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! 

Mid-blocking

So I decided to block the back after the armholes to make sure I was on track, no loosening up at all. 

Sometimes my gauge changes from swatch to garment, especially if I'm making a conscious effort to knit tighter than on the swatch. Though it's easier for me to be consistently more tight than loose, things can change. Everything is good - the yarn def seizes up with the wetting, so swatching and relying on your swatches gauge to calculate your rows required to meet the measurements is key!! 

The puppies had a good dig outside yesterday. 

 

It's mostly Petey, but Chica gets in there a bit to make sure that she isn't missing out on anything delicious! 

I had to give Petey a quick tubby because he had dirt packed into his nails and pads!

He is so much nicer to sleep with now 😊 he's also gotten over his habit of chewing on my bedding. He's still adorable in the morning; he senses when I'm awake, as opposed to going back to sleep, and he comes crawling up and licking on my face. Then when we get out of bed to go get Chica (who still gets crated because she is so guardy of her space that she growls when I move at night), he acts as if he hasn't been with me all night and jumps around like we've been apart. He's my boy and has my heart. 

I went out last night with work friends. I made a concious effort all day to make it a positive in my head and not talkyself out of it. That's kind of my go-to strategy - accept invites when they are days/weeks away, but find a way out at the last minute. And I truly believe that I will go, have fun, and I look forward to it the further away it is. 

But then it gets closer and I start stressing - mentally and physically. Even though I know and like these people and I interact with them on the daily, socializing with them is different. I felt physical symptoms from the anxiety and cancelling was just a text away, it was painfully tempting, but I battled my mind and put one foot in front of the other and just went. 

It took a few drinks to relax a bit and I allowed myself to be drawn into the group; I didn't rely on my phone or knitting as a coping mechanism (which was sorely tempting). I didn't beg off early (though a knitting deadline would've been legit). One of the ladies provided an amusing diversion, and we had a lovely night. 

I was deeply relieved to be home and stayed up later than I should've to decompress with the puppies and knitting, but I am proud of myself for just doing it. 

My rhubarb is coming along. 

 

I am looking forward to the first batch of rhubarb muffins! My mouth waters at the thought of it!! 

Okay - back at it before my mid-shift today! 

Best of Intentions

So I closed the last three nights at work, and I had taken pictures and fully intended to do a quick post each night in my break. 

But as things are wont to do when you've laid out a plan, it went awry. 

So now I'm writing up a post on my day off! It's not been a knitterly day - trip to see my dad and a sneak nap attack - but I've got a few quality hours ahead of me. 

 The 3^rd swatch was the key. Still a stitch off, but I am making sure to knit snugly, and the row gauge is spot on, so I forged ahead.  

I made excellent progress! 

 

I signed up for the Joji Knits Starting Point MKA  - I am tingling with excitement to pick out yarn!! I am screen-shotting colourways that catch my eye, and I'll see what Julie brings to the Frolic  This may require a road trip out to The Needle Emporium though ... 

 

I don't really want to buy a pre-fab kit; I want something unique. 

I have been plagued by a relentless tension headache for the last couple of weeks that is radiating from my right neck/shoulder. I've tried all sorts to remedy it, all to no avail. I caved and went to see a professional yesterday, and I have found my new massage therapist!! Lindsay went hard and deep, and even though I knew I'd be feeling it today, it cured what ailed me for a day. Today the headache has come back a bit, and I hurt like I took a beating, but it's a start. I'll have to see her on a regular basis, and I'm adding a chiropractor to the mix. Gotta stay in fighting shape 😏

Ok - now that you're caught up, I must make more fabric! The Frolic is fast approaching, and I don't miss deadlines.  😃😃

Next!

So I finished a Secret Project, and now I can blog what I'm knitting.  

I started knitting on Churchmouses new Sleeveless Slipove . Well, to be more accurate, I'm still swatching. 

 

The 1^st one on 4mm needles was too small. The 2^nd one one 4.5mm needles is too big. Le Grand Sigh. The 4mm swatch was on Signature needles, but I went to Aero's for the 4.5mm for a less sharp tip as the linen tends to split with a sharper tipped needle. I'm going to swatch again with 4.5mm Signatures and deal

with any splitting. 3^rd  time's a charm, right?

I'm without internet service at the mo ... it's been failing all week, but I haven't been home long enough to deal with it. Bell is coming today, between 8-12 (when in the history of "we'll be there between 8-12", have they ever shown up at 8??) to rectify the issue. 

I have 7gb of data on my phone, so that's alright. I spent the better part of yesterday at work (Dairy Queen) using the free wifi to do work that I could've been doing at home. Between that knitting time and the Rock lacrosse game Friday night, I did get a sock finished! 

 

A better result for me than for The Rock 😏

Awaiting test results - my foot has swollen to painful proportions! 

It's been off and on swollen, and will continue to be from the break, and the left foot has always been prone to swelling, but it's been actually downright painful lately. X-ray and blood work have been done ... hopefully it's just something that will self-correct sooner than later. 

My rhubarb is budding!!  

I am giddy with anticipation for it to grow to harvesting size; I really do need to plant more. 

Okay ... back to the needles - I got gauge to match!!

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!

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. 

Treats

So on this, the day before my 47^th natal celebration, Craig and I set off for The Needle Emporium. Truly, where else would I find the perfect gift for myself?!?

 

 Another beautiful day for a road trip, even with a decided chill in the morning air. 

My mission to Julie's was to make sure I had a proper

selection of Hedgehog fibres Skinny Sock to make a final decision on my colourway for the Westknits Building Blocks MKAL  I was more than successful! I also picked up the latest Rowan magazine. 

On the way back we veered off of the highway since traffic into Toronto was nuts - concerts & sporting events galore - and I remembered how much I love a Krispy Kreme donut. And since it was on the back way home, and the Magic 8 Ball concurred, we stopped in. It was more processed sugar than we usually eat in an entire month, but it was so totally delicious!! Craig had a simple glazed, but I went with a salted caramel, and a lemon filled. It's my pre-birthday, I shouldn't have to make the hard choices. 

Then there was groceries and home. Since we were making this a cheat day, it was manicotti with a homemade pasta sauce. 

I am now defrosting the freezer to make room for all of the yummy things that I'm making tomorrow. Planning and meal prep is key to any kind of diet plan and having only a 1/2 hour lunch with no easy access to other food. 

I am getting ready to cast on my next project:

 Sorrento from The Studio Linen Collection by Erika Knight. 

I am having a lovely day, and looking forward to another one tomorrow!