Unraveled Wednesday 1/4/23

 Good Morning!

Here we are at the first Unraveled Wednesday of 2023.  Hardly seems possible.  This is the day we link up with Kat and her Merry Band of Unravelers to talk making and reading.  In my case, I tend to talk knitting on these Wednesdays.  And...drumroll...I do have a finish or two to share with you!

First up, my Turning Leaves socks are finished.  Woo-Hoo.  I managed to finish these on Friday the 30th of December.

These socks just make me happy.  Plain and simple.  The colors in the yarn are marvelous and the way the colors all go together is wonderful.  I'm not sure I would have named the colorway "Turning Leaves" but it doesn't much matter.

On Saturday, New Year's Eve, I decided I needed to cast on something new.  Well, that didn't work!  There was unraveling several times.  Fletch and I both felt like we had Covid Fog Brain.  New Year's Day dawned and I just knew I HAD to knit something.  So, I cast on for a pair of socks.

And that's as far as that has gotten - 15 rows of ribbing.  I need to determine what pattern I will use.  The yarn is Twist Sock from Machete Shoppe and the colorway is "Douglas Fir."  Naturally I want to incorporate some kind of tree into the pattern.  I'm considering this pattern but maybe just at the top of the sock.  Time will tell.

Meanwhile, my next finish is a shocker!  I started Odyssey Shawl way back in June 2019!  All that was left to do was the picot edge bind off.  It had sat patiently waiting for me to pick it up for years!  Why had I put it down?  I think I was deciding whether or not to keep knitting...make it a little bigger and then one little delay became one huge one!

Obviously this needs to be blocked.  There are several lace sections plus the picot edge bind off that need to be pulled out to shine a bit.  I hope to get to that later today.  

The yarn is a delight!  It is some I bought at the last Allendown Fiber Festival and is from June Pryce Fiber Arts and the colorway is "Secluded Forest."  It is a hand painted gradient - Watch Hill Sparkles.  760 yards and is 75/20/5  SW Merino/Nylon/Stellina.  I am so happy to have this off the needles!!

This past year I did not knit Christmas gifts.  By the time I decided to, there was not enough time.  So...my plan (until some other shiny object comes along) is to start now making a few gifts for next year.  First up will be a cowl for one of my SILs.  (That was what I attempted to cast on Saturday.)  Dee and I also have plans to knit Planetary by Melanie Berg.  But I have a question for everyone:  how do you know what length circular needle to use?  This is the first pattern I've come across that doesn't indicate the length of needle.  I looked at the Sigla pattern I knit to see what length I used, but different yarn, different number of stitches, etc.  I've emailed Melanie Berg's pattern support, but so far have not heard back.  I'm just not that experienced a knitter, so any help will be appreciated.  Merci!

There has not been a lot of reading.  See the mention of Covid Brain Fog above...I took this book

to Texas, but didn't have much time or good light.  I've less than a hundred pages left, so I hope to finish soon.  It is ok, but I'm getting a bit tired of it and am finding it easy enough to put down.

Fletch and I are continuing to listen to The Cartographers but again I am finding myself bored.  Fletch is enjoying the story, but I am finding the whole thing more annoying.  Plus, I don't like the various narrators.  So.....we will finish this (still 4+ hours left), but after that I think we will go back to reading out loud.  I'm not enjoying audio books as I thought I would.  Boo Hiss.

That's a wrap for me this Unraveled Wednesday.  Be sure to head over to Kat's to see what others are making and reading.

It's a mild day here and rain is forecast.  I think I will put a big pot of split pea soup on the stove and maybe bake some bread to go with that for dinner.  Have a wonderful day!