Month: February 2016

Arrrgh!

My knitting is refusing to work with me!

I am aiming for a gauge of 5 stitches per inch.

My first swatch on US 8 needles yielded 4.375 stitches per inch. It was light and airy and beautiful, which is what I am aiming for on this sweater.

My second swatch on US 6 needles yielded 4.75 stitches per inch. This swatch was also very pleasing, but it’s starting down the road toward super-warm-thick-sweater land. Not good.

I started a 3rd swatch on US 4 needles, but quickly came to the realization that a sweater knit that tightly would keep me warm on the frozen tundra despite airy lace panels (did I mention that I decided to do a different lace pattern than the sweater pattern specifies?).

So after a little math (God bless whoever invented the calculator!) I realized that if I knit the sweater a size smaller, but at my original gauge it would fit.

If my plan works out I will be a genius.

If not I will need lots of chocolate.

I’m thinking about stocking up on chocolate just in case…

Book Review

Knitting Pearls, edited by Ann Hood. What a lovely read. I had the good fortune to pick this book up off the shelves at Barnes and Noble right after it was released (I didn’t even know Ann Hood was going to compile another book). I read Knitting Yarns a few years ago when it came out and loved it, so when I saw Knitting Pearls  I had to have it.

The book features essays on knitting by 27 authors. And when I say essays I really mean stories about life. Now I’m the type of gal who reads a book through in one fell swoop if at all possible. But not all books are so easily digested. These authors are so genuine in their accounts that sometimes during the reading I just had to stop and think about what they said. They discuss how knitting fits into our lives, about how we use it to show love for others, and how it teaches us about ourselves. They talk about knitting as simply knitting, as a lifestyle, and as a metaphor. And they do it brilliantly! I highly recommend buying your own copy. This book does not disappoint.

Magic

Well, I waved my magic wands over some materials (for a long time. Seriously, there was a lot of wand waving!) and out came these lovely socks! Tadah! (you can clap now)

Happy Feet

Pattern: Petty Harbor by Rayna Curtis

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tweed in Marine Heather

These are a Valentine’s Day gift for my boyfriend. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his feet…wait…? I knit them over 3 weeks.

Yay! Now I can start my sweater!

One month later…

I’ve been Bullet Journaling for about a month now, and I love it! I find that it is a great tool to help me keep organized.

I use my daily log a lot to list to-do’s, to remind myself of where I am on knitting projects, to mark scheduled events, and even to diary.

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My monthly log is a good place to record plans I make for later in the month (but I sometimes forget to check it). It also gives me a place to list tasks that I want to do, but that don’t have a due-date. I decided to put coloured tabs on my monthly spreads so I could find them more easily.

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I even made a project page for my current sock project!

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I love how easily the Bullet Journal system can be adapted to any lifestyle.

Butterfly

We were once all worms alike,

Crawling on the ground,

Eating dirt and leaves.

 

Until one day you had to leave:

You could no longer live alike.

You left us on the ground.

 

Your feet no longer touch the ground,

You’ve wings like jeweled leaves:

To us you are unlike.

 

Like you we shall escape the ground and fly among the leaves.

Dear Second Sock,

I understand if you want to harbor animosity toward me because you are not an original. The thing is, I had 2 skeins of the same yarn, and your brother had the luck of the draw. I guess that kind of sucks for you. But is that any reason to take it out on me? I am trying my hardest to knit you and make you beautiful and functional, and if you were for me I would totally knit you in a different pattern than your twin. But you are not for me, and the person I am knitting you for would really like for you and your brother to match. So can you please stop dragging your feet and just knit up faster? I want to start a sweater. It’s the colour of Conch shells and beautifully soft.

Thanks. I knew you would understand.

Storm

Rain comes inexorably closer

Washing away the dirt of toil

Cleansing away dust and dwelling alike.

 

Thunder booms ominously

Result of Lightning flashes

Like a million fireflies dying.

 

Winds roar at me

As I struggle to find shelter

Before I’m blown away.

One

I have one sock done. It’s a pity that one sock is only one-half of a pair.

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tweed in Marine Heather
Pattern: Petty Harbor by Rayna Curtis

This yarn is amazing. I love feeling my knitting and showing it off to other people. They are always impressed by how soft it is! The pattern is easy to memorize and shows progress well. I always get off track on a project when I can’t see progress. The pattern is worked over 4 (fairly obvious) rows so I can keep the knitting blues away.