Third Time's A Charm

I'm still working away on the crochet cardigan, but I've really been itching to start the Autumn Waves sweater using that cotton/acrylic yarn from the Danish company Hobbii - see this February post. While I've almost always had more than one quilt project going at a time, at different stages of completion, I've never tried that with my knitting and crocheting until now. I follow a vlogger, Amo at https://www.youtube.com/@PawfectPastimes, who is a well-rounded crafter who not only knits and crochets, but sews and does a variety of needlework too, while occasionally sketching with watercolors, tending a large garden, regularly golfing and volunteering for a dog rescue group. Sounds like me (minus the golfing, large garden and dog rescue volunteering!), She shows her progress mostly weekly and I am astounded at her knitting/crocheting output, even more astounded that she rarely has less than four projects on her needles, and maybe a crochet one in addition to that. They range from socks and cowls to shawls and sweaters with the occasional blanket thrown in. I commented to her about my inability (or perhaps unwillingness) to start another knit project until the current one was finished, but she assured me that I could. She pointed out that hers in progress are of varying degrees of concentration needed, and she could pick and choose deciding on how much time she had, how tired she might be and how well her brain was working. Ahhh, that made a lot of sense. Also, I've gathered over time that she has various places where she knits/crochets, unlike me who seems to always do it in front of the tv in the livingroom. This was when I made the connection that I often watch videos and interviews on-line at my upstairs computer, things that did not require my eyes on screen at all times and could allow me to "multi-task" doing other things at the same time; i.e. I was wasting time that could be spent knitting.

So when one of those videos was playing, I pulled out the pattern and yarn and cast on stitches. This pattern is worked in the round from the neck down, and to be honest, I was just a little cocky and distracted by the video working the first row. I misread the instructions and had to start over. Thinking I had it right this time, I knitted quite a ways until I realized I'd gotten the ribbing pattern wrong again. Unraveling goes so much quicker than removing piecing stitches. 😁 Now the pattern had my full attention, video off, until I was sure I had the setup right. And thus, third time was a charm. At its current stage, it is easy enough to pick up and knit a row or two at a time while I watch a short video.

Encouraged by this development, I turned to yet another sweater pattern I've been anxious to start. This is another kit from Lion Brand called Three Season Pullover and reminded me of a long gone favorite red cotton sweater I wore for years during those times of the year when it wasn't winter weather. The kit provided a cotton yarn called 24/7  that is inexpensive compared to so many other yarns and the fibers appear to be braided or chained rather than twisted together. It's not a soft yarn - that braiding seems to make it feel a bit rough - but it has the stability when knitted up that I think I will really like for this sweater. Except for that wide rib hem, it's a basic knit one row purl one row pattern, with some shaping at the armholes and neckline, the back, front and sleeves all knitted separately. So a no brain strain project where I don't even often have to look down at my hands. This one sits by the couch for times when the tv program I'm watching demands I pay more visual attention to it, something I can't readily do without totally stopping when I'm crocheting on the cardigan and doing a lot of counting. I'm really pleased with the progress I'm making on both of those sweaters.

But wait! This return to knitting has become as bad as when I was more avidly involved in quilting in terms of temptations, rabbit holes and information to absorb. As I watch two favorite knitting vloggers, check stitch instruction videos, and am bombarded by ads from yarn companies, I am learning so much about types of yarns and their weights, a new way to cast on stitches and do a ssk stitch (really, I had no idea it could be done in 4 different ways), I'm even learning how to use a chart - something I've always avoided in lieu of written out instructions. I am falling victim to buying more beautiful yarn (rather than my stated goal of using up what I have), downloading free patterns and even purchasing a few. And most recently, falling for a knit-along conducted by Olive Knits that's been going on for ten years now but this is the last one. I remember looking at last year's pattern for the knit-along and not caring for it but this year's had me weak in the knees. So I signed up and bought the pattern.

Of course, I had to buy yarn for it too as I had nothing in my stash of the right weight, but shopped the sales. Still, good quality yarn is expensive and this lovely sage extra fine Merino wool/silk/yak yarn feels worth every penny as I worked up a gauge swatch. I'm not totally sure how this knit-along works except that we got the initial info on yarn amounts and the pattern repeat for the swatch, will receive the actual pattern instructions on July 1st along with additional info about zoom calls over four days. She says some may actually be able to finish their sweaters in 4 days but that she will be checking in with weekly zoom calls throughout the rest of the month for the rest of us slow pokes - lol. I see myself spending a leisurely July working on this sweater whose pattern repeat is very soothing. 

But wait again! I was back in my studio closet the other night, searching for something to send a friend venturing into adding silks to quilts, when my eye spotted something peeking out from between a little stack of . . . well I'm not sure what. Hah!!! It's that circle of batik I've been looking for - not in a bin, not in a box, but very nearby, where I wouldn't have thought to look. 

Follow the arrow to where the batik circle was hiding.

I think my muse decided to play a trick on me. I joke about how when I can't find something, I blame it on my muse hiding it. She resides in my studio, looking over my shoulder and sometimes giving good advice, other times sitting in the corner, idly flipping through a magazine and ignoring my pleas for help, sometimes deserting the studio altogether for long stretches of time. I've decided she didn't want me to work on that split-nine patch quilt back when I was deciding between it and the Venetian Tiles quilt. Nope, she decided, not time for the split 9-patch; she wanted to see that Venetian Tiles finished first. And now that it is, she pulled out a tiny edge of the batik for me to spot to let me know what she thinks my next quilt project should be. So be it, although I may finish those Mariner Compass blocks into pillows first. She can't have the last word on everything!

How I envision my muse.