Good Morning Everyone!
Happy Tuesday, happy snow day, happy, happy, happy!!! I just got back from my trek through the woods with Bernie, it's the best way to start the day. I really enjoyed it not being -2, the 22 degree temperature felt exhilarating, a welcome change from the bite of Jack Frost this past week. I do love winter, but it's definitely more fun with snow and sunshine, even when the sun is deceptive. I'm glad that Old Man Winter has delivered a Nor'easter to us, creates the perfect environment to sit and knit, which I plan on doing today.
This past Saturday I successfully hosted my first Zoom KAL!!! I realize that for many of you this has become second nature, and I'm certainly no stranger to the concept, but I'd never set up a meeting, I've only participated by clicking a provided link. It went amazingly well, and gave my "tech challenged skills" a boost of confidence, so guess what? Wednesday night Stitch and Bitch is back! I'm really blown away by the number of you who would like to participate, this is great news and I'm so excited. I have a list of 20 so far that I will be sending an invitation to, let me know if you'd like to see everyone and join in the fun. It will run from 6:00-7:30, the more the merrier, I wonder who will be the furthest participant??? I've really missed our weekly gatherings and seeing how your projects are progressing. The one thing I've really embraced during this crazy pandemic is making lemonade from some pretty sour lemons. I only wish I had done this sooner, but I didn't realize that so many of you would want to meet this way. So once again, thank-you for pushing me out of my comfort zone, I survived and now I'm even smarter, look what you've done!
By now, I'm sure many of you are cruising along on your Il Favorito Grande, such a fun knit. I love the construction of this sweater and the yarn we're using is just gorgeous. I enjoyed seeing all of the different color combinations come to life on your needles. I've been working on mine when I need something mindless, I'm past the sleeve and body divide, so around and around I go. I've been focusing on my Birkin which I wish I could say is going along without incident, nope. Good thing I'm practicing my color work and chart reading now, wait until you see what my next project will be....That said, I had to tink back the same row, twice, of my Birkin, one lousy stitch off really ruins my mood. And really, answer me this, why is it we figure out there's a mistake near the end of the round?? I found the mistake and it was of course almost at the beginning, UGH!!! I told myself that this is truly an exercise in patience building, working and carrying 3 colors without tangling and twisting the yarn requires skill and talent, and I will most definitely be calling in all my favors when I start my Fox Thoughts.
What's Fox Thoughts? It's on Ravelry, check it out. I received my package from La Bien Aimee of Paris yesterday, Oooh, La, La!!! I stayed up until midnight vying for the Briar Rose colorway and had to settle for Cliff and Shore, which I do believe is a blessing in disguise. Briar Rose features a main color of green called Shire and is stunning. However, one of the contrast colors that apprears quite a bit throughout the pattern is hot pink,need I say more? So I started reading the instructions to this work of art and promptly texted Wanda accusing her of dragging me down the rabbit hole. Holy shit there are 13 colors in this thing in which you are working the MC double strand, AND, get this, the CC is marled which means, two DIFFERENT colors of yarn held together, no joke. Her response, "It will be fine." Which immediately translates to the Louise Penny definition of FINE. I'll more than likely be in a rubber room knitting this thing, but I'll look damn good when all is said and done, even if my hair is all pulled out.
The latest mitten craze is still unbelievable to me, but of course I had to hop on board. I posted a video featuring a pattern called Smitten by the lovely ladies of Yarn and Yoga. It only takes one skein of Providence and one skein of Aerial and yields the softest, coziest mittens. Oddly enough, the name of the company I've been getting my upcycled sweater mittens for years is called Smitten Vermont, my friend Beth has been creating them since 2009. She just dropped off a whole bundle of them on Saturday, so if you're looking for some "Bernie" mittens, I've got them in stock. I also shared a post from my friend Laurie's company called Firefly and Fern, she's made hand painted, wooden Bernie mitten earrings and stitch markers, super cute, you can see them on Facebook. So thank-you Mr Sanders for creating such a buzz and for wearing those mittens, it's done much for so many in our state.
Make it a great day, and I hope to see you soon!
Katy