October 2025

 Sailing season is over — sob!  We got the CL-14 out of the water the last Saturday in September.  The mast is tall enough that we prefer to use the Beacon Marina launch area.  The Caesarea municipal launch has a power line across it — what were they thinking?  In any event, Doug had driven the car and trailer to the Marina, I retrieved him on my way home from work, and we had a delightful final sail of the season.  

A bit of discussion later, and we decided to keep the little boats on the water for a bit longer.  Right — Doug acquired a Sunfish!  It is a small, single sail boat and he has been having such fun with it.  It is essentially the same size as my Itty-Bitty, altho he does sail a bit harder than I do.  We sailed Sunday and Monday of that weekend, and the water was surprisingly warm.   

How do we know he sails harder than me?  Well, HIS sailboat yeeted him into the water mid-sail.  The excellent news is that he is able to haul himself back aboard without assistance.  My boat did manage to dump me in the drink as well, but not until I was unrigging it at the dock.

A friend took this photo of us when we were out on Sunday!

Monday was also a sailing day.  I had assistance every time I went out this summer … until this day.  Not to worry — I can do this!  I made several trips up and down the steps carrying the necessary items.  Then started to untie and loosen the winch so that the boat could slide down the ramp.  I realized that I was holding the bow line AND the winch strap, which is not recommended.  Gravity was taking hold and the boat was sliding with increasing speed down the ramp.  I let go of the winch strap — and dropped the bow line as well.  With increasing dismay, I watched the bow line slither down the ramp.  “STOP!” Has no effect on gravity or inanimate objects, in case you didn’t know.  But then I thought that I could jump over to the dock and grab the boat as it drifted past the end of the dock … Itty-Bitty or Mother Nature, not sure which, then decided that instead of drifting straight back, the boat would angle away from me.  Since my shrieking “STOP”  had such little effect, I had no choice but to jump in.  And the water was surprisingly warm!  Comfortable, even.  

Anyway, we did take both boats out over the Thanksgiving weekend.  Time is now being spent getting them tucked in for the winter.  Our shoreline is beginning to look like a marina …

In knitting news, I had been having a banner week.  I started and finished Sophie’s Scarf from Petite Knits.

I used Rico Baby Soft Cotton and Cashmere, but only half a ball.  It is delightfully soft and … well, it is cashmere.  What more could a girl ask?

We also brought in a new chunky yarn — Aurora Chunky from James Brett.  It is lovely, and one skein makes a delightful hat, with enough for a pom-pom if one wishes!

This is the CC Boulder Style Beanie.  It was fun and quick — there may be more of these in my future!

In other knitting news … I am knitting a memorial blanket for someone.  The wool is a blend of her deceased dogs’ hair and sheep wool.  There is a limited quantity.  The pattern is from McCall’s Super Book of Afghans, circa 1980 or thereabouts.  The blanket is worked in 5 panels, and worked to a specific row count.

After the first skein of wool was knit, I realized I would not have enough to do the blanket as written.  So then I decided to knit one skein of each panel and evaluate.

I am known for encouraging people to not demand perfection.  Good enough is often good enough.  So when I figured out that I had messed up the directions in panel one, I carried on and made the same mistake consistently.  See?  Not a mistake!  And then … I worked panels two and three, which used the same pattern.  Did I make the same mistake?

The above photo represents hours and hours of work.  Hours and hours.  Then I also figured out that the row count was somewhat wrong as well.  There is one cable that is repeated 10 times across the blanket.  You have to have the cable crosses happen at the same time, every time.  Or it looks wrong.

So …now the blanket looks like this.

It only took 45 minutes.  In an effort to make a more conventional sized throw, I will be casting on and working the blanket all at once.  There has been lots of math, counting, and double checking.  I can do this!

I hope.

September 2025

 Ah, September.  I love the cool, crisp mornings; the deepening blue of the skies; the riot of colour from the maple trees.  While I do love winter and its related activities, I also mourn the end of sailing season.  Nothing can compare to the experience of being out on Itty-Bitty, by myself, with sunshine glinting on the water, the water purling along the hull, wind in the sails.  Of course, sailing on the CL-14 with Doug is also an amazing experience …

Speaking of sailing with Doug — our little sailing club has a Sunday race series.  While we enjoy winning, it is not the be-all end-all of our Sunday sails.  The race provides the impetus to get out and sail, sometimes in more winds than we thought we could handle.  The social times after the sails are also an important part of the allure.  (I find that I can get fairly one-dimensional when all I think and talk about is my knitting and crocheting.  Doug needs more social interaction than I do, and so those Sundays are invaluable for him as well.). In any event, our sailing race season has drawn to a close.  This photo was taken a week ago on Sunday — a rather low wind day.

