First Socks of 2022

You might have noticed that I have been making more socks lately. My sock yarn got added to quite a bit last year and, although, I could make multi-colour shawls I am quite happy with the thought of knitting more socks. My plans are mostly guided by the challenges in the Sock Knitters Anonymous group but I decided to put a small restriction on myself as often I spend the end of the month looking and looking and looking at patterns that fit any of the upcoming month’s challenges.

This year I am limiting myself to only looking at patterns that I already own, whether they be in books or downloaded (mostly for free). If I don’t find anything there I may look at my queue and favorites. This has helped me not cast on for the sake of casting on and is meant to cut down on the amount of time I spend looking at sock patterns. This meant I did not start a sock in January, which was no big deal considering all my other cast ons, but I did purchase a sock pattern in February. To be fair it was a pattern that I had had in my queue since 2011 so about time I made it. I used one of my sock yarn purchases from last year’s sale as the main colour and various leftovers for the flowers. This was an interesting pattern in that the flowers required more concentration but there was a lot of straight forward stocking stitch. I’m not sure how comfortable they will be to wear at the toes and heels but I can always wear them over a thin pair of socks. But they sure were fun to knit.

 

 

I Ran a 10K

Another event that was delayed.

After running the 5k in 2019, my friend and I had the crazy idea to run The Strip at Night in Las Vegas. We did not go completely crazy and opted for the 10K race, not anything longer and signed up for the October 2020 event. As we all know what the last two years has brought, you will not be surprised that the event did not take place. Even though there was never any indication when the event would be rescheduled, there were no refunds offered as the event had not been cancelled. This policy has been very unpopular with participants and (according to comments) had put them off the Ironman organization. This was not helped by the complete silence from the organization about the event. I also know this was a policy for concert promoters.

I decided to train as if I was going to run the race at the end of 2020 and finally ran for 10 kilometers on 31 December 2020. I had been putting off this long until I finally told myself I HAD to do it before year end. It was hard to know what to do next when I had two races of different length but no dates to aim for.

At last we were given dates for races and after running the 5K I started to train for the 10K. And it did take place. With all the changes in numbers of virus cases and variants I would not have been surprised by any cancellation.

Taking part in the race was amazing. The strip was completely closed down and there are spectators on both sides of the road and on the bridges. (The only part where there were not any spectators was after the start of the race as you are running away from the finish.) It really felt good having people cheer you on. The part that is not so fun is people walking and blocking the middle of the road so you have to run around them. I would have liked to complete this in an hour instead it was 1 hour and 3 minutes, which I know I shouldn’t complain about. When I finished the 5K in San Diego I was really hungry and wanted coffee. When I finished this race I wasn’t very hungry and was starting to feel cold so we just went back to the hotel and had a shower and small meal.

It was a great experience and I am glad that I did it unfortunately my friend did not join me in the end.

Here I am at the end of the race laden down with all the goodies you get for finishing.

 

 

Two Gifts

As I said in my last post, I have been slow in posting photos of finished items because I had made a couple of gifts that I wanted to make sure were received before I posted. The gifts are very different but I enjoyed making them equally.

First is a tea cosy I made for my sister. This was a fun knit and I kept on laughing at how much work was going into a tea cosy. I followed the pattern as written and she loves it.

 

The yarn is Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport, in Natural, Charcoal and Pepper. I don’t think that is true Starsky colours but close enough.

The other item I made was a coaster, or mug rug as people call them, for a friend who is going through a hard time. This is a knitter who I have met through a weekly Zoom call. Sending her yarn would have been nice but not exactly the thought I wanted to convey which was to send a hug. I was looking for heart patterns to make a coaster but didn’t like any I had found online. There was a heart on the monthly quilt I made. I adapted it slightly, omitting the wings and making the borders narrow. The quilting was simple straight line following the heart shape. I was pleased with the result which I called a mug rug hug.

 

February's and March’s Hats

I was going to write a post about my thought process and why it blog posts are in my head and not on the web. Suffice it to say I have air written a few on different subjects but here is one showing actual knitting.

I have been slow in showing finished items because in February I made a couple of gifts and I wanted them to be opened before showing pictures here. Then I just delayed on everything so I am starting off showing the hats I made over the last two months.

February Hat, worked as written except I started with a Turkish cast on so that the stitches were sitting on a cable ready for the pick up row. The yarn is Tosh Vintage (from the friend’s friend’s stash), the same as January’s hat. I may have enough for another hat.

 

March’s Hat. Worked using Tosh DK from the aforementioned stash. This is a thinner yarn than called for in the pattern, so I worked the larger size, this was not necessary and when I looked at the pattern the gauge was tighter than usual for worsted weight yarn. The hat turned out fine although I had to omit the last pattern repeat; (the yarn I was given was not a full skein), I was worried that it was not enough for a real slouch but too much for a nice looking hat. Apart from missing the last pattern repeat, I knit the pattern as written, including the tubular cast on.

 

On WIP news, getting buttons on the jacket is proving to be a slow process. I have buttons, I am trying to work out how I want to do the loops. I have finished one sock and started the other. I would like to finish them by the end of the month. I stopped working on the blanket as I needed more grey yarn and the Tunisian crochet project is coming along slowly.

Today is Pi Day and I have decided NOT to start a Pi Shawl. Although I like the fun of starting such a shawl on 3/14, I do not need another project. I will reconsider for 22/7.