Yarn Along -10 February 2021

I’ve had a bit of startitis since Christmas. I started with the beautiful yarn from Mom. The shawl is called “Familiars” and is based on 18th century embroidery patterns.

My second lot of Christmas yarn was from Colin and Ella. It’s yarn for a new afghan/bedspread for us. My old crocheted one feels summery. I wanted one for the winter. It’s called Persian Dreams, though I’m using sport sized yarn not worsted.

These hexagons are rather addictive. The designer made a set of extra hexagons too. I’m glad I bought those because I think they are nicer than the original ones. I’ve also got yarn to make Mom a sweater for her birthday. It’s sport sized too, so it will be a lighter sweater. I don’t have a pattern picked out for the yoke yet. I’ve actually ordered some more yarn for the pattern part. I’ll show you when they arrive.

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Yarn Along -10 June 2020

All the girls on my knitting Facebook pages have been posting all the “squishy mail” they have been getting since the lock down.  Well, for once, I actually got some money back from my tax return.  I decided to treat myself to some “squishy mail” too.  I ordered from Knit Picks as usual.  I really like their yarn.  And I had a “you haven’t ordered in a long time” discount code which covered the ridiculous 25% exchange rate -bonus!!

The ball of Comfy is a new one for me.  It is a cotton/acrylic blend.  Oh my, it is SO soft.  I’m using it to make a ‘produce bag’.  I tried 3 different patterns and finally decided on this one.  The rest of the yarn is for a cardigan for me.  It’s really cool and has fair-isle on the sleeves but a solid body (and hood if I make it).  The yarns are either Stroll, Stroll Tonal, or the Stroll Tonal mini packs.

My knitting mojo still seems a little off, but at least I’ve got some beautiful yarn!

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Yarn Along -5 June 2020

A couple of days late for sharing my knitting.  I’ve actually been in a bit of a knitting funk lately.  I want to knit something fun, but I don’t know what to start. And I certainly don’t want to finish any of my WIPs, though Ella keeps asking about her birthday socks, so I should get back to those.  Ella needed some drawing pencils a couple of weeks ago.  I ordered curbside pick-up from Michaels.  To make the order worthwhile, I got some yarn too.  It was buy 2 get 1, I think 3 balls should be enough for a throw.  It’s Caron Cotton Cakes. . I’ve never used it before, it’s knitting up OK.  The colour way is ‘candied lavender.  I’m using the really simple Ten Stitch Blanket pattern.  It’s the same pattern I used for a lap blanket for Mom back in 2011.

I wasn’t really that thrilled with knitting the blanket.  Lots of garter stitch and only the corners for excitement.  Also, that was when it got so hot.  I decided to finish a shawl I had started last year.   Unfortunately, I committed the worse crime in knitting -I put down a ‘complicated’ project without marking where I left off (I was coming right back).  Also, I didn’t like the way the edging was laying and it would take a crazy amount of blocking to fix.  So I ripped it out and went searching for a new pattern.  I’ve had this yarn for an absolutely ridiculous amount of time.  It’s time it was knit into something.  I decided on the Frozen Raspberries shawl.

I’ve actually got a book to share this week for Yarn Along.   This year for school, Ella is doing the Civil War years.  I had planned on having her read Uncle Tom’s Cabin but thought maybe I should read it first.  I actually grabbed it to take with me to the hospital -good thing too.  It was a really good book.  Hard to believe I’ve never read it before.  Ella would be ‘able’ to read it no problem, but she’s having a hard time with things right now and really emotional, so I think I’ll save it until the next time this time period comes around.  Right now she’s reading Underground to Canada, which fits her frame of mind better.

 

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March Break 2020

We weren’t really planning on taking March break off.  In fact I’d made a deal with Ella that we would only do ‘half’ days instead.  But in the light of everything we’re actually taking March break off school.  So what did I decided to do instead?

I decided to defrost the house freezer yesterday.  It went pretty well.  I also had a 10 lb chicken in the oven (right beside the freezer and the reason the door only opens this far).  All that extra heat really helped.  I did well this time around, I only found one ‘dead’ doughnut that needed to be thrown out.  Usually there’s quite a pile of stuff to feed the barn cats.   Today it was finally cold enough to put everything back.  It’s so nice when it’s clean and organized.  For how long?