I am feeling quite accomplished now, having been able to hike AND turn a heel at the same time!  I actually knit about 6cm of the leg, the heel flap (twice because I dropped a stitch), turned the heel, picked up for the gusset and started the decreases.  This also tells you how little wind there was!

Another favourite memory from this September happened in the first week.  Carrie and her family flew back to Ontario for a quick visit.  She and the little one spent a night here with us and we had a blast.  We even got everyone into life jackets and had a canoe ride to a friend’s dock and visited.  There is absolutely nothing better than a wet swimsuit hug from a little person!  Especially when you are totally dry and warm from the sun!

Little One had been wading with her mama prior to this photo, and managed to trip and fall in.  She has had swimming lessons, and so immediately started the maneuvers to get herself turned face up.  Amazing, eh?  Carrie scooped her up and stood her on the dock and she started babbling, obviously telling us something.  When she started gesturing to her eyes, her ears, her mouth, I realized that she was telling us ALL about falling into the water.  A bit later, she told us all about putting the life jacket on.  How do I know?  She was miming the zippers, the strap between the legs.  While I freely admit that at 21 months her pronunciation may leave me confused on many words, but I never suspected that all that vocalizing clearly had meaning to her.  I am gobsmacked!

In knitting news … it has taken me until September to fall behind in my sock knitting.  Here we are, the last third of the month, and I am still working on my August socks.  Gotta get busy, girl!

I did, however, have some fun at the store.  We got a new wool from Katia, called Holi.  It is a poly/wool/acrylic blend.  Gradient, with no colour repeat from beginning to end.  Years ago I had worked with some lovely angora, and I swear this wool has that feel. 

The blend is 42/29/29%, with over 600m per skein.  I made the Criss-Cross wrap by Dirk Gerngross.  I used a 5.5mm needle.  This made a lovely and generous shawl—when I drop it over my shoulders both ends hang down by my knees.  It is snuggly and warm.  I want everyone to work with this yarn because it is so soft!

Another finish for the store is my Doodle Deck Cowl.

You probably recognize the same colours as used in the Tunisian Crochet cowl.  I thought I had enough “left overs” to make the second cowl.  As you can see, I suffered the same fate most everyone has endured — when using up yarn, one often must purchase more yarn!  In any event, this was 120 stitches on a 4.00mm needle.  The solid is Ella Rae Honey (being discontinued) and the colour-changey yarn is James Brett Aurora.  Of course, I still have a ball of left-over Aurora.  Enough to make …?

My current “home” project is an afghan for a client.  She had saved the fur from her dogs and had it spun with wool into roughly an aran weight.  She wanted something cabled, which is why I succumbed.  Of course, $25 per skein does not hurt. 

This is a pattern from McCall’s Big Book of Afghans, published in the late 1970s.  Back then, charts were not a thing in the knitting world so the directions are written out.  Sort of.  There are so many abbreviations! These are panels (starting on the right) 1, 3, and 5.  Almost identical, which is why they are done first.  I am not certain that I have sufficient yardage for the full afghan, so am working one skein each for each panel, and will then work to be sure they are all even.  My current plan is to get panels 2 and 4 started, sew them together, and add the bottom border.  Mostly  to see how much wool is required for the border, as there needs to be a matching border at the top.  I am hoping, hoping, hoping to get at least 48” in length, but only time will tell.  There is no possibility of getting more wool as the dogs are no longer alive. The customer is hoping this will be done by Christmas, and it is entirely possible I can make that goal.  

Thanks for reading along with me!

