In which I sum up

Well, it’s been a hot minute! December and January were rather overwhelming months due to school, the holidays, dealing with my dad’s melanoma (which has been successfully removed—praise the Lord!), my beloved local yarn store closing (I'm not allowed to buy yarn for awhile now...), dealing with my credit union merging (which was a good thing as I now have a local bank again, but a big process), continuing to try to find a church home, joining Planet Fitness (a surprisingly large thing to incorporate into my life), and the arrival of my beautiful niece, Paisley (I’m finally an aunt!). Valentine’s day marked the end of the second trimester, so I have today off to sleep, finish marking the trimester tests, and get myself set up for the last third of the school year. During that time I’ve been knitting, spinning, and reading of course, so here are some highlights of the last three months of creative efforts.

I have had a blast making things for my niece, Paisley, and about a week before she was born I sent off two sweaters, two pairs of booties, and two hats. As Paisley is a dainty little lady I have a bit of time to wait before she can be wrapped in my knitted love, but it's well worth the wait! I have one more item, a little Jedi cardigan to finish for her,

but I got distracted from the million miles of brown garter stitch by...

tinny envelopes! Hunter Hammerson does it yet again, and created a fiddly little pattern I just had to knit. I've got a few ideas of what to do with these...

Another thing I've been working on is the Winterberry hood, something which has been in my queue for quite awhile. I'm using this delightful red from Lazy Cat Studio that I bought at the East Texas Fiber Fest, and I ended up having to rip the whole thing out due to a) a gauge issue and b) a dye lot issue. This picture is from where I blocked one end to confirm the awful truth I suspected--that it was going to be too small. I'm still sort of pondering if I would rather do a hood or a cowl neck, but as I need to finish a Jedi robe soon I have a bit of time to think it through.

Since last writing I also completed two stockings. This stocking is to complete a set I started over a decade ago as a shower gift for a friend's Christmas wedding. I have since made stockings for all three of her kids, so the family set is complete. It was a bit of a challenge to make this with my somewhat limited space and resources, but I thankfully took good pictures of the other stockings and had saved some of the trim, so I was able to make something that was unique but still fit with the other two siblings stockings.

I also knit myself a stocking to have at my place (I spent Christmas with my 'real' stocking at my parents), and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I used wool leftover from my Crazy Stripes sweater, and I love the traditional pattern. It was fun to knit, and I'm almost tempted to make Neko one for next year.

Lastly, for now, I also played around with these delightful tiny trees, also a Hunter Hammerson pattern. I'd like to make some this summer maybe to have on hand as gifts for next year, but we'll see. I'm still working on my summer dreams and plans...

I'm going to try and get back in the habit of blogging, and I'd like to do a post soon about my recipe challenge to myself, but for right now I need to get to bed--it's a school night!

Parting shot: My brother took this picture of Neko at Christmas, and I absolutely LOVE it! What a handsome ginger pants!

Making and Russian Ho-to's

On Saturday I was able to pick up the bowl I painted at the Mud Hut, and I have to say I was pretty pleased with the results. I love how the lace effect turned out, and overall I'm pretty pleased with my brush work. Now I want to go paint something else!

In honor of Pi Day, I tried out a 1940's pineapple pie recipe. It had a meringue topping which I don't think I realized, but I was pretty pleased with how it turned out. It was pretty sweet, but I rather liked the different pie filling.

I have to admit I've been really caught up in the latest season of The Great British Baking Show, so when there was the chance to make soda bread and a trifle for St. Patrick's day, I jumped on it! I made much better soda bread than I used to when I was a teenager, and thought I was a bit worried that the lime jello and the pistachio pudding would clash, they made for a very satisfactory, very green dessert. I'm coming for my sister's title as the trifle queen!

In knitting news I finished up the Alzheimer mat circle project, had a lovely lunch with the friend who commissioned them, and was relieved that she loved what I had made. Now I know a lot more than I used to about both bobbles and yarn crafting in circles. Plus, I got rid of several little bits of yarn--bonus!

I'm trying to get my (admittedly) self-imposed hand towel knitting finished, so I finally decided on some buttons and had a sewing on 'party' on the six or so finished towels, and am trying to get the rest of my seasonal ones finished up so I can move on to something else. I wasn't super impressed with my home town's button offerings, but decided I could live with the cheap Wal-Mart ones. Boy do I hope the nice ones I saved from my old towels turn up back on this side of the ocean eventually...

