I HAVE been knitting …

 So, it has been a while.  I have been busy -- knitting and otherwise.  The first and very exciting bit of news (for Doug and I anyway) is that here we are at Mother's Day, and we HAVE DOCKS!  The usual crew of recruits who have assisted Doug in years past were not available this year.  This necessitated having me with my incredibly weak ankles being the assistant.  I am very happy to announce that there were no injuries this year, all the rest of the docks are in place as well as the two boat ramps.  Next up will be the boats -- but the current winds and waves have put the kibosh to that plan for this Victoria Day weekend.  In other exciting news, this photo I was able to send out over the internet to my children, FROM the lakeshore!  I gotta say that I absolutely love Communicate Freely!  They were slower than molasses running uphill in January when it came to the actual going live, but now that it is here we enjoy it immensely. 

Now, with regard to knitting, since I did announce that I have some ... I have been working diligently on my socks for 2025 Christmas.  So far, I am even current to the month!  That may change, but not just yet!

These are the socks for April, made with wool I acquired at the Hamilton Fibre Forge from Orange Octupus. This particular colourway is a fundraiser for a cause supporting LGBTQ health.  When I saw it, it clearly said to me "Hello Kitty."  Since my daughter-in-law loves this theme, the wool had to come home and be knit specially for her.  I used a 2.5mm needle and 60 stitches, and knit from the top down.  All in all, a perfect knit. 

This is the second yarn purchase from Orange Octupus.  I quite like the colour aesthetic she has and her choice of base fibre.  Since I have been attending smaller fibre festivals (which means smaller entry fees for vendors) I have been lucky enough to find her booth regularly.  I highly recommend this dyer. 

The socks for March were also completed in plenty of time, although not discussed here.  The yarn is Lang Super Soxx Alpaca in colourway number 0155.  The pattern is Socks on a Plane, which I have used many times in the past.  It is becoming my favourite sock pattern -- the cables add a bit of interest to the knitting.  Not all of my recipients are OK with having socks with a clear left and right foot, but I think this young lady will be fine with it.  Again, I used a 2.5mm needle. 

Last but not least, I have been also knitting away on the Berroco Mystery Blanket Knit-Along.  This is not the final layout by any means or measure.  I just looked at the chart and tried to place the proper technique square where Berroco indicated.  The original pattern asks for five colours.  My recipient was looking at the colours and where I saw a deep peacock blue, he saw navy.  With that in mind, and because the peacock blue didn't play nicely with another of the selected blue colours I opted to add a sixth colour.  My daughter approves so I am in the clear. 

This is a fun little project and I have been looking forward to the first Thursday of each month with great delight.  The brown lace square (second row, and second from the left) was a lot of fun to create.  It started with a magic loop and then built outward in concentric circles. Many other participants were complaining about the start on this square, but mine started easily and on the first attempt.  

Future months will fill in the empty spaces -- seven of them at the moment -- and then there will be discussions from the designers about how to join them together and the final border.  

I am using Estelle Worsted -- a lovely superwash wool and acrylic blend.  This means it will wash and dry beautifully and for my wool-sensitive daughter and son-in-law should not be an issue. 

Whew.  I did say I had been knitting.  A lot.  And this isn't even all of it!  There are a couple of 5-hour baby sweaters, a Ranunculus, a Riley, yet another pair of socks ... and even more.  But I expect this is sufficient for today. 

Plans of mice and women

 I was off to a good start this year, posting once a month … and then twice a month.  I had so many big plans for that last weekend in March.

On Wednesday the refrigerator died.  Time was spent emptying it and relocating cold items to a friend’s nearby and unused refrigerator and freezer.  Items needed frequently went into a cooler on the deck.  So far, so good.

Friday the ice storm arrived.  And it stayed into Saturday.  We still had power, but …

Saturday evening the power died.  

I will say with absolute certainty that English Breakfast Tea is NOT an adequate substitute for my morning coffee.  It was sufficient to ward off a caffeine withdrawal headache, but that was about it.  With power off, we were reduced to wearing miner’s headlights (thank you Costco) for lighting.  Thankfully we have a gas stove which could be lit manually and a wood stove for heat.  I had been reading Naomi Klein’s book The Shock Doctrine for several weeks.  The power outage allowed me to finish the read. 

