Sunday, February 18, 2024

Sock Repair Complete!

Turns out that sock repair has a long prep time before one actually gets to knit. Separating the part with the hole from the rest of the sock was fraught with partially felted wool and, of course, tiny stitches to pick up. 

But as you can see, the results are two perfectly serviceable pairs of socks. Not sure my sock knitting rate is as quick as the Yarn Harlot, because 14 rows on the striped sock and 28 decrease rows on the purple toe took a lot longer than I have time to knit in two days. Knitting 10 rows on two socks every day is a good starting point, but maybe I only need to do five  

It took very little time before China Cat Sunflower found these comfy knits to lay down on!

And create mayhem by playing with them during the photo shoot!


 I’m off to find some matching sock needle sets and select my first pattern and yarn…

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Imminent Sock Repair


 Happy Valentines Day! I half-heartedly (pun intended) tried to knit all of my friends some Little Hearts, but alas, only two are half finished. I definitely have more friends, so that idea will be on hold for another year. 

Inspired by the Yarn Harlot’s 2024 resolution to knit 10 rows on two socks every day, I decided that maybe I’ll try the idea on a few socks that need repair. The striped ones need about 14 rows reknit where the washing machine chewed the top, and the purple ones have about 25 rows with decreases to repair a hole in the toe. 

It also turns out that my stash contains 9 brilliant skeins of sock yarn. If the Yarn Harlot can finish a pair of socks in 22 days with the aforementioned method, maybe I’ve found a way to become a sock knitter after all. 

Monday, January 15, 2024

It’s Monday. It’s Done.

Another Done by Monday blanket has emerged at precisely the moment where the temperatures dropped below zero (and will remain there for at least a week). Without weaving in the ends Saturday night, I put it between the top sheet and feather blanket, and sleep was ultra cozy. Who doesn’t love laying under an entire sheep’s worth of yarn!?

China Cat Sunflower also has a deep appreciation for the blanket. He kept climbing underneath as I was knitting it and was not bothered when I had to rearrange it at the ends of the rows. His perfect color match makes me think I might keep this blanket… and make the rest of my wardrobe in this shade of gray! 

I used 12.5 skeins of yarn, held double on this pattern, Afghan #11 by JoAnne Turcotte. I wanted a slightly longer blanket for tall people in the family. It will be interesting to see how much the garter ridges will grow when I block it. The yarn was hand processed and hand spun by a woman named Anne Cohee. She taught art in a public school out east and sold her hand spun goods at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Judging by the labels in the box, it’s possible that the sheep lived three decades ago and this yarn was made in the 1990s. I acquired the yarn from a friend of my mom’s, who was friends with Anne. An heirloom to treasure, for sure! 

As this is still early-ish January, I wanted to share a great resolution thought with you. A friend of mine asked her grade school age son what his resolutions are, and he answered: I don’t have any. I like the person I am. The statement stopped me in my tracks! Adopting this mindset, I added for myself that I have the tools to competently complete any goals I choose to take on. 

With that deep thought, I will be publishing this post and work on a goal for today! 
Happy knitting, and stay warm and safe!

 

Sunday, December 24, 2023

December Comfort Knitting

December was crazy this year: 4 personal gigs and 4 school concerts. I decompressed by baking cookies, gifting, and knitting. 
Anise cookies!! This was one of seven recipes I made: anise cookies, Honigkuchen, Spritz, Sunflower macaroons, Basler Brunsli, and vanilla puffs. 


I put together some final exam care packages for my nephews and niece with the help of colleagues who recently graduated from college. I included popcorn, hot cocoa mix, pencils, a squish mallow, and a book/package of dad jokes. So fun!

Finally, there were was daily mindless knitting. Another sofa throw is in the making. Grateful for handspan yarn that is still plentiful in boxes. I think there may be two to three more blankets before I run out.


The cat matches and is a big fan of napping on or under while I’m working on it. We are both looking forward to napping underneath the finished project!



