Hello! I Am Back!

Have you been pining for exciting posts from me? Or are you like me and a bit overwhelmed and not realizing which blogs are AWOL and which are not.

My Excuses

I have been knitting, quite a bit, since you heard from me last, but a lot has gone on in ye olde real life that has made it hard to take the time to blog. Work got even more intense than usual, there were a bunch of meetings, and then, sadly, my sister-in-law, whom I had never met, passed away the week before Thanksgiving. I spent most of that week consoling my husband and figuring out what to do. Then we rented the RV we'd planned to rent anyway over Thanksgiving a few days early and set off for Alamogordo, NM, where his sister had lived. Being in an RV meant I could do a lot of knitting, but of course, spending lots of time with the family (and managing to cram in a whole week of work while driving and in early mornings) meant no blogging time!

I will say that knitting helps with the stress of being an introvert and meeting a large number of new people. It also passes time well when you have no one to talk to because no one knows you! And some of my projects got folks talking!

What I Worked On

Happy news: I managed to knit that entire Harry Potter scarf in just two weeks (other than the fringe, which I dawdled on until last night). Between the long ride at Kid 'n Ewe and the long trip to New Mexico, I conquered that boring knitting without going crazy. As you can see, it's a BIG and wide one. I hope its recipient enjoys it. I know I brought some holiday stress relief to the friend who had planned to try to knit it!


Once that was done, I got on a finishing kick and finished up those socks in the Inspiration yarn. I immediately started wearing them, so I never got around to taking a glamor shot of them. Suffice to say, they are soft, comfortable and practical. They go with most of my clothing, so I predict that they will get a lot of wear (unlike, say, those shiny silver ones).

OK, I hope you are sitting down. When I finished those, I did NOT start a new pair of socks. Yes, shocked readers, that is right. For the first time in years and years I have zero socks on the needles. Now, there is yarn and needles waiting to start my next socks, so there will be some soon, but nope, I didn't start them!

Instead, I started on a project for my dear college student son. Last spring he had asked for shiny purple gloves, and I'd ordered the yarn for them at that time. I had sort of hoped he would forget, but a few weeks ago, he asked about them again...so, I figured since I'd be seeing him over Thanksgiving and could measure his fingers, now would be the time to work on them. As you can see, I finished one glove. I ended up knitting the glove pattern from Not Just Socks, which I had made before. However, it came out huge when I went up to a size 1 needle. In fact, using size 0 the gloves are definitely sized for a man's hand.



I guess that the previous pair I made (which aren't on Ravelry, so I can't check) I must have used 000s, because they fit perfectly. (Hey, I have a photo taken on my New Mexico trip of me wearing those, so here they are.)


The shiny purple glove brought great amusement to teens we visited, but Tuba Boy proved to them that real men DO wear purple sparkles! So...I am finished with one glove, and they fit his fingers perfectly. I coped very well with having to knit half of it twice, since it gave me stuff to do on the trip. Now, on the second glove, I am ready to start the pinkie, but I am totally distracted by the next project!

I couldn't help it...I had to start the Belleza vest pattern I got with the Ellie yarn from Brooks Farm at Kid 'n Ewe. It is so beautiful...not copper, but bronze. And it feels wonderful. Silk and wool is one of my favorite combinations. It is endlessly fascinating to me how the thick and thin parts create different textures. Where it is all thin, the yarn is see-through, but where it is thick, it's very puffy. It's fun. I was surprised that no one had put the pattern in Ravelry but went ahead and added it. I seem to be on a run of knitting the only version anyone ever makes of things. I'm the only one who made those patterned gauntlets from Knitter's, and have only just become one of two people to make the Bridget cardigan. Huh.

Anyway, I don't have a photo of the Belleza project yet, since I haven't done enough repeats to make it look like anything (it's knit in one piece from the bottom up, so I am knitting long rows), but that will give you something to look forward to next time. Which will be soon, honest.

PS

To my friends on whose blogs I usually comment: I will be back reading soon! I will read every word!