MOJO!

I knit a bit on the green sweater, the new green sweater that is, till my hands were tired of it.  I was sitting with a pile of stuff surrounding me.  It was rather disordered and kind of a mess of things new and old.  Some stuff fell out of it's container and the new yarn fell to the floor and socks fell out of the bag that I had them all in. 

I took that as a sign.  Not a sign to tidy up, but rather as a sign that the world wanted me to knit on my socks.  So I did.  I knit in socks the rest of the day.  I knit a little on a pair of scrappy doubled frankenstein socks but that didn't do it for me.

I knit a little bit  on the green socks.  I am becoming very enchanted by them. There is a quality to the dark green.  The light seems to come from within the depths of the green.  Magical.   

                                       

I knit a bit on the second sock with the brilliant blues from my favourite Drops Fabel colourway.  Neither of these felt like what I wanted to work on the rest of the day.  They were okay but not it.

And then I picked up the socks with the Cascade Heritage Prints.  This is the yarn where I had half a sock done but the bright colours of the skein changed into washed out uninspiring sadness in the sock.  I ripped out that first sock and restarted, putting just a dab of charcoal between the colour sections.

The sock comes alive with the contrast and I couldn't stop knitting.  By suppertime, the sock was long enough that I could think about knitting the ribbing and voila, sock one done.  These are not going to have heels.  I feel a hankering for a new pair of socks and I am okay with tube socks.  I haven't had any for a while and there are times and places where a plain old tube is the best sock yet.

Working on that sock, finishing that sock, having it turn out so cherrily, has reawakened my sock mojo.  It felt so good.  It felt like coming home and it felt like something brand spanking new.  It felt like I was conquering the world.  I have no idea where the thought came from, but I felt as if I was an ancient mighty king standing with my sword raised, my foe defeated on the field of a valiant battle.  I wasn't watching Viking shows and the only foe I conquered was the beastly voice that lives inside my head but the victory there is always hard won.  By the end of the day, I felt much love for sock knitting.     

I am going to boogie today and will knit hard, to get sock two done.  If I free up sock needles sometime tomorrow, I might get to start a pair from my new favourite book!  

The sock yarn bin is out and is standing by...

I like the idea of new socks to bring in a new year.

A little here, a little there but getting on with it.

The green jacket was a total loss.  I was knitting the sleeves simultaneously, so once the sleeve got to the armpit, the entire garment had to be ripped out.  Oh well.  I had nine nice fresh balls of yarn.

I started something different.

A while ago, Deb Gemell published an interesting sweater design that needed no swatch.  The idea of not needing to do a swatch is alwyas interesting, and I pretty quickly determined that I was going to knit one of them.  The sweater is called Build a Bigger V.  It's an interesting modular knit, but not difficult to adapt to fit to whatever your body is.  Deb came out with not only the basic pattern but also with a second download of hacks to change it up a little.  Most of what I am going to do comes straight from the design mind of Deb Gemmelll but...

That is always the thing isn't it.  A pattern really is just a place to start.  In this case, I want a vest rather than a cardigan.  That will be easy enough to do, given the way this garment is knit.  I want a shawl collar.  I am going to have to dig into the Vogue Ultimate Knitting book.  There are some instructions about collars in general in it I think.  If not, I shall have to scour all the other books to figure out the best way to do one.  It seems to me there is an interesting way to knit one in Knitting in the Old Way from the Cowichan tradition.  

But the sweater is begun and I feel pretty good about it.  

Achhhhh

I just realized I forgot to tell you about my finished sweater!  Yes, it is done!

Bottoms done.

And sleeves:  complete.

Sweater done and worn.  The fit is great.  The little trees sit just where I wanted them too.  they sit just above my full bustline as they ought and the deeper armscyce fit is okay.  The front could be an inch shorter for when I sit, but the back is perfect.  Though the yarn isn't a drapey sort of yarn, it hangs very nicely.  I wore it for a day and now I have to put it under the knife.

 I wore it a full day and that is why, I can tell you about this.  I messed up the neckline.  You can see it in the first photo.  It is a bit too straight and square at the neck.  I did not leave enough depth before I closed the neck off at the front of the sweater.  

You can see how oddly it stands up and you can see the marker, showing where the neckline ought to be sitting with only the collar above it.  I knew this was going to be a problem as I was knitting the sweater.  I could see it in the photos even if I did not see it back when it was easy to fix.  

What was a little surprising was this.   

You can kind of see a fold at the back of the neck too, where the collar pushed the sweater down a bit.  I am not sure if that is just from the front pushing eveything or if it is a problem of it being to high in the back as well.  I wanted it high in the back.

I wanted it high all around.  I was trying to knit a modified turtleneck that would cling to my neck and sit good and high and close so there were no bits where cold and chill could creep in.  I succeeded in keeping the chill away, but failed in every other way.  Thankfully, I knit me an out.  

I knit a row of garter stitch between the stockinette body and the ribbed high neck.  I will use that row to snip off the collar and will then have to do a bit of surgery to lower the front neckline before I pick up and reknit a high close fitting collar.  I am hoping that I can find one of these in my Vogue knitting book as well as finding a shawl collar for the green sweater.

Between times I am knitting on some socks.  They won't be finished to add to the years worth of finished things, but it is nice that the mindless knitting project is so light in comparison to those blankets!  

One Less WIP

The time between Christmas and New Years ought to be a time to go through your WIP bins to see what you remain committed to and still want to knit.  There are only 11 of them now and that includes the sock project and one project that rmains in swatch form only.  That is a very low number of things to have on the go but even so, it is something I looked at yesterday.

My green jacket.  

I was so sad that there wasn't enough yarn to get what I wanted. I think that is why I rarely ever look at it.  It isnt what I wanted.

