So now I’m back to to-do lists? Well, sort of. This one is supposed to be fun.
I keep telling Chris that her crafty to-do lists are inspiring, but usually I stick with saying that and don’t actually act on it. Trying to change that now, even though my lists will be short and uninspiring. But maybe it will help to get the crafting (and blogging about it) going again. I do miss it.
This week’s list:
– finish sleeveless sweater/tunic (so close! but it’s getting so large that I don’t like handling it during the day – too hot) – figure out what to do with green yarn and Christmas yarn I bought just for the fun of buying yarn ( I have three skeins of the green and only one of the Christmas colored) – start a new hat (possibly with that dark gray yarn again), because how can I go on without having a hat on my needles?
Okay, leaving it at these three things. I’d like to add sewing (something! don’t care if it’s just a small, simple project – I’m just itching to sew) to it, but I think that will have to wait. Still have a lot of work on my plate this week.
After weeks of not knitting one stitch, I suddenly got an itch to pick up my knitting last Monday. So I dug out the hat I started almost two months ago. I worked on it during the day and I had a nice window of uninterrupted knitting time at night when some mysterious orange lights in the distance inspired my husband to listen to Jeff Wayne’s War of the World. Yes, we’re nerds like that 😉 But it was nice. Just half an hour on Tuesday to finish it and then I was done. It’s just a simple hat, actually, and it doesn’t even really fit me (it’s kind of big), but it makes me so happy.
When life is hard and stressful, knitting helps me to relax, but when I slip into a real depression (you know, the chemical imbalance in your head), I usually stop knitting. Being back at it definitely is a sign that I’m getting better. And that’s why I love this simple, oversized hat.
I’ve been knitting a lot in the past few days. And watching youtube videos… Ahem. I don’t think that’s really the best thing to do, the perfection of those girls I’m watching starts out inspiring, but is always getting me down in the end. It’s great for knitting endless stockinette though. (I know… audiobooks. I really need to look into that) I tried on my sweater on Sunday morning, but I added quite a bit of length after that. I love that it fits perfectly, while I just winged the measurements. It’s long enough to be a sweater now, but I still have enough yarn to make a tunic. I’m not sure though. I do like it as a sweater, but I think I will wear it more often when it’s longer (covering my hips and my butt). Since this is real wool, I’ll only wear it when we visit the Netherlands anyway. But I’m going to use the basics of this pattern and cotton yarn to make tops and maybe even dresses that I can wear here. Anyway, I’m enjoying the simple mindless knitting, so I don’t mind making it longer.
Knitting: well, there isn’t much more to share since yesterday. Did a few rows, but nothing much. Wish I could be knitting and reading at the same time, but somehow I can’t manage that right now.
Reading: not as much as I’d like to, but I found a new funny author to binge read and luckily my e-book subscription is cooperating again. Maria Schneider writes cozy novels in chicklit style. Love those (remember the Matchmaker’s Mysteries I told you about last year?). The first two books by Maria Schneider I read were Executive Lunch and Executive Retention, about Sedona, who works as a tester for an IT-company, but gets involved in undercover work. They were fun, but the one I’m readking now (One good Eclair) is way better. Ivy is a nutritionist, but also from a mafia family, so she gets into trouble a lot. It sounds weird, but it’s really a great read.
I haven’t been knitting much lately. You’d think I would have, because I do believe it helps calm my nerves, but I just couldn’t get to it. It’s a shame airlines don’t allow knitting, otherwise, I would have finished my top by now and probably the scarf too. But I couldn’t even bring my knitting since I traveled with hand luggage only. When I ran into a few stores to buy my mother some nightgowns, I thought about picking up some yarn (they sell that in the same -cheap textile- stores) but they didn’t have the right needles. Oh well. So it’s been a few rows here and there, and some more rows yesterday evening when we finally had a few hours to relax and to listen to some music. It’s a lot of mindless stockinette, but that’s just what I need right now.
