Mrs. Collins Makes Stuff

On September 1, I started my All the Makes post. I got through my project
updates and was halfway through my making updates. Then I hit save and walked
away for three weeks. Don’t ask me where the post went or what happened in
those three weeks because the answer is the same for both questions: a
resounding “I dunno.” So, here we are, almost at the end of
September. August was pretty good. It didn’t feel like there was a ton of
making, but I did complete a couple of things. This is miraculous, considering
that the beginning of school also arrived.

Finished Objects:

Tall vanilla socks. I knit this in Kirby Wirby sock set with contrast heel,
cuff, and toe. I love the color of the yarns, but it was incredibly thin, and I
didn’t see value in the contrast color. It was rather blah for how fun the
rainbow striping was.

Finally, some charity knitting! I knit two scrappy hats and a washcloth.

Sweaters for Ginger’s Girls- Flax by Tin Can Knits. I knit these sweet
little sweaters using Bernat Softee Baby Cotton.

 

New cast ons:

Slippy V shawl

Works in progress:

Blue Mountain Cowl

Shatar Vest

Feebs dress

Goals for next month:

Cast on my Mendocino project

Cast on items from my Ravelry queue

Sew a bow bag

Don’t fail my class

   August was a pretty decent making month. I checked another couple of boxes,
made a couple of gift sweaters, and did some charity knitting. It was pretty
decent, I must say. I started by finishing the longest socks ever, both in
length and in how long it felt like it took me to complete. I don’t know why
those socks dragged on, but they did. The Husband asked me to knit sweaters for
his friend’s toddler and soon to be here bean, so of course, I did. We are
delivering them when we go to the yarn crawl next month. I am soooo stoked for
that weekend, I can’t even tell you. I tried a new baby yarn, Bernat Softee
Baby Cotton. I bought it at Joann’s, and it has worked out marvelously. I hope
it washes and wears well. I am never precious with baby knits and try not to make
the parents feel that they have to be precious with them, either. I started the
Slippy V shawl by Stephen West. I knit the same 4 inches about 7 times, trying
to figure out what I was doing wrong. On try #8, I decided to trust the process
and the designer and keep going. What a stooge! I was doing it correctly the whole
time! I just wasn’t used to the look of the ribbing, so I figured it was
incorrect. Lame… I am hardly blazing trails with it since I have to pay
attention when I knit it. I am not 100% sure that I like the color combination,
but I figure I will complete it, and if I don’t like it, I will gift it. I think
I am finally getting to the point with my knitting that I am okay with giving away
the finished objects. I actually gave the failed Soho top and a Cropped Lace
Tee by Annie Lupton that I knit several years ago to Sister #1. Soho is too
big, and Cropped Lace Tee is too cropped. They both look ridiculous on me but
will look fantastic on her. So, off they went to a new home, and it didn’t
break my heart. I own the patterns, and lord knows I have enough yarn. I can
knit them again if I choose. Look at me, being a big girl! I also cranked out
some charity items this month. I need to stay on that and not be so selfish
with my knitting time. Especially when it takes me roughly an hour to knit a
washcloth. So, I will keep chipping away and work through my odd balls of wool
and my never-ending cotton stash.

The first week of August was the family barbeque at Sister #2’s house. It
was a lovely day, and I really enjoyed seeing my family. It is so cool to see
all the littles growing up and becoming people. The next week marked the
beginning of the school year. Good lord, I wasn’t ready for 4th grade. I don’t
know how my baby is 9 and moving up the elementary school food chain so fast.
I am just not prepared. She got a new teacher, who seems very nice. She is new
to the school and has a lot of fresh ideas. We will see how she hangs with the
veteran, more set in their ways, 4th-grade teachers. Feebs seems to like her,
and that is what I care about. We had pizza night that Friday and went to
the McM’s house. We had a great evening, and T and I have started to cement a
girl’s getaway night/ weekend. That weekend, I took the mom-in-law for lunch and
hair. It was a very long day, but we enjoyed our visit. The following week was
back-to-school night, the Father came to visit, we did yellow belt testing, and
the elder Uy came to hang out. Feebs did get her yellow belt, and the rest of
the week was really good. The following week was the dreaded beginning of my
Fall Semester. I signed up for an Introduction to Film class. I did the first
week’s assignments and read over the syllabus. The syllabus was NOT my jam. It
was full of controversial and uplifting movies. That was already not bringing
me joy. Then, I read the last unit. Our last three movies were horror movies.
Nopeity, nope, nope, nope. I quickly registered for World Cinema from
1900-1960, and dropped Intro to Film. I hard No horror. I don’t need that stuff
in my subconscious. No, thank you. So far, it is going good. I was supposed to
see Ms. H, but school put the kibosh on that. The last week of the month was
pretty uneventful; just work and school.

I also did something in August that I hadn’t planned on. Mid-month, I got
fed up with the fact that I was destroying my hands again. They were hurting
and were constantly torn up. I know that I can’t have all of the open sores,
nor do I need to have my hands in my mouth all the time. So I did a little
research on cleanliness and walked into a local nail shop, and got acrylic
nails put on. It is such a shame that I have to do that, with how strong and
lovely my real nails are, but I have to have nails that are too thick to
scratch and pick with. It has helped a lot! I like the salon and the guy that
does them. I will just keep having them done until I feel confident that I can
not attack my hands when I have my natural nails. So, with some self-care, I can
avoid some self-harm.

Other than that, August was pretty quiet. I loved my knitting time and was
guarding it jealously leading up to school starting. School puts a damper on
fun extracurriculars. Hopefully, I will easily adjust to my new schedule and
still work in some time for making. I did check two more boxes on my Knitting
Bingo card, and got another Bingo! Only 7 to go, and I will have a blackout. Let
the adventures continue!

Loves,

M