Well, hello there, December.  I should be ashamed that this is going up in the last week of December… November was interesting.  The month was full of visitors, medical stuff, and kittens, with some last-minute making crammed in.  Still, no sewing is happening, but the semester is winding down, so hope is on the horizon.

• Finished Objects:

2 Everglade gift hats, by Wooly Wormhead.  One knit in Malabrigo Rios, one in Loops Fiber Studio Yin Yang Worsted.

Antler Toque gift hat, by Tin Can Knits.  Knit in Malabrigo Rios.

Headband with a Twist- day-25 advent, by Mirella Moments.  Knit in leftover Miss Babs Yowza.

• New Cast-ons:

Everglade gift hat

Flax baby sweater

• Works in Progress:

Shatar Vest

10 pairs of pajama pants/ shorts

White denim skirt

• Goals for the month:

Finish Daddy & Me pajama pants for Christmas

Sew more garments

Knit to your heart’s content once school is done

Finish the semester!

This was a slow month of making till the 2^nd week in November when the Mother- In- Law asked me to knit a hat for her friend’s birthday.  I pulled a skein of wool from older stash and knit an Everglade.  I love this pattern for feminine gifts.  It knits up quickly (once you get through the 3 miles of rib) and is so squish and lovely.  You can tell that it is a preferred gift knit go-to since I knit 2 this month and cast on one more.  I wonder how many I will knit before the year has ended.  Then I decided to knit some more gifts for Christmas.  I have absolutely loved knitting again and felt my stress level go down dramatically.  Still no sewing, but I forgive myself since I was in the last few weeks of the semester from hell.  I have a goal to get a little sewing done in December.  I want to get the matching cat jammies sewn for The Husband and Feebs, for Christmas.  Fingers crossed that I can pull that off in time.  I will have a solid month free between this semester and next, and I intend to make the hell out of December/ January. 

Life-wise, November was weird.  I made an executive decision, and on 11/3 I went to the county animal shelter and adopted two kittens, sisters, Mitsy and Missie.  I filled out the paperwork on the 3rd, and they were to be spayed and sent home on the 4th.  I paid the fee and took the pictures from the wall.  I told no one that I was doing this.  I went home that night, sat down the people in my house, and explained that I had made a big decision and that it would affect everyone and be a lot of work for us.  I knew they were both dubious, but they said “okay.”  I showed them the pictures and said that the little girls would be coming home to live with us the next day.  I should probably mention that The Husband is a cat person.  He has always been a cat person and marrying me meant that there would be no more cats.  I am allergic, Feebs is allergic, and cats are a lot of mess and maintenance.   And still, I went and adopted kittens.  Feebs squealed with delight, and the Husband ugly cried with joy.  They were both so surprised that I did it and couldn’t wait to meet the new babies.  We went to pick them up the next day.  We now have Esme and Lilith (Lillie).  They are adorable and very bonded to each other.  Mind you, exactly 7 days later, Lillie jumped off the top of the cat tree and broke her back leg.  Throughout the month, we have spent A LOT of money at the vet, but she is worth it.  I spent the first weekend of the month with The Mother, just the two of us.  It was lovely, and we got to have some chill time together.  Unfortunately, her house is still on the market, so there is no big movement on her moving closer to me.  The next weekend, I had my first infusion appointment.  I was able to reschedule my appointments when I was released from jury duty (hooray!!!).  It sucked a bit because my appointments were rescheduled for Veteran’s Day and the day after Thanksgiving.  All in all, it went okay.  I had an allergic reaction to the medication and had to get a mega dose of Benadryl to counteract it.  You haven’t lived until you have had a mega dose of Benadryl shot straight into your vein…  0 out of 5 stars, do not recommend it.  It didn’t knock me out but basically made me very out of sorts.  The first appointment took 7 hours, and the second took 4.  Fortunately, on the second round, the nurse was prepared for me to have a reaction, so she gave me Benadryl first.  I still don’t recommend it, and it threw me for a loop again.  Since she was proactive, the appointment went much faster.  Between the first and second doses were 1.) my cousin came to stay the weekend and 2. the week of Thanksgiving.  Madam Y came the day I had my first infusion, and the Husband picked her up from BART.  She asked me to teach her to knit, and Oh My God, Becky, she knit an entire hat over the weekend.  And when I say she knit a hat, I mean her stitches were even, and she did a beautiful job.  I didn’t realize that she had a larger head, so the hat she knit was very small, and she said she would gift it.  It was such a nice visit, and I am hopeful she will return for more knitting.  Then the following week The Mother came and stayed with Feebs to spend some time with her.  She stayed for Thanksgiving, and The Father came too.  The Husband cooked a huge spread, and everyone ate well.  It is crazy to me how he can whip up a complete meal and everything to be done at the same time.  On Thanksgiving morning, the three of us went to Alcatraz for the Sunrise Ceremony.  The Husband had gone for years before we met.  This was his first time going with us.  We got up very early and were bundled up in many layers.  The temperature wasn’t too cold, and we enjoyed the ferry ride to the island.  I was glad to go so that the Husband could experience it with us.  I don’t think I will go again next year.  The next weekend we got to see the Bell Ladies, which was delightful, and I got to meet the adorable grandbabies.  It was so nice to snuggle some littles and catch up with my friend and her girls.  The last Sunday of the month was crunch time to get going on my final work for the semester.  I was able to get my final English paper completed and submitted it on 11/30.  That basically ended the semester (workwise) for that class.  I started my final project for my Health class but didn’t finish it by the end of the month, and that wasn’t my goal anyway because it wasn’t due till 12/11.

