Stripey Vest

This started off to be a sweater but I got lost on "sleeve island*" and ended up making it a vest. Hope my Wee Niece is OK with a vest. She's getting this in addition to the Wallaby Jumper because she seems to like hand knits from her aunt. How long this will last is anyone's guess. I'm taking advantage while I can.

Pattern: Improvised

Yarn: Caron Cotton Cakes in Lavender Fields and Lilac

Needle: 4.0mm & 4.5mm

Gauge: 19 stitches and 25 rows = 10 cm

Health

Have managed to continue to do 15 minutes every day on the treadmill (my new best frenemy) except if I do something else active like a Scent Hurdle tournament or a walk with a friend.

Current Weather

31C and sunny. Hooray for SUMMER!

* encountered this term on the River City Yarns podcast

Raindrop Vest

So, in the past two weeks I have finished a fingering weight t-shirt-sweater in 9 days and a DK weight vest in 4 days. COVID-19 has left me with quite a bit of time on my hands it seems. Still need buttons for this vest but since the knitting part is complete I'm calling it done. Total improvisation to make this, just knit a body, yoke, neck line, and sleeves.

Pattern: Improvised
Yarn: Knit Picks CotLin in Raindrop*
Needle: 3.75mm & 4.5mm
Gauge: 19 stitches

Current Weather
16C and mostly sunny. Well, that was today's high, it's probably cooled off a bit by now.


* Yeah, that's right, another project named for the colourway. I'm good with it.

Weekly WIP Update

Yeah, so; these aren't exactly happening every week but there's only so many times you can repeat, "not much has changed so I didn't bother to take a picture" without being boring to the point of tears.

First up this week are some socks, sort of spring like colours but still mostly wool since this is Canada after all.

Next up are a couple of cancer caps for my Mom, I'd like her to have a few to choose from. Hopefully she doesn't get so sick from the chemo that she doesn't care what hat she's wearing.

 

And my gray vest and blue sparkly sweater have come out of sleep mode and gotten a little longer.

 

And a new, very dark brown, cardigan has been cast on. This one is worsted weight and feels like it's just flying along.

In frustrating news, I had to buy new 4.0mm needle tips this week because one of mine has disappeared. I still have one tip but it's kinda useless without the mate to go with it. Then, when I tried to use the new tips I discovered that the cable I was planning to use needs gluing and I don't have any other cables long enough for this project that aren't already in use. I was planning to cast on a cancer cap so I just cast on the grey one above instead so all is not lost.

That is the one downside I have found to Knit Picks interchangeable needles, at least the old ones that I have, this may not be an issue with a newer cable; the end join occasionally works loose. I just use some strong glue and put it back together and it's good to go, but it does mean the cable is out of commission for a day while the glue cures. This kind of glue takes 24 hours to completely cure.

Current Weather
-13C and partly cloudy. Winter came back again.

Weekly Update

Once again this is not a WIP update but an FO.

Finished my next cotton sweater. Modified the pattern enough to call it Cotton Vest III. Went up a needle size and had to change a number of things due to the change in stitch count. Also went with a longer body and shallower arm hole; not sure I like it as much may go back to the other way I was doing them. Will know for sure after it's washed.

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Cotton Ombres & Prints in Sonoma Print
Needle: 5.0mm & 5.5mm
Gauge: 15 stitches and 21 rows = 10 cm

Some progress was also made on my Niece's socks but not enough for a picture.

Current Weather
0C and clear. The nice warm weather continues for another week.

2019 Year in Review

Well, that wraps up 2019. Not the best year on record I'm afraid. I lost both Mouse and Soccer and my Mom got some bad health news. I suppose the good thing about Mom's news was it forced me to go see a doctor myself for the first time in far too long. My results are all good except for high blood pressure.

Mom's bad health news will mean a rough year in 2020 so I feel like I'm bracing myself for it. Deep breath.

