MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

    MERRY CHRISTMAS!  

 I spent the better part of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day knitting a pair of fingerless gloves.  My knitting goal for the new year is to knit at 12 pairs of these using various techniques that would be intimidating to try on socks.  The plan is to sort of use these as wearable swatches and use up my stash of yarn at the same time.  I have a lot of single skeins that really aren't enough to make anything much with.

Here is the start. 

 And here is the finish!  I used size 6 DPNs and the pattern is a very simple fingerless mitts pattern from Ravelry.  The yarn is a leftover bit from a friend I used to be in knitting group with.

Getting into some new things...

Audio books have always been a favorite resource for me, and podcasts as well.  Both have pushed me to new experiences and inspired me to be better and go further.  When life feels a bit stale, or without color, I use these two avenues for fresh perspective.

  The Julia Child biography by Laura Shapiro is very enlightening and has details I'd not heard before.  I loved the book, My Life In France, and it definitely inspired me during the time of my daughter's high school graduation.  That summer, she and I took a trip to Boston, stayed with my cousin and toured the city, including Cambridge, where Julia taped many, many television shows.  I love the cluttered usefulness of her kitchen.  It seems to be designed for using, not for looking at.  For once, that matters more to me.  Cozy, inviting, and functional.

I love crime podcasts and have listened to pretty much everything that's out that's worth listening to. I renewed my audible subscription from ages ago and have jumped in with a cozy mystery, a Lisa Scottoline non-fiction book, some free exercise picks and a free short story about a girl who lived above a NYC library while her dad was the custodian.  I am anxious to get my next credit, so in the meantime I use my Hoopla app from the library (Cyanide Canary and Corrupted by Lisa S.).  I also finished a paperback by Harlan Coben who never disappoints.

I realize that knitting and spinning can be an escape as well as a hobby meant to relax.

I finally finished the lavender sweater and made a few adjustments once it was done.  The sleeves were a bit long and the neck a bit wide, but otherwise it fit pretty well.

I also made these socks using two colors from my stash. Both colors are handspun and the pattern was a basic toe up pattern from Wendy Knits.

I gave up my fiber of the month subscription when I switched to part time at work.  It has really been a good decision, since I only spin on Saturday mornings.  I have plenty of fiber to spin, and its all so beautiful, that I'm savoring it very slowly now.
I spun three small bags of fiber from my January fiber of the month shipment and made this lovely tonal feather and fan blanket for my new granddaughter. I did not make her a blanket when she was born, so I'm a little late, but better late than never!

(I need to get a finished picture of my granddaughter with the blanket.)

June 2018

At the end of each year, I have made resolutions for the coming year.  Not everybody likes to do this, but for me, its a matter of goal setting in hopes of self improvement.  I think I'm just that kind of person.  I like things neat but not too neat. I'm not a clean freak, just orderly, as it brings peace of mind mostly.
Setting goals helps me to keep the end in mind. This sweater WILL be finished by the end of June.

I wanted to knit a sweater for each of the grandkids but have taken a little detour to knit myself a sweater. Supposedly an easy raglan sleeve, top down, *seamless* (so far) summer-ish sweater.  This lovely Coastal thingy has been straightforward, but way more of a commitment than I really wanted.  Its knit on size 4 needs, so there's red flag number 1. It got me the gauge and look I wanted, with lovely drape.  Not too loosey goosey, just good solid fabric, that's not dense either.
All I can say is, I'll be glad when I'm done.  I haven't even started the sleeves....maybe I should move on to those now, and it will feel like I'm going faster.

I've just about kicked the regular TV habit.  I love Britbox and Netflix and some Amazon video.  I love audio books and classical music while knitting.  As for books, I'm reading Stormie Omartian's biography, relating to childhood abuse, a later relationship with Steve Martin, and finally her marriage to music producer Michael Omartian.  Very good book, notably, she was a regular cast member on the Glen Campbell show back in the 70's.

I have loved getting my fiber of the month shipments from Paradise Fibers.  Each box is a little (okay, a lot) different from what I would normally order, but like many other subscribers, it gets me out of my comfort zone and helps me work my creative muscles.

I have so many spinning works-in-progress aka WIPs but only one knitting project. Why is that?  I need to get to the bottom of this. Note to self. 😊

Work has been good, steady and pretty peaceful.  Like I said, I like things orderly.  Summer is pretty quiet at the office and we work on projects that get us ahead of the game.
Family is always good, and in the last month, we gained a two new family members.  My niece married a very dashing young man from Australia.  Beautiful bride.
My son and his wife had a new baby girl, who has lovely dark hair.  A first for all the grandbabies, since all the rest are blonde, or close to it.

Church is always inspiring.  We are growing and changing all the time, yet this congregation remains faithful and very traditional.  I love the physical aspects of the sanctuary, the wood beams and beautiful mid-century light fixtures.  The activities are all very people oriented and the deep southern roots mean there's always a pot luck around the corner.

