A Bit of a Time

This past few months has been a bit of an emotional, and physical, roller coaster if I'm being honest. 

And that's held up some projects and changed the scope of others. So let's dive into what's on my needles and where it's all going, shall we?

When last I posted, I had finished a double-knit earwarmer, and was pondering and planning a few others to have a bit of a series exploring and/or refreshing aspects of double-knitting with the added techniques of increases and decreases. The first one is pretty basic if you've done any double-knitting. The increases and decreases are the only "spicy" bit, and only if you haven't knit a shaped shawl like those from Tania of Epic Knits/Knit 1 Roll 20 or Lisa of Nifty Knitter Designs. It's a very approachable little project.

To go with that, I started playing around with some tweaks to the concept, keeping the basic shaping. This led me to a 3 color design, and a 2 pattern design for earwarmers 2 and 3. A slight jump in skills but still very approachable, and I think a natural progression from basic double-knitting to slightly more flashy looking projects. I plan on knitting those up pretty soon. And then I thought the natural place to go was cables with a touch of texture. Again, building on what you've already learned and/or refreshed from the first 3. 

And then my brain got involved.

Fiber friends, I'd be lying if I said sometimes my brain isn't my biggest nemesis. 

Because of course I couldn't just stick to front crossing cables on the same colored background. Noooo, not me. I had to switch colors and have alternating panels both color wise (which would've been more than enough. An excellent middle ground), and cable twist direction. 

I bit off much more than I originally envisioned. Here's the supposed earwarmer 4 in progress. It's not quite halfway knit:

So! Upon reflection this is now earwarmer 5 lol And I need to scale back a bit for a properly placed 4 with not quite the time and contortion commitment. I'm pausing this one briefly just to catch my breath. I really went headlong at it with no real plot. Sometimes looking before I leap, even in knitting, is a much better idea.

What else have I been up to? I got the idea, made a plan and am nearly halfway through a 3 color shawl lol! 

This one's one of those back burner ideas that finally just clicked and I was off to the races. And it timed well with GST checks to get the yarn and extra long circular needle ordered (Plus one for Cherish the Ladies which I'll be re-diving into soon... ish)

I'm using Briggs & Little Sport (ordered from Halifax's Fia Fia🔗; link goes to their website. Canadian wool bought from a Canadian, and Atlantic Canadian too!, shop), and chose Fern green, Mauve, and Magenta for my sample colors. Wanna see?

The photo is a bit older now because I have roughly half of the second openwork done; it's in the Magenta. That will be followed up with another slipped stitch section, a section of Fern openwork, a final slipped stitch section, and then the bottom border with garter stitch, slipped stitches, and beads along with a picot edge. 

Talk about bringing some drama!

This is my Three Hand Reel design. 3 Hands, reels or jigs, are choreographed dances often combining elements from solos and céilís. My favorite was the one created by The Dance Brain, aka my 2 dance besties (S &H) and me. The colors are reminiscent of each of us too. And fittingly it'll end with a bit of added pizazz and sparkle, just like any good performance piece. A little nod to my dance days, and the friends who were on the ride with me. Good times!

This seems like as good a place as any to mention that I can no longer leave the house without my cane. Walking even a km has become really difficult. I still do it; I gotta get groceries and check the mail after all. And just het out of the house in general. But I've really been struggling with this downturn in my mobility. Not a fun time, fiber friends. I'm hurting pretty badly after an ill-advised "I need to get out!!!!" "moment" yesterday. I did get to capture this though:

This isn't far from my house. Maybe 5-10 minutes of a walk down to the water for someone walking a normal non-dragging speed. I think it took me just shy of 40 minutes to get there yesterday. sigh

Ah, my Rock in the ocean. There's something strangely soothing about a moody ocean. It was what I needed yesterday, even if I'm hurting extra today. Seems like that's a constant trade off lately.

Back to the good stuff!

I knit this little shawl mock up to try out another of my back burner ideas. It's not quite what I have in mind but it's close and it makes an adorable wrap for my little bear friend. She's quickly becoming my mini model for little one off's:

She's quite adventurous, climbing the trees in my backyard. 

I still haven't knit the sleeves for my Jeri🔗 (link to The Wayward Knitter Payhip shop) cardigan lol. The weather has warmed up and my cozy cardigan, though not forgotten, has been decidedly neglected. My hands want lighter yarns right now; the shawl is fingering/sport weight, and the earwarmer is DK. 

It's the first day of summer! What are your crafting plans as the weather heats up? I've been looking at my pattern collection, and I have to be honest I'm tempted to embrace my oft-suppressed inner mermaid.

