Wow

Look at this.

Yellow in the foot.  Whodda thunk it?

I wanted to mention cowls.  Last year when I knit a sweater using Siler Thaw, an old Noro yarn, I ended up with one entire ball left. My goal was to use up all the yarn.  I decided to knit a simple cowl just to get that lovely yarn out of my stash.  

BEST THING EVER.  I wear it all the time with the matching sweater and it is like having a turtleneck without having a turtleneck all the time.  

I encourage everyone to do this.  And to wear them.  It's fiercely cold out there today.  -32 C when I got up today.  It is definitely a cowl wearing sort of day.  If not a cowl, put on a lacy shawl and wrap it around your neck a few times.  Even the thinnest, finest layers of wool chases away the chill.  

It's a day to pull out the wool and layer up.  Bake today.  The warmth of your oven  will add to your seasonal cheer.  

Sock 2

Sock two and it was 10 days in.  Not as fast as Mijn Wolden on her youtube channel, where in Socktober, she knit 8 random socks.  My one sock this month is not so epic but I am good with it.

The first roll was orange.  I laughed because the first roll on sock one after the toe was also orange.  Such is random.  

I have a problem.  It's not a bad problem and it is one I have known would come.  My sweater chest is overflowing.  I have been stuffing sweaters in for many moons but the last 6 months have been chaos.  I routinely have sweaters bags on the floor or my bed or in a wash basket.  I have always known that there would be a point where my need for sweater storage would take over from my need for stash storage.  That is not quite what has happened because sweaters do wear and you get tired of them but even though they are carefully curated, they no longer all fit in my sweater chest.  

In part, it is because of the mid season sweaters.  There are more of them now that are great for cold summer days and spring and fall but they are not what I wear in winter.  They still take up room. It is almost that I have a wardrobe for warm and a winter wardrobe.  

I have finally decided to bring in a bin from the shed.  I am not certain if these interseasonal garments will be in the bin or if my inspiration cabinet will emptied and be put to sweater storage.   I do have room in the yarn closet.  The stash is shrinking as I work and is considerably smaller now than when I moved here. 

It's a great problem to have and I am lucky to have it.  I lost a lot along the way to get to this point, and I am glad that at least I have the stupidly large stash to keep company with.    So on to socks.  It will be a good day.

  

There is light

It is always darkest before the dawn they say.  Though just who 'they' are is yet to be seen.  That's how this sock is making me feel.  But today is the dawn and there is light.

Sock one is done.  I decided that heels cuffs and toes ought to match because otherwise I won't recognize them as a pair as I sort laundry.  Sock two gets started today.  It too will have a green toe, heel and cuff.  

Does this break my random thing?  No.  Because I say so and because the green was picked randomly when I started. It should also be noted that I did not let random go too far. If a colour came up twice in a row, I rolled again.  I guess these were my only two random rules. 

So here is to Sock two and slow knitting.  

***Check out Cecilia Blomdahl's YouTube video today.  I love watching how they celebrate the season all around the world!