by Kat | Jan 26, 2018 | General
Friday, that day of the week that puts an automatic grin on everyone’s face! And, the sun is shining brightly here with temps that are supposed to get into the 50’s! Steve doesn’t know this (Hi Sweetie!) but I am going to make him go take a walk this afternoon at Boyce Mayview!
On the knitting front, I did manage to get to the colorwork section of Stopover yesterday, but it is not finished…Maybe today, but more likely this weekend, which will give me 3 FO’s for January and my first completed project for my #makenine2018. So, this year is absolutely off to a great start!
I crocheted slipper number one together and I am not quite certain I like how it looks. I will rip it out and try an i-cord join and see if that looks better. I want to get them finished, and have cast on for slipper number two, but have not finished it yet.
My February knitting looks to be just as good as January! I have plans to start Strokkur on the first for Berroco’s Lopi-Along. I need to swatch so I am ready to go! And, I will be mystery sock knitting with Kirsten.
Now, how about some links?
There were some really fun mitten patterns this week: Want to Lopi-Along but a sweater seems daunting? Then perhaps Kate Attherly has the answer for you in her Oh, Canada Mittens and Moose Mittens (And, they are free patterns!!)
Maybe a hat? Lopi-Along with Salt Spring Toque or Saxifrage Tam (again, they are FREE!)
The sweaters were so so so knit-worty this week: Lichen, Sing Winter, Inveraray, Còinneach, Mae Cardigan, [BIG] rubble, Sunday Morning, and Timanfaya (I might be tossing the stash to see what I have that might work for [BIG] rubble!)
The Cooler Side of Warm is a knit-worthy cowl to add to your winter collection! (and free!)
There were some too cute kids knits this week: Odette Hoodie and Namya child cardigan
Valentine’s Day is coming: Palpitation
And, finally, the latest Plucky Collection is just gorgeous.
That is all I have for the week! See you back here on Monday and have a great weekend everyone!
by Kat | Jan 19, 2018 | General
Stopover is in a bit of a time out. I almost always have lots of extra yarn left over when I finish a project. So, this time I ordered accordingly so that I would NOT have left over yarn and now I am in fear that I will not have enough to finish. So, I put it aside for the day while I thought about options that did not include buying another skein of yarn that would not be the same dye lot. I then determined that there was only one way to know if I have enough – finish sleeve one and weigh it. Start sleeve two just through the color work, weigh that. Then do a bit of this absolutely brilliant knitter math from Kate Davies. Talk about divine intervention… Kate, if you are listening, I am sending you a HUGE THANK YOU for that awesome post!
Yesterday, I should have been putting together my warping mill so I can get going on the weave along, but I got distracted by some super simple slippers. I could not resist them when they showed up in my top pattern list on Ravelry this week!
Something fun (?) this weekend… kmkat and I will be live tweeting during Vikings vs. Eagles game on Sunday night. What could be more fun than a couple of knitters tweeting about football. Want to follow along? You can follow kmkat here and me here. Mary has pointed out that this will curtail knitting time, but sometimes you just gotta tweet!
Links for this week:
Berroco is hosting a Lopi Sweater KAL Need help knitting a sweater? There will be a Lopi Knit-Along newsletter with tips and tricks! They have some great sweater ideas in this blog post. There are some great FREE sweaters on this list: Ryðrauð, Glaswegian Cardigan, Aftur, Ellen Cardigan, Iðunn, Antipodal, and Hela. Take it from me, knitting a Lopi is really so much fun! Not a fan of Lopi yarn? They have suggestions on how to use other yarns as well!
Romi’s Inner Light is just stunning.
TTL Mystery Sock 2018 is discounted until February 1st!
If you loved Deschain Tee, but you don’t like to knit with linen, then you will be happy to know that Gabrielle solves that problem nicely! P.S. a genius #makenine2018 maker did this without sleeves and I LOVE IT!
Strathendrick, oh.my. It’s Boxy meets colorwork….
Need a good cardigan? Stockbridge is a classic and I love the construction!
Sparks and Lucky Dip from Justyna’s Speckles collection is a wonderful way to use speckled yarn!
Plain & Simple from Quince is available for pre-order and, oh my. The patterns are all just wonderful!
Oh, Carole…. did you see Chess Club? Gah! It is so cute!
That’s all I have for you, have a great weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!
by Kat | Jan 5, 2018 | General
I have been slowly plugging away at my Treysta, and Sleeve No. One is almost done! Sleeve No. Two should go faster, because I was smart and kept track of all my rows! Maybe by this time next week, a new sweater will be born!
