Knitting, Sci-fi and other stuff...

I finished my Unicorn Cowl last evening.  This was a fun pattern and one I'd have no problem knitting again. I've woven in the ends since I took this picture.   I had a pretty normal week.  It was stormy at the beginning of the week and very cold for the remainder of the week.  We have a warm front moving in.  It was a balmy 29 degrees F when I left for work this morning.  After experiencing negative digits earlier, near "freezing" is a veritable heat wave. We've had three new people start at work all within the last three weeks.  It's great to have some more staff, but training can be very tiring.  Thursday and Friday we're busy and I felt like I was pulled in all directions; especially Friday.  I'm looking forward to the future.  We have a lot of changes coming to this lab and I'm excited about them.  Just gotta get through this little sludge patch. Until later.  Happy crafting. -Q

    I started a new project on Monday.   I've been working on  Unicorn Cowl  by Casapinka this week.  I'm using Cloudborn Fibers Alpaca Sport as my base yarn and Passion Yarns sock minis for the contrast colors.  I got the Passion Yarns when I attended the CNY Fiber Fest back in 2023.  The pattern calls for 7 contrast colors but I decided to use only the minis I had and not any other left overs.  I didn't think I had anything else bright enough to go with these, so I'm modifying the pattern to account for three contrast colors instead of seven.  I also went down a needle size to compensate for the Alpaca Sport being sport weight instead of DK that the pattern called for.  So far I'm very happy with the way its coming out.  It's a nice simple pattern repeat and I like the way the colors are playing together.  So far the most tedious part of the pattern was casting on 300 stitches.  Even doing five rows of the cont...

     Happy New Year!  I've been under the weather, but I'm starting to feel better now.       The yarn I ordered from the Miss Babs sale arrived last Saturday.     Then the yarn I ordered while I was in Syracuse arrived during the week. As well as my swap package from the Hot Beverage swap: I hid all the goodies so my kids couldn't eat everything while I was sick.  My appetite still hasn't returned so everything remains hidden.   I also got some more Malabrigo Mechita in a destash and that arrived as well.  I didn't do any knitting while I was sick but I finally felt good enough to do a little knitting last evening.  I was able to finish my son's socks. He was very excited for them to be done. I wove in the ends but didn't trim them yet. I'd like to give these a quick bath before I call them 100% done.  My son already put the socks in his sock ...

      As the year comes to a close, I've been looking at my queue and starting to plan out a few projects for 2025.  After having to cold sheep for the majority of this past year, I'm going into next year with some guidelines.  When I purchase yarn, I really want to stick to purchasing for specific patterns.  I took advantage of Miss Babs annual gratitude sale and purchased specifically for two patterns.  I also want to continue to knit from stash whenever possible.  I have paired up yarn with patterns for several and they've been moved up in my queue.     I'll have more time, so I plan to participate in several swaps in 2025.  I'll be getting yarn from these so I'm going to try to stick to swaps only for "unplanned" stash acquisition.  I have several carry-over projects I didn't get to this year, which seems to be a theme every year.  So tentatively this is my meager list for 2025: - Butterfly--Papillon  with Urth Ya...

     I finished up my swap and got my package mailed yesterday.  More on that hopefully next week once my swapner gets her package.  I was able to go down to Syracuse Wednesday.  I had lunch with my former colleague and mentor Sal and then took myself yarn shopping.  It was really nice catching up and our lunch was delicious.  We went to a noodle place that has very good ramen and dumplings among other dishes.  Then I went to Yarn Cupboard in Jamesville, which is just outside Syracuse.  I got a skein of yarn for my swap and I also picked up the yarn for my next long term project.  I've been wanting to make  Butterfly Papillion  for several years and decided to finally take the plunge.  I got the Urth yarns specified in the pattern.  This is also Christmas for me from my husband.   I also had Susan order me enough Malabrigo Rios for another Killer Queen Cowl .  Since it's been very cold here I've be...

      I've been quite busy but unfortunately not with knitting.  I have managed to finish my  Always be Brave .  I even got it blocked which flattened out the i-Cord bindoff that wanted to roll.  We've gotten our first major snowfall of the season; the final tally was three feet where I live.  Our second snowstorm is in full blast right now.  I wore this for several days and unfortunately, it's a little too scratchy to wear for any length of time.  If I wear it on my short drive to work, it's okay.  I really enjoyed the pattern though, so I'm on the lookout for softer yarn so I can make another one. I've been wearing my Killer Queen Cowl this week.  When I first made it, I wasn't sure about the style and if I'd like it.  Now that I'm actually using it, I really like it.  It's soft and the neck area is long so I can pull it up to surround the back of my neck or my face if I need to.  I have a few other cowls in my...