A White Tiger and a Regular Tiger

In the vein of time being impossible to track and possibly being meaningless while also looming larger than ever, I finally knit these tigers just as the Year of the Tiger ends.  Sure, the new pattern for the Lunar New Year helped prompt me to get going with this, but that wasn't all.  My nephew recently had a birthday, and it was a special one.  It's hard to believe that he is now twenty-one.  He was a precious little baby, a precious little boy, and is now a precious young man.  I want to post picture after picture of him, but I'll resist the impulse.  

You know how small children often like to share animal facts and their enthusiasm regarding their special favorites?  He was no different, and tigers were there at the top of his list.  He loved tigers and was especially intrigued with white tigers.  Still, in his young mind, to declare a favorite would have been disloyal.  So when he was asked about his favorite animal, he would most often respond, "A white tiger, and a regular tiger."  I managed to crochet a regular tiger for him when he was little but never got around to making a white one.  So, for the occasion of his twenty-first birthday, I added a white tiger and a regular tiger to his birthday presents.   

New Year, New Blog Post

We made it!  That last bit was a bit rocky, (no need to worry--life is like that sometimes) and for the last couple of weeks of the year, I had a lot of trouble keeping track of what day or time it was.  Much of that lingers, but it seems a little less difficult.  I don't have a personal 2022 wrap-up, and I'm just fine with that.  We're still here, and that is enough. 

Anyway, you're here for amazing knitting content, right?  My Featherweight Wrap to Knit has all its ends woven in and it even had a nice soak to wash away the years and, well, you know what a difference a dunk makes.  I don't feel like a modeled photo shoot, and it laid out on the floor is not all that impressive for a picture.  It is a mainly stockinette, three-quarter-ish-length sleeve, black, lightweight, cardigan.  You'll just have to trust me on the finished status, mkay?  I like it and might even knit another of this pattern one day.  

I finished knitting the final quadrant of the Hue Shift Afghan.  I really thought I would have sewn the quadrants together or worked in the ends during the ultra-cold weather, but that didn't happen.  I didn't even drag out the other pieces of the blanket.  I'll get to it someday.  I have some shows I want to watch and I think working on this while I do so will be a good match.   

I knit some little bits for the nieces and nephews.  I wanted to make many more tiny things, and I even thought of sewing little stockings for each of them to fill with doodads and little knits, but that was not to be, and it was probably just as well.  In the end, a snowperson and a chocolate chip cookie felt like the right amount of knitting to attach to their Christmas gifts.  

Welcome to 2023!  I'm glad you're still here.              

Closing out the Month

I may not have achieved a 100% completion rate with NaBloPoMo, but I did alright.  Blogging more often was good, and it helped me get some things done.  I might even keep with it, though not on a daily basis.  

We finished our November by making a baby visit.  That's a pretty good way to end a month.  I even managed to get a picture of the little guy wearing the hat I knit for him.  Here's hoping you had a nifty November, and I look forward to connecting with you in December. 

Results Fuzzy, Try Again*

Not that I really needed the Magic 8-Ball to tell me that, (nor did we need it to predict that I would miss a day of NaBloPoMo, but whatevs) but the pattern isn't showing as well as I had hoped.  It's even worse when I put it on my calf to test sizing.  The picture doesn't show how bad it is.  It's just sad and floppy (twss).  A change in needle size could help, but the yarn has issues of its own.  I've decided to rip and redo with smaller needles, but I've already started thinking about different yarn choices in case different needles don't help.  I gotta tell ya, cabling with this stuff is not my favorite.  Then again, they are just boot toppers, (yeah, still thinking about quick gifts) so it isn't a ton of knitting to complete a pair, and I do like watching the colors change.  If I can't get this pattern to work with this yarn, I might just go with a simple 2x2 ribbing or maybe a waffle.   

  *Yes, I know it is Reply Hazy, Try Again   

Maybe I'm Coming Down with Something

No, not the crud that Bruce has.  I'm in total denial about the possibility of me catching that.  Besides, it would be totally unfair, as I am washing my hands all the time, wiping down everything in his wake, and sleeping all alone.  No, I'm feeling the itch, the tickle, the feverish glow of start-itis.  I would be remiss if I did not clarify that it is of the holiday gift-giving variety.  Oh, and it gets better.  I'm thinking of making for so many people who live far away, too.  We're talking about ideas of gifts for people I haven't seen in forever and their families I've never met.  It is not rational, but I feel the impulse.  

