FO Friday

If my blog has been lagging at least my knitting and picture taking have not. Ok fine at least they have not been lagging quite as much as blogging. I wish I could be more like my friend Adriene and come up with beautiful and thought provoking posts, but I am still plain spoken me and that is OK. At least I knit beautiful things.

Today's post is brought to you by my past knitting FOs. FO is shorthand for Finished Object, for you random non knitters out there. 

Honestly I have been knitting and even taking pictures. At least when I remember to gather it up and have the Ipad in hand. Sometimes it is a long time before the picture makes it here. I am changing up my blog a bit and keeping more notes and pictures here. I miss blogging and this is one way of getting a bit of my mojo back.

First up my Zombie Mittens. These sassy mittens were knit out of Dragonfly Fibers Damsel yarn in the Zombie Apocalypse colorway. And I still have half a skein of this bright yarn leftover to knit something else or more mittens since you know I have lost entire mittens before. I bought the yarn at Rhinebeck back in the day. Shh Rhinebeck was virtual this year, I "attended" another Rhinebeck this year. Those yarnie pictures are coming later. I may have to go take them after this post. 

Back to the knitting stats, I used 3.25 mm needles to get a reasonably tight gauge without making them stiff enough to be weapons. I'm pretty happy with them and they definitely make cold steering wheels and overcast weather look better. Started November 1 2019, finished November 23 2019. Not a bad turnaround time when I can't even say monogamous knitting without giggling. I wonder how many things I was working on at the same time?

Now these lovelies started out as Christmas yarn from the hubby and were knit during my ankle recovery. I put the first one to good use while I was still in the splint and boot.

This yarn is Blazing Fibers Fingering Yak Blend in the Crystal Coma colorway. The yak makes them so warm and plush. I thought maybe socks were not the thing to knit but hey why not? I am the boss of my knitting. I get to do what I like. I started knitting these January 5 2020 and finished April 4 2020. Initially I did not like the way the colors were pooling so I ripped back and used my 2.25 cubic needles that seem to give me slightly different gauge which is just enough to make me like the pooling. Love the muted colors.

I love eye catching socks and these are my newest favorites. Knitted Wit Victory Sock in the Unbowed colorway. This was one of my last purchases from The Knitting Bee in Portland. Knit June 14 2020 to August 21 2020. Plain old socks to show off that lovely colorway, bold and beautiful. Plus they coordinate with my basket. 

 Boy I did not realize how far I have fallen off the blogging train. I just went back to link some of the FO's to work in progress posts and I could not find any. Life gets in the way and it is better to live it than record it but I like doing both so why not? I'm off to take more pictures and may even get next Friday's post ready too, since I have pictures.

Happy knitting everyone!

Casting on all the things

 I am not a monogamous knitter, I've told you all that a few times now. I like having a bunch of projects on the needles so I can knit various complexities. I like the feel of different combinations, yarns needles, where I am in the process. It is all good.

Every once in a while the stars align and I end up finishing several projects around the same time. And sometimes the stars align even further and I don't cast on something new I just go on to finish another thing. I can remember the concern that gripped me one day when I realized I only had a second sock on the needles. I had not cast on anything after several finished projects. Oh the horror of only one thing that was soon to be zero!

Recently I knit down to a few things on the needles and had a big old cast on weekend. And that was so fun I cast on more the next weekend.

Currently I have three first socks, three shawls and a curtain on the needles. See the problem is one of the socks is patterned and I need to pay attention to it so it sits there next to my knitting chair while less involved things get knit on. I am about a third of the way through a shawl that I am going to love wearing but actually don't like knitting. By the time I stop making mistakes and stop reknitting rows I will have knit it three times over. Quite frankly I am a bit beyond frustrated with it. I finally put in stitch markers and managed to finish a section. Now I am starting a new section and either the stitch count is off, impossible I have checked it several times, or the stitch repeats move from one section to the next which is the reason all my stitch markers are now in all the wrong places. But I just cannot face knitting and moving them all only to find out I will have to do it all over again. Sigh I really do like knitting.

Oddly enough the curtain is my most joyful thing right now. A friend sent me yarn that can only be accurately described as confetti cake in yarn. Bright and neon colors on a white base. Shh lean in I have a confession, part of me thinks having an undyed white base for yarn is just an half finished job. I know the skill to dye speckled yarn is a skill too, it just feels lazy and unfinished to me. I know, I am working on myself but the first bit is admitting you have a problem.

But this yarn is just making me smile. I knew I could not knit socks from it because of my problem. And our front door has a window in it that I have never known what to do with. I hate that some tall people can see right into my living room with me living on the couch.

So why not make one of my favorite shawl stitches into a square curtain with my happy confetti yarn? Something bright light and airy. I tried a couple of stitches like cat's paw but it was not happy fun knitting so I knew it would not work. Instead I remembered how much I love Feather and Fan or Old Shale. Now I have a project that is making me smile and happy. No driving around neighborhoods trying to spot my happy curtain when it is done, OK?

Yarn on parade

The sky is filled with smoke and some days it just feels like everything weighs more. Today is one of those heavy days.

To counteract that today I have some little slices of happiness, or rather yarniness. I have some more new yarn to show you. 

I placed my second time ever yarn club order back in June. After I received my order from Teal Torch Knits I signed up for their Good Place (love that show) yarn club for July and August. Both skeins arrived safe and sound in one shipment. The top is A Little Bit Chowder and the bottom beauty is IHOP, Interdimensional Hole of Pancakes.

You can tell I am a bit more excited about the IHOP one. I think it is because I am loving having more color in my world now. My first order from them was mostly in the blue area so seeing what they can do with color is great. 

