Kninja Knitter

I’m so very excited, I’m going to change up my segments here because of this celebration.

Environment Evolution

This weekend I finished up the garage decluttering project! 🎉 I’m thrilled beyond words, particularly given how it started. I do have items to drop off at Goodwill and the hazardous materials site, but the clear space makes me smile every time I enter it. I’ll be planning to get that entry door repaired or replaced, preferably soon. Unfortunately I am still dealing with raccoons on the property, and a motion detection camera in the garage has confirmed they’re nosing around. 😖 I’m not letting that steal my joy though!

Alright – moving on to the knitting content which also has some success!

Stitched or Still-in-Progress

The big news here is that I finished the shawl I cast on in June. It took so long to complete the increase side, but the decreases were done within a couple weeks. How wild is that? Is it like riding a bike downhill? As expected, I lost at yarn chicken – but it wasn’t as impactful as I thought it would be! I opted for a contrasting color of yarn for the last eleven rows. That end can easily be hidden when the shawl is worn, too. I’ll block it today and plan for an FO glamour shot soon.

I also finished the Novus Pouch, and it’s blocked nicely, complete with clasp. This may become a gift bag…

The summer sweater I started for the Pigskin Party is working up nicely. I’ve modified the design by lengthening it – partly because I like longer tops, and partly because I want to use at least 1,000 yards of yarn to earn bonus points, lol.

I did not work on the black cable sweater this week. I’ll be prioritizing it though for the coming weeks!

Cast-on Conversations

I did start a couple new projects though, after completing the pouch. First, I cast on a pair of fingerless mitts in DK weight yarn. The yarn dyer and pattern designer are Pigskin Party sponsors, making it an easy choice, especially since it’s a pretty quick knit! I worked up the first mitt in about three days. The tubular cast on is easy-peasy using Stitch Saver!

And after a nearly six month break, I have another vanilla sock cast on! The photo isn’t great, taken in the early morning light, but there’s not much to see yet anyway. Next week it will be a much more engaging image – the main colorway has a rainbow theme, broken up by thin stripes of black. This is another instance of designer and dyer sponsors, as I’m all-about-the-points!

And the last goodie to share here this week is the stitch marker set I received this week – I ordered these from winemakerssister on Etsy. I’m not sure yet which project I’ll use these on, but there’s a sunflower progress keeper that is part of her Sunflowers for Ukraine campaign. For each sunflower marker purchased, she is donating $1 to the Ukraine Red Cross Society. And I also bought a football-themed set of markers featuring the Houston Texans (go CJ Stroud!). The package also included the additional “thank you” progress keeper, which is very sweet!

Grandson Glimpses

No photos to share this week, but I did get to FaceTime with the munchkin on Thursday night after choir rehearsal. Guess what he’s going to be for Halloween this year?

Football Frenzy

The Buckeyes had a slow start for their nighttime kick-off this week against Ohio University. I’m quite curious as to what thought process was behind several decisions during the first half of the game. I’ve been reminding myself routinely that last year the coaching staff was very methodical in their play calling. With such a long season planned (16 games), the early games in the schedule were played conservatively to minimize injuries and build stamina among the players. This season there’s an added wrinkle in that the starting quarterback is quite young compared with last year’s seasoned near-pro. As long as they continue winning, the ranking committees can do as they please. It’s obvious that we don’t need to be ranked #1 to compete for the championship in January. It’s more important that the team continue to develop and improve so that they’re ready for the major games to come!

I watched a fair amount of NFL games yesterday, and tonight we get a fun Buckeye matchup of Tampa Bay (Emeka Egbuka) vs Houston (CJ Stroud). It’s a rare Monday with two games, but I doubt I’ll stay awake for the west coast closer (Chargers vs Raiders).

Random Rambling

The Buckeyes have a bye (no game) this week, so my Saturday is wide open. I’m torn right now as to how to spend that time – there’s a fiber festival (Wool Gathering) about an hour away. I’ve also been very lax about DoorDash shifts recently, so I could make a good amount of money over a longer shift. Or I could hold another All Day Declutter event for myself – the official one for the Take Your House Back course is a few weeks away, and I’ll be tackling my bedroom. But I could work on the kitchen this week, or get started on the bedroom – particularly as laundry will be a major task for that effort! I have time to decide, and I could do more than one thing, too. Find out next week what I choose to do!