New Year New Me

 What a thing to write in :checks calendar: August.  Welp! School has started once again and it feels like the beginning.  All my phone alarms are set and I'm up in the early mornings again to get the kiddos off to their schools.

A few bits of admin first.

- my cat passed away while we were in Hawaii.  really rather sad, she wasn't that old, but she was struggling for a little while there.  No more kitty sneaking into FO shots all the time.  we might get a new cat in the next little while, but not yet.

- just a general name change thing. I might have obliquely referenced Toby as 'she' on here previously, but officially she's out as trans and she's changed her name to Millie.  I'll be referring to her as Millie from now on.  If you have anything negative to say about it, kindly keep it to yourself. thanks.

and that's it for admin.

We had a fantastic trip to Maui and Kaua'i.  Two weeks of relaxation and fun.  It was so nice to see my in-laws, meet my new sister-in-law, and actually spend some quality time with the kids.

 

I've been, well, not dreading posting here, just putting it off in that way that I do where when I finally feel like I need to post something I'm not even really sure where to begin.  So I suppose I'll start where I left off last time and see where it takes me.

Last time it was the start of TDF.  I had grand plans to finish a four-ply sweater spin of polwarth before we left for Hawaii.  I am proud to say that I finished it!  And I finished it in time!

 

In the end it is 497 grams and 1861 yards.  I have it in four skeins and they break down thusly:

71 grams 253 yards (356 yards per 100 grams)  <-- this one is the odd one out

135 grams 512 yards (379 yards per 100 grams)

138 grams 523 yards (378 yards per 100 grams) 

153 grams 573 yards (374 yards per 100 grams)

The first one is the smallest one and sort of the bonus one?  As in, I ran out of the singles of one bobbin first and spun up some spare singles to fill it in.  then as I ran out of singles on various bobbins, I moved singles around to make sure that I got as much 4 ply as I could out of the singles I had.  It's all mildly complicated, suffice it to say the four-hundred something grams of the other three skeins that are more consistent is ample enough to knit the sweater out of.

I'll be keeping the smallest skein as insurance, and also probably end up crocheting the chocobo out of.  In fact, as soon as I got back from vacation I didn't immediately cast on a blue chocobo, I cast on a purple chocobo and also cast on my new sweater.

Not an enormous amount to say about the purple chocobo.  The yarn I'm using is from my Oslo hat that I made last month during TDF.  I literally just checked and I never posted the FO shot for that.  boy.  failing as a blogger here. XD

new hat, who dis?  This is going to be a very warm hat that I'll definitely save for those brisk mornings in mid-February.  For now it's supposed to get up to 105 and I don't want anyone to say the word "mohair" for at least 3 months.

Like I said, as soon as we got back I also cast on the new sweater:

I did the right thing this time.  I actually swatched. This is paramount for knitting an handspun sweater.  I'm not so concerned about my gauge changing as I knit the thing, since across the three skeins the grist is consistent.  I am concerned about how the gauge will change when I block the sweater.  So, I made a note of the pre-blocked vs. post-blocked size and cast on accordingly.

I'm knitting Poet, by Sari Nordlund. I'm knitting the 40" size, but according to my gauge it will end up 38" after blocking.  See, I didn't get the gauge from the pattern, but I like the gauge I did get and that's good enough for me.

I've actually been working on it fairly monogamously.  It's been really pleasant.  I have to make some modifications at the bottom of the raglan.  Firstly, I need to make it longer than the pattern intends it to be-- I need at least a 7.5" raglan depth, and secondly I need to make the armhole bigger to accommodate my biceps.  No biggie, since I have to make the thing longer anyway, might as well continue the increases in the sleeves as I go.

While I was in Hawaii, I made progress on my socks.  I also started some new ones despite not finishing the first ones.

These are the new ones I cast on in Maui.  The old ones have one sock finished and I'm halfway down the foot.  I haven't gotten a picture of them since the one I shared last month.

For these socks, they are vanilla, and they're knit out of a cool targhee blend that I got in that massive destash of a pocket friend.  Unfortunately it was only 80 grams (I think there was a contrast yarn included, but I don't remember) and I was doing some weighing and planning and realized I would need to use a contrast yarn for the toes or else I would run out of yarn.

I actually did some planning here, stopped about 1 stripe's worth short before where I would normally begin the toe and started the contrast yarn there so that the second sock would start in the same spot as the first one and they would match.  Zac picked a lovely gold yarn which I think looks nice, but you'll just have to wait to see it till next time cause I didn't get a picture.

ah well.

there's not really an enormous amount going on right now craft-wise besides that.  Lots of sweater and sock knitting.  I did mention a handspun cowl last time, and I did start it, but I think I need to frog it because my yarn is too thin for the pattern and I don't really know how/want to figure out how to modify the pattern for my yarn.

I hope to be back sooner than last time.  Hopefully with a new pair of socks of one kind or another, and hopefully with a new chocobo. ^^

Cheers!