plant parents of the world unite

Wow, I finished the stitching on this just after Valentine's Day and I finally got it in a hoop! Goodness that's a lot of procrastination. This lovely thing is a design out of a library book called "Self Care Cross Stitch" and it made me giggle. I did not completely adhere to the called-for colors since I have a pretty decent stash of colors that were rather close. 

The time between last stitch and today was spent fretting about the "right" way to soak and block it (answer: just like my knitting, no big deal) and then having it be a bit wrinkly on the ironing board for literally weeks before I finally got some water in the iron for steam to smooth things out. It looks great now. The purple hoop is pretty awesome for it - a yard sale find - and I am looking forward to finding a fun spot on my wall for it to sass people as they pass. 

agave on the needles

I'm feeling pretty motivated to work through my sweater quantities of yarn that I got myself this year at the yarn crawl. The thrill of finishing a piece that actually looks like clothes is pretty great. I've been making a bit of progress on my Clint shawl I started a few months ago, but it's going to be my slow and steady project. This one, on the other hand, I hope will be a good one to focus on! I finally cast on my Agave.

    

I started it a few days ago and got myself into the wee hours of the morning by finishing the first lace chart. I've been trying to have some quiet time in the mornings to knit a few rows, and this is the progress I have made so far. It's looking really pretty in this soft yellow yarn, and despite the fact that it's knitted flat, I am enjoying the rhythm of the making. Surprisingly, it's growing at a pretty quick pace, I feel it won't be a challenge to finish by the end of July without forcing it. 
 

scarlet sophie scarf, finished

That took no time at all! I can totally see why so many folks have made multiples of these. The extremely simple design is a lovely canvas for a special skein of yarn. I could see featuring texture (like cashmere) or a pretty speckle or other interesting color feature. That is, if you're the kind of person that can rock a tiny scarf. I am one of those people. I have definitely been through phases of wearing small silk scarves, so this fits right into that aesthetic. Plus, my mom crocheted me one very similar to this, which is what inspired me to try it out in the first place. I love that one with a button down shirt. 

This one turned out great! It is a little wider than I imagined, so perhaps a reprise might not include as many increases. I did not use a dk weight yarn, instead I opted for a fingering weight, so I guess the "correct" version is even wider? Dunno. Would not want that. I do like the yarn I used both for its feel and its color. That red is going to be fun for the summer. It's a little orangier than it's turning out in the pictures, which is what drew me to the color in the first place, but it will still be a nice accessory for a patriotic vibe in July. 

I used up every last inch of the ball of Catona yesterday evening, which was very satisfying, though I ended up needing to fudge the second end because I was running out of yarn. It's a bit less pointy than the first end. I ripped back several times to get it looking right, and no one will know but me unless they look really closely. Which would be kind of awkward if I was wearing it, to be honest. I thought about, but did not rip all the way back to the midpoint. That just seemed like an overreaction. 

I enjoy the croissant form factor photos I've been seeing around the internet, so here is mine for good measure. I'm still chuckling that I was influenced by YouTubers and my mother to make this little guy, but it was an incredibly fun knit and I am going to really enjoy it. 

jumping on the bandwagon

I'm not really much of a joiner or a trend follower. However. This little scarf making the rounds of the knitting world has captured my attention despite initial resistance. What happened that finally convinced me is my mom made me a crochet version that I absolutely love, then I've been hearing about what a palette cleanser relaxing knit this version is. I just finished several large projects and am craving simple and fast before I hop into starting my next sweater. Enter the Sophie scarf. 

The yarn my mom used is Scheepjes Catona, a mercerized cotton yarn that is quite soft, cool to the touch, and has a lovely sheen to it. It's also easy to care for and kind to sensitive skin like mine that would resent wool close around my neck. I find the color options of this yarn at my LYS quite appealing in general, and I was quite drawn to this pretty poppy red. I have some lipstick in this color (which might be a bit much paired with it but fun to note) and it feels kind of retro and fun. I'm going to see if I can use up the whole skein. How fun would it be to have a project in mind where I could just pick up a little ball of yarn and use it all up whenever I wanted?! This could be a new habit. I imagine that is also some of the appeal for others, too.

