This Week's Thinking

Last Saturday, I finished the knitting part of my Crazytown Cowl, soaked it and set it on the blocking mats.  Because it's been ridiculously humid and rainy this week, it only finally felt dry last night.  So this weekend, I'll do the seaming and have another FO, which is such a good feeling.  And yesterday, The Tim took the finished pair of socks to the Post Office, so they should arrive at their destination today or tomorrow, another good feeling.

I don't know about you, but occasionally, when I finish one thing, and another project is nearly finished, rather than starting something new, I *have* to finish the other project - that's what happened with the cowl, and I think it was also because it was a good occupation for my brain, which trust me, still needs to be busy!

Having said that, it does not mean I haven't been thinking about what is next.  For whatever reason, everything and nothing appealed to me, so I was back and forth on things and frankly it was driving me nuts.  So I told myself that I needed to just decide on SOMETHING and just organize things to get started so that when I was ready to sit down and get moving, everything would be ready.

Once I told myself that, things started to fall into place.  I even knit a swatch!

Admittedly, I do not enjoy swatching, but I have learned the hard way in the past that at least in the case of garments, not swatching can mean you have wasted a lot of knitting on something that doesn't fit.  The good news is that this swatch was right on gauge, so I don't have to knit another!  Because I have mostly wool and wool blend yarns in my stash, and am trying reallyreallyreally hard to not buy yarn unless I simply must for a project, I had to think ahead to cooler weather and what yarn I had waiting for its turn.  When Pabaigh was first released, Kate Davies had a sale on yarn kits to knit it, and I purchased this yarn, which is the same color as she used in the pattern photos.  I decided to knit this now because since it is not a heavy sweater, knitting it in summer weather shouldn't be adding to any heat happening.  Plus, since it is intended to be a layering piece when the weather gets cool, I was hoping that it would be finished by the time summer moves along into fall.  We'll see how this all goes.  The pattern is mainly just knitting in the round, so in theory, it should keep my brain just as busy as it needs to be, but also mean that I can watch movies, have a conversation, or watch a podcast while working on it.

Then I decided that my next pair of socks would be the Georgia Socks, by Tracie Millar of the Grocery Girls podcast.  I have been wanting to knit some more shortie socks, and these have just a bit more happening with them than simply stockinette ones, plus a different heel for me to try.  I haven't decided on the yarn for these yet - I want to look through my leftovers, rather than use a "fresh" skein/ball.  So in the next few days, I'll be poking through the Bag O' Leftovers sock yarn that is for my Cozy Squares of Memory blanket, to see what I want to use.  I do have some things in that bag that have more than just a few yards left, so those will be the likely candidates.  I know that Lisa of Hidden River Yarns is making these and just using self-striping yarn, so depending on what/how much of that I have left in the bag, that's also a possibility.  It's funny, because I seldom actually purchase sock patterns since so many freebies appeal to me, but this pair is one of the ones that just struck me as something I really want to knit.

I'm really pleased now that I know what projects will be next.  I hope I'll like working on both of them, since my previous two projects were so pleasing.  Whatever happens, I'm sure you'll hear about it ... ;-)

I hope your last day of Spring is a good one.  It feels like the end of July here with heat and humidity, and is raining buckets today, but tomorrow and the weekend are supposed to be nice, so I'm looking forward to that! 

Lost Weekend

Ugh. I am sick, sick, sick.  Nothing life-threatening, just annoying and exhausting.  The Tim had a bit of a cold last week, but it didn't really do much and was gone pretty quickly.  I had some sniffles early in the week, but kept feeling a little bit more icky each day.  A while back, we had planned to be in Baltimore this weekend, but had to cancel those plans due to The Tim's work schedule.  I had decided originally that I would just go ahead and take the Friday and Monday off work as originally planned, and work on some of my own stuff, enjoying an extra long weekend.

So much for those plans.  Thursday I woke up and thought, well, I'm getting that cold.  But Friday when I woke up, WHAM it had hit me!  Sore throat, headache, cough and congestion, the whole thing, soon followed by laryngitis.  I called my dr to ask for some cough syrup, and the good news is that in a very unusual development, she gave me the Good Stuff right away!  But that's really the only good news from the last few days.  I will probably stay home tomorrow as planned, but I am wondering if I should try to tough it out and stay home on Tuesday instead.  They are predicting heavy, all-day rain on Tuesday (left over from Hurricane Florence), and I'm not looking forward to slogging around in that.  Anyway, we'll see.  I'm lucky because a cold is my worst problem, but it is still frustrating. 

Anyway.