Starting with pets

Mouse left us in March after a sudden, brief illness. It is astonishing how much of a hole such a small, quiet cat left behind.

Then a second whammy when Soccer passed in July. I miss the stubborn, pushy old fellow.

Ahab is enjoying being the only pet, it's also possible we've been spoiling him. Just a little.... OK, fine; maybe a lot. His health seems to be fine so far (touch wood) still just a little arthritis in his joints slowing him down but otherwise he's in excellent health.

No changes with Eclipse either, she does like being a pasture potato. Best retirement ever.

And moving on to knitting

First thing finished in 2019 was a pair of socks, the usual basic socks made with interesting yarn. Kept these for myself. That's right, I selfish knit.

Then I finally, finally finished Spruce. This sweater took two years because I stalled out on the yoke, and it took me months to figure out that I didn't want another raglan style. I don't know if the yoke I ended up using has a name or not but I must like it because I've now made several sweaters with this yoke or a variation on it.

Then I made myself an Ugly Christmas Vest. Yes, in January. I even wore it this Christmas. This picture doesn't have the buttons but they're there now.

I always need a few socks right away at the start of the year since there are a cluster of birthdays all at once. Here are my Niece's socks. My Dad and Nephew's socks were finished in 2018 during an impressive sock run.

Then I finished Parchment. The first of three fingering weight cotton/acrylic blend sweaters, the yarn is Knit Picks Comfy Fingering Weight, I would love a couple more of these. A dark grey and a light grey perhaps..... Or maybe a bright red..... decisions, decisions..... I ended up taking the neck out of this sweater and re-making it, you can see my second attempt in the second picture.

 

I had a need for some socks for my own sock drawer so three pairs of socks dripped from the needles in rapid succession. Including my Time Traveler socks at last. If you don't know which pair that is or why they're called Time Traveler you need to turn in your Nerd Card.

 

Then I finished a sweater that was too small. Urgh. No idea why I continued until after blocking it before I admitted defeat but I did. It is now being re-knit a little larger.

Ravelry says I completed a pair of booties next but apparently I didn't take a picture and I'm not exactly sure where they are.

Then I completed the second fingering weight cotton/acrylic sweater. This one is a lovely dark green. You can see I did a much better job with the yoke where the sleeves attach compared to Spruce. The neck is just slightly too snug on this one, I have to take my glasses off to put it on or off. But, once it's on it fits great.

Then I needed some summer socks. These are a cotton/acrylic blend. I really don't like knitting cotton socks so these took quite a while to finish.

Next a wool vest. Not sure I will be keeping this one as I don't like how the shoulders sit or the way the weight of the hood pulls at the yoke. It may get re-made into a different vest.

Next came my pride and joy for 2019: my very own Star Wars Scarf! I love this scarf and have been wearing it at the slightest hint of cold. Unfortunately it was too warm for it when I went to see Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. This is a double knit fabric and I have fallen in love with this technique, the fabric it makes is wonderful. The down side is that it is a fairly slow technique since you basically have to work each stitch twice every time. It is totally worth the effort though.

Then came two sweaters for my Wee Niece for her birthday. I usually do socks for birthdays but she was spotted in a video call wearing another sweater I had made for her so I decided on a sweater. Then made her two because she's still small enough I can still make her a sweater pretty quickly. And she wears the sweaters; this is important because there is no point in investing all the time and yarn needed for a sweater that won't be worn. There have been multiple sightings of her wearing the heathered sweater since it arrived, apparently it is currently one of her favourite sweaters. One really must take advantage of this willingness to wear hand knit sweaters while it lasts.

 

A hoodie sweater for myself came next. This was a re-knit of another sweater that didn't work out quite right. Wool yarn isn't cheap so I didn't want to have an unworn sweater sitting around. I have worn this one many times since it was finished. Or re-finished.

Another car seat baby blanket came next.