Inner mermaid? While chatting with a friend about aesthetics, she asked me what I thought her vibe was, and I immediately said she's largely a Hobbit with a bit of an edge. She laughed and said that was fair given that to her I'm a Lisa Frank mermaid with a glitter problem. She's not wrong, fiber friends! Gimme the bright colors with a decided leaning to the cooler tones and if I can incorporate sparkle/bling or otherwise unexpected bits, yeah I'll do it. 

What does that look like? Picture the above palette on this gorgeous skirt Folly Skirt by Espace Tricot (sorry gang, I'm not finding their individual patterns listed on their website, https://www.espacetricot.ca🔗

Or this crocheted skirt (appropriately) called the Mermaid Skirt🔗 (link goes to designer's Etsy shop)

My mum would probably describe the vibe as "hippy dippy". I prefer mermaid comfort. I think a long skirt to go with my existing and in progress shawls comes first and then I can start exploring patterns for tank tops and other sleeveless tops. I have lots of shawls and cardigans to toss on when things are chilly.

Ok! I think that's it for today. I'll pop all my links in and get this up for your reading and viewing pleasure. Speaking of viewing: did you like my little video clip? Should I add those when I have them? I promise not to give any spoken commentary; no one needs to hear a cartoon character chattering in a nature clip lol

Yours in yarn, and not enough consideration for physical pain,

Síle

21 days and counting

The earlier fog and rain have changed to snow. Ah, April in Canada.

Of course this makes me want to hibernate even more than I have been. Why have I been hibernating? Well, I can't really do much else at the moment.

The tendinitis, due to (at this point) ancient injuries to my left rotator cuff, has flared up badly this year. It started twinging back in late February if I'm completely honest. I continued the exercises my doctor had given me for it ages ago. I tried slowing down, and limiting how much I was knitting in a day. I took rest days and used my best friend, Icepack. All to no avail. I lost use of the shoulder/arm on March 31st. It's now April 20th.

This leads to some issues straight off. As an independent knitting pattern designer, every stitch you see here is knit by me. Every sample, every swatch, every tutorial. It's all my work. So you can imagine that 3 weeks (so far) of not being able to knit really throws a wrench into my plans for literally everything. No finished tutorial leads to no new pattern release. No new sample leads to no updated photos for a pattern update/re-release. Those lead to not being able to open a preview knit for the next pattern, and another pattern release this summer, because of lack of funds.

Things here at Knit Dance Repeat Designs have ground to a halt.

I'm hoping this soon decides to quit flaring. My doctor and I had discussed cortisone shots the last time it was this bad, but that was 3 years ago. I have an appointment with her on May 2nd. That's still a lot of days away. 

I have knitted 102 stitches this month. One row on a swatch yesterday, that sent my shoulder into spasms and caused numbness in two fingers plus discoloration in my hand. Won't be trying that again for a while! I like blue but not when my hand starts changing to that color 😳

So that, dear fiber folks, is what's (not) happening here! My days right now consist of cuddling with the fur crew while watching Youtube videos. I find myself avoiding social media, especially Instagram, because happy knitting posts are making me depressed. I have at least 2 wips glaring at me as I type this. One being a birthday present for an adorable 4 year old that's already late for the party sigh.

I hope your crafting is going much smoother, and your health is better than my own. What are you working on? Any fun spring plans?

Yours in yarn and carefully applied icepacks,

Síle

Well That Was Certainly a Week!

I don't know about you, but last week was one I don't care to ever repeat the like of again. Between personal changes, my own health stuff, and an emergency with a feline household member I have no nerves left. Poof! Gone!

Less said the better on the first point, I think. I will say the timing couldn't have been worse seeing as how I was finally staring down the final hours to the specialist appointment on Thursday that was kicked off by my October of last year overnight trip to Town. Talk about your emotional rollercoaster!

The appointment/procedure on Thursday could've been worse. I was thinking it would be. Not something I care to repeat mind you, but it wasn't as bad as it could've been and I'm really trying hard not to look on the bad side. Now it's a hurry up and wait situation to get back the results, roughly 6 weeks. In that time I need to get bloodwork done (I might be anemic again. Talk about your throwback moments! I was on iron a lot of high school because my body liked to throw that at me on top of everything else), and the Drs (I saw a tandem team; both were great to talk with so that was a definite plus) were going to book me for an ultrasound, which I'll probably get a letter in the mail about as that's SOP for our health region.

So enter Thursday evening, and I'm sore and tired and already emotionally wrung out, when my precious feline nephew comes up from the basement and howls. And then only eats a few licks of his canned food that night, and barely has any water. And already tired Auntie slept in fits and starts to keep a watch on the poor little guy.

Long story short (for probably the first time ever!), he had a scab from his surgery site migrate, and block off the new opening causing him to react the same way as the first blockage. His vet had never seen the like happen before! Thankfully, after another overnight at the vet's and a catheter in place for another week, Jakey has been perfectly fine. He's even been trying to steal food! Not his usual modus opperendi but he's so cute so it's tough not to give in.

