Knitters, Start your Engines!

Knitters, Start your Engines!

Today is CAST ON DAY for the uber-insane Sweater in 4 Days KAL!!

My yarn is caked, I have written this blog post on Thursday so know that my day will be consumed with casting on and knitting as much as I can before Steve gets home from work today. Then, the sweater will have a bit of a rest until next Thursday which will start the close of my knitting marathon.

I hope to get beyond the Great Sleeve Divide! Way beyond!

Now, I am really concerned that this is not at all possible, mainly because of the Bang Out a Sweater insanity… FYI that took me a total of 35 hours from start to finish (which is like 9 hours of knitting time per day… oy). But, I am ignoring that number and just going for it! Either that, or the summer heat has totally fried my poor brain. But, we shall see. I will be sharing progress posts via Instagram, so stay tuned!

OH!!! And Hello LONG weekend! It is a nice 4-day weekend here and poor Monday will actually get some weekend love in my house! Woo hoo!

Now, how about some links?

Protest is Patriotic Shawl is so great! Oh, and it is also gratis!

How many dolls (in your pockets)? I love it! LOL

If you did not hear, Gudrun is now a designer at Brooklyn Tweed! Congrats to you Gudrun!! And, I like Brora very much!

After seeing Mary’s test knit of A Twist to it, I think this will be something I cast on sooner than later! I really love how it looks, and especially how Mary’s turned out!

That is all I have for this last Friday in June! Have a fantastic weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!

Rainy days are for knitting

Rainy days are for knitting

Stillwater #1 is progressing, but it is obviously not a “4-day knit” for me, but I am moving in the right direction. I have one more repeat to do before I begin the bottom ribbing.

The rainy weekend we have on tap will enable lots of knitting time, which is a good thing so I can then get on to the sleeves and the front ribbing. This sweater needs to be done before I can cast on Stillwater #2. The Stillwater KAL begins next Friday, you still have swatching time!

I am going to swatch again with one larger size needle to see what that fabric looks like (bonus, if I like it, perhaps I can knit a smaller sized sweater which would help the speed of the knitting, right?)

I also need to work through Clue #2 for TTL MKAL. So, really, I don’t mind the rain at all!

I began listening to Lincoln in the Bardo today – so far, so much good!

There were a few lovely links this week:

I love when patterns have awesome names!

And, when they pair awesome name with multiple sizes (and awesome yarn!)

Quince put together a new collection of shawls. I especially love Beryl and Reiko.

A couple of cute cardigans caught my eye this week: Tanta and Hummelo

Fairy Dust is adorable!

Chest of Bone readers will love this collection. I especially love Larrimer’s Sweater!

Sometimes patterns evolve over time.

Did you love Peace Knitting? Do you miss it? Then you will be happy to see Eunomia! (It began yesterday, but I think you would be okay to begin today! AND, there is a discount code that will work through tonight!)

Finally, who besides me is like, how the heck is it the last weekend in June??? Umm, Summer? Can you slow down?? Please?

Here is to a long, slow summer weekend! Enjoy!

Unraveled Wednesday, June 21

Unraveled Wednesday, June 21

Happy Summer Solstice!

It is the best day of the year with more daylight hours to knit and read by! Amirite?!

On the reading front, I am close to finishing 2 books; The Hanging (which I am listening to) and The Other Einstein (which I am reading on my Kindle). Both are excellent and even without finishing them, I can tell you that I highly recommend them both! I will have reviews for both next week!

Last night I picked up Spycatcher from my library. This is for my “banned outside the US” Bingo Square. I can’t wait to crack this book open! And, this book will bring me my first bingo of the summer!! So, my summer reading is going exceedingly well!

Up next in my ears will be Lincoln on the Bardo, which I am also looking forward to!

On the knitting front things are also going very well. I am cruising along on Stillwater #1 and, wait for it… yes, I began swatching for Stillwater #2 which I will cast on June 30th and join in with a little KAL led by the designer. Yes, I have lost my mind!

I am anxiously awaiting Mystery KAL clue #2, which will be out tomorrow. Clue one is done and I like it very much!

What are you making this week? And, how is your reading going?

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Gone Knittin’

Gone Knittin’

I had a few things to get done yesterday morning and then Steve and I took a bit of a walk out at Boyce Mayview. It was my first walk since my tumble and it went well, although a bit warm with the heat yesterday afternoon! And, I am happy to report that there are no ill effects this morning! Now if only my skinned knee and all the lovely bruises would fade away!

My reward for all that was to knit a bit last night. I did a few rows on Stillwater, but my main goal was to get KK’s MKAL cast on! I am through half of the repeats for the first clue. I hope to have this finished up quickly this morning so I can get back to that sweater!

For you Summer Knit-Alongers – how are things going? Have any of you like me, reset your knitting list? I do have one Montadale Sock almost done, the toe just needs to be kitchnered – the perfect thing to accompany happy hour, perhaps! Now, here’s the kicker – I know that I cast on with a different sized needle, however because I am so smart (NOT), I did not write down what I did. So, I will have to do a bit of trial and error in the casting on of sock two… Note to self: There are Ravelry notes for a reason, right?

Speaking of Happy Hour! I have a beverage to share with you all. Tonight, I am doing my take on this! Rather than bourbon, I am going to substitute Vanilla Crown tonight, I will let you know how it turns out!

Now, how about some links!

The Summer issue of Amirisu has some lovely patterns in it! Like this and this and this!

Corolla is lovely and on sale until Sunday.

And, finally this week, I was surprised that I had never seen any patterns before by Marie Greene (the Stillwater designer). I was pleasantly surprised with her selection in her ravelry store, but these really caught my eye:

That is all I have for this week, my knitting is calling! Have a great weekend and I will see you back here on Monday!

Weekend Recovery

Weekend Recovery

Do you ever wish you could just skip something? Or have a do-over? Yeah, me too although I am not sure if I would rather skip the weekend or have a do-over.

It started off nicely with the close out of Negroni Week. But, Saturday morning I had a nasty fall in Mt. Lebanon… downhill, hard. Yeah, so perhaps skipping the weekend is a much better idea for me. With my luck, I’d fall again in the “do-over” version! Maybe I just need to plan some recovery time for a day or two more.

I am hobbling around a bit better today and one good thing about being “laid up” over the weekend is that I spent some guilt free time just sitting and reading! I managed to fill in some squares on my Bingo Card, but more on that on Wednesday!

I also, made some changes to a sweater I was unhappily knitting. And, with a bit of gauge help from Mary I frogged Daelyn and have started knitting Stillwater… I am far enough to know that I like the fabric, especially knowing that it will bloom a bit and soften significantly when I wash it. Sometimes, changing things up is the best idea ever.

Today, my big task will be to do laundry accompanied by Marie Antoinette (who I hope to finish today) and some knitting. (and really, hauling laundry down 2 flights of stairs counts as a big task in my book!)

That was my weekend, I hope yours was much less eventful!

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