The past week we have watched a little (but feisty) brown wren decide he liked the cardinal house Steve’s mom gave me for Christmas was JUST what he needed for a nest. Some poor bird had previously begun building a nest in it but abandoned the idea. Well, enter this little wren – he spent last Friday and Saturday tossing out all the “old” nesting material and then began the “building” process. He has filled this nest and now he is singing and chattering to all the ladies that he has the perfect nest for her! I was even nice to brush Sherman this morning and leave her some choice Pug Down to line the nest! (In case you don’t know, Pug’s are the best pets ever except they shed VOLUMES year around, but Spring and Fall they are especially sheddy!) I feel like all I need is for David Attenborough narration.
On the knitting front, I have made little to no progress on anything. But, that is okay, because my reading that was derailed by the great mulch move, got back on track. Last night I finished The Likeness, watch for the review next week! Today, I hope to start Americanah.
Now, how about some links?
Knitty First Fall is up… and while I have not been impressed with much of late in Knitty, this time a couple of things did catch my eye. First up Romi has this and I love them! And, then Martina Behm has this interesting cowl.
But, for me, this was the winner of the week. Stillwater is gorgeous and I have it on my list to swatch for this weekend. FYI, there is a coupon code that is good through Saturday!
Some weeks it is a challenge to find a handful of good things to share with you, this was not one of those weeks.
I apologize in advance for Inspiration Overload and for increasing your knitting queue…
Okay, maybe not that last part! LOL
This week I messaged Kirsten Kapur on Ravelry letting her know that a good number of us were jonesing for her Summer MKAL (She says Hi, btw!)
NEVER FEAR, her MKAL is HERE! I did the dance of joy and instantly purchased the pattern, which is offered at a special price until June 15 when Clue #1 comes out! This year’s shawl is a two-color asymmetrical triangle and she recommends a solid or near solid for both colors!
Yesterday, I began the search for suitable yarns in my stash and imagine my insane surprise when I discovered that I have enough handspun yarn to knit the project. I know! I must get the gold singles plied, but I will get that done over the weekend. I had originally thought that the yarn would be nice as a singles yarn, but I think it will be much better plied up. I do not even remember who dyed this gorgeous golden BFL, but I love the richness of it. I do know that I got it at Michigan Fiber Festival a long time ago (Karen, do you remember this?) They grey yarn is some BFL from Briar Rose Fibers – there are hints of lavender and gold in the yarn.
I have been plugging away at my “sample” of Alex the Mouse knit from MillaMia cotton. I ran into a bit of a gauge problem on his ears (okay, more than a bit – a HUGE gauge problem!!) Apparently my stranding gauge when knitting flat is significantly different from plain stockinette. Thus, there was an almost 1 inch difference between my ear fronts and backs. Strangely, NO ONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM??? Huh? How the heck is that even possible? I was the first to even pose this as a problem in the Ravelry thread – and the KAL has been going on for almost a month! Anyway, my solution was to knit to fit the ear front. This means knitting row by row and carefully matching up front and back to determine how many increases to do, where to do the increases, how long to knit “straight”, and then repeat the process on the decreases. The match was still not exact, but I did manage to get the fronts and backs joined nicely. I will repeat this process on ear two. Then on to the legs, arms, and tail!
Finally, I present the long overdue Ekua socks (aka TTL Mystery Sock 2017) I am quite pleased with how they turned out. I LOVE the cabling and the overall sock construction.
There were some great adult sweaters this week as well from the summery Shaelas Top or Linho. But, if you want to get a jump start on the perfect fall sweater – Telja is gorgeous!
Free Your Fade – please note, a portion of the sales of this pattern will go to help Michele of the Republic of Wool who is having a bit of a medical crisis. There is also a gofundme account to help her.
I love when a designer “makes a pattern new again” by knitting it with a new yarn… just like KK did here with Moody Kerchief. The original yarn is no longer available and I think it looks great knit out of Luma! Also, “Simple stitch patterns make the Moody Kerchief a breeze to knit.” What more can you ask for. Oh and this is knit with a DK yarn… just saying!
Where has May gone? I mean really! Next week is June? What!?
Start your Knitting – Summer Knit-Along kicks off tomorrow! And, because rules are really not much fun – it is a go at your own pace, knit what you want to knit, make your own rules Knit-Along. And if you want to start today – go for it! If you started last week, good for you, if you are not starting until next week – perfect! No stress…really!
Hopefully, you have a good book queued up because if Book Bingo starts tomorrow – and books you are reading now count, as long as you don’t finish until tomorrow! I have Moby Dick in a hold pattern to finish tomorrow! Great way to start Book Bingo, right? If you don’t have a card, or you are not sure you want to have a planned summer of reading, I will borrow some sage advice from my dear friend Carole – it’s your bingo card, so your rules! And, you might want to add something from Bill Gates Summer Book List.