Maybe the mittens I recently knit are part of what got me thinking this way.  Of course, there's the fact that Christmas is coming, and all of the advertisements everywhere won't let me forget that.  I don't have money to buy presents, but I do have yarn.  Then there's Facebook.  Yeah, I'm not such a fan of that site, (many reasons) and I'm thinking about deleting my account.  I haven't been there for quite a while.  I used to have two accounts and I already deleted one, but now I'm thinking of deleting the other.  However, there are a few people I've reconnected with there, and I might like to stay in touch with them.  So, I was thinking of knitting for them, and then just corresponding through snail and e-mail.  I've even thought about knitting for their families, too.  It could be a nice way to strengthen connections, right?  Cowls for everyone is always a good idea.  They'd be even better if I spun the yarn, too.  Oh, boy, I'm getting carried away with this. 

I should probably be thinking of reasons why this is not a good idea.  Maybe it's weird to knit for people you knew so long ago and aren't well connected with now.  It's barely over a month until Christmas, and I would still have to calculate mailing time.  Mailing packages costs money, and I really don't have a shipping budget.  That's all true, but winter is coming.  Maybe I would make a connection that is deeper than what I had through that website.  Maybe if I just wove scarves for everyone it could be a doable plan.  Maybe I need to knit something besides a black sweater.  Maybe I just need to get some sleep.                

Sweet Sunday, Mitt-vember Edition

Yes, this is posted on Monday.  I fell asleep.  I was sure I was going to return to the post and write more.  Then I forgot about it.  *shrug*   I'm sure the NaBloPoMoPoPo will get me for such an egregious move.  

My niece has her mittens!  I managed to get them to her this weekend as I had planned.  They are a little big for her, though not as big as they appear in this picture, and they should work for next winter, too.  My sister has Disney+ and has been watching Home Alone and now she is inspired to get mitten clips for the kids.  I much prefer that plan to the one where I knit eleventy feet of i-cord to attach to them.  They might never have gotten their mittens if I had made that part of the projects.  It feels good to have these done.   

  

Thumbless Thursday

I'm making good progress on my niece's mittens.  She, amongst many others, can never know that it is possible for me to knit a pair of mittens this quickly.  Now, I'm not trying to get ahead of myself, as I have been known to let a pair of mittens sit thumbless for a year or more.  That being said, I hope to be able to give these to her this weekend.  

I'm not sure if I'm going to try to power through and work the thumbs tonight.  Knitting these has been good for directing my focus, but maybe not so great for winding down before bed.  Eh, we'll see.   

Post-Parade Mitten Modeling

Some time ago, my nephew asked me if mittens were only for grown-ups.  He's so sweet.  It was a completely innocent question.  You know I had to knit some for him.  He requested light blue and dark blue with snowflakes.  I then proceeded to take forever to complete them.  He asked about them from time to time.  Finally, I finished and gave them to him on Monday, just before the weather turned cold.  I saw him tonight, and he showed me that he still has them and has been wearing them.  I consider that a success.  

My niece believes that I have already knit a pair for her.  I said that I wasn't sure if I ever finished them.  She started describing what she thinks they look like.  I told her that I thought they were different than that, and then gave a vague description of the pair I started the other day for her.  I might need to be faster with them.

eta:  it helps if I click the publish button, eh?   

It Doesn't Repeat Itself, But it Kinda Rhymes

I get ideas.  It's probably for the best that some of my sparks of inspiration extinguish themselves as quickly as they ignite.  Occasionally, however, I see some of them through.  In this instance, I only saw part of it through, (although the other parts are more tangential, and certainly don't matter for the rest of this story) and past the deadline, of course.  

Last year, I purchased a pattern collection with some birthday money.  Not that I disliked the rest of the book, in fact, after flipping through, I can see myself knitting several of them, but I really only bought it for three of something like thirty patterns.  Anyway, at first glance, I thought one of the patterns resembled a scaled-down, miniaturized, simplified version of a sweater a friend had knit for herself.  There you are, millions of miles away through all of those tubes of the internet, and you see where this is going.  You know me a little bit, and you know if I see something like this, I will feel compelled to knit this for my friend.  

