And the knitting has been slow and not all that steady.
Like many of you, we've been experiencing warmer than normal temperatures, (remember, I live on an island in the North Atlantic Ocean known for its stunning views of icebergs) with the addition of very wet, muggy air. I don't mind a bit of heat, part of my prairie dwelling past, but humidity does me in.
And humidity doesn't make blocking a very easy process when nothing wants to dry. This has impacted the finishing of Hap-Hazard the worst. Lace requires a good stretch blocking to show at its best. As of right now, it's still looking quite rumpled in that unblocked lace way that makes a knitter question if they've made a horrible mistake or several.
I have managed to, slowly, start work on another new design. This will be a tote bag I'm dubbing the Four Hand Reel. I have one main side finished, and the other is about half done. Then comes the bottom/sides/strap piece, which is joined as I knit it. I chose bright colors (it requires four) which makes it a very cheerful knit. So that's coming along really nicely, and it might be possible to have the pattern out later this year. I hope.
Waiting on news of my Hornpipe Bag? It's in a minor timeout right now. I was so confident what I wrote would work but that was not the case! I'm in the midst of simplifying and reworking the drawstring eyelets. I'm still aiming to have it released this year and (finally) bring "All the Jigs and Reels" to a close. Stay tuned!
I hope the summer weather hasn't impacted your crafting too negatively this year. I'm "behind" on my personal projects as well, but there's joy in not having deadlines on those at least. I'm on the neckband of my Finola (by Aoibhe NĂ; her website is here) which has been an excellent intro to Tunisian crochet for me. Here's a photo I took of it on a much sunnier day when I took it out on the back deck for some outdoor crafting:
It should be finished in not too long! :)
That's it from me on this cloudy Saturday!
Yours in yarn and unreached deadlines,
SĂle
