Unwinding!

First and most importantly, hope you all are unwinding on this long Memorial Day weekend. Thank you to all of our service men and women both past and present for your many sacrifices. Honoring you this weekend!

“What have I been up to the past couple of weeks?” you ask. Or, maybe you didn’t ask, but please humor me here as I catch you up. Oh, and my goings on are in no particular order.

Starry Night colors

I’ve finished knitting my lace scarf. See the picture above. I am going to add beaded fringe so it’s not officially finished, but it's finished enough to blog/blab about. I used blocking wires for the first time. It does take forever to guide the wires through the knitting, but the result is fantastic. My scarf is light and lacy, and I’m in love with the Van Gogh inspired colors. This is a free pattern. Click here for details: Ravelry.

Blocking with wires

I’m also (still) stash-busting and am determined not to buy anymore yarn until I use up (most of) what I have. With this in mind, I dove into my stash with the intention of knitting a pair of socks. But, just look at these amazing colors. The photo does not do justice. Too gorgeous to hide in a pair of shoes, I agree. So, I did some surfing on Ravelry and Pinterest and found this free pattern for a shawl. I have about 7 rows left and am up to about a million stitches per row or maybe 247. Click here for information: Ravelry.

Oaklet Shawl

Last weekend we went to Indiana to see my younger brother graduate from Indiana Tech. I’m very proud of him. He’s been working hard to get his degree and has given up much in terms of time: family time and time for himself. Hopefully he’ll get some time to unwind soon.

My little bro and me

I’ve also sent in a square to participate in my first ever yarn-bombing. I knit this square using a pattern from the book “100 Afghan Squares to Knit” by Debbie Abrahams. The charity is in Ireland and is raising money to provide service dogs to people in need. I must say I am very impressed with the U.S. Postal Service. I mailed my square Monday and it made it to Ireland (yes, that Ireland - the one across the Atlantic Ocean) by Friday. No more snail-mail jokes from this knitter!

Next, just call me Heloise, because I’m about to give you a helpful hint about unwinding yarn. After spending one too many hours untangling gargantuan, colossal yarn knots, I tried an unwinding suggestion from a friend: use a chair. It worked beautifully. Here’s a picture.

No more tangles!

It’s beautiful beach weather here again in Michigan. Spent yesterday afternoon unwinding on the beach with our dear beach friends and am headed back today. Thanks for spending some of your weekend with me. Hope you are unwinding as well. Would love to hear about your goings on. ~ Christina