The Sharon Show, Clue 2

If you're avoiding spoilers on The Sharon Show, you probably want to turn away now.  I'm going to show the second clue today (Clue Four comes out tomorrow.)  

 

I finished knitting Clue Three last night and I plan to weave in ends and photograph it today, but I won't show it here on the blog until next week just to keep the spoilers to a minimum.

 

This is your last warning if you don't want to see it!

 

 

Ta Da!  Clue Two begins above the gray eyelet section, with the narrow stripes.  This was a fun section to knit and I really love the Thorn Stitch section (just above the narrow stripes, in gray and red).

Have a great weekend!  It looks like Hurricane Laura stayed east of Galveston and we'll probably have to wait until sometime this afternoon to hear from the university, but I think Caleb will be able to go back to campus later this weekend. 

Oh, There's That Part Too!

Well, you know how excited I was about Caleb going to school on an island with sea gulls and palm trees?  There's another part of that - tropical storms and hurricanes.  The school is evacuating today but Caleb left yesterday afternoon and we met him about halfway so he wouldn't have to drive the interstate at night.  We got home just before midnight and of course Logan and Newton were thrilled to see him.  This morning I see that Laura is supposed to strengthen to a Category 3 by the time it makes landfall, and Caleb's classes are online at least through the rest of the week. 

Over the weekend, before all of yesterday's excitement, I got two skeins plied.  They are 288 yards and 271 yards, respectively.  At this point they look about sport weight, but I haven't washed them yet (I'll wash them all together when they're all plied), but I expect some floofing in the wash because the fiber was carded, not combed.  Also the sample I spun and plied floofed up.  At a guess, I've probably got at least DK weight but it's super light and airy.  I'll probably need to knit up a swatch to figure out what the yarn wants to be.

Plying

It has begun!  I set up my wheel in the sewing room so I can safely* get some distance between the wheel and the bobbins of singles (to equalize twist) and leave the whole thing set up between spinning sessions.  I have no idea how long this will take, but now that I've started, at least it's moving in the right direction.

Have a great weekend and stay safe!

*Safely in this situation means Without Newton.  It's just better for everyone involved.

Settling Into The New Normal

We've gotten Caleb settled into his new island home.  I can't tell you how much it tickles me that my kid is going to college on an island - this may never get old!  I mean there are palm trees, on campus, next to the beach volleyball courts!  Also, seagulls!  Anyway, he's moved in, meeting his suitemates and I'm guessing his roommate will show up today (classes start tomorrow).  He's learning his way around campus and Galveston Island, and yesterday he did laundry!  I think he just wanted to figure out what he was doing before everyone had arrived at the dorms.  I had no idea he was even thinking of doing laundry this early (he has plenty of clothes), but all of sudden I got a text yesterday afternoon with a picture of washing machine controls and a question about settings!  That was followed a little bit later with a picture of dryer controls.  He knows how to do laundry, but he's only ever used our machines here at the house, so this was a new experience.  He's going to be having a lot of those in the next few years!

As we were packing up to head down to Galveston, I naturally grabbed a knitting project to take with me.  I didn't know if I'd have much if any time to work on it, but the idea of traveling without knitting just made me twitchy and nervous.  I chose a partial ball of yarn from my Leftovers With Potential basket to make a pair of footie socks.  The yarn is Hue Loco MCN Vintage Sock in Dodecahedron.  I'm using the Rose City Rollers pattern for a change of pace.  I did use a FLK heel instead of a heel flap because I'm not really following the pattern, I guess I'm using it more for inspiration?  I have about 3/4 of the ball left so that should be plenty of yarn.  (I can get a pair of my usual footie socks out of less than 50 grams.). As you can see above, I'm moving along pretty well on my first sock.  I actually think this is my first sock of the year, but I'd have to double check that with my Rav projects to be sure.

Also, before we left I completed the first clue of The Sharon Show MKAL.  If you don't want a spoiler, turn back now.  I did the Advanced Beginner portion for Section 6 and I'm loving my colors!  When we got back home I started the second clue, but I won't show a photo of that until the third clue has been released.  I'll be sure to give spoiler alerts here too, so anyone else who's knitting this can avoid photos if they wish to!

This is your last warning if you don't want to see what Clue One of The Sharon Show looks like!

Finally, Mickael and I (and Logan and Newton) are adjusting to not having Caleb around.  Newton is dealing with it by going to Caleb's room and meowing at the top of his lungs.  Logan sniffs his room and looks sad.  We all miss him and the house feels a little too quiet, but Mickael and I are super excited for him and what his future holds!

Sure, I Have Time For That!

We are currently neck deep in getting Caleb ready to go.  I've got IKEA bags full of Twin XL bedding piled in the Ball Room.*  I've got a notebook filled with lists, info, numbers, and anything he might possibly need once we get down there.  I'm trying to organize Logan (who's super easy and laid back) and Newton (who's generally nuts, fearless, the color of shadows, and he's teething - he has four lower canine teeth at the moment** so he looks like Venom) for my brother in law, John, who's going to be pet sitting for us (he's my very favorite brother in law!) And on top of all this we keep getting emails from the university to add things and make changes to the way things have previously been set up - most of this is adjusting for COVID, and I appreciate the effort they're making to keep everyone safe, but it feels like every time I get two things checked off a list, there's another thing added.  I've been assured this is normal from a very nice lady in Campus Living who's my contact for Caleb's dorm, and she told me I wasn't crazy when I emailed her asking about toilet paper because I didn't want to send the wrong kind with him and have it blow up the plumbing in the entire building and then not only does he have the reputation as the kid who blew up the plumbing but also everyone who lives in the building is now emotionally traumatized from The Incident and the whole school has to close down for the rest of the semester "for sanitary reasons."  Yeah, this is where my head is at right now.

So naturally I decided to do The Sharon Show MKAL that Casapinka is doing this fall.  It starts tomorrow.  I've picked my yarn (from l-r, and A-D for the KAL):Dark Yarns 50%Merino/50% Silk (I don't remember the base name and the skein isn't sitting here) in Arya, the other three are all Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Ink, Kelp, and Tart.  I'm hoping to cast on and at least start the first clue this weekend, but then I'll probably fall behind a couple of weeks while we do The Move, but then I hope to catch up a bit.  Maybe.  Never mind that I'm still teaching Newton not to attack the yarn as I knit from it.  He's doing pretty well and mostly just holds it in his paws, but sometimes he just can's help himself and sinks his teeth into it with a look of pure joy on his little kitty face.  Baby steps.  Also, I might have grabbed a partial skein from my Leftovers With Potential basket (where I keep partial skeins that still have half or more of their yardage) for a sock project to take on the road trip.  I mean it's obvious that with everything else going on in my life I really need not one but two new knitting projects to really round things out, right?

Have a great weekend, and just as a public service announcement, strawberry lemonade and vanilla vodka are really yummy together.  In case anyone else needs to know this.

*We are really not fancy enough to have an actual ballroom in our house.  This is the combination formal living room and dining room space, but we don't use it for that, we keep workout stuff in it, including the big exercise balls.  One day, a few months after we moved here, back when he was eight years old, as we were leaving the house I called to Caleb to get going and he told me, "I'm already downstairs, I'm in the ball room."  Naturally, it's been the ball room ever since - how could it be anything else?

**I know that if Newton doesn't lose his baby canines by himself, he'll have to have them pulled, but I googled it and we don't have to deal with it until we get back from dropping Caleb off.  Hopefully, they'll fall out on their own in the meantime, but I know this is something to be watched.  It's on a list.  (I'm not kidding, it's on a September list.)