Great Week

It's been a productive knitting week!! 

I have finished a sock, started the 2^nd one AND gotten through the increase sections of the Born Trippy scarf.

 

I also used the bread maker that Craig bought me for Xmas. It won't get used overmuch with just the two of us, but he was well impressed with the initial offering. 

 

Born Trippy has a section using just the MC, and I considered starting with it - that would have eliminated a few ends that are created in the increasing. I might still, but I'm going to need a scale (which is at mine) to track my usage of the MC. Having the solid MC section inside the scarf will also break up the length of the striped sections. There really is more to this than one would initially assume. I'm quite certain that I'm overthinking this ... I shall sleep on it and let

My subconscious be my guide. 

Craig and I are going to have a lovely evening in for New Years Eve. I had asked him if he had any plans or thoughts on what he'd like to do and he said no, we could do whatever I'd like. I just gave him that, "Really? You know what I wanna do" look, combined with a lopsided grin, and he picked up what I was putting down and said, "We can stay in and knit". He really is a keeper!! 

What? More Yarn?!

It was off to Ancaster and The Needle Emporium today. Not quite a lovely day for the drive, but Craig was still happy to drive so that I could knit. 

Julie picked out these colours of Sock yarn for me to knit a Born Trippy scarf. "Put them (the minis) in a nice order", she says. Is there a not nice order in which to arrange these minis?!? So other than assigning numbers and rolling the dice, some sort of order needs to be ascertained. 

 

I think that we are going to go with a tonal arrangement. Yes. This pleases me. 

I bought a swift and ball winder to have at Craig's so that I don't have to pre-wind a lot of yarn for any given project so that I don't have to worry about not running out. And really, I have enough challenges traveling lightly without packing a swift and ball winder just in case. 

I don't have the energy tonight to unpack them, set it up, and wind the yarn, so I'll set to it tomorrow after work. 

I'm continuing on the Indie sock I started yesterday. I don't remember what yarn company this is from, so it's just Indie. It's coming along quite nicely! 

 

Amanda has made a request for one of those messy bun hats that are all the rage. I Googled them and found a Wooly Wormhead pattern that is free - the Tea-Cozy hat. Julie had Charlie on sale, as it met Amanda's request for black, so it was meant to be! 

 

I also couldn't resist some new, bright sock yarns! 25% off ... you know you'd've done at least the same. 

 

Ancaster also did not disappoint on the Pokémon front. Good hunting in general and a quality Ditto specifically. 

Sitting at home with Craig, watching Goliath, reflecting on what a lovely few days it's been. I'm feeling really quite lucky. 

Mama Needs a New Pair of Socks

So I totally finished Jennifer's Hitchhiker just in time! It was off the needles and blocking before bed last night and ready to wrap this morning. 

  

It was well received today. Jennifer knits so she appreciates the work that went into it and knows how to care for it. I didn't get a picture of her wearing it tonight, but I'm sure I will soon. 

I started a new sock tonight because it's easy to do whilst chatting up family.  

 It was a lovely evening, I got to know Craig's family better. Food and wine were enjoyed; I'll sleep well with a full belly tonight. 

 

Hitchhiker

Quick post - got some knitting time in at work the last couple of nights which is good since between sleep and errands, I'm not getting much done at home. I'm feeling better about being able to get this done in time now ... hopefully tonight will be a productive night as well. 

 

 

I love garter stitch - it's textured and flat and shows off all the beauty of a lovely yarn! 

Off the Needles

Lemongrass is off the needles!! It doesn't look especially impressive yet, but that's nothing that a nice blocking can't sort out.  

It's shaping up to be just as busy a week at work this week, so it may take a few days, but I'll be able to drop it 'round to The Needle Emporium next week!

I've started on the the next Hitchhiker. I'm using frabjous fibers Cheshire Cat   again; this is Cats in the Coffee colourway. Not my colours, but it's about the recipient, and I'm enjoying the subtle colours variations that I love in hand-dyed yarns. 

 I think it's a humourously appropriate choice since Jennifer has all sorts of outdoor cats 'round their property. 

Craig and I went to see an exhibition game between the Toronto Rock and Buffalo Bandits on Saturday. 

