I know I said I was taking the summer off. But, sometimes as soon as you slow down to breathe the brain is able to kick into creative mode. That means I have a few things in progress that I wasn’t expecting. In addition to those, I am back on to a couple sweaters that I started ages ago. I had issues with them during editing, and have had to do a lot of work to try and get them fixed. That has meant a lot of work to create a spreadsheet to be able to plug in all my numbers and have my spreadsheet do all my figure checking/calculating for me. The garden is still taking a lot of my time, but now it’s just waiting for things to grow and then harvesting. We actually just started doing our fall planting. Today we are getting a big storm, so the garden is getting a really nice drink, and I’m getting the day off. Sort of. haha!
One of the things I have started is a sweater. I have a sweater that was already knit, but I was having some issues with it. I’ve now re-written the entire pattern and now have to knit it again to see if it’s going to fit as intended. I chose to use an acrylic yarn for this one. I went with Knit Picks Brava worsted weight. Sometimes I will use really nice yarn for a sweater, but being outside a lot and just busy doing a lot of cooking and everything else, I spill things on myself all the time. So, for sweaters around the house that I want to keep looking nice, acrylic is my favorite. I love being able to just throw them in the washer and dryer, without thinking twice. I’ve had nice sweaters accidentally end up in the hamper, and as you can imagine the result was heartbreaking.
As you can see I’m not very far into this re-knit, but hopefully I’ll be able to start getting some projects finished.
One of the projects I should be able to finish soon is a pair of socks. These are my Not So Plaid Socks. The pattern is a knit and purl stitch that creates a plaid look, without the colorwork. This gives the opportunity for someone that is more of a beginner knitter when it comes to socks to have a lovely pattern without having to worry about delving into colorwork. I know many people that are really put off by colorwork. I always say that you should just go for anything and give it a try, but if you aren’t ready then there is no reason to not have a fun pattern that gives you a pattern and some texture. I chose to use Chroma Fingering. This gave a color change with no work on my part. The Chroma has a nice long color change, which gives more of a fade type of look.
Next I have a pair of fingerless mittens. These are a great quick project. I still need to find some time to work on them, but when I do they should fly off my needles. These have a lovely texture, which is simply a type of bobble. I have called them Tied In Knots. I have a bit of pattern work to do on these, to make sure my numbers are all sound. I’m planning to have 3 or 4 sizes available on these. Because they are a unisex pattern, I want to have sizes from small female to large male. For these ones I am using Cloudborn Highland Superwash Sock yarn. It’s a nice yarn that is giving me some nice stitch definition. It also comes in smaller skeins. Most of these sizes will only require about 200 yards, so the smaller skeins are perfect. This one is difficult to get right now, but I bought a bunch of it on clearance, so it’s a great one for me to use.
Lastly, I have a shawl started. This will be a triangular shawl in a Freia Shawl, fingering weight yarn. I haven’t decided on the size yet, though. I think that is going to depend on when I run out of yarn. I am contemplating something that can be wrapped around the neck like a scarf, as opposed to a big full shawl.
I think that is pretty much everything for now. Hopefully soon I will have some of these finished and off for both testing and editing. At this rate it’ll likely be more into September before this happens. This summer is flying by, and it’s hard to believe it’s already August! That means it’s almost time for me to buckle down and get things done. Thanks so much for reading!