Yopping Update #48 - The Gansey continues

 

The Gansey continues.  I am working on the front and the back both at the same time since I split for the armholes.  I have forty more rows before I start the shoulder straps.  

I cast on the Elizabeth Montague stockings and I am ready to start the lace pattern on the foot. 

Learned new cast-on called the winding cast-on

I finished my Gnathan gnome for the May KAL 

I love his tassel

He's my muse because...

his arms are too short to reach the keys!

This is a very short post as I am off for an MRI in a hour and my anxiety is pretty high so I am going to walk to the hospital.  I think I will find the nature on the way to sooth my soul somewhat. 

When I get home from the hospital we are going to order Chinese Food.  This will be our first time ordering food since March of 2020.  I can't wait.  

And then?

Then I will knitflix on my Gansey. 

Yopping Update #47 - Ohoh - I think I am addicted

 

Except for two more clues for my wee little gnome 

Body done (note cable didn't line up - oops)

I have spent this week solely on my gansey.  It is very addictive.  Hmmm I may have to check out a twelve step program for Gansey knitters.  

I tried it on yesterday and a couple of rows later I started the gusset for the underarm.  

yup, still in jammies

Here is a better picture of my progress.  All designs now completed at least once.  

I am keeping track of which row I am on for which pattern with good old pen and paper. 

Up to row 70 out of 176 rows!

I know I am addicted because as I knit this I am already designing one I want to make for a friend who is just graduating with her Marine Biology degree.  I am thinking of incorporating a whale motif, and maybe a planaria or two (planarium were the focus of her thesis).  She also loves manta rays so I might try to design that motif as well!

I did sign up for Kate Davies' Bluestockings group.  There will be seven patterns released and a number of lectures about the Bluestockings  - a group of women from the 18th century.  You can read more about them here. My first zoom lecture is tomorrow very early.  The zooms are happening in London time, and London is 8 hours ahead of me - so I had better get to bed early tonight.  8 am isn't too bad for me, but the event later this week will have me up at 5:30 am!  Eeek!

I still haven't cast on the first stocking pattern which was released on Friday, but I ordered the book so if I don't keep up with the pattern releases every two weeks I will have them all delivered right to my front door.  

I have been walking his week.  I got caught in a hail/thunder/lightning storm on Wednesday.  There was a horrific crack as I was leaving the forest, and I turned to see a large tree falling.  OMG - I ran forward to avoid it falling on me but then saw it (luckily) get caught up against another tree.  Needless to say I cut my walk very short and headed straight home.  I was soaked, and to be honest a little shaken up.  My other walks this week have been in open areas far away from large, tall trees!

On my Friday walk I discovered a lovely Japanese Dogwood tree, and then a bit further along a Labyrinth that the park maintenance people had mowed into the field.  I spent about ten minutes walking the path.  I always find labyrinths very meditative. 

Yesterday I raked up another two large bins of cedar leaves, and then planted some herbs my dh had given me for Mother's Day. I couldn't get my lawn mower to work so I will leave that for another day.  There is a thing called 'No Mow May' that people are following to give the bees some food via the dandelions before everything else comes into bloom.  I don' t feel so guilty about my dandelion crop this year because of this initiative - I am helping the bees! Maybe my mower knows that May isn't over yet, and it will start up like a dream come June 1st!

Parsley, Spearmint, and Oregano

My son has been delighting me with pictures he has been taking on his bird walks.  Look closely to see these camouflaged beauties. 

"Hoo Hoo" is looking at me?

 

Baby can play hide and go seek too

Of course while he was sharing pictures of his treetop friends, my daughter got in on the action. 

Look at me Gramma!

So there we have another week.  We are getting so close to the end of Yopping Year 10.  I had better get on my thinking cap for my year eleven plans.  

One last note if you subscribe to this blog via email Blogger is going to stop this feature in July.  I am not sure what that will look like, but I do have everyone's email so one way or another I will figure out how to keep you connected because I do appreciated all my subscribers.  Another blogger mentioned that BlogLovin' is a platform to subscribe to blogs.  Check it out, and if you have any other tips let me know in the comments below.  

Have a good week dear Readers.  Stay away from falling trees, and be alert to the beauty and magic that is all around us if we just take the time to look.  

Yopping Update #46 - Socks, hats, beards and a gansey too

 

The early part of my week was all about finishing the socks for dh's birthday. (Shh.  It is tomorrow). 

Syncopation Socks with FishLipsKiss heel

By the time the socks were done I was already two clues behind on my Gnathan gnome KAL 

I finished clue one and two which turns out to be a cute cabled hat. 

 And the very next day - yesterday - clue three was released.  Thankfully it was a simple, non-cabled, beard.

After the beard was finished I was all set to start the sketching and plotting for my gansey body, but I ended up napping all afternoon instead.  Not sure what was going on there, but I feel much better today. 

I have finished my gansey up to the definition ridge, so later tonight I will start the pattern.  I have most of the pieces cut out and need to plot them on the large chart paper so I won't get totally mixed up. There will be stitch markers.  Lots of stitch markers!

I used an eighth century alphabent script to add my initials to the plain section of my gansey. I have placed them to be on the lower right back.  

secret initial alphabet m a b t

On Wednesday we received three parcels in the mail.  A Mother's Day/Dad's birthday parcel from our son, some printer ink and paper from an online order, and a gift of Knit Picks Palette wool from a dear friend.  She doesn't like to knit with it, and asked if I wanted it. I said I did so voila - look what I got!

I think I am going to turn some of this into my advent sock leg and find a nylon/wool blend for the toe/heel and sole.  I have some red and pink to add to the mix.

Today I have already taken apart the freezer because the drain had iced up, and it was running 24/7 - all good now, but that is a l o n g job.  I learned how to take it apart and put it back together thanks to Ms. Google. 

