Monday 22 January 2024

The Squirmy Wormies.

The grandson's visit happened and a good time was had by all.  

  

The usual staying up late and sneaking midnight snacks happened too, but not by me.  Me?  I was asleep and they were paying attention to my masked Darth Vader breathing (bi-pap mask) to make sure grandma stayed sleeping.  

I did manage to do some knitting and sneak in some knitting related fun.  I watched all my usual knitting vlogs while the boys were sleeping in and I did a bit of a stash dive and did a bit more sorting and ordering in my room.  

I took all my yarn out of the closet.


This is the current stash. While it is much less than when I moved to this home, it remains significant. I could cut it down a tub or maybe two if I packed it all properly, space having been left in tubs as I use up yarn. It is what it is and I am glad of it. Though I think of it all the time when I am knitting and planning, it is probably a good idea to have it out in the open for a while.  

That is not why I pulled stash out of the closet.  With the upcoming sewing, I needed the closet for clothes.  I haven't needed a closet for clothes in the last ten years so it is fun needing the space.  I do have a rack but I found that the rack in the open with all the hanging clothes looked untidy and bothered me.  The disordered look of shirts and dresses and skirts and pants, hanging without any matching beginnings or endings left me feeling tense.  

It is just like when I curtained off the lower half on my bedroom craft storage. I was happy with the storage but the different shapes and sizes wore on me.  The curtain felt comforting and so do closet doors on my rack of clothing.  It is a big closet so I put up some shelving in there too.  The large yarn tubs aren't great decor, but they are tidy looking.  The only untidy is the yarn left overs from knitting blankets.  Those acrylics will be going to a new home soon so I won't worry about a container for them. 

But none of that is why I started diggng in the first place.  What I was actually doing was looking for a certain yarn.  

My daughter in law, Amy, asked me to repair a sweater for her.  it is one of her most loved things.  It is made of a very fine merino and I do have lovely wool. I don't think she is into visible mending but I hoped I might have something that would work.


There seem to be three or four rows sliced cleanly, and then some dropped stitches and a bit of unraveling from there.  It shouldn't be a technically hard repair, but it is going to take some work.   This is a very fine weight knit.

I found these yarns in my stash.  I think I might have had the perfect thing at one time, but I sold it in a garage sale a few years ago. 


These are my current options.  The best match appears to be some Comfort acrylic from Berocco.  If I separate a ply, I should have a reasonably good match.  If the ply is too fine, I will add a ply from one or the other of the yarns, a small bit of Faeroe Island Shilasdair or some cashmere merino sock yarn. I might do just two strands of the comfort, but I was really hoping to get the smallest bit closer to the colour. Ether way, I will play and make stable again.  

While I was digging, I pulled out a few things.  


Sock yarn from Custom Woollen Mills.  This is amazingly lovely and soft and not superwash and I never meant it to be socks, but  I do need socks and a big part of me is almost ready to try socks that I have to deal with by hand.  I have a good drying rack that is easily accessible and I am an adult, after all.  I can do this.  We shall see. 

Then I pulled out some yarn from my epic adventure.   



This is a lovely yarn, now made with all American fibres, but it's history is rooted in the nineties and glasnost. These days, I hate to see the Russian language on the label, because my family includes Ukrainians. I find myself revolted by it in a very deep and primal way.  I will focus on the yarn and its more current production location and will focus on its intention and message of peace.  I only wish the Russians would. 

Then I pulled out a lovely silk blend.  I love this yarn but everything I have tried with it hasn't felt right. 


I have always thought of it for shawls but I am going to use it for a top for summer.   Combining it with a plain yarn is probably what it wanted all along.

Then I pulled out all that remains of my much loved Big Fabel, a discontinued worsted weight sock yarn from Drops.


Because socks.  It will be nice to make and have a pair doubly thick pair of warm socks before this up and down temperature winter is done.

I did promise myself that I wouldn't start any more socks till I have this most current pair completed. so I worked stalwartly on this.


And that was all my knitting for the weekend.  

Spending time with my squirmy wormy, nearing gangly grandsons was much more important than any knitting content, but then you know that.

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