(The Shock Doctrine is a soul-crushing examination of capitalism, and the role played by the Chicago School of Economics.  I was aware of some of the deeds done in the name of “helping” other countries achieve “democracy.”  I am still shocked at how much damage was able to be done to South America as well as other countries.  I was supportive of the World Monetary Fund.  No more.)

Monday morning saw us headed into town for a hot breakfast and coffee.  Sweet Maple did not disappoint, and the coffee was delicious.  Our devices were dropped at the store for charging purposes.  A trip to Canadian Tire for a gas can, followed by a trip to a gas station, retrieval of the recharged devices and we came home.

The rest of Monday was spent in a futile attempt to get a borrowed generator hooked into the electrical panel, turned on and generating power.  Two out of three wasn’t bad, but left a lot to be desired.  When the power came back on at 8:00pm, I instantly ground coffee for Tuesday morning. I may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I do have priorities!

The neighbour offered his refrigerator to us as a replacement for ours.  Great!  We got it moved over and filled.  It fit pretty well into the available space so that was good.  (Note that when doing kitchen renovations planning for the future refrigerator is a decent plan!) The neighbour had another unused refrigerator down in Ajax, and he was arranging to bring it up to the cottage.  However, that plan had an issue — see the note above about kitchen renovations.  He had built the new kitchen to fit the refrigerator he had at the time.  So we then switched refrigerators, again necessitating emptying and reloading, and carried on.

Once the power came on, it did stay.  Carnage to the trees up and down the street gave testimony to the damage from the ice storm.  There are still piles of debris along the sides of the road.  Looking up into the tree canopy, you can see where the branches broke off.  This is an older community with a well-established tree population.  Many of the trees are 80 years old, and older.  I am thinking that as a community we maybe should be thinking of thinning some older trees away and replacing them with young saplings.  Not my call to make, but it would certainly seem sensible.

In the meantime, there has been knitting a-plenty.  And frogging.  Turns out that a sweater worked in the round should have a gauge swatch worked in the round.  Fortunately I only had to go back to the armholes on my Ranunculus.  

Am I going to show off my knitting here?  I am not.  Why?  Because everything I have finished is either in the bucket for blocking, or stretched out drying on towels.  Not their most attractive sides, you see.  Stop back and you will see them in their blocked glory!

Today is Election Day in Canada.  Keeping my fingers crossed for a good outcome.

Cheers!

Random things on Monday

 My mind has been everywhere lately, flitting from one thought to the next.  To that end, I bring you my random thoughts on this Monday afternoon.

These socks have been known as my February socks.  Even tho I started them in January!  Pair number two in my quest for holiday gift socks for 2025.  The wool is from Orange Octopus, colourway Galena.  This was dyed on the sock base called Sock Tentacles, composed of 80/20 superwash merino and nylon.  The skein was a very generous 115g, so there are plenty of leftovers.

This is a basic toe up sock  64 stitches, using a 2.5mm needle.

Several weeks ago I mailed a box of goodies out west to my daughter.  They arrived, and I have had the joy of seeing my granddaughter wearing various of the items.  I was sent this photo, especially for use here —

This is a little cardigan I knit for a shop sample a long time ago.  The yarn is King Cole Footsie in the Passionfruit colourway.  The pattern is Rosebud.  I must admit I sent this sweater realizing that it might not fit.  But it did, and my wee little one looks adorable! I followed the pattern as written, including the needles.  As I recall, it was a fun little project.

Another very recent finish is the Ocean Tied Cardi.  I was looking for a crochet project to make a sample with Araucania Alumco.  This was it!  Admittedly, it did take me about four months to finish, but that was because it kept being tossed in the corner like yesterday’s cold McDonald french fries.  The pattern was well written and easy to follow.  My biggest issue is that while I CAN crochet I don’t love it like I do knitting.

I used a 3.75mm hook and four skeins of Alumco.  Barb was not sure she would like the finished object, but when she put it on and looked in the mirror she was smitten.  This is also the class project for May.