So now we will be moving into December and the “real” holidays begin.  I am very behind on Christmas shopping (we celebrate non-religious Christmas).  The end-of-the-semester tunnel was in site!  I was almost done and so ready to be finished.  We already have a lot of fun things planned for the month, and I hope everything goes to plan.  I can’t wait to be free and able to make all the things.  Oh, and The Father has asked me to knit him a sweater for Christmas!  You could have knocked me over with a feather when he asked for that.  I went right online and ordered the yarn and will start knitting as soon as it arrives.  I warned him that it wouldn’t be done by Christmas but would be by his birthday in February (it will probably be done before that).  It seems like the month is full of possibilities!  I can’t wait!

Loves,

M

October was so busy, it’s almost like it didn’t happen. The month is also the doorway to holiday season, so it just stays busy till January (notice the date this is being posted?). October houses several crucial birthdays, an anniversary, and an important annual trip. And during all of it, not much making happened.

* New Cast-ons:

Lapis- will be ripped out, with the intention of using different contrast yarn

* Works in Progress:

Shatar vest

August 2022 socks

2470 Women’s Lace Border Tank Top

White denim skirt

10 pairs of pajama pants/ shorts

* Goals for next month:

Don’t fail any classes

Rip out Lapis and get new contrast yarn

Figure out and start holiday knitting

Teach Yin to knit

My knitting just didn’t work out this month. I tried. I honestly did. For some reason I just couldn’t get into any project that I worked on this month. Even knitting on the socks wasn’t bringing me joy. I started Lapis after Kristin, of the Voolenvine podcast, brought it to my attention. She had started it, then planned to rip it out. I thought the pattern would be an excellent way to use the gorgeous Ephemera mini set that I bought at Lambtown. I paired it with a charcoal gray Patons Kroy sock yarn, thinking it would moody and Fall-ish. I was wrong. It ended up being a weird color-block stripey thing that simply did not meld the way I had envisioned. This was my Mendocino knitting this year, so it is disappointing that it didn’t work out. I still want to make it, though. I think the top would be incredibly cute and versatile for layering during the cold months. I am leaning toward using a natural color contrast and striping it, instead of the solid block of color like in the pattern. I would also love to keep working on Shatar. I think that will be another excellent layering piece, and it will look scholarly and adorable. The only issue with working on that is that I have to 100% pay attention to what I am doing. This is NOT a T.V. knit. That being said, I haven’t had the time available to dedicate to it. And sewing… I will keep trying to get something out of that machine each month, but I am not sure it going to happen while 1) school is still a thing and 2) the Mother is here often and the bed has to stay down. Yin comes next month, too, so I am thinking the bed will stay down and sewing space won’t be available.

