In the past month, I've done quite a bit of knitting. I started two projects: a pair of Cadence socks with the yarn my Mom sent home with me in early February, and a Beachcomber shawl destined to become a birthday present for Surprise next month.
My intent was to work on them simultaneously; on the socks because I'd gotten the urge to make socks while finishing the Kempii shawlette I talked about in February's yarn along post, and on the Beachcomber shawl when I was in need of something with larger needles. No hurry on either one as long as the shawl was finished in April.
What I found was that once I'd started the shawl, it was quite addictive with it's color changes, stripes, and lace panels and I pretty much worked on that alone until it was finished in less than two weeks. It is still in need of blocking, but looks pretty good even without it.
I really loved the ease of this pattern, and just the whole look of the shawl. It's big, asymmetrical, and being knit in a cotton/linen blend, is lightweight for the size. I envision making at least one more of these--DD1 saw it in the works and loved it--and have a new color combo in mind for one for myself (someday).
Once that was off my needles, I turned back to my barely started sock for Mom. I had made these socks before, for myself, and once I got into the charted part of the pattern, I remembered that these, too, are addictive knitting. The charts are easy to follow and knit up pretty quickly. So quickly that I'm nearly done with the first sock.
Kind of funny that when I made them the first time, in 2016, I talked about how I'd probably make this pattern again in the future. You see, when I went to give my Mom her fingerless gloves for her birthday, I happened to be wearing my Cadence socks. And when she gave me this current skein of yarn and requested that I make her a pair of socks 'when I had time', I asked if she had a particular pattern in mind. She replied: "I like the ones you have on. Could you make a pair like those?" So, I guess it's fate that I am making Cadence socks now.
In addition to a lot of knitting, I apparently did a lot of reading this past month too. In the photo above, you can see the book I am currently reading: Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver. I have read some of her books before, and enjoyed them, but because of the topics and tone (so real) I have to be in the right frame of mind to read her works. This one is really good so far, and yet personally touching me in a way that makes me hope I can continue the book all the way through; I might have to set it aside for a while.
The books I read and finished since the last yarn along are:
- The Girl on the Dancing Horse about Olympian Charlotte Dujardin. It was interesting, yet not quite what I had thought it would be.
- How to Walk Away by Katharine Center. This book I could not put down! I literally stayed up until 1:30 in the morning to finish it--and I am not a night owl. I will definitely be looking for more books by this author.
- Naughty on Ice by Maia Chance. Another Prohibition Era murder mystery by the author I discovered last fall. Her books are funny and intriguing.
- Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. She is another author that I greatly enjoy. The depth of her stories is amazing. I cannot imagine the hours of research she must put into her fiction-yet-almost-nonfiction story lines.
I've also thumbed through, but not yet read, the latest issue of Taproot, Issue 31: REVIVE. In it, I found the perfect pattern for a needed item I'd recently told DH I wanted to make: little knit coasters for under the metal feet of his recliner. I'd crocheted some (kind of ugly and very free hand thought up with no pattern) years ago for under the legs of our couch, but did not make any after purchasing his chair. It had occurred to me, a few weeks ago, that those little coasters not only keep the couch legs from scratching the wooden floor, they also make it really easy for me to slide the couch out and back when I want to clean/mop underneath it. Something I cannot do alone: move DH's big heavy recliner to clean underneath it.
Wouldn't you know that this newest issue of Taproot has a pattern for knit hexagons (which are knit in the round, then blocked into hexagonal shape) to make afghans, hot pads, throws, etc out of. At approximately 6" in diameter, and left as circles, they are the perfect size and thickness for furniture coasters. Yesterday, I made three, and today I am working on the fourth. Then I'm going to get DH to tip up his chair so I can put them under the feet, and forever more I shall be able to slide that chair around to clean the floor underneath!
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