Our sales reps often gift us with samples of wool they hope to sell to us.  One such sample was Tufty from Ella Rae.  This is a mohair and microfibre combination in a 60/40 split.  I knit the Very Gifted Cowl from Churchmouse Yarns using a  6.0mm needle.  It was a lovely knit.  I knit until I thought I had just enough wool left for the two purl rows and the stretchy bind off.  Alas, I was maybe 18 stitches short.  You know how mohair is a dreadful witch to undo?  Not this time.  The stitches just undid beautifully with no tugging at all.  Perhaps it was the large needle, or maybe the microfibre.  Who knows?  I certainly do not.  In any event, I very highly recommend this wool.  I have not yet blocked or run the ends in, but here it is in all its glory.  Very simple, but absolutely beautiful.

Even tho I love this wool, we sadly will not be bringing it into the store.  After much thought and discussion, Barb and I have made the decision to continue shopping with our US-based warehouse for products currently in the store.  In the event a product is discontinued we will fill that hole with a product from a Canadian based wholesale house.   No new products until there is a new and different regime in the White House.  We would like to be able to just say no to that warehouse … the yarns and products we do purchase come from other countries of origin (Peru, India, Italy and the like).  Hopefully this decision will not hurt us.

In the meantime, I find myself with a huge knot of rage, despair and overwhelm.  As one person, there isn’t a lot I can do that will influence the outcome.  I find a need to limit my intake of news and social media.  I have a need to converse with my children and grandchildren more often.  I remind myself that there IS good in the world, and these little people are worth fighting for.  The planet is worth fighting for.  I am hoping, hoping, hoping that there WILL be a world and country after the shitshow that is the current administration.

What are you all knitting these days?  Distract me, please!

Too much stress

I am a citizen of the United States, living abroad.  I am watching with horror the destruction and mayhem currently being inflicted on the government of the United States.  Yes, the election was certified that DJT had a majority of the popular vote.  And then he ran off at the mouth about Elon Musk knowing how the polling machines in Pennsylvania worked and making sure that Trump won the election.  Did he?  Really?  We will never know for sure.  

All I know is that right now I go to sleep at night, praying that my children and grandchildren will be safe from harm.  I wake in the morning with the same prayer on my lips.  My eldest is married to a beautiful young lady from Hong Kong, and they have two children.  The loudmouthing about the "China virus" was particularly difficult in the first presidency; it is no easier this time around.  This time around, my middle child is married to a beautiful young lady from Puerto Rico.  She, and her son, are citizens of the United States.  However, they live within 100 miles of the Mexico border, AND have the misfortune to having darker complexions and black hair.  I have heard of instances where ICE agents, in moments of unbridled enthusiasm, have rounded up citizens -- legal, law-abiding citizens -- and sent them to detention centres in preparation for deportation.   

In short, I despair for my country.  I am so glad that I live in Canada, but this carries its own brand of stress.All I can do is regularly contact my members of the House of Representatives, the Senate and the White House to voice my displeasure at the goings on.  And I do, and I will. 

The stress that I feel is apparently being channeled into my knitting and crocheting.  I seem to be finishing projects, both big and little, left and right.  It feels good to be finishing things, and planning for the next round of projects is always fun.  A nice little distraction, as it were.

This sweater is the Waterfall Cardigan, designed by Ashwini Jambhekar. I knit it as a gift for a very dear friend who has had to give up knitting.  The yarn I chose was Herlig DK from Ancient Arts in the colourway Contented Grape.  I used 9 full skeins and a decent part of the 10th, making the largest size in the pattern. For pictures, I modeled it but please note that it is at least three sizes too large for me.

Note the water fall fronts. 

The lace pattern is repeated down the centre of the back.

Worked correctly, the sleeve cuffs would have left- and right-turn cables.  I, however, failed in that aspect.  Oh well.  Not a thing that people will notice. 

I do have a couple of comments about the pattern.  It was originally published in Cast On Magazine, which is a publication from the Knitting Guild Association.  This leads me to believe that the designer was working towards a Master Knitter Designation, but I may be wrong. 

I did not find the pattern to be incredibly well written.  In particular, the directions for the two fronts were confusing.  I did contact the designer via Ravelry, and she did respond in a timely manner.  The fronts are knitted with the public side split -- so you knit one part of the front with the wrong side facing and the design part with the right side facing.  Even trying to explain it here, I struggle.  It's no wonder the designer did as well. In any event, I did get it figured out and knitted. 

