Tag Archives: knitting

four things | twenty-one

Posted on by
3

The hot, muggy days of summer arrived this week. Mr. Aitch and I are getting the outside of the house ready for summer living: grilling, dining al fresco, and relaxing. It’s been a busy week outside.

Today is Worldwide Knit in Public Day! I’ve still got my sock project so maybe I’ll make some progress today. What a great opportunity to knit at the local Celtic Festival!

what I’m reading

I finished My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier and thoroughly enjoyed it. I figured out the ending three pages from the very end. The description classified the book as a gothic novel but I viewed it as historical psychological thriller. Whatever.

what I’m watching

We heard great things about Bonfires of the Vanities so we watched the movie starring Bruce Willis, Tom Hanks, and Melanie Griffith. The book got rave reviews so I can only assume that the book is much better than the movie.

what I’m working on

Mr. Aitch got a new battery operated power washer a couple of weeks ago. The weather hasn’t cooperated much until this week so he/we finally got to try it out. The deck isn’t huge but it took us two days to clean it. He has two sets of batteries but the downtime between recharging killed the momentum.

After the deck was clean, Mr. Aitch washed the outside concrete stairs to the basement. It’s a one person job so I puttered around with other things: watered the pots of flowers, moved/rearranged the deck furniture, did a load of laundry, brought all the outdoor cushions upstairs for easy access, hung the solar mini lights around a part of the deck railing, and took a much needed shower. I still need to put the other electric lights around the deck but it was just too freaking hot with the sweat running down my face burning my eyes and practically blinding me. Note to self: wrap a bandana/headband around forehead to catch the sweat.

what I saw on my walk

I only walked two days this week due to the outside chores but I spotted this little guy in my neighbor’s yard.

Have a stupendous weekend!

Patti nona

My Trailblazer socks

Posted on by
14

I joined my first KAL last month with a free sock pattern, Trailblazer Socks, from Winwick Mum. It looks like a cable running off-center down the front and back of the leg but it doesn’t require a cable needle or holding stitches in front or behind.

The secret is a new-to-me stitch called the Right Lift Increase or the Left Lift Increase along with ssk or k2tog. She has a great tutorial if you need a refresher. It’s relatively self-explanatory but sometimes a picture IS worth a thousand words especially to a visual learner.

I am farther along than these pictures show from the weekend. In fact at this time I’m just a few rows from the toe on the first sock.

The dark yarn makes the cable a little hard to see but I still like the texture it provides.

Speaking of the yarn, this Regia 4-ply is a workhorse of a yarn. I’ve used it before and the yarn doesn’t pill or get holes in it, at least I haven’t had those experiences yet. I plan to knit the toes in one of my hand-dyed yarns leftover from a sock from couple of years ago.

The KAL has ended but as there was no official deadline, I’m going to keep on knitting.

  1. Have you ever joined a KAL, MKAL*, CAL* or MCAL*?
  2. Did you finish the item?
  3. Did you like the finished item?
  4. Would you do it again?

My answers:

  1. This is my first.
  2. Not yet but I will.
  3. So far so good.
  4. Yes, if I like the end product. I don’t think I would do a mystery KAL just because I like to know what I’m investing my time and yarn into.

On to knitting…

Patti nona

four things | three

Posted on by
7

what I’m reading

One of the libraries I belong to offers access to Hoopla, an online resource for ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, music, and videos (TV and movies). I try to keep my book buying down so when I find something I might like, I check it out on Hoopla.

I found one that I loved: Norah Gaughan’s Twisted Stitch Sourcebook. Mr. Aitch surprised me with the book for Christmas.

I’m so enamored with it and all the different stitches that I might see a newly designed sock in my future.

what I’m learning

A new word for my vocabulary is: voluntold (vŏl′ən-tōld) forcefully volunteered; ordered to do something. One of the teens at church was voluntold to be the lector for the service. I read online that this word has been around for several years but this was the first I’d heard about it.

what I’m loving

This luxurious lotion bar for my very dry skin.

The light scent of mint, lemon balm, and lavender also has a hint of honey from the beeswax. The sunflower oil and Shea butter make it a little sticky but glides across the skin like, well, butter. No more dry, flaky skin on my arms and legs.

My BFF’s daughter’s family has a farm in Pennsylvania where they raise bees, sheep (for meat, not wool), pick-your-own blueberries, chickens/eggs, flowers, and a pumpkin patch. Her sons also show sheep, dairy beef, pigs, and goats.

Katie makes salves, lotion bars, sprays, and candles as well as wool dryer balls with most of the ingredients sourced from her farm. The only things she not from her farm are the Shea butter, sunflower oil, and green tea. She has a list of the different scents and products here and here.

You can find more about her farm on her FaceBook page here.

what I’m working on

We had some pretty gusty winds starting Monday evening through Wednesday. One of our big oak trees in the side yard lost a huge limb.

The view from inside the kitchen
The limb stretches from the base of the trunk to the
lower right-hand corner.

I was sitting at the kitchen table facing the window and watched it snap and fall to the ground. Some small broken branch pieces and twigs hit the window. Fortunately nothing was damaged other than the tree.

I’m helping Mr. Aitch with the cleanup.

Patti

Broken Seed Stitch pair

Posted on by
8

I finally finished the Broken Seed Stitch socks last week. I love how the dark green of the Knit Picks Stroll in Aurora Heather toned down the bright green, aqua, and yellow hand-dyed yarn.

The broken seed stitch looks like fish or mermaid scales that illuminate and glimmer.

The yarn color pooled a bit on the first sock (below left) that is more noticeable on the sole.

My tension changed with the second sock (below right) as I tried to tighten the stitches where the color changes. The seam isn’t as visible even if I can see it. Will it make a difference when worn? I doubt it.

I prefer the Eye of Partridge heel flap as I think it is more durable. (I must say that I’ve never had to reinforce or repair any of the heels on the socks I’ve knit whether it’s the standard slipped-stitch or Eye of Partridge heel flap so it’s just my personal preference.)

I found this sock “recipe” by Hanna Levämiemi to be a great stash buster for an ugly-duckling ball of yarn as it can be transformed into a swan with the right contrast color.

I’ve already got another sock on my needles.

Patti