Randomly on a Wednesday

  1. I had this bonkers idea that I could get everything from before Christmas off the needles by the end of January so that I could start a big new project as a midwinter treat. (I use the word treat here to mean “a reason to keep going on as the snow keeps falling as though it could bury our tattered hearts in the lassitude of our second covid winter. Loosely speaking.)
  2. This is a very motivating thought – starting a big new…. something. I don’t even know what the something might be, but I do like the idea of it and its shiny newness.
  3. Unfortunately, I have a sweater and two pairs of socks to finish if I am going to put a bow on this month. I’m not sure why they aren’t all done anyway, because I have been so diligent all month.
  4. That is a lie.
  5. I have been knitting rather a lot of mittens. While I do not regret this choice for a moment because mitten knitting is one of the true joys left to us in this world, I do kinda wish I had applied myself to the other projects sometime before this afternoon because I am cutting it a little close, ya feel me?
  6. Technically, I came very close to finishing Elliot’s sweater, but that tricky wee beast must have grown while I was making it because even though his mum and I both measured him multiple times, because when I popped it on him it was too small. I ripped out the bottom ribbing and added a bunch, and the same with the finished sleeve. The audacity of some children, I tell you that.
Pattern: Anker’s Shirt

7. I have no excuse (except mittens) for why Alex’s socks aren’t done (except his feet as as big as Joe’s which scarcely seems fair) but I feel like there is hope.

8. Joe’s sock’s….

9. Perhaps we must assume I have other charms that bind him yet.

10. What should the something be?

87 thoughts on “Randomly on a Wednesday

  1. Well, a nice big thing could be Wasp and Rose wrap by Anne Hanson. I love that thing. In a gorgeous color to keep you going.

  2. I don’t have any good suggestions, but maybe you can give the stash a major toss to see what forgotten treasures fall out. Some beauty with plenty of yardage might give you a direction, as long as it’s not gray.

    P.S. If you toss the stash, I know we’d love a post about what you find.

  3. I tossed my stash this week and it was great to see what memories popped out. I got this skein from this person, this one from that tiny yarn store that is no longer there, and that yarn was going to be a sweater. I’ve also liked seeing how far I’ve come in regard to the kinds of yarn I used to buy a decade ago and now. It’s like I was a Knitting Kindergartner.

    • and colors too. I tossed mine last week and my color choices have changed. So the former skeins will be donated to my favorite knitters…they always make lovely things with them.

  4. Go looking at Hunter Hammerson’s new Stochastic…it can go with some GaugeDyeworks yarn.. or do your own thing. 3 different hats, multiple gauges…just quick hits of fun and whimsy..

  5. Well, do you want a something that could be a quick win and gifted to anyone? In that case, I’d suggest Pedestrian Scramble Socks.

    Do you want something for yourself that would keep you warm…or maybe one of the daughter’s warm?
    La Maison Rililie’s BlueSand Cardigan or Ashley Lillis’ Embarker Cocoon Cardigan or Alicia Plummer’s Eased (the Bulky one).

  6. Something with bright colours. I always like to knit with red in February, both to cheer myself up and because of Valentine’s Day. I think you are not a “red” person, so maybe orange with bright blue and green. And I think it should be for YOU! Maybe a cardigan?

  7. Kate Davies has some excellent sock patterns in her Bluestockings book (Mercy Otis Warren being my favorite, and a relation of mine). Or what about an Oa? Or a Crazed Scandinavian Cowl with Kauni or some other long color change yarn? Or a Strathendrick? (Okay. Now I’m just listing my own queue.)

    • After a post by Kate Davies, I received Norah Gaughan’s Twisted Stitch Sourcebook (A Breakthrough Guide to Knitting and Designing). LOTS OF INSPIRATION!! I’m planning a sweater for our son. Yarn purchased. Now to narrow down just the right pattern to include in the yoke. Good luck to all of us looking for something to kick us out of the winter doldrums!

  8. Flush with my successes from Christmas knitting, thinking I’m all that…. I aske for (and got), a kit for Primrose by Marie Wallin. Oh boy….
    …. so whether or not you’re into THAT much colorwork, I suggest something really different like that, with lots of color.
    So, basically “Ditto” to what everyone else said!

    PS – I’m pretty sure we can’t return January, no matter how short the line is at this point, but we can look forward to March because it truly will be here in a blink.
    Hang in…. spring is comin’!!

