I've been a Dirty Dawg


It seems the longer you put off something, the longer it takes to get back to it. I've been a Dawg, I admit it. I cuss & call names when other people neglect their blogs & leave me out in the cold & here I am, doing the bloody same. Mea Culpa. I have returned.

The cold, damp weather also seemed like it would never go away & like many of you, I fell into that state of semi-consciousness that makes you eat, sleep, work, sleep the days away. Did I watch tv or knit or sew?? Not sure. I now know that I'm capable of falling asleep in any chair with arms - no matter where it's located! I used to laugh at my mother for such behavior! She used to say she was resting her eyes .  .  .  well, I've been resting mine at every opportunity! And it's her fault.

So what have I done?? We won't talk about work other than to say that I swore, I SWORE I would never work full time for one employer ever again because it's boring & mind rotting & full of office politics??? Well, I'm doing it. Knitting/spinning wise?? I have dropped all projects except one sweater & two pairs of socks (gotta have socks fer gosh sake!! That would be positively uncrafty!!) I'm just tired of scattering my time over many projects & never finishing anything. Yeah, I can hear the laughter. But, I'm a Starter, a Big Picture Person & a Bottom Liner. I don't care how a project gets done as long as it gets done & I don't have to finish it. I like to dream up the Big Ideas but not put out the Trash. You don't understand how difficult this is for me. I have all these projects started, I knit a few evenings & the weather changes. So, I made up my mind I would work one sweater at a time.

And this is the one. I know you haven't seen it for a while but the weather changed & I decided that I'd like to finish the one that I can wear NOW. I think I have enough yarn spun to finish it. If I don't, I found the fleece that I can spin to finish it. This will be my summer go-to sweater. The one I curl up in outside on the patio & the one I take to work when it's chilly. And just to remind you - this is spun by me from a couple of small Shetland fleeces from a sheep named Arvik who lived a long happy life in the green fields in Alberta. I loved her fleece because it was multi-shades of grey. My friend Gail gave me the pink & brown fibre - from Great Balls of Fiber - for my birthday one year & I just loved it! I spun it up quite finely but since I'm not a shawl wearer, I wasn't sure what to do with it. Knitter's Magazine came out with their "From The Top" Fall issue last year & I fell in love with the "Ribbons-O-Round" sweater!! So, this is my version of the 'Ribbons' sweater in handspun. I've spun lace weight singles & used two singles held together to knit on a 5mm Denise circular so that it will be very light but warm. When dumped out of the bag, I discovered it was two inches below the armhole where I joined for the body, so hopefully, this won't take forever to knit.

March Mayhem

I couldn't believe my eyes when I woke up this morning - SUNSHINE!  It's been a while since we actually saw any of this & I know the Sunday students will be cheering. They're out of rain gear at last. Wednesday, when the sun wasn't shining but  wasn't pouring either, I bought some of the season's first Primulas. Home Depot had them out in scads of colors - oranges, yellows, pink, purple, blue .  .  . with huge blooms on them. They've sat in the back of my car ever since. Today, I will venture forth & plant them in the big pot of dead Geraniums by my front door! I had hoped the geraniums would survive the winter tucked against the back of the patio, by the door but it doesn't look good. So - Off with their dead carcasses & in with the Primulas!! I need some color in my life! Who knows?? Pansies may be next.

Haven't been knitting a lot lately - my hands have been giving me hell & now my wrists are joining in. I stopped taking all the big timed release aspirins three times a day & switched it up with Tylenol & Naproxin. Yes, I am avoiding anything by prescription for as long as possible since they're expensive. Back to the big Aspirins I guess. They, at least, cut the inflammation!! While I haven't been knitting a lot, I have been knitting socks. As usual, one pair's in the car & one by my chair!! The chair socks are for me. I've gone up to a 2.50mm circ to knit the Kroy socks since the yarn is thicker. I like them on the 2.5s. I used the smaller formula in my head - 64sts instead of 68 - but they knit bigger so it all works out in the end. They're just waiting for me to sew the toes!! Love that Kroy.

Since this is March, it seems time to bring out the spinner & work on making yarn! For Christmas, I received a nice bag of Blue Jeans - just a splotch dyed bag of roving that ranges from medium blue to very light blue. The name is so right because it should spin up to the perfect faded shade of a favorite pair of jeans. Not sure what it will become - there's enough for socks & mitts, a shawlette, a couple of hats or something else that catches my eye. I can't wait to spin some of it up & knit a swatch!

Or - I just ran across this pattern on Ravelry & instantly fell in love!! They're called Duffers. And they come in all sizes from infant to large Adult. Yes, I bought the pattern!!! Are you kidding???  I love the look of them & have lots of leftover Briggs & Little single skeins in different BLUES in the stash that I was going to use in a sweater. Changed my mind & now they're sitting there waiting for this project. They take 2 skeins of Cascade220 or any other comparable yarn that felts.