Happy New Year

I hope that this new year is more peaceful, healthy and happier for all than last year.

I was home for much of the week between Christmas and new year. I had been working hard to get all caught up so that I could spend as much time as possible at home this week and it worked out well.

I was able to do a lot of cleaning, some organizing and clearing out, spinning and knitting. I enjoyed spending time with DH as we worked together on some projects. Sigh. It was good.  We spent New Years Eve at home as usual. Bob read, I spun, having joined a virtual spin in on Ravelry to spin in the new year. We watched the neighborhood fireworks at midnight and then snuggled into our bed.

New Year's Eve spin in. I didn't enjoy Dick Clark's show much but I really liked listening to the New York Philharmonic play.

Grafton Batt lace weight progress. Color  is not accurate, but I'll try again. 

I have new projects to report on and updates on ongoing works. I will be doing a KAL to make Mawata mittens in a few days. I decided to buy some dyed hankies in colors that I love. I forget what the name of this colorway is but I really like it a lot. It came from Wooliebullie on Etsy.

I had some un-dyed hankies, plus some that I had purchased previously that were languishing in my stash box. Melanie came over on Friday and we spent a fun afternoon dyeing silk hankies (mawata) for her and looking over her fiber related gifts. I am hoping for some pictures of her dyed hankies once they are dry.

The next day I decided to knit up the old, languishing hankies into a scarf to get a feel for them before knitting something that made size matter. I hated one of the colors in those hankies (possibly why they languished in my stash?) and decided to take care of that issue after being inspired by Melanie's creativity. I soaked them for several hours, pulled out the dyes we had used the day before and chose 2 colors. I applied dye mostly to the area with the color I didn't like but didn't worry if I got it on the nice purple that was there. I chose navy blue and dark green, poured them on and slid the pan into the oven. It was quite breezy so they had a good drying time outside for several hours, then, because I was impatient, I put them over the heat vent overnight and I had dry hankies to knit the next day. Here is my progress so far. The bright purple was there and the navy blue and green are covering the sort of reddish purple that I didn't care for.



I decided on a diagonal garter scarf - it's an easy project. I like the mawata knitted in stockinette more, but the garter made the increases and decreases necessary for this scarf design less noticeable.

 I have pictures of my unblocked Shaelyn shawl to show you. It's a nice, comfortable size for over the shoulders (or on the lap) and may get a bit bigger with blocking, though I don't plant to pin it out stretched but to just pull it out and let it dry. It is very light weight, feels squishy and is very comfortable. It may or may not be a gift at some point. I haven't decided.




I enjoyed knitting this pattern and may knit it again. It might work well with some hand spun odds and ends. We'll see.



 I am knitting the Jeweled Cowl using Posh Yarns Arabella and some seed beads. It took many attempts to get this right, mostly because I apparently had forgotten how to join for knitting in the round without twisting. Dummy me. Anyway, I got it started properly and was knitting merrily along. I looked it over, though and had to look REALLY hard for the beads. Out it came (again)  and larger beads were purchased. I am moving along nicely now and I like it. Only one small section of the cowl has beads and the rest is stockinette in the round, so it's a nice project to knit on even when you don't have much energy or concentration.

The beads are still subtle but not hard to find.

 I was working on Bob's textured sweater but admit to getting sidetracked over the holiday. I'll get back to work on it soon.

 The double knit Honka scarf is almost complete. I will reach the end of the pattern repeat in about 10 rows. I then have to decide whether to knit until the yarn is gone (which will not be another full pattern repeat and so the scarf won't be symmetrical at each end)  or to end the scarf with the end of this pattern repeat. There won't be much yarn left at that point, so that's probably what I will do. That means that there is another FO coming in a few days!

Happy New Year!

Shaelyn Finished!

I bound off last night! I still have to weave in a few ends (not many) and block, but the kitting is complete and I love it. I am just not sure whether it will be mine or a gift to someone, but I love it anyway.

I cast on Rob's second Riff sock, blocked Brian's binary cable scarf, blocked the swatch for Bob's next sweater and knitted a bit on Brian's SKYP sock (the second). I didn't get any knitting done on the Honka scarf but I hope to do some of that this week.

I prepped and spun more of the pine green fiber that I started last week for the Ravelry challenge. I think that one more spinning session will give me enough of the main color. I can then spin some of the roving for the 3rd ply of my 3 ply piney yarn. I have fiber coming that will be blended for the sky colors in the painting, and I will use some of my brown BFL for the tree trunks.

The blue spruce tree in the back yard has been lit up for the first time for Christmas. We talk about it every year but it never gets done. This year we seem to be getting to things that we haven't in past years. Maybe it's the warmer weather making us less reluctant to be outdoors doing things that you can't wear gloves to do. ; )

Most of the Christmas gifts have been wrapped and are under the tree - that's a first, too.  I have a few things on order, and a few more things that I have that go into gift bags rather than boxes with wrapping paper. I have not yet written out cards, though. Bad girl.

I am trying to hit the right balance between being active and productive and also giving my back the care that it requires right now. I was in pain most of the weekend because I got impatient and moved some heavy things by myself. Grrr.... When will I learn?!   Thank goodness for ibuprofen!