 

I have bought from Boss Kitty a couple of years now at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival. While looking through the vendors for this year's missed festival I remembered how lovely their yarn is. After much debate with myself I finally ordered Teatime for the Soul and Murder Mittens. Ok fine I will admit that I like the colors but I really loved the colorway names.

You know how it is when you debate over something and finally order it, and sit impatiently by the mailbox waiting for it to arrive? Even if it is only five minutes since you placed the order? Oh come on I cannot be the only one that does this... Anyways my order was delayed by a few days and I kept beating back that little voice in my head telling me to reach out and ask when it would be shipped. I figure we should really be giving people at least a week to ship stuff especially in the middle of a global pandemic. I kept shushing my whiney impatient voice. I told it to stop being a grabby child, especially since I had dallied about placing the order for over a week myself. Inner voices can be such pushy voices.

I'm very glad I did not inquire about the order since I received an apology note from Boss Kitty seconds after I received my shipment notification, well within a week of my order. They had an urgent matter that had delayed my shipment. Talk about good customer service and a lesson in how to be proactive in calming shipping worries during a tough time. Thanks Boss Kitty, hope your world is improving.

Anyways back to the yarn. I usually by sock yarn with every intention of knitting it into socks. I know that comes a quite a shock from a self designated sock knitter like me. But once I took a picture of the two Boss Kitty yarns together, they started whispering to me that maybe they should ba a shawl instead. I don't know if they would have enough contrast between them but I really like how they compliment each other. We shall see what the knitting decides. 

I seem to be on a shawl knitting trend now anyways. I'll show you those next time.

Keep on trying to be kind to each other.

And speaking of nice things.

I picked up a couple of lovely notebooks in Czechia last fall. I think I already showed you one. Here is another, and even prettier with my pink pencil. You know my obsession with school supplies. Once I found my perfect pencil I buy all the colors. What better place to keep pens and pencils than a Burt kitten pencil bag. 

Mellie prefers the real Burt. She has made an excellent supervisor while I work from home. At least she does while she is awake.

You'll forgive my bad photo but once things started to loosen a few months ago I put in an order for some new tools. I had plenty of time to think about what I use most and wanted more of and a few new to me things that I wanted to try out.

I have managed to finish a few things too, like these socks. And today I finished a shawl on a very hot day. No pictures since whew not today. This was yarn I received from a blog drawing a while ago. I kept thinking I needed to find a perfect pattern for them but changed my mind and am happy with plain knitting.

Like I said I had plenty of time to think about getting some new things. Since all the festivals are canceled, I've been doing a bit of online shopping. The bottom right yarn is already on the needles, yes new needles from above too. 

Keep on trying to be kind to each other.

Not a Rubber Chicken

The other night we looked out our back window and thought a plastic bag was caught on our fence or tree. Still it looked full and odd, so my intrepid hubby went out to take a look. It was a chicken roosting on our fence and mostly protected from view by our tree. Smart bird.

Then I thought what if she is sick or dying? We just left her there in peace because there was no blood or random feathers. She looked smooth and calm.

The next morning she was still there till she hopped down and had a nice bug breakfast in our yard. She made the best TV show my kittens seen ever! Mellie would not move from the patio door. TV even got better when she came up and bawked at Mellie through the window.

We think she is a new addition to our neighbor's yard. But she is welcome to come over and roost with us. She came back last night too.

My inner farm girl is very happy with this situation. All of the fun, none of the responsibility.

I'll try to get pictures when I can.

Partial Sock Parade

The other day I counted up my WIPs (Works In Progress) and came up with two pairs of socks and two shawls on the needles. I then corrected the socks to three pairs, then to four. Yeah I cannot even spell monogamy when I am knitting. Good thing I am loyal in other areas of my life where it really counts or else my hubby might just want to have a talk with me.

So far two of these are for him and two are for me. But I never really know till the toe finally appears which one of us is the winner. OK fine he usually gets the boring brown ones and I definitely get the lace ones. But still I am never certain.

These all seem to be languishing a bit because one of the shawls is garter stitch and I just love knitting garter stitch. It is so soothing to my mind and soul. And don't we all need a little extra comfort right now?

Finding Happiness

I know that money does not buy happiness. I'm a saver. I didn't have an affluent childhood so I tend to over analyze purchases, and then not buy things. My needs are weighted heavily against wants. If I don't NEED something I tend not to buy it. There is nothing wrong with this, it helps me feel safe. 

But sometimes it is enough to want something, buying something is not a guarantee of happiness but it can make you happy. One of the tricks is to find balance. 

While staying home for the past four months, yes four months, remember I started staying home before staying home was cool. In those four months I have had plenty of time to spend with my stuff and find ways to admire it anew.

One of the first things that I looked at and thought I am still happy I bought, is this basket at last year's Black Sheep Gathering. Honestly I always thought the people buying baskets at Rhinebeck were a bit silly. Possibly because I was on the receiving end of a basket thwack too many times.

Turns out I had just not met my compatible shape and size baskets. Plus look at those gorgeous colors.

While we were in Czechia last fall I had the opportunity to visit a couple of book shops. I love book shops even when I cannot read the language. One in particular had a school supply/stationary section. And we all know I how much I love school supplies. On my last day there I decided I needed some nice graph paper notebooks for my knitting. Look at how lovely that book is. This brings me happiness too. It is a great help to me to rewrite some patterns. It helps me visualize and understand them better.

Happiness can be found in finding the right pattern for a yarn color that you never would have looked at when you first started knitting. I hated orange and yellow, now I don't. I appreciate color so much more now that I knit beautiful things with it.

And speaking of finding happiness, it helps when you have two fantastic felines to guide you to a comfy chair to look around and appreciate.  Oh look my basket is there to be appreciated too.

So take some time to gaze about you for something that brings you joy and say and extra thank you to someone.