      • I’m really excited (and a little intimidated). I bought the kit for a brighter (cool tone) colorway than the primary picture. So excited to see how it comes out!!

  9. You fed Elliot, didn’t you? My grandson’s both pulled that growing trick last year. Measured them, knit them matching sweaters in December, tried them on Christmas Day and they were too short. Glad just longer and not wider. Watch out for the foot growth issue, where their shoes fit and then you put them to bed and they wake up with feet two sizes larger.

  10. Did I ever tell you about the sweater I began for son’s second birthday? It was a lovely denim marl yarn, and I worked on it for a while. Then along came second baby and it was put aside. It saw the light of day when number one son was six! And it fit perfectly! I hadn’t really learned about gauge in those days. So off goes little boy dressed in new blue cardigan warm on his way to school. After school little brother and I walked over to fetch him and his sweater, and to watch the harness horses training across the road from the school. Son in blue sweater was standing up on the wire fence watching them run. When it was time to leave, he hopped down from that fence and tore a large hole in the brand new finally finished sweater. Oh well.

    • It happens to the best of us. I just finished a huge blanket in bulky yarn that took me a lot longer to knit than it should. He promised to take good care of it.

      The dogs are enjoying sleeping on/in it with him.

      So far, no holes…

  11. I see the real reason you have startitis — socks in dark olive drab. Those would suck the life out of anyone. Alex’s socks and Elliot’s sweater have color, something desperately needed in winter. Go into overdrive on those, especially as Elliot is growing even as you read this. Use sock yarn leftovers to add interest to Joe’s socks by doing random rounds in COLOR. (No, Joe, it won’t kill you.) Then, for that shiny newness, I’d suggest going glam with lace, a fancy yarn, and glittery trim or rhinestone buttons. After olive drab, you’ll need all the pizazz you can get!

  12. You really liked that “birch” shawl/scarf/thing you used to have. It was green, and you wrote a whole blog entry about it when you lost it.

    Maybe make another one of those, in whatever color appeals now?

  13. Knit the ‘emotional’, ‘blanket’ version of the temperature shawl – the one where each colour represents the temperature on every day of the last year. Choose a colour for tragedy and one for triumph, spin gradations between them, and make every row (or however many) a certain date. It has been 2 years since covid started – plenty of rows for a blanket.
    It would be a big project, and it would remind you that however hard the last two years were, you made lemonade out of those #*@&! lemons 🙂

  14. We’ve had a rough couple of years, I give you permission to cast on merrily and abandon what doesn’t suit. There is no rule against it (even when there’s a rule against so many other things) so put the guilt aside and have a bit of fun. Maybe keep the new starts in single figures just to show a bit of restraint.

  15. Sweaters for the family to wear on outings together. You may want to make Elliot’s at least a size too big. I know that the same color or design might not work for everyone, but maybe doing something like the same color work pattern or stitch pattern on part of the sweater. Hope and togetherness.

  16. A blanket or afghan is perfect for midwinter knitting because it warms you once it’s big enough to cover your lap. I suggest bright colors, maybe even primaries, for a baby blanket or a slightly larger one for a preschooler. It could be striped and have changes of texture (not lacy — this puppy’s for WARMTH!).
    Which reminds me, I have a baby blanket to start with yarn that arrived yesterday.
    Stay warm and safe, all!

  17. In the words of my dear friend recently when I complained about boredom with my usual MO of having only two dedicated projects at once, “World’s on fire, who cares how many things you have on the needles? Case on at will!”

    Which is why I now have six things going and only a LITTLE bit of guilt about it.

    But seriously, as soon as I finished that black hole sweater (1/3 of a sleeve to go), I’m tempted to cast on a blanket. I have an entire box of green & blue yarn to make a blanket. Doesn’t that sound nice for the winter?

  18. We had a very very snowy winter a number of years ago. Near the end of it, when the world had been white and brown forever, I went to the yarn store, and all the yarn I walked out with was green. ALL of it.

    Find some yarn that makes your heart sing, and then go from there!

  19. You can finish these projects before the end of January, I have faith in you, Stephanie! I see the second of Alex’s socks is at the heel. Once the heel is turned and the gusset done, I always feel the rest of the sock goes quickly. Go Steph Go!