This has really been a week for comfort knitting and I've turned back to a shawl design I call Hap-Hazard. It's my go to when everything around me goes completely haywire, like the last 5 days! I'm hoping to have it in testing this summer. It involves a garter stitch center and picked up stitches with lace borders. I think you'll really like it. It's "moose lace" (and doesn't that conjure up a funny picture in your head!), that is I've used worsted weight wool (Briggs & Little Heritage for my sample) on 6.5mm/ US 10 ½ needles. It's big and squooshy, and feels like a woolly hug around you. Stay tuned for more on this one!

Here's hoping for things to go more quietly than this week from here on out!

Yours in yarn and sleeplessness,

Síle

Anyone Have Any Bubblewrap?

I've gone and done it this time. Guess who has sprained their back. If you thought "Síle" you're bang on.

How did it happen? I was doing the exercises my physiotherapist gave me to help (oh the irony) strengthen my back and core. Yes, really. Boggles the mind, doesn't it?

This happened Tuesday evening (April 27th). I was in enough pain to go up to the hospital on Thursday night and there we are. 

Thankfully I have the crack medical team of Jakey and Silver here to ensure I don't move around too much. Their technique is quite unique; you talk about bedside manner? These two have mastered on-bed manner!

That's the latest with me. How are you? Anything exciting going on where you are? I've started a new project, Killeany by Alice Starmore. Lots of yummy cables once I get this ribbing out of the way. What's on your needles?

Yours in yarn and back pain,

Síle

You Can Take the Dancer Outta of the Dance...

But you can't take the dance outta the dancer!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! ☘️

Today is the day of the year I miss my dance fam the most. I miss the chaos of remembering where I was dancing, what time(s) I was dancing there, and (most importantly) which dances I was doing. Midweek wasn't nearly as bad as when Pat's fell on a weekend; I seem to recall a particular Saturday the 17th that entailed something like 9 different places around the city, 12 or 14 different times (a few places we danced more than once over the course of the day/evening), and 12 or 14 different lineups of dancers/dances. I got home about 3am on the 18th. This is why you'll see some people with pins or t-shirts that say "March the 17th. Sleep the 18th" lol. Here's a photo of me onstage from my last major performance:

Yes, that's me; June 2011 onstage at the Irish Pavilion during Regina's Mosaic Festival  

There aren't any dance outs going on here today. Well, even without Covid-19 there wouldn't be. I'm pretty certain I'm it for Irish dancers in this particular town, and I just spent 4.5 days with my back in fits. I've been semi-challenged by a dancer friend in St. John's to video myself dancing and post it. I've been thinking about it the last week or so without his prompting, so yes, you're in for a bit of a dance. It's without music from my basement taken with my phone so I apologize for both the quality of the video and my dancing; please be kind in your thoughts. I know my turnout sucks, and I most likely won't make any clicks I may attempt. I am, after all, injured and not in class or training right now. Fair warning! Off we go!

Here it is: one step of the original hornpipe I learned. For some reason this part stuck with me (and I didn't want to be totally clichéd and post the comp length St. Patrick's Day set)

Until next time!

Yours in hardshoes and a"You don't scare me I was raised by an Irish mother" t-shirt,

Síle

What a Month (so far)

 Hello!

Between losing internet (and cable) twice for a total of 8 days, having a birthday, and my province returning to level 5 (ie the highest precautions) in pandemic protocol, it's been quite a month. Oh, and our oven going kaput when trying to make nachos for the hockey game on Saturday night.

Fortunately we're all healthy and I'm listening to Jakey and Silver chasing each other up and down the stairs as I write. There's something about hearing the cats go about their usual business that has a very calming effect, an "everything will be ok" quality. Nearly time for me to think of my health and take my hour of "me time". I'm not quite back to daily but I feel much better with what I am getting done.

I have a tentative date for the release of my Hornpipe Bag: May 15th. If you enjoy double-knitting this is one to watch for. I'm toying with a couple of other double-knit ideas at the moment too. I need to find just the right yarns though. One will definitely be knit in worsted weight. The other I'd like to use DK weight, but that's harder to come by here. That's part of the fun of designing, pairing the idea with a yarn that suits it. I like smooth yarns that show off the stitches nicely, and I tend to use the same ones a lot. It would be nice to expand a bit, so if you have any recommendations that won't break the bank on shipping and exchange, feel free to leave them in the comments. 

Time to get away from the phone and disconnect for my hour.

