisa's Bedazzled base (can you see the sparkle?). This is a pretty special skein. It's her Nyan Cat colorway, which she hasn't dyed in some time and doesn't plan to dye again, but she found a single skein not too long ago and I was lucky enough to win it.

I think that's enough from me for one day! I hope your knitting mojo is running high and you're staying safe!

Plodding Along: Unraveled Wednesday

After quite a few days of unseasonably warm and sunny weather, it is a rainy Wednesday here; we were all awakened this morning at around 5 a.m. by a very loud clap of thunder. I suppose it's a very good day to stay in and craft!

I'm joining Kat and the Unravelers today to talk about what I'm working on and what I'm reading.

My top priority right now as far as my WIPs are concerned is finishing up my mother's socks. I have two more pairs of socks to knit when these are done (for my father and father-in-law, so they'll be big and boring), so I'm anxious to get this pair off the needles. The good news is that I am almost there. I've finished all the gusset decreases on the second sock and am cruising down the foot. This sock is perfect to work on while reading or sitting in meetings, and I happen to have a synagogue committee meeting tonight. I expect that I'll be able to finish the pair before the week is out.

My treat to myself after finishing my sweater was to cast on a new project with the two skeins I shared last week. On Sunday I wound them and got started, and I am having so much fun with this new design!

This is the start of a brioche cowl that's a step up from basic two-color brioche but still relatively easy, as brioche designs go. I'm really pleased with how it's working up and am hoping to have enough yarn leftover to do a coordinating hat.

My Hitchhiker is still on the needles but hasn't gotten any attention recently. I do plan to pull it out and devote some time to it soon, though!

Reading has been a mixed bag this week. I've still got about three weeks until my next library hold comes to me, so I've been going through the books I've tagged "to read" in Libby and seeing what's available to borrow right away. I've finished two books in the last week.

I know a lot of you read Station Eleven a while ago, and I've been wanting to read it for a long time but kept seeing a long wait, so I put it off. I realize that a book about a global pandemic is probably not the wisest thing to read during an actual global pandemic -- in fact, I seem to remember some people saying not to read it! I understand that concern, but it didn't really make me too anxious, and I really loved the book. I kept reminding myself that it was fiction, and instead on focusing on the illness, I really focused on the characters (which, in my opinion, were meant to be the focus anyway). I loved how the different story lines were woven together and how so many lives were interconnected through seemingly minor things. I gave this book 5 stars.

In the "they can't all be winners" category was Women Who Run with the Wolves, a book I'd never heard of until it was mentioned by Sara of the Yarns at Yin Hoo podcast, who has been designing a series of patterns inspired by it. It was available and the audio was only about two hours long, so I decided to give it a try. While I found some good aspects of it, I overwhelmingly found it to be a little out far out there for me. Had it been a longer book, I probably would have abandoned it, but it was so short that I figured I might as well listen to the whole thing, just in case it got better. I'm sorry to say it didn't, and I gave it 1 star.

I am currently reading an Amazon First Reads selection, Jew(ish), which I'm hoping to finish today, and am contemplating borrowing Bridge to Terabithia, which Rainbow is currently reading for school. I really enjoyed revisiting her last English assignment and might just continue to read/reread what she is this year so I can help her with her assignments if she needs me to. Both the digital and audiobook are available through Hoopla, so I just have to decide which format I want to borrow. I would probably be able to get through the ebook faster than listening to the audio, but the audio is narrated by Robert Sean Leonard. Tough choice!

I hope you can fill your Wednesday with good reads and good crafts. And if you are a veteran, thank you for your service!

Pattern Release: Slipdash

Earlier this year I was so much not in a headspace to be designing that it was kind of a surprise when this pattern came off the needles, almost as if I designed it subconsciously. I had come to the conclusion that I've reached a sock saturation point -- i.e., I have no room for more hand-knit socks right now -- but that has not stopped me from buying more sock yarn, and I still have a healthy stash of it in addition. So this started as a way to use up some of it in a project that wasn't socks. I've always noticed that self-striping yarns do fun things when there are slipped stitches involved, such as in the heel flap of socks, so I thought that I'd toss some slipped stitches into an otherwise plain cowl. The result was pretty stunning, especially given how simple it was to knit. And it got such a strong response on Instagram that I decided to write it up. Meet Slipdash.