I tried twice to get the right yarn to do a colour blocked look.  Both times, I guessed wrong, the first brown did not match my green and the second, the grey that was sent was too light.  And then, to top it off, with quarantine, I am not going out much, and the times that I have this winter, have been mostly car trips.  I haven't really spent time outside on a day that would be cold enough to not get by with 2 layered sweaters.  I find myself rethinking the need for a coat.

What remains though is the desire for warmth and wearability while I am working around the house.  some yarns just cannot cut it but this lovely dense yarn could.  Maybe a vest?  There would be enough yarn if I made a vest, I think.

Anyway, it is going to go for yarn recovery, and then we shall see what I can do.  Part of me hopes that I did not do the sleeves simultaneous because then, by just taking the sleeves off, I am halfway home.  The other part of me knows that the chance of me doing something so smart is zilch.

It may be partial recovery.  It may be total.  But there will be one less WIP by days end.

I have to tell you a secret.  Tomorrow the day will be six seconds longer here than today.  And the day after that it will gain 13 seconds.  And th day after that, 21.  And so on, all the way to June.

Isn't that a wonderful thing?  

At this darkest time of the year, I always think to how ancient mankind particularly in our very northern parts of settled lands, celebrated this time of year with feasting and drinking and a whole host of merriment.  And so it continues to this day.  We celebrate with feasting and joyous gifts given to our loved ones and to us.  

Today, I am working on the feasting part of things, making some poppyseed rolls for everyone.  The landlord and I are going to try making some sausage rolls too.  The dough itself is not sweet and while it isn't a flaky kind of dough, it should work beautifully for all sorts of sweet or savoury fillings.  Today, though, just poppyseed rolls.  

I have a few gifts to wrap and a few odds and ends to finish, but I am ready for Christmas.  I am still relaxed about it too and that is very different than years past.  I hope you are feeling that way too.  

It is a different sort of Christmas this year and that isn't bad, just different.  If your spirits are down, put the fire on TV and pull out your prettiest knitting book (I have many) and listen to the fire and look at lovely things.  If you have a fireplace in your home and you use it, wonderful.  If it is a wood fireplace, even  more wonderful.  

Sit back and close your eyes and listen to the crackle of the wood.  It pops and snaps and you can hear each flame wavering and starting.  It is kind of a waste that we fill the world with noise and have forgotten how and why to just listen for the long haul. That is what I wish for you this season. I wish you find the time to discover listening. 

As usual, this blog is going to take some days off between now and the end of the year.  There may be occasional posting if I find something I want to say. Meanwhile, 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from my heart to yours.

Done, done done done DONE!

Done.  Just sayin'

  

Keith is holding it again, but what shows is half its width.  It is wide enough that mom and dad and ALL the kids will fit under it.  It could be stretched to cover even more kids.  And if Grandma and grandpa are nearby, I am pretty sure they will fit too.  

I could have made it one row longer had I needed to but it wouldn't have made two rows more.

That is all that remains of the 5 balls of cream I had at the start of these two blankets.

I am currently looking for another 1900 metres of cream yarn because Keith, that landlord has finally agreed that he wouldn't mind a blanket like this too.  I have denim Comfort for his blanket at hand and there is just enough of the red left to do his blanket too.  But that isn't going to happen right now.  That will happen in the new year after I have a sweater and some socks under my belt.  

I've been working on blankets so steadily that I hardly know how to work on something else, but that feeling won't last long and I still have my warm winter sweater to finish too.  Lots of knitting just not a blanket.

Christmas arrived!

The blanket is moving along quite nicely, as it should.  

                     

I knit in a completely no stress way and my hands feel marvelous this morning.  I did think about taking this white section to the end to switch out the red, but in the end, decided for safety and relaxation.  There is time and it is silly to think of rushing now.  

And then Christmas came early!  Some stuff had already arrived.

                                        

My brand new colouring book came.  I have one that my sister gave me several years ago, and i have done some work in it, enough to think I might like to try a different one.  I have been thinking about this one for a while.  It is the title of one of my favourite stories after all, and back in the day, I did have a litttle bit of a hidden garden pocket at the acerage.  

                                        

It is lovely and delicate and I can't wait to start working in it.  Small enough designs for pencil colours surely.

My puzzles came!

                                       

                                       

They are both the challenging sort and that is just fine by me.  I have always liked to set puzzles, though when the boys were young, I went a different way.  I am looking forward to these.

My book came.  I really didn't need another book of sock patterns, but I needed this book of patterns.  In the dark days of early widowhood, the Knitmores podcast was one of the big things keeping me safe and sound.  The Knitmores, the sadly gone on to different things Saavy Girls, the Knit Girllls.  All of these lovely people did more than they know to keep me centered and focused on getting on with living.  

I am so glad I bought the book.  Just like when I listen to the podcast, there were places I nodded my head as I read the stuff between the patterns aned several places where I laughed out loud.  My after Christmas sock mojo is going to come straight from its pages.

                                      

Bravo for socks of socks.

And then the pièce de résistance some yarn.  And such delightful stuff it is too!

You know how you sometimes dream of a thing, but it really isn't your colours and you couldn't imagine what you would make of it or how you could possibly wear it, but every time you see it, you just wanted it?  No?  Well that is what sometimes happens to me.  Since the first time I saw Hand Maiden's magical colours, I wanted on of their brilliant ones.  More than ten years, I stayed with colours I generally wore and things that made sense no matter what I made with it.  

These colours are so brilliant so clear and strong and I wanted them and here they are.

Adam and Eve in a companion colour to the brilliance of  Hand Maiden's magical Bird of Paradise.