Now, my summer knit along always includes a cocktail on Friday’s so I will occasionally share one here (but I will always share one in the Ravelry group!) And, today seems like the perfect day to do that! And, what better to usher in summer than some gin! This Cucumber Basil Gin and Tonic looks so good (I have no elderflower liqueur in the house, so mine will be made without however if you have it, use it! And, my gin choice for this one – Hendrick’s!)
There you have the makings for the perfect start of summer weekend – knitting, reading, and a beverage!
Now, how about some links?
In the “not knitting category” but absolutely linkworthy: Trump Snooze
This pattern will be released on Monday, and it looks very intriguing!
Lorilee Beltman has a new mitten pattern! Because, mittens and summer – right? LOL Well, perhaps you want to start your gift knitting!
Why don’t I have a little black shawl? Perhaps I am kicking something off my list to add this…
Who else besides me, looked at the calendar and got excited that next weekend is Memorial Day weekend?
This weekend is the kick off to so many good things!
Summer
Book Bingo
My Summer Knit Along
In preparation for Book Bingo I spent a good bit of time yesterday on Goodreads and on my library website looking for books for my squares and I have most of them plotted out. One book has a mile-long waiting list – so that moves to the “purchase” category. Two books have a short waiting list and I got on the list now so I know I will be able to get it before Labor Day! All the others, I am golden on and this is a very good start, don’t you think? I still am pondering a few categories: A Banned Book (outside of the US), a Biography of a royal (which royal will I pick?), About art/artist(s), and recommended by a family member (I am hoping my Blogging Family will chime in and give me a recommendation!!)
Today, the real prep work for Summer Knit-Along begins. I will be going through my projects I want to get done and put them in some kind of order. Unlike last year, where I had lots of things with little bits to finish, this year I have things that are either barely begun or not begun at all to finish! I am hoping that the pairing of knitting with Audiobooks will help kick the knitting into overdrive! And, as you can see above, the KAL knitting is moving along smoothly – I love the fabric this stitch pattern is making! This is not my usual yarns to knit with either, but I love them all stranded together and I am ready to wind another ball of the bamboo yarn.
And, that brings us to summer. We got the rest of the vegetable garden planted yesterday and we had a few surprises…we thought we got zucchini and summer squash, but we got an “unknown squash” and bush cucumbers. Yeah, bravo on my reading skills…NOT! Our neighbor gave us a dozen tomato plants – some of which got in the “deer proof garden” and a few will be testers in a couple of new beds that are not deer proof. This will either be wildly successful (okay, I know I am fooling myself here!) or the deer will get some treats of heirloom tomatoes, but can they possibly eat them all? Perhaps a bit of sharing is an okay thing to do…amirite?
I also have some perennials to add to the bed we did last year. Some things did not make it over the winter, but as you can see – the Foxglove certainly did! It is just loaded with blooms! I probably should have divided it earlier this spring…but, I can’t wait. I also moved a yarrow plant from the front beds that was just not thriving at all. I am hoping this move will be good for it and it is happy in its new home!
So, with lots of things to do today, I think it is time for some links:
It has been a long week at Casa del KatKnits and I am so happy that Friday is here!
This week saw the completion of several lists, the completion of a project, and (if you read yesterday’s blog) the confidence that I really can’t remember shit! And, beyond that, I am so confident in my ability to not remember correctly that I believe myself! Yep, no second doubting here! Anyways, good thing I pointed out so clearly how imperfect I am! Now, in the ideal day category? Why – my ideal day is any day I can do whatever I want, whatever that might be! Those days are few and far between, sadly. Which I think directly correlates to the can remember shit problem.
Coming soon?
Save
Who is up for another round of Summer Knit Along-ing? I could use a good dose of knit what’s in the basket! And, I have some incentive – I want to knit another Lopi sweater for the fall/winter! There are some projects I need to get moving on – from cast on to finishing, so it is not all “old projects”! And, for me the Through the Loops Summer MKAL is the best part of summer, so I will be knitting along with that as well! Anyways, if you are interested in joining again, there is a Ravelry Group and I will share a weekly recipe for a delicious libation. If you are not a knitter – you are still welcome to join us, we are a multi-craft friendly group! Same rules as last summer, which is no rules. It is a “go at your own pace group” and I like it just that way the best, don’t you? Summer Knit-Along kick off on May 27th (Memorial Day weekend) and run through September 4th (Labor Day). Feel free to grab a button for your blog, if you so desire!
Not a knitter, or a crafter, but you are a reader? Well, then I hope you will join Mary’s Summer Book Bingo, which I think will be so much fun! I will be printing out my book bingo sheet soon and begin plotting my summer reading!