 

I also note that the sweater is worn with the purl side as the public side.  Seaming with purls as the right side is always interesting.  I tried my usual technique, and hated it.  Went back and tried crocheting the seams with the right sides together (inside out as it were), and loved it.  Must make a note to myself to always crochet in situations like this. 

 

My biggest complaint is with the concept itself.  If you are having a waterfall front, the public side of the design should be ... well, facing the public.  Because of the waterfall concept, only a smallish part of the front designs are visible.  The rest are the wrong side facing out.  Go ahead -- go look at the photo of the front and you will see what I mean.  

Am I glad I knit it?  Yes, it was fun and challenging.  Would I do it again?  Eh, no. 

Another recent finish is this little gem --

,

This is the Crossandra Sweater, designed by Nashwa Sakr.  In news which will surprise no one, I knit this for my grand-daughter, in a size 12-18 months.  Many months ago, we ordered in some Eco Cotton DK from Estelle Yarns to test knit.  Of course, time got away from me and it languished in a corner.  When ordering yarns for Spring 2025, we ordered in the Eco Cotton -- and I remembered I had this waiting to be worked.  And a store sample/grand-daughter gift was born. 

The sweater is worked in garter stitch ... some in the round and some back and forth.  Keeping one's tension even in garter stitch is a true challenge.  I hope that blocking will kind of smooth out the rough edges.  One delightful facet of this design is the scalloped edge around the hem.  It is worked in short rows, and then bound off all in one go.  Lots of fun.  The sleeves are finished in the same manner. 

And then there were the I-cords.  The directions were somewhat lacking in clarity and I must admit there were some harsh words used.  Maybe I should have realized that "pick up" is not the same as "pick up and knit," but there you have it.  Anyway, the end result is that you knit a length of I-cord, work an attached I-cord around the sleeve, finish with another length of I-cord.  In theory, following the directions, you would have sufficient length of I-cord to tie a little bow.  In theory.  I ended up knitting a separate 1.5" I-cord, sewing it into a circle, and pulling the attached I-cords through to mimic a bow.  

Am I glad I knit this sweater?  Yes.  Am I pleased with how it turned out?  Again, yes.  Will I make it again?  Mmm ... not sure.  At least now I have notes about how to work the I-cords. 

Other projects on the needles will surprise no one.  I am currently working on Pair #2 of my annual sock list. The yarn is from Orange Octopus, in her Sock Tenticles.  The colourway is Golena.  To be honest, I don't know how often this dyer recreates colourways.  I know that I liked it when I saw it in the skein at the Fibre Festival in Hamilton, and I liked it when I caked it up.  And I like it when knitting.  These are for Doug, and he is waiting (im)patiently for Christmas.

My last project is again for a friend.  I do not often do commission work, but ... this was Qiviut.  How could a girl say "no?!"  This will be a hat; I originally knit one hat a couple of years ago and noted that there was a lot of wool left.  The friend was OK to have another hat knit, and was, thankfully, quite happy to be patient.  So ... finally, here I am beavering away.

The brim is knit lengthwise with a lot of cables and fun things happening.  After 7 pattern repeates the stitches are bound off and stitches picked up along the length.  Knit for 6 inches, and then shaping.  As you can see, I am now at the "knit until your head falls off" part. This is fine -- I can watch television without worrying about the pattern.  

Will I have enough wool to finish?  That, my friend, is the million dollar question.  I THINK I will ... in the event I am short I have a couple of ideas.  We have some alpaca yarn at the store that possibly I can sub in without being terribly obvious. I am hoping I won't have to. 

Signing off now.  Hoping for boring days ahead.  Or lots of knitting.

 

Ambitions

 I am being ambitious this year.  Possibly unduly optimistic, but only time will tell.  I am not going to publicly air my plans, in the event they fall thru.  I will say, however, that one of my goals is to keep going with this blog.  So, onwards.

Remember that unfortunate skein of Ella Rae Snuggles that would not cooperate?  (This is a new yarn and not yet listed in the Ravelry databank.)   After pondering its poor life choices, I gave it a second chance.  I pulled out my pattern for the Baby Springtime Cardi and cast on.

