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!