I started with one sweater possibility and before I went to sleep last night did a quick search on Ravelry for other possibilities and in less than a minute had another.  I didn't even get to any possibilities other than sweaters and I know that are some shawls that would be stunning in this combination of yarns.  Then there are the poncho styled things with sleeved ends that would make wonderful tops over simple clothes.  The brilliance of these colours knit into a piece like that, would be fantastic over a simple black tank and long draping black skirt or the wide legged pants like the Winslow pants that I just happen to have the pattern for.  

I don't know where I am going with this yarn, but the joy of the journey is the point.  I am just going to sit back, breathe deeply and follow along where this stunning yarn takes me.

Epic Days are Done.

The days of Epic are done.  I only need normal now.

I used the fifth skein of grey for four rows only before switching to the double cream.  

The best part of all of this is that I have knit this same edging five times already and I know it takes two days if I press hard and three if I knit normally.  I can start knitting normally again. I. Can.  Be.  Normal.  bahahaha   

I can start thinking about shawls and lace, like my beautiful Shetland  and my lovely warm sweater.  I can knit the things inside the WIP bins that I still love and I do still love all of them.  Well almost all.  I can knit sweaters for me to replenish my sweater chest.  I can knit for need and get ready for foolish fun knitting of shawls that are planned for after Christmas.  I can start planning my summer top knitting.  I can have time to sew more pants so that I can at least have one lazy day away from laundry cycles.  Seven pairs of pants are just not enough and no.  Counting my pajama pants as pants isn't really helping.

I can get into Christmas baking.  We are staying home as needs and duty requires so the baking doesn't have to be far ahead, but can and will be an ongoing fun thing to keep busy with.  There isn't any reason not to make a batch of cookies for the day and eat them!  I've never looked at Christmas baking like that before.  I have always followed my moms house full of kids plan of bake lots and get it over with so you can have a rest once Chrismas arrives and they can eat as much as they want.  Filling the freezer was her goal.  The landlord is fully supporting this ongoing effort of steady baking.  After all he shall reap what he sows so to speak.  

So  why do I feel just a tad down this morning?  It could be a pre finishing a big project mental slump.  It could be Christmas is coming and I am ready, or will be after the landlord picks up the mail today.  I think all the rest of everyone else's gift things are in the mail today as well as some of the things I am treating myself with this year.  It could be that I miss my kiddies.  I miss the noise and I miss the hugs and I miss the silly jokes and even squabbling, but that last, just a little.  I just plain old miss them. And there isn't anything I can do to change that.  Plus, I miss my mom and dad too.  I don't always get there over the holidays but at least it was a choice.  It is a choice now too, I suppose but just not one I make freely and just because.  Now the choice is that by staying away, I limit their exposure and stop them from me being the cause of their getting sick.

I know that I am not the only person missing someone or something.  Most of us will.  But I want that bunch of people I love so much to stay strong and healthy and be there for next year, when maybe, just maybe we all will have a vaccine, where the virus itself will have mutated and minimised itself as a health threat and when we can all celebrate in a more usual way and where we will be grateful that we made it through.  

EPIC

It was another EPIC  knitting day.  The difference today is my hands don't feel spongy this morning.  I am going to tape fingers together this morning for a while, just in case.   

This is what it looks like now.  

You can see my marker.  By the numbers, I have seven or eight inches of marled knitting to go to reach the optimal length.  After the marl there is still a foot of knitting to do on that last border, but it is such a relief when you get there.  

The border has rows to count, so that you end up balancing with the other end.  There is that smashing bit of red knitting to get to.  It is so rewarding because after you knit the red, there are only twelve or thirteen rows to go.  

This blanket is like one of the sweaters that I finish in ten days.  EPIC.

It was an EPIC day in the annals of knitting yesterday.  I knit a few rows and did stuff and knit a few rows and did more stuff and then I watched a movie and knit and in the end, I knit almost double of my usual amount.  My hands never felt tired or sore or stressed.  My hands feel a bit 'spongy' today, but that seems to be getting better and with some serious stretching, I should be ready to knit a bit shortly.  

I'm going to hope for a normal amount of knitting today.  I do not want to tempt fate.

Making Special

The blanket has earned its blanket status this past weekend.  I can no longer knit with it unsupported.  I work with it sitting on one of my WIP stools.

I switched to the second ball of cream and I am almost finished the thrid ball of the gray.  By the numbers, I have twenty-two inches to knit till the second border part.  (That takes me to a 72 inch long blanket)  

I am still feeling pretty confident that I will get this one done before Christmas.  I have been working carefully and haven't had any return of hand problems.  I have taped my ring and middle finger together a few times more, but not all the time and not every second day.  It seems to be more on the days where the rest of me aches too.

I feel pretty good about the game boards being completed before Christmas too.  What I am feeling a little less positive about is cookies and baking.  I am not sure that that will alll get done before the time where I want to deliver my packages.  I was kind of hoping to send some treats along too.  But, I am going to try to co-opt the landlord into making poppyseed rolls with me.  If I can get help there then I will be very happy and the most important baking thing will get done.  

A lot of people are feeling very down about Christmas this year.  Getting together is a no go here because of the public health bans.  Alberta has skyrocketing numbers of covid deaths and they are begging us to just stay home.  It is sad indeed that I can't hug my grandkids this year.  I am going to miss the noise and the joys of all of them together all at once.  I will miss worrying about the big meal and sharing family stories and cheer around the dinner table.  But like everything else, those days will come again, and I do intend to be there for them.   

I am planning some different things for this year.  First is of course, the big box of things to deliver to everybody's homes just before Christmas day.  I am planning to do a big Skype with all of them, skype because I know how and you do not need accounts to use it.  And then I have been planning some slightly different things for me too.  

