A little of this, a bit of that

Today needed up being a big winding day. Lace is a lot of work to wind - there's mileage on a skein and then the re-winding so it's not tight on the ball. 

I have my Lorna's Laces wound and ready for the Beyond the Wall MKAL. 

 I also wound some sock yarn to do a pair of inside-outside socks for Elise  Working on the Sweet Spot strip has got my Knit One Below mojo tingling again! 

 

I sense a pattern here, but the speckled nature of this lolodidit yarn is making it less clear. I've ordered a couple skeins of her kettle-dyed yarn to make it easier to lock down. 

I went into the Spare Oom this afternoon and bravely started peeling away layers. I found the box that I was looking for, cleared out a bag of rubbish, and got the shelf back in. That was a struggle, and much more challenging than it should've been. I had lines and angles shifting in my vision and reality wasn't matching up. But she persisted!!

I cast on for a hat this afternoon ... I think I've caught a bad case of startitis!! 

 The only cure for that is finishing, so Imma be a busy knitter. 
 
I got my Hedgehog Fibres sock club pkg in the mail, but I haven't opened it. I feel like I should save it as a reward or incentive. I know, but it's a fickle willpower ... I can't resist DQ treats or more yarn lately. 

So, back to the needles I go - a happy knitter I am surrounded by all these inspiring swatches and yarns!! 

Challenge

The power was out for a good part of Angus yesterday and Dairy Queen was closed. It made for an oddly disconnected feeling day. 

I grilled some burgers for dinner and whipped up a Greek salad. I knit until it was dark, accompanied by a movie on the laptop, then music fueled with my back up batteries which I charged in the car as needed. Then it was early to bed and reading on the new kobo. I slept poorly, always checking to see if the power had come back on (ceiling fans), then getting woke up when it did by the shrill beeping of the CO₂ detector. I did get some quality reading time in, which was nice. 

There were all sorts of glitches at work today due to the sudden outage, but we persisted and largely triumphed. 

I swatched last night with lolodidit everyday sock, something blue.  Her dyeing technique is proving something of a challenge to me in sussing out the Sweet Spot, but I do love a challenge. And I am quite fond of saying that if I can find a Sweet Spot in Koigu, I can find it anywhere! I think I see a hint of a pattern, but I'm uncertain. 

 

I'm going to try my hand at the Lucille colourway tonight. 

Timehop had this picture today. 

 

Mixed memories, but it makes me smile, so a win. And any picture with Amanda is a good one ❤️☺️

Tiny x's

It has been a lovely day at home. The puppies are getting a bit stir crazy from being inside due to rain, but Chica convinced me to play ball with her, and Petey has been happy chewing on a bone. 

I got some work stuff sorted out, then there was a bit of reading. Helen got me hooked on James Patterson's Women's Murder Club series, and while it's not epic literature, I'm invested in the characters and keeping needing to know what is happening to Lindsay, Rich, and poor Cindy. Yuki is happy, but can it last?? I'll be diving into Unlucky 13 as soon as Helen sends it!!

I had leftover salmon Alfredo for lunch. I've been craving it for weeks and I'm about to have had enough, but it is so good! I could just sit and eat it with a spoon, but I don't think that would be super filling. Or healthy. And I do need to start being more mindful of what and how much of it I eat. I've let my nutritional intake slide away from the nutritional and just be intake. 

I got quite a bit of cross stitching down today. I'm pleased with my choice to use the doubled strand on the gates. I'm now almost halfway through this part of the Clue, so I feel like rewarding myself with some lolodidit yarn and Sweet Spot swatching. 

  

It's been a great day!!

Good mail day

So I read the instructions on my next clue wrong and did the first set of gates with two threads instead of over two threads.  Though the piece is worked over two threads, so it was a redundant instruction that my Brian re-worked to make relevant. Yeah, that's what I'm going with.  

I liked the look, but I wasn't sure, so I also did a set with a single strand. 

 Definitely liking the heavier gate better!! 

I did give some thought to another set of gates further up in the design, and I may have to do them double-stranded as well, though they are a different colour and esthetic, so I'll have to see when I get there. I also went online and ordered more of the purple for the current gates and black for the next gates so I don't run out. 

 

So now I'm going over the 2^nd set of gates again, then moving on to the other 3 corners. 

Happy Mail day today! 

I have been following Lauren aka lolodidit on Instagram for awhile and I finally ordered!!

 

This is going to make an amazing Sweet Spot strip!!! 

I know ... that's a lot of exclamation marks, but I'm that excited!! I know my plan was to cross stitch (especially while I'm between knitting assignments), but I might have to wind and swatch. 

Starting Point - spoiler pics

I really love having my two days off in a row. Day 1 is always errand day - shops, appointments, cleaning. Day 2 is my day of home, knitting, relaxing. It is my ritual, I look forward to it, I need it. 

My Starting Point shawl is done!! I finished all the ends and laid it outside to block; it fit perfectly on my little back deck. It blocked out gently to 71cm x 203cm (28" x 80"). A generous stole, and if I knit another I could join them for a blanket. I love it; I has an intriguing construction with a pleasing symmetrical geometry.