So October… The first weekend was Lambtown. There is a separate post for that, so I won’t bore you by going into detail. That following week was both Mendocino, and our 10th Anniversary. Our trip was so great! I know I say that every year, but this year was incredible. We did new things, like try an amazing Mayan restaurant in Fort Brag (mayanfusion.com), went to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, and tried out a new beach. We went the new coffee shop (formerly Moody’s) and found that is the same coffee as the previous shop, thank goodness. We went to a lot of the same places: the toy shop, Sea Pal Cove, and the rock shop. The girls got along so well, that it was almost eerie. The hot tub was out of commission, which was heartbreaking, but Ms. Lucy was incredibly generous about it and left us wine and offered a discounted rate for next year’s booking. Our anniversary was very nice. The O’s were kind enough to keep Feebs for us while we went to dinner. We tried the Mendocino Inn’s restaurant for the first time. The food was very good, but we felt that we should have gone back to Mayan Fusion instead (because that place was so amazing). I ordered the whole fish, and good lord, that was a commitment. It was huge! A guy at a neighboring table ordered the same thing, and both were delivered at the same time. We made startled eye contact and I told him that we should have shared one. He laughed, and we both did our level best to finish our dinners. While we were in Mendocino, of course we got our traditional pictures; the three of us in front of the house, the girls in front of the fireplace, and the girls at the beach. For the first time, we had the girls take a picture of the four adults. It was a great picture, and we now have a new memory. Once we got back from the trip, we got a slightly less fast-paced week. I had my EEG (everything looked good), and then Feebs and I spent the weekend at the Father’s house. The Mother changed our plans, so it was not as relaxing and flexible as I had hoped it would be. We saw the youngest niece and nephew, as they stayed with Dad over the next week. I guess I didn’t realize how difficult age 10 is. Once I was exposed to it, and it’s incredibly sassy attitude, I began to reminisce about all of the previous 10 year old’s (me included), and realized that it wasn’t a unique thing. I think all 10 year old’s, especially the female ones, are wretched. Gee, I can’t wait to have one of my own… It was nice to get to talk to them, though. I don’t see them often, and never in a small enough group to have actual conversations. The next week began Birthday Hell Week. The Ladies hosted Ms. V’s 50th birthday party on Tuesday, then Yin turned 20, then the Husband had his birthday, then the Mother had hers. This all happened in one week. It was a very long week. On the Husband’s birthday, we went to the Arnocorps show with the U boys. We had a fantastic night! The rest of the weekend was spend making the Mother happy. The following week was Halloween, and Feebs decided to be Harley Quin. She was stuck between that and Poison Ivey. Her penchant for villainesses makes me slightly nervous for the future. We went trick or treating with the FH group, which was really nice. and Feebs make out like a bandit with candy.

So then, finally, the month was over. It was so packed. I feel like I am forgetting to document some stuff, but… such is life. October is always like this, and I hope it never changes. It was a really good month. I hope to do more making next month, but with work and school, I am putting no pressure. I want to get over this semester’s hurdles, then I can figure out what life will be like next semester. More excitement and adventure to come.

Loves,

M

September was a crazy month. I feel old every time I talk about how fast time is going, but it really does seem to fly. My making mojo has not decreased, but my available time has. School is taking up most of my spare time, so my making continues to take a hit.

* Finished Objects:

Deodara, by Maria Olson. This was knit in Brown Sheet Serendipity Tweed, in a variegated pink/ fuchsia. There will be a separate post for this top.