I am glad it is the weekend and a bit of persistence will pay off there too! I got a new Lidia cookbook for Christmas and there is a cocktail (or ten) in there with my name on it. Perhaps a bit of a weekend celebration do-over is in order!
Now, how about some links to get the weekend started?
Shaila mittens were released last September but the pattern was not available for download until this week. Included is an excellent video on yarn dominance, in case you want to do some stranded knitting this year!
Staying in the stranded knitting theme, Setesdalish… oh my gosh!
Or, perhaps Vintersol
All of these are truly wonderful examples of stranded knitting!
Not up for stranded knitting? Perhaps just knitting a sweater is on your list this year. Both Margene and Mary give rave reviews for sweaters designed by Elizabeth Doherty and she has a new pattern out: Archer, knit with The Woolen Rabbit Airy.
Kate Davies also has a new pattern out today: Carbeth I love the simple lines of this sweater and the construction!
And, finally, PBSNewsHour is joining forces with the NYT’s and together they have started Now Read This! The first book is one that deeply moved me last year, Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing. At the end of the month there will be a Q&A with her! This should be so much fun!
That is all I have for this first Friday in January! Stay warm this weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!
by Kat | Dec 22, 2017 | General
Yesterday, I began my new stitching project and I am so excited about it, I had to share my humble beginnings with you all! I am happy to report that couching with hand spun yarn is the way to go!! And, I am maintaining my entirely “free stitching” and I used no tracing or no marking.
And, so Welcome to Winter! I have 88 more days to stitch and I am excited for each and every one of them!
Are any of you going to start a stitching project (or any project, really… I have semi-seriously been pondering this cowl) AND, there are some who talked about starting a Woman Must Make Her Own Arrows in January too! I thought it might be nice to have a little support group to cheer each other on. If you want to start a Year of Stitching and you don’t know how to begin, email me (kachrist37 (at) gmail (dot) com) and I would be happy to help you get started! If you are interested in a little group support for a year long project, leave a comment here and I will start an email thread of where to do that easily.
Now, how about some links?
Gentle Morning
I love the story behind this hat
A Lacy Boxy with heart
More good cause knitting, Girlfriendscardigan Anke
That is all I have for the Friday before Christmas. Go out and make some merry today! Have a great weekend! I am debating about a post on Monday but, I want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas!
by Kat | Dec 15, 2017 | General
I have been doing some super-secret knitting during the day which I can’t tell you all about or show you just yet, but I am making some good progress. This has been assisted greatly by audiobooks (I am almost done with Bonfire) and Season 2 of The Crown on Netflix, which I finished yesterday.
I am anticipating this super-secret knitting to be completed today, which will allow me to BREATHE a deep sigh of relief!
I am also anticipating the 2018 Read Harder Challenge, which I am going to participate in next year. I have also been contemplating my Goodreads book challenge this year – do I play it safe or really push myself this year? Perhaps with the Net Neutrality debacle, reading might be more important next year as streaming Netflix might be limited. I am leaning towards pushing myself.
AND, as you can see, I am really ready for some Christmas Break Reading. The Library is being SUPER good to me right now and has somehow moved me up on my “hold list” almost to the GAH point! I checked out the above books on Tuesday night, and last night Killers of the Flower Moon was downloaded to my iPad. With these additions, it almost feels like I can make that 85-books-read mark!
But, how about some links:
First up, staying with the reading theme:
I laughed at this Hogwarts House Quiz (I got Slytherins and loved that I have read most of the books on the House Slytherin list)
I also loved the 100 Must-Read Books with One-Word Titles. I added quite a few to my read list!
Are you a mystery series lover? 25 Of The Absolute Best Cozy Mystery Series
Also, FYI: You can now follow hashtags on IG…
And, finally the knitting links:
Playtime
Sankta Lucia Socks
Little Knots Cardigan… LOVE!
Is 2018 you Year of Knitting? Big Sky Weather Scarf This could be an excellent stash buster as well!
Pine Burr I am not sure if it’s the color (which is divine!) or the stitch pattern but, I love this cowl!
Bittersweet Oh, my. I love the texture. Will 2018 be the year I finally tackle texture?
And, Kate Atherley’s Rosetta Tharpe is FREE until midnight December 17th in honor of the induction of Ms. Tharpe to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
That is all I have for this week! Have a great weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!