 It was at the TRAC  so a casual atmosphere, but the playing was intense and not disappointing. 

The friends that we went with have seasons tickets, so I'm sure that we'll end up watching a game or two at the ACC before their season is out. 

Grass is Growing

The Hondas are piling up at work and I've been putting in some long nights. Mostly I've been in the plants, so my knitting time has been rather meager, but last night I was back on the dock and the knitting was good!!  

I got the 2^nd sleeve started, so hopefully tonight will be another dock night!

The puppies love the snow, but hesitate to jump in the deep end! 

 

Chica is adorable - she found this little stone before the snow came down. She noses/paws it off the edge of the loveseat, then fetches it and starts all over again. It's quite amusing. 

 

I need to start getting myself organized. The kids are coming for Xmas dinner next weekend, and I am going to cook all the things. Can't wait to have all my ❤️💖❤️ under the same roof, even if it's only for one night. 

Lemongrass

I finished the front of Lemongrass and I'm onto the back.  

Should be fairly quick as it's simple stockinette. 

Not a great picture, but I can't be bothered to move to lay it out. 

I've been struck by The Dreaded Lurgy. Not the worst one ever, but I'm feeling downright oogy. The puppies are good nursemaids. Not much on fetching tea, but they are great for long naps in bed. Petey has finally mastered jumping up on my bed!! He's a better snuggle buddy than Chica; she's still working her bitch streak, though she's mellowing out a bit.  

I finished my Flamingo Beach socks! They took almost three weeks, but they were done strictly at work; I was off one day and in the plant for 5, so basically two weeks of found knitting time! 

 Those of you who have been following me for a while know that I don't deliberately make my socks identical. I finish one and just start on the next one. I didn't change my strategy on this pair, so it is mere happenstance that they are as identical as one could hope, even if they had tried!! I love the colours and am deciding on the next pair. Though it may be another Hitchhiker instead.   

This one will be for Craig's mom; she knits too so will be especially appreciative of the effort put into it. 
 

We had quite the snowfall here yesterday! Barrie and Alliston weren't hit as hard, but we finished up with 60cm/24" of the fluffy white stuff!!

 

Lovely to look at though. 
 

Swatching

Here's a much better picture of the finished Sorrento  courtesy Julie  I have a tendency to forget to take progress pics and a finished one is hit-and-miss. It takes a village, and this idiot is happy for my village ❤️❤️

 

Wow - I'm even a little impressed with my handiwork seeing it like this!

I should say something about the Studio Linen  Being comprised of 85% recycled rayon linen, it has a softer drape right off of the ball. It doesn't have the stiffness that linen is known for for and that is so hard on your hands when knitting with it. I love linen, the breaking in of it is part of the magic; a shortcut is awesome though! It was a pleasure to knit with, block and seam. 

I have been swatching and knitting on Lemongrass. 

I jumped straight to 6.5mm needles, since I knit tightly in general, though a bit more "standard" on circulars. The swatch was a bit loose, though the row gauge was spot on, which is important on a raglan shaped sweater. I could do and have done maths to correct my inexplicably right row gauges, but swatching is quicker for me. 

I cast on, but by round 16, realized that I'd been knitting tighter, perhaps subconsciously because I knew my stitch gauge was loose. Also, my shorter Addis are standard and the ones that I swatches on were the lace tips. Yes, needles matter. 

 

So I pulled out my Marblz and cast on a new swatch with 6mm needles. 

Much better - stitch gauge is spot on and row gauge is the same as on the 6.5mm. I know, weird. It's a skill; not particularly marketable, but a skill nonetheless. 

So I cast on anew and am at round 16. Again. The best part about using and interchangeable set is that I can just upsize/downsize the cord as needed. 

I didn't get much done on my Flamingo Beach socks last night; I was in plant 2 for 3/4 of the night as they were short-handed. But my step count was higher, so trade off; my steps are about 1/2 when I'm working dock. 

Swatching

Here's a much better picture of the finished Sorrento  courtesy Julie  I have a tendency to forget to take progress pics and a finished one is hit-and-miss. It takes a village, and this idiot is happy for my village ❤️❤️

 

Wow - I'm even a little impressed with my handiwork seeing it like this!

