The project that took up most of my month was two [redacted], one a sample/test knit for an upcoming book and one a personal item for the publisher because she liked the original so much but it wasn't in her size. I can't wait to share them with you once the book comes out, but in the meantime, to give you an idea of the time that went into them, here's a list of the audio books I listened to while working on them: Remote Control  by Nnedi Okorafor (a reread) Hood Feminism  by Mikki Kendall (possibly my favorite book so far on intersectional feminism) Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune Writing Down the Bones  by Natalie Goldberg (the library audiobook I listened to was an anniversary edition read by the author with added commentary at the end of each chapter, which was delightful) Noor  by Nnedi Okorafor (another reread) Cultish  by Amanda Montell (got a hard copy of this one to add to my yearly reads shelf) The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman The Princess Dia...

There has not been a whole lot of knitting this month, but one project that I did make time for was some washcloths for the kids' bathroom. The Bigs recently discovered showers and have been going through washcloths at an astonishing rate, so I grabbed a couple hanks of Blue Sky Fibers Cotton in colors that coordinated with the new shower curtain (we didn't have one in the bathroom since the tub was previously only used for baths and the curtain was getting in the way). I found a curtain with potted plants on it, which is great in that the top third is white so it doesn't shrink the bathroom too badly, but an unanticipated downside is now every time I walk down the hall past that bathroom I jump because it looks like there's a kid standing there in the dark. I also finished the Bindle Bags  that I started a couple months ago. I've already tied one onto the little tiered cart I use as a nightstand/put by my desk during the day, and gotten yarn to make another one. St...

First off the needles this past month was a shop sample Myrtlar tee, knit with Noro Uchiwa. I hadn't worked with Noro yarn for years, and it was a pleasant experience, watching the stripes form. It felt like it took forever, but I realized near the end that because the panels (it was knit in two pieces, front and back) were so wide, my concept of how long they were was skewed. I finally finished it though and I think it came out nicely. Someone contacted me about making an eyelash yarn square for them to sew on their kid's lovie to stop them pulling their own hair as they fall asleep at night, and after blithely agreeing I visited three different craft stores and discovered that eyelash yarn fell out of fashion and only found this ball in a clearance bin after I was beginning to despair. It was an afternoon's effort, and I hope it helps the little one (and eases their mama's mind, as well). Not knitting but fiber, I wove a rock. Not that I necessarily know how to weave,...

Knocked out this shop sample  Ric Raw Shawl  in a couple of weeks (it would have been less, but I took it to a movie to get a chunk of it done and got the stripes out of order in the dark and then spent two days catching back up). It was a bit odd and felt overdone, but it wasn't awful to make and now it's been exchanged for a nice store credit that I promptly turned into a project bag because I am trying to get a full rainbow. A rare sewing project, I was in a craft store looking for something else entirely and happened onto a quilting quarter with an avocado toast print that somehow found its way into my basket, along with a coordinating fabric and a spool of thread. I googled project ideas when I got home, liked the idea of bins but didn't like any of the patterns, so I made my own. I cut my quarters in half short ways then made them into box-bottomed totes, nested them, and hemmed them together around the tops. They are not perfect but they are cute and functional and...

Finished things, finished things! First off the needles, in time for my trip, was this full rainbow Loving Color . Because one of my very limited use super powers is knowing exactly how far I can get with the available yarn, I determined for completely inexplicable and intuitive reasons that if I made each stripe section one stripe set narrower then that would account for the increases as I went down and I'd have enough yarn to do the whole thing, and I was completely correct. All but the purple is Blue Sky Woolstock Light, but they didn't have a purple that spoke to me so I grabbed a pretty SpinCycle for that and the texture difference isn't too disruptive - if anything, because it fell at both ends, it's stabilizing. It was also a perfect early spring travel garment, because I was able to wear it as a scarf with a jacket in the cool mornings and then pull it over my shoulders later to transition from jacket to t-shirt temperatures. I also finally finished this Pi...

A hat, a hat! I finally made a Sockhead Slouch Hat , after seeing nearly every knitter I know make multiples of them years ago. This one was accelerated by being iced in, in part because it was very cold outside, and in part because I persuaded my littlest to let me cut his hair (which was in his face and he kept asking to have cut but then deciding he wasn't comfortable with the trimmer) by letting him cut mine, so we have matching #3 buzzes, and let's just say there's a reason I usually buzz my hair in August rather than February. I also got to do a lettering commission for someone, which was an enjoyable project. I haven't done many of those recently, and it is something that I like doing. The challenge of fitting specific words nicely into a given space, and needing it to look nice at the same time, provides a pleasant sense of accomplishment when done. We had a Target pick up (I'm still not going in anywhere I don't have to) the day before Valentine's D...

January was a bit of a rough month for getting things done/made, between a brain fog that required vitamin D and daily sitting in the sun to clear up, followed by all of us getting COVID (get boosted, ya'll, it helps!), and then my partner having back surgery and requiring lots of aftercare. Making pretty things is soothing to me, but also requires the ability (and the time) to concentrate. So I made this little macramé bracelet from a Bella Vita kit that I had stashed... ... and a pair of commission gloves (same pattern I was using last month , but she chose a lovely green for the liners that this photo really is not doing justice to). I also did a Sulina shawl  for Kandy as a shop sample - no finished photo because she requested that I return it without binding off. Since it was a crescent with a significant number of stitches by the end, I didn't argue. It wasn't necessarily anything I would make or use for myself, but the pattern was engaging and the Woolfolk Luft yarn ...

