Veera's Vision

If you don't know Veera - you should check her out. Seriously. Go right now and then come back. I can wait.

Veera is brilliant. Simple, beautiful well thought out patterns are putting it mildly. Every pattern she has, I could imagine myself wearing. Every one.

So as my first Veera pattern, I decided to try out her Stripe Study Shawl. Along with J. Freakin' brilliant. I don't want to put it down because I keep wondering how wide the next stripe will be or how much more asymmetrical it will look. It allows you to knit with gorgeous yarn in amazing colours and that's the primary focus of the work.

I figure a mix of Wollmeise and Koigu is perfect for this study of stripes.

Trendspotting

As you may have heard, March is for Monkeys and far be it from me to miss a trend.

This last pair is knit in Socks that Rock mediumweight on 2.5 mm DPNs. It's been a while since I knit with variegated yarn and the pooling can be a surprise. On one of the socks, the colours made candystripes around the leg. On the other, the colours make columns of colour.

Lovely.

I'm tempted to cast on another pair. (I might be addicted.) These will be a birthday present for a friend.

Now I've cast on for another trendy knit, the Stripe Study Shawl.

More Monkey March

Doesn't it seem like things come in waves? Weddings, new houses, babies.

Here is a baby that we met in August. She's grown a lot since then and she has her Uncle, the Dude, wrapped around her little finger. See?

Some other friends are having a baby next month so, of course, I had to knit something.

And since March is for Monkeys, I thought why not?

Who you lookin' at?

Source of Angst

Some days I have many sources of angst - kids, husband, work, dirty house, traffic.

Other days there is only one major source.


We need a day apart and then we'll try again.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

March is for Monkeys

One of the first sock patterns I tried to knit was Monkeys. I made myself a pair in shades of brown. They are my most worn hand knit socks and they have nearly worn through. When the Knit.Sock.Love knitalong picked Monkeys for March, I knew I had to make myself another pair of brown monkeys.

Here they are. These are knit in Wollmeise twin yarn in Feldmaus. I love the chocolatey tones in this yarn. I still love the pattern. I think I have some new favourite socks.

Next up, more Monkeys, but maybe not what you'd expect.

There's something I've been keeping from you...

It's not that I'm ashamed of it. I still knit. I knit every day. Sometimes, though, I need a little something different.

Something that moves quickly. Something that allows me to use up my stash and make gifts in less time.

My name is J. And I'm a (beginner) weaver.

There is something very satisfying about creating a fabric by passing yarn back and forth. Colours emerge in different ways when you're knitting and the fabric is different. I find myself looking at the way the yarn goes over and under.

So far, I've only made scarves with simple fringed hems. One day, I'll try weaving in the ends or sewing the long strip of fabric into a bag or weaving a hand towel. For now, I will enjoy tossing this scarf over my shoulders and feel good about learning a new skill.

To you, with love

You aren't even born yet, and you are loved. You are loved by a mass of people who are anticipating your imminent arrival and love you for who you are and who you will become. We love you already, in spite of your parents (who are a little weird, but you'll figure that out sooner or later). We already say your name when we say prayers before bed. At least your 4 year old cousin does, every night.

We love you even though we won't be there when you arrive. We will send you this blankie full of love and kisses and hugs and slobbers. And we will meet you as soon as we can....


(A blankie, for our newest niece/nephew/cousin - due to arrive at the beginning of April)

One-a-baby, Two-a-baby

One-a-baby (for a baby girl due in April)


Two-a-baby (for my new niece or nephew due in April)

Three-a-baby, Four. (I don't think there's any more babies to knit for....is there?)

Unlimited Potential

I've been winding a lot of yarn lately. Sometimes I can get the whole skein caked up without a hitch. Sometimes I fight and fight with tangles and snarls and knots.

In the end, I have this lovely cake of yarn. It could be anything: a hat, mittens, socks, a shawl. It's like this cylinder of wool holds all of this potential energy and it's just waiting to meet some needles so it can start becoming whatever it was meant to be.

This cake is going to become a pair of Thelonius socks. I queued this pattern when it came out years ago. I have always meant to get around to it, maybe for myself or for a friend's birthday, but it just never happened. Now I have beautiful yarn and a knit a long to spur me on to greatness. Or at least warm feet.