Branching Out

I must be having a stroke or an aneurysm or a mid-life crisis.

First I knit a cheery yellow sweater, which we can all agree is a little outside of my wheelhouse.

Then I ordered this yarn from Knit Picks to knit a "Weekender" Sweater for myself.

Just look at those speckles of color.

Purple.  And orange.  And a touch of Cranberry.  Together?   In the same yarn? 

What is happening here?

Can you see how orange-y the base color is?  In some lights it appears to be cream, but it has a definite orange tinge.  The palest of pale oranges.

It is so pretty all yarn caked up and ready to knit.

While the shape of this sweater is very similar to other sweaters in my closet that I love (Hello, the easy one, and Boxy), the color is unlike anything I've ever worn.   I'm either going to absolutely love or 100% hate this sweater.  I have no idea which way I'll land.

This picture is completely gratuitous but if you look closely at the candle in the background you can see all the teeny tiny bites The Queen has taken out of the small candle.  I keep telling her it isn't food.  She's taken enough bites out of it to know it isn't food.  And yet, she can not resist the delicious vanilla scent of the candle.  I guess it speaks to her soul.  Note to self: buy some unscented candles so the home decor can be unmolested.

Unexpected Cheer

So I gathered up all my favorite sweaters

The ones I wear on a daily basis.  The ones I keep within easy reach.  The ones I love.

I think it's safe to say there is a definite trend here.  

In my defense it isn't as monotone as it appears.  There's black, grey, chocolate, beige, tan, cream AND white in there.  It's a full range of neutrals.

So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when everyone who knows me was confused when I started knitting with yellow yarn.

It is a bit of a shock to the system.

They were even more surprised when I informed them that I was knitting a sweater for ME with yellow yarn.

"Will you WEAR a yellow sweater?" they asked, the doubt obvious in their voices.

I shrugged and said "I don't know.  I guess we'll find out."

If I hated it I could always give it to Pork Chop or Bird, and even Sweet Pea has suggested that she too might enjoy a yellow sweater.

Pumpkin was especially obsessed with this sweater, trying to fake nurse on it at every opportunity.  The Greatest suggested if all else fails we could turn it into a blanket or pillow for Pumpkin.

This sweater had options.

Except when I finished it and put it on I discovered

This yellow sweater is exactly what I've been missing from my life.  It is unexpectedly cheerful.  And I adore it.  This light weight yellow sweater makes me feel sunny and happy.

Look at that glorious texture.  It is so perfect!

Look at those deep ribbed cuffs.  

Perfect!

And of course, my favorite metric for a sweater's quality, how does it look with my jammie pants?

PERFECTION!

And now that I have a yellow sweater I finally have a full rainbow of lesser worn sweaters.

Just look at that glorious colorful kaleidoscope of knit textures.

Cables, lace, knit/purl texture, stockinette, ribbing.  It almost makes me want to break out from my daily uniform of non-color.

Almost.

Searching for my Zen

Confession time:

I only started doing yoga so I would have an excuse to knit yoga socks.  

You can't blame me.  

Yoga socks are just so cute!

In fact I knit my first pair of yoga socks before I even started doing yoga.  I wanted to be prepared just in case that thought in the back of my head, that idea of "I wonder if I would like yoga", just in case that thought turned into action.  I needed to have specialized socks.  Just in case.  

Since then I have not only started doing yoga but I am in love with yoga.  I highly recommend Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube if you're looking for a place to start.  Her emphasis on enjoyment over perfect form speaks to my soul. The more turns I take around the sun, the more I am trying to let go of my perfectionist tendencies.  I think we can all agree trying to do something to the best of your abilities is better than doing nothing at all because you fear you can't do it PERFECTLY.  

And all of this is just a lengthy unnecessary explanation for why

I knit a pair of yoga socks.

People really underestimate how hard it is to take pictures of your own feet.

I tried for an artsy yoga pose

I only tried it once.

Then I went back to my standard sock poses

Then I tried to do some yoga.

Loki had other ideas.

Sitting on a yoga mat watching TV while you cuddle your napping dog is good for the soul too right?

Technical notes:

I think the pattern was Asana Yoga Socks.  The yarn was Eco Alpaca.  Yes, my yoga socks are fancy alpaca.  I'm living my very best life over here, cuddling my dogs, watching How to get away with murder from my yoga mat.  I wish I had knit the foot part just a teeny bit longer, but you don't want the socks to go under the ball of your foot (stability issues), so it is a fine line to walk and get perfect.  I didn't get the length perfect this time, but that's okay.  

Big Changes

I know.

I am the worst blogger in the history of bloggers.

I just flit in and out and leave you wondering for months on end if I am still alive.

I am, in fact, still alive.

We've had a few big changes around here in the past year.  The biggest one being this...

Not for Pork Chop.

This is for me.

I'm going back to college to finish the degree I began over 20 years ago. 

I don't mean to brag but...

I'm crushing it.

My super awesome cozy knitting spot has been transformed into a super awesome cozy learning spot.

