Saturday, October 26, 2019

"Procrastiknitting". My new favourite word.

Someone shared this expression on FaceBook lately and it really tickled my fancy. And for good reason.

When I am overwhelmed with how much I have on my plate, I knit. Or "procrastiknit" so I don't have to deal with it. The good thing about it is that you end up with a knit lovely at the end, so it is definitely not a waste of time.

Lately, I have been tackling things on my knitting UFO list. I have knit three versions of this wonderful pattern called The Shift. I am not the only knitter who loves this pattern. There are 3,873 others on Ravelry - and mine are not even in the count, since I have not shared them.

Here is a picture of two of the finished ones and a fourth one started yesterday. The third one was gifted to my son after a special request when he saw the first one - the black, grey and white one.



Here is my son hamming it up in the one that I made for him - his colour selection. If you notice the one that is just begun on the needles, it is in the same colours. And it is for his dog - our grand dog - Jeffrey. Apparently, he likes this one, so I am making a smaller version for him. Please note that there is math involved - or at least a semblance of - as I try to figure out how to reduce rows and stitches. He is NOT a big dog. Fingers crossed that this works. 



There are a number of reasons to love this pattern. I find the "mosaic stitch" very interesting to knit, once I figured out the difference between "wyif" and "wyib", which mean "with yarn in front" and "with yarn in back".  It wasn't that I didn't know the difference, I just kept forgetting and screwing it up a bit.

Another thing to love is that it has a seam in the back, making it kind of like a bandana. Which means once you put it over your head, there are no ends to fiddle with, like a shawl or scarf. 

And then there is the abundance of choices for colours, yarns etc. The yellow and greyish one is all from stuff in my stash. Although the yellow is not a colour I would normally choose, I got a transitional coat that was created by a woman in Newcastle. She used a vintage mustard-yellow coat and refashioned it with a warm and lovely white and grey plaid. So I knit this Shift to fill the neck on a colder morning.

When all you need is a bit of warmth versus a whole sweater, these are incredible. Like a little hug. And perfect with just a t-shirt for a warmer day.

I have another combo set aside for yet another Shift. But there are a couple of pairs of Christmas socks that need to get done in there too. 

And three hooking projects which I will share in the next post. Right now, they are just sitting in the studio - patterns on and materials selected, but nothing done yet. 

Hence all the procrastiknitting. 

Sleeves, Socks and More Socks

The Voyage cardigan is coming along nicely. Sleeve #1 is done and sleeve #2 is just a couple of episodes of One Day away from done.  But bir...