Adjustments

These last two weeks have gone by fast as I have been adjusting. Adjusting to my new job, adjusting to daylight savings time; (I just got used to Pacific time!) the only constant is change. There has been knitting, but it hasn't been going quickly, so there isn't much to show.


 I finished the back of Lewis last Sunday and immediately cast on the front. I was knitting away at the 10 inches of front in flat, plain stockinette and was over halfway finished. Then, on Thursday, I took a good hard look at it. Some of the stitches were loose from where I had apparently dropped them and picked them up again. About 5 smack-dab in the middle looked as though I had twisted them. I may have told myself it would even out in blocking if these errors had been on the back of the sweater, but the front? So I ripped all 8.5 inches and started again. I hate flat stockinette and I hate knitting with the Itata. It looks lovely but it is a pain. It's so splitty, slippery, and inelastic. It loves to knot on itself, so I have a huge tangle because I'm alternating two skeins. The bit I frogged is a huge, crimped tangle and I haven't had the heart to mess with it, so I clipped it from the rest of the cakes and re-wound and carried on. For all the annoyance, I'm so glad I restarted. The front looks so much better. I'm devoting today to attempt to get up to the lace pattern so that knitting it will be fun again.


The Leyburn socks are also slow going. I only work on them in the morning before work for about 15 minutes and perhaps a scattered 10-15 minutes of break time during the day. I'm one repeat away from the heel turn so I'll try to power through that today.




The past two Saturdays have been devoted to day trips, which has also reduced my knitting time (but I love it). Last Saturday we drove 410 East to Mt. Baker - Snoqualmie Forest and hiked on the Snoquera Falls trail.  It was a little rough for the first hike of the season (so many switchbacks, constant uphill) but the sun was shining, the falls were beautiful, and the views were majestic.

Yesterday saw the return of the rain, so we opted for a journey that was more car-oriented and set out to explore Whidbey Island. After a short ferry ride from Mukilteo to Clintonville, we explored Ebey's Landing, where we saw a Bald Eagle and watched the ferry come in from Port Townsend.

Then to Admiralty Head Lighthouse / Camp Casey

Then all the way up to Deception Pass, where we crossed over the bridge and back to the mainland in Anacortes.



All in all, a beautiful day to enjoy exploring more of Puget Sound and we can't wait to go back north and explore the San Juan islands.

Like a lamb

This week has gone by quite fast! It was my first week at the hospital and the schedule has taken some getting used to. I did get some knitting done in the evenings though, although this WIP pile doesn't look too different from before.

That's about half of the back of Lewis, one finished Leyburn sock, and a freshly-wound cake of KnitPicks Imagination in Mermaid Lagoon awaiting that tail of green at the top to be crocheted into a provisional cast on for sock #2. Also featured: a cup of Irish Breakfast tea to give me a productivity boost and my new size 1 Knitter's Pride 6" Karbonz.




I really have to rave on the Karbonz. I first saw the kit in the Churchmouse booth at Madrona. Another knitter spotted me examining them and gave them a glowing review, encouraging me to buy them. I would have, but they were more expensive than I am accustomed to paying for tools, so I hesitated. Later, when I got word about the job I decided to go ahead and purchase them as a present for myself. Am I ever glad I did! I think the yarn diet I'm currently failing at on will be an excellent chance to put more money toward patterns and quality tools. The Karbonz are light, warm, and flexible. I was concerned about the points after reading some reviews on Amazon, but they're perfect. Sharper than what I had before, but not so sharp that they will split yarn terribly. They certainly don't give me hand cramps like the cheap old Hobby Lobby Yarnology brand aluminum size 1's I had bought 2 sets of, yet somehow didn't have 4 that weren't horribly bent.


Our early, sunny spring has been making spirits bright here in the PNW:

 

I hope you have a lovely Sunday & a peaceful week.