And of course my cats are here to support me.

There's been a bit of a learning curve as I find my groove balancing kids, and the house, and school, and life, and knitting.  And just when I found my rhythm Spring Semester A is over.  In a few weeks I will start Spring Semester B with entirely different classes that will require an entirely different study schedule and an entirely different rhythm. 

But that's alright. 

The only constant in life is change?

But for the moment the kids are all in school.  The Greatest is at work.  It's just me and my animals.  Usually this is my study time.  While on break I had grand plans to get so much done, but The Queen generously shared her cold germs with me (fun fact, I only have half a tonsil.  My tonsils were removed when I was 15, but for some reason half a tonsil was left behind.  And it is currently swollen large enough to be three tonsils), so instead I am going to sit very quietly with a ginormous mug of tea and rest. 

I might even do some knitting.

Even More Finished Knitting

The weather has finally taken a turn.

Which has been terrible for my migraines (Hello changes in barometric pressure ruining my day).

But it has been fantastic for my sweater wearing.

And since my hair is clean here's a sweater I finished in March.

Pattern:  The Easy One

Yarn:  Stroll Tweed, Fingering Weight, in Down Heather, 7 balls

Needles:  Size 4

Modifications:  I didn't pick up stitches to knit the rolled collar.  That's the only modification I remember.

Review:  Is this sweater amazing or what?!!!

All the elements just came together.

That tweed!

The exposed seams!

The collar is supposed to roll, but in a more deliberate way.  I skipped that part and just left it unfinished.

I not mad.

I love the way it turned out.

The bind off for the ribbing was a different one that I normally use.  See the little bumps on the knit stitches just below the bind off (My Dad just said "on the what...where").

I'm not mad at that either.

I really like it.  It's fun to find a new technique.

and because I know you like it when I show you behind the curtain

Just off camera:  my video gaming husband, my block building big girl, and my dog just causing trouble.  This picture is at least seven times louder than you think it is.  And the other children aren't even home yet.

My favorite part about this sweater is it looks fantastic with everything

Including my jammie pants!

This one goes in the win column.

Wild Friday Night

It's Friday night so of course

I'm knitting with my cats.

No pants are the best pants.

And what am I knitting?

That's a little more complicated to explain that it would seem for such a straight forward question.

I started by knitting a Korrigan for a friend of mine who is due next month.

I love those sweet little cables.  I'm all set to bind off the body and knit the sleeves.

Ages and ages ago, I knit this sweater pattern for the Queen.

I'm not gonna lie.  This picture is completely gratuitous because...

LOOK HOW CUTE SHE WAS!!!!!!!

Who can resist that baby chub?

I JUST WANNA SNUGGLE HER NECK!!!!!!!!

Anyways...because that wasn't weird at all...

I found myself innocently double checking my notes from the Queen's sweater on Ravelry (cause those notes were super helpful)

And then I fell down the dreaded "Ravelry Rabbit hole."  (that phrase may or may not be trademarked)

Before I knew it I had lost hours of my life looking at newborn patterns and I was obsessed with the idea of knitting a teeny tiny lacey baby dress.

And I just happened to have the most perfect white yarn to knit a teeny tiny lacey baby dress.

And it is currently being knitted into a tiny cabled cardigan that isready for a bind off and sleeves.

Because of course it was.

I didn't let that stop me.

Now I know some of you are freaking out.

How could you rip out an entire sweater?

Didn't it break your heart?

The answer is...I didn't rip out an entire sweater.

I'm hoping that I have enough yarn to knit both.  But if it comes down to it and I've got Rosemary's choice and I have to pick the sweater or the dress?  I'm picking the dress.  So I left the cardigan on the needles.  Patiently waiting for the bind off.  Or waiting to be cannibalized for the dress.  

It could go either way.

I knit the cabled sweater from one end of the yarn, and I'm working on the teeny tiny lacey dress from the other end of the skein.

Which isn't to say it's been easy.

Mistakes were made.

I spent two hours the other night trying to unsnarl a yarn tangle.  

Ask my friends.

Unsnarling yarn is kinda my super power.

Only my super power failed me, and I ended up having to break the yarn and throw away a golf ball size knot of white yarn mess.

And I don't even want to talk about the first time I tried joining the bodice in the round.

Like I said...Mistakes were made.

But everything is straightened out now and I'm in a race to see if I can squeeze a gown and a sweater from the remaining yarn.

More Actual Knitting Content

So remember back in March when I said I wanted to knit Quiet Stars by Joji Locatelli?

I totally knit it!

And I love it

Tweed, and Lace, and That Blue!

What's not to love?

It's even super cute tied shut.

I love the attention to detail Joji puts in her pattern.  Look at that amazing cuff.

And one more so you can see the fantastic texture on the sleeves.

I adore this sweater.  But now that I've completed it I have a serious problem.

I am all out of fingering weight tweed yarn.  Or any tweed yarn for that matter.

I need to place a Knitpicks order.

STAT!