pandemic shift

 Having the opportunity to knit more and spin more can only be good.  I love finishing a project and recent quiet evenings and lunch hours (no extra curricular activities due to the epidemic) means I have finished another pair of socks this fall.  

The yarn was purchased in Las Vegas (Henderson I think); called Wool Pop from Universal Yarn - colorway 606 Marmalade.  So very soft and squishy and stretchy!  

The pink yarn used in the previous post is made by indie dyer Shirley Lou of Berry Patch Yarns. 

 My new spinning toy is this lovely tahkli spindle and spinning bowl (bowl is from Dancing Goats). 

 I really like supported spindles now and I am finally mastering cotton. I bought the cotton ages ago and finally got some cotton carders at Earth Guild this past year.  I made lots of puni rolags and that goes a long way with spinning cotton. Much better than roving! You can see I'm a recycler of all things. 

Now, where was I?

 

In the last several weeks I finished these Merino gloves.  They're made with handspun yarn - made from roving that came in my Paradise Fibers club shipment a few years ago.  The two colors are Cyan and Dresden. Wow, fancy huh?  

This is a simple two-ply sport weight yarn and the pattern is from an old issue of Interweave Knits; my go-to glove pattern.  Hands down (no pun intended).  

I am almost finished with some lovely egg-yolk yellow socks with a pattern that I've scrapped together.  More later! 

I am really getting the sweater mo-jo again, now that's its cold here in the deep south.  We only have about 2 months of winter so about the time I'm ready to make sweaters, it's time to put them up in the closet. But I frogged a black cardigan I made with lion-brand acrylic. Just enough to test knit a pullover raglan from my favorite sweater pattern.  That will also be in an upcoming post.  

SPINNING

I finished this spinning project a couple of weeks ago.  This picture does not do it justice!  

It's sparkly and deep and rich.  Perfect Purple. 

FINISHING UP A VERY GOOD YEAR

I have been doing a lot more knitting than spinning this year; it always settles me when I need to unwind. I take my little knitting bag in the car every day to work, drive to the park on lunch hour and begin to knit after finishing my lunch.  You see, I started a diet last November after having put on about 15 lbs.  There was a lot of talk at work about all of us losing weight during the fall of 2019 and I felt like everyone was looking at me.  I know that's not true, but you know how it is. Anyway, I began to eat more fruits and veg and less snacks and sandwiches.  Little by little the weight came off and then the pandemic hit.  

My goal for losing weight had been to fit into some cargo pants I planned to wear on a trip to the Holy Land with our church.  The trip was cancelled due to the epidemic, so instead we flew to Las Vegas and visited the Grand Canyon and some other nearby sites in the West. 

I took my knitting on the trip and visited several local yarn shops, making purchases along the way.  It was so much fun, and the year would have nearly been a bust if not for the trip. God knew how much we would need it. We also visited family while in California and got some real perspective while out there. Truly.

Since returning from the trip, I've been knitting with the yarn I purchased as well as using yarn from our local yarn store.  Thank you JESUS for knitting. :-) 

Here is the current pair of finished socks made with purchased yarn. 

Autumn Dawn Socks

I have a great appreciation for yarn shop owners.  I really try my best to give them my business, whether on Etsy or at a brick & mortar store.