End of hiatus

I didn't even realize how long it had been since I last posted... Seems like time to end the hiatus and bring the blog back to life! The past year has been chaotic, stormy and challenging on a personal level, and posting in the midst of all that just didn't feel very appealing. But life goes on, and now that the dust has settled (and the weather is getting colder!), it's time to come out of the hiding, and take out the needles and yarn again.

So what is going on on the knitting front? Some of my work that I finished between the last post a year ago and before I completely stopped knitting for a while (that's right! completely stopped... didn't see that coming!) I have posted on Ravelry, available to those of you that are members there. Recently, I tried on a lovely cardigan at a store and thought, no way am I paying $ 119 for that! A two piece construction in garter stich, fairly simple and should be a quick knit. This and the afore mentioned cold weather were enough to get me to go rummaging in my yarn totes for something suitable that could produce the same cardi, albeit in a prettier color. I found a bag of fingering weight Knitpicks Gloss in color Cosmos, knitted a 5x1.5" test swatch, and cast on for a sleeve.


This will be one of those "make it up as you go" pieces. Yes, I'm taking a risk here, and yes, you may slap me, if it doesn't turn out because of the lack of planning. In my defence, I do have a couple of scetches in my notebook, and I have taken one measurement! The back piece measures from my elbow to my knuckles. Very scientific, no? And the reason I think this has any chance of working out? Well, the shape of the sweater is very "organic", not fitted in the least, so the exact measurements aren't absolutely critical. Famous last words, before a knitting disaster...

Maybe I want to think that I've still got the touch, and I can figure this out without spending two days planning. Maybe I'm just delusional... Or maybe I've totally forgotten anything I ever learned, and that unplanned pieces of knitting rarely turn out. We shall see. Until then, let's admire the magnificent October sky (the sky is so big here in South Dakota!) and the pretty view from my deck:

End of Summer

The Leafy Lace cardi got finished a while ago, and I've worn it a few times already.


After that got done, I started on a Very Secret Birthday Project on a rather tight schedule. What caused the schedule to be tight was not so much the upcoming birthday, as my mother turns a year older on the same day every year (very helpful), but the fact that I just couldn't decide on the pattern or the yarn. I finally ended up reverse engineering a pattern that I'd seen pictures of, but that was only available in Russian, and a similar pattern that would have been in past issue of a Norwegian craft magazine. It actually was a very simple crochet stitch pattern, which is used quite a bit in shawls. I had my mind set on crochet for whatever reason, I've already forgotten why, but I was very determined that it had to be crochet. I started the project twice with yarns that I had in my stash, but at the end ended up going and buying a new yarn, as I didn't have anything that would have fit just right. It was either too woolly, too stiff, too thin, too something. The yarn got is Berroco Twist, wool and viscose, a very nice and drapey yarn with a nice sheen.

The main idea I stole form the Norwegian pattern was the pseudo fringe. It's constructed from single crochet loops that are attached to one another, it's fringy without being too much so. I very much like it.

As far as I could tell, mom was very pleased, and I liked the shawl so much myself that I bought yarn for one for myself, too. As far as progress on that one... well, I've started, let's just say that. The yarn I bought (not the same one as my mom's) is very splitty and a pain to crochet, so I quickly came up with other projects that were more urgent.

Last weekend I started a new cardi, which I'm calling the "End of Summer Cardi". The yarn is Elann's Callista (no mom, it's not expensive), a blend of cotton, linen and viscose. I've planned a one piece construction with slightly puffed sleeves (we'll see how those turn out...), V-neck, and raglan sleeves. So far I'm about half of the way done.

A bunch of my co-workers have been reproducing lately, and baby gifts are in order. So far two girl gifts and one boy gift are needed, plus one unknown, due within the next two weeks. I've worked on some baby bootie patterns, and here are two of my favorites:

Now a couple more pairs of cuteness, and maybe a pair or two to have in the stash for future small people.