And then came Celestial, it was this project where I perfected the yoke for this series of fingering weight cotton/acrylic blend yarn. Unfortunately, I don't know if you can see it in this picture.

After something of a sock drought these were finally finished and went to Mom for her birthday.

Then another baby blanket, this one is not meant for a car seat. I made up this pattern and I really like how the textured stripes came out.

Since my Wee Niece got sweaters for her birthday this year she got socks for Christmas. I don't do a lot of Christmas knitting, too much pressure, but I'm willing to make an exception for someone who wears so many of my knits. Plus my other Niece and Nephew have reached the gift card age.

And Dad's birthday socks are all set for 2020.

And a blanket which has been on the needles since Aug. 2018. Glad to have this one done at last. There is a surprising amount of yarn left after finishing this so it may get some matching booties, and maybe a sweater and a hat.

And one final pair of socks for my Nephew's birthday in February. Squeaked these under the wire by finishing them on New Year's Eve. Yup, that's how exciting it is around here.

To recap:
24 projects completed
10 pairs of socks
8 sweaters
7 gifts
3 little blankets
3 things sent to Scotland
2 vests
1 Star Wars scarf

Word of the Year
I think I succeeded with this; for 2019 my word was 'active' and after moving to a new office for work I did start walking the dogs in the morning, my consistency did sort of fade once Winter set in though. More to do with ice than with snow or cold, although cold is a factor for Ahab.

For 2020 the word will be - health.

Current Weather
0C and mostly cloudy, the wind has stopped so I thing the Chinook is close to over.

Weekly WIP Update

A day late but not, I hope, a dollar short. Only three things grew or changed enough for pictures this week.

Fist is the Coral Camo Blanket; now working on the edging. I got the edging idea from Frankie's Blankie. Frankie has some really neat designs, click here to see her Ravelry page, it's definitely worth a look.

The Cotton Vest has grown, it's getting close to splitting for the yoke. I'm slightly worried the fabric will be too loose but I have found that the other vests I've done with this yarn really ended up with a fabric that is slightly too tight so I'm soldiering on. I will NOT have an accident and end up dyeing this one and unfortunate colour.

And the Olive Green Sweater has been split for the yoke although I don't think the picture shows it well.

And finally, since I finished my Dad's birthday socks I cast on my Nephew's birthday socks. His 14th birthday and I'm making him Men's Medium socks. The same size as my Dad and he's got years of growing to go yet.

Many other projects were worked on but none deserve pictures yet.

Other News
In what passes for excitement around here I hired someone to clean the house and I'm delighted with the results. I will definitely have to get them to come back regularly.

Especially given the bad news my Mom got recently. She's been on the list to see a surgeon about a hip replacement for months and then, just when she finally gets in to see him, she found a lump on her breast. Which turned out to be cancer; the good news (such as it can be) is that it's a slow moving cancer and she caught it early. But all this does mean she needs to treat the cancer before she can get her new hip. We're coping.

All of this did make me realize that I haven't been to see a doctor for a long time. So I've now had a mammogram (I'm over 40 and as soon as I mentioned that my Mom had found a lump out came the mammogram form), a heart test (my Dad has a heart condition) and a complete blood work panel. All of which came back normal. But, I do have high blood pressure and I really need to loose some (a lot) of weight. I guess I know what I'll be doing next year.

Current Weather
-4C and clear with periodic clouds.

Weekly WIP Update

I guess this one's more like bi-weekly but that's because nothing seemed to happen last week. This is not, of course, strictly true; lots of knitting happened it just didn't LOOK like anything had happened. Frankly, I'm not sure that isn't the case again this week but here goes.

The Cherry Zig-Zag Seed Stripes Blanket (do you think I should try to come up with a longer name?) got a little longer.

And Dad's Birthday Socks are close to finished. Still most of the foot to go on the second sock though.

The Coral Camo Blanket is mostly square now but I want a rectangle so I need to do a few more rows.

