So. I had a make up class downtown today. Yes, on Sunday! Because my "instructor" will be away during February and is thus, unable to meet her obligations. So, we all get a double class on a weekend. Hey, it was either that or extend these evening classes well into spring.
Anyway...happy serendipity! I wandered past St Lawrence Market and came upon the Sunday antique vendor market. Which I never do. Because I'm never downtown on a Sunday. There at one of the tables are The Perfect Buttons to finally fix my NaKniSweMo cardigan, Miette. Pretty, pretty, glossy red roses for a 1950's vintage style cardigan. Perfect.
This was a challenging knit but the result is very pretty. It was a definite case of working the yarn being so much more enjoyable than the pattern. Gorgeous colours on a short repeat kept it interesting. They also blend so well together that you don't get those jarring patches so common in some hand paints. These socks feel great too. The Daughter loves them. I can't wait to cast on some Painted Fleece for myself.
Sometimes, when I feel life spinning slightly out of control, it helps me to remember little things I do that make me feel better than I did before. They are habits I've developed or promises I've made to myself. Mostly they involve giving my daily life a little dignity or tidiness or forward movement or, sometimes, just plain fun.
- I make my bed every morning. I've done so for two and a half years now. Every night, sliding into the smoothed sheets under the puffed comforter, I'm glad I made the effort.
- I use a saucer with my coffee and tea mugs.
- Sometimes, I eat single ingredient dinners because that's all I feel like. Recently, I steamed a cauliflower and ate half of it with butter and salt. Delicious.
- I compliment strangers on what they're wearing.
- I invite people over or out. Sometimes they come.
- I knit a little every day.
- I say yes to invitations.
Intense boredom drove me to hastily decide one evening last week that The Daughter's room needed to be painted - NOW. I'm like that with big projects. They languish for months, under consideration, until a sudden burst of energy overtakes me and I dive right in. In this case, I remarkably had all the supplies I needed including the pale yellow paint (left over from a previously discarded design decision) so I just started. It took a day and a half, including the trip to Zellers to buy the pale blue comforter and small desk. The shelves and curtains we already owned.
I'm so pleased with the result. There are no "Before" shots which is probably a good thing. The walls used to be mauve, the duvet, lime green and there were stuffed toys and old junk and out-dated posters everywhere. She complained that it looked like the room of a messy eight year old. Now it's a serene, lady-like, blank slate for her to stamp with her personality. Slowly she is putting belongings on the walls and on the shelves that reflect who she is now. I hope she spends many happy hours in her new space.
So I was supposed to go on a date. As my last date was a year and a half ago, this upcoming event was understandably the cause of much delight chez Longyarn. Even the daughter was kind of excited about it. Then he cancelled. No rescheduling. Just silence.
So I did what any knitter woulda. Eat a whole pizza? No. I went to Lettuce and bought yarn. Unnecessary, beautiful and squishy, yarn.
Brand: Malabrigo. Colourway:#850 Archangel.
I've always thought it bizarre, if not downright kooky the way so many people rush off to shop right after the holidays. Standing in line and spending even more money have never appealed to me a way to spend my festive days.
That being said, I somehow managed to make it to not one, but two Boxing Day yarn sales this year. The annual one day Romni event is as much a social gathering opportunity as it is a sale. I went in the mid-afternoon and chatted with so many lovely knitters, old friends (Hi Lorelei!) and new. I also got the perfect shades of yarn for The Daughter's long awaited Gryffindor scarf.
Yesterday I headed up to Knitomatic. Her sale (25% off all yarn people!) is actually two weeks long so there is much less pressure. I always like to stop in every year. Nobody ever buys me yarn for Christmas, so I traditionally buy a little gift for myself here. Such beautiful stuff Hayley has in right now - a rich and lush palette of wintry fibres. It was difficult to choose just one "gift". So, naturally, I bought two. Then I sat with my coffee and quietly knit with the others for over an hour. What a nice Sunday afternoon.
Left to right: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in a very enticing deep bluish purple. This will be a new hat and mitts for me. The Regia 4-Ply was sought out specifically. The last Knitty Yarn Roundtable had some Regia and I was reminded how much I enjoy knitting with it. I've been meaning to get some ever since. Both of these I purchased at Knitomatic. The gold and burgundy Cascade 220 were found at Romni. An already economical yarn at a 25% discount? Awesome.
This is Kaiso from Knitted Socks East and West. I keep returning to this book, drawn by the pretty pictures and eventually I get decent results. However, every single time I knit from these patterns I end up re-doing the math and/or re-centering stitches. The designer's sense of symmetry is almost always off. And her stitch count? Even in the recommended yarn, there is no way I can see 48 stitches making an adult sock. So, as most other knitters according to Ravelry, have done, I cast on sixty. That's a full extra repeat of the 12 stitch pattern. However, now there are an uneven five pattern repeats, ruining the opportunity for symmetry when working the heel flap. See? Frustrating.
Pretty yarn though, right?
