March has been a busy month. It flew by. Yet my crafting is still at a slow crawl.
Knitting
Still working on Abilene. Just sleeves to go. The design of this sweater must be full and cropped. So that is how I will wear it, with my new high waisted black cargo pants… once I finish sewing them.
Sewing
This is what cargo pants look like when they are not assembled. I would be further along, but when I got to the fly, I realized I was missing a zipper. I ordered two in different lengths, to be safe. Can’t run down to Joann anymore to pick up a last minute notion.
Gardening
First harvest from the greenhouse: arugula and lettuces. I have peas coming up, but I’m not sure if they will do well in there. It gets warm on sunny days, and peas like it cooler. At least bunnies can’t get in and nibble them.
I’m hoping with spring the weather will improve and my mood along with it. No reason to be down. It’s chemical and that’s how depression goes.
In fact, Bob and I got the news we are going to be grandparents! Why yes I did purchase a baby romper sewing pattern. I think I will go browse baby bootie knitting patterns now.
Hello yoppers! I was doing so well, focusing on my works in progress. I even started sewing my black cargo pants, which I cut out last fall. What happened?
Work has been nuts, for one. It’s normal, because I was finishing up last year’s books. Also, there was some travelling — both mine and others’— so there was catch up. And now it’s March, which is a big birthday month in my world. And let’s not forget taxes. Yikes! In positive news, I have been tapped to take on a bit more work for a bit more pay. I’ll take it and put it to good use.
Knitting
I have finished the body of Abilene, and picked up the first sleeve. I would love to finish this in the next few weeks. The body is a little full. That’s the style, right? I’m sure it has nothing to do whatsoever with my gauge. I will find out when I see how the sleeves fit. It could be a little short. I need to block it to find out for certain.
I have cast on You Silly Goose socks. I’m sticking with one round of silly geese, because that’s all I have the patience for right now.
I am winding these two skeins from stash for a new cast on. It seems I am all about green these days.
Sewing
With good intentions, as mentioned, I started sewing the Eastside Pants in black hemp and cotton twill. Well, hammer loop and belt loops are sewn anyway.
I keep changing my mind about this fabric from Skye Weavers. I’m not sure what it wants to be. I’m thinking maybe some culottes? I wouldn’t belt them, though. I would sew buckles to the sides, like I saw in Inverness.
I managed to find some gorgeous wool plaid deadstock fabric to make my long skirt à la Edinburgh. I’m going to sew a Shepherd Skirt with it. I will add it to my fall list.
I put up a felt board design wall in my croffice (craft office). I have plans. I always have plans. So many plans.
Gardening
My lettuce survived in the greenhouse. I planted peas. A frog couple has made an early return to the pond.
Other News
My health insurance has approved me for a blood sugar program. I now have a monitor, a menu, approved foods… This has made me grumpy. It will be worth it in the long run, I hope. I’m going to live forever.
This is the only video I can get my cat to watch with me. It’s one of my favorites and makes me giggle when I’m feeling low.
This is a Year of Projects (YOP) Update. The group is in its 15th year, and is a Ravelry based group. You can learn more here.
I finished knitting Bob’s socks while I was in Oklahoma. I got a really lousy photo of them so I worked some Canva magic pasting them onto a background of kale. Clever girl.
The color is Kale from Emma’s Yarn. It’s a cashmere, merino, and nylon blend, a Hella Hank I picked up at Vogue Knitting Live in Columbus in 2019! Or 2018! I can’t remember! Pre-pandemic, anyway.
I have been on a bit of a book buying binge lately. And these aren’t all the books in my queue!
I traded Winter Witch to my sister for Queen of All Mayhem, and boy is it good! Well contextualized history. I read half of it on the flights back from Oklahoma. I have to put it aside for With Her Own Hands for our guild book club. I got this one from the library.
I meant to post this on Sunday. Whoops! Here’s what I did on Valentine’s Day:
I dropped off my Trans Mural knitted square at Dye Mad, and some donations to Craft Raccoon. Then I went to our weaving guild meeting, where I learned about June Cashmere.
We had a Mardi Gras themed Valentine’s Day meal. I baked gluten free King Cake. Bob made a gluten free vegetarian blackened Cajun fake chicken pasta. Everything was delicious!
We watched Honeybunch. We really liked it. Then we tried to stay up to watch Dracula (1931) on Svengoolie. I don’t know why we have to fall asleep before 8pm every night. Is that because we’re old? (It might be because we get up at 4:30am.)
I am still working on Bob’s second sock. I am flying to Oklahoma City today. I plan to finish the sock on this trip. It’s all the knitting I brought. It’s a modest goal.
