Tuesday, February 03, 2015

Stitching Away the Blues

So, it's been awhile!  What's new with you? I hope winter is treating you well.

Things have been busy here.  Lots of little stresses piling up, a few big ones too, plus never ending illness that has seemingly plagued our little household since early fall.  The latest round of ear infections and chest colds has left me feeling more than a bit drained.  But true to form, when the going gets tough, this girl drowns herself in her crafting to cope.  Each stitch off the needles, each seam sewn seems to ease the pressures of day to day life just a little - or at the very least gives me a focus beyond what's going on at the time.  I always say it's better than therapy or other vices one could venture into (although not necessarily cheaper as I'm sure my husband would attest too - I'm pretty sure he has heart palpitations every single time I say to him, "I need to stop by the yarn and/or fabric shop for a minute"...)

So I've got a few projects finished and a few projects (even a super secret Christmas one!!!) on the go since I last stopped by the blog.  You might remember how I knit the boys' teachers fingerless gloves for Christmas.  They were all super appreciative of them, but one in particular loved her pair so much she asked if I could knit a few more pairs so her friends could have fingerless gloves too.  I felt pretty honoured by that!  I'm always a bit nervous to take "orders" in like that because the minute I get the notion that I'm obligated to do something is the moment all enjoyment in it ceases to exist, but I'm happy to say I really enjoyed knitting these.  She told me to go ahead and pick whatever pattern, yarn and colours I liked so having that freedom really helped in keeping it fun and interesting!  Plus fingerless gloves are just always fun to knit.


Clockwise from top left : Magic Loop Mittens in Valley Yarns Colrain , Karin Wristwarmers in Sandnes Garn Alpakka/Ull, Give Em The Slip Mittens in Patons Decor and One Cable Mittens in Cascade 220

I hope she and her friends love them as much as I do! (I kind of want to keep them for myself...)

Another project I've been working on is Laura Aylor's Sunstruck for myself.  It's a squishy asymetrical garter stitch shawl.  You can choose anywhere from two to 13 colours for it and Laura, in her usual awesome pattern writing fashion makes everything so easy and clear to plan out.  I'm doing mine in just two colours - Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock in Maple (that J and M picked out for me as part of my Christmas gift!) and Berocco's Ultra Alpaca Fine in Pea Soup Mix.  I am absolutely loving how it's shaping up.  The pattern is quite addictive with it's short rows (Ha! Who would have thought I'd ever extol the virtues of anything containing short rows.  I used to be so scared of anything that so much as hinted at utilizing a short row.  Now I love them!)  I'm really looking forward to getting this one off the needles and onto my shoulders! This is an older photo - I'm actually half way done now, but this one shows the squishy loveliness of it so much better than the more recent photo I took so you'll just have to imagine the total of six alternating sections done!


I've also been doing some sewing this past month. But I think I'm going to save that for another day. I've so much I want to tell you about the sewing that it deserves it's very own post I think!

In the meantime, I hope everyone is healthy, happy and enjoying the little things in life!  I'll see you back here in the next couple days to talk about the Scientific Seamstress "Just For Me January" sewing challenge that I participated in!

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