Can of Worms

Well... as promised in my last blog post I immediately set to ripping back the mitten to the cuff to go up a needle size.  It suddenly became apparent I had opened a big can of worms...

The intense color of the red yarn was rubbing off on the white yarn.  I had previously taken two strands of the yarn and rubbed them together and WASHED them together to see if the colors would run but I guess my sample size wasn't large enough.  I should know better.  The red yarn is leftover Wollmeise and as much as I love the stuff, I know it isn't super colorfast.  The intense coloring often has color bleeding- which... doesn't look great on a mitten.

And so... I decided to rip all the way back to the picot cuff and try again with a black accent color, where color-fastness isn't as big of a deal.

I realized while knitting this that it has an after-thought thumb... which I usually hate.  However this pattern has built in a gusset (which is definately a much better idea) so I've decided to "stay the course" and see how I like the afterthought with a gusset.  Will this be my new "go to" method?

I also managed to squeak out another section on the acrylic blanket which is turning out pretty cute.  I'm going to do another pink heart section next.

So, despite the set back here, I think we can agree fall is beginning to look up... or in this case... productive.

Flashes of Fall

Well... it's coming fast and furious now...

FALL IS HERE.  Whether we got ripped off on summer or not.  (*sigh*)  And oddly enough, even though we've settled into a more familiar routine, knitting hasn't picked up like I had hoped.

Progress on the blanket is coming, slowly but surely...

And I cast on new mitten and have jumped well into it already.

 

Although, I already have concerns that I've knit it too small.**  I guess I'll be creepily staring at teacher hands next Kindergarten drop off trying to determine whether or not I need to rip it out.  (Helpfully, Parker's Kindergarten teacher is quite tiny, so hoping she has matching hands!)

I'm also slightly nervous that I won't have enough yarn to complete these... so it's going to be a harrowing experience.

That's really all I have to show for the last ten days... minimal progress at best.  I'm not sure why I'm so slow on the uptake here but I've found my evenings busy and when they aren't packed with something to do or some place to attend I'm tired and calling it an early night.  Booo.  WAKE UP THERE IS KNITTING TO BE HAD.

Complicating the process further is that the Halloween crafting, (which usually involves sewing) has begun in earnest, cramping much needed knitting time.

While I rely on my mother fairly heavily for her sewing skills to get me through the trickier parts, I want to at least take some of the burden off of her and do some of the simpler things to lighten her load... which means hauling out the sewing machine and doing more cursing than I'm proud of under my breath.  There will be trips to Fabricland in my future!!

Tonight I have a ticket to see the Yarn Harlot at Pudding yarn which should be fun and yield some knitting/listening time to help with progress.  That will hopefully put me firmly back in the "MUST KNIT ALL THE TIME" camp and finished items will start cranking out more frequently.

** by the time I finished writing this blog post I had already decided to rip out to the cuff on the mitten and go up a needle size for the hand.  A baggier hand is better than a too tight one.

Frenzied Fall

Listen, I'm loathe to call it fall outside until I see actual evidence of leaves changing colors and falling off trees... but um... it's happening here.  (Barely "summer" and Calgary gets one of the fastest onsets of fall... *sigh*.)

(STOP!  TOO SOON!  TOO SOON!)

In the last two nights I've snuggled into my cozy pants with a warm cup of tea, curled into the couch and finally gotten back into the rhythem of knitting again.  This September has had a whole bunch of BIG firsts that I've been distracted for and preparing for and we're finally settling into our new routine.

Firsts you say?  Two family members in our house had their FIRST birthdays and are officially not longer considered "kittens".

 

The sheer hatred for the hats in these photos make me laugh and laugh

Also a BIG first... someone had his first day of Kindergarten.

Kindergarten is Tuesday and Thursdays FULL days with some Friday mornings.  (yay!  FOUND KNITTING TIME!) Tuesday was overwhelming but he handled it well.  Thursday we had a few tears at drop off but I picked up the happiest, most excited kid AFTER school and I was so glad that he was loving it.  Hoping we can keep that level of happiness up and sustained for the whole year!

Since I could finally relax that he's feeling relaxed, I was also able to get back at the knitting.

2 hats were added to the pile and are looking much more like they're supposed to.

I also cast on and began knitting another acrylic blanket because I need to whittle that stash away.

AND... now that school is actually started and we've counted 2 teachers and 2 aides in Parker's class... I need to start getting "my mitten on" if I don't want Christmas to be a disasterous stress situation.  I have a pattern picked up out and the color scheme ready... I'll likely cast it on next week!

I've also decided that during Parker's music classes this year I will take my sock to knit.  (Mom's sit outside- and do not get to participate now.)  So hopefully the little travel sock will see faster progress than it usually does.