Please tell me we’re getting rid of some yarn?!?!?!?!?
Now that I’m finished with all my “housekeeping” projects, I’m ready for some new knitting projects. I’m still working on my Santa Fe shawl and a pair of socks that I need to finish quickly (Ed. Note – “Quickly”!!!!!) as they are for someone for Christmas but I LOVE starting a new project (or 2, or 3).
Baby Gap!!!!!!!
I have knit sweaters for myself, the hubs, one son and daughter but not my oldest. He is quite particular about his clothes (I’ve been told he’s not picky but particular) and the way they fit. If I’m completely honest, I did knit him a sweater early on in my knitting life but it was a seamed sweater and the sleeves were long enough to fit a gorilla! I tried to rip it back, made a huge mess out of it and it went in the bin! (Ed. Note – It was funny – and I mean the sweater was funny lookin’!!!!!) Anyway, he told me he’d like a cardigan and sent me a couple of pictures of what he would like. There were two with a few cables and a stand up collar – kind of a dressier cardigan. Then there were a couple of pictures of a long sweater with a shawl collar – the kind you’d wear inside over pj’s on a cold winter day. I excitedly went to Ravelry to search for sweater patterns. After putting in all my parameters several different ways, I found about 5 different possibilities. I shared these patterns with my oldest and waited patiently for his response. I finally called him after not hearing anything for almost 24 hours and we had quite a discussion about sweaters. This is how his side of the conversation went, “I like the collar on the brown one and the sleeves on the gray one.” “Can you add points in the front like the picture I sent?” “Why not?” “What about pockets but on the inside not on the outside, like the ones on that other picture?” “Can’t you just fold that over and stitch it?” (Ed. Note – Can’t you just make a totally different sweater?!?!?!?!?) After a few hours minutes of back and forth, I finally exclaimed, “I’m NOT a designer, the extent of my creativity comes from picking out colors of yarn and just following a pattern.” I LOVE my oldest like CRAZY even with his picky particularness! I finally decided on a pattern. And YES, editor – it may not be ready until next winter and the oldest knows this! (Ed. Note – We all know that designing and speed are not strong suits!!!!) (I felt I must explain the “Baby Gap” thing – when the oldest was in high school, he liked (kinda still does) to wear his clothes, shirts in particular, quite snug or even tight in some opinions. His favorite band director among others used to tease him about buying his clothes from Baby Gap! We all (his family) thought it was hysterical and it’s been a thing every since 🤣)
Blue!!!!!
My other new project is for my daughter who has recently started a delivery job with Amazon. Right now, this is a cold running back and forth from van to porch, kind of job. I offered to knit her a nice, warm hat to wear with her uniform. We decided on the Rose Hat by Meli Alness! The main color will be black and the rose in blue to match the Amazon colors AND the blue rose tattooed on the back of her hand. We headed to The Loopy Ewe and picked out two balls of Cascade 220 and I got started on it. I’ve never done colorwork before but it’s not as hard as I thought it would be. It’s a little fiddly having to move one yarn over and under to keep the floats tacked down but watching the pattern emerge is SO MUCH FUN!! After a day or two, I decided to put each ball of yarn in a plastic baggie to keep the dog hair off 🙄and that’s helping a bunch. (Ed. Note – Now if you could just do that with the rest of the house – I mean the dog hair part, not covering us in a plastic bag part!!!!)
OMG – is this whole thing about knitting?!?!?!?!
Finally, I decided about a month ago that I wanted to do a little fun project and wanted to get in on the knitted gnome craze! I’ve been seeing cute little gnomes in a couple of shops I’ve visited recently and asked about them. Many are from patterns by Sarah Schira of Imagined Landscapes. She does a MKAL (mystery knit-a- long) starting on December 1st and ending on December 24th where pieces of the pattern are given out throughout the month, along with stories, recipes and tidbits about the gnome you are knitting. You don’t know what it will look like until you finish the knitted gnome on December 24th – doesn’t that sound like fun?! I purchased my set of mini skeins from The Loopy Ewe and they are balled up and ready for my first pattern clue – I can’t wait!! (Ed. Note – Somebody has a weird sense of “fun”!!!!) (YOU have your idea of fun and I have MY idea of fun!!)
This particular post, not like the whole thing!!!!!!
It’s been a week or so since I started this blog – since then I’ve finished the socks I was going to gift for Christmas. After working about 4 inches, I realized that the cuff on the second sock was different than the cuff on the first sock! I had knit the first sock with a K2P2 (knit 2, purl 2) rib like I usually do but the second sock I followed the pattern and knit the cuff with a K1P1 (knit 1, purl 1) rib. So I ripped it out and started over with the 2×2 ribbing. I was getting excited about the above mentioned knitting projects and knit that sock exclusively for several days. It is a self-striping yarn so I counted the stripes, made the provisions for an after-thought heel and finished the sock. I had a little trouble adding the heel for some reason and had to knit it twice but finally was finished! I laid the socks out to look over them and realized that the second sock was a good inch shorter than the first one….sigh…By eyeballing the stripes instead of using a measuring tape to check the length, I had stopped knitting one inch earlier than the first sock. The crazy thing is these socks were going great right up until I decided to give them to someone else! When I was making them for myself, everything was running smoothly – now they are back to being mine – I can’t give wonky socks to someone else 😑. (Ed. Note – Maybe even funnier than the gorilla sweater!!!!!)
Family, Friends and Holidays
First, we had a visit from the middle son and his adorable girlfriend (that we met for the first time)! Then the oldest and his wife came to visit us for Thanksgiving! The hubs and I (and daughter) had a FANTASTIC time visiting with all of them! It also meant the oldest got to pick out the yarn he wanted for his new sweater so the yarn is ordered and on the way! Side note – I did not let him “approve” of the pattern – he’ll get what I want to knit 😁 and I’m sure he’ll love it!! (Ed. Note – Trust me, buddy, I know the feeling!!!!!)