The Second Week

Second week of the new job went reasonably well.  I am still settling in and learning things, but have gotten a couple documents through to signature and I think others are close.

My old boss came to town to pick up some physical files and things from me and take me to lunch.  He agreed that Bear's BBQ is an excellent choice.

I am back to reading The Agony and the Ecstacy, which is dense and slow-going but enjoyable.

In fiber stuffs, I made a grey and black striped scarf of leftovers from the C2C scarves, and have started another crocheted scarf of some Red Heart Super Saver Fair Isle from the stash.  Yes, even though Easter came and went, I haven't been back to knitting.  Well, Orthodox Easter was just today, so maybe this week.

I counted and made or finished a total of ten crocheted items during Lent:  

• one hat (see photo below)
• the shawl and shawlette
• the pattern-test sweater
• five scarves
• and finishing a UFO scarf

Top left is the crocheted hat, which I made of leftover bits of yarn from other projects, and I think they came together almost as if it were intentional.  Top right is a hat I knit earlier this year, striping because I had only a small amount of each colour.  The bottom hat is from vintage Red Heart wool yarn, a multi and a solid.  I made it last November.  I sent the three to a KnitTalk person who was trying to get fifty hats done to give to a friend of hers who has a street mission in Benton Harbor, Michigan.  I used to live near there so was happy to contribute to the cause.  She made it and he was surprised and thrilled.

The rare, but occasional, overlap.

I finished the shawl begun last weekend, but as a shawlette:

Because that cake was so different in sequence from the other two, I decided to make it on its own (with a border of my own devising), and then use the other two for the full shawl:

It's actually two rows short, but that's not bad for guessing whether the yardage would convert.  The little bit of yellow is all that is left.  The final row is a variation of crab stitch instead of single crochet has the pattern instructions, as I think it looks a bit more finished.

Here are the two together, slightly washed out due to the lighting:

This weekend is the start of Passover and also Easter.  When the two holidays overlap, I often post this image:

This year it is also Ramadan during this time, so Ramadan Kareem to those who celebrate.  There is a thoughtful post about this "rare confluence" when the "three Abrahamic families....celebrate, in concurrence".

ETA:  A friend posted this, which includes all three holidays:

I think the third one needs a different symbol on his hat.

One more week.

I realized that I have one more week of my no-knitting-for-Lent restriction.  So far I have finished five scarves (one was a UFO), one hat, and the test sweater.  This is the last item I expect to make before Easter next Sunday:

I started after the weekly KnitTalk Zoom call
and got this far.  The starting always goes quickly.

It's the Lotus Blossom Shawl and mostly a simple crochet but there are some tricky bits.  I am not using the yarn called for (although I have it) because I've been wanting something to make with this yarn.  It will likely go to my grandmother for her birthday.

Speaking of which, as I said in the last post I visited my grandmother, who is definitely frailer in body and mind.  Some due to age, and some due to isolation, we are certain.  I brought some of her favourite foods every day and didn't get photos of her with all of them, just the KFC and pizza:

   

I introduced her to YouTube, so we spent much of the visit viewing The Three Tenors and opera and classical music flashmobs:

Watching her favourite, Luciano Pavarotti,
sing "Che gelida manina".

We joined my Sunday night virtual knitting group from KnitTalk:

We also had Zoom calls with most of the family, and she got to meet my brother's new(ish) dog.

My trip home was rescheduled a bit due to bad weather but I made it mostly smoothly and a day earlier than originally planned.  When I listened to the storm in my area the next night I was very glad to be neither flying nor driving in it!

Then it was busy at work, and through the weekend, and it seemed that every time the weather looked good enough to go for a walk, by the time I got my shoes on it was raining again.  Oh, well.

When I fly I wear a N95 or KN95 mask, and since they are plain I draw on them or write a quote.  Often it is from somebody whose birthdate is the day of my trip:

This one is from Surrealist painter Leonora Carrington (1917-2011). The full quote is "I didn’t have time to be anyone’s muse... I was too busy rebelling against my family and learning to be an artist". She was a Mexican-British artist and writer who mostly lived in Mexico after her father disowned her when she announced she didn't want to be a proper debutante but decided to move to France with Max Ernst.

My life is neither that interesting nor that dramatic.

Finished! And flying.

The test sweater is finished as of this afternoon.  I don't want to post the full photo until the designer clears it, so here is a closeup of the button placket:

Overall I think it came out better than I hoped it would, since I had to use whatever is in the stash.  I have bits of the black and purple left, maybe 30-40 metres of each, and just a couple metres of the off-white.

In other knitting news, I've been meaning to post this photo, showing a few goodies I've gotten recently:

Lily Chin posted about the socks, and Trish Day figured out a source.
The bag is from Franklin Habit's shop - he learned this is how
knitters in France call "yarn chicken" and was inspired.