Merry Christmas! 🎄🎁 
May your holidays be relaxing and peaceful!

 

Sunday, November 26, 2023

Frank is Finished

This knitting journey is complete! From a fabulous European vacation in 2022 that included a stop at the famed Stephen and Penelope Fine Yarn shop, to multiple pattern fails, to lack of motivation and other non-knitting projects, knitting this shawl has taken longer than I expected, but it was a lot of fun!

The shawl is inspired by the bold linear art of Italian-American Frank Stella, especially his early years in the 1950s. 

As usual, the Shady Grove yarn was not stretchy, so the piece does not block out to the full size as advertised. I’m not sad, since it is a monster size in the fully stretched version. I also felt that the eyelet rows were open enough to see the lace detail. 

Details:
Pattern: Frank Shawl by Joji Locatelli
Yarn: 3 skeins of fingering weight LITLG, color ways Dragon Seed, Hearth, and Tangerine and 2 skeins of Shady Grove Alpacas The Eleven lace weight held double 
Needles: Size 5 circulars
Date started: April 7, 2023
Date finished: November 19, 2023
Total weight: 305 grams 

It turns out to be in the perfect colors for fall and I enjoyed wearing it for Thanksgiving. 

Not sure if  “Signals,” by Jeremy Moon (1967) at the Milwaukee Museum of Art is inspired by Stella or just belongs to a general trend of that time, but it has some things in common with the shawl!


Modeling the ‘fit with my Herdwick sheep bag that I got on the same 2022 Europe trip in the Lake District in northern England. Beatrix Potter was famous for saving this variety of sheep and for preserving the tradition of Fell Farming before donating her Lake District properties to the British Land Trust after her death. 

Dark Star is also looking on. The Eleven was his half brother and the lace weight held double is so buttery soft and drapey! Of course it felt like twine while knitting before it was washed. 


Here’s wishing a peaceful beginning to the holiday season! I hope all gift knitting will be completed with time to spare!


 

Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Progress!

Fall Break was such a great time to refocus on this yarn beast! With relatively little ado I had this project back on track. The final triangle down the middle is nearing completion quickly as the rows are ever getting shorter. 


 I had a moment of terror when I saw how extremely bright the orange yarn is. But my eyes have settled down to enjoy the brilliance. Perhaps I’ll be able to wear it for Thanksgiving… We’ll see!

Happy Halloween! 🎃 👻 

Saturday, September 23, 2023

Fall Treats

The past week provided friends and rare produce, so naturally I needed to bake a few treats! Last weekend two dear friends spent the night between orchestra rehearsals. We spent Friday evening talking late into the night. One friend had recently moved and gotten rid of 2 of 3 popover pans… that she had never used. 

Which got me thinking about the last time we used our pan. I think it was close to 10 years. So in the morning (with some trepidation) I decided to make popovers for breakfast! You never know if they will turn out correctly, so it’s a gamble trying these with an audience. I used this recipe from King Arthur’s Flour. It does not require preheating the pan, which was interesting. The most important step might be not opening the oven door after putting the popovers in. My oven door window is super dirty, so I couldn’t see when they looked done. They’re a bit brown. The recipe also makes more batter, so I filled an additional 5 muffin cups that also turned out beautifully, if slightly over-baked.

Add homemade jams and tea, and you’re all set to serve at your B and B! They were delicious!

On Monday I found 20 perfect apples from my wild trees on the ground. We haven’t had a good apple year for several years in a row, so there were almost zero worms in the fruit! If we have another apple year next year, I’m sure the insects will make a comeback!

I used a boxed pie crust mix that worked well, and the filling and streusel from this recipe. It’s not too sweet, but I think I would still use less sugar. Though the wild apples are always on the tart side, this year they seem to be a lot sweeter.


My music colleagues at school demolished one pie, and I shared the other with neighbors. Happy Fall!