Do I Just Really Like This Pink?
Moving is hard. Childbirth and moving are the most stressful things you can do? Is that the saying? I don’t know, and I can’t speak to childbirth but moving is hard, doing it in another country is a whole different story. Every day I’m baffled by the things that I thought were common experiences everywhere but end up being a cultural thing.
All that is to say that I haven’t actually finished a project in a good long while and I don’t see that changing for a bit.
I’m still working on stuff, but for the next while I probably won’t be doing individual projects but I feel a bit neglectful of my little passion project here, so instead I’ll focus on a roundup of what I’ve done in the week. Know your limits, and try to fall within them.
To be fair, we’ll see how this goes.
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This week I ended up having to go to Dublin to sort out some stuff for the new place. I decided to be kind to myself and take the train instead of the bus. As I went to pull my headphones out of my purse I noticed that they felt really… strange.
Keep in mind I was on this train earlier than I usually wake up and hadn’t dug into my coffee yet that morning.
I stared at it for longer than I care to admit before I figured out that I had inadvertently dyed yarn the colour of my headphones. My first thought was damn, people are going to think I just realllllly like this pink.
To be fair, I do. I actually dyed this as a part of a Craftsy class- Professional Yarn Dyeing at Home. This was the silk lesson. I couldn’t get 100% silk yarn because, well, budget, but I did this with Lana Grossa Lace Seta Mulberry which is 35% silk, 35% alpaca, and 30% wool.
This yarn is divine. It’s so soft, so lush, so gorgeous. Despite being called lace it’s actually a sport weight. I knew I wanted this to be some sort of shawl. I first cast on the Slate Shawl by Adrienne Larsen.
It… didn’t go well. I don’t think there was a single row where there wasn’t a mistake. It inspired me to make a new rule: If I have to pull something out three times then it’s probably a pattern that’s too hard for me right now. I have full confidence I’ll be able to make this one day but I need some practice with lace knitting first.
So, I went searching Ravelry and found the Syyslaulu Shawl. It’s made for fingering weight yarn but I have enough in the meterage and figured I’d give it a go. It’s knitting up really well- I’m on the garter section. I think I want to make it a bit bigger so I have more snuggle room. I love how the pattern is super easy to make bigger or smaller- she does the math counts for you. I can’t wait to get to the lace section!
I’ve put aside my Boho Embroidered Sweater for the shawl for now. This one is another Craftsy class. I’m using MillaMia Naturally Soft Aran in Ivory and it’s another just super yummy yarn I’m loving knitting with. I’m on the stockinette body of the sweater and I honestly can’t wait to finish and get to the embroidery part.
Speaking of embroidery, I’m working on another Kiriki Press kit- the Summer Sampler. This is the first time I’ve done woven picots and I’m genuinely shocked they’re not as hard as I thought they were. Part of why I love these samplers so much is the way they hand hold you through the stitch then you get to actually do it a lot. By the time you’ve finished the design you really feel familiar with the stitch. I’m sad that they’re not doing the stitch sampler of the month club anymore, but at the same time, I have every sampler she’s made so maybe it’s good I have some space to make a dent in them. I don’t think I’ll be sewing much until we actually move so it’s good to at least do a bit of stitching.
I’ve acquired a few books. The first is The Handmade Life: A Companion to Modern Crafting by Ramona Barry and Rebecca Jobson. It goes through many, many crafts giving a brief history, contemporary artists, some key points, some specialized tools, an instructional overview, project ideas, and a project. It makes every craft feel really accessible and I have a feeling I’m going to pick up things I haven’t even thought of- I mean, gilding! I never thought I could. But I can and I think I should. This book is amazing but a huge problem and I’m going to blame it directly for the next 10-30 hobbies I pick up. I’ve been taking a while to get through it because while it’s well written and isn’t super language-y it’s a lot of information and I tend to want to give myself time to sit on the ideas.
The second book I’ve bought is 52 Weeks of Socks by Laine. I’ve heard about this book a lot and I’m happy it’s now available in paperback. I would love to do the actual 52-week challenge and do a pair of socks a week, but I have a feeling that this year might now be the year that’s possible. What I might spend 2023 doing is acquiring and dying the yarn for all the socks then hit the ground running. I want to set myself up for the most success.
It’s weird. I feel like I’ve done nothing craft-wise because I haven’t finished anything, but actually having to sit down and evaluate how much progress I’ve made has been really inspiring. I’m so excited to move but it’s definitely been a really stressful time.
I found what I’m fairly certain is a cosmo in the garden. I hadn’t seen one pop up yet. We seeded this area as a kind of rewilding/meadow vibe so I’m not 100% sure what seeds in what amounts ended up here. Knowing that even this late in the season there are still flowers that pop up and surprise you was really nice. We’re going to obviously have planters in the apartment and will be doing a bit of gardening but I’m going to miss really seeing the effect of the seasons changing.
Maybe it’s a good thing in another way though, because when I saw that flower it made me want to make a pleated chiffon gown that’s floaty and pretty and run through meadows and I feel like I might need less inspiration, more organized workspace.
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