Yes, I am still not buying yarn.  😇

And yes, I am going to be flying again - although not as originally planned!  My April Fool was to get a call from Southwest late last evening advising that my flight today was cancelled and I needed to reschedule.  Apparently all the people on the flight were trying at once so the website was not successful.  I called and a wonderful human got me on a flight pair that will get me to Florida later - but still today!  And a different airport, once that usually is rather more expensive, but in this circumstance I am accommodated.

Tomorrow I see my grandmother, after much, much too long.  💖💕

Unprogressing.

The test sweater is going slowly - following instructions, the sweater is unpleasantly (to me) big around the arm, so I frogged and added a LOT more decreases.  The underarm is too bulky but I would have to frog the whole sweater to fix that, and I don't want to keep the sweater, so I decided that I don't care.  Although since the deadline to finish was yesterday, and I didn't, maybe I do?  The problem is that if I get the underarm tighter, it will also make the chest tighter, and on me that won't work.

Not a concern if I donate this, of course.  It has to do with how the body and sleeves are added, as it's not at the points of the corners, but slightly below on the body side, which gives a bigger arm and smaller chest.  Great if you are making this for a skinny guy with muscular biceps and triceps - not so great if you are a curvy female.

The sleeves are not finished.  There is a cuff to be added which I will do in the accent colours.

Also, despite the fact that the purple tweed should have been enough additional yardage based upon the pattern, it's not.  So I'm back to adding the black Lett Lopi, yes, in addition to the purple tweed.  If there is anything left I will make a matching hat, although the way things are going I doubt it.  My current plan is to make the sleeve cuffs striped in black and purple, and finish the body in black.  Hopefully there will be enough black for the placket - and I'm back to the triangular buttons!

Back Again

I went to visit family and now I'm back.  It was good to see them, good to get in some long walks, good to help my parents with things.  We visited my uncle in his care facility.  I made a cheese soufflé:

It's a bit lopsided and not quite as fluffy as it could be (Mom things it's because the eggs were a bit old, and I think it's because they are pasteurized, and also because I was a bit impatient) but tasted really good.  Making a cheese soufflé at least once during a visit has become a tradition when I see my parents.

I passed through Chicago on the way home:

OK, through one of Chicago's airports.

In sweater news, I am behind.  I was helping my parents, and taking walks, and visiting my uncle, and we went to a gala, and all of these cut into crocheting time.  Hopefully a couple days of fast crocheting will get the sleeves finished.

Testing.......and oooopsing.

I volunteered to test a crochet pattern.  I'm not going to post much about it until the testing period is over, this is just the beginning of my process.  The first version of the pattern was HORRIBLE (I wondered if the designer had posted an incomplete draft) and there is a newer version that still has some issues but seems to work.

At first, I thought I'd made a cardigan in green with some matching buttons, because I am just working from stash this year.  I didn't plan to keep it, but would donate to the orphanage or another cause.  Then I realized I didn't have enough yardage, and in rummaging found a hank of Cherry Tree Hill yarn that coordinated well.  Since the dyer has retired, I didn't want to donate something with CTH yarn in it!

 

I got gauge in both directions, with a hook just one size smaller than the designer used.

Then I realized I have a non-cardigan version of the pattern, and I have more than enough pullover styles.  Also, because I overheat easily, I prefer wool sweaters to be cardigans.  This would definitely be something to donate.  So it was back to stash-diving.

 

The Peer Gynt was given to me by somebody when I worked at Lands' End.  She knew I did charity knitting and crocheting and wanted me to use it for a good cause.  This would be a perfect purpose - but it wasn't quite enough yardage.  Further stash-diving turned up a lone hank of Donegal Tweed.

Once again, gauge achieved with a hook one size smaller.  Same hook.

But when I went button-hunting, I wasn't quite happy with options for six buttons that coordinated.  I found a set of five, though that I like and don't like.  Translation:  I think they are really cool, but I don't want to wear them.  Perfect, again, for donating, right?  But since they are black and white, I thought I should swap out the accent colour:

And yet..........

Then I noticed the pattern sample sweater had only three buttons with a henley style front.  I have three buttons that would work for such a thing, but not with black or purple.  Really, I wanted either light grey or beige or more cream as the accent, to do something more simple, because some of the orphans want plainer sweaters.

One final dive, and I found a single hank in the yarns that I keep for dyeing purposes:

While I made these changes, I was chugging along because clearly the Peer Gynt was the main colour and anything else just accent stripes.  In the beginning, even with the improved pattern, I struggled.  I asked if there were further changes and the designer kindly asked what specifically was the issue.  Meanwhile, I decided to frog and restart.  And as I did, I discovered the issue:

Yep, user error.  Apparently I'd skipped a stitch, which of course kept throwing off subsequent rows.  I'm now back on track (and told the designer I managed to solve it) and hopefully the rest will go smoothly.  I've gotten the rhythm of the pattern and am rather enjoying it.

In other news, I finished the Patons Lace scarf, so that's another UFO completed.  That makes an even dozen items (counting pairs of mittens as a single item) that I have finished this year, so far.