Tuesday, February 21, 2017

In and Out

2017 has been crazy busy around here , I am surprised at the amount of knitting that I have accomplished so far . We started kitchen renovations at the beginning of January and we are just about done . I only have to unpack a few more boxes and hang the last of the pictures and such then we will finally be DONE .

I am bound and determined to knit primarily from stash this year . So far I have done pretty well. There has been one exception , I fell off the wagon last week and purchased some gorgeous yarn from an indie dyer ,  Long Dog Yarns in the colourway Pop . So far this year I have completed three pairs of socks , a pair of mittens , an almost finished pair of mittens and a small scarf , all knit from stash and only one skein added ,  that 's not bad I think .

I did finish The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief . It isn't quite as large as I'd hoped but I can wear it tied around my neck . I am pretty happy , I used every last inch of yarn !

 Then I finished these very bright socks knit from some yarn that my dad brought on his last visit here. I will think of my father whenever I wear them , bittersweet memories .

That's about it for today . It's been a quiet day with the usual mundane chores , laundry etc . It has been very spring like lately with much warmer than normal temperatures . The birds are chirping and I have even spotted some robins and mourning doves in the neighbourhood  when Zoe and I head out for our walks . Till next time , have a good week !











Tuesday, February 7, 2017

WIPs

Hi , this has been the kind of day where you just want to hunker down, enjoy a cup of tea and pick up your knitting . It's kind of cold and windy with snow , ice pellets and the freezing rain forecast for later this afternoon . I went out to do some errands , then came home and shovelled the light dusting of snow in the driveway and walkway . I decided to make some pea soup before I did actually sit down with the aforementioned cup of tea and knitting .



I've got three WIPs sitting on my coffee table in various stages of completion . The one that I will be picking up after this post is the Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief . It is very close to being done I think  , with one more stockinette section before the final eyelet section and cast off . The yarn is leftover from the Hitchhiker shawl that I had knit last year .



Then there are my plain vanilla socks which I am knitting on 9 inch circulars . I bought the needles on a whim  and find that vanilla socks just fly with these . I have difficulty purling with them , that would be the downside , but otherwise enjoy using them. Next up ...
 are the Woodstack mittens from this amazing book  entitled Within . I just love every single pattern in it . Yeah that's right all I need to finish these is to do the thumbs . They have been at this stage for over a week , but I will get them done this week !


That's it for today , on to my knitting  , till next time ...

 

Thursday, January 26, 2017

Fresh start

I really hadn't meant to stop blogging but I did despite my best intentions . You would think that after my year of fighting and beating cancer that things would be peachy keen . It took me to the latter part of 2016 to feel half ways normal  . I was always so tired and would cry at the least little thing . I just could not cope with the everyday stresses .Then last fall while my father was here visiting he suffered a severe stroke and is paralyzed on his right side , can't speak and is pretty much bedridden . He had wonderful care from all the doctors and nurses at the Montreal Neurological but once he was stable he was transported back to Austria . It was so very , very difficult to have to say goodbye to him . He is 87 and had been living a full and active life . To see him like this has been devastating for our whole family . For me this was kind of a wake up call . I had better find a way to enjoy life because everything can change in a heartbeat . All that to say that while there are still bad days, but fewer of them ,  getting back to my knitting and blogging is my way to find the peace and joy again .


So what am I working on you might ask , well that would be mostly socks and mittens . These are my funky  mittens . The pattern is tincanknits The world's simplest mittens. It is a really great pattern with quite a few sizes and best of all it is free ! As always at the beginning of the year I have great intentions of knitting down the stash .I had purchased this yarn with the idea of making a hat . Once I had started it I didn't like the way that the stripes were knitting up .You can see by the photo that there is really no sequence to the colour changes . I quickly frogged the hat and started the mittens, the irregularity of the stripes in the mittens doesn't bother me in the least .They are going into the gift box for charity knitting though  I am tempted to keep them . I kind of like the funkiness ...

The socks are my first ones for Yarngasms' box of socks KAL 2017 . The yarn is another stash yarn  , OnLine Neptune color . The pattern is the Decathalon socks by Sue Grandfield . This is another free pattern on ravelry . Lately it has been my go to sock pattern . It is easy but not boring , just plain garter rib .

There are more socks and mittens underway , but I will leave that for another post .I am hoping that I will continue on blogging and that 2017 will truly be a fresh start ...