I’m greeting the new year with some all of my same old knitting and sewing UFOs, but I also finished a few new things just in time.
And I jinxed myself in my last whiny post (because of which someone suggested I re-name this blog Abitchmatism) – despite avoiding public gatherings, pot-luck foods, and public transit, I still wound up with an odd little cold/flu, so my end-of-year output is slightly less than I’d hoped it to be.
A few weeks ago, I did a quick spin of Pigeonroof Studios Mixed BFL in “Dragon Days” for a birthday gift a couple months from now. The colors are downright nearly iridescent and change from turquoise to male-Mallard-head green depending on the light. I spun it a little thinner than I intended, but I was a little out of practice. I’ve already started another Hitchhiker out of it.
And the leftover Dream in Color Classy yarn from my Honey Cowl became a Calorimetry headband.
I have to admit I don’t love it, and I’m pretty convinced the pattern isn’t the same as the one in the picture on the pattern – it has to have fewer rows. I shortened mine by 8 rows and it’s still quite wide, and I didn’t do the hole-making version of the short rows except for the buttonhole either. I’ve worn it a few times during a warmer spell here (in the 50sF) and that’s about as cold as it can get for wearing this thing.
And my nostalgia socks came together.
(The yarn, though I generally really like it for socks, had 7 knots in this skein – unacceptable!)
Over Thanksgiving, I found a picture of the sweater that the yarn reminded me of – and it was sort of close.
The socks have some issues, and like the rookie mistake I made with twisting my Honey Cowl, I’m suddenly having rookie issues in my sock-making: ladders, weird toe grafting, and some general wonkiness with my ssk. I really don’t know what’s going on, but they still work as socks and the fit ended up being okay after all (they are the same length, despite what you see in the pic).
I was playing with different ribbing patterns too – if I had more patience, I’d rip it out and just keep it to K3, P1, but I didn’t.
And yes, they are proudly fraternal rather than identical.
And I’ve got the next pair lined up – some boring grey socks to replace some aging commercially-made boring grey socks.
I’ll be in sketchy territory for these too since I plan to go down two needle sizes… I’ll need to rip and re-start and repeat, I’m sure. And I take that back about the boring color – I like grey and some days bright colors are obnoxious, and all of my socks are a very basic “boring” pattern, but they don’t bore me. I love simple socks.
Here’s to many more made things in the new year!
ASTITCHMATISM 