Wednesday's Yarns - Torc Falls Hat

     Ever stash a knitting project away because the season changed and it just wasn't the right project for then?  I find them later, carefully put away in my yarn boxes, just waiting for me to find it.  So I had this lovely mystery hat in a bag that I pulled out at the beginning of winter next to me in a what-not bookcase stuffed with odds & ends & cookbooks & magazines.  But since it was obviously cable work I'd put it off.  

 

     Well, today I'm thinking that must be Malabrigo Mecha, in the color Indiecita.  Mecha is one of my favorite Yarns to use for Bulky projects and its sister Mechita my favorite in a fingering wt. yarn for shawls. Both are single-ply.  But how will I ever figure out which pattern?  Thankfully I do keep my patterns in the Ravelry Library.  Once I started something and then the pattern was suddenly gone, so now I save all free & paid-for patterns in the Library now.  In a perfect world, I'd create a Project page on Ravelry,  which if I should do I'd know where I left off.  Anyway, it is found!  It is a Torc Falls Beanie.  

© Deirdre Liston

 Torc Falls Beanie

© Deirdre Liston

     So I already had to rip back a few rows after I tried to do a few rows and the pattern wasn't coming out right.  Now I'm on the right track and when I lay my knitting down I make sure to make a note on my pattern where I left off.  It's fairly simple to follow and so beautiful.   Perfect colors found in the color Indiecita and Malabrigo Mecha is so soft.  Lots of pop of color.

What I'm Reading Now 📚

     I just started "Living Your Best Life" by Maxine Morrey yesterday and I'm not in it enough to have an opinion.  But her previous book "Things Are Looking Up" was so good I'm looking forward to seeing where this is going.  But it's a slow start, but the characters make it interesting; and descriptions of British life totally fun, the cafes & pubs.  Also the use of words can be different; I'm going to Hospital vs. I'm going to the hospital, that sort of stuff.  When did we add the words or did the Brits drop them?  A Linguist I am not, but an interesting question.  Goodreads

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Wednesday's Yarns - Warm One Hat

     My favorite knit this winter (besides the cowl I did in my last week's blog post: Hudson Cowl) has been this Warm One Hat .  That goes up very quick in a bulky yarn.  I used Malabrigo Mecha in Thereza.  A color like the icy January day that I picked it up in at a local yarn shop.  

     I was traveling with my husband further down the Maine Coast to see the surgeon about my hip.  Thoughts of whether he would do the surgery.  (I knew from my right hip being replaced 6 years ago that it was a great surgery.  My pain had almost immediately gone after it and for 6 years I was so thankful to God and man, especially when hiking, that we had such modern medicine and surgical capabilities.)  So I was very tense and trying not to be down, my imagination leaping to how long would I be in pain?  So I determined to only think on this ball of yarn I was getting.  So from the night before I thought of the beautiful blue & white yarn that I knew was in stock, that I would form into a really warm hat; and hopefully, take a walk in it these January days of bitter cold.  I couldn't control the Dr. or the future of my hip, but I could take joy in the work of my hands.

PS - The surgery date is in May and finally I'm on meds, not Opioids, that control the pain.  Walking, well at this point is forays into Bangor and shopping with a cart, but it's walking.  I dream of hiking and walking the Belfast Railroad Trail (I did do that many times this Fall).

Warm One Hat Free Pattern

        

What I'm Reading Now 📚 

     Do you ever look up items when mentioned in a book to get a visual idea of what's being said?  Especially if it's a specific style of fashion item?  I mean I'm not up on heeled shoes or boots.  I wear flats, ones as flat as possible, or my legs and back won't forgive me.  The book I just started mentioned Louboutin ankle👢 Boots, so here they are.  I find looking up stuff from fashion to historical pieces very helpful to imaging the scene.

     So I started a new series of upbeat Rom-Coms.  I'm just in a difficult stage of waiting months for hip surgery and pain can get you down.  They've got me on better meds (not opioids) but the best medicine is going away in my mind.  Blogging does that and also creating with my hands: knitting, making & baking my Sourdough breads, baking gf desserts for my hubby, and disappearing into a good book.  Now I like great books that are well written and deep or deal with historic topics; but right now just a light, warm feel good and positive read is what is medicine for me now.