 

Speaking of habit, this is quite a habit forming knit. I have already made quite a bit of progress in a short amount of time and I find myself picking it up to knit a repeat between chunks of tasks at work. It is a palette cleanser and mental floss all in one! 

behemoth ring blanket, finished

I am so proud of how this turned out! The cotton took a while to dry, and we had an unusual cool spell for the season which was AMAZING but meant wet things stayed wet longer. Taking the blocking wires out I could see that the block was just right - the piece kept it's shape nicely, did not bounce back to a smaller size, and did not have any weird pointy bits around the edges (hooray for the wires). It's just shy of 5 feet in diameter, so a really good size for a lap blanket.

I quite like the color combination, which is pretty good for a collection of random skeins on the sale table! I kind of knew when I matched them up in the shop that they'd look good together, but it's nice to see that play out in an actual project. I especially like that putty grey color and would love to get some more to use it in another version I am dreaming up. I also really like this yarn which is Blue Sky Fiber Cotton Skinny. It has weight to it and is buttery soft and nice to work with. 

It looks great in my loft, which is where it will live for a bit while I decide if I am keeping it or not (ha!). It will probably go to my brother. These are kind of his colors and his vibe, especially the orange and I was imagining this for him as I was working on it. I enjoyed the process and would happily knit one again to keep for myself. I have some yarn in mind already that might make a really fun girly version paired with the gray leftovers, and honestly that seems like the answer. I'll wait on that though. It feels really good to have all of my big projects off the needles and just two projects in progress. It would be nice to have another one of these on the needles to keep me company in my YouTube and staff meeting hours, but I've got quite a few other projects planned already so let's keep at least the illusion of focus, shall we? What I really want to do is start my Agave sweater but it's just too much brain power at the moment! 

this is what guest bedrooms are for...

... when there isn't a guest at the moment. I bound off this bad boy on the 10th but it's been hanging out since then while my tank top dried and let's be honest because I was intimidated by blocking something this big. Turned out to be the perfect size for the queen sized bed, and I pulled out my bendy blocking wires so the curves were actually a piece of cake to do.

It's not quite the 5 ft diameter it's supposed to be based on the pattern, but I will chalk that up to ending the outer most ring a few rows early (to avoid winding another ball of yarn) and not going that aggressive with the stretching for the block. I am quite pleased that the puckery inner dot settled down, that my needle switch mistake was not an issue for rings 4 and 5, and that the bind off was loose enough to allow for a nice big stretch without being floppy. Looking forward to seeing how this drapes after drying. Then I will consider whether it's staying here or making it's way elsewhere as a holiday gift. 

Now that I have finished both the tank top AND this blanket, I feel I can start something new. I may vamp for a bit on my Clint shawl (which I have also been making progress on this month), but I do want to get my Agave sweater on the needles to hopefully have done for wearing some time this hot season. Not to worry though, our hot season is LONG. 

mushroom forager tank, finished

It's been quiet from the writing perspective, but busy with the needles this month. I have been motivated to finish projects I have going so that I feel spacious enough to start some new ones. Not a rule, but certainly a good way to push myself to follow through on things I've started. This tank top I started in January is finished and I am quite pleased with the way it fits and how the color looks against my barn tanned skin. 

This yarn was a clearance find at Fillory at LAST year's Bay Area Yarn Crawl. I at least started it before this year's ;). It's a discontinued Berocco cotton rayon blend and was kind of an unforgiving yarn to work with. I had it on large needles for a loose gauge, but it's got NO stretch so was a bit fatiguing to work with which is kind of why it sat for a few months before I picked it back up again in May. 

It shrunk a surprising amount when I blocked it. This turned out to be a good thing because it was looking a bit big around the arm holes and the v neck was bordering on scandalous, but it didn't actually turn out as long or as baggy as I was hoping from making the largest size. The internet tells me it's possible to add length to a stockinette bottom up sweater with just a small amount of fiddling and I have one extra skein of the yarn, so it is an option. It does look very cute with the right pants, though so I will be living with it for a while before considering a modification. As I said to my coworker who wears shorter tops on the regular and looks fabulous, I am trying to embrace the short top as A Thing for myself. 

The mushroom brown is not a typical color for me, but I quite like it with my dark features and olive skin, especially with that bit of a suntan. I wasn't sure how I would feel about the random lines of color but I have to say, love it. They're perfect to give this simple piece a bit of interest but not so busy that it's a mess of color. I would make this tank again for sure, trying a non-rayon yarn so the whole thing stays a bit roomier post block. I would probably want to figure out how to combine the XL body with a smaller size for the top bit so the arm hole/v-neck situation works out like this one, though. I have to say I was a bit skeptical about the pattern because it was so simple but sometimes simple really works!