  20. Kids get longer a lot more than they get wider, especially when very young. I knew a six year old who was still wearing overalls she’d worn at age 18 months – admittedly they were loose over the diapers at first, and had been lengthened, but the width was the same. Alway make baby sweaters extra, extra long. Turn the waistband and wrists up for double warmth while they grow into it.
    As for Joe’s socks – knit them in bright colors. If Joe doesn’t want to wear them, dye them dull afterwards.

  21. Hmmmmm — you “have been knitting rather a lot of mittens”. Toronto has been experiencing rather a lot of winter. Coincidence? Causal relationship?
    P.S. the verification picture thingy wanted palm trees. That’s just wrong.

  22. On what you could knit, how about an 18th birthday present for the Blog? As the Blog is big, it follows that what you knit would also be big. Obviously for practical reasons, you would take care of the finished item (or nominate a trusted person or group to do so), on behalf of the Blog. Something for your actual living room (as opposed to your virtual one) would seem apt, that your real life guests can enjoy, on behalf of the Blog. As for what that thing could be, how about a blanket incorporating some of the favourite patterns and/or yarns you’ve mentioned over the years? Joe’s gansey could even make an appearance!

    • Great idea, or but how about putting the finished ‘birthday item for the blog’ on ebay, and setting an auction going, and then you could donate all those funds from the sale of it to the bike rally?

  23. Something with your handspun? I’m spinning for Girlang. I made a handspun Aeria and my mother-in-law got it for Christmas.

    As for plans, I had plans for the crafting year, then found out the friend for whom I make grandchild blankets is expecting twins. Ack!

  24. I started a pair of Sprocket Socks by Megan Nodecker and a Wingspan shawl by Kyle Vey to lift my own beleaguered winter spirits. Hooray for NEW! And I bought new yarn for each because I deserve it! A beautiful gradient from Wendy’s Wonders and a Sweet Georgia Party of Five gradient.

  25. Presbytera beat me to the punchline. Dangle the thought of anything freewheeling and colorful once the g….y is put to bed – and how warm Joe would be. Healing bones do ache in the cold (don’t ask me how I know). Namaste, Bonnie

    PS click on the motorcycles – maybe Kate Atherly’s biker jacket – in lavender? (We know how you love purple)

  26. If you want to make a statement to the universe rather than end up with something to wear, you could always yarn bomb part of your house.

  27. Haha. I read #10 as something to do with #9! 🙂 I was going to suggest that it was perhaps your cooking skills…..!

    The “something” as your treat for finishing…. perhaps you could join the knock out a sweater in February thing (I know you’re capable as you knit a whole – with extra sleeve action – sweater for the Knitting Olympics in 2006). Otherwise, big projects are usually sweaters or blankets/afghans. Definitely should be something you love to knit (cables? lace?) with lots of color to brighten these snowy days.

  28. I’m on the sleeves of babycocktail’s Scotch Mist and I have to say it’s a big, squishy hug. Fun cables and interesting stitch patterns.

    Or, a bright colorwork yoke sweater – there are tons of gorgeous ones out there. I’ve got 3 in my sights- Soldatna Crop (but not cropped), Caribou Hills, and tif Neilan’s Long Winter Song.

    I’m sure you’ll come up with something great and knock it out in a hot minute!

  29. Maybe knit yourself a very special sweater – great yarn, great pattern, very fun to knit.
    Looking forward to whatever it turns into!

  30. Girasole by Brooklyn Tweed-you can choose a blanket or a shawl depending on yarn weight. A counterpane? Or… buy the most outrageously expensive, softest, most perfect wool you can find and knit a sweater for yourself.

    My last and probably best suggestion-take a couple of balls of sock yarn and head for a warm South American beach.

  31. I like the idea of tossing the stash and seeing what shakes loose first. I know I have a few treasures in mine.

    And, Canada is going to the Winter Olympics, right? February 4th might be the date to aim for. I have a sweater that I plan to knit for the Olympics (calmly ignoring that I think I have two from past Olympics that require some assembly). It is in a Berroco mohair blend (Artesia) and I have so been wanting an oversized mohair sweater (the pattern’s name escapes me but I have it and it starts with a “C”).

