100 Days … of Colorful Knitting

Have you heard of the 100 day project? It’s been on my radar for years, but I’ve never taken part. This year, I saw some inspiring posts well ahead of the kickoff and started thinking about how I might join. I quickly landed on a knitting project I cast on last spring and put down and thought, maybe this would be a good chance to finish it. But I also wasn’t sure if it would see me through 100 days, or, given it’s a project that requires some concentration, whether I could reliably work on it each day (because, #toddlerlife). So I started thinking about how I could broaden the parameters to make an achievable challenge. I realized I had quite a few colorful knitting projects planned, all using stashed yarn, and that committing to 100 days of colorful knitting was not only achievable, but a lovely way to leave behind winter and welcome spring. I resolved to finish my current knitting project (an Ursa sweater) in time for the start of the project, which I was sure was February 16th.

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Around here, lately

I’ve been absent from this space lately — work and travel have kept me busy — but, thankfully, knitting hasn’t been missing from my daily life.  Today, how about a little catch up on some highlights from the last few months.

I finished my Threipmuir and wore it to Edinburgh Yarn Fest!

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Twinning with my lovely friend Jenni  in Ysolda’s EYF stall.

At last year’s EYF, Jenni, Kate, and I had all bought some beautiful Birlinn Yarn Company yarn for Threipmuir.  Jenni and Kate knit their beautiful versions shortly after the festival but, in typical fashion, I didn’t get around to it right away.  Finishing in time to wear it to EYF was a near run thing … the jumper was just dry from blocking in time to pack it!

Since it’s first outing at EYF, Threipmuir has been in constant rotation — so constant in fact, that I’ve never gotten around to doing “proper” finished objects shots. The upside of this is that after two months of pretty solid wear (the vagaries of spring in the Northwest mean that, even this week, I was reaching for this very woolly sweater), I can report that it is, hands down, my favorite jumper.  I absolutely adore the Birlinn Yarn Company Hebridean 4ply from which it’s knit (in fact, I might have bought another sweater’s worth at this year’s festival). I love the colorwork yoke. I love the easeful fit.  I think it will be the jumper against which I measure all other jumpers from here on out — both literally (the sleeve length is perfect) and figuratively!

EYF itself was great — time spent with good friends, meeting new people, and plenty of yarn buying.  I didn’t take many pictures, and don’t really think I could do justice to the whole experience, so I’m not even going to try!  I’ll talk about the yarn that came home with me as and when I use it though 🙂

Right after EYF, it was off to Paris with Mr. N.  It was a short trip for work, but we did get a free day to do a bit of exploring. I worked on recently cast on Pebbles and Pathways Socks in a Parisian park (how’s that for a tongue twister) …

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And paid a quick visit to La Bien Aimee!

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From Paris it was straight onto Virginia, where I spent a few lovely weeks with my mom. We took very few pictures, but cast on Olivias together:

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Olivia in progress, knit in Black Isle Yarns Shetland Sport from EYF 2018! 

And went through old knitting books in search of the pattern for this stunning cardigan, which my mom made shortly after she learned to knit:

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On my return, I had some lovely friends come to visit, then it was off to Brighton (another work trip), but that didn’t stop me needing something to knit!  Sleeves make such good travel knitting, that I, er, started another project … Bressay by Marie Wallin!

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I’m knitting the body in beautiful Jamieson of Shetland Spindrift, in the Paprika shade. 

Seeing it all written out, it’s no wonder I’ve not been blogging much (and, in the process managed to miss my three-year blogiversary!)  Though all the knits I’ve cast on during my travels remain, ahem, uncompleted, I did finish a longstanding WIP just last week … with any luck, I’ll have a finished object post to share later this week!

Until then, I better crack on with all these projects … especially as another trip to the US is coming up in just a few weeks!

Hope you had a great weekend — I’d love to hear what’s keeping you busy at the moment!

Late October State of the Knitting

Hi friends, and happy Wednesday! I realized it’s been ages since I talked here about what’ on my needles, so thought I’d put together a little Wednesday WIP round up, complete with some new project plans!

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Nature’s Shades-along (and a bit of news)

Hi friends, and happy Thursday!

First, I wanted a say a big thank you to everyone whose read and commented on posts so far this summer.  I’ve been rubbish at replying to comments (I think I’m just about caught up now), but I do read and appreciate each one.  With the pressure of finishing, together with lots of good busy-ness, my time in this space has suffered.  I’m looking forward to a quiet fall, when I’ll have time to catch up on all the lovely blog posts I’ve missed, and we can chat lots about woolly sweaters and autumnal things.

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Porch knitting

Hi friends and happy … what day is it again today?

It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve been at my parents nearly a week! It’s been lovely to be able to hang out with my family, have a break from writing (I sent off a draft of my dissertation right before I flew!), and cast on a few new projects … I’ve been enjoying some quality time sitting out on my parents’ back porch, knitting and listening to the birds.

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