Shatar Vest

August 2022 socks (being knit for The Father, for Christmas)

2470 Women’s Lace Border Tank Top

White denim skirt

10 pairs of pajama pants/ shorts

* Goals for next month:

Knit more

Figure out 2022 Mendocino knitting

Sew a short winter skirt

Don’t flunk any classes

My desire to knit hasn’t gone away. I actively long to work on my knitting projects. Unfortunately, I bit off more than I should chew and took two classes this semester. I won’t make that mistake again. The rule that I set for myself is that I can only knit once my weekly work is complete. This is why Deodara took me a month to complete. In actuality, this top should have taken me 1-2 weeks to finish. Another thing that has been interfering with my knitting on the go is that I don’t like having to take off my Fitbit every time I pick up my needles. I think it is hilarious that it counts my stitches as steps, but it is also quite inconvenient. I need to make more of an effort to knit, though. My mental health needs the calm that comes from knitting. Sewing hasn’t happened at all and that is only partly because of school. The Mother has been here quite a bit, lately, and that prohibits me from setting up my sewing station in the toy room. With the weather changing, I think I have missed my window to sew the gingham Lawley skirt. The same for the Salt Water Slip Dress and my summer knits. The Deodara is a good summer/ fall top so I will count that as my summer garment for the year. It’s a cheat, but oh well. I think I can now move on to my beloved colder weather makes. My plan for Mendocino knitting was to work on my long abandoned charity knitting. That would break with the convention of knitting a sweater, but it’s what I am leaning toward. But… I may also start working on a new black cardigan. I have 4 days to decide and start packing, so we’ll see which way I want to go.

So, life has been incredibly busy. Work, family, school, and just basic day-to-day tasks take up 100% of my time. Demos and training for the big 2023 changes have been taking up much of my work days. I am still training my new person. I have had staff out sick and on vacation so coverage has been iffy. I am trying to get caught up before we leave for Mendocino, next week. The same is the case for schoolwork. My goal is to have all of my homework done by Tuesday so that I can unplug while we are away. And school… I remember at the beginning of the semester thinking “yeah, I can totally handle this.” I won’t say that I was wrong, because I can and am handling it, but I won’t do this again. Note to future Mrs. Collins: You are smart and capable, and you can do anything you set your mind to. However, you are really freaking tired. You aren’t on a deadline to finish school, so, don’t overload yourself!

Things have stalled a bit with The Mother moving here. The market has been slowing down so she is still waiting to sell her house. Therefore, she can’t buy another house here. I am still hopeful that it will happen though. I really want her to live closer. I got together with Sister #2 at the beginning of September and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am so happy that we have started to spend time together. I enjoy being with her so much. We have scheduled our next sister’s outing for January since the holidays are fast approaching. In October I intend to reach out to the other two sisters and see if we can schedule some one-on-one to get time. I also want to touch base with The Brother’s wife to see how she is handling the weird school stuff for her girls. I want to talk to or see them all before the end of the year. That will hopefully make the big family gathering more comfortable for me. We also got to see the O’s for the Bestie’s 8th birthday. It was delightful!

October is a really big month in our family, and we won’t have a weekend free the whole time. Some of the highlights will be Lambtown Wool Festival, Mendocino, our anniversary, The Husband’s birthday, The Mother’s birthday, and Halloween, to name a few. Hopefully, there will be more making happening in that month, and I will have more to share.

So that is September, in a nutshell. It was a good month. It was busy and hectic and more memories were made. I look forward to the chaos of next month. On a positive note, I only have 10 weeks left in the semester!

Loves,

M

August has come and gone. Again, not much making to report. Between home, work, and now school, leisure time is hard to come by. I am only allowing myself making time on the weekends. That being said, I will still be knitting my little heart out during my allotted time.

* Finished Objects:

June 2022 socks. These were knit in Nomadic Yarn- Trusty Sock in the Bellatrix LeStrange colorway. I knit a 58 stitch vanilla sock with an afterthought heel.

