I’m attempting to thwart that icky I-don’t-wanna-go-back-to-work Sunday-night feeling with a blog post.
Very similar to the strategy employed in high school in lieu of doing homework on a Sunday night: write a 4-page note to at least 2 BFFs about the boy who doesn’t even know who I am, then fold the notes into tiny shapes and shove them into my backpack for later distribution.
So much easier - and less heart-wrenching - to just type away here and then click on “publish”. And knitting is just less stressful than boys. At least the scary ones I shed tears over knew. Or wanted to know. You know.
Couple of new WIPs going now, I’m happy to report.
Like clockwork that doesn’t work quite right, the gifting instinct came a wee bit late for me this year. This is supposed to happen before Christmas, but I feel less Grinch-ish now and more susceptible to the knitting-gifts-for-others bug. So people I love will be getting little knitted things now instead of then.
Not now, but soon.
Sknitty got me turned on to Thermis, which I cast on last night and tore through like a bandit. Something about that thermal pattern mixed with the cowl and then the buttons - Amy likey. I’ve just got the second buttonhole and a bit of ribbing left and then this puppy will be off the needles.
I do like the Cascade Rustic yarn I picked up for this. Never even heard of Rustic, and when I saw it in ye olde LYS, I become entranced by the pretty soft grey mix. Seventy-nine percent wool, the rest linen, which is why the color has such a distinct variation, I think - the two fibers pick up the dye differently.
Normally linen and I don’t get along too well, but I really liked the feel of this yarn. I figured I’d go for it since this is a cowl that’s meant to drape nicely around the neck and probably won’t be prone to lots of wrinkling. I let the visions of creased pants and skirts float away and just bought it. Very proud of myself.
Once I cast on I could see that although hitting stitches-per-inch gauge would be easy, the fiber was plumper in row height than the suggested Patons Classic Wool, so row gauge would be off. No worries - I made a few mods along the way to accommodate. I still like the way it’s looking. Will share the modifications with the FO post.
I do have my eye on making another one of these little Thermis guys in a lighter neutral tone. We’ll see.
At the yarn store, along with the grey Rustic, I picked up some Berroco Ultra Alpaca to make handwarmers for my aunties, who tend toward chilliness, even in Arizona. I hope to get going on those soon as well.
Next, a pair of knee-high red socks as requested by Maizy. Found a nice little mock-cable pattern that I adapted to a child’s size.
I had Sissy B run some covert measurements while Maizy was napping, but given my desire to get this right without bothering her with fervent texts about calf measurements again, there are still a few particulars I’m guessing a bit on.
Sad to say, I actually Googled “child calf dimension” prior to breaking down and asking my sister the first time.
As for my Google endeavor, after finding not much, I did land on this kind-of-freaked-me-out research article reporting the optimal way to measure kids prior to designing and standardizing crash tests for cars. And I proceeded to use the resulting charts and graphs in sketching out the sock adaptation - uh, is that geeky?
Anyway, here’s hoping they fit her! Will see Sissy B and the girls next weekend, so I’m hoping these two are FO’d by then.
Sheer Poncho - absolutely no progress. Maybe soon. Stockinette, don’t take it personally.
That’s it for now. And would you look at the time! Looks like sleepy time - no time to catch up on those work e-mails I’ve been ignoring for the better part of two weeks. Darn.
Consider the top-secret BFF note folded into a triangle and slid into your locker.