I finished The Winter Witch on the first flight. I enjoyed this book. It was an easy read: character driven, lots of dialogue. My eyes teared up at the end. Not horror, except for the witch hunting. Not spicy, either. Highly recommend.
I finished reading Died in the Wool. I enjoyed it more than the Agatha Christie books I tried to read. Still, I had to force myself to continue because I didn’t care who did it or why. I did perk up anytime wool or sheep were mentioned.
I started reading Winter Witch. This is about the Filles de Roi. A mashup of historical fiction and horror? Sign me up! I wouldn’t call it horror, not yet anyway. (Unless you count life in general back then which was short and brutal.) But I look forward to reading it each night.
This weekend we watched Sister Midnight. If you have been reading my blogs for any length of time, you will know I love vampires. All but the sparkly kind, anyway. But who doesn’t love watching sparkly vampires play baseball to a kick-ass song? No complaints here.
Anyway, I highly recommend Sister Midnight. Not the typical vampire movie. Bob and I have decided to have a double feature of Sister Midnight and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night.
Fat Tuesday is next week! I’m going to try to make a gluten-free King Cake this year. I miss King Cake.
Edited to add: We recently rewatched Sinners. We saw it on the big screen the first time. Another new favorite.
First of all, I have completely fallen off the wagon on the 100 daily stitch book challenge. I can’t be faffed.
Do you know what I like to do? Make garments. I like to knit and sew garments. I have decided to embrace this about myself.
Is it an art block? I don’t know, and I’m not sure it matters. This is a hobby, so I do what I want.
I will spin and weave when I get a chance. And, I’d like to finish my rug hooking project.
This week I recovered from Covid and knit my square for the Dye Mad Yarns Trans-Mural Project.
I planned my spring sewing and posted about that here.
I took a cold, hard look at my knitting projects and went through my stash. I shuffled some things around.
Instead of a Vintersol, this yarn from Wing and a Prayer Farm will be a Log Lady cardigan. Marilee and I will be having a KAL. I might also rewatch Twin Peaks, again.
I will still knit Vintersol. I have wanted to make it for a long time. I have two colors of Schiehallion yarn, and need a third color. I’m pondering on that.
I pulled this from my stash in order to join the Half Moon Tee KAL.
I love it when plans fall apart and come back together!
I finished my circle skirt. I’m pretty happy with it. I lined it.
I’m also planning my spring sews. I created a little worksheet to help me plan.
The off white Mercer Jumpsuit is for beekeeping. We won’t be getting bees this year, but will be working at Bee Yard with our local organization to learn so we can get bees next year.
Do you follow james.makes.things on Instagram? I enjoy their posts, because 👉sewing👈.
I am loving the popularity of the knit protest caps, like the Melt the Ice pattern. I see a few other designers have jumped on the bandwagon.
I would be knitting one, but I already knit mine in 2001 using the pattern from Nordic Knitting. I made it to commemorate my eldest’s propensity to protest the powers that be (me). It has been a favorite hat for decades. I wore it in 2016, and now I’m wearing it again.
The funny thing is I didn’t knit the decreases correctly. It should have a plain stitch between the crown decreases. I was a newish knitter, though, and misread the pattern.
It seems the custom of wearing a red liberty hat goes back to ancient Rome, according to this podcast. She doesn’t mention the red cap of the American Revolution, though I saw one at the museum of Fort Laurens around the same time I knit mine. (I have a photo on a disc somewhere. That’s how old I am.)
Speaking of knitting and resistance, I can’t wait to dive into this new historical fiction book. I have other books to get through first, though.
We are under a Level 3 Snow Emergency in Ohio, for the first time ever. Schools are closed. Businesses are closed. My life is relatively unaffected so far. I work from home and still have to work. I want a snow day, too! I have to laugh, but no complaints. I might feel differently if we run out of toilet paper and eggs. Or if we lose power. I will have to put on my snow shoes and shearling coat and go on a supplies run. I will wear my red cap.
I am now working on my Abilene pullover, and a pair of socks for Bob. They are both in a similar green.
Sewing
I am making a wool circle skirt with some dead stock wool jacketing fabric. I got it at remnant price, and had just enough to make the skirt (but not enough to match checks.) I cut the back on the fold instead of seaming it so at least the front and back are fluid. I will insert a seamless zipper in the back. It’s lined, and I added pockets.
100 Day Stitch Book
I have finished two pages. I haven’t done much embroidery recently, and my stitches are rudimentary. Others are using appliqué and I might try that on my next square.
AlissaMakes 