* New Cast-ons:

Shatar Vest

Deodara

August 2022 socks

* Works in Progress:

2470 Women’s Lace Border Tank Top

White denim skirt

10 pairs of pajama pants/ shorts

* Goals for next month

Figure out 2022 Mendo sweater

Finish Deodara

Sew one project

Mend 2 items from the pile

Don’t flunk any classes

So, as you can see, the making department has gone on strike. Well, not strike, more like sabbatical. I want to knit on Deodara. I feel that she is going to pull me out of the knitting funk that I tend to go into during the summer. For some reason I tend to lose my making mojo when it’s hot. I will note, that I have a growing mending pile, and I need to make that a priority this month. As you can see, the charity knitting has also taken a nose-dive. That too needs to be pulled from the wreckage and put back on track. I have a million plans, and only a handful of hours. We are heading into the unfortunate time of year where mornings are sweater weather and afternoons are three steps away from hell. I would really love to set up my sewing station work on the gingham Lawley skirt, while I can still wear it. Unfortunately, current life events are requiring me to keep the guest bed clear so there can’t be a sewing station. I have a feeling that I won’t have any dedicated sewing time and space until after the warm weather is pretty much done for the year. Another crazy thing that happened this summer is that I have not completed my annual summer knit. I have always been able to knit a summer garment, usually only one. I am not a fan of knitting with plant fiber as it dries out and hurts my hands, hence I only complete one per year. I cast on the Lace Border Tank Top, and I purchased some cotton yarn to knit a Kuutar top. I have half of a front of the lace tank top, and the yarn and pattern for Kuutar in the downstairs basket. I have lost steam on both projects. I am going to blame this loss of motivation on the fact that it has been a very unusual summer.

August was a pretty good month. The annual family barbeque happened at Sister #2’s house. It was a delightful event. I got to catch up with the family, including cousins and the offspring. It is so fun to watch my nieces and nephews become adults. It is bittersweet, but sweet none the less. Right after that grand event, school started. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a 3rd grader! That doesn’t even seem possible. Where did 8 years go? We have (I think/hope/pray) a good teacher that seems to be strict enough to keep Feebs going forward, but gentle enough that she adores her. Since school is back in session, the germs are starting to fly. Feebs has been home for two days with a cold. She gets to go back today, and we are both excited about it. My fingers are crossed that she is always excited to go to school. Lord knows, she didn’t get that from me. And shortly after she started school, I started school as well. I began two classes at the local junior college. I am taking college English, which I have some how been able to avoid for the past 20 years, and a health and wellness class. The English class will fulfill my general education requirements and the health class goes toward my major. I am still undecided if I want to go for Health Sciences or Public Health. Health Sciences is more general, but I only need 5 classes to complete it. Public Health is a specialized major, and is transferable to a state college. I need 7-8 classes to complete it. I am in conundrum, because the part of me that is just checking boxes is voting for the easier path. The part of me that likes to have all of the options is voting on the longer, more specialized path. I would say “what’s three more classes?”, but two of them are classes that would have to be in person, and would be very difficult for me to pass (chemistry and biology with labs). My current classes are going well, so far. Both professors are pleasant and seem to care about their teaching and the students. I have had some major learning curves, when it comes to the technology aspect, but so far, the content is easy enough to follow. The week my classes started, Ms. H was here for a visit. It was so great to have her here just to relax. We took her to good food, Nicaraguan and Ethiopian, and just had a nice visit. We kept trying to come up with something fun and exciting to do, but we were all really tired and wanting to chill. It was still a great visit. Health-wise, I seem too be at a standstill. I finally meet with a neurologist tomorrow. I will get the results of my brain MRI. My guess is that she will say there are no changes from my last scan and that I am just fine. There will be no explanation about the dizziness that refuses to go away. It will probably be chalked up to having had Covid, with no further need for investigation. Tis the story of my medical life. My medical stuff has had the side effect of prompting the Mother to want to move to this area. Over the last few weeks, she has been coming here to see houses. Her house goes on the market tomorrow, so we will see what comes of that. The market is noticeably slowing down, and the town that she lives in isn’t a growing metropolis, as it is. She has found some very cute houses and hopefully she will be happy in them. Only time will tell. Her coming and going is the reason for no sewing station. It is a small sacrifice, though, if it means she can live closer.

