April 2015 – Knitting Up North

The Comic Relief

Lily just said, “You’re not funny, you’re Craaa-zy.”

She might have a point. I’m running down to the Twin Cities (2 1/2 hour drive) on Friday to go to an all day knitting class on Saturday. Then, I’ll turn right around and come home Saturday night so that I can be up bright and early Sunday to work. And I’m excited about it.

My job tonight will be picking out yarn to bring with me for the class. I know, it’s a rough life.

What I’m Knitting:

The Zick Zack scarf continues to grow at a snails pace. The balls of yarn are getting smaller and smaller so I know I’m making progress. I keep picking them up and giving them a squish to see just how much longer this scarf will grow.

The gray sweater also is growing slowly. We’ve had a cold snap here which has made me think that perhaps a wooly gray sweater is exactly what I want to be wearing in Duluth/Superior in April.

I also cast on an itty bitty baby sweater. It’s Hyggy Baby from Loop. I’m knitting it out of Malabrigo Rios in the lettuce colorway. The Rios is superwash and just as soft and squishy as other Malabrigo yarns. It’s making an amazingly soft sweater. No one which flavor this baby will be, so the lettuce green is a nice gender neutral color. I’m kind of hoping it will be a girl so that I can put some pretty pink buttons on the sweater. But then again, wood buttons or blue would be striking too. I sort of have a “thing” for this color green.

The parents do not live near us, so I’m looking forward to sending this one off.

What I’m Not Knitting:

After all my talk about beads and how pretty they are, I’ve set the Stockinette Haruni aside. I look at it longingly every once in awhile, but there it sits. I’m really trying to get the Zick Zack scarf finished.

Knots & Tangles:

I had a bit of a problem with the Hygge Baby right off the bat. It was probably due to the fact that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the episode of Outlander that I was watching. (Only Diana Gabaldon could make 1743 Scotland so darn appealing!) Somehow I missed reading the K1 before every 3-in-3 stitch. Luckily I caught the error right away and didn’t need to rip much out. That really is the beauty of baby knits, if you make a mistake you’re not ripping out 500 stitches in a row.

Loose Ends:

I have heard that Stash Dash starts on May 25, however that is not confirmed. Stash Dash is basically knitting a 5K’s worth of yarn (from stash) over the course of the summer. I know that all those projects you have started but haven’t finished do count – in fact, their entire yardage counts. So dig out those half finished blankets! I don’t have much for rules yet, but will be looking into it. Until then, who wants to play Stash Dash this summer with me?

Never Say Never

Life’s Stash

My thoughts on knitting with beads.

1. Pretty. Very pretty.

2. I can’t travel with it.

3. I have 2 children and a very large dog. Having beads in the living room is too tempting for all of the parties involved.

4. See #2. If I can’t throw the knitting in my purse and walk out the door with it, it really isn’t working for my lifestyle.

5. It’s slower than just knitting a pattern.

6. But so pretty!

7. Have I mentioned #3? The dog is very very large. She believes she is a family member and that her nose belongs everywhere that there might be danger hiding. Yes, beads might be dangerous. Just ask my German Shepherd.

8. Can someone else just add the beads on afterward for me? I just want to knit.

9. Beads are seriously tempting. Both for 8 year olds and adults.

So why on earth am I knitting my Haruni Shawl with beads?

What I’m Knitting

I seem to be knitting the Stockinette Haruni with beads. It sort of just happened one night as I sat down to knit. I just happened to have the beads that coordinated nicely with the yarn. I also just happened to have the itty bitty crochet hook to put the beads on with. It just all sort of came together that way.

It’s slow going, but I’m really enjoying the satisfaction of a beaded row. I have to say that my whiney attitude towards beads was not entirely justified. While knitting with beads while my children were tolders was flat out crazy, now that the girls are older its not so bad. They actually have a sort of laissez faire attitude towards my knitting these days. I’m not even entirely sure that they would notice it unless it were to jump out and bite them.

I’m also working on the Zick Zack scarf. I put in a removable stitch marker so that I can see the progress I’m making. It makes me feel like I’m actually getting somewhere with the Zick Zack. The scarf is just over half my wing span. It continues to get compliments when I’m out and about with it.

I kind of sort of just bought yarn for a second one. I found myself in a yarn store over Easter break and I fell down the rabbit hole. I had great intentions of “just looking” for new ideas and before I knew it I was sitting on the floor with a bunch of gradient sock yarns looking for some serious contrast. I’m forcing myself to finish the first Zick Zack before starting a second. It’s taking serious will power on my part.

And look! I made progress on the sweater also! This is a great break from beading and counting. Because let’s face it, sometimes your brain is too tired for anything but stockinette (with a tiny amount of twisted rib thrown in) Now that the weather is warmer and I’m working on some colorful projects, I don’t mind the dark gray color that much. And compared to a scarf with fingering weight yarn, this feels like it is making some serious progress.

What are you working on this week?

Breath In, Breath Out

Breath in 1-2-3-4 Breath Out 1-2-3-4-5 — Breath in 1-2-3-4
Breath Out 1-2-3-4-5

As I type this, the littlest one is doing some sort of April Fool’s day trick with my refrigerator. My husband set it up for her, so I’m not too worried. But it does make my control freak nature a little twitchy.

Breath in, breath out.

Life’s Stash

I feel like this time of year always goes into hyperdrive. The next time I blink, it will be turning the calendar over into May.

Breath in, breath out.

What I’m Knitting

I’m still working on the Zick Zack scarf. I am thrilled and amazed and fascinated by the way the stripes work out. It’s so much fun to work on. I hit the point where it felt like I wasn’t actually making progress on the scarf but instead was knitting the same row over and over again. Sort of like being stuck in neutral but still revving the engine. I put a locking stitch marker in one of the rows so that I could actually see the progress I made. You know what? I’m actually making progress! The scarf really is growing. Who knew!?

I also picked up the Stockinette Haruni again. I pushed through another color repeat and got to the lace border. Although the colors right now are not looking quite as gradient like as I was hoping, I think it will work out all right in the end.

Breath in, breath out.

I hope it will work out all right in the end.

I need sunlight to work on the Haruni, so I’ve been doing a row (or a partial row) in the morning when I get up with my first cup of coffee. Even though the sun isn’t up quite yet, it’s still better than working on it with tired eyes. In the evening I work on the Zick Zack scarf. I also have been taking the Zick Zack scarf everywhere I go. It’s starting to get quite a lot of attention. I even sneak in a few rows during my weekly meeting with The Boss. It’s okay, his mom is a knitter so he understands the compulsion.

What I’m Not Knitting

Oh the sweater and the socks and the blankies….. they’re all calling to me but I’m trying to finish the Zick Zack before I go back to these. Or maybe finish 2 Zick Zacks as my brain keeps running through all the yarn I have in my stash.

Breath in, breath out.

Knots & Tangles

I think I might have an entire blog post about the blonde moments I had while knitting the Haruni. Apparently counting to 289 has not been my strong suit lately. Counting to 4 and 5 for the Zick Zack is enough.

Breath in, breath out.

Loose Ends

I’d like to send a shout out to all the lovely knitters in Arizona who are now reading the blog. Thank you.

And thank you to everyone who takes the time to read and who signs up to get an email whenever a post goes live. Thank you also for commenting, you humble me.