I should say something about the Studio Linen  Being comprised of 85% recycled rayon linen, it has a softer drape right off of the ball. It doesn't have the stiffness that linen is known for for and that is so hard on your hands when knitting with it. I love linen, the breaking in of it is part of the magic; a shortcut is awesome though! It was a pleasure to knit with, block and seam. 

I have been swatching and knitting on Lemongrass. 

I jumped straight to 6.5mm needles, since I knit tightly in general, though a bit more "standard" on circulars. The swatch was a bit loose, though the row gauge was spot on, which is important on a raglan shaped sweater. I could do and have done maths to correct my inexplicably right row gauges, but swatching is quicker for me. 

I cast on, but by round 16, realized that I'd been knitting tighter, perhaps subconsciously because I knew my stitch gauge was loose. Also, my shorter Addis are standard and the ones that I swatches on were the lace tips. Yes, needles matter. 

 

So I pulled out my Marblz and cast on a new swatch with 6mm needles. 

Much better - stitch gauge is spot on and row gauge is the same as on the 6.5mm. I know, weird. It's a skill; not particularly marketable, but a skill nonetheless. 

So I cast on anew and am at round 16. Again. The best part about using and interchangeable set is that I can just upsize/downsize the cord as needed. 

I didn't get much done on my Flamingo Beach socks last night; I was in plant 2 for 3/4 of the night as they were short-handed. But my step count was higher, so trade off; my steps are about 1/2 when I'm working dock. 

The end of that, the start of this

I finished Sorrento, pockets and all! Yeah, you know pockets aren't my fave thing, but they really add the perfect touch to this sweater.  

I did discover an small error on the inc section of the back; the correction is on the errata section of the Erika Knight website. 

I'm sure that Julie will post better pics, this one is rather dark. 

I have moved from the plant at Honda to the dock crew. There is more parking, driving, and getting driven back around. It's a smaller crew, just 4-5 of us and Mark is chill and lets me knit while we're in the bus. Seriously, it's just dead head time. I take the expected teasing in stride, just happy to be able to fill in the time productively. 

 I started these on Tuesday, and considering that I spent most of Friday helping out in Plant 2, I'm well pleased with what I got done. I estimate that if I only knit socks in the bus I could get approx 1 sock knit per week. Impressive for straight up bonus knitting time yo!! 

My plans for this weekend fell through and with Sorrento finished, Craig and I decided to head to Ancaster to trade a finished sweater for a potential sweater and chat with Julie and Cathy. It was a decent day for a drive when we set off. Ditto has been in play in Pokémon, and we've both been capturing low level Pidgeys, Rattatas, and Zubats like crazy trying to find one. Well, Ancaster is the place to go! 5 between the two of us, and I caught my first whilst I was sitting in The Needle Emporium!

 We stopped at Costco for my work week snacks (chicken nuggets, eggs to boil and yogurt) and when we came out it started pouring bone-chilling rain. I dozed off on the drive Back and woke up when Craig stopped at a Tims just south of Orangeville. We went in for a coffee and when we came out it was snowing giant, fluffy flakes like someone had just shaken our snow globe!! 
 

Needless to say we started to think that we should stop stopping and just get home!! HA!! 

Since we decided on chili for dinner, there were a couple of stops for provisions, then I set to the making as soon as we got in, getting Craig set to his sous chef duties. 

 This is the start of something delicious!!

We are enjoying a lovely bottle of red while the chili cooks down.

 

 As soon as I post this, I am going to wind one of the giant skeins of Cascade Yarns Eco in Turtle and cast on for Lemongrass  I was admiring pics of her new Vneck Boxy on Jojis instagram feed, so I'm excited to knit this up!!

Bread's ready - gotta go!

Finishing

Today is just for me to be chill, relax with the puppies and be healthily selfish. I'm marathoning Shameless and eating whatever I crave. 

I'm finally getting to blocking my finished Building Blocks shawl!! It's totally Soakworthy  And I'm blocking it in half since it's massive!! 

 

It'll be fantastic for the impending winter about to descend upon us. And just my luck, I signed up to work, got on the list AND my snow tires got put off from last Monday to the day after the first storm is forecast. 

