Knitting Notes

We are back to cold temperatures although we missed the heart of the storm that arrived in the wee hours of this morning. The wind roared and temperatures plummeted from yesterday's high of 50 degrees to 11 degrees at daybreak. If we have an inch of new snow I'd be surprised. I think quite a bit of it blew away. 

I finished the Contrail Shawl right before Christmas. It is a generous sized shawl and good for wrapping up in on these cold days. I enjoyed knitting the pattern and the yarn. I finished hat and mitten sets for our Connecticut grandsons after the New Year. They fit - mostly. The finished hat for the youngest looked small so I unraveled the crown and added another inch to the body of the hat. I think that inch makes it wearable for him this winter. Whew! Micah's wild and crazy hat is a little bit big so maybe he will get another year's wear out of it.  I'll exercise a grandmother's privilege and post a photo of them.

On New Year's Day, I began swatching for a sweater from some leftover yarn. I don't have enough in any color to make a pullover for myself but do have three colors in enough total yardage. (Very brief Rav notes here) I could have striped the yarn but decided to make a colorblock sweater. I intend to wear this sweater for everyday and am thinking of it as an experiment. At least that is what I am telling myself. Five times, I cast on and knit a few inches. Each time I came closer to a raglan line with a ribbed design and increases without big holes. I knew this would be a process and thought of it as swatching. The yarn held up beautifully to repeated ripping and knitting. I cast on one more time and knit along until I made a mistake in one of the increases. I took out three or four rows stitch by stitch because when I pulled it all of the needles I couldn't quite get the increased stitches back on correctly. Now the knitting is smooth sailing and I may need another more complex project to break up the stockinette stitching. 

Today I am going through my yarn stash and knitting bags in an attempt to make some order. My knitting bags are a jumble of needles, patterns, and yarn both leftover and wound for projects not yet begun. I am not making any elaborate goals. In keeping with "light" as my guide word, I am hoping to shed some light onto the yarn and be inspired by this stash. 

I meant to write a post yesterday in order to link with Kat and the Unravelers. Perhaps I need to write on Tuesday so I can publish on Wednesday. So it goes. Enjoy these deep winter days.

Now it is November

Now it is November. Late afternoon sunlight from the west reflects into gray clouds giving the sky a hint of periwinkle. Most leaves have fallen but those remaining look like burnished copper against the bright gray sky. On Monday, my husband and I celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary with a quiet dinner out. Yesterday afternoon we took a walk in the sharp north wind. The cold, bright, windy weather felt like November, not quite winter, but rather like the day we married. We are grateful for reasonably good health and each other. We also agree that life passes quickly.

I have an anthology of poems on my coffee table called Poems of Gratitude. I have been reading a few each day. Some like Mary Oliver's "Wild Geese" are very familiar, others are new to me. The small volumne sits on top of a beautifully illustrated children's book, In November, written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Jill Kastner. Just maybe I can convince my grandsons to listen to this thoughtful book about the season.

The Contrail Shawl grows with each peaceful row of garter stitch. On our April trip East, I bought two skeins of light gray yarn because I liked the fiber and the color. They were my souvenir from Webs. At home, I decided to order a skein in a darker shade and then tucked all of them away for another day. When I chose this pattern for this yarn, I wanted to knit it as written. To do that I needed a second skein of the darker color. I sent an email to Webs and could hardly believe they still had a skein of the same dye lot. As always, I am grateful for customer service in yarn stores.

Now it is November, a time for drawing in, making afternoon tea, pulling loved ones close, and giving thanks. I am grateful for you, the readers of this blog, many dear friends, and family. I am thankful for many other things including dinner in the evening and a warm home on a November day. Tomorrow we will join my sister and her family for a bountiful Thanksgiving dinner. I hope you have a warm wonderful holiday. Happy Thanksgiving.

Linking up with Kat for reading and knitting on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.