Yours in yarn and yoga pants,

Síle

Catching Up

 It was "Bell Let's Talk Day" here in Canada this Thursday. It's a mostly social media based initiative to get telecommunications giant Bell to part with some of their massive profits by way of donating 5 cents for every interaction (shared tweet, Instagram, or TikTok post with one of the hashtags, call or text made using Bell's network) made during that calendar day across the country to mental health initiatives. Let's Talk is about starting the conversation around mental health and erasing the stigmas associated with it.

Many people take the time to use the day to highlight their own struggles or initiatives they support that are frontline organizations that do the work 365 days a year. I do a lot of retweeting on Let's Talk day, and make sure to use the hashtag on any of my open tweets, not necessarily responses depending on whether the other person has used it or not. 

What I didn't plan to do this year was open up about how my chronic pain and the resulting brain fog has an impact on my mental health. But after receiving and responding to an email from a friend in an online group who was concerned I hadn't checked in for quite a number of days, it just tumbled out of me and into a twitter thread. You can find it here if you're interested.

That's the thing about mental health: it's inextricably linked to physical health. Depression and anxiety begin to have physical repercussions. Losing one's mobility often leads a person down a path to depressive thoughts if not outright depression. I'm a firm believer that healthcare should mean all aspects of health: mental, physical, dental, and eyes. Having a problem with any of them left untreated can lead to severe illness and/or death.

So that's where my thoughts have remained since Thursday. What ways can I be there for those around me, and not just in person but online as well, and not just on Let's Talk day but the entire 365 days a year (366 in leap years)?

I don't have any knitting progress to share today. In complete honesty, I don't think I've done more than a stitch or two this last week or so. I am feeling a bit better physically since I started on the new course of vitamins and iron; definitely a plus :) I wish my appointment with the specialist weren't all the way in May but we are in the midst of a pandemic and waits are longer to accommodate the extra precautions. "Better safe than sorry!" to be totally cliched about it. Ah, well. Hopefully my next post will have photos of yarny things again.

Yours in deep thoughts,

Síle

New Leaves on Old Plants

Do you ever get the feeling it's time to do things a bit different than you have been? Or return to a routine that made you feel good? That's where I'm at right now. I've just started on some new medicinals (with my doctor's input) that will hopefully have my energy back up and my pains back down. With those I'm also getting myself back into the routine of my physio passive stretches, and that's opened me up to having about an hour of me time every morning. Today is day one of this "new" routine so we'll see if it flows as smoothly as I intend it to.

And speaking of new, we can't have too many beginnings without an ending or two and I have an ending to show off! I finished my Simee Dimeh last evening :) I don't have the strength in my back at the moment to try to block it (why are floors so far down? In my dream craft studio, there will be an island with its top covered in blocking mats, and all kinds of storage below for pins and blocking wires, and maybe a sink towards one end for the actual "bathing" before blocking... I digress. A nice counter height blocking space to save my poor back having to lean over as much and crawl about on the floor.) but it is off the needles and looks quite nice, if you want my completely biased opinion. Here it is for your assessment:

There it is, my first FO of 2021 :) Which means I can soon cast-on my next me project! Yay! New cabled sweater for Síle! 

And with all this turning of new leaves, or should I say rejuvenation of older plants, I'm hoping to get the Hornpipe Bag finished up fairly soon. I'm aiming to have it in techediting by the end if February and testknitting in March. Keep an eye out for more on that soon!

Are you starting anything new, crafting or otherwise? I'd love to hear about it.

Yours in yarn and an empty project bag,

Síle 

Helpers

 Many of us live with helpers. They often have four legs and fur, and aren't quite as helpful as their title implies. I posted this collage a few places this weekend:

I wanted to take a progress picture of my Harvest sweater. Then Silver, the older of my furry nieces, decided this was a good time to be helpful. As you can see, out of nine photos only 1 shows the entire sweater back. (The cardigan is knit topdown in one piece. I find the back view easier to see progress, so usually take my photos from that view.) And even that one is photobombed by a pair of furry gray legs. She's quite a help!

I did get two other photos last night after using the last bit of the first ball of yarn. (I'm knitting with Lion Brand Mandala which has 590yds in a 150g skein! Talk about value!) No Silver help with these ones; sorry ;)

I started working one of the sleeves today so it should go quick. I'm toying with the idea of adding pockets and making it a bit longer than the pattern. It's such a lovely basic sweater that little bits of customization just adds to it. It's from Tin Can Knits if you're not familiar with the pattern.

My goal is to finish it soon and then bring my focus back to my own designs. Normally having a few of my own designs plus a "me" project or two going at once doesn't faze me but this year... I think we can all agree this year is just something else altogether! I have a worrisome health appointment coming next month and I want to wear my new sweater, a kind of talisman that all goes well. While not traditional autumn colors, it'll certainly be a bright spot.

Yours in yarn and glowing colors,

Síle