Monday, December 31, 2018

Whew.  It is more than a little dusty in here.   So let’s select a new theme (hopefully done!) and get back to blogging.

Since my last blog post years ago, life has (obviously) continued.  I will not bore you with details.  let’s just make a note that life has been interesting in a Chinese sort of way.

In the lapse of blogging, I have discovered a few things.  This blog serves the purpose of documenting my cross-border trips.  This is necessary for the completion of the renewal of my permanent resident card as well as the impending citizenship application.  After almost 19 years, it feels like it is definitely time.

The second purpose of the blog?  It helps me remember what I have kmit, and for whom.  While packing up my Christmas gifts, I discovered one project that I really did NOT recall knitting.  I did, because I used the remainders to create a second pair of socks.  I had been keeping a list of completed projects, but it just isn’t the same without pictures.

So, here we go!

On needles at the moment is a beautiful shawl, designed by Anna Dalvi and contained in her book Mystic Shawls.  The wool is AbiGood, a baby alpaca hand-paint from Scotsburn, Nova Scotia.  This is a Mother’s Day gift from my daughter, who has EXCELLENT taste!  Admittedly, this is not a good picture, and there is a long way to go, but I AM loving both the wool and the design.

I have decided that I will endeavor to use up my half-skein leftovers instead of tossing them into the corner.  To that end, I have finished off some baby hats and almost one pair of mittens.  The hats are Louisa Harding Amitola Grande, and I must say I love this wool. It is a wool/silk blend, and is delightful to work with.  The mittens are Cascade Eco Plus Peruvian Tones, another really super nice wool.  
I used the Maine Baby Hatpattern for the hats, and it is a gem.  Well-written and easy to follow.  The mittens used the World’s Simplest Mittens from Tin Can Knits, and it is also a great pattern. 

Soon I will be knitting Newsome by Bristol Ivey using Innocence from James Brett.  It is still in the swatching stage, as is Ebba by Drops Designs. 

And, as usual, I have a pair of socks going. 

Whew.  That was a lot.  Before I go, however, I need to show you what happened on Christmas Day—