Now we are spending the afternoon cleaning and repairing my hubby's bbq.  Our son bought him a new grill and gas ring, and while he is re-assembling it, I am putting major elbow grease into cleaning the lid. 

I had coated it in oven cleaner so I could finish this post while the Easy-Off does its magic and now the lid is calling.....and the afternoon is almost gone, so I will leave you with the cutest grand-daughter in the world.  

Sporting Mama's glasses!

Yopping Update #45 - Gansey progress

 

This week was pretty much all about The Gansey.  

I finished the swatch, and washed and blocked it. 

I went on to follow the instructions and made a sampler gansey, which fit my son's doll perfectly. 

Yesterday I spent a couple of hours taking my measurements, and the measurements off of a sweater that I have that fits me the way I want my Gansey to fit.  

happy to have these calculations all done

I also chose a pattern to follow, Eriskay, but I will tweak the placement of the motifs (I want the Tree of Life in the centre), and will incorporate two different fish motifs where the pattern has crosses. 

motif for body

motif for sleeve

In addition to my Gansey I have been working on a pair of birthday socks for my dh.  I am using the Syncopation pattern but did a FishlipsKiss heel instead of a gusset. I also cast on 80 stitches instead of 72.  He really does have hobbit feet (not hairy, but wide and flat).

one more to go and I have another week

I have been walking quite a bit this week, and the blossoms continue to be gorgeous:

Bleeding Hearts - my daughter's favourite

I also love finding these little gems along my path:

Peek-a-boo

And of course all the creeks nearby cheer my heart:

As does this little one:

Wish I was there to sing her Swing me Higher, Obidiah

Happy Mother's Day to all who mother in whatever form wherever you are.  I have been thinking about my mother often on my walks as I pass the wild roses that I once brought home to her hoping they could be transplanted.  I thought of her too this week as I made myself some 'squashed egg' sandwiches for lunch.  She made the best 'squashed egg' sandwiches!  

Yopping Update #44 - Coat of Many Colours Indeed!

 

She is done, and all ends woven in.

This was my inspiration

Ta-Da

Wow is my hair ever getting long!

nice socks too

I finished sewing in all the ends while attending a zoom gathering hosted by Dottie Widmann who runs The Net Loft, a knitting/art store in Cordova Alaska.  She started a project about six years ago called the Cordova Gansey Project.  You can read about it here.  It is a long read, but such a warm and engaging story with beautiful scenes and heartfelt inspiration.  Make yourself a cuppa tea and enjoy when you have the time. 

A friend of mine made herself a gansey and is beginning another for her wife.  I joined another zoom group with a few of her friends and most of them have made, or are making a gansey. 

You know what happened next, right?  Yup.  I ordered the yarn, joined both the Ravelry and Facebook Gansey groups and started to read. 

When I showed my friend the colour I wanted to order she said "I have that and it is slated for a project in twelve to fourteen months.  She offered to mail me hers, which I would get in a couple of days, and I would have my order shipped to her (which could take up to five weeks).  Perfect!

The yarn arrived on Wednesday (the book is mine)

I started swatching on April 30th.  This is going to be a long project - I am probably going to be knitting on 2.25mm needles using the Frangipani 5ply which is a sport weight (although it looks like 4ply fingering to me).  It will be a nice dense fabric for sure.  

2.25mm side of swatch with garter rib done in 2.5mm
Yes, I screwed up on the diamonds - hey it is just a swatch

2 mm side of swatch with two kinds of ribs

Part of my swatch (besides needle size to check gauge) is to try different motifs.  I have done two horizontal motifs, and I am now working on a vertical tree of life motif.  Once that is done I will bind off, wash and block.  I never do these things but when knitting the traditional way you need to get your gauge and then knit to your body measurements.  This is going to be a big project and I am going to do it ensuring it will fit. 

I also ordered a book by Beth Brown-Reinsel which the Cordova Gansey Project recommended as its textbook.  One of the suggestions is that you knit a mini gansey to learn all the techniques before starting your full sized one. 

At first reading of all the steps and decisions I was overwhelmed, but as my uncle used to say "Calmer heads prevailed", and I slowed down, started to read, asked my friend a million questions via text, and then just cast on the swatch and got going.  I already own the book Knitting in the Traditional Way and it has quite a few Gansey examples and motifs.  

I have often said that I knit for my mental health.  It has been a rough week for me in that arena as the new beta-blocker my cardiologist put me on sent me into a tailspin.  This happened last fall with a different beta-blocker and it took me weeks to get sorted.  This time I could tell what was happening within three weeks, and after talking to him I stopped the medication last Wednesday.  Yesterday afternoon I could feel the clouds parting just a bit.  I think too having a virtual cry on my sister's shoulder helped immensely. 

I have a different tele-appointment with a different specialist tomorrow morning.  I am pretty much done with having any more tests, but I will wait until tomorrow's appointment before I make any more decisions about future medications/tests.  

I am walking, finding new trails, enjoying the blooms of spring and fitting in at least ten minutes of yoga a day.  My back has been a bit cranky, and I postponed a CTscan that was scheduled for last Friday as the hospital has a major CoVid outbreak on two wards.  I have been dealing with a cranky back most of my life so another six weeks won't be a big deal. 

In other blogging news I completed all twenty-six entries of the A to Z(ed) blogging challenge.  I feel very proud of that accomplishment. 

No new pictures of my grand-daughter, but I did find a new playground yesterday on my walk that I hope to share with her one day in the future. 

Hope springs eternal.

I am the yucky leaves but the buds are coming

I do love weeping willows

Here is to May.  Let us hope it may allow us all some respite from this endless pandemic.