Greetings dear Unraveler’s and Happy First Wednesday in September!
It has been a delightful spate of days and I have needed to pull on a sweater first thing in the morning before I amble outside with Frankie for his morning constitutional. Yummm… is there a better feeling than those first “sweater days” of late summer? I also need my headlamp… sigh. I don’t appreciate the dark mornings so I am very happy for that headlamp!
As I hinted yesterday… I found success and finished a baby sweater! First… my solution theme song to help set the mood:
Swish DK needed some Sam Cooke level twisting… not one twist, but two good twists before I started the first sheep and another two good twists as I finished that last sheep of the row! Yes… I did feel like I was twisting the night day away. I think you can see my twisty-ness in this photo…
Those pretty little twists all in a row!
While the yarn was picked for its easy care (it can be machine washed and dried… it is has none of the “grabby” qualities that most color work yarns have so the stitches don’t want to be a “buddy” with its neighbors at all!) But all that twisting has eliminated any holes gaps. It kind of reminds of a bit of the Yarny Version of FFF!
I just need buttons for this beauty to be complete!
Did I test this yarn to verify its wash and dry abilities? You bet I did! Behold the machine washed and dried swatch!
One machine washed and dried swatch! And lest you think I washed it by its lonesome… I did not. I washed and dried it with a load of clothes… just like the sweater will likely be washed!
And as you can see above, I have an excellent start on sweater #2!
August stitching is mighty fine!
I also managed to finish up my August stitching on September 1… yes, I did the last day of August on Monday! And August fills the second row of my whole cloth… and I am so in love with it… individually and as a whole! My last row began Tuesday afternoon with a bit of a jumble up. I want to keep a bit of a pattern with the “bulls eye” months which happen on 31-day months. I know August was a 31-day month but it would have broken the pattern… so I fixed the month to have 31 days without a bulls eye. Anyways, I don’t think where each month is will matter in reality… so the pattern will persevere!
Eight months down… just four to go!
The end of August reading has been just stunning. I have been on a run of incredible books… the perfect way to end “summer reading.” I devoured Lisa Ridzén’s When The Cranes Fly South and Antonio Michael Downing’s Black Cherokee. Both novels were incredibly moving… in fact, they each moved me to tears more than once… one is an end of life story and the other is a coming of age story (along with a good bit of history that I knew nothing about!) I highly recommend both of the books! They were each 5-stars reads for me and are going on my “best of” list!
After finishing an August of fantastic reads, I confess to struggling a bit to settle into a new book. The library had Belinda Bauer’s Snap available, which apparently I read several years ago, but I remember nothing from reading it before but it is keeping my attention now! It is a grab you by the throat mystery from the beginning pages! As is the nighttime mystery I am reading, the latest by Ragnar Jónasson – The Mysterious Case of the Missing Crime Writer… this book is unlike any previous Jónasson books I have read and I am really enjoying how this story is unfolding!
Twisty mysteries seem to be the perfect foil for a good bit of twisty knitting!
And there you have my very twisty start of September! What about you? Do you have a theme for the week?
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
Bravo on a beautiful finish – that little Flock sweater is just darling Kat. So glad you figured out the twist to make it look good. And your stitching! Thanks for showing the entire piece – it is amazing. I’m just about halfway through “When the Cranes Fly South” and am loving it. So many emotions!
I’m so happy for you, finding out that two twists was the answer! Those sheep look wonderful, gamboling across the yoke and you even have a theme song to go with your knitting. Your stitching is really something to behold, both the month and the whole cloth. I’m having trouble finding books I want to read but I need to finish several ARCs first. Have fun with your twisty knitting and reading!
Oh, Kat! I knew you’d figure out a way to make those little sheep work!!! What a wonderful little sweater . . . so stinkin’ adorable! Bravo! XO And your stitching? Absolutely wonderful. Your post today is inspirational, Kat. Joy filled!
Hooray for finding a fix to the gap issue! The sheep look great — but that stitching piece is really something else. I hope that you’ll give us a sense of scale when it’s done. I have a feeling it’s bigger than I think (because I can’t imagine you working really tiny stitches).
I don’t really have a theme for the week other than rest, because we all seem to have some form of crud (mine seems to be of the sinus infection variety). It’s a good thing that Ruthie seems to be able to go longer between walks these days!
That pink cardigan is absolutely adorable. I love it. And yes it will be chucked in the washing machine with lots of other items so good to know it will withstand that. Gosh you must be out walking very early to head a torch already.
Gah!! that sheep sweater!!! gorgeous!! your stitching project is beyond impressive.
Well if that sweater isn’t the cutest thing I’ve seen in a long time! And thanks for the Sam Cooke earworm, too!
That sweater is adorable!! I wish I could hold your stitching & study it up close… mesmerizing.
That little sweater is darling. I’m glad you found a solution. The stitching is incredible. Keep on, keeping on.