I cast on, and slowly, I made progress.  Why so slowly, you wonder?  Well, I quickly spotted a problem with the pattern, and I didn't want to have to fix it.  The closer I got to the error-riddled section, the more I slowed, and the less I worked on it.  I occasionally looked at the clearly wrong colorwork chart and tried to figure out how to fix it.  I thought I had an answer.  The chart is worked over twenty-four stitches for thirteen rows.  It looked as though it should have been worked from stitches thirteen through twenty-four and then one through twelve.  It made me tired just thinking about it.  To compound this, I ought to mention that for this section, you are working back-and-forth instead of in the round, so odd rows of the chart are read right-to-left and even rows left-to-right.  I think it is accurate to say that working this chart in this manner while trying to compensate for these errors is probably a greater burden than I should place on my will to live.  So, I copied the chart, cut it up the middle, and made the first half the new second half.  You know what?  Yep, it wasn't right, either.  At this point, I already had the chart copied, cut out, and cut in half, so I tried something else.  I made the first half of the chart the second half, but I rotated it 180 degrees, and it worked.  I don't know how they made the error that they did in putting together this pattern, but there you go.  

While I knew that I would not make my self-imposed deadline, I moved on with the knitting and thought of my friend.  When she knit her sweater, that pattern had many problems, too.  She worked through them, and the sweater looked great, but I'm pretty sure the pattern remains on her "Would Not Recommend" list.  I composed the note to accompany this many times in my head while I knit.  I shouldn't do that.  It so often paralyzes me as I try to find the right words, and by the time I to put pen to paper, my note has morphed into inky awkwardness, something I will feel embarrassed about whenever I think about it over the years.      

So, while it isn't exactly a miniaturized replica of the original, people-sized version of the sweater, it kinda rhymes.   

In a surprise move, I went ahead and mailed this off instead of waiting until the end of the year.  I know, shocker, eh?  Hey, I had to try to do something as right as I could this year.  Speaking of, how is your year thus far?    

Sew it All Away

Sew, I've been sewing a little bit.  It started out with a free pattern/tutorial for a sleeping bag for L.O.L. Surprise! Dolls.  Do you know what LOL Dolls are?  It really isn't important to this conversation.  What matters (wait, I'm pretty sure none of this matters, but we carry on, nonetheless) is that I decided to sew some for the two youngest nieces.  Of course, you see this is where the auntly dilemma begins, as I felt if I did that, I ought to sew something for the youngest nephew, and if I was going to do that, I ought to sew for others.  I decided that zippered pouches would be a good choice.  I found a few free patterns on the same site but ultimately decided upon one from a different site.  I started with the sleeping bags, and when that didn't kill me and I seemed to have something decent to show for my efforts, I moved on to the bags.  My first pouch turned out well, and so did the second, and then it was time to make the ones intended for gifts.  Then one of the first trial projects became a gift for my mom.  I sewed and sewed, and sewed and sewed some more.   

The pouches substituted for stockings and I filled them with random goodies like lip balm, tissues, hand sanitizer, and candy canes.  I meant to put the sleeping bags in the pouches too, but I forgot them in another pouch at home.  I also forgot to capture a photo of them before I gave them all away.   

Most people didn't realize I had sewn the pouches, but someone who did mentioned she could use some.  I knew I would be sewing more, and soon.  I just didn't realize how many more I would be sewing.  Next thing you know, I'm sewing goodie bags for brothers-and-sisters-in-law.  I made a few changes along the way.  I added a little handle.  I changed the placement of said handle.  I varied sizes.  Here you can see some of the bags I have sewn and some (I momentarily lost one) of the sleeping bags (small knit dog included for scale, I guess, but you probably don't know its size, either).  I think I made thirteen of the zippered pouches. 

I had fun.  Most all of the fabric came from the remnants bin, so it was a relatively inexpensive endeavor.  I scored a good deal on the zippers.  I learned.  I tried different types of fabrics.  I used special, prized fabric that had been waiting for its turn.  I mailed off a bag filled with treats that will arrive only one day late.  I gave gifts I did not have to wrap and that could continue to be of use once the contents were gone.  I did not burn myself on the iron.  I'm going to go ahead and call this a win.                        