     So I'm reading books by a British author Maxine Morrey; starting with the book "Things Are Looking Up".  She has loads of what she describes as feel-good, positive Rom-Coms.  I do love an author I like that has lots of books to delve into.  So far I'm enjoying the book.  It starts with a bang and I don’t want to give away the plot.  But it's a good read. GOODREADS Review

     I'm also starting "Fairy Tale" by Stephen King on Audible as I blogged and knit away.

     This morning I restarted " Washington, a Life" by Ron Chernow on Audible.  I started a while ago when pursuing studying the American  Revolutionary War, but in the past year, I've opted for a more melodic choice in the mornings.  But I miss studying history and I can get a lot accomplished just by playing Audible as I do things.  I also have the paperback version of the book because inevitably I'll miss a word or have a hard time grasping something and I do push replay a lot (I often zone out thinking of something else).  But having the book propped open with a Leather book weight helpful. The book itself is so interesting and the wording and descriptions of Washington really flesh him out.

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Sweettobe

     For Valentine's Day, I baked this Super Dark Cheesecake in a mini Cheesecake pan.  I'll add a link to my baking blog Sweettobe hopefully by the end of the week for the recipe.  Definitely a winner!

Hudson Cowl

      I've spent the past year trying to knit through my stash figuring this, of course, justified buying just a bit more yarn.  One project bought years ago for a friend I unearthed and zapped up.  The Hudson Cowl is a free design by Lion Brand Yarns and done up in their lovely Wool-Ease Thick and Quick in Hudson Bay color.  

Emily in the Hudson Cowl

Hudson Cowl Free Pattern Link

     It was such a satisfying knit I was eager to find another person who'd want one; my youngest Maggie volunteered.   I quickly picked out a nice variegated blend I thought she'd like called Coney Island.  Now I'm more than half done; it is taking a bit longer because she wanted her cowl longer (I cast on 100 stitches) to wrap more easily around her head.  I'll probably make it not as wide as the original Hudson Cowl so that I'm still using 2 skeins (I have a third in case).  Peaceful,  rhythmic knit, my favorite, with 2 rows of knit, then 2 of purl.  And sometimes  I just love having the ease and speed of a Super Bulky yarn.  I found ordering from Joanns I got the greatest selection and you can take advantage of online deals and Joann's Coupons.

                                                          Hudson Cowl in Coney Island Color

My Reading 📚 Lately:

     Lately, I've been reading books by a British author Beth Moran who lives in a town in the actual Sherwood Forest.  All her books take place there.  Romance but with always a serious topic being challenged.   Her protagonist is the main focus as she's overcoming some personal difficulties.  The guy she falls in love with is there but more on the side with lots of interesting friends she makes.  In the end, lessons are learned and there's major overcoming.  And usually a kiss or two.  More of a feel-good, warm story. 

     I'm loving them and I've almost finished all I can find (a new one out in late March).  Thankfully I have Kindle Unlimited (so most are a free read) to go with my new Paperwhite Kindle (waterproof,  so a better choice than dropping my phone in the bath, which I did, twice this Fall, the phone died).

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2023 Update

 

     How the years move on. I haven’t  blogged in awhile. Moved to Maine. Moved again further North on the coast to be close to my son and a mile down the road from my husband's job. Maintainance Head for a Senior Living at 67 is hard enough we decided to move down the road. 

  

  Now my Left Hip is going I'm waiting for surgery in late May. So I'm back in pain again and unable to take walks. I love my walks, whether down a red dusty trail in Colorado or here in Maine up high to the State park and soaring trees. I try to remind myself once the surgery is over I'll walk and hike again. But for now I'm grounded and I thought about how blogging helped me in pain last time. So I'll try to reconnect and focus on writing again. Of course I haven't  stopped reading or knitting! Till next time.