 

I am also blocking Sorrento  I know, it kind of got stalled whilst Building Blocks was in the needles, but I'm making up for lost time now!  

The beach blanket is doing little to chase the grey chill that is outside, but that's what electric fireplaces are for. Though if you ask the puppies, I turn it in for them. LOL!! 

This is why I almost never use bleach.

 But the counter tops and the dish cloth needed hard core cleaning ... fortunately, it's an at-home comfy shirt. Still, annoyed. 

Now you're pretty much caught up ... I'm off to eat ... beans and egg on garlic bread with cheese toast. I know!!! It's what I craved and it is going to be delish!! 

 

The End is in Sight

I've been knitting away! This is a massive shawl. Granted, I haven't been as diligent as I could've been, but it's been quite a lot of knitting. But I'm doing the I-cord cast off today!!!

 

 I deliberated probably longer than I needed to about what colour to use; I went with Wish, colour B. 

I am excited to be finishing; not just so that I can block and wear it, but so that I can get back to Sorrento.

 

 I'm into the front ribbing shaping and it's enough to keep me knitting to the next increase. I know, but it's the simple pleasures that are truly what I enjoy in my knitting. There is a lot of "At The Same Time" going on here ... def keeps a knitter sharp. 

That's kind of it. Working, puppies, family keeping me busy. Chica really is a fan of Craig; she'll generally sidle up to him and pour on the charm (seriously - kissing on him!!) when she wants to play. 

 

 

I really do have to get back into my flute practice. I've neglected it lately, but I miss it. It gives me a singular pleasure that I need to give back to myself. 

Cooking Day

Westknits MKAL spoiler pic below. 

Working afternoons, having only 1/2 hour for lunch, and only vending machines as a back up rather forces me to be very organized and prepared when it comes to meals. Yesterday, I had leftover hot dog wieners for dinner. Not that I don't love my Schneider Red Hots, but it felt rather pitiful that it was a last resort rather than a choice. 

So today I cooked. 

Shepherds Pie, sausage and apple stuffed acorn squash, and chicken breasts with a bacon & mushroom cream sauce. 

 

I added Manitoba hemp hearts to my individually baked shepherds pies - I love that stuff!! 

I am grateful for the cooler weather since I can use the shelf in the boot room as a cooling spot. It takes some pressure off of the fridge/freezer and is just good food safety!! 

I now have 20 lunches prepared and dinner for tonight!! All of the Chinese takeaway containers were called into service! 

 

Not a bad result for an afternoons labours. 

The Shepherds pies are already in the freezer. This lot will get moved once they've cooled down properly. 

Petey has been super sneaky and has taken to stealing clean socks and thongs out of the laundry basket. Normally he will just go around picking up Craig & Amanda's dirty laundry that they leave on the floor. I won't let them call him a naughty dog for it; he's cleaning up! But taking clean ones out of the hamper - not on! 

This is the 2^nd pair he's chewed through, lovely pairs at that.  I guess a trip to VS is going to be in order. 

 

My Building Blocks shawl is coming along nicely. I'm just into Section 7 of Clue 3. I do love how colours B & C look together!! 

 

Dog Park

So I finally found out about a dog park on base. It's just a fenced in ball diamond, but the organizers have troughs for water, balls and poo bags available. 

I have started getting up and taking the puppies over on nice mornings. Chica can barely contain her excitement when I say "park"!!

 

They haven't been around a lot of other dogs, so it's a good socialization time for them. That's a WIP though, and it's a large project, but we are nothing if not persistent. 

Chica is funny ... she won't play fetch with Amy other ball but her own. So I take hers and we just hunt it down if she loses it by being distracted by other dogs. 

The last few of days the puppies had the park to themselves and they just loved it. Petey just wanders around, exploring, marking the perimeter while Chica plays fetch. She will take an occasional break to stalk and play with Petey, but then it's back to the ball. 

Then other dogs showed up. The other owners are usually afraid of their dogs hurting the puppies; I explain that I'm more concerned for their dogs. LOL!! The puppies make a lot of noise, Chica likes letting everyone know that she's present. The other dogs make appropriate play overtures, but the puppies maintain a wariness. I really hope that they get used to other dogs and learn to play with them. 

Until then, we try.