A Mitt-Vember Miracle

There I was, innocently popping over to Ravelry, where someone had shared a gorgeous hat (and mitten) pattern.  I instantly adored it but tried to talk myself out of it by saying that it wouldn't fit my big head.  Besides, my unfinished mittens were right when they objected from their bags.  So, I backed away from the pattern (Confession:  I left the tab open) and moved on with my day.  Then I decided to do a bit of thumb wrestling.  Yep, it was time.  

Imagine my surprise when I opened the bag and found only the needles and one mitten and none of the yarn for finishing it.  Now why I had bagged up only one of the mittens and not the other and the yarn is a mystery to me.  The good news is that the location of the other unfinished mitten and yarn did not remain a mystery.  The even better news is that I finished them.  The bad news is that you only get this non-photogenic picture of them soaking.  

p.s.  Even more good news?  The pattern fairy sent me a gift of the hat and mitten set!    

I Never Knew Her

I didn't know whether to bother digging into the past to pinpoint when I knit it.  It was years ago for someone I had never met, with just a person in common.  Anyway, she was getting married, and it seemed like the thing to do.  Over the years I heard some of the high- and lowlights of her life, but over the last bit, the updates have only been of the latter, and this last bit has lasted longer than many had guessed, but now it is over for her.  

I don't know if she ever wore the shawl, if she liked it, if it made the cut as she packed and moved from state to state, or if it still exists in the home where she lived.  If it is still there, will it go to her mom now, will it go to her daughter, will it be thrown away, or shoved into a box that no one can ever get rid of or open?  

I don't suppose I'll ever have answers to those questions, I'm certainly not owed them, and I don't think I really want to know.    

Swatchy-Swatchy!

I've been weaving more this year, and learning so much.  Just like knitting, over and over, weavers are advised to swatch with new yarns and colors before starting a large piece.  Similar to the whole, "Take time to save time; check gauge."  Well, now I have these new tools to help me follow that wisdom.  

The gauge will be a quick way to check yarn for sett.  The Swatch Maker Weaving Looms will be great for sampling, trying out colors, and, well, swatching.  I can't wait to try them. 

Beginner-ness

I'm good at some things, and being good at them adds to my enjoyment of doing them.  However, there are also some things that I've worked at over the years without gaining great skill, speed, or ease in doing them, but I keep at them.  Drawing is one of those things.  I do love collecting the supplies.  I have so many pens, pencils, paints and markers.  I have paper, notebooks, and sketchbooks.  I have instructional/guide/how-to books to help me along, and now I have a new one.  Ah, another opportunity to revel in my beginner-ness!  Keeping joy and learning in life is always good.  

  

Tiny Knits Away

Since some far-away-family continues to have a hospital adventure, I wanted to send a little Christmas cheer through knitting.  It wasn't hard to find some Christmas-themed patterns from Mochimochiland.  Narrowing down the selection to a manageable few was, especially knowing the (often bigger) challenge of getting them in the post was yet to come.  However, I managed to just start knitting and that helped with the decisions.  First up--Christmas trees--one for the hospital and one for the house.  Then I knit a snowman, but it had to wait a bit for its embellishments.  After that, it was time to try something new--the Special Little Snowflakes (currently free with any $5 purchase) pattern.  After that, it was just time for photos and the post office.  Pro tip:  The photo session is extra challenging when the tiny knits are all so close together and they all have strong magnets inside them.  As it turns out, the post office was the easiest part of this.  I know, right?     
Now they're all on their way, and I can only hope they help to brighten the days!       

Oct's-Over

Yes, October is over, and what a month it was.  We had computer troubles, and now we have a new computer.  We will probably attempt to repair the old one, but even if we have success with that, it is probably good that we bought a replacement, as the old computer seems as though it really doesn't intend to be a computer full-time for years on end.  We'll go ahead and totally blame my lack of blogging on the computer woes, but we both know that really is not the truth.