A Long time Coming

 These are troubling times for all Americans, both those living in the US and those of us living abroad.  Whether we support the current president and his policies, or not.  This current mentality is not the US I grew up with and in.  Back then, in the deep dark past (I was born in 1956), we treated each other with a modicum of respect and tolerance.  Views differed politically?  Generally, we all agreed to disagree.  Admittedly, I did have somewhat of a life of privilege, being white and essentially middle class.  So there were no difficulties with colour or religion.  However, in my extended family there were handicapped folks (physical, requiring a handicap parking permit), Muslim (cousin's wife and children), pacifists (aunt, uncle and their children and grandchildren), Iraqi (cousin's wife and children and her brother), and then more recently Chinese (daughter-in-law and their children), Puerto Rican (another daughter-in-law and her mixed race child).  These are the ones that come to top of my mind; I am certain that with a little bit more thought I could recall more "dangerous" minorities as defined by MAGA.  I am further dismayed by the degree to which the Christian movement has developed.  Feed the hungry?  Clothe and house the poor?  Heal the sick?  What "woke" nonsense -- eh, no.  These are the principles by which I identified Christianity.  Now?  Yeah, no.  The whole family separation thing at the border sickens me; the children being taken away from their parents simply because the parents dared to try to claim asylum in the US?  The fact that CANADA, of all countries, has now issued travel advisories against traveling to the US is shocking.  That even Quebec is united with most Canadians in saying "HELL NO!" to the idea of becoming the 51st state says a lot.  A whole lot of a lot.  I am trying mightily to hold onto some level of optimism that 1) mid-term elections WILL occur in 2026; and 2) a Democrat wave will take hold and restore a level of sobriety and reasonableness to the US political scene.  

In other thoughts, I have been busily knitting and crocheting (shocking, right?) my little brains out.  My son introduced me to Critical Role dungeons and dragons streaming.  Each episode varies in length from 2.5 to 5 hours long, and I have watched all 120-some episodes of Campaign 1, and 116 episodes of Campaign 3.  I will be starting Campaign 2 in the near future, and will undoubtedly be switching between Campaign 2 and Campaign 4 as the fourth campaign develops.  The reason I tell you all this?  To explain the bounty on display below! 

This is a bolero designed by James C. Brett and knit in their Rustic Chunky (pattern JB023 and colour RU03).  Not for me, but for a customer.  She purchased the project from the store, neglected gauge, and then got lost in the directions.  I had to frog the already-completed back and start from scratch.  Now, we do not do these things from the goodness of our hearts at Never Enough Wool.  We charge for this service, hopefully enough to make the customer wince and sometimes even change her mind about the commission.  We are currently at $25 per 100g skein, and this was 4 skeins.  After making the gauge swatch, I dropped to a 4.5mm needle for ribbings and 5.5mm for the body.  A nice success if I do say so myself. 

 

Apparently this yarn is now discontinued since I don't find it on the James Brett website.  It is/was a nice yarn -- acrylic with a bit of wool -- and I did enjoy the knitting. 

 

Barb and I have laid out our class plans for the fall.  We decided to teach Tunisian Crochet in October, but needed a sample.  I volunteered!  The pattern, The Tunisian Sampler Cowl, by Joanne Scrace, was delightful -- well written and a nice progression from beginning simple stitch through more complex designs.  I used Ella Rae Honey  as the solid colour and James C Brett Aurora for the multi-colour.  The designer offered a series of video tutorials along with the pattern, for an extra fee.  I was able to source free videos, though, and they worked nicely.  One skein of each colour, and there is enough left to do the entire project one more time.  My favourite section is the white/yellow/blue section at the lower right corner of the second photo.  That diagonal stitch was so much fun to work. 

Another finish since my previous post is this little pullover.  I used James C Brett Fairground in colour 12.  This poor, lonely colourway was languishing on the shelves being totally overlooked.  Once people saw it being worked up, it has flown away.  Funny how that works, eh?  The pattern is JB623, a half-fisherman rib stitch and worked in pieces and assembled.  I have to say that I did enjoy the entire project, even the sewing up. Oddly enough, I have a granddaughter this will soon fit ...

Being an inveterate sock knitter and always eager to try new sock yarns, I purchased a package of Circulo Let it Sock.  I would bet my bottom dollar that this stretchy cotton yarn is a clone of Cascade's Fixation.  I can't find the Let It Sock in the Ravelry database though ... In any event, these socks were featured in the previous post being knit while participating in a sailboat race.  When the winds are light, the crew's job is to sit still and be ballast.  Knitting keeps me from fidgeting.  That's all I can say.  Well, except that when the winds are light and the knitting appears, it doesn't take long before there is enough wind to require ballast being more active!  These are plain socks, started at the toe, with a heel flap, six rows of stockinette, and ribbing.  Nothing fancy, except for the yarn. 

When the new administration was sworn in last January and all the blather about Canada becoming the 51st state, Canadian designers were outraged and the knitting universe was overflowing with patriotic designs.  I may be a citizen of the US, but I am also a supporter of a sovereign Canada.  Consequently, I found this cowl pattern and cast on.  The Elbows Up refers to an idea in hockey -- keep your elbows up to make your opponents pay dearly.  