Knitting: I’m all over the place, but there’s not much progress. Oh well, sometimes it’s like that. Working on: – a topdown sweater/tunic, depending on how much yarn I need. I’m knitting it topdown, to make sure I end up with something usable (I’m pretty sure I have enough to knit a sleeveless sweater) – a scarf – potholders (still the same pair I was working on last week)
Reading: Hmn, all over the place too. I finished the novel about the girl from Curaçao. I loved reading it, got me thinking about a lot of things. It’s set in the late sixties, early seventies, which was quite a turbulent period here. Then I found a few simple novels ‘for older girls’ in the free library and brought a few of them home. I’m actually sad that I didn’t bring the other ones too, because I really loved reading them. It was just what I needed. Simple, mindless reading about simpler times and simpler problems. One of them is a keeper though, it’s an autobiographic story about a couple moving back from Indonesia to Holland in the fifties. Loved that one! The others will probably go back to the free library. I’m not sure yet. This morning I started the Sue Grafton novel. I’m not sure if I read this one before, but I reread the older ones often anyway. I love her books! It is the first time I’m reading one in English though, so I’m curious to see if that makes a different experience. After that, I have two classics lined up. The Hobbit, well, no explanation needed, and De Aanslag, a novel set in WWII. I can’t remember if I read it for literature in school, but I do know most of my classmates did. We’ll see if I can work up the mood to start reading these. I’m tempted to dig through my boxes and find more simple novels…
The last few days I didn’t really feel like picking up my knitting. It happens, but I wondered what the reason was. I had three projects going, but none of them called out to me. This morning, trying to decide which one to take with me to the house, I realized why. None of them were simple. Even the dishcloths require a lot of thinking and deciding, since I’m using scraps, and I’m a bit OCD about matching colors and identical pairs. I’m also working on a topdown shirt, but I’m making it up as I go and I’m right at the point where I’m working out the sleeves. Not simple at all. And then there was the scarf I started. Sounds simple enough, but I was planning on making it into a sampler scarf, using my grandmother’s patternbook to learn some new stitch patterns. So I got stuck at deciding how big to make the blocks (or rows) and which pattern to use next. I’m very good at making things hard for myself… I took the scarf with me and I think it will just be a plain patent stitch scarf. I never did patent stitch before, but I love how easy it is, once you get the hang of it. It’s just interesting enough to keep my mind from wandering too far. (I’ve been googling it, I think it’s the same as brioche, or fisherman’s rib – but I don’t do purls or yarnovers, just single and double k’s.)
I still have a long way to go, but I think this will be perfect for these last weeks of going back and forth to the house.
I finished the poncho two weeks ago but never got around to taking pictures of it. Time keeps slipping away these days. Anyway, here it is. I just love, love, love the color changes. So glad I decided to use both skeins on one simple project, instead of splitting them up for hats.
(Um, ignore the face, I was very tired when I took these pictures). I started with a cowl and then proceeded with 4 increases every two rounds like in this pattern. If I make a poncho like this again, I’ll do a round of many increases right after the cowl part, to have more room around the shoulders.
Since I had only the two skeins it’s actually a rather small poncho. Or maybe it’s not a poncho, but just a cowl? Or a shrug? A shawl cowl? I don’t know. I do know it’s soft and warm and really comfortable. It won’t get much wear here (cause it looks quite silly with a t-shirt and shorts), but it is perfect for when I travel back to the Netherlands.
It really feels like that, right now. Yesterday and today we had to be at the new house early because we were awaiting deliveries (material to repair the cesspit). That meant getting up even earlier than normal, getting ready faster than usual. Not the best way to start the day. But once we’re at the house, I can relax. Well, yes, there is a lot to do. But I’m still not feeling great, so I’m taking it kind of easy. I’m so grateful to be able to sit on the porch, watch that view and knit. We have internet here now, so we can work and blog from here too. It’s starting to feel like home more and more, even though we can’t really move in yet (no running water, no electricity, no cesspit).
I’m working on a few things at once right now. Potholders from cotton scraps, a sweater/shirt/tunic from light gray wool and (not pictured) a scarf from dark gray wool. Not the most exciting projects, but just what I need to stay calm.
I needed a simple and washable project to take with me to the house. So I decided to knit some potholders. I have been doing that the same way for years now. Just knit diagonal squares by casting on three stitches, make a stitch in the second stitch of every row until I have sixty stitches, knit one row without decreasing or increasing and then knit the second and third stitch together every row until three remain.
Simple as that. No need to worry about gauge or needle sizes. Size isn’t that important for potholders and since I make them by crocheting or sewing two squares together they’re always thick enough even if I knit a bit loosely. I like that, because gauging is not my thing, really (yes, yes, I know… but I rarely knit clothing from real patterns, I usually just wing things).
I finished the first square rather quickly, but when I got halfway the second one, I remembered that I’ve always gotten only one and a half square from one ball of cotton. So I frogged part of the first one and added black stripes on both of them.
After finishing the first two squares I got kind of bored, so I thought it would be a brilliant idea to make crochet squares for the backs. I happily crocheted away, but I found that every time I thought I was done, the knitted square stretched just a bit more and I needed to add another round of crochet.
After a while, I realized that this cotton was a bit (or actually a lot) thicker than the cotton I normally use for potholders. I was also using larger needles and I could have stopped increasing at fifty stitches to get the size I make them normally (which is already bigger than most store-bought potholders). By then I was almost done (or so I thought before I found I needed to add another round of crochet), so I thought ‘Oh well, bigger is better’.
I did not take into account that with crochet the squares also gets thicker. Ahem.
So now I have two giant, really thick potholders. But you know what? I love them. I use that cast iron frying pan a lot and with normal sized potholders I often accidentally touch the hot handle. With these, I have never done that (and I have been using them at least twice a day for almost a week now).
All is well that ends well, I guess. But I will try to remember to at least consider gauge for my next project.
NOT A STATION 