2021 was the year I used a white board to organize my knitting. One year in, and I call it a success. I knit all but two of the projects I’ve been saying I want to knit. I’ve knit projects that have been in my queue for years. It felt great. I was able to finish 63 projects this year. I do not anticipate knitting that many projects in 2022, as breaking my ankle and being immobile for months really added in knitting time.
In 2022 I hope to knit down my stash. I will buy yarn, but only when travelling, at fiber festivals, or if someone requests an item I do not have the yarn for.
I haven’t felt like knitting much lately. Since taking a spinning class at my local guild I’ve become obsessed with spinning.
After class I spun up some random bits I had around my house. Most of it was merino, with some unknown bits of green that a lady made Ivy and I take when we went to the Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival. I don’t know why she made us take bits of combed top, but I assume it is because she is a wool drug dealer. The first hit is always free. The next thing you know you are blowing all our money on fleece. Note to self: ask Ivy if she remembers this at all, or if I was the only one approached by a wool dealer.
After spinning up the random bits around my house (which included at least 4 ounces of incredibly soft 19.5 micron merino combed top from Nikki Slipp). I decided to go wild and try one of the braids from HoneyGold Acres I picked up at the fiber festival I attended in November. The braid was US Rambouillet in the Annaliessa colorway. My spinning is improving in evenness, but is still wonky at times. I ended up with about 237 yards in 4 ounces, which works out to be close to DK weight. I look forward to knitting with this yarn.
Way back at the beginning of October I ordered finishing wax for my wheel. Today I finally took the time to wax my wheel, and I can’t believe how much prettier it looks. It went from plain wood to a beautiful honey color. It is enough to make me want to spin even more.
Next spring the kids and I are planning on planting a dye garden to dye light wool I’ve spun. If you have any experience with growing a dye garden or natural dying I would love your advice. I’m a total novice with any sort of dying.
I expect to be back to knitting tomorrow. Or at least winding my yarn for the KAL that starts on Sunday. As a reminder, you can join the skype cast on party if you send me your e mail address so I can add you.
This year, instead of buying an Advent calendar, I swapped Advent calendars with two of my friends. It was amazing. I was able to find yarn from dyers I wanted to share with them. During Advent I was able to open up two mini skeins each day, curated by women I love.
There were several Hue Loco, Leading Men Fiber Arts, and Emma’s Yarn skeins. I now have so many mini skeins to choose from for so many projects. I am not sure what I’m going to make yet, but some of them will be used in scrap blankets.
My friends are cool, obviously. If you would like to hang out with us virtually, you can! We are having a Skype cast on party for the Vertices Unite KAL. We will have mimosas! We will have yarn! We will have witty banter and saucy comments! If I have more than one drink I’ll show you how good I am at the robot (hint: not good). If you want to join us drop me a line with your e mail address. You can find me on Instagram as @mildlygranola or Ravelry as Sarahjane77. I hope you can join us!
Two pairs of socks finished this week. Neither pair is blocked. The purple and yellow pair is Thesaurus Day – the Knit Spin Farm Little Known Holidays Yarn Club. The pair with white cuffs, heels, and toes is my Cozy Knitter Advent socks 2020 (last year). I tried a true afterthought heel on these, and it was rather thrilling. I think I’ll do it again for socks with a stripe sequence that I’m enamored with.
Great news, guys – the days are getting longer. There is more light each day. Sure, it’s about to get hella cold here in Iowa, but it won’t be so dark.
We celebrate the changing of seasons in our home. We are outside throughout the year, and we like to take time to appreciate our world.
We started the day with cinnamon star bread (OK, really it wasn’t done until like 10:30, so it was more of a second breakfast, but we can pretend for a blog post that I am so with it and together I have fresh baked bread ready for breakfast in the morning, right?). The kids and I headed out to a state park to hike and play on the playground equipment.
After the hike I did five loads of laundry while the kids played PAW Patrol and begged to play on their tablets. I kept meaning to spin, but I got distracted playing around on my phone. I’m telling you this so you don’t think we have a totally peaceful and calm solstice.
Dinner was sun bread filled with olive tapenade with whipped feta dip. We made s’mores and lit sparklers and reminded ourselves that winter isn’t so bad when you wear the right layers. It also helps when you have good wine, good food, a great family, and friends to hang out with.
I hope that you are finding more light in your lives as the northern hemisphere returns to more light. If you are in the southern hemisphere, enjoy your summer solstice, and send some summer sun my way.
Hey! I’m going to start a Vertices Unite on January 1. I’m planning on taking this one slow, and hope to be able to wear it before 2023. I’m knitting with colors outside of my normal palate. I’m looking forward to stretching my colors and trying a Stephen West Pattern.
Want to join me? I might even set up a cast on party skype. Who knows. It could get wild.
mildlygranola 