Knitting Up the Loose Ends

Hello, crafty and sundry!

My, it’s been busy around here lately, and I’ve apparently fallen off the blogging bandwagon. It, in part, started because I was having computer troubles. My desktop’s GPU (graphics processing unit, or graphics card) was overheating for some reason, and I’ve spent some time troubleshooting it. That included taking things apart in the computer, putting them back together, cleaning them, cleaning them again, and then cleaning them again and again just to make sure. It’s all happy now, but I’m bemused about it. Old games like Sid Meier’s Railroads! should not cause a fairly up-to-date computer to freak out and overheat. Nor should Simcity, but anyways. It’s happy and sitting at a good temperature now, and I’m enjoying playing a region in Simcity offline… aka, where it doesn’t eat my saves and make my games unplayable (true story, repeatedly).

IMG_2767I’ve also been knitting, which probably comes to no surprise to anyone hereIMG_2755. I finally sewed up the second pair of arm warmers, though I’ve not sat down and turned it into a proper pattern. I also finished the scarf I’d started on… but it’s not for me now. I realised as I was working it that my mother-in-law would way love it, so it’s going to be a Christmas gift for her now! I bought some wool in a different colour to make myself one as well, so we’ll all sort of have matching scarves. And by all, I mean myself, my mother-in-law, and my eldest daughter. I’d taken what little was left over of the red wool, and cobbled together a complimentary pattern that was only 16 stitches across rather than 28, but that had the same basic elements as the original pattern.

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All my pattern-writing seems to happen on tiny bits of paper…

IMG_2787Unsurprisingly, I plan on taking that bit of cobbling and turning it into a free pattern as well. I’m excited that I’m starting to understand the elements of knitting well enough to be able to create things as such! I mean, okay, adapting a scarf pattern for another scarf pattern isn’t really that hard, nor is telling someone how to knit something that is essentially a tube with a bit of ribbing… but it’s still sort of encouraging and exciting.

I’m also apparently now hooked on doing more than one project at once… oh well. I’ve now finished the back and the first front of my cardigan, and am casting on to start the first sleeve today. While working on my scarf. Yeeep. I have to say though, the cardigan seems to be knitting up encouragingly quickly! I might even finish it while it’s still cold, ha ha. And then I’ve already got the wool and buttons purchased for the next one I’m thinking of doing, so yeah. I’m also thinking (always thinking!) that I’m going to make blanket squares to keep myself from burning out on one project too quickly, and to help use up wool that is otherwise just chilling in my drawers. Plus really, can’t have too many blankets, and it would be a chance to do some texturework practice — I have a Debbie Bliss book a friend let me borrow that has some great ideas for that in it.

For now, I’m just counting down the days to Christmas. If I’ve been a good girl, Santa is likely to get me some nice new circular needles. I was tempted by those, and this gorgeous Caspian set (mermaid needles!), but the latter was out of stock by the time ‘Santa’ was looking to do the shopping. And then they came back into stock. I said that there’s every chance I’d buy the one I didn’t get for Christmas with any gift cards or cash I got, earning me a flat look. What? Beautiful knitting needles are a practical and pragmatic thing to collect!

Past that, the Steam Winter Sale is on. Which means me pouring through games on sale and adding them to my wishlist to maybe buy later. And by that, I mean my husband convinced me I needed the Talisman Season Pass, and then I bought a couple of games that were less than a pound, and then a dear friend and her boyfriend gifted me some shinies off of my wishlist. So yanno, all sorts of goodie game build up for me to get around to, hee hee. I guess that will also require me to want to put down my knitting needles more; Simcity works well ’cause I can just watch it do its thing while I knit.

I hope everyone has a lovely holiday season!

<3

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