This pattern is designed for self-striping sock yarn, especially self-striping sock yarn with a lot of colors. An easy-to-memorize slip stitch pattern allows the colors in the striping pattern to shift and intermix, creating the look of colorwork without any of the complexity.

For the sample, I used my favorite sock yarn, Fibernymph Dye Works Bounce, a durable but soft superwash merino/nylon blend. The colorway is the one Lisa created for her shop's ninth anniversary based upon her customer's favorite shades, and fittingly it has nine stripes. There's a good mix of bright and more subtle shades in this colorway, which I think goes so well with the stitch pattern.

And speaking of the stitch pattern, a bonus feature I discovered after the fact is that the wrong side looks great, too, so if you weave in your ends carefully, your cowl can be reversible.

The pattern is $1 off for the first week when you use the code SLIPIT on Ravelry. Because of the issues some are having with the new Ravelry site, I've also made all my self-published patterns available on LoveCrafts (though unfortunately I'm unable to offer discounts there). You can find Slipdash here on LoveCrafts.

I'm Ready for the Next Project

It's a new week, one that's shaping up to be a busy one. A big project landed in my inbox yesterday afternoon, so that will keep me busy this week during working hours. And I'm still doing plenty of crafting, of course.

We had a beautiful weekend here, warm and sunny with no rain for a change. On Saturday morning, Rainbow and I planted the flowers and tomatoes we'd gotten on Mother's Day. We have pink impatiens in the front yarn, between the grass and hydrangea bushes. They were pretty small when we planted them and only a couple of flowers have opened since then. In the back yard, we planted a mix of marigolds (I started picking them and drying them last year to use in natural dyeing) and the three tomato plants in our fenced bed. We've got some sunflower seedlings started in a pot planter and have started some peas inside that will be transplanted outside once they're a bit bigger. I know Julia asked to see photos of the garden, but at the moment there's not much to see. Once everything starts growing and blooming, I'll be sure to take some pictures!

Though I mainly did a lot of spinning over the weekend, I've been working on my WIPs as well just about every day. I'm continuing to put in a minimum of 15 minutes a day on Rainbow's crochet blanket, and most evenings I work on my Breathe and Hope shawl. I'm nearly finished with section 3, which I think I've likely messed up a few times, but after ripping it out and restarting it three times, I'm just going with the flow at this point.

My cowl has grown quite a bit, though apparently it requires more attention than I thought because yesterday I discovered a dropped stitch. I laddered it back up and think I fixed it pretty well, but it was a warning for me that I need to actually watch what I'm doing. I'm very pleased with how it's knitting up, and it looks like I'll be writing up the pattern when I'm done (I was thinking about it, so I asked in a poll on my Instagram stories, and the answer was overwhelmingly yes -- so who am I to refuse?).

Despite having these three projects going, plus spinning, I'm getting itchy to start a new project, specifically a garment. I have quite a few sweaters on my 20 in 20 list, and the amount of time left in the year to knit them is only getting shorter. I so rarely seem to get started on warm-weather garments in time to actually wear them in the season they're intended for, so I've decided that my next project will be Tegna using yarn I spun specifically for it:

This yarn was spun from three braids of Targhee/bamboo/silk from Gale's Art. I split each braid in half vertically and used one strip from each braid as one ply in each skein, so the two skeins are more or less identical. I swatched with it (yes, cheating a bit) over the weekend and am now ready to go, but I'm making myself finish up one of the other WIPs first. That said, I am getting a lot of joy out of looking at the yarn cakes sitting nearby!

A Bonus (or Two)

I normally don't post on Fridays, but this week I've got a little surprise, and it seems fitting to share it going into Mother's Day weekend.

