Finished!

Yes, I've got a finish!  But it wasn't without its hurdles...

Can you see what's wrong with this sweater?

Only after I had securely sewn on eight buttons did I realize I hadn't taken care to line up the stripes on the yoke of this little sweater.    😖   Not to be defeated, I painstakingly removed the buttons and all the cotton thread use to attach them.

And then I reattached the buttons, being careful to to line things up correctly this time:

Ahhh...  that's better.   With no one in mind to give this to yet, I have now finished my second little sweater from the pattern Fair Isle Style Sweater.

I'm curious about other's knitting or crocheting practices - do you mainly make things for known recipients, or do you simply make a thing because you want to make it - with the thought of figuring out later who to give it to?

Both ways have their merits, I'm thinking.  But making items for no one in particular takes a lot of the pressure off - especially if a project doesn't go as well as I hoped.  😅   

Lastly, I thought I'd share a few gifts I received for Christmas that might be of interest to my knitting and crocheting friends.   

First off, one of my sons gifted me this nifty hook storage case (along with some circular knitting needles):

It's advertised on Amazon as a needle case, but I'm finding it pretty perfect for crochet hooks.  

And my middle son made me several yarn bowls on his 3-D printer: 

Two of the bowls were experimental, with the tan one being made of a filament that contains wood.  I guess after the first two tries, the third bowl (the yellow/gold one) turned out just right.  So fun.

I'm just mesmerized by these - and isn't the engraving inside the gold one sweet?  No one will confuse this for say...  Dad's yarn bowl!  😉

And that's all she wrote! 

To see what other YOPers are up to, visit their blogs in my sidebar!  👉

Almost...

Last week I left off with the question:  Do I finish something I've already started, or start something new and shiny?

Well, being the week before Christmas I found myself so distracted by goings-on and plan-making that I realized starting something new just felt like another distraction.  Soooo...  I pulled out a little sweater I had started back in April and started crocheting on it again.  And making lots of new ends...

It's amazing how just taking that first step of starting again can be all it takes to finish a thing.  Especially a little thing.  Okay... it's not quite finished, but it's so close!  I even have buttons to sew on it!  That's commitment.  I'm pretty sure it will be finished and ready to show next week.  

How's that for anticlimactic?  Check back in next weekend to (hopefully) see the finished item.  

I wish you all a blessed and merry Christmas, and leave you a song below.  

A couple of years ago, after hearing a young man who'd been rescued from drug addiction sing this song with all his heart, it has become, quite possibly, my favorite Christmas song - a modern version of I Heard The Bells on Christmas Day (or simply Christmas Bells as written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow):

To be honest, the young man, with rough voice and no orchestra and "angel choir" accompanying him, who'd both lost so much and gained so much in his young life, sang it even more beautifully and convincingly.   I'm still moved remembering him singing this song.

John 16:33 - [Jesus speaking]  "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world."

Peace to you, friend.

Feeling thankful...

Another week come and gone.  The holes in our walls and ceilings have been repaired and they now await painting.  This process of reclaiming my home is slow-going and at times physically exhausting (my job this week was to get all the plastic taped up and laid over anything I didn't want covered with dust - I was thorough and the job left me feeling muscles I hadn't used in some time). 

But while February held ample opportunity to complain, March is giving me many reminders to cultivate an attitude of thankfulness.  It goes something like this...  We had leaky pipes, I am thankful that we have a home with plumbing.  We had holes in our walls in several rooms, I am thankful that we have walls and multiple rooms to live in.  It was an expense we didn't plan for, I am thankful that we had the money available to make the repairs.   And on it goes like that.   It's an exercise.  A discipline.  Not one I'm consistent at, but it does something good for the soul to remember to be thankful.

Except for having a man here two days repairing drywall it was a quiet week, and I'm thankful for the opportunity I had to crochet. 😊

This week, I'm hosting the weekly CAL in the Our Happy Cal Place on Ravelry, and since the theme is "Gift Ideas", I thought an Easter themed dishcloth would be a fun project.  So I whipped up a Chocolate Bunny Dishcloth:

A little something one could take as a simple hostess gift if visiting someone for Easter dinner.  OR, it would make a fun washcloth to tuck into a child's Easter basket.

~~~~~

And throughout the week, I worked off and on on a little Fairly Isleish Baby Cardigan I started way back in June of last year, and I finished it!  Except for buttons.  I have yet to get the buttons, but this project is finished as far as the crocheting is concerned:

I did not find the pattern difficult, exactly, but it also wasn't completely intuitive for me.  I think I'll have to make another one now that I worked through some confusing parts to see what I truly think of the pattern.  It makes an adorable sweater (suitable for a boy or girl - which isn't common in crochet patterns), so I hope I make another and like it.

And that's all for crochet.  Next week I plan to get back to my Spicier Life Blanket - am actually toying with making two different ones simultaneously, and I have another WIP in the wings I'd love to knock out.  We'll see how that goes.

~~~~~

For St. Patrick's Day I made a loaf of Irish Soda Bread, and it was so yummy to eat.   

I'm eating some pieces of it as I type this, in fact.  It's just as good cooled down as it was warm and slathered in butter.   Mmmmm   I'm thankful for the pleasure of a simple loaf of bread.

And that's it for what I created this week.  To see what other YOPpers are up to, visit our group on Ravelry.

On a different note...  last week my FIL was taken to the hospital where it was discovered he has pneumonia.   He's in rehab now, but is not making significant improvements at this point.  He is 93 and is very frail, very worn out - he was those things before pneumonia took hold.  I'd sure appreciate prayers for him.  Of course, we'd love for him to be able to go back home soon, but given his overall condition I also hope he has peace during this time away from home, and that he is comfortable.

~~~~~

I leave you with a lively rendition of a favorite Irish hymn:

Be Thou My Vision performed by Rend Collective

Wibbly Wobbly Fairly Isleish...

I started crocheting the Fair Isleish Cardigan this week.  On one hand I love how simple the pattern is.  On the other hand, I'm baffled at how each row starts with a loose single crochet and then a double crochet stitch.  For me this resulted in edges that are all wibbly wobbly:

Wishing now I had followed my instincts and started each row with a standing double crochet, but there wasn't a single complaint or caution in all the projects listed on Ravelry by people who had made this pattern, so I decided to just trust the pattern and do as the designer said.  I'm seriously wondering if the problem is me or the pattern.

Hopefully I can get all the crookedness blocked out before crocheting the bands on both sides of the center opening and all will be okay in the end.

We'll see.  I hope to finish this little sweater by next week for my final round-up of this YOP year's projects.    Next week is the wrap-up week and then on July 2nd we will all post our goals for the next YOP year.

On that note, let me issue another invitation to all you creative folks who also enjoying blogging.  We'd love for you to consider joining us in the Year of Projects group on Ravelry.  Come check us out and see what it's all about.

And let me leave you with a picture of me as a passenger today in a new Jaguar driven by my brother-in-law -- car salesman extraordinaire of very expensive cars.    He brought a Jag off the lot to our Father's Day celebration to give his dad a ride and some of the rest of us got in on the fun, too.

 

Happy Father's Day!