And lastly, I've been trying to get my Fancy Mee scarf/shawl finished up. I decided it was too small after finishing the last section,

and while I totally plan to add an edging, I wanted to use up more of my yarn and have it be just a bit bigger. I don't have a proper stitch dictionary anymore, and after looking through what I had and what my mom has, I turned to the internet and found this-

I liked the individual elements of the stitch and the look of the loops, but the problem was it was in Russian. Some more Googling had me a conversion for the Russian chart symbols, but there were still some parts I couldn't figure out. I noodled around with a swatch, but then found a forum on Ravelry where you could get help with Russian pattern translation. I ended up watching the suggested Russian how-to video, which ended up with me realizing there was a mistake in the chart and how to achieve the desired look. I was afraid it wasn't going to work as it looked a terrible mess until I worked a row or two past the loops, but I think it's going to block out even better than it eventually settled. On to the edging!

I'm trying to get a few things cleared out so I can get back to work on my Ink cardigan; I was reminded that Stash Dash is coming up! This year I'll be able to spin as well, so I might stretch myself and go for the 5K...we'll have to see how busy I am!

Parting shot: Silver Grizzly coffee, good company (sister and brother-in-law), and knitting are always a good idea on a Monday morning!

Circles and Towels mostly

Well, there is still rather a lot of 'spit' in my life, including a stubborn chihuahua I'm dog sitting, the ragged edges of bronchitis, and the fact that I am well and truly unemployed now. On the plus side, the dog comes with a house which I'm also watching, so I've had a bit of space and a chance to work on some projects. Such as a commission from a family friend for circles to use as a part of some Alzheimer's mats she's making. I did some noodling around and have found a knit and a crochet version that I think will be both sturdy enough and survive washing well. I've got two more on the go, but here are the finished ones:

In addition to going through a circle phase, I've also been working on lots of dishtowels. Both fully knit ones,

and toppers for commercial towels.

Some progress has been made on another trade item,

and I finished my DVD Christmas movie socks shortly after going to see Captain Marvel. I got my Nomadic Yarns order, so I'll be getting some new movie socks set up!

And in another type of making, I went with my mom to The Mud Hut and painted a bowl last weekend, which I can't wait to see how it turns out. Here it is right after I finished the lace bit:

So, I'm enjoying the Great British Baking Show and Marie Kondo, thankful that the stupid dog is at least silent as it cowers under the bed all the time I'm in the house, and glad that I can almost function normally as I get my lungs back. I am so ready to be employed and independent again...

Many little things all keeping me from going too crazy

My craft time continues to be quite limited, but I DID mange to finish the Frankinbooties—adorbs!

And I also managed to finish off the knitting on the first baby vertebra I need to finish before the end of the month, so there is that. Just needs a bath now.

I have spent most of the last week looking into boot cuffs for a dear sister in a very cold place; I am waiting to hear about calf sizing from her, but I was able to start these crochet ones as they are worked side to side. I seriously underestimated the amount of yarn they would take and seriously bungled the first attempt, so I wound up some yarn I have had sitting for quite awhile in the stash and started again this weekend. I’m liking it! I also wound up some of my cake dye yarn for another set…soon as I get that measurement!

I did a little weaving this weekend; crocheting the two sides together with a double thickness of yarn leads to far more satisfactory results; noted!

Today I chopped off the bottom of one of my favorite skirts that had become irreversibly stained, and hemmed it up. Good thing it was ankle length before! Yes, that hem looks awful, and will until I can get it home to my mom. I'm calling it a 'lettuce hem,' and pretending I did it on purpose!

Over the weekend I inhaled Wintersong, a story for anyone who ever feel in love with Jareth, the Goblin King. A little sensual in places, but I liked the complexity of his character, and the links with the Germanic tradition of Der Erlking. Now I need to watch Laybrinth again…

I also made bagels for the first time this weekend; not as hard as I had thought, fun, and I loved the results! I’m going to be doing this while I’m home in December.

And yes, speaking of, I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS!

A Plaid Journey

One of the features that pops up on the Ravelry homepage from time to time is groups of similar objects—similar in color, style, or function. There was a display of David Bowie inspired items in the wake of his death, and two weeks ago there was a post on plaid projects. I was intrigued, and tried out a crochet plaid dishcloth almost immediately. I found the technique interesting, but I felt like the dishcloths was a) too thick, and b) too stiff. Both symptoms of crochet. I made it smaller than the instructions called for as I was using a heavier yarn, and I was seized with the desire to turn this pattern into knitting.

My first attempt was basically the same idea as the crochet, but with yarn overs instead of chain spaces. Drawback—I was cutting the yarn each time and had a ton of ends to weave in, and the pattern required you to pay a bit of attention. When I finished it and started crocheting the vertical strips through the yarn overs, I realized that they were too big, and it looked lame.

