Just Having A Bit of Fun This Monday

 

Blue skies on my walk this afternoon.

Enjoying my knitting, the marker, the bag, just everything about it makes me smile.

And the season here at Chez PJKnits.

Finally Finished Friday

 This WIP has been on the needles since November 2019.  Finished the Trio of Cables Blankie last week after a series of some Zooms and then decided to do a hat from the leftovers.

Still have a bit leftover, but I'm calling it done.  Now to wrap up for a friend of mine who is having a girl next month.  Just in time!!

The End of Summer

Tomorrow is the end of Summer 2023!  Which means it is the end of a KAL I've been doing once again this Summer, the Summer of Shawls.

I only finished one shawl, my Halloween shawl, but, I did bring out some of my faves from years past.

You can see them on Episode 103 on the pjknits You Tube channel, by clicking here

Now, lets look toward Fall and some more sweater knitting!!

In Case You Missed It

 Mail Call - 

The last of the Les Garcons' Mysterious Tropics 3 months of sock yarns

The last of the three months came a couple of weeks back and here is the reveal.

I have to admit, the mysteries were not what I was expecting, but I am happy to try some new to me yarns for socks and possibly other things.

Finally Finished Friday

 The Unwind Shawl by Tracie Millar is done and ready for Fall wearing.

I am loving everything about this knit along with the Neon Unicorn Yarns I used from PYS, circa 2016, sadly she is no longer dyeing.

Hope you are having a wonderful Fall weekend!

Fall In The Air

 Fall is definitely in the air here at Chez PJKnits, the AC is off and I wore my Autumn League down to knitting today, and it was the perfect sweater to wear.

I knit it out of the actual yarn it was designed in, Lion Brand Cotton Jeans and I am so glad I did!  It was fun to knit with and feels so nice on.

The only downside is once you finish with the neck detail, it is all knitting.

But, well worth it after wearing it today.  I hope you are having a fun time with your knits, the wearing and the knitting!

Episode 102 - Knitting Podcast: Why I'm Not A MAL Knitter, maybe

 The latest episode of PJKnits is up on You Tube and you can watch it by clicking here

Are We In Retrograde Or What?

I am so in cast on mode when it comes to sweaters.  So when this happened early this morning, I calmly put it down for later at the riverfront to start pulling the yarn barf apart.

 With a little patience (not my normal level, cause normally, I might do a little snip snip with it or throw it across the room, tangling more), I finally got it back to a nice tidy ball.

Hope you are having a good start to your weekend, cooler temps and lots of knitting!

And onto the possibility of a sweater to come.

Crisis Averted

 Welcome Back to a better post and better frame of mind.

I had a little talk with myself after my Labor Day weekend, which involved making some lists of where my knitting needed to go and tonight, I've been doing a little research on trips to Shetland.  Now, before we get all excited, there are no plans right now, but if you have watched my podcast, you know that it is on my bucket list, and so, I decided to just get a feel for some companies/people who have organized these trips and also, to see what the cost is, what they encompass etc.  That is about the extent of it.

The hot weather today here at Chez PJKnits has finally broken.  We've been in the 70s all day, cloudy, and quite a breeze.  The perfect day for reflection on some more sweaters to knit for Winter and most of all the perfect day to block a sweater and a shawl.

I will share more about them on the podcast later this week, as well as here and on my Ravelry project page, pjknits1.  

It felt so good to get the shawl off the needles earlier this morning and to block both of them.  The sweater has been done for a week, and has just been sitting there patiently for its bath.  The cool weather and nice breeze today and tonight is perfect for drying.

Now, that the sweater and shawl are behind me, I can concentrate on a couple of other sweaters that I have been wanting to get back to.  But, this happened on one of them today.

I have never had this happen with my Chiagoo needles, ever.  I have plenty of cords, it is not that, I just was so surprised when I felt this pop.

Oh well.  Popped the stitches on a smaller needle with a really long cable that I keep in my notions pouch, and knit them back onto a new cable.

Crisis averted!  Hope your weather is becoming Fall like and there are sweaters in your future too!

I'm Not Sure Why

A high school friend every year schools us on the difference between Memorial Day and Labor Day twice a year.  For me, I never really worried about either of the days or really knowing what they were all about, I just knew it meant a long weekend away from school and them work.

Now, that I am retired and on my own, it just is a really looooong weekend.  As I sit here composing this blog this Labor Day, I am making a mental note for next Labor Day.  I think I will find a nice cute little cabin on a lake somewhere and at least not dwell on the loneliness next year, do a knitting adventure even if it is just me!

For some  reason, this long weekend has been particular difficult.  I don't know why, but if you keep reading to the end, I might have some insight.

The weekend started out fine, I had a visitor over night on Friday night, his Dad picked him up Saturday morning and then it got really quiet, too quiet in thee house and all I wanted to do is EAT.

Saturday night was the PJKnits Zoom and if you are available on Saturdays, bop into the pjknits Ravelry group for the Zoom info.  Those wonderful Knitters who I am calling friends really helped to get me out of the funk that was earlier in the day.

Sunday was a day of reading and knitting, much like today, with a bit of melancholy as well, and eating whatever I could lay my hands on.  I couldn't sleep so I was up and at it, by 4:30 a.m. knitting, have a cuppa, listening to the crickets and waiting for the sun to come up.  And of coarse, there was a Scrappy Square to finish the day off.

At the start of the weekend, I decided I was going to concentrate on knitting on the Unwind Shawl by Tracie Millar.  You see, I am becoming a bit of a one or two project knitter right now, I know, who is this person and what have you done with Penny?  But, with the podcast, I feel like there should be some decent new content and I am sure that is what is driving this bit of monogamous knitting.

First up a pic where I started this weekend on the shawl.  The colors are very Fall and I really cast it on originally for an October shawl to carry me through Halloween.

This morning, I am finally to the last 30 or so rows, and here is where we are at for now. I'm saving most of it now, for knitting down at my local yarn shop tomorrow and another Zoom tomorrow night.  Hoping that it will be ready for blocking and the podcast at the end of the week.

And now, as we come to the end of this blog, I think I might have figured some things out.  Today, is not officially the end of Summer, that doesn't come until quite a bit later in September.  It is what  a lot of people call the unofficial end of Summer.

It means kids are full force back into school.  There is no more major holidays until Thanksgiving.  Vacations are pretty much over and we are looking towards cooler weather, leaves changing and for me, the taking down of a Sekas  that hangs on my front door all Summer long. 

It is one that my dear friend Norma did for me many years ago.  I would think of her so often as I would go out the door, and today, I am missing her and her no nonsense way of telling you things.  You always knew where you stood with her, she never held back.

And I can hear her in my head, live life, smile, don't wait, do the things you want and Need has nothing to do with it!

Thanks for reading this bit of feeling sorry for myself.  I am okay, really I am, just had a moment.

Anybody Else

 Doing the Joji Fall KAL?

I did submit my Granito in the Sweater thread out of Purl Soho Linen Quill in True Turquoise.

But, it is not at the top of my list right now of Fall knitting.  After two sweaters in Linen Quill in the last couple of months, I am taking a break, but wanted to put a place holder on it, just in case, I go wild and cast it on.

Anybody else?  And if so, what are your plans?