That sums up the month. It was a good month. Busy and sometimes frustrating, but still good. I look forward to September and all that she holds in stock. I will continue to check off weeks of this semester. It will be done before I know it, then onto the dreaded math. Wish me luck!

Loves,

M

Hello darling. Well, we hit another making dry spell. I made exactly one thing in July. Just one. I knit it very fast and it was a big one. But once she was done, so was I. It was an incredibly exciting month, with a lot going on. Some of it wonderful, and some of it painful. But we will get into all of that in a bit.

• Finished Objects:

Paris Toujours by Isabell Kraemer. This was knit in Stranded Dyeworks in Anti-Valentine. There is a separate post for this project.

• New Cast-ons

Ram’s Horn

• Works in Progress:

2470 Women’s Lace Border Tank Top

June 2022 vanilla socks

White denim skirt

10 pairs of pajama pants/ shorts

• Goals for next month

Finish all the pajama pants

Sew a new Lawley skirt

Sew a toile for Saltwater slip

Try a macrame project

So, that is what I did. For the whole month. Even though I have yet to sew a single thing in the last month, I have my eye on a few new sewing projects. I would like to make a Kielo wrap dress, by Named Clothing. I would like to make another True Bias Ogden Cami dress hack, this time an unlined one. I would like to cast on my Shatar Vest. So, I have plans. I have wants and making dreams. Unfortunately, I have had no making drive. I have also been a temporary (I hope) resident of the frog pond. I have cast on a few things lately, and have not been feeling it. Most recently I ripped out a Lace & Fade Boxy. I haven’t even cast on a charity knit. I seem to have lost my urge to hand make. Feebs has officially requested a new Abb t-shirt, since the first one I made was a Hot Mess and is already falling apart. Hopefully I will get to that this weekend. I already have some really cute space print jersey knit. I will cut it out this week. I will!

July was super busy and a lot of fun. We kept the first weekend very easy. We ended up watching fireworks from Feebs’s bedroom window. The following weekend was Feebs’s 8th birthday. And guess what… We did it. After years of planning and stress, we were finally able to surprise the girl with a trip to Disneyland. We were originally supposed to take her for her 6th birthday, but that happened in July 2020, and we all know where we were at that point. So we had to postpone the trip until things were open and safe. We completely surprised her and she had the best time. It was made even better because her bestie was there too. The O’s surprised Meems with a trip as well. The girls had a ton of fun. Feebs realized that she is a big fan of rollercoasters and other rides, oh joy. Mama isn’t a big fan of rollercoasters, but I sucked it up and went on everything that she wanted to go on (aside for Splash Mountain, that was a HARD NO). During our trip I was not injured. I didn’t trip and fall or cough weird and hurt myself. Why, then, did my back start hurting two days after we got back? My back still hurts, a month later. That hurt has stopped me from sewing, it has completely disrupted my workout routine, and made me start to question the needs of my aging body. I also developed some dizziness crazy, and have an MRI with contrast scheduled for mid-August. I am not excited. Contrast means Prednisone, and Prednisone means very manic me. I feel like hot garbage when I am taking it and I am so very unpleasant to be around. Oh well, needs- musts and all. After the Disney trip weekend, The Father came to take Feebs out for birthday dinner and shopping. It was so good to see him and get to spend some time. The following weekend The Husband and I went to a Star Wars themed burlesque show called The Empire Strips back, in SF. It was so funny and an incredibly fun night out. The mother came and stayed with Feebs. The rest of the month was taken up with work and regular day to day activities.