So, I’m trying a much simpler tack. Carrying the yarn from the stripes up the side isn’t the tidiest looking, but it sure beats weaving in all those stupid ends. I’m considering doing one row strips…who knows how far this madness will go? Now to see how the vertical stripes look over the stockinette…

While up super late writing report cards on Friday evening, I took a look at the new Knitty, and immediately fell head over heels in love with a scarf (they call it a shawl, but it’s totally a scarf!) pattern. I had the perfect yarn for it in the stash, and as a treat to myself for finishing I cast on Saturday evening while enjoying some Downton Abbey. Loving it so far!

Now that term is almost over, I’ll have time to do more work on creative things. I never get the half of what I planned done over the term breaks, but I’m going to try and make April really count. I don’t plan to go anywhere this holiday, so lots of cleaning, knitting, sorting, and reading should happen. Who knows? I might even go crazy and do some writing!

Parting shot: Lame pudding pie for pi day. Hey, anything was better than marking!

A bit of catch up 'cause life is crazy

Well, I actually have some FO (finished objects) to show off this time! Having last weekend off did wonders for my craft productivity… That being said, almost nothing at all interesting happened on the craft front this week. Little things like marking, sleeping, and not throwing students out the windows became rather time consuming.

First of all, I finished the first of the Nelderoth socks! I’m quite happy with how it turned out, and think I’ll be doing a version for myself in the near future. I’m a sucker for cables… Since I rarely blindly follow a pattern, I tweaked this one by omitting the texture pattern between the cable panels, and doing a German short row heel. If I did this again, I might use a subtle colored yarn to spice those stockinette bits up a bit, or I might try and find a texture pattern that I like better.

The other thing I finished last weekend was the amagarumi dragon that has been languishing in and out of my projects bags for the last two years. Meet Asea!

Asea means ‘leaf’ in Elvish, and I thought it was appropriate given the color of yarn I used. I love the finished result, but I would never crochet with that yarn again. It had a little thread wound round it for color interest, but it made it a real pain to work with. I had a few yards left after finishing of Asea, and I actually threw them out. Yes, that much of a pain!

Other than those two things, I just haven’t had the time to work on much else. I got the urge to finish things, and went with the two items that were the closest to being done! I need to get the socks ready so that when the upcoming chance to send items back home arrives, I’ll be ready. I still have my large projects more or less in the works, my cardigan and my second double knit scarf. I have a feeling that those will get more time spent on them over the holiday when I have bigger chunks of time to work on them. So, that’s all for now!

Since I wrote this a slight development has come up--I am no obsessively pondering knit plaid. Details to follow...

April Holiday

So, before the hoards arrive tomorrow I thought I’d do an update of what I’ve been up to this holiday. It’s been an odd holiday; it felt like it went really fast and I’ve been dealing with *stuff.* That being said, I did get some good knitting in!

A little ‘fluff’ piece of work—I love roses, and the cheap finishing high was totally irresistible.

I also tied out the crochet version of the towel topper. The verdict—kitch. I’m sticking with the knit one from now on.

I made a fun spiral hat while getting my geek-cred updated by watching all three Back to the Future movies. (charming circuitous timeline, and I loved the steam punk train!)

Some dishcloths while ‘in-servicing’ myself (plus my gift stash was low and my personal ones getting grungy…)

A hat in a pattern I like very much in a yarn I dislike very much (long story…)

And a baby blanket for a sweet little girl who has had more than her share of challenges since she was born about two months ago.

I also did a sewing project that deserves a post of its own, read some great books, enjoyed my Audible account immensely, chain watched most of the Marvel movies, and had some fun puttering about the kitchen. It still cracks me up that I’m considered grown up enough to have my own kitchen! Oh, and I finished the Firedrake socks; maybe a picture later. I have some socks lined up for knitting during the term, a shawl I can pick back up again, and a few other odds and ends I’d like to get done. Many of them from my Jane Austin Knits magazines… We shall see how much I get accomplished around my day job!

In closing, since today is Star Wars day,

Kennings and Lace

We have been studying the middle ages in history, and so I got the bright idea to have the kids write Kennings--a type of Anglo-Saxon inspired poetry, and then write the final copy on some 'parchment' or tea stained paper. We used dip pens and illuminated the first letters of the two poems. Here are mine.

I also made non-alcoholic mead to share with the kids. It's basically 1 part honey to 8 parts water with a few spices and raisins thrown in for good measure. I sort of want to play around with the 'loaded' version, but I can't find a small enough recipe. I am so bad sometimes...

I've been wanting to show you the lace I have been crocheting for the hem of the fancy nightgown I'm making. I never thought I'd get so into fillet crochet, but I find the medium fascinating and full of potential. Nerd doilies? Why not!

I plan to start working on a baby surprise jacket for Beth's coming niece or nephew--I have two other babies that I'm planning to welcome into the world with knitting, so I've got my needles full! Oh, I'm also trying to finish off a cross stitch that will be a wedding present. Why is December coming up so fast?