Lately, it's been a case of finishing up a few projects. The fourth pet blanket has been crocheted. The Niyritt Hat came out cute. I wish I had knit an extra repeat in the body of the hat before starting the cabling at the top. It fits fine but I would have liked it to be a little longer in order to cover my ears better. The Monkey socks are progressing well. I managed to start the heel flap last night. I might still manage to finish these before the end of the month.
A couple of years ago, I won some fiber from a KAL on Ravelry. It's very pretty but a bear to spin. It's a little felted and has tons of nepps in it. The dyer felt bad about taking a while to get it to me so sent me 8 ounces instead of the original 4. The colors are very pretty pastel shades. After fighting my way through the first 4 ounce braid, my hands hurt, especially the right pointer finger. The most sore spot is right at the first knuckle which is a bit swollen.
Yesterday was a spin in at RI Handspun so I took it easy and worked on refilling a couple of partial bobbins with some more of my cria alpaca/merino hogget blend. That stuff almost spins itself. I hope Liz gets her mill back up and running some day. I love how she processes my fleeces and blends. There's plenty in the stash to keep me busy for quite a while if she doesn't re-open for a few years.
Due to the sore finger/hand, I'm not working on anything today.
Here's a couple pics of the Niyritt Hat. :
It's been a couple of interesting months as far as perspectives are concerned.
In January I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in a while when I went to knit group at the LYS. It was nice to visit with her for a few hours.
That visit was part of my decision to re-visit a spin group and then decide to re-join it. I've been away from this group for a few years and really missed seeing some of the people. It was lovely to talk with many of them again. This past Saturday was the monthly meeting so I went again and had a nice time.
Yesterday, I learned the brother of a person I used to be very good friends with had passed away. He was only 52. I called to offer my condolences and might be re-visiting this person again after many years. We have some stuff to work out first. If we resume the friendship, it will be different.
Crafting has been going on during this time. As I posted in the previous entry, time was spent blocking oodles of shawls. I also got some pics of finished projects, some which need blocking yet.
On the needles right now, I have a pair of Monkey socks, a pair of vanilla socks, the Niyritt Hat, and Mortica shawl. That shawl isn't seeing any love right now. I just can't deal with the black lace yarn. It hurts my eyes to work on it, even with the Ott lamp and magnifier. The Monkey socks have a plain foot instead of patterned. The Niyritt Hat has a flat top with lots of cables. The construction is a new to me style. Also on the side is Brickless to be knit with Play at Life's yarn in the "Gloaming" colorway. I've got two skeins of this and plan to make matching socks.
I've also been crocheting pet blankets for shelter animals. These are for the annual drive with the Yarnivore Podcast. So far, I've finished three with a fourth started.
The wheels have been busy as well. I've finished a a 4.2 ounce braid of DkKnits Merino/Silk in the "Don't Touch the Tree" colorway. It's pinks and green. The way she dyed it has the colors repeating four times in the braid, so I did a chain ply. The resulting yardage was 283.8 which isn't bad. Skein number 6 of the Cria Alpaca/Merino Hogget blend is also on the wheel right now.
Here are some pics of unblocked items. Artemsia Sweater, Molly Scarf and Cafe Au Lait Mitts, "Gloaming" yarn, and the finished pet blankets. Molly and the mitts were done with the same yarn as a set.
A couple of weeks ago I decided to get out my blocking boards and supplies. The result was several shawls finally blocked and wearable. :) It took two rounds of blocking since Mystic and Bee Leaf were so huge, I ran out of boards and pins.
Mystic Delight Shawl, Bee Leaf Half Pi Shawl, 198 Yds to Heaven Shawlette, Zuzu's Petals cowl/scarf (in a handspun Loop batt), and Saroyan have all been added to the pile, ready to be worn.
Pics are in order of listing above. I forgot to take a pic of Saroyan on the boards.