I am including some puzzles in my gifts to myself.  I have a sister in law and neices and nephews who set puzzles in between Christmas and New Years as a family activity.  I like the idea of doing one just for something different.  

I have ordered myself some new yarn for a rather brilliant something or other.  I am not really sure what I am going to make but I figure if I get a sweater quantity, I am good for anything, right?  

I have also gifted myself the Knitmore Girls book, Operation Sock Drawer and I have ordered the actual real book of it.  I don't often do that anymore.  There are always space concerns here, but for Christmas?  Only a real book will do.  

Closer to the between Christmas and New Years season, I am going to get  myself a couple of audio books more than my usual one a month.  

Oddly, I haven't found any dvd's for myself.  That is the first time in a few years, but there is so much to watch available online that I will be well stocked for different things without hard copies required.  Those days between are a good time for dipping into what I already have:  a Sci Fi fest of Star Treks and Firefly, Serenity and Haven, and all the many many episodes of Stargates or for an Austenfest with all the various vesions produced through the years.  

I am also going to bring in a few beverages for myself.  I know that sounds weird, but I rearely drink at all.  Occasionally a glass of Bailey's or possibly a glass of wine, but it isn't generally in the budget.  But because it isn't something I normally do, it is perfect to add a little bit of titillation to my regular routine.  Having a glass of something in the afternoon while I lounge on the sofa, reading or watching a favourite video sounds lovely and decadent.  Hot cocoa with Baileys and Amaretto anyone?

I guess what I am trying to say is that if you are out there, alone, and are feeling down about the season, plan for something different.  

Plan for something foolish, something silly, something that you just normally don't do but enjoy.   Find a video game you can play online with your grandkids, even right down to some you can play while you are doing video calls on messenger.  I have a nephew who plays chess with his girlfriend across the room and Cassie and Marcus play Among Us with their mom when she is away working.  There are tons of them out there.  Be guided by the kids.  

Plan for a different dinner.  Turkey is difficult alone but you know what?  Maybe crab or lobster for one?  Caviar?  Personally, I am thinking of  rutabagas with white sauce and a cheesy crumbs topping and a salmon filet with pumpkin or yam pudding for deesert.  I am also thinking of real gingerbread date pudding with a brandied brown sugar sauce on it too.  Two deserts?  Why the heck not?

Yes it will be different.  Yes it might be weird, but it doesn't have to be bad and it certainly can be special.  Make even the planning of it special.   Life, even life at Christmas is what you make of it.  Life is short.  Waste it wisely.

A Mystery and Other Things

I have a nystery for you today.  I washed my blue sweater last week and this is how it came out of the washer.

I have not spilled anything on it other than coffee.  I washed it with a sweater that I have washed it with before.  The process was the same:  soak in machine with Eucalan and spin it out, then hang to dry on my rack.  Nothing different at all.  But that happened?  It doesn't wash out.  I tried.  It came into contact with something and I have no idea what.  But it has turned a good enough for wearing out and about garment into a just for the house kind of sweater in one fell swoop.  

And that is why I keep knitting sweaters.  

I have other things to do today.  I have a game board that has been in the works for several years.  

My mother in law and father in law made the board game for us years ago.  I always felt it was more a piece of art to hang.  I just love how it looks.  My grandkids are all right about the age for this kind of game.   

I decided to make each of my families the game a few years ago, and it has taken a few years to assemble the things I needed.  One year I went to get cards and the box on the shelf was out.  And then there was the year I had cards but had nothing for the tokens.  They could have used fruti loops but I wasn't ready to go there.  I have solved both of those problems and this year is it.    

I was going to mount the game on a hard board backing, like this game is on but it is kind of a pain.  I couldn't find corrugated plastic locally, so Keith and I came up with foam core board.  We were both sure that we could source it without a trip to the city.  Off my handy shopper went.  He found something even better.  

Bifold Foamcore board.  It is a bit wide but that just means I can put the instructions to the side or perhaps some fancy schmancy something or other.    I've included the instructions below, because it would be rude not to.  Using the name my Mother-in-law used, Google came up with nothing.

This made me think of other great family games for the season.  Hand and Foot Canasta.  Which you can google for instructions.  Its lots of fun so long as you have one more deck of cards than you do people playing it.  I recall some games with more than ten players and it always was a blast.  

My sister in law always sets puzzles between Christmas and New Years.  That is what I am going to be doing this year that is different.  And reading the new book I will get for myself.  Can't be Christmas if you don't have a new book to read.

All this made me think of when I was a child. At mom and dad's house, the TV did not come on on Christmas day.  Boxing Day either, for that matter.  And Christmas Eve, you might watch some in the morning, but by after lunch you were kept pretty busy helping mom make our family at home big Christmas meal.  You also had to take a bath in the afternoon (how decadent) to get ready for chruch at midnight and if you were little, you were getting a nap, even if you didn't want it.  Christmas Day and Boxing Day were  all about visitng Grandma and Grandpa's and when you got home of Boxing Day, you really just wanted to check out your own presents.  Finally.  

I know everyone else says they watched the 'traditional' movies, but I never saw them till my own kids were getting pretty grown and we had sat TV.  We did do a Christmas movie night.  I enjoyed that and still do, though now, in the evening, I just fall asleep. Movie afternoon is more what I do.

Anyway, that is what is keeping me busy today.  Plus sewing the pants I cut yesterday.  That won't take very long, really.  They are pretty simple pants.  And knitting.  Gotta keep that blanket moving along.

Other Stuff.

