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slowly knitting again

4 May 2026

It’s been slow going. Since mid March I’ve not quite had my knitting focus. Some of that is grief. Some of that is changes to schedules and routines. Some of that was pesach. But it’s also the season changing.

I began these socks in early March and the foot was my companion during the final hospitalization. I was a little skeptical that I actually knit something that fit and after turning the heel last week I’ve been working diligently on the leg. It was a treat to finally try the first sock on and discover it fits. And since I like the length of the pair I’m currently wearing, a second delight to discover I’m the cuff.

The Thread & Maple Needle Cozy has changed my life. 1.75mm needles are sharp and I have no worries about this project in my bag at all.

Tonight I’m frantically knitting on the sleeve of a tee. I machine knit the body of this for TNNA back in 2019 (Ravelry link) and had always meant to add sleeves. We’ll see if I finish it in time to wear to h+h tomorrow. I’m on the cuff for the second sleeve and have 6 more rounds to knit.

Hopefully I’ll start posting again here soon. Grief doesn’t look the same for every person, or even for each new grief.

I’m a huge … advocate of the ball, button, box analogy for grief. But with a small twist. I’ve been carrying this box since 1985. Each new loss is a new ball, and they are bouncing around. The button, while hit regularly, isn’t filling me with as the pain as I expected. I’ve been reflecting more on lives lived and how I can live mine to the fullest.

With that in mind, back to knitting.

each day some progress

20 January 2026

Every day I work a little more on these mitts. They’re not large or complex, but I do keep thinking of small design things I want to change. While there is one mod I’m going to introduce, in general I think I’m going to save all the others for another design. These are simple. I don’t want to introduce too many complex topics for a beginner knitter. Overall the Bowman Lake Mitts as they are currently written are simple, they have you working in the round. Sure it’s a small diameter so that can get tricky, but I’ll explore in a tutorial different needle options and why you might want dpns or two circs or to do magic loop. you need to know how to knit, purl, increase (I specify m1, but others would work), put stitches onto waste yarn/holder and add a stitch in the middle of a round. that’s enough. a more complex cuff would look nice, but might be difficult for me to explain to someone who is still trying to figure out how to wrange up to 5 needles.

The best decision I made was figuring out Merino Cloud doubled works well as a Cashmere Eco substitute. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before now.

It feels really good to be updating this design and coming up with another variation that I want to make.

A Tuesday morning desk scene with a nearly empty coffee mug, part of an open planner visible, several notebooks, and a stack of five library books. Two knitting projects are visible in the workspace.

If single is good, doubled is better

17 January 2026

I’ve loved these mitts since I first designed them. However the yarn isn’t so easy to find. It finally dawned on me to try Merino Cloud doubled. It’s even better than I expected. I’m working on some tutorials based on this design, and of course for this sample some new ideas to improve them.

I’ll revise the pattern instructions soon.

and I’ll get a new project page up soon.

day by day

14 December 2023

Even if I only work on it in small increments, I find that projects grow. Now that I've gotten the rhythm down it's a pleasant knit. I may have misread the chart in the beginning and am not inserting the lace at the "right time", as there aren't any written instructions (at least in my pre-pub copy). However, I am consistent and I don't think anyone other than another knitter would ever notice and ask.

finally starting

27 November 2023

after finishing the swatches a while ago I was finally able to cast on. The lace is simple and really pleasing in the suri sock. The first 36 rows flew.

swatching and sketching

12 November 2023

This time I’m taking time to swatch and confirm I’m making the fabric I want to create. For the Fishermen’s Wool, I swatched in garter stitch with 4.5, 5, and 5.5mm needles. I also took the time to sketch one potential color layout. Now I need to figure out all the stitch patterns. I’m also thinking of mixing in some crochet. The options are practically endless.

Fishermen's Wool In garter stitch with needles ona grey fabric background
notebook page with watercolor swatch of yarn colors and potential layout. including some basics numbers for width.