Speaking of hockey -- and memories -- my father's house has been listed for sale and my brothers are doing an absolutely amazing job of clearing out the remnants from the house, garage and sheds.  Andy pulled out a radio and showed it to us all on a zoom call -- asking if anyone remembered it!  We all did.  I remember sitting with my grandfather and listening to baseball, hockey and the Indy 500 on that little radio.  Needs new batteries because the old ones somehow didn't leak but are dead, and it should work just fine!

Finally, Sunday was another sailboat race day.  We don't keep the CL14 at the marina, so have to sail from our house down to the marina/start line.  We were 12 minutes late to the start ... so started in 6th place.  There wasn't a lot of wind, and it took another hour to get to the first marker, across the lake from our house.  BUT, by the time we got there we had moved up to second place.  We battled our "nemisis" to the second marker, but rounded the marker first.  And then who knows what happened.  We pointed the boat's nose towards home, I pulled out the sock knitting, and that little boat just flew home.  Even though we started 12 minutes late, we won by more than 5 minutes.  Victory is sweet.  

AND I got to the toe shaping on this current pair of socks.  For those keeping score -- these are the socks for August, so I need to step up my game and get busy!

Thanks for the visit.

 

What have we here?

 

I opened up my browser to (FINALLY) do a blog post, a d what do I find?  One that was started back in June!  So, here we go!

It feels like forever ago that I sat down and posted an update.  Looking back, it was over a month ago.  I know my hands have been busy … why does it feel like I haven’t accomplished anything???

I know that I practiced my two-at-a-time sock technique because we were teaching it as our June class.  Yes, there they are!  I have finished a pair of socks!  These are mystery sock yarn, but the basic toes up sock pattern that we use at the store.  

And while rummaging around at the store attempting to show someone how one of our wools works up I was reminded of another finish.  This is the Baby Sophisticate and a Maine Baby Hat to complete the ensemble.

The wool is Scandi, designed to be compatible with Croftland Aran from James Brett.  This is an 80/20 blend of acrylic and superwash wool.  It washes and dries beautifully, knits up quickly and will wear well.  I imagine some little munchkin wearing this and then passing it on to siblings and cousins.  It wears that well. The pattern asks for a 5.00mm needle, so this works up quickly.

While admiring the Baby Sophisticate, I was reminded that I also finished Riley, a design from Regina Moessner.  I used six skeins of Ella Rae Rustic Aran in the colourway Holly.  I used 4.5mm needles to achieve gauge, and had so much fun making this.

I selected this sweater because I wanted a classic look for the recipient, and I had never worked a saddle shoulder sweater.  As a bonus, this was worked from the neck down — seamlessly.  The pattern is well written and quite clear.  The wool was fabulous to work with.  And the distributor of the wool (Knitting Fever) saw the picture on the store’s Facebook page and they reposted it.  I can now claim that 3.7k people have “liked” my work!

Now, with all my complaining about not finishing anything I decided it must be time to review all my on-the-needle projects.  Just to show that I have not been a slacker.  First up is a little sample for the store, using James Brett Fairground.

This is a little pullover worked in Fisherman Rib.  Also known as half-brioche, or a knit one below technique.  The right side rows are knit everything, while the wrong side rows are a knit one below, purl one.  This is a very easy pattern to do and almost as mindless as stockinette.  Sadly (or not) this will require sewing together at the end. 

What IS a big deal in my opinion is the new technique I have learned for placing stitches on a holder.  Zoom in and check out the neckline.  I crocheted a few chains, and then crocheted the neckline stitches onto scrap wool.  This is a game changer for me!  When I am ready to work the neckband these crocheted stitches can be pulled out, one by one, and placed back on my needle.  Piece of cake, and way easier than using a tapestry needle and scrap yarn.  Even better?  There are no dangley bits to get snagged and pulled out of the stitches before I am ready.  I do not recall where I read about this, but I have used it a lot since learning it. 

What else is on needles and causing me distraction?  There is this Ranunculus … leftover from our class in May.  

See how close I am to the end?  Must knit faster!

But there is sailing season to consider.  Every Sunday possible we participate in a sailing race with our Club.  On days when the wind is slow or non-existent this is what sailing looks like —

Yes, those are another pair of two-at-a-time socks.  More about them later.  In the meantime, must get knitting.

Cheers!

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!