 

   

 

I also finished the 3^rd part of my Chatelaine X garden mandala. The Algerian eyelets were the finishing touch and all 4 corners are now complete.

 The charts for the 4^th part are taped together and I'm ready to make 100's of tiny x's!!  

Happy Mail Day!! Jimmy Beans pkg arrived with the Lorna's Laces Solemat  that I ordered for the Beyond the Wall MKAL  The colours are brighter and less grey than the online pic. My fingers are almost twitching with excitement!!!

 The puppies are playing outside, no rabbit-chasing whinging to be heard, while the salmon that I planked is on the grill. It's been awhile since I've made salmon, the smell of it is so enticing. 

 I've powered through OITNB today -- how am I supposed to get along until season 6!!?? I am imaging storyline after storyline in my head. 

The Handmaid's Tale will see me through my evenings stitching. 

Have I mentioned how much I love my android box? An introverts best friend this! ☺️☺️

 Oh, I found this tiny robins egg shell on my driveway this morning.  

It made me happy, like seeing deer and rainbows. I know, I'm a bit simple, but my heart is pleased. 

Change

The last time that I had my actually cut, not just trimmed, was before I went in for treatment, and I cried. 

Since my hair grew back after chemo, I have trimmed it, but I wasn't in an emotional place to truly cut it. 

Lately, it's been driving me bonkers. I have to put it up every day for work, and I seem to clip it up at home because it's in my face and just hot on my neck. The tension on my scalp of having it up gives me a headache. Craig or I are always rolling on it in bed. The list goes on. I've been looking up short hair cuts online. I wanted to have it cut this time. 

So today was the day and I had it done. 

 

I had it coloured to cover the odd bits of red that didn't get cut off, but going forward, I'd like to forego the colouring and go back to natural, greys and all. 

I got quite a bit accomplished on my socks today; laundry day is for more than just clean clothes! 

  

I love the stiletto Point on my Signature Needles - sock knitting is extra pleasurable with them!

I'm on to the 2^nd half of the last Starting Point MKAL clue and I'm quite pleased with how it's come together.

 Clever construction indeed! 

The puppies were whining and this is what I saw when I went to see what was up. 

 I am tempted to release the wee beasties and see if they could catch the bunnies! I'm concerned at how far they would go on the chase though, and how long it would take them to return home. 

I did all sorts of cleaning and errands today, so tonight I rest and tomorrow is relax, Netflix and Knit day. 

Oh - and wow!!! I ordered the case for my Kobo Aura One from Amazon.ca on Saturday, they sent a shipped notice on Sunday, and the case was in my mailbox on Monday!!! That's service!! I love the case even more in person ... imma be reading all the time!! 

 

Sunday

Nothing planned today so we watched the French Open final, then headed out to Dog Tales Rescue and Sanctuary  I follow them on Facebook and Instagram, and I've been wanting to go see the dogs for awhile. 

You know that feeling you get when you know you want another child? Yeah. I wasn't sure if I wanted to fall in love or not, but it was a lovely day to visit dogs. 

I didn't fall in love, but these two caught my eye. I'll think on it and maybe go back for a visit. 

 

 

Craig had his serious face on. 

 

I am making progress on my last Clue of the Starting Point MKAL. I love my colour #2, Sin. It's so bright and I love it! 

 

We went to see Wonder Woman this aft. I'm not usually one given to emotions when watching films, but when Wonder Woman ran across No Man's Land, hit her mark and crouched into her power stance, fending off a barrage of bullets with her shield, I got struck with some feels. 

I love a movie with a strong female lead, and this one goes to the head of the class. Though Kill Bill is still a strong fave. 

I started knitting on my sock but I couldn't keep track of 2x2 ribbing 🙄 and there were mistakes. I knit the tail into the fabric 

 And something wonky happened here.  

So I just watched the movie. Sigh. 

The new kobo is fantastic! The balance of it in hand makes the larger screen a total win. The yellow-tinted night-mode lighting is a noticeable upgrade and my eyes are grateful. 

Settling in now for an easy evening, making some visible progress on the shawl.  

New Toy

I have been finding it more and more of a challenge to read my Kobo Glo at night. Maybe I'm getting old , or maybe because I'm used to my phone dimming and changing to a warmer low light, but the bright blue Glo of the Kobo is noticeably disturbing my sleep. So I did my research and I went and bought an Aura One today.  

It has a warmer light conducive to night reading, its waterproof, and it also allows for direct downloads from the library without a sideways device! I have already borrowed a book!! 

I loaded it up and ordered a case from Amazon. 

 

I have been keeping up with the Starting Point MKAL by Joji, but I've been at the back of the pack. I am enjoying the knitting of it, though I'm struggling slowly through another k/p tbl section at the mo. 

 Blogging app is being odd and won't let me right-justify pics ... it's annoying. 

So that gets you caught up ... it's been slow in my life, but I like it like that. 

I'll be getting a new project from Julie when she's back from TNNA, so I'm looking forward to that. 

I've also been on a bit of a yarn-buying spree, so I'll update you on those when they arrive. I'm excited about those!!