A Little Over 2 Months Left!

 Can you believe that the year is almost done? Where did the time go?!! It seems like I just hung my 2026 calendar up with so many hopes and dreams of a new year. Things were accomplished, but health issues have stomped on some of them. I've had to learn how to cast on, how to hold the needles correctly and knit again, and/ following written directions had become a challenge. I know - one step at a time.

I was test knitting for one of my favorite designers, but her directions are written and they became gibberish. No matter how many times I tried, I couldn't understand them. It wasn't her fault, as other testers were producing the item with no problem. It was me. That incident plus a few other weird things took me to the doctor's office and resulted in more tests including another MRI. It looks like losing brain cells will be a fact of life for me. Another fun challenge! And no more testing - sigh.

Halloween Bonanza
Hobbii yarn

I am back to making plain vanilla socks and working on easy patterns that have videos to make sure I understand them correctly. It gets frustrating that I went from proofing and test knitting, back to learning some things again. 

My Hobbii knitting advent arrived. I've never gotten one from there before. It's called "Moments of Hygge" and was designed for the more intermediate knitter. Fingers crossed that I'll be able to do it by the time I open my first weed. I have been a good girl and haven't even opened the box. It starts at the end of next month when I get to see the contents and the patterns. I have put it up on the shelf and am trying to forget it's there. This morning, I got notice that my Missouri Quilt advent box (Jenny's Box) was shipped. I bought that as soon as it was available (which was at the beginning of the year sometime). This will be my first advent from there as well. Both are ones I've been wanting to try. Hobbii's projects look somewhat small, so I'm hoping that I can have each one finished before the next one comes out. Jenny's Box projects will probably be more involved, so they will be worked on after advent. I am so excited to explore these. Hubby got me the Jenny Box for this year's Christmas present from him and I can't wait! A gift a day for almost a month!!!

The leaves are changing color, the days are growing shorter and the nights are getting colder. Autumn is upon us and nature is getting ready for a long rest. Cozy season is here! Halloween is just a few days away and then the kick-off of the holiday season with the arrival of Thanksgiving. This year is just flying!

How Much Do I Really NEED?

 I had been "on the wagon" for a good bit of time when it came to not buying yarn. I love yarn but I think I became more a collector than a user. All the pretty colors and the hand-dyed ones were drop dead gorgeous. One thing I came to realize though, was that I would purchase a beautiful hand-dyed yarn online, but by the time it arrived, I was lacking the same enthusiasm that I had when I put it in my basket and hit the purchase button. What happened between the day I purchased it and the day it arrived? I really have no explanation, but that's when I decided to stop buying for awhile. I had not bought a single skein in over 2 years, but decided I would hop off the wagon and get a few solid skeins from Hobbii. With these, I could use them for anything I wanted to make. I find that the hand-dyed (although gorgeous) limited me on how they could be used.

Don't get me wrong. I think hand-dyed yarn is gorgeous, but many of the patterns I have cannot be used with them. It took me forever to realize that. The same with self-patterning commercial yarns. I see many older patterns on Ravelry that are nice but you cannot really see the patterns until they are knit in a plain color or something that is quite subtle. If you have noticed, many of those patterns have only a few projects made, and I assume it's from not being able to see the beauty of the how the pattern was designed - only the yarn patterning. If you look through the few projects, one will find that when made in solid colors or tonals, there's a difference, and the beauty of the pattern stands out.

It's funny how that all came to light while I was not buying any yarn. But the wildest thing is, it has spilled into other areas of my life as well. I look at things differently now. I'm no longer buying things, putting things away for someday or buying just because it's on sale. I don't stock up on many things now. Clothes last forever as long as I chose carefully. Gone are the days of buying cheap clothes that I bought on a whim. Same with practically everything else in my life. 

We do hit grocery sales and stock up when the price is good - but we don't overdo it. Same with other household needs. Only buy when the price is good and when we NEED it, not WANT it. 

It amazes me that by just stopping getting on item for a bit a time, that my whole perspective has changed. I has come at a good time, too, because of the economy. Prices keep continuing to go up, but not our paychecks. But what I think amazes me the most is all the stuff I don't buy any more! I look at things that I like and think, "Do I need it or do I just want it?" and almost all of the time, it doesn't come home with me. 

Yes - the Wagon was a GOOD thing!

Goal Met But I Fell Off the Wagon!

 

Just on blockers but not blocked yet.