And I started a new vest, why I felt the need to do this I have no idea.

Everything else got a row or so, or didn't change shape much, so no pictures.

Current Weather
-2C and mostly cloudy. It's been pretty wintry for the past couple of weeks.

WIP Update

And just like that another week has passed. Sometimes I wonder how it's possible for it to happen so quickly. And yet I seem to have accomplished quite a bit on most of my WIPs; even finished a blanket.

The observant among you will notice that I have a new duvet, I made a trip to Ikea and found a lovely blue duvet cover for my new wool filled duvet; the first picture below shows the duvet colour best. Also, I have no idea why my camera turned all the creams, greys, and whites into bright yellow. Maybe it's the new duvet cover....?

Knitting

Started a new vest this week, the colour is actually an ashy grey nothing like yellow at all. This will have a pattern in it and not just my usual favourite of plain stockinette. Going a little out there for this one.

And started another baby blanket, blue with seed stitch stripes. Ugh, that yellow should be a greyish colour.

Here is what I hope is the final cast on for my red t-shirt. Please, please, please let this be the final cast on, I'm getting really tired of casting on over and over again for this one.

And further progress was made on my blue cotton sweater. The stitch marker is marking where I will start to pickup stitches when I pick them up for the sleeves. Not really sure that is coming through well in this picture though.

Another stripe or two of checks added to the Bunny Blanket. As you will know from previous pictures of this blanket it is white and purple not yellow and purple.

Virtually no progress on the socks. No picture as it would just be annoying to have an actual record of my lack of progress.

Current Weather
14C and cloudy. So many yellow leaves all of a sudden, seems like only yesterday there were one or two and now half the tree is yellow.

Ash Vest

Finished my new Ash Vest, when I started out I wasn't sure if I had enough yarn for a sweater so I left the option to make this a vest open until the end. Didn't have enough yarn for sleeves so it's a vest.

Pattern: Improvised
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport in Ash
Needle: 2.5mm & 2.75mm
Gauge: 23 Stitches / 10cm

Current Weather
15C and mostly cloudy.

Cotton Vest II

Finally, after two spectacular vest failures in a row I managed to make one that will fit and did not get dyed an unfortunate colour. And let's just hope it stays that way. I suspect I will wear this a lot since I love vests, they provide just the right amount of warmth indoors during Winter. The yarn is basically a cheap-o kitchen cotton but I made a sweater out of it years ago that has held up well so I have hope this too will last for several years. I'm thinking of making one in blue.

Sort of followed EZs percentage sweater to make this but modified the yoke to allow for buttons and put in some waist shaping. And it's a vest. I cropped my head off the picture because I couldn't manage to take one that didn't end up with me looking like I was having a health crisis.

Pattern: EZs Percentage Sweater (sort of)
Yarn: Handicrafter Cotton Solids in Sonoma Print
Needle: 4.5mm and 5.0mm
Gauge: 16 stitches and 26 rows = 10 cm

Current Weather
13C and mostly cloudy. Feels like Fall is knocking on the door.

Bear With Me

I finished a bear this weekend. I think she's a girl bear but my Wee Niece may decide on something else. Who knows with kids. Made her vest in bright red so she's nice and cheerful. She's pictured below with the snow that has been falling all morning. I was not venturing outside for her photo so she's just in the window. The vest is not part of the bear so I predict lots of fun while my Wee Niece takes off the vest and an adult gets to put it back on for her over and over and over again. If I get ambitious I will knit another vest or two in different colours.

Pattern: Magic Loop Teddy by Julie Tarsha
Yarn: Loops & Threads Impeccable Big Solids in Cream for the bear and Loops & Threads Impeccable Brights in Red Hot for the vest
Needle: 4.0mm (for the bear) and 5.0mm (for the vest)
Gauge: not critical

Current Weather
-4C and snowing. We're actually under a snow advisory, which means we're expected to get over 10cm in less than 12 hours.