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March 2020
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May 2020

Unraveled

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I unraveled my Kinsale sweater. I determined that the two cones of yarn were not, actually, going to have enough yarn to knit a sweater; I got about a quarter of the way up the back and found I had used almost half the yarn ... and each cone was supposed to be enough for a back (or front) plus a sleeve.

Oh well. The yarn is destined to become something else I guess. Maybe I'll use that blue yarn to crochet a shawl, do something quick. Yeahhhh ... that's the ticket.

In the good news department, the Raineach hat is done.

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Unblocked

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Blocked

I like how it came out, but it will be even prettier in yarn that has more contrast. I'll knit another one sometime.

Today I feel very tired and lazy. I have ten things on my knitting cue (I have a ton of things to knit, but I limit my Knitting Queue  to only 10), but only two items have yarn ready to knit. The eight others all need the yarn caked or balled up, and it just seems like too much work. Then there would be a gauge swatch to knit. I think I'd rather just take a nap.


Still Quarantining

Hi there! I'm fine, how are you? Healthy, I hope!

While others have been busily sewing masks

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Image by Christo Anestev from Pixabay

and doing other heroic things, I have been spinning and knitting and just staying home. In other words, my usual life.

On the spinning front, I finished the turquoise fiber and am halfway through spinning a braid of yarn that I hand dyed pre-stroke:

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Here are a bobbin of each side by side:

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I am going to ply them together and make a fingering weight yarn that will look like a summer day on the coast of Maine. I can almost feel the wind in my face and hear the water slooshing by! I'll knit the Crest O' the Wave stole by Wendy Johnson:

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On the knitting front, I have knit three pairs of socks:

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These socks were started pre-stroke, so over ten years ago.

The red fluffy ones on top are a mohair blend that I lost the band from, and I ran out of yarn to finish them, so I completed the foot on the second sock with bright red worsted weight wool. I neglected to photograph them when they were finished.

The pink socks are a worsted weight from a yarn called Wick (now discontinued) from Knit One, Crochet Too, a 53% soy, 47% polypropylene yarn that wicks moisture away from you.

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These socks are fingering weight from Heavenly Yarns in Belfast. (They have lots of yarn, buttons, and needles! Free shipping on orders $30 and over! You should go!) The yarn is Sox by Berroco and is so pretty!

What is on my needles?

I have a sweater, a hat, and a shawl/scarf/thing going.

The sweater is Kinsale by Alice Starmore (in Fishermen's Sweaters):

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I am using two 1-lb. cones of Jagger Ragg in blue that was gifted to me by Nancy Howard in 2015 or 2016.

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The hat is Raineach by Juliet Bernard that was in The Knitter magazine, issue 148.

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I am knitting Raineach out of scraps: gray yarn from my KittyCat Socks, and a ball of pre-stroke handspun that I don't even remember spinning at all, or what I originally knit from it. Perhaps I was drunk.

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Anyway, it is really pretty. Here are the sweater and hat together:

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So pretty.

Finally, I have another Linus shawl/scarf/thing on my needles for my evening TV knitting, using scraps of blue and green:

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Here it is so far:

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I have a ways to go!

Happy knitting and spinning, stay healthy both mentally and physically, and learn something today that you didn't know yesterday. I think I will learn how to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

Yum.

 

 


Sweater #3 Is Done!

Welcome to Staying at Home in Maine!

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(Image by Jillian Schleger from Pixabay)

Number three of six  of the Make Nine Goal 2020 is complete:

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Pattern: Brookings by Marie Greene

Yarn: Swans Island Sterling Collection Worsted, color: Pyrite

This was a fun and relatively quick knit. It wasn't too difficult, especially once I was past the sleeve divide:

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The yarn was absolutely lovely!

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I have a skein and a little bit left over; maybe I'll make a Fairfax Hat:

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I'll let the yarn rest for the moment though. I've got socks to finish.

Be well, and happy knitting!