The first of the Bad Batch socks is finished and I am very pleased with it! I followed the pattern as written with no changes and now I have a nice fitting sock. What would I change? Nothing. This is a free pattern and is written very well. In fact, it is written better than some of the paid for patterns I have purchased in the past! I'm very pleased! If it wasn't for the KAL starting soon, I would probably cast on the second sock.

I couldn't resist!

I have been on the Cold Sheep Wagon for over two years. For those that don't know what cold sheep is, it's refraining from buying or receiving ANY yarn. I was enjoying my stash and then... Yes, I found yarn that I couldn't pass up. I was at the ReStore with my husband looking for a desk. We didn't find one that worked in his space so we decided to see what awesome finds we might stumble upon. Well, there they were - 3 skeins of sock wool! I never expected to see them there, but they were and were priced well. I ended up paying $9 for all 3 skeins!

The Felici is a 50gm skein and has been discontinued as far as I know as is the Lindy Chain. I've used Felici before but have never tried the Lindy Chain (a linen/cotton blend) so I was happy to find that! The large green caked yarn looks like hand-dyed and is 100 grams. Yes, I fell off the wagon for these yarns (which were worth it to me) but I'm climbing right back on. 

Cats & Dogs Finished

Cats & Dogs

 My WIPs are slowly moving to the FINISHED list! I put the final stitches in my pair of Cats & Dogs socks on August 16. I had all intentions of making a matching pair, but decided to just start on where I had left off on the other sock. I now have a pair of fraternal socks. Everything in me wanted to match them, but I really didn't want any more small balls of yarn to use up later. 

Bad Batch beginnings

I am on another WIP that I need to get off the needles for the 2026 Super Sock Scarefest. I want to finish up the first of the Bad Batch socks that I started back in 2024. This was a fun start that I ended up putting aside for another project, and like every other WIP, I never got back to it. I wanted to get these done while watching the Bad Batch series, but that didn't happen. 

Maggots from 2024 Scarefest

Speaking of the Super Sock Scarefest, this will be my fourth year participating. Have I knitted up all the sock patterns that are provided? No. But it's always so much fun between the movies and the patterns inspired by them. Such creativity! Here's the best part. I don't like scary movies and I don't do Halloween, so you would think that I wouldn't have a thing to do with this KAL, but the patterns, although based on scary movies, can be used in every day life with just yarn changes. There are some truly spooky socks that do come through, but the majority are really cool socks. The Maggots socks are a prime example. They were based on "The Boys" movie but are so nicely textured and can be used with so many colors for different looks. If you haven't checked this group out, there's still time to sign up and get all the patterns for this year!

My Crafting Mojo Decided To Take A Break

 There are days that my crafting life seems to go on hold. Why? I don't know, but I guess things say that I needed a break and to do something else around the house. I had sewn a decent amount of useful projects - from fabric bread bags, bowl covers, placemats, etc., to canvas catch-alls. I was having a good time, but not so much with the breaking down and setting up the area to do anything. Maybe that's what sparked my desire to craft to go on hiatus. What ever it was - I had no desire to do any crafting.

"Let Them Go" by Stitchee

The end of last month sparked new life in my Mojo. I have no idea where it came from, but I had a desire to start working on and finishing projects that were already started. I decided to pull out the competition socks from last year. I really like the sock races, but didn't get to finish because I could not understand the directions. I put it away thinking it was me, but when I pulled them out again - I still wasn't sure. What I was sure of, was just getting through the pattern. I finished them! Are they correct? I don't know, but I got to cross a WIP off my list!

Now, I'm working on a pair of vanilla socks made from Opal Cats & Dog 4-ply color number 11237. I do love the colorway! I had the first sock finished and am now about half way done on the second foot. Just the second half and toe, and they will go into the finished pile! The mindless knitting is nice for a change!

Finishes and Limitations

 I have found that I will probably be giving up test knitting and test crocheting. It has been a great experience in my life, but I have found that the testing requires something I can no longer do easily, and that is make sense of what the pattern writer wants to say. Even tested patterns don't always make sense to me any longer. I've had to put things aside and wait to see if I can make sense of the instructions days, weeks and even months later. With these limitations, I am considering paring down on my yarn stash and donating some to that local second hand craft shop. Yes, it's sad, but life. Getting older is presenting challenges that I can either remorse over or accept. I choose to accept the challenge and find other things to do.

