Staying Warm

I finished my Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock socks!! I couldn’t quite get them done last night after work, even though I stayed up late, but I got them done this morning. One of the reasons that I love knitting with indie dyed yarn is the lovely, subtle colour changes. The yarns from Turtlepurl is perfect example of this. The yarn is such a pleasure to knit with. 

My feet shall be warm! 

I have made some excellent progress on the Bernat seed stitch Blanket today; I’m almost at the halfway point where I can start decreasing. It’s large enough to keep me warm while I knit. 

This fabric is so plush! I don’t knit with it often, but I’m reminded how much I love it every time I get the opportunity. It also makes me remember that natural fibres are fabulous, but acrylic has its place too. 

Mama needs a new pair of socks

I’m blocking out my Throwback before I continue. Best to find out now if it’s a giant swatch - lol. 

I know about the magic of blocking, but I’m still impressed at how much it improves a wip!! This is looking so excellent - I have impressed myself with the spincycle dream state colours that I picked!! (Shades of Earth, Robin’s Egg, and Melancholia) Maybe it’s just how they line up from where I started them from the balls, but they contrast and complement each other nicely. The light blue of the woolstok is more challenging to capture, but it’s a perfect foil for the more intense colouring in the patterning. 

It’s just finishing up drying, so I’ve managed to get the 1^st Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock socks done and started on the 2^nd.

My go-to sock needles - 2.5mm Signature Needles - are showing some wear. 

No noticeable impact on feel or function, but you can certainly tell that they are my faves!! 

I have also cast on for my go-to baby gift for Jenny’s next child. 
While I am generally more of a natural fibre lover, I have to give props to Bernat Blanket for being a fantastic yarn for (baby) blankets. It just wears and washes so well, great colour range, and I just enjoy knitting with it. 

A small step

It’s been a busy week at work, but I have managed to make some small progress on my most recent WIP. 

I am pleased with my mod on Throwback  especially since it saved me the grief of knitting, then *gasp* purling back with three colours. The last increase round is a bit bubbly on the surface; I’m hoping that blocking will sort that out. 

I’ve just separated for the armholes and I’m on the nice relaxing stockinette straightaway - maybe I’ll work on that after this posts. 

I finished knitting the heel flap, then realized that I hadn’t changed to the contrasting heel colour. D’oh!! So after ripping that back, I’ve made so visible progress on my Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock socks from Turtlepurl. 

Or maybe I’ll work on these ... 

I had a lovely visit with my grand babies this afternoon. Mina’s little Entrechat for her perfectly, and the colour is so complementary. She is so close to making her first steps; there was a camera in her almost every time she was standing. These children make me feel so much love. 

Or maybe Amin’s blanket that I have promised for his birthday in 2 months. 

Or, or, or ... I really do need to finish a thing or two! But you know as well as I do that I’m just not happy enough unless I have too much to do! 

Truncated

I had my St John Ambulance refresher course today to renew my certification today. It was informative - there are always minor changes to the procedures - and productive; I started my Turtlepurl Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock socks. 

I also managed to do the zig zag portion on my Throwback cardi. I don’t hate the truncation in the pattern that was needed to take out that 3^rd colour in a row, and I certainly love it more than knitting with a 3^rd colour in a row!! 

So that was my day - how was yours? 

Not just “Red”

So I have kind of a maker crush on Emily over at Turtlepurl yarns  I’ve decided that I am also a fan of the contrasting heel/toe sets. On my last order, I put Trenchcoat, Baah Humbug, Rock Paper Lizzard Scissors Spock, and What Does It Mean in my cart. Upon opening my package today, I realized that they all have red as the contrasting colour!! 

But when Emily says that she dyes these contrasting colours to match the colourway, she’s not lying! These four reds are all different, picking up the reds in their corresponding colourways. 

I have wound up What Does It Mean as I am awaiting a Top Secret Sweater pattern and Cheryl won’t be in to work until next week to try on her socks. I rather like the bit of rubbing in the arch of the foot, but want to make sure that their recipient likes them as well before I go any further. 

A little bit of everything

I’m slipping back into that habit of just knitting and not blogging!! 

*** Till Death Spoilers below!!! ***

Woodstock was fabulous, as it ever is. Sarah was picking out colours for the Throwback Cardigan  and it ended up being decided that we will be doing it as our Frolic sweater! I loved knitting with Woolstock and Dream State so much sit Humulus that it was not a difficult decision to use it again and I am going to be using the Woolstock Thermal Spring as my MC, to go with these Dream State contrasts:

I am making nice progress on Julie’s Trenchcoat socks. 

  

I started on Amin’s blanket. 

As much of a fibre snob as I can be, I do love Bernat Blanket for baby/kids blankets. It is so soft and washes well — it’s a fave with the kids and moms! 

I am excited about my Till Death mittens!! Progress is painfully slow, but the result is satisfying. I’m not thrilled with the sea foam green colour, but too much time has been invested to rip it out. I do have a plan for the 2^nd mitten ... I’m not going to redo the 2nd cuff, so it may be a bit odd, but I’m ok with that. 

SPOILER PIC BELOW

A little bit of everything

I finished my Wonder Woman socks!! 
Then it was a busy week at work - month end always is. And then there was a required trip to The Mall for jeans. My pant/jeans were entirely too loose to keep wearing, so it was   necessary. Mission accomplished. 