I did not start my day knitting today.  Our weather is changing from unusually warm to something more seasonal.  If it goes to unusually cold, I do not care.  I am not going anywhere!  What I do care is that the change messes with my hands.  So today, I will give my hands some love and care and will go easy.  There may be a little knitting later if things settle but no rush.  I feel pretty positive about getting the knitting done on time.  Foolish last words?  Perhaps but what will be will be.  

This morning I am doing something entirely different.  

Decades ago and I do means decades, I crocheted a little edging around some beads.  The pattern was from Leisure Arts magazine and I have not seen anything like it since.  I have even talked about it on this blog before.  It has been on almost every Christmas tree since the day it was made.  But it was never blocked.

Today, well really this season, I got the hare brained idea that I am going to really block it this year.  No one is coming and the tree doesn't have to be 'finished' for any date or time and well, why not.  My poor pretty beads deserve the love.

It isn't a hard job.  One pin to pull out the bottom point and one to open the top loop.  It is fussy work though.  I am just using a spray starch.  Stupidly, my iron won't allow me to turn off the steam option which means that the heat I can apply to set the starch is minimal.  Stupid iron. 

It turns out okay, with the starch holding the points nicely open and in the end that is what I want.  The worst thing is that it is going to take a long time.  This plus the length of the ironing board was yesterday's work.

And this is what remains to be blocked.

I am going to lay a nice thick towel underneath it as I go today.  That way, each section will only have to dry it's own starchy stuff.  

Later today, I am going to cut out some fabric for more pants.  My table is ready in my spare room and I am so looking forward to the fabric for this next batch.  It is a nice heavy joggers fleece so perfect for cozy winter wear.  I am going to try one pair using the pattern I used for the last couple I sewed and if the fabric doesn't have quite enough stretch, then I will give the Willandra Pants  a try with this fabric.  That little bit more sturcture will work fine.  And once this batch of pants is complete, I think it is time for some shirts.  Nice tunics in fabrics that were bought and prepared for sewing over two years ago.  

Time flies but only till you really need some clothes.  Then all of a sudden it is really nice to have the stockpile of fabrics you still love.

A Matter of Inches

I haven't talked about the sweater at all lately.  It sits beside me on my sofa project and cone of yarn in their bag waiting patiently for some attention.  Occasionally, right at the end of each day, it gets a little love.  Only on the good days though, where my hands and heart still want to knit and I know I won't hurt myself for blanket knitting.

When we last talked sweater, the debate was how long and split hem or not split hem.  I had decided not to, but then when I actually started knitting, I ended up splitting it.  That was after a day of wearing my green sweater which had a lovely deep split hem.  I also took the time while I was wearing the green sweater, to measure it's length from underarm to hem.  And wrote it down in the notes on Ravelry so next time I was wondering how long to make something, I had it at my fingertips.

My green sweater is split at twelve inches from the underarm and the back hem goes a further eight inches while the front goes six more.  

It isn't quite finished in this picture but you can see how long it is better than the other photo.  I love wearing this thing, very much in part because of its tunic like length.  It also looks really good with my new slim cut pants I made for myself.  (Need more of those. Just sayin') The yarn here is a lovely wool cotton blend with fantastic drape, and that split hem?  Stunning.  You can see how deep that split is.

The other sweater I wear all the time and love more than just about any other for all it's flaws, is this one.  

Again, it is the tunic length of it that plays a big part in why it gets so much wear.  It is the yarn too, that was special, but I love its twenty inches from the underarm length.  

With both my burning questions answered, I have tucked in a bit of knitting here and there as it fits into a day.

It's not much, but every stitch counts in the finishing of things.  It is only a wee bit more than an inch, but work is happening.  It will get some love once the blankets are done and my Christmas is delivered.

So how is that blanket going?  Rather well if I do say so myself.

I took a quick measure and it is twenty-two inches long so far.  Once again, the hem is about eleven inches and the rest is how far one small ball of the grey yarn goes.  I know this because I just switched over to the second ball of the grey.  At this rate, I will use right about five balls of the grey.  Which I have so no worries.  

I also tracked just how much I have knit.  I have done this twice now, marking my start and measuring at the end of the day, and it seems I can knit about six inches a day on a good day.  

That is on a good day.  If I only have good days, the blanket will be finished in plenty of time for Christmas.  I mean to do everything I can to be sure that I have only good days.  It is all a matter of inches.

Whatever else is going on in this world, there are so many things else to write about, to note down, to mark a place in the story of my life outside of my little knitting world.  Last weekend, my beloved Uncle Victor died.  Uncle Victor was everyone in my family's beloved uncle. He was my mother's unmarried brother  who farmed the old home place till he retired and where he still lived till just a few short weeks ago..  He had a stroke a few months ago, and things were looking good, till they found he had a fairly advanced stage of cancer.  Because of the stroke and some previous heart problems, and his age of 88 years, they felt he could not have withstood the surgery and chemo and they were probably very right about that.  Even had he been able to take it, he would never have been able to go home again. What I wish most of all is that my mama could have seen him before he died.  In covid times, this couldn't be.  How I wish that wasn't so.  As things go, there is a time for everything and it was his time to go.  But he sure will be missed.  

 

Something Different.

This second for this season and third overall Sock Monkey Cabin Blanket brings with it a unique experience in sock monkey blanket knitting.

The gaping hole in a small ball of yarn is a new experience for me.  In blankie knitting that is.  As you see the giant white ball continues unabated.  

The blanket is getting along in a most pleasing way.  

I did only a moderate amount of knitting Saturday but much more on Sunday.  That seems to be the nature of this knitting.  One day light, the next heavy.  As long as I listen to my hands, this blanket will proceed and if I am lucky, it may be complete before Christmas. 