What is the Christmas season without knitting commissions? This year's were remarkably sensical. Someone saw the gloves I wore camping and wanted some... by "some," I mean five pairs. In shades of grey. I understand on a cognitive level that a lot of (most?) people like neutral colors for things like outerwear, but also, I have resolved to start adding an up charge for boring colors. I'll still make it for you. But you're going to have to pay extra for the bleh. These Understory Mitts  came out quite classy, grey and all, and gratifyingly when I gave them to her at a holiday gathering, they were much admired but no one else put in an order. Next I spent a week making a shop sample for Kandy. This Cowlmazoo was a pleasant knit, to the point that when I gave it back to her I picked out some yarn to make one for myself (which went into my hibernation basket for this winter). Last but definitely not least, I finished the Exchange Wrap  I've been working on since ...

I had enough yarn left over from last month's rainbow jumper commission to make a kid sized sweater, and an eager kid who ravenously watched me make the adult sized version and kept asking for one, so my first finished project was a mini Rainbow Sunshine Jumper . She is absolutely delighted (as you may be able to tell from the photo) and has very thoughtfully worn it as much as possible, but taken it off during meals and potentially messy tasks to avoid ruining it, which I honestly really appreciate. We then had a cold snap and my youngest had outgrown his sweatshirts from last year, so I gathered some leftover yarns in his favorite colors and ad libbed a little pullover for him. He is quite pleased and when I put it on him he immediately ran off to show everyone his new "fweater." It's just a top down raglan in DK yarn, with stripes to make the yarn run out gracefully. I found him a pair of black furry sweatpants so when he wears them together he looks like a Sesame...

  Big gay sweater, complete! I am actually incredibly proud of this one. I worked off the original pattern and a favorite store bought sweater provided by the client and created a garment that both looks good and fits well. I figured out how to taper the shoulders, and how to shape the sleeves gently, and despite my initial misgivings over making what could have been a very clunky and unflattering garment, I produced something I don't mind pointing at and saying "yeah, I'm the one who made that!" (I also made it in eight days, finishing a month before the requested deadline, because there was a concern about needing more supplies and I wanted there to be time to order more... I ended up having plenty of yarn, and then had a forced week off afterward because my shoulder went on strike). A fun side project I got to do (after my shoulder came back online) was testing some friendship bracelet patterns for ShelliCan . I really liked making friendship bracelets as a kid -...

Most recently finished first! I made an Elemental Raglan a few months as a shop sample for Kandy, and when I saw that she had the yarn in this great red, I decided I had forgiven it for being garter stitch in the round and wanted one for myself. I think it's going to be a great garment for an Arkansas fall, which is honestly more like Summer Lite. Before I made the Elemental, I did get to the third (of six) color on my Exchange Wrap . I don't hate it yet, and I'm looking forward to wearing it - and confident that I can finish it by November (which is when I have something that I want to wear it to). I also found an awesome hammered brass crescent moon hair piece that I plan on using as a shawl pin with it. After mentioning last month that I don't crochet much but enjoy it when I do, I was contacted about a possible commission. Someone saw Tom Daley wearing a rainbow jumper and was willing to pay a fair price for one, so that's my current project. I haven't ac...

Monthly maker post! I feel like I've knit a lot, and I also feel like I haven't made very much... possibly because there aren't many pictures. First off the needles, I knit every possible yard of the yarn that I had for it into Fingerless Lajish  (link goes to Ravelry). There was just a dab left of the green and white, obviously more of the black because I only made one pair with the black background. I'm keeping those, I gave away two pairs of the others, and I think I'll put the other two in the food pantry box near us this winter. A fun little side project was this commission: two Star Wars themed baby hats. I didn't use a pattern (because where's the fun in that?) but I am actually quite pleased with how they turned out. I don't crochet very much but I do enjoy it when I do. Most recently, I'm working on a very large (or small, depending on what you're measuring - overall it's a big thing with a lot of stitches, with fine yarn on tiny nee...

Maker post! I actually haven't made much this month, in the usual sense at least. I have been catching up on a podcast (the Bible For Normal People, highly highly recommend) and I wanted something to do with my hands while I listened, so I got Jennifer Berg's (link goes to Ravelry)  Fingerless Lajish pattern and three colors of yarn to play with.   My favorite pair so far is the black background - the color values worked the best together, I think. I've made it through two seasons of the podcast, and I still have a white background pair in progress and quite a bit of yarn left (the Emma's DK I'm using had generous yardage). I plan on keeping one pair, but I'm not sure about the others - gifts, or I could put them in the free food pantry this winter. We'll see.  Another project I've worked on this month has been finding spiritual practices that resonate with me. Two that I've especially connected with have been a grounding meditation in which you cho...

First project of the month, the cardigan I started in January ! It is precisely what I wanted it to be, and I'm very pleased to have finished it. I used Hannah Fettig's Brise cardigan pattern  (Rav link), but lengthened the body and the sleeves to make it more like the one I was replacing. I got to work on part of this sitting outdoors at a coffee shop with another knitter, which was really really nice. I miss social knitting. Semi social was an interlude to make a Perun Cowl   (that link goes to Shannon's site). I made one several years ago, but there's currently an online knit along happening for this so I joined in. This color reminded me of the glow sticks my childhood roller skating rink would give out as prizes for Red Light Green Light and made me very happy. This is such a great versatile piece, I don't mind having more than one! A thing that was made but not by me was a new deck. My partner took a couple weeks off work (ended up being during a round of sto...