A number of months ago, I was approached by the folks at KnitCrate about collaborating with them. They asked me to design two patterns using their house Knitologie Cozy Sock, a merino/cashmere/nylon blend. These projects obviously had to stay secret until they were revealed to subscribers, and that big reveal came this week. And now I can share them to you, because they're now available to everyone through my Ravelry store!

My Jounce Cowl is one of those one-skein wonders that are the perfect use for that special skein of fingering weight yarn that's maybe a bit too precious for socks. It uses an all-over texture stitch that's sort of a mashup of basic brioche stitch and 1x1 rib. It's simple to do and quick to memorize, and while using fingering weight yarn creates a light accessory that's just as good as a fashion item as one for warmth, you could use any weight of yarn and can easily adapt it to be closer fitting or significantly longer if you'd prefer to wrap it twice. I'm planning to make myself one using some special handspun!

My Squeezed Citrus socks are likewise textured all over, using twisted stitches and knit/purl combinations. They're worked from the cuff down and incorporate a heel flap and gusset and wedge toe. They're graded to three sizes -- adult small, medium, and large -- and have both written and charted instructions for the stitch pattern.

You can find more details on these patterns on Ravelry by clicking on the links. I hope you like them!

The Rainbow Connection

When the weather is gross and all the news is bad, sometimes the best thing you can do to lift your mood is knit yourself a bright rainbow-striped cowl.

Pattern: Sockhead Cowl by Kelly McClure
Yarn: Fibernymph Dye Works Bounce (80% superwash merino/20% nylon) in Once Upon a Stained Glass Window, one skein
Needles: 16 in. US 2.5/3.0 mm Hiya Hiya circs
Started/Completed: April 1/April 14
Mods: shortened the ribbing

I cast on this project to be my lunchtime knitting at the beginning of the month, right at my most stressful time of year at work, because I knew that it would be the perfect mindless project to work on when my brain needed a break. It was a brilliant move on my part, if I do say so myself, because I just did not have the mental bandwidth at the beginning of April to do anything that required counting or following a chart or keeping track of increases or decreases.

This pattern is dead easy, so much so that I didn't really need to look at the pattern after reading the number of stitches to cast on. I made a minor modification in shortening the length of the ribbing at either end of the tube, but that was mainly because when I first started, I got tired of knitting ribbing after about three inches and decided it was good enough (and then did the ribbing at the other end to match). I used up all but a tiny amount of my skein of yarn by weighing the skein before casting on and then again after I was done with the initial ribbing to calculate how much I had used at the point (22 g, for the record). I weighed my remaining yarn periodically as I was knitting the stockinette portion, and when I had about 23 g left, I started the ribbing at the end (I allowed a bit extra for a stretchy bind off that I knew would take more yarn than the cast on). The finished project is exactly what I wanted. It's cozy -- big enough to pull it up over my face and even wear it like a hat and cowl in one if I want to -- and crazy colorful, so it will be a bright spot in the middle of winter when everything else is dark and dull. I have a feeling there will be more of these in my future.

I had just started the finally ribbing for this on Saturday, so I decided to cast on something new to take with me to a performance of Come from Away (I always manage to screw up knitting when trying to knit in the dark, so I needed something in stockinette). So I cast on a new pair of socks.

This is the newest Fibernymph Dye Works base, Ridgetop fingering, a nonsuperwash Falkland/Romney blend, in one of Lisa's eighth anniversary colorways, Inspiration. Because it's such a long stripe repeat -- I've got two more stripes to knit to go through the whole repeat here -- I decided to do afterthought heels on this pair, meaning I can basically just keep knitting and knitting until I'm ready for the toe. This tube is already nearly 8 inches long, so assuming my usual 7 inch leg, that puts me into the foot already. I'm going to do a true afterthought heel so that I can place it either right in the middle of a stripe or right between two stripes.

I have to say that after knitting a big tube out of superwash merino/nylon yarn, this base did feel a bit scratchy to me at first, but it's really growing on me, and I already get a sense that it's going to make a durable fabric. I think this base (which also comes in a DK) would be fabulous for stranded colorwork, so perhaps one day I'll have a sweater in it. For the time being, though, I'm focusing on knitting and then wearing the socks to get to know it better.