WIP Wednesday: Still No Socks

The hand/arm issues have gotten better, but I am still unable to knit more than a few rounds on a sock every couple days. At this rate, the three socks I have in progress will be finished by.....2018?!?! Hopefully patience will win out and I can get back to sock knitting in some capacity by mid-to-late summer. That was a pretty depressing sentence to type just now, but I would rather work within my limits and focus on really fixing the issue for the long term, rather than trying to find a short-term quick fix. In the mean time, I am allowing myself to start new projects, so long as they can contribute variation in yarn weight/needle size/project type, giving me options to choose from when I am able to knit.

With that in mind, I decided to start a Grivola shawl with this mondo skein of handspun Coopworth in a natural dark chocolate brown that is already giving me fits to photograph.

I am nearly finished with the Astrid Hat in Naturally Nazareth yarn (if you missed my review of the book which this pattern appears in earlier this week, click here to check it out!); it's been a little slow going because I have to take a lot of breaks since the gauge is a little tight (worsted weight yarn on US 6 needles).

I've been focusing most of my knitting efforts on my 3-Color Cashmere Cowl, which is a pretty good project for on-the-go knitting, and it's pretty gentle on my hands, too (DK weight on US 6 needles). On Monday night we saw Blonde Redhead play a free concert in Millennium Park and I took it along; it will also be my travel project for TNNA in DC this weekend.

I have a million projects on deck for once I get back from TNNA, and I'm sure I will come home with more yarn and pattern ideas aplenty. This Friday, I'll be sharing my finished Merope mitts; you can also keep up with me on Instagram if you want to see what's happening at TNNA in real time (otherwise, you'll have to wait for my event recap after I get back).

Comments

Australian Superfine Merino Yarn Review & Giveaway

After more than ten years of knitting, I can still have new experiences - even with well-covered territory such as merino yarn! This recent merino experience actually took me by surprise: I've spun with it, I've dyed it, I've knit with it, and I've even crocheted with it...I was pretty sure I knew all there was to know about merino! Turns out, there are four different classifications of merino fiber, sorted by micron count range . At the bottom of the spectrum is Strong Merino , which ranges from 26-22.9 microns; above that is Fine Merino , which ranges from 20.1-23 microns; next up is Extra Fine Merino, which ranges from 20-15.6 microns; and at the very top of the heap is Superfine Merino Wool , with a micron range of 18.5-15.6. If you're into numbers and wondering how these four classes stack up against other fibers you may be familiar with, here are a few for comparison's sake: BFL (Blue-Faced Leicester) has a micron range of 24-28, Cashmere goat down ...

App Review & Giveaway: Stash 2 Go

The developers for a paid Ravelry app for iPad and iPhone called Stash 2 Go contacted me earlier this year to see if I was interested in writing a review or their app on their blog. While I don't own an iPad or iPhone, I was able to gift a download to a knitting friend who had an iPad and was willing to let me play around with it for the purposes of this review! This is the first time I've ever accessed Ravelry via an app (on my Android phone, I typically use the m.ravelry.com site), and I found most of it to be easy to use. Some of the features weren’t intuitive to me at first, but once I got the hang of the idiosyncracies, it was smooth sailing. Stash 2 Go makes the most of API functions Ravelry has opened up to developers (there are still several areas which have yet to be completed in the Ravelry programming interface, so developers can only implement what is available through www.ravelry.com/api ). Most of the app's functionality allows the user to view the ...

A Finished Sweater, With Cat Hair

After losing Tilly and Robin within a year of each other, I sure didn't think I'd be finding cat hair in my knitting any time soon. But the universe had other ideas. Over the winter, a white feral cat adopted us. I'd noticed her when we moved into our apartment last summer - I would see her hiding in the bushes or sunning herself in the grass when she thought no one was looking. I assumed she was someone's cat until I realized how skittish she was around humans, plus she had a tipped ear, which is a universal sign that a feral/stray cat has been spayed. Neighbors confirmed that she was a feral kitty (descended from several generations of feral cats, in fact), and that she has survived on her wits and whatever food various residents put out for her. We had some bitterly cold days over the winter, and I just felt so sorry for this poor kitty! I started offering her treats and slowly gained her trust. She didn't even want to come inside our apartment at first, much le...

handmade by stefanie

Search This Blog