I finally sat down this afternoon and got some knitting done!! I was cleaning up some of the more random yarn in The Spare ‘Oom and came across a messed up skein of that fabric yarn so I decided to just bang it out instead of rewinding and stashing it. 

It already has a good neck to go to (not mine), so that’s done. 

I couldn’t help but cast on another sock. This one is for another colleague, and as soon as I saw it, it almost screamed her name to me. 

Yup, another Turtlepurl - Trenchcoat this time. So iconic!

I am presently going to knit another episode of MasterChef Australia on Humulus. 

She has sat stoically whilst I played with other projects, and now it’s her time to shine! 

I also picked out a final colourway for Till Death - after deep stash diving and a FaceTime consultation with Helen. 

That will likely get cast on tomorrow after work. 

Phew - good thing I’m just doing some ribbing! That task list is inspiring but almost tiring. Lol. 

Wonder Woman

It’s been a busy few days at work, then I got stuck into the Cormoran Strike series by JK Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith, one more season of Master Chef Australia, then I’ll check out the TV series, Strike. So my knitting has been less than prolific. I am to the ribbing on Humulus, then because it was my birthday on Tuesday, I have decided to finish my Wonder Woman socks before returning to Lynn’s Humulus.I was just at the heel turning point when I realized I had two extra stitches in the heel. I ripped it out right away - it’s kind of just an instinct to me when I’ve made a mistake. In hindsight, the two sts would probably have been if little consequence, but done was done, so I just re-knit the back of the heel. 

Craig bought me more yarn and a really lovely shawl pin for my birthday. I’m personally not much for celebrating it, but how could I not be pleased?!? 

Potlucks - the pink is perfect, though I’m of two minds on the yellow. The more I look at it, the less I am loving it. What do you think?
I did make a cake though, and it’s keto!! The coffee cake has an almost soufflé texture, and it is so moist. Yum!! 
I was quite impressed with it, and Craig was totally blown away with how delicious it was! 

The puppies are little heat pad sucks. Petey has the decency to look a bit bashful, but Chica, the little minx, shamelessly slides over to my spot the second that I stand up!! Lol. 

Tonight I made an old fave for dinner - chicken with a mushroom and bacon cream sauce. 

So delish; I am literally drinking the sauce by the spoonful!! Dinner for days! 

The keto eating is working - I’m down 30+lbs and I actually had to go shopping for jeans. I loathe clothes shopping, but my other pants were beyond too big and while I would like to wear clothes just for comfort, I am conscious of societal norms and do also enjoy looking good in what I wear. So I spent the afternoon trying on countless jeans for work, and came away with a few pairs. With the washing machine at mine now, I don’t need as many pairs, so I’m set for a bit. 

I also had two links taken out of my watch - it was to the point that it was spinning around my wrist!! 

I am proud of myself for making this lifestyle change for me. I feel a lot healthier, and happier with myself. 

What to do??

It’s been a long couple days at work, but I love working with Veronica at DQ, so the longs days pass quickly and are not onerous. 

My knitting has been neglected, but I have made some progress into the heel of my Wonder Woman socks. I love that Emily has put lively gold tones in the heel yarn - it’s not just a solid contrasting colour!!

I was feel a bit betwixt and between on whether to continue on this project, start the new one for our ‘Mina, or wind up the yarn and swatch for Lynn’s Humulus. But the longer I thought on it, the less knitting that got done. GAH!! 

So I went with my heart, not selfish, not work, my heart. I have cast on - look how tiny it is!!! I’m making the 6-9 month size so that our ‘Mina can get some use out of them.  

Thank you to Julie at The Needle Emporium for gifting this kit to me. What started out as a just a job turned into a friendship - more knitting magic ♥️☺️♥️

I am still eating to a keto diet ... it’s not a hardship; I don’t crave sugar. I sometimes think about pasta or a Blizzard, but I don’t truly crave them. 

When I do fancy a sweet, I make these brownies  They are not sweet in the sense that most people are accustomed to, but they satisfy me and I add a few berries and some whipped cream and I’m a happy camper!! My secret is in the butter. Remember at Christmas when Craig surprised me with the Magical Butter machine  The canna butter that I made is top shelf and 1/2 tbsp is sufficient to ensure a good sleep. 

So, back to my knitting until it’s time to sleep! 

The End of That, the Beginning of This

So I had a week off of my secular job to knit. What better vacation could a woman such as I have than a stay/knitcation?!

So Mr Darcy is off to Mr Steve, who is a new friend courtesy my friend Helen. Helen makes friends everywhere she goes and she makes sure that her friends have the opportunity to broaden their friend-zones too!  That’s our Helen ♥️💞♥️

I cast on my Wonder Woman 🧦 with Turtlepurl yarn that was gifted to my be said friend Helen ☺️.

 O. M. G. the sparkle!!! I love knitting them so much, I don’t think it’ll take long. 

I have Trenchcoat to make as a gift for another friend (yes, I now have more than one friend ... it’s a slippery slope, I might have to start using toes to count them!) Serenity, Mistletoe Kisses, and Save a Horse are screaming their siren song at me, but I must be a bit good. 

This is the next major project - Humulus  I can’t wait to see how it knits up!! I’ve seen the Spincycle yarn at the last couple of shows, but I’m not personally a fan of knitting up yarn held together to make a marled effect, but I love the look and feel of this yarn; it maintains a hand spun feel in a mill-produced yarn. So excited!! 

I also have a special little project to work on for a special little girl, but that will remain a surprise for the mo. 

So, best put my head down and make some fabric!!