When You Just Need Simple Knits....

Sorry for the radio silence, I ended up taking an unexpected 11-day trip back to Kansas City earlier this month and I just didn't feel like blogging. So I didn't. And to be completely honest, as this dumpster fire of a year rolls on, I find myself less and less motivated to maintain my blog and social media presence (such as it is) in favor of spending more time doing things IRL. I'm hoping to find something of a balance this fall since I do still enjoy writing and sharing the crafty things I'm learning and doing here, and I assume that someone somewhere likes to read about it. At least I hope so!

With that in mind, I thought a good first step would be to get back to blogging every Wednesday(ish), starting with a recap of what I've been working on lately.

The key word is simple knits. To wit: I just finished a Boxy Worsted pullover in Malabrigo Twist - miles and miles of stockinette stitch on pitch black yarn. Impossible to photograph, but something I predict I'll wear a lot this fall and winter.

Right before my trip, I decided to start a baby sweater to match a pair of socks I'd knit for a client tutorial about a year ago - I'd even printed out the pattern and kept the socks and unused yarn together for the occasion. I finished it while I was in Kansas City, and promptly wove in the ends and blocked it once I got back to Chicago. The pattern is the free Flax pattern by Tin Can Knits, and I used 2 skeins of Hikoo Kenzie in Bayberry that I'd bought at Windy Knitty right before they closed.

Another project I started before my trip and finished before I got back was this super simple cowl using the Gradient Quartet I got from Zen Yarn Garden at Stitches Midwest. I made up the pattern and am thinking of releasing it as a free pattern if you sign up for my newsletter- any interest? Y/N?

My only other recent finish is actually a crochet project, I used the cone of Hoooked Zpagetti t-shirt yarn I got at Creativation 2 years ago do whip up a bath mat in single crochet. Originally I was going to weave it as part of my #2019MakeNine, but I've pretty much abandoned all of my ambitions for that for a variety of reasons (most notably, lack of motivation....yet another theme, I suppose).

Currently, I have a very simple shawl on the needles - I'm using the Purl Thief pattern and a cake of gradient yarn from Zen Yarn Garden (also obtained at Stitches Midwest back in August).

I had to put my Making Connections Wrap in hibernation for a bit because I ran out of yarn (oops), and the skein I ordered didn't arrive before I had to head out of town. Now that I'm back, I've been knitting like mad to finally finish this project, because I'm really excited to give this whole "styling loop" concept a try.

I also started another hat project using a skein of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted in my stash, just because. The pattern is free from Kelbourne Woolens as part of their ongoing Year of Hats series (this is the July pattern).

Last but not least, I started a very-not-simple knit, which I hope I can finish in a reasonable amount of time because I want to live in this sweater once winter is here. The pattern is Sempervirens and I'm using the mondo skein of Miss Babs Katahdin (100% BFL wool in a fingering weight) that I got at Stitches. I'm not very far along - I've only knit the collar and then picked up to work the body and knit a few rows. Still trying to get the hang of the pattern in terms of which chart is worked between which markers, but I think that I'll (eventually) get in the rhythm of it and things will start moving along at a less glacial pace. At least, I hope so!

I don't know about you, but I'm really looking forward to this fall, and getting back into the swing of things in general. Don't forget, you can sign up to receive emails whenever I post a new blog entry - just  use the form on the top right sidebar!