Hello, dear readers! How is everyone? Have you all hung up your Christmas lights, put up garlands, the tree, the nativity scene, the international nutcracker collection, the second tree, the elf on the shelf, sent out cards, baked cookies, bought presents, wrapped presents, sent presents, organized wassailing events, Christmas parties, had your first anxiety attack? As happy as we would like to believe this time of year is, the happiness is crammed down our throats and we cope with it in our own individual ways. I still look forward to this season because I love all the lights and colors. With only one adult child and no grandchildren, present giving is simplicity in itself. My daughter has already sent me a link to a desired gift and we’ll almost be done with presents. There are some benefits to being older, not many, but you may as well run with it! Also, the cooler weather means I get to wear my knit and crochet beanies, mittens, cowls, scarves, pullovers, and socks and I get to listen to Vince Guaraldi’s Charlie Brown Christmas ad nauseum.
Holiday cheer aside, I am currently looking to improve my fair isle skills. I have gone online and checked the Craftsy website looking specifically for classes that improve fair isle techniques, and I was happy to see Mary Jane Mucklestone as one of the instructors, but I wasn’t able to find exactly the course I was looking for. YouTube is littered with fair isle how-to videos, but again, they’re aimed at the basics. I have investigated the jacquard stitch, but that’s a whole separate layer of fabric. wah. I imagine I will ultimately try it, maybe on a beanie because that’s my go-to item, but I’m in no hurry. I think I want a special fair-isle magic wand that makes muscle memory and special understanding just click.
I am writing the pattern while I knit this sock, and I’ll post it here as soon as I am done. I may not be happy with all aspects of my knitting, but I still write a mean pattern!
In the meantime, life continues here on Hayford Hill as we deal with aging, retirement (OMG – already?) and all the physical and mental issues that go along with that. I still walk my dogs whenever I can
Until next time, see you in the funny pages!
Nittin' Ninja 