Just pulling in to the station

KNITTING
Last month I posted about knitting sweaters for the grandkids, namely my oldest granddaughter and my youngest grandson. This month I have knit a little pink sweater for my soon to be born granddaughter.

I am getting excited about blogging again.  This month I permanently deleted my facebook account and feel like I'm starting to get back some control of my life. I have Instagram for now and Snapchat but never post there. Blogging helps me feel connected to the inter-webs, without all the drama.

Work keeps me busy, and church, but in my spare time I'm finding moments to knit a few rows on this.

I love this Sunshine Coast sweater. I purchased the yarn from LOVE KNITTING and got a sweet deal on this soft DK weight cotton blend.  This is such an easy pattern, even though I had to learn a new technique.  I am familiar with short rows but had not done a yarn over at the end of the row.  It seems like there must be a better way to do it, but the sweater is coming along just fine after the hiccup/learning curve.  I am just about ready to move on to the sleeve separation. The sweater is knit in the round from the neck down, so the sleeves have to be separated at some point.  The only "details" in the sweater are 1) neck yarn overs to create little holes at the yoke and 2) extra panels in front of and behind the sleeves to add fullness, I guess.  It makes for a loose fitting look and keeps it sort of swingy.  I like that, because my hips need all the room I can get.
Back to the little holes in the front yoke section. I must say that this the one thing I changed from the original pattern.  It says on the row after the yarn overs to knit them together, but in my opinion, it pretty much closed up the holes and took away the five extra stitches that appear in the rest of the pattern for the front section. I'll post close up pictures next time so you can see what I mean.
SPINNING
I love getting a fiber box each month from Paradise Fibers.  Their club shipments help me think a bit differently and try going in some new directions. Its always a highlight to track the thing and finally open the box!  Alas, I will be dropping the club next month as my work hours are about to change.
FAMILY
We are going to Nashville in a few weeks for the birth of our new little Julianna, whose sweater I mentioned before.   It seems like our family is in a growth spurt and that's super fine with me. We will also be attending my niece's wedding that same weekend.  She's marrying a young man from Australia, who's moving to the US.  We are all so happy for both of these big events that add to our family's numbers.

Sock knitting and sweater knitting

Last year, sock knitting became my obsession.  Lurking on Ravelry, pillaging my stash of yarns, and even spinning beautiful rovings I'd purchased online, in order to make a beautiful sock yarn. All of this played into my addiction.

I had made a couple of New Year goals with a particular theme in mind. Seize Opportunities.  Not so much, 'seize the day' but rather seize or take hold of chances to do something I might usually have declined .  Often I talk myself out of a whole lot of good ideas.
I read a great quote online that convinced me to take advantage of every opportunity. Especially ones that I was inclined to pass on.  As a result, we made a good start with a trip to the Woolery in Frankfort, KY.  We were often making trips to see our kids in Nashville, (we now live in Mobile, AL) so this was a good opportunity to branch out and take a little side trip.  I have a friend who lives about an hour from Frankfort, so we decided to make the trip, see my friend, visit the Woolery, and even visit the birthplace of Lincoln, which is in KY, not Illinois. The cabin has been preserved at a National Park.
On the trip I purchased several bags of wool roving to spin in hopes of making socks, etc. (Why does one really need a reason to make purchases while on vacation?)
I also bought a new Jenkins spindle, some unspun cotton and a few acid dyes. A truly great haul for me!

SOCK KNITTING
Lots of sock knitting groups on Ravely inspire me with free patterns.  I finally learned to do a toe-up sock, giving me no excuse not to seize the opportunity.  Last year I knitted a whole drawer-full of socks. Some were given away as gifts but many are still in the drawer; a sort of 'collection' if you will. I have found however, that living as far south in the United States as we do (an hour from Florida) that I hardly ever wear wool socks.  All those beloved socks just sit in the drawer like a stamp collection, waiting to be admired but never used.

SWEATER KNITTING
This year I determined to knit sweaters.  Inspired by Barkingknitter on Ravelry, who also has a blog showcasing her lovely handmade sweaters, I decided to start small and make sweaters for the grandkids.  Its March already and I've almost completed three.  The one for my new grandson was mailed a while ago and the Post Office lost it.

  They are doing a search, but I am doubtful about ever seeing it again.  I will knit another one. The one for my first grandchild is done and in a box waiting to be delivered, but I will not mail it. No way.

The third is for my soon to be granddaughter, and its almost finished.  So is she.

I made a sweater last year for my other granddaughter, and it fit perfectly and I believe she wears it a good bit. I will soon start a sweater for my other grandson.  I made him a hat earlier this year, with blue and white Egyptian cotton, with a little wave design.  So cute.
And for me, well, I've purchased a pattern and some yarn to make a pullover summer sweater, perfect for the office.
SPINNING
In November, I signed up for a fiber-of-the-month club with Paradise Fibers.  It never disappoints.  I look forward to that box with lots of anticipation and it always has more fiber than I can spin in a month.  I'm changing to part-time on June 1, and maybe I'll be able to spin a little more when the time comes.