My goal for next month is to work through why I seem to have a block on making. It is okay, and I am not self-shaming, but I can’t quite figure out why I am not feeling any kind of making. Once I can figure it out, I am hoping to find a project that makes my heart smile and get going with it. I start school at the end of August, so I need to get on with my making while I can. What will probably happen is I will start school, get completely swamped, and then find my making mojo. That always happens… We will see how it works out.

Loves,

M

Hello darling,

I am feeling very Austin Powers “I’ve lost my mojo!” this month. I have finished nothing, and I have started a few things that have either stalled or that weren’t working out, so I frogged them. I have somewhere around 10 pairs of pajama pants/ shorts for my family that have been cut out and are in all different stages of completion, but not a single pair completed. I used the wrong weight of yarn on Joji Locatelli’s Lace and Fade Boxy (thinking I could fudge it), and it simply isn’t working out. I went to start my Shatar Vest and realized that I don’t have the correct size needles (I can’t even fathom how I would be missing a needle size, I could practically own a knitting needle shop). I keep making progress on a pair of socks, then get bored and put them to the side.

So, it’s time to figure out my life and kick my creativity in the butt. I am going to do some dream making in hopes of igniting a creative spark. I don’t intend to go crazy with my plans and pairing, but I want a couple of things to ponder and plan for.

I want to sew another Lawley skirt. I know I had some struggle with the last one but that was mostly due to my fabric choice. I am hoping that I learned enough from my mistakes on the last one to make this one more successful. It is a regular quilting cotton, and I have absolutely no intention of trying to pattern match the gingham. It may be a hot mess, but I think it can still be cute. For as hostile as I was about the last one I made, I wear it all the time. I think I will wear the heck out of this new one too.

And that is all she wrote, for now. I did order the correct size needles for Shatar, and they should be here tomorrow. Tomorrow is already the last day of July, and this is my first post of the month. I still have to officially frog the Boxy sweater and put everything away. I think I may still peruse Ravelry and see if I can get inspired by something. I just bought a couple of summer top knitting patterns, but true to form, I can’t motivate myself to work on them. This is why I only ever get one summer garment per year. I just don’t enjoy knitting them as much as cold weather garments… Oh well, onward!

Loves,
M

Hello darling. She is done, and she is spectacular. Who is she? The Paris Toujours shawl, by Isabell Kraemer. I knit her in 4 days using Stranded Dyeworks Superwash Merino DK in the Anti-Valentine colorway. This shawl knit up so fast. It was a beautiful project, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The yarn was squishy and stayed fairly even through all three skeins. I did not alternate skeins, and the color variegation still stayed consistent. I used all but 13 inches of the yarn. I played yarn chicken, and I won! The finished shawl was fairly large. I then wet-blocked it using wires. This caused the shawl to get even bigger and really open up the lace. She has a wing span of 8 feet, 4 inches! I am loving everything about her.

Of course, I messed up, and of course, I am going to point it out. I got to the 10th lace row on the 2nd to last lace repeat, and I dropped a stitch. The dropped stitch was quick to unravel down 3 rows. Since it was a series of yarn-overs and knit 2 together, I wasn’t able to cleanly fix it. The error is very noticeable. Part of me wanted to rip back the rows and fix it, but the part of me that was really enjoying the project just wanted to carry on. Hopefully, it won’t be horribly noticeable to people looking. And really, if people can see it, they are too close.

I really enjoyed working with this yarn. I had tried to get the Anti-Valentine yarn for years and was able to grab it this year, for my birthday. I will say, I am not as thrilled with the color as I had been in previous years. I always saw the colorway as sort of a black-pink combo. This yarn is much more purple-pink. Mind you, it is still gorgeous. I highly recommend both this yarn and this pattern. It is unfortunate that I am not generally a big shawl person, because I could see knitting this again in many other colors. Honestly, I give this pattern a 10 out of 10!

Loves,
M