Though I doubted the denim would be as nice as the first blanket with the charcoal, in the end, it is just as nice.  It is really all about the red stripe or so it seems to me.  I was so eager to be working with this dark grey heather to see if it was as nice as the first (it is), and now that I am here, I keep thinking of other colors that would work.  Forest green.  Taupe but dark taupe.  Even that deep aubergine. Anything to contrast the cream that doesn't  conflict with the red.  The red is all.  

My head is full of a green one.  But.  

When this one is done, I have only one more that is in line to be made.  I won't  talk about it yet but it is dear to my heart and I do look forward to it.  Any other blankets I make will be different and will be made later next year.  

There are serious sweater knitting things that need to happen and lace that I have dreamed of as well as a miniature garden that has been in mind for more years than I care to remember.  And if I really get to thinking about what I need, my sock drawer is looking a wee bit pitiful.  It comes from a problem with finishing socks that I have had this year.  The lineup of things I need to knit to clothe myself is strong.  The lineup of things I want and dream of knitting is endless and includes more sock monkey blankets.

** If my word usage is a bit odd, odder than normal that is, I am watching Jane Austen from Britbox and her older english language usage always creeps in to my own.  I tried to weed it out, but it overwhelms.  

Know Your Yarn

I finished a blanket yesterday.  It was wonderful.  And due to the recent spate of ordering online, I have just the right box to wrap it in.  The landlord is holding it and he said right away, that he wants his longer.  For perfection, that is, but he forgets just how much give and stretch there is in a blanket like this.  He hasn't ever had a knitted one, only crochet or purchased blankie, so I will forgive him.  He will be schooled after Christmas.

From his holding it aloft, I can tell that it is perfect for a family of 4.  What I couldn't tell, what I didn't realize till after I had cast this one on,

Yes, this is blanket number two for this season and is my third Sock Monkey Cabin Blanket. , but what I couldn't tell till after this was cast on, was that 180 stitches felt wider than the previous blankie.  It didn't look wider, it just felt wider.  So I counted.  The just completed blanket is only 172 stitches wide.  I think I knew this and forgot it along the way, which is why I should have written it down. Had I counted before, I might have made this blanket the same width, but a little wider is okay.  There are more people in the family.

The other thing I wanted to mention today, that I noticed right off the start with these blankets, is how different the various acrylic yarns are.  Most of what I am using is Red Heart Comfort, but when I originally bought the yarn at my local big box store, I grabbed the closest red.  I didn't even notice till I started knitting that it was a different brand of yarn, in a similar put up to the giant balls of Comfort.

My red yarn is Bernat Cozy Style.  It is a much softer to hand than the Comfort.  If Comfort was the beefy, sturdy sort of yarn it is, then Cozy Style would be mashed potatoes.  Still filling, still warm and good, but softer.  I don't mind it because the red stripe is such a small element, but it would be unfortunate if I was using the red throughout.  The difference would make for a very much less than pleasing product.  

So knitter, as ever, be it wool, be it alpaca, be it cotton or acrylics, knitter,  know your yarn.   

And yet so far.

So close.  So very close and yet so far.

I was six rows from the end, just 6, but my hands were tuckered out.  My working hand just felt tired and I know that means stop now or bad things will happen.  

So I stopped.  

It means today I will finish one and start one and that is okay by me.  

I think I am going to sew a few more pairs of pants today.  Or at least cut them out.  I ordered some nice warm cozy jogging fleece for winter and I think that I can sew when I cannot knit.  Or maybe a shirt.  I have some flanelette plaid for shirts that is looking pretty cozy too.  

A great day!

I slept in this morning.  My eyes opened at 8:30 but my brain wasn't really functioning until a little later.  I didn't manage coffee till after 9.  Even now, I am not sure if my brain is functioning.  Oh well.

  

Guess what!

What a great day of knitting!.  No hand issues and it just moved along seamlessly.  It is so rare when my hands don't give out before the spirit in me does and yesterday, the spirit didn't quit either.  What a wonderful day.  I put it down to the weather gods.

I have just three rows to the red and this second ball of cream will go at least that far.  I think.  I am actually crossing my fingers that it goes till I have all the rows I need before the red.  It gets a wee bit thick if you have to work in lots of ends close to the same point.  It will be close.  

If I get in another day like yesterday, the blanket will be finished by this evening. It doesn't even have to be quite that good and I will be finishedd by this evening. In any case, I will pretty much be finished by this evening.

And that is super thrilling because it gives me a hope that I can finish up the other one before Christmas.

And then maybe, just maybe I can find a way to finish my sweater too.  Because I really do need that sweater.

December 1

I was going to show you the small progress on my sweater this morning.  I took it out and knit a few rows and those 5 mm needles just felt weird and clumsy in my hands.  

So I took up the blanket.  I need to get these done anyway.  I just measured it this morning and it says 58 inches.  The cream and red edge is 11 inches which gives this blanket a total of 69 inches, just an inch from what I think is the right size of 70 inches.  That is 6 inches more than the pattern asks for but because I am making these wider, to me, the proportion is the same.  

All that means just an inch more marled knitting before I switch over to work on plain cream.  I seem to get about 6 inches a day if I am working diligently, so I will be diligent and done in a couple days.  

That's a wee bit thrilling considering it is December 1. 

Balance

It feels like I didn't knit anything at all, but this blanket is really funny that way.  Today is precisely 30 days since I started it and it feels like very little time has been spent considering the last three weeks were fairly light knitting.  I think.

Midway through the day Saturday I realized that the giant ball of denim yarn was looking pretty skimpy.  I took it out and wound it up into a ball.  

Not too much remaining before the new ball gets joined.  The bonus in this photo is that you can see the place where the previous ball of cream was changed.  A bit more than a foot of knitting was done since that happened.  My best guess at this point is that I have about 8 inches of knitting the marled colour before it is time to switch to knit the edging trim bit again.  That bit is 11 inches wide, so about 20 inches to go.

