Post Christmas Knitting

If, according to my knitting needles, we have already hit Boxing Day, then this next project is my 'post' pre-Christmas knitting.  This afternoon, I am going to wind the wool and hopefully cast on for this great sweater.

Since the day the pattern first  appeared on ravelry, I have been thinking about this sweater.  The stars were slowly aligning and finally, yesterday, I  purchased the pattern  and today, am anxious to get started.  Mine will be cardigan-ized so will look more like this version.

The first star  hopped into place  at  the Church garage sale and auction last June.  One of the members, a lady somewhat more of a certain age than I am,  donated two Scottish, pure  wool, pleated skirts for auction.  I loved them both.  One was in shades of green and one in shades of brown.  I tried them on and they both fit.  The decision was strictly colour.  I chose  the brown and was winning bidder. 

 

I love it.  Old fashioned, yes.  Classic, yes.  My colour, yes.  My size, yes.  Nothing better - except the sizing.  Today, despite weighing several pounds more than  I did at graduation, I still wear the same size  -  10 petite.  Vanity sizing is such an ego stroker.  The tag on the  skirt, sized  a generation ago,  reads 16.  I might just have to remove that.


Being June, and in no rush to wear a wool skirt, I hung it in the closet to  let the idea of what to wear with it start to percolate.  Sure, I probably have a cardigan or two that together with  a white blouse would look nice.  But I wanted to take this skirt over the top.  It had been lovingly cared for by a lady I see frequently.  She only donated it because she is no longer a size 10.  Or 16.  Like getting out the good china for company,  or shaving my legs mid-winter, I want her to know that it is special to me.

Another star fell into place when I went stash diving.  I have lots of these yarns.

 They are  perfect compliments to the skirt and will make a great, non-matching, matching sweater.  But still I felt they needed a pop of colour to take it over the top.

Oct 2, the last star  fell into place.  That was the day that my Collingwood knit group and I, along with knitters from Southampton and Meaford  went on our Wool & Wine Tour.  We stopped at Riverside Yarns in Owen Sound and there I found this colour of Cascade 220 Superwash DK. 

DK is  a perfect weight.  By double stranding the tweed cobweb weight and knitting it together with a single strand of the One Of A Kind yarn, I hope to achieve DK.  So the Cascade will work perfectly.  Every so often, I will throw in some of the limited supply of dark brown.  

 

The perfect colour combo for a great sweater for my skirt.

 

A swatch is probably in order.  My fingers though will have to take a tranquilizer as they are itching to get started.

Thursdays Are For Knit Group

The days here, have been extraordinarily dark and grey.  Not a bit of sunshine to be had.  Sharon, on vacation in Cuba, was most likely the only knitter from the group to see the sun today.  But  our at-home knitters didn't seem to mind.  Their laughter and  talk and knitting brightened the  day.

Today we  had a reunion of sorts.  Joanne was in town.  Spending most of the winter a couple of hours away at her son's house these last few years, means we don't see her often.  We are always glad to catch up with her when she is in town.

She was wearing her diagonal, sock yarn scarf. 

And from time to time, she was wearing Gail's Newfie Mitts. 

 

Gail was the other knitter we haven't seen in some time.

 

Having  cataracts removed from both eyes this fall has kept her 'otherwise occupied'.  And imagine this!  She used a doctor that made appointments for Thursday afternoons!   She did manage some knitting though.  For her sister, she knit a warm fuzzy, diagonal scarf and matching Newfie mitts.  The ones she almost lost to Joanne.

Mittens were on several knitters' needles to day.  Wilma is having fun with Thrumbed Mittens.

 

We did have some quiet, needle-clicking moments,

 

but mostly there was laughter with our knitting.

Feels Like Boxing Day

 Today,  feels like a Boxing Day of sorts to me.  Well - minus  the sales  and left over turkey. 

Last night I finished the final item on my Christmas knitting list.  An Easy Peasy Scarf for Fred's Step Mom.

 A stash buster for sure.  Step Mom has strawberry blond hair and wears lots of browns so this should be a hit.

Pattern:  My Own.  Cast on as many stitches as required to give you the length of scarf you want.  Here I cast on 125 but for a longer scarf, I measusre the cast on against a beach towel.
Yarn:  Lots  - at least 5-7  different yarns. Use different textures, and most importantly, different gauges to give  the scarf its thick, thin very tactile feel.
Needles:  8 or 9mm - the big needles give the scarf a very open appearance.
Instructions.  Change yarns every row leaving a tail of about 8 inches.  Every time you have two tails, tie them together. These tied tails form the fringe.  Change yarns randomly.  I keep them in a bag and reach in blindly. Whatever comes out is what I use.  The random selecting of yarns gives the scarf its wonderful, creative appearance.  Too much thought in yarn selection makes for a more controlled, disciplined scarf. 

This one, with 125 stitches, finished at 5 1/2 inches by 51 inches ( not including fringe) and  took two evenings.  So, if you are so inclined, you still have time before the big day.  But me? It's Boxing Day in my knititng world.