One of the things I had planned on doing was finishing a pair of socks I'm knitting for one of my sisters.  I am really close, and was hoping to have them completed by today.  But I have neither the energy nor the focus to even knit.  So they will have to wait.  I did have it together yesterday long enough to soak and block a swatch I'd made and immediately forgot about when I couldn't find my blocking mats. 

Before going any further, I'm waiting until I can trust my brain cells, but I *think* I have the correct gauge, which would be nice.  It doesn't matter today anyway, since I am still not able to knit without having to tear it out and start over once I'm feeling better.

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In other news, Hamlet is getting more used to the cats every day.  Not that he was ever aggressive towards them, but you could tell he was perplexed when they would try to rub against him,  or try to cuddle with him.  He just had no idea how to react.  But the other day, he let the Koodle lick his ears, and yesterday he and Jack had a nose-to-nose moment.  Also the other day, he was even brave enough to sleep on his pad, though the Koodle was already there!

Baby steps, right?

OK, I'm calling it the end now - this has already taken me about 45 minutes to do, and I think I will take my cough syrup and see if I can take a nap.  I hope your weekend has been better than mine!

When Swatches Lie

Well, OK swatches don't lie, but they can tell us things we don't want to know.  I have been wanting to make this top since last summer.  I didn't tackle it last year, because I was determined to finish my Cranberry Custom Fit sweater no matter what, and did not want to even think about starting something else.

But as you know, that sweater was finished, another was actually started and successfully completed (I still find that hard to believe!), and this year I decided somewhat informally that my knitting goals were going to include learning some new things.  (I say informally because for the first couple of months of the year, my knitting goals changed several times a day.)  So a few weeks ago I bit the bullet and purchased the pattern and some Quince & Co. Sparrow yarn in the colorway Port.  My "learning" for this was going to be knitting with linen yarn.  I know it's supposed to be tricky, and that it also softens and becomes much more lovely once it has been washed.

Starting off, there are already two things here that are So Not Me:  1) I actually purchased a pattern.  I am such a cheapskate when it comes to patterns, and I think it's because I feel like "little" purchases add up so fast I'm always surprised.  If I spend $$ on yarn, I'm spending all of it at one time, right in front of me.  But if I buy three patterns over the course of say, a month, and each one is $6.00-$10.00, all of sudden I'm surprised at how much I've spent; 2) I am trying a type of yarn that even a lot of really experienced knitters I know just won't even try, as they think linen is AWFUL for knitting.

I can tell you right now, that it's not really wind-able into a center pull skein - ask me how I found out. ;-)  But that aside, I got two skeins ready and knitted a swatch.  Obviously, it's different than using wool - I mean, it's got NO give or springiness at all (kinda like me on my best days).  But I didn't find it particularly frustrating, and I dutifully knitted my swatch, gave it a soak, and a bit of blocking.

Proof (and yes, it's a bit wonky.  Work with me here).

The pattern calls for 5.5 stitches to the inch.  I'm usually pretty spot on getting gauge, which is lucky because I'm not someone who can easily figure out the math/measurements/whatever involved to adjust things.  I measured in four different areas, and each time got 6 stitches to the inch.  GAH!  I asked God WHY SUCH TERRIBLE THINGS MUST BEFALL ME???? (Oddly, he seems otherwise occupied and not completely focused on my knitting.  Thanks, Obama.)

Sigh.  I don't want to go up a needle size, because I like the fabric I have with this swatch, and think going up would make it too sheer for my tastes.  The pattern says that the resulting top has approximately 2 inches of positive ease.  So it seems that my choices are to go ahead with this, but then possibly end up with a top much bigger than I would like, or actually go down a size, and then worry that it will be too form-fitting for my taste (and my form).

It's true.  These are the times that try men's [women's] souls.  WHY MUST MY SWATCH LIE TO ME????

I shall have to make a decision and go forth.  And I will, and hopefully it will all work out in the end.  But I didn't choose the color "Port" so I couldn't w[h]ine.  (I'll be here all week, folks!)

Anyway, if you have any words of wisdom, feel free to share.  If not, fall onto your knees and thank whatever deity you believe in that such tragedy has not entered your life (and you can also thank them for not making you Overly Dramatic while you're at it).

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In other news, yesterday was of course the royal wedding, and the excitement level at our house was insane.  This photo pretty much sums it up.

I will say that I thought her dress was lovely, and I hope they will have a happy life.  I shall leave it there, since I have *many* thoughts about the entire topic, but let's just stick with the kind ones, shall we?

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And, finally (yes!), I will just share with you that 40 years ago today, The Tim and I graduated from college.  I was first in the class!**

Have a nice Sunday.  I just saw the sun come out here, so I'm gonna get dressed and take a walk.

**we graduated in alphabetical order