I did not knit at all on Sunday.  F1 was just too...normally I would use the word exciting, but yesterday was something else.  It was probably the most stressful thing I have seen happen in years.  Just after the start of the race, fourth corner I think, there was a massive crash and huge fireball.  Fireballs are rare these days in formula one.  They were regular in my younger days as a fan, but with all the safety features are thankfully rare now.  To see it happen was just heart wrenching.  There were moments when every soul watching across the entire planet held out breaths.  No one could live through that flaming mess and then the relief as the commentators say they have him out.  You still can't breathe till minutes later, the medical car comes on screen and there the driver is, shaken, you can see and in shock, but walking mostly on his own and you just have to cry for the relief of it all.  As the day unfolds, you see more video and you start to realize that this was a miracle of epic proportions.  Every single thing was in his favour, from the halo parting the fence just so to the medical car being right behind his end of the pack crash, right down to him not being knocked out and managing in the middle of the fireball to lever himeself half out of the safety cell.    A miracle.  I think of his family too.    

And then by the time the extended race coverage was over, it was time to get ready for my swanky new bed scheduled to arrive late in the afternoon.  I did not sleep well the night before.  I slept in the living room on my love seat.  It was fine but I was chilly without my layers of pure wool coverings. I caved in the middle of the night and dragged the whole pile out to cover me.  All the race drama meant no napping to catch up so by the time I hit the swanky new bed last night, I was exhausted.  I slept well enough.  The bed is certainly comfortable.  The mattress, a Bloom is incredibly comfortable and yet, I didn't sleep well last night.  It wasn't the usual.  I didn't have my curtain so I felt weirdly naked.  The bed sits higher than my old bed.  Not stupid high but enough that I could feel it in that odd way our bodies know something is different at night when you sleep.  It was like sleeping on the wrong side of the bed, or facing the wrong way.  I slept, and I was really comfortable but it is going to take a few nights to feel at home.  

However, pressing a button and raising your feet and your shoulders is cool.  Very cool.  And the silly thing has a massage.  Did I mention that?  Plus, we figured out how to get the curtain up again.  It will take a few days to manufacutre it but I will get my curtain back for which I am very thankful.

Anyway, that brings me to a slightly groggy morning and an urgent need for more coffee.  It is errand day today but there should be lots of time  for knitting.  

It is also the landlord's birthday.  I asked him this morning how a kid who was such an easy quick birth could have become such a big pain as an adult.  He slowly raised his head in that quirky laid back sort of way of his, looked at me with a weird smile and said, 'Balance.  It is all about balance'.  

Word.

Easy Knitting?

Yesterday was mail day and what a great day it was.  My regular beater for my loom arrived.

I ordered it for the race it now has which I hope will make me use my loom just a tad more. This plus moving the loom to a more freequently viewed location  will, I hope make the fabric I am looking for happen.

It feels like I have hardly knit anything this week.  I have been babying my hand so I don't hurt it again.  My fingers were taped together again.  My ring finger gets taped to my middle finger, which aches, and somehow magically it doesn't hurt!  And it doesn't feel any worse at the end of the day.  Weird but I am sure that holding it different when taped has a lot to do with it.  It also means that I knit slower and that probably plays a part too.  But knitting more slowly is not what I hoped for.  

I want this blanket to get done fast so I can go on to knit blankie number two.  I really would like both to be done for Christmas.  In my head, I gave it 4 weeks to be finished, but it is already 4 weeks and there is a lot to go. 

Still, it is a blanket and it feels like it is growing substantially.  I've been sitting it on one of my footstool-ish  WIP bins when I work on it.  It is past the point where I can keep it on my lap, or tuck it between my leg and the sofa so it will sit nicely while I work across the rows.  It isn't huge yet, but it is ungainly.  This morning with my eye opener coffee, I took a good look at it and it seems as if it has grown overnight.  It did not look this long last night when I put it down.  I gave the blanket a measure.  

44 inches.  Somewhere between Wednesday morning and this morning, I knit 7 inches.     I know this because Wednesday's post says it was 37 inches.   The blanket as designed is supposed to be 65 inches long, though I am pretty sure that the first one I made was a bit longer.  I did not record how long and sure wish I had.  I might take a bit of time and go back over the blog posts.  Maybe I talked about how long it was here and just did not record it at Ravelry. 

In any case, if the blanket is now 44 inches long and the end with the solid cream and red section is 10 to 12 inches (I did not measure) that means I don't have all that much of the middle section left.  A couple days of easy knitting and it will be good.  Maybe another week in total?  Probably more.  I guess I will find out!

Meterage

The blanket is fair zipping along.  My hand, my left hand, finally feels strong enough to work without taping my fingers together, so I worked heartily on the blanket and guess what.  I have moved on to ball number two!

 

I love the way it is looking.  While I was leary of the denim heather when I started, I love the way it looks now.  

Fay asked a question about the yarn, so I will try and answer.  The yarn I am using for this blanket is Red Heart Comfort.  454 grams and 792 metres.  If I was knitting only the pattern size in this yarn, I would be able to get the blanket from one ball of the dark colour of this yarn and two of the cream/white and a wee little bit of a red worsted yarn.  All the yarns are held double stranded.  

Because my first blanket was a bit larger than the pattern, I used two full balls of Comfort in cream, a full ball and about 150 metres of a second ball of charcoal.  And the red, which so charms me.  This second Sock Monkey Cabin version is even wider, so I expect to use about a third to a half of the second ball of denim heather and about one third of cream giant ball o' yarn number three.