The yarn behaved beautifully.  It made stripes, it made little fair isle patterns, it didn't split or anything.  Clearly, I had found what it wanted to be.  I used a 4.5mm needle as specified in the pattern, and just knit away.  When I was finished, there was enough yarn left to make a hat.  Since this was a trial run for the yarn, I gave the skein to Barb so that she could knit with it as well. I liked the yarn well enough; however, it is almost identical to the James Brett Fairground that we already carry.  Additionally, the Ella Rae warehouse is in the United States and I am uncertain as to how tariffs might affect us. 

Another project finished in the last little bit is this cowl.  I used Gedifra Creativo and a 7.0mm circular needle.  We have a hat pattern in the store already, and I mimicked the stitch pattern for the cowl.  Very simple and basic, but quite effective.  The plan is to make a kit up featuring the matching hat and cowl.  There will, of course, be better pictures in the advertising for the project. 

I have also been working on the Waterfall Cardigan as a gift for a very dear friend who has been forced to give up her knitting.  The pattern has been interesting to say the least.  It was originally published in the Cast On, which I believe is the magazine published by the Knitting Guild of Canada. 

I found the pattern to be a bit confusing at first, and actually reached out to the designer with a few questions.  She answered them, and in a reasonable time, so I cannot fault her for that. By the time she responded, I had already figured out what was happening. 

What you see below is a portion of a seam that I used a slip-stitch to close, with the right sides together.  Zoom in and you will see how nice and neat it is.

This second photo shows the seam that I sewed together, like I always do.  Whipstitch with right sides facing me.  I set in a sleeve and worked the underarm seam and most of the side.

After much teeth gnashing and deciding that I really did NOT like the look, I unpicked my seams and started over with crochet.  It is now all assembled and I am pleased that I took the time to redo it.  More photos will follow shortly of the entire project, as well as my observations. 

I needed some brainless knitting for riding to and from our ski outings.  I had purchased a skein of wool at the Fibre Fest in Hamilton last fall, intending it to be my Christmas gift from Doug.  Of course, this means that next year it will be his Christmas socks from me.  And I have now started.  When I find the label (again) I will tell you all about it.

While at the Fibre Festival, the Texture and Twish Shawl by Robbie Laughlin had just been released and I swear every booth had one displayed.  I did, of course, download this free pattern.  After much discussion with Barb (who did purchase yarn to actually make it), I picked up this beautiful pink wool and cast on.  The wool is KFI Indulgence Kettle Dyed Fingering and I love it.  I am always a fool for the kettle-dyed look -- all those intensities of colour just make my heart sing.  This will look fabulous with my brown leather jacket, don't you think?  And the pattern worked out very well.  With a second skein, I had enough to work the pattern repeat an extra time.  Honestly, I could have done another two repeats, but I was afraid that the shawl would be too large at that point.

The last little goodie in my project bag is the Berroco Blanket Mystery Knit Along.  The first square is composed of blocks of three knits followed by three purls.  Easy-peasy and very restful.  There is a great story about this project tho.

I have in the past knit blankets for all of my children -- including my step-daughter.  I have knit a blanket for my first daughter-in-law.  This leaves my newest daughter-in-law and my son-in-law without their own special blanket.  When I saw the introduction for this KAL, I was immediately on-board.  I threw out the question in the family chat about it.  My son-in-law responded quickly and said he would love a blanket.  I sent the daughter and him the links to the colour card for the wool I would be using.  They selected five colours.  I ordered the wool promptly.  

You will note there were 5 colours selected.  Which means that decisions needed to be made about which colour was #1, etc.  I had the kids on a zoom call with the yarns spread out and we were discussing the project.  My darling daughter pointed out that it would be easier to decide colour sequences if they could see the pattern.  The look on her face when I said "No" was priceless.  I do wish I had gotten it on camera.  That's when I explained the concept of a mystery KAL.  

In any event, decisions were made and the project has begun.  Next post I will have the completed square 1 and possibly square 2, along with the Waterfall Cardigan completed.  How's that for a teaser?

We went for a x-c ski last Monday and had a grand time, despite my eternal clumsiness.  There are always new and exciting ways to fall.  I am pleased that I was not injured.  I was looking forward to another ski this weekend, but life had other plans for me.  I experience a little nose-bleed last night (dry winter air and sleeping on my belly) and so will need to take things easy for a couple of days.  This is not all bad -- I will be playing Minecraft Dungeons with my grandsons in Virginia for a while, as well as some more knitting. 

