I Can Explain…

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I’ve spent most of this year doing a great job sticking to my yarn diet. I only buy the yarn that I have earned (100 g earned for every 300 g knit). Recently I went off the rails, and now I’m 2052 g in the hole for the year. I don’t think I’ll be able to knit my way out of it this year. I’m disappointed in myself, and I’ll be continuing my yarn diet next year.

It all started out so simply. My sister is going to have a baby, so I wanted to get yarn to make a baby sweater. I found a pattern and yarn I liked on bluprint and decided to buy it.

I didn’t want to pay for shipping, so I added on a sweater kit I’d been eyeing.

But when the kit arrived I noticed that I had made a grave error. Instead of selecting coral, I distractedly ordered two different teals.

Obviously that wouldn’t work, so when I ordered the coral I added on some yarn to get to free shipping. I found a nice wool/silk blend on sale, so I bought a sweater quantity. The problem is I wanted to buy 1000 yards, but instead I convinced myself I needed 100 g, so now I have enough yarn for two sweaters.

I was going to be done, but I had already promised Ivy I would go to an Andrea Mowry KAL at a local yarn shop. I decided on the Range shawl, but I didn’t have the right yarn for it. So I bought four skeins of Malibrigo for the shawl.

I know I will use all of the yarn I’ve purchased, but I sure do wish I would have utilized my stash first. I have never gone on a yarn binge like this before. I hope I never do again.

So now I’m off to learn brioche so I can continue to work on the shawl. I am also going to work on my whitehorse sweater so I can finish it and cast on the baby sweater. It’s a good thing I feel inspired to knit again, as I have a lot of knitting to do.

WIP Wednesday

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I cannot bring myself to work on anything but the sweater. I even took it with me when I headed out of town with me. I’m usually a strict travel sock knitter.

It is a cropped sweater, so I don’t think I’m going to go down in needle size for the ribbing. I don’t think a sweater tight around the thickest point of me is a good idea. If you think that idea is silly please let me know and explain why.

I’m looking forward to seeing how it looks once it is blocked. Lace always looks a little barfy before a good blocking.

Are you working on something you love?

August Reads

mildlygranola4 Comments

Happy September. Now that it’s getting dark earlier I hope my desire to read returns. Last month I didn’t make a dent in my to read pile, and what I did read wasn’t exactly deep writing. Summer is so busy, and when I finally get to bed I’m ready to sleep instead of read. Because of that, I only read five books this month.

The Tenth Island: Finding Joy, Beauty, and Unexpected Love in the Azores by Diana Marcum. This memoir is about a journalist and her love of the Portuguese islands of Azores. This book was interesting enough. I could barely read a chapter a night, because as enjoyable as it was to read it was literary ambien to me. I give this book two out of five stars.

Wallflower at the Orgy by Nora Ephron. This book is a collection of essays that Ephron wrote in the 70s. They are still entertaining today. I fell in love with her writing while reading this book. I don’t know why I haven’t been reading Nora Ephron for years. I give this book four out of five stars.

I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron. While reading Wallflower at the Orgy I requested another Ephron book from the library. This book is full of funny and sad essays on aging. I think this will become my go-to birthday gift for friends with a milestone birthday over 50. I really enjoyed this book. I give this book four out of five stars.

Playing House by Ruby Lang. This is a cute romance book that is also a fast read. It wasn’t mind blowing or particularly memorable, but it was enjoyable. I give this book three out of five stars.

Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid. Did you know there is a knitting romance series? I had no idea, but once I knew about it I knew I had to check it out. I was disappointed with the lack of knitting content, but it was still a fun dread. I give this book two out of five stars.

I’m not sharing my September to read pile, as it is the same as last month. Perhaps this month I’ll get back to devouring books.

WIP Wednesday

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I’m finished with the gusset on the first Twizzle sock. I love how this pattern looks, and the yarn has been great to work with.

I’ve been spending almost all of my time working on a Whitehorse sweater. I cast on the sweater on the 22nd, and since then I have wanted to ignore all obligations and knit.

Are you ever compelled to knit something and you don’t even care how it turns out? That is me with this sweater. I didn’t swatch. I’m using worsted instead of DK and I didn’t make any adjustments. I might not have enough yarn. It has bobbles. It has lace. It is not something I would normally knit. I’m setting myself up for sweater failure, and I don’t mind. I’ve fallen madly for this pattern and I just want to knit it. If it doesn’t fit I’m sure I’ll find someone that it works for.

I’m now off to go knit on the sweater. Please don’t ask me to hang out, I have a sweater to knit.

Sock It To Me Monday

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The Christmas socks are done. I’m happy with how they turned out. I’m especially happy with how the striping worked out with the heel flap and gusset.

I also make Elliot a hat this weekend. He wanted a red pompom. I thought it would look silly, but it turns out the red looks great on the hat.

I really should have cleaned up the kids art area before taking this picture. My house is messy, but not the hoarder level of messy as it appears in this photo.

Thanks to finishing these projects I’m only around 1650 g of yarn in the yarn diet hole. I don’t think I’ll get out of it this year, but I’m going to try.