The pattern calls for Bernat Super Value yarn, which is a very, very close to the same yarn in 197 gram, 389 metre balls.  The pattern calls for two balls in a dark colour of the Bernat yarn, 4 balls of cream/white and one of red.

You do have to be careful because sometimes, yarn gets weird. Yes even acrylic yarns, which are not my most favourite yarns for garments but are the exact right thing for blankets.

I have some white for my Friesland blanket to match what Marcus picked.  It is a Red Heart Super Saver in a skein of 198 grams and 333 metres.  

And the dark grey for Amy and Scott's Sock Monkey Cabin Blanket is a Red Heart Super Saver  141 gram 215 metre ball.  For their blanket, I have six of the small super saver in the dark grey heather.  That should be just enough if I make it 150 stitches wide but it was too close for comfort if I make it 180 stitches wide.  I have two more skeins on order for a total of 8 skeins.  

Red Heart Super Saver.  Exact same name on the ball but very different skeins.  One is made in Turkey and the other in the US.  Not sure if that is the difference but do take care.  You always need to know exactly what is in the ball you are purchasing.  

I always check because you never know when a line of yarn changes their put up.  Sometimes even the yarn for that line changes a bit, as Kroy sock yarn did, moving to be a very slightly thicker sock yarn, so the current skeins now have slightly fewer metres.   

When I first started working at the yarn store, I was told to always always check the meterage of the yarn called for in the pattern.  Meterage never fails.  

Any way, it is time to knit.  Hope this helps, Fay.  

I will have enough yarn.

Way back I mentioned being nearing the end of the first ball of cream.  Guess what?

I am still on the first ball of cream.  There was a lot more cream in the bag than I thought there was.  If you can see through the sides of the giant ball, it means you still have a lot of knitting to do.  

I measured the work and my blankie is now 37 inches long.  The first Sock Monkey Cabin Blaknet I knit was at 45 inches when I switched to the second ball of white, which gives me a bit of an idea of just how much blanket I will get on this wider version.  

The pattern is written for 130 stitches, which seemed a bit small to me.  That is okay for a lap blanket but I wanted a blanket for two to curl up in.   The first blanket was 150 stitches wide.  It was great for a couple with a tiny grandchild or two tucked in with them.  But the rest of these blankies need to be family sized as in parents with a couple squirrely kids under them.  This second blanket is 180 stitches wide and I can really see the difference in the amount of yarn I am using.  It really doesn't feel any wider at all.  It fits nicely on my needle and it isn't taking demonstrably longer to knit, but it is sure eating it up the yarn.  

I prepared for this when I purchased.  I bought 5 balls of cream, two for each blanket and one just in case.  Just in case is probably going to happen.  If I knit this blanket as long as the first, I will need yarn from a third ball of the cream.  

So often when I knit, I am in uncharted territory.  It is an expeiment, I might be winging it, it may be a new to me designer or a new shaping but I never know  how much yarn I will use.  It is never a comfortable thing.  This kind of sureness about yarn amounts is very odd. very odd indeed.    

Decadence

I'm getting down to posting late today, but it has been a very busy morning.  I've usually done my post by now and I am off to knitting and my second cup of coffee.  

I was talking about reading last week, and my large library of books.  Most of my reading is done via audio book these days.  I love audio because I can read and knit at the same time.  I have tried  regular reading and knitting but that doesn't work well for me because of my long standing visual issues.  I need a book, tablet, newpapers, held close to me  so that the little letters stay still enough to read them with any semblance of ease.  The farther away something is, the more the letters seem to dance, which leads to eye strain and a further loss of clarity till I simply can't focus close enough to read. Reading, be it tablet, newspapaers, ebook or real printed book that is done by me these days is done close to my face with my glasses off.  And that presents its challenges.  

Sitting straight on the sofa and holding a book is awkward and is a strain on my already well worked wrists.  I don't do well in recliners. Recliners are too tall to get in and out of comfportably and there is a center of mass probelm that made it difficult to operate the one that did fit me.  I did try reading at my kitchen table as my grandmother used to do, but it just wasn't a good solution for me.  

Anyway to make a long story short, I have wished very seriously for one of those cool beds where the head and feet can raise and lower.  My mother in law had a hopital bed and I seriously thought of asking if I could buy it from her estate but that felt unseemly.  I do believe it was in use by my father in law anyway.  But I have long wished for one, just so I could raise and lower at will. 

I admit that back then, it was the raising the head of the bed to sitting that was the attraction but as I have aged, it is raising my feet that really makes a difference in life.  I have a wedge of an old mattress section tucked under the lowest part of my current mattress to raise my feet by six inches.  Doing so has completely cleared up long standing back pain.  The wedge is not the best solution though.  It causes things to slip and slide no matter what anti slip you have between parts.  It makes sheets pop off in the middle of the night, even with the handy corner elastic things. It means getting into bed with a higher foot level is awkward and weird and some days, difficult.  Still, I lived with it to keep my back feeling good.  But I coveted a fancy bed frame that could do it all for me.

Last week, I went wandering (on the internet, of course) to a reputable sleep store, and you know what?  The lowest price base wasn't that pricey. I was actually surprised.

So, that is what I have been doing this morning.  Wangling a fancy shmancy new bedframe and mattress.  Sleep Country Canada gave me a discount over and above the web prices, and I found I could afford the bedframe a step up from the base model.  It is a frame that is almost pretty in comparison but the most significant different feature is a wireless remote plus you can set the bedframe up at many different heights.  

So, that has been my morning.  I have a big day ahead.  I am planning on sewing and doing some goodly amount of knitting. Along with that, I shall have to do a lot of work, practising being decandent.   

Maybe I should knit lace?