  32. I finally found my knitting mojo in Nov./Dec. Last year with two color work cowl kits from the Woolly Thistle. They need to be blocked. I have a fuschia sweater as almost done and started a pair of size 13 socks. In January I developed inertia, don’t know why. I’m thinking of trolling the stash and starting on colorful door stoppers with cotton I don’t know why I bought, inspired by Arne and Carlos. Speaking of stash, it’s out of control. I think it’s won and now owns my side room.

  33. I finally found my knitting mojo in Nov./Dec. Last year with two color work cowl kits from the Woolly Thistle. They need to be blocked. I have a fuschia sweater as almost done and started a pair of size 13 socks. In January I developed inertia, don’t know why. I’m thinking of trolling the stash and starting on colorful door stoppers with cotton I don’t know why I bought, inspired by Arne and Carlos. Speaking of stash, it’s out of control. I think it’s won and now owns my side room.

  34. A beautiful sampler blanket made with squares of all different colors and patterns. It will never become boring, at least not until it is time to weave in the ends.

  35. Maybe a Musselburgh Hat (pattern by Yosolda Teague) in Gauge Dye Works Colorwheel or something that suits from your stash. I’m rather obsessed with that pattern and am knitting my 12th overall in that oh so delightful Colourwheel (nifty pattern with multiple sizes using your choice from multiple weights of yarn). Or maybe Sunshine Hat by Tin Can Knits or one of their color work sweaters?

  36. Re: Alex’s feet (and Joe’s, of course): WHOA! Those are some feet! I empathize because I had to do hours of math to alter the “Hummingbird Socks” pattern (From Clara Parkes’ “Knitter’s Book of Socks” – https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hummingbird-2 ) for a ***female*** friend of my daughter’s, who had the largest female feet I’ve come across in my 60+ years of knitting. (My DD wanted to give them as a Christmas gift this past year, and paid me — but not enough. Thank goodness for the family discount! 😉 )

  37. I had the same idea here. The two boy cardigans that didn’t make the Christmas stash are done, but there was extra yarn and my hubs wanted a hat, and then I decided the boys mom and dad needed hats to match the boys, and… So three hats are done, but the Christmas socks for hubs are only a start and a third. And then a baby due in March came early, so that blanket is half done. And my SIL asked for fingerless mitts.
    My big project for the rest of the winter is making a blanket for me using Laura Aylor’s Oak Park scarf pattern and Knit Picks City Tweed yarn. I’ll join multiple scarves for the width.

  38. I felt the same last winter. I signed up for Marie Wallin’s Fair Isle Club and tackled a monster of colorwork sweater (20 colors!) with super interesting construction. I never once got bored with all the color changes and different sections coming together. It was a treat and got my through the winter (and spring and summer…) So my vote is for colorwork in a challenging design.

  39. How about a nice wide wrap or shawl with a sock weight yarn? Big enough to wrap around yourself and a loved one as you snuggle on the couch?

  40. I still knit socks for my hubby, but ‘Land Of Goshen’ He has lonnng feet and I try not to get bogged down in the first one, because…there is a second one coming. Nice knitting as always and a cheerful read. Thank you!

  41. What about starting the blank slate of undyed fiber and undertaking the journey from absolute beginning to absolute end. Such a satisfying thing to go from raw fiber to a functional piece of art that has your stamp on every step of the process. Allows you to kind of interpret this crazy pandemic experience into a concrete and creative chronicle. Fiber therapy, if you will.

  42. That photo of Elliot is so perfect! You’ve captured both the light and his expression amazingly well.
    As always, thanks for sharing all you do!

  43. From Nancy, in a time before Covid:

    Last night I went to see the Yarn Harlot (aka Stephanie Pearl-McPhee). She writes humorous knitting books, and is absolutely wonderful. She talked about what lack of respect knitters get, and mentioned several examples. I just wish that I could offer the same gestures and inflections she did, because the audience was cracking up.

    She’s a little bit of a thing, about 5 feet tall, and lives in Toronto, so she has a Canadian accent.

    She will arrive at a bookstore for a signing, look at the ten chairs that are set up, and say, “there will be a lot of people coming. You need more chairs.” Then the people at the bookstore will explain, patiently and kindly, sometimes patting her on the head, that NO ONE ever comes to book signings, and wouldn’t it be better to have one or two people stand rather than a lot of empty chairs? So 75 people come to sit in the 10 chairs, and the staff goes berserk.

