Squirrelly Time of Year

Hi there big guy. I’m looking at you. Sigh.

Squirrels have been chewing at our bird feeders, trying to get enough seeds to put away for the winter. I know, squirrels have to eat too, but the poor little birdies are hungry also. And the price of bird seed has gone up a lot! 

Anyway. I haven’t been knitting much, but I thought I should post so you don’t worry or forget me or anything.

The Eastport Pullover by Stacey Warner, the sweater that I was working on, is going along. I finished the back and I am a little over halfway done the front.

It’s a really fun knit. This sweater was originally called Silver Birch, but Stacey resized it and renamed it Eastport Pullover. I like how it’s easy enough to watch television and knit, but it comes out looking fantastic. Plus, the yarn (Fleece Artist Chinook) is wonderful.

 I have a couple new things that I started. First is a pair of socks. I’m using some hand dyed sock yarn that I bought in 2009 in Bar Harbor. It has pretty autumnal colors that made me want to start knitting with it:

I bought the pattern for the socks I’m making from AnnaKnitter Yarns on Etsy; it’s called Helgen and I think it means something to do with dragons, but I could be wrong. Anna lives in Germany and speaks very good English. You should watch her podcast. I have a lot of respect for people who speak more than one language; I took three years of French in high school, took a semester in college, and was brought up in a small town that was more than half populated by French Canadians, but I cannot speak French.

The socks went pretty fast when I started, but I have kind of lost interest in them, so I’m only about halfway down the foot of the first sock. It will go faster when I have the first one done. I find the second sock always goes faster; I know, I’m weird, but that’s how my mind works. I will never suffer from Second Sock Syndrome.

Poor lonely sock.

 I love these Lyyke Driftwood double pointed needles. They’ve got just the right pointy bit, are lightweight, have the size clearly marked on them, and they let the stitches slide easily but also at the same time they have just the right amount of “grabbiness” so your stitches always feel secure. I love them. I’m knitting these socks on size 2.50mm, which is US size 1.5.

I also started a Hitchhiker scarf, because it’s easy and there is no pattern to fight the yarn, which is the centerpiece of the scarf.

I’m using Expression Fiber Arts Mirage fingering (60% superwash merino, 20% baby camel, 10% cashmere, 10%silk) in the color Introspective. (Sadly, they don’t have Mirage in fingering weight, but they do have it in sport weight. They have lots of luscious yarns in fingering weight too!) It’s a skein that’s been sitting in my stash for a couple years and now it’s time to be used. Our house is staying at 50 degrees this winter, and it’s time to use scarves!

Speaking of being cold, I finished my handspun fingerless gloves a while ago. They’re beautiful! They felt itchy when I first put them on, but after blocking them, they softened up.

I’m thinking about doing another Advent Calendar this year. I’ll let you know if I get it done. Have a good day, and Happy Knitting!