I'm finding these challenges with reading directions in all aspects of my life. Some things are crystal clear while other things feel like they are in another language and don't make sense. I received a project box and the person sent me an email stating the directions were correct but the fabric cut that was sent was too small. She had a great diagram and everything, but I couldn't wrap my head around it. Was there a problem with her explanation - I seriously doubt it. I'm pretty sure it's my end. I guess I'm finding more limitations to the strokes I've had. Gotta love a good challenge, eh?

So, I am having more fun with the Mrs. Quilty box. I completed project #2. I cut out all the squares, but found that I had issues with the quilt square slipping, even after pressing down hard - so I put it all aside, did an order on Amazon and got some anti-slip dots to put on the back of the rulers/squares. The arrived yesterday and OH WOW does it make a difference after putting them on the square! I trimmed up my poorly cut squares and completed the potholder. It's far from perfect, but will be useful all the same!

Mrs. Quilty Project #2 - Potholder

I also completed a jar opener which was the small project from Open Gate Quilts Subscription Box. I was chugging along until I hit the explanation for the mitered corners. I've never seen them done this way before and I just couldn't for the life of me, get how they were done. I spent hours searching youtube for grippy jar openers but came up with nothing dealing with this type of miter. Well, to wind down I was watching different tutorials when I accidently came across a placemat video that had the technique! I was doing everything correct, but missing one vital step that I should have known, but... Now my gripper is done and I'm quite happy with it!

Open Gate Quilts - Jar Gripper

I have never used the gripper type fabric before, so I did find that because it grips (and grips well), my foot would not allow me to sew over it. I took a thin napkin and laid over the top of it, sewed over it and then tore the napkin away. I didn't get my "X" perfect but I know how I should do the second one in the kit now.

I never  had the patience for the precise cutting and even less for the precise sewing when I was younger. I have some kits and even a year of Sew Sampler boxes that I never used. I would look at them, say maybe next month, and then never touch them. Until now. I'm using some of the notions, threads, and needles, and as I get a little more practice under my belt, I'll be using the jelly rolls, charms, etc. that came in each box. By letting my perfection attitude go, I'm getting really excited about trying things! And I'm not setting myself up for failure by choosing an advance pattern when I'm just a beginner. Yes, making potholders, grippers, etc. seem insignificant, but they are great for skill builders and useful at the same time!

First Quilt Block & Snow

 Well, the Mrs. Quilty box has arrived and after a while of hoping to set up my machine and tools in the guest room, I have given up and again, am sewing on the kitchen table. The guest room is occupied at the moment, so, kitchen it is. I really hate lugging everything to the table and then cleaning it all up again, plus I'm on a time frame of meals, so if I really get into something, I have to quit in the middle of it. Well, that shouldn't be forever. Just a little inconvenience now. Besides - I love having guests!

I finally have my first square finished! I did a little hand quilting back more than 50 years ago, but that's all I was ever exposed to. Mrs. Quilty wrote everything out as well as had illustrations and some very helpful videos to guide the beginner and believe it or not, I actually got my first quilt block done! It took me hours and I measured many times before I cut, ironed and followed ALL instructions and it actually looks a lot like the example! Well, there are a few mistakes that make it my own, and my perfectionist personality wanted to take it out - but I left it there so that I could remember my mistakes and how I improved (or didn't) as time goes on.

Box1 - Project 1

So, it's far from perfect and the square needs a good pressing yet. I did a preliminary one while sewing and see some areas that I stretched the fabric wonky. But it is finished. 

I sat down to do the second project yesterday - but decided to do a jar gripper instead. I had a little kit here and wanted to make a badly needed one. I got all the lines drawn and pressed and was so excited to have something quick done, but for the life of me, I couldn't understand how the directions were written to miter the corners from the opposite side, turn and then slip the grippy material in. I'm hoping I'll find a tutorial for it. I've done a search on jar grippies, but none are done like this. Yes, I could just do it like a quilt, folding the backing over the grippy material then sewing, but I really want to try this new way of doing the grippy. I finally put it aside and cut out the fabric for my next project, a scrappy type potholder. I found when cutting the small squares, that I had and awful time with the ruler slipping, so I went online and bought some non-slip grips to put on back of the ruler. They should be here tomorrow. That will make life easier, I hope!

We are again getting snow - the flakes are big and coming down gently. I love big snowflakes - they are gorgeous and makes everything look so appealing and snowglobe like. I need to enjoy this snow for next week temps go up to the 50s and rain is in the forecast for the end of next week. 

You might be able to see the snowflakes in front of the evergreens.

Not much else to report from the needles. No other finishes or exciting starts. How is your month going so far?