    (Last night was at Borders Books. The manager at Borders Books ran a surveillance campaign that included going to another Yarn Harlot talk and taking pictures so she could PROVE to other people at the store that a LOT of people would be coming and they needed a LOT of chairs. Borders was totally organized).

    Some of the stories she told were wonderful. There was the episode where she and her husband, Joe, were at a cocktail party (which is highly unusual behavior for them) and some guy started talking to them and asking what they did. Joe is fine. Joe works in the music recording industry, so that’s intelligible. And what do you do? says the guy to Stephanie? “Oh, I’m a writer.”

    “Oh. Any luck?”

    “Some.” (She’s trying to downplay this because she knows that as soon as she says she writes knitting books the guy is going to back away). Joe, however, does not pick up on the hint. “Some luck? Four books!”

    “Four books. Published?”

    “Oh, yes.”

    So he invites them to another cocktail party that he’s giving, and she explains she can’t make it because she needs to be in New York for the release of her next book.

    So now the guy is impressed, and he starts pulling out business cards, and saying that this guy plans events and might be of some help, and so and so is a press writer who might be interested and this guy, well, this guy is at Toronto’s snazziest bookstore, but they’d need to be sure of getting at least 200. Could she manage 200? (She got 700 in New York, 700 in Northampton, Massachusetts, and 300 last night in a suburb of Boston).

    Joe interrupts again. “Steph gets hundreds!”

    The guy is really astonished now. “What do you write about?”

    Joe: “Knitting!”

    And the guy pulls back the card from Toronto’s snazziest bookstore, and it looks like he wants the other cards back as well, and then his wife shows up.

    “Hi. I’m Linda Lastname.”

    “Hi. I’m Joe.”

    “Hi. I’m Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.”

    “Stephanie Pearl-McPhee?!!! The Yarn Harlot?!!!!!!!!!!!!”

    And Linda looks at her husband, who has this horrified expression, and says, “you didn’t say anything stupid about knitting, did you?”

    No respect for knitters. Even from those who live with them.

    And Stephanie also talked about Doctors without Borders, which is her favorite charity. When the tsunami hit in 2004 Stephanie asked the people who read her blog to send money to Doctors without Borders. She mentioned this to her brother, Ben, who does fund-raising for UNICEF. Ben sent her an email, warning her that fund-raising was a thankless task, and not to be terribly disappointed if she didn’t raise much.

    So, over a period of that amounted to about two years, people would donate to DWB, send an email to Stephanie, and Stephanie would add it to the running total. She finally got to about $120,000. So last December she set a goal, and asked the readers of her blog to donate again, in whatever amount. She asked us to pretend that we had a new family member, and needed to buy them a Christmas present, and to send the amount of that extra present to DWB. Her new goal was $240,000. She thought it would take a couple more years.

    We blew by the $240,000 mark in 74 hours. And change.

    Stephanie received another email from her brother Ben. This one said, “How did you do it? Explain this, because no one I know has managed this without a world disaster.”

    So off she went and started thinking about fundraising. Fundraising, as she explained last night, involves a lot of work. You have to assure people that their contribution matters, that even if they only give a small amount, that when all the small amounts are added together, that you will have something to show for it. That small acts, repeated over and over, can have an impact.

    Then she asked us if we knew of any situation where a small act, repeated over and over, would have an impact. We all waved our knitting at her.

    So she called her brother, and said that she knew the answer, but it would take a lot of wool.

    I had a wonderful time.

    Borders was stuffed to the gills, and the staff was happy, and the woman in the seat next to me recommended a book on baby knits so I could make something for my grand-niece-or-nephew-to-be. The woman in the seat on the other side is just learning, so I showed her what happened when you purl three together. (You get a little bobble).

    Knitters are fun.
    Nancy

  44. […] I am a living testimony…. If you need a permanent cure to herpes virus, please contact [R o b i n s o n b u c k l e r@] ( yahoo)) com […] …

  45. I was cured of herpes simplex virus in 14 days with herbal mixture from this Doctor….

    [HERPES]

    [HPV]

    [ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION]

    [MISCARRIAGE]

    [HEPATITIS A,B AND C]

    [COLD SORE]

    [STROKE]

    [LOVE SPELL TO BRING BACK EX-LOVER]

    [FIBROID]

    [INFERTILITY]..

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.