Spring is coming.  Colin has already had a few seed cleaning jobs.  It’s a pretty solitary job so he should be able to continue through the spring without a problem (fingers crossed, we need that income).  Seed and fertilizer should be arriving shortly too.  We’ve still got about a foot of snow, but some days the yard is pretty muddy.  Colin was down towards Smiths’ Falls the other day for a job and he said there was no snow at all!

Ella and Grandma – why not!  I love “cheese face” and miss it some days.  14 is a hard time apparently??  I don’t remember and what I do remember had more to do with our family dynamic than actually being 14.

About 3 weeks ago I had what I thought was a bad allergy attack for a couple of days.  It must have been a cold because I now have an asthma ‘flare’.  I went to the walk-in clinic on Monday.  They are doing appointments for walk-in right now.  I kind of like that because I didn’t have to sit in a room full of sick people just for my asthma.  As expected I got some prednasone and now I’m finally starting to feel better.  I was starting to get dirty looks with my cough when I did groceries.

Ella lost her cool ‘Jack Skellington’ beanie.  She asked if I could make her a “Legend of Zelda” hat.  Luckily, Ravelry did not fail.  I’ve got it just about done, I need to have Ella try it on for size.  She’s so excited.

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Crafting On/Yarn Along -20 November 2019

Not sure what’s up with Ginny and Yarn Along, but Nicole is still doing her Crafting On.  I’ve been working on a few things this last while, but haven’t finished much.  I did whip up a thank you present for Maureen.  It’s a cowl made with Knit Picks Swish – a lovely, washable merino.  Check it out here.  Don’t worry, my Ravelry page is set so everyone can see my projects.

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Yarn Along/Crafting On -19 June 2019

Two finished projects this week for Yarn Along and Crafting On.  The first is a shawl that I made for Amanda. My Dad asked for a hat.  He wears his hair nearly shaved off and finds the a/c at home too cool (my step-mother likes it cooler).

I’m working on a book Colin gave me for Christmas, A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War.  It’s a little slow going, but I don’t always get/take a lot of time to read.

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Yarn Along/Crafting On -16 April 2019

Finished project this week for Yarn Along/Crafting On.

New fingerless gloves for Ella.  The picture doesn’t show how fluorescent the yarn is, it nearly glows in the dark!

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Yarn Along/Crafting On -27 March 2019

We had a crazy busy day yesterday, but it also included a nice long visit with my friend Chantal and her boys.  Ella had so much fun, even if her part of the home school fair is turning into a much bigger thing than she expected.

Did I show Ella’s socks for Crafting On/Yarn Along last week? The blue ankle socks are hers, she says that’s the way she likes her socks.  Also working on some Christmas presents.  Some thick socks for Grandma and a pair of cozy socks for her too.

Ella found a really cool book series when we were in the city last weekend.  It’s classic books re-done in manga -Ella’s favourite.  She bought Romeo and Juliet.  She’s eager to get the Tom Sawyer too.  I’d love to get her the whole series.

Does any one out there know anything about talking with people over the internet (like a phone call)?  Ella chats with all her gamer friends on Discord  but just by chat.  How much internet does a voice call take?  Right now Ella can only talk with friends in person when she’s at the library because we only have 100G a month and I’m afraid a call will put us over the limit.

 

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Yarn Along/Crafting On -12 March 2019

A couple of finished projects for Yarn Along and Crafting On.

I finished the socks for Ella a while ago but forgot to show you.  She loves them.  My Dad wanted some slippers.  Unfortunately, the slippers he likes ‘kill’ my wrists.  So I decided to make him some slipper socks instead.  Hopefully he likes them, though I’m not holding my breath.

I picked up a cheap Kindle book the other day.  It was Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.  I’ve watched his show “Parts Unknown” for a while now, Colin even liked it.  I really liked his shows.  He was so laid back and sarcastic.  He went to the really cool places -the places the locals go, not the ‘touristy’ stuff.  As expected, “Kitchen Confidential” was brutally honest and quite the eye-opener.  I knew he’d had quite the life, but wow!  Definitely a good read.

 

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Yarn Along -20 February 2019

Oops I did it again.  Somehow Yarn Along Tuesday slipped by without a post.

I got the baby sweaters finished.  Just waiting for buttons.  I made matching heart hats too.  Started a new pair of socks for Ella.  The ones I made for her birthday didn’t fit.  She likes ankle socks, so they were a really quick knit.

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