Cheerio, until next time!

A New Year

I am wishing for a happy, uneventful 2025.  With the political scene being what it is both here in Canada and in the United States, I fear I will be sadly disappointed.  In which case, I will hope for happy times and good health for my family and friends, both near and far.

I can report my first finished project of 2025.  A pair of socks destined for holiday gifting next December.  These are Socks on a Plane, wool is Borgo dePazzi Magic Kette, and a 2.5mm needle.  I have started a list of how my family socks are constructed, so I am not going any further here, lest I give a hint to the intended recipient.  Of course, they all know they are getting socks; the only surprise is colour and pattern. In any event, I did start these on Dec. 22 in the car while riding over to Michigan, and finished them today.

Our friend had cat-sitting duties in our absence.  She always leaves Pixel a treat of some sort.  Sometimes it is a new toy; other times it is a yummy treat.  This visit, however, she really outdid herself!

Pixel is really enjoying his new cat cave.  He has absolutely no hesitation in hopping in and having a nap and especially loves napping there when someone is sitting on the couch.  Of course, he gets a bit salty when that person shifts around or gets up, but … he has to learn to live with that minor irritation.

 While riding over to Michigan I attempted to start a Baby Surprise Jacket with a skein of yarn gifted to us (the store) by our sales rep.  The yarn is Ella Rae Snuggles — an acrylic self-patterning acrylic that feels delightfully soft.  The 100g ball contains 210m, so I knew I would be shy of a full sweater.  I compensated by grabbing a skein of Ella Rae Honey in a contrasting solid.  

I will have you know that skein of Snuggles fought me valiantly.  I tried to get started for an hour, casting on a total of five times.  Each effort ended in abject failure due to miscounting, tail too shirt, or dropped stitches.  Arggh.  So I wound the used yarn around the ball band and thrust the skein back into a project bag so it could ponder its unfortunate life choices.  

Doug, rather nervously, inquired if I had a back-up project.  It is, after all, a 7-hour drive to Battle Creek.  It’s like he doesn’t even know me!  I actually had three!  In the meantime, I think I have found a nice little sweater to attempt with the Snuggles.  We will see, since I am making no promises. 

With my remaining awake hours tonight I will get the knitting bag ready for the upcoming couple of days.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my days off.  Time has been spent in real life with family and friends.  There have been several Zoom calls with my children and their families.  I have also been able to play video games online with my grandsons and a good time was had by all.  Turns out I am a terrible driver in the Hot Wheels racing game, but I am improving.  We also played Minecraft Dungeons … wherein the most commonly heard statement from me is “I’m down again!”  Again, I am improving and the young men are so very gracious at restoring me to life and encouraging me in my endeavours.

And so hereI am, wishing everyone an excellent 2025 and even more excellent knitting and crochet projects.

At long last.

 I started 2024 all afire to update and stay on track with my blog.  

I was totally enthralled with my new granddaughter and life in general.  I knew that the plan was that my daughter would be moving west, to live in the same city as her husband’s family.  I knew that it would be occurring end of June or early July. But that was months and months away.  But if I stopped looking at the calendar, time would not pass.  right?

Wrong.  July came, and they packed up and moved.  I have to say that I am delighted to see my little granddaughter surrounded by loving family.  Little critters all the way to grandparents, aunts and uncles.  She is surrounded by love and support.  They are all living their best lives.   The little darling is growing.

She is nearing her first birthday.  Seven teeth, dimples, almost walking, and an obsession with music.  She is her very own person, and her parents are doing a fabulous job of encouraging her to explore this big world.

I did send out a box with some lovely hand knit items.  Not a birthday gift, but a just because I am the grandmother and these items would be fitting her soon.  I see pictures of her wearing them.  It makes my heart smile. 

I would be lying if I said that I do not miss them.  I do.  I miss them ferociously.  We try to video chat, and when we do the little one smiles widely for me.  It helps, but it just isn’t the same as an in-person snuggle.  We are hoping to travel in January for a visit.

I have been knitting quite a bit since my last post in May.  Store samples, socks for the upcoming Christmas gifts.  And I will show pictures of them.  Just not today.  

Right now, I feel the need to peruse my photos and videos of the little one out west.