We had medical adventures, oh, so many planned and unplanned medical adventures.  Bruce has been doing OT for a sad rotator cuff and PT for sad hips.  He got a painful injection in his hand to help a trigger finger.  All that and a few regular appointments were all planned.  Then the unplanned kicked in for real.  Bruce had a new experience--sleep paralysis.  That was brought on by chest pain during r.e.m. sleep, and that took us to the hospital, which brought us a couple of medication changes, future testing, and doctor appointments.  After all of these years with the heart trouble, it's kind of funny how so many of these visits go.  The doctors' assessments seem to often line up with something along the line of, yes, this was something to do with your heart, but you're in no more danger than usual with it and there is not anything we need to do, you may or may not have needed hospital monitoring in this instance, but you need to come in each time this happens because it could just as easily have been a deadly thing.  This is the second such hospitalization this year, and even the docs can't really agree on anything other than the usual lifestyle advice.  You know how it goes; follow the diet recommendations, take your meds, be active but not too much, and follow up as needed.  Lather, rinse, repeat--it's not just a hair care regimen.  

I've also embroidered, woven, sewn, and knit.  I either finished a handkerchief or just need to add a little something in the other corner.   The weaving was not to completion, and I need to get to it because I need that loom free.  The sewing was little baby doll dresses that went to my niece, but I never got pictures.  As for knitting, I finished a sweater (just need pictures) and made good progress on the Bridgewater.

Does my writing seem more experienced, mature, and nuanced?  No?  So you're saying I just look older, right?  I guess since my birthday is over, I can't expect everyone to be nice all the time, eh?  Yes, I had a birthday last month.  Many thanks to the many people who remembered and helped me celebrate.  I really had some awesome birthday-ness.  I will be playing with my new toys for a long time.  Looks like I'll be starting with the weaving, as I have a weave-a-long over on the Yarnworker site, and I'm already behind.  

        

Found it in the Couch Cushions

I love Anna Hrachovec's patterns and books.  I have knit so many of her tiny creations.  They are some of my favorite things to knit for so many reasons.  They are cute, relatively quick, and more than once, knitting them has been therapeutic.  I have knit some of her medium size patterns like Zaru and Boo, but mostly I come back to the tiny patterns.  When I finally got around to buying Knitting Mochimochi, I thought the first thing I would knit would be Pigs With Wigs.  I even bought a bunch of pink yarn.  Then I didn't knit any pigs, started knitting a Grouchy Couch, set it aside, turned all of the pink yarn into Pussy Hats, bits of life sprinkled throughout, and then my knitting mojo wandered off for a bit.  Sometimes when my knitting mojo disappears and I cannot find it, I pick up an abandoned project and try to finish it.  That's what I did this time.  I picked up the Grouchy Couch and worked on it.  Perhaps the fact that I omitted the colorwork contributed to the fact that for me, the pieces were not particularly exciting to knit, but whatever the reason, it did not matter that as returned to knitting I wasn't really feeling it.  I just kept chugging along, and soon I had a bunch of pieces to stuff and seam.  Then I grabbed the Love Monster that Cookie made for me and placed it on the couch, snuggling it under an old swatch that became its blanket.  Then I knit a Baby Gator, some donuts, cheeseburgers, and gnomes, and more.  Throughout it all, life kept on doing its thing, and knitting found its way into it, becoming a part of it again for me.     

Weaving Wednesday

What do we talk about on Wednesdays?  That's right, weaving.  Do I have it in me to carry on a weekly blog topic for the foreseeable future?  Have you been here before?  So, no, I probably won't have weaving to show every Wednesday, but that's what day it is today, and as it happens, I have weaving to show.  

 
Today I have a scarf to show.  I wove this for my brother mostly from the yarn he brought back from Iceland last year.  To add a bit more color, I also used some Lion Brand Amazing in the Arcadia colorway.  I like the scarf, and had it ready to go for my brother's birthday and his trip with his family to Shenandoah.  The yellow bit is probably my favorite, and it was totally unplanned.  That might be what makes it best.  I just loaded up the warping board and then moved it to the loom, and when I saw that yellow, I knew it would be good.  After that, I just wound stick shuttles and wove, changing colors randomly until I reached the end.  I think my brother liked it, and that is the best of all!  

Thirty

I received a lovely surprise birthday gift of yarn and the Fall issue of Interweave Knits.  I have been smiling all day just thinking about the name of this colorway.   

Twenty-Seven

From time to time I begin to form knitting plans that involve knitting many of one thing or something for several people.  I do not always follow through with the plan.  This is the start of one of those ideas.  I'm not quite sure about it, but I probably need to knit at least one more or sleep before I think about deciding.  Also, it isn't anything I need to figure out any time soon, so that relieves pressure, too.