Progess - At Last!!!!!

For the last few months, the knitting slump had me in its grip.  While I knit, it was not what I felt like working on at all.   It was hard, with the past winter, to be enthused about anything.

A year or so ago, I started a throw to commemorate Lisa and Nick's marriage.   It languished in the active basket for several months.   Every few weeks, I would pick it up and put on a few rows.   Talk about slow growth!   Then, then the real winter hit.   Ice and snow kept me home and indoors a lot.

A chilly view from the department lounge.

 
The throw seemed like a great project...knitting and keeping myself warm at the same time!  Netflix, Amazon Prime, the throw, and I spent a lot of time together for a month or so.  Using...well me....as a measure of length, I kept draping the throw over me to see if I had gotten to a good length.   Lisa is tall so I wanted to make sure the throw was a good length for her too.  I kept knitting....and knitting....and knitting.  Finally about a week and a half ago, I declared the throw done.

Now, after a trip through the washer and dryer, the throw is resting in my cedar chest waiting for its trip to its new home.

When I started this project, bought a good supply of Willow Burrow Chunky.   As I wanted this to be a "no think" project I decided to use the prayer shawl pattern I learned awhile ago.   Doing each row as K3, *P3,K3 I could do this for as long as I wanted or needed to and not

The completed throw.

having to worry about breaking up the pattern.   I find this really useful if I have not bought enough yarn or want to...unexpectedly...make the project shorter or longer.

Of course, while this was being knit, I was working on other projects.   Socks are one of the most frequent projects that I make as gifts.  There are several people in my life that get a new pair of socks every year.  

My friend Rob is one of those people.  He wears the socks and wears them out.   I am happy to keep him supplied.   Rob cannot wear wool without itching.  Fortunately, I can still find some good work-arounds.

My love of vintage Paton's Canadiana is as great as is my regret that it is very hard to get.  The new version of Canadiana is good, but just not as good as the first version.  I hoard the scraps.   This year,

Rob's vintage Canadiana socks.

for Rob, I put together the leftovers from two projects to make striped socks.   These are bright and cheerful and I hope very much that he will like the brighter colors.

This picture was taken in low light in my dining room and simply does not do justice to flash of bright color!   The pooling the variegated yarn created made me really happy.  I love the "strips" of the red and orange through the green and yellow.   I could not have done this as nicely if I had planned it.

There are socks, toys, hats, and some baby things waiting for my attention.   Summer is a great time for smaller projects....and portable projects.   I may even knit outside this summer.....before it gets really hot. The best part is that I feel my knitting joy creeping back.  It doesn't matter where I knit (okay, so I have knit in church...) but that I do.