Marching toward spring

Lots of time to knit in March, with spring break in the middle.  It's also usually the time that I participate in the Annual Yarn Challenge at a LYS.  This year the yarn was Briggs and Little Sport, a rustic wooly sport weight yarn.  I chose to knit a warm hat, since the Polar Vortex rushed down on us in Southern Ontario for the last bit of February into March. 

The pattern is by The Petite Knitter, a designer who lives on an island in Nunavut (far north), Canada.   I chose the hat for a couple of reasons.  First, it's an awesome hat that will be warm and cozy that lends itself to a big pompom (Bernat faux fur).  Second, it's a Canadian designer.  I want to support people who live Canada, especially those who forge ahead with their small business in this current economic climate.  She has new patterns out right now - the Tundra sweater and matching hat.  Maybe next year, I'll knit one of them.    She also has a pattern in the Mason-Dixon March Madness bracket (knitting bracket similar to the NCAA basketball bracket - all fun, found here!)  It's the Iqaluit Shawl.  Iqaluit is the capital of the territory Nunavut, if you're wondering about the name.

I also knit my third pair of socks for the Grocery Girls Sock Bash.  The theme was movies/tv/books, so I knit Hermione's Everyday Socks (Harry Potter reference) in some stash Dream In Color yarn.  The yarn is almost too variegated for the texture pattern, but I enjoyed knitting them.  My LYS has 1.75mm circulars on order for me - hoping they will be easier on my hands and easier to use for my next pair!

Next month's theme is 'from far away' - yarn from another country.  Off to dive into the stash and pattern library for April!

Midway through March

March Break (spring break) is almost done and I've been doing a fair amount of knitting.  Being home during the day leads to that!  I've finished my Without A Paddle Sweater in Berroco Vintage Chunky.  The shaping for the front is problematic (see my Ravelry Page for details) but I think I'll get a fair amount of wear out of it given the style and yarn choice.  Not too warm but still bulky, so I can wear this into late winter/early spring. 

Looks lovely on my mannequin, which is a decorating piece and not a dressmaking form so it gives the gist of what I've made but isn't a true representation.  You can see the 'bumps' from the turns on the side, just under the bust.  More traditional short rows would have been better here.  The original yarn is Canoe, which has alpaca content and a bit of a halo.   Perhaps with that finished fabric these stitches might blend in a bit more.  I chose not to afford to knit it in Canoe, so the fabric is more flat and shows this a bit more.  I do like how the decreases swirl for the yoke, and think I can press out the bumpy stitches.  The yarn has an acrylic content so blocking may not do it.

Socks and a new pullover are on the needles, but more to come when they're further along.

footloose

I'm intrigued by sock knitting.  I find them pretty, and fun, with lots of beautiful yarn with different themes, colourways, and other interesting aspects to them.  I have two problems - both practical in nature.

First and most challenging, I knit so loosely that I have had to special order size 00 (1.75) needles to use to try and get a tight gauge with sock yarn.  They are very thin, and a bit fiddly to hold.   To start knitting socks and be inspired to keep trying, I've decided to knit 12 pairs this year to participate in the Grocery Girls Sock Bash for 2019.  This may be a bit ambitious.
Themes for the first third of the year (image from Ravelry - Grocery Girls group thread):

 I started with bulky weight Lyndon socks by Alicia Plummer for January.  I figure that if I start with a successful project I'll be inspired to keep going.  They are done, and I wear them as house socks.

Second pair are Granola by TinCanKnits, knit with sport weight Malabrigo Arroyo.  They are slightly too big and I'll knit my next pair with more negative ease to allow for stretching.  Also discovered a dropped stitch after I wore them for a day so I'll need to mend them already...

Next up are my socks knit on the 00 needles.  Just started Hermione's Everyday Socks.  I figure if over 26 000 people have knit them on Ravelry, I can't go wrong.  My yarn choice may not show the texture well, but I'm moving ahead with them anyway.

My second issue with socks is more with fashion than function.  I don't own shoes that knit socks fit into, and my boots are tall or outdoor/winter boots that I can't keep on all day inside.  This makes my socks hard to wear on a day-to-day basis.  Short of buying different footwear (not really practical) I am not sure what I'll do about this.  I also notice that almost all sock patterns have photographs with no shoes or footwear - this makes sense as the knitter wants to see the entire project but makes it hard to imagine styling them for wear.   It makes knitting socks less appealing to me; however, I am determined to knit 12 pairs this year to get better at sock knitting.  Perhaps in a year I'll have solved the gauge issues and the footwear problem!