FO: Bat Shit Crazy! and a SOCK!

Bat shit crazy sweater is finished! It fits well, it's comfy, it's crazy! I love how the ribbing looks in this yarn, it's really spectacular. The drape makes it a good weight,  not too heavy but still quite warm. it's a great layering piece. I've already worn it a bunch (shhh, haven't washed it yet)
And yes, this is a really, really bad picture.

In my defense, I never seem to have time to take a picture, or the lighting is bad, or it's really bloody cold and I dont want to go outside,  and I just wanted to get a picture so I could finally post the blog.


I also have a finished sock...finally! The Fleece Artist socks in Tourmaline are done!

Yay! I love the colour so, so much. I would very much like that colour in a sweater quantity of a lovely worsted merino.


Instead of focusing on Zaria, like I planned, I cast on the Nereid Shawl by Ambah O'Brian. I'm using some leftover Artfil yarn in Slate for the contrast colour (the "spines") and the main colour is some Noro Silk Garden Sock in purples, greys and greens (I think?) It's really old stash. The pattern calls for fingering weight and size 3 needles, but as usual, I'm going up a size in yarn (Noro sgs is a thick and thin, mostly sport weight yarn) and using US 5 needles.
The pattern is really addicting, though slow going because I'm weaving in the ends as I go along. I was going to wait until the end, but as made it through the first 4 sections and the ends kept getting tangled up (and a few times I started knitting with the tails) I decided to just weave them as I go.
Now, I am a fan of Noro, I love how they do colours, and this colourway is no exception. The purples and light grey and dark teal are magnificent. I love the gold that pops up too. I'm not crazy about the pinks, so I did remove a whole section, but I left enough in to look transitional.
I've made it to the decrease section of the shawl and I'm having a hard time with the SSKs; I forgot how stiff NSGS is, how little it stretches. So, to compensate, I've trying to remember to knit the right side very loosely so that when it comes time to do the SSKs on the wrong side, there's more give to the yarn.

I finished the first ball of the Noro and it was a good one; only one knot, very little veg matter. The second ball? Oof. Two knots, one almost immediately after I started knitting with the new ball. Spit splicing took care of that one. The second knot was bad in that it went from a transitional colour (main colour with flecks of the next colour) to a completely different colour.
I'm not explaining it very well am I? The colour was rust, with flecks of gold, so it should be transitioning to the gold colour...instead, there was a knot and the next colour was purple with flecks of light grey. I ended up taking out a whole section of colours (purple, grey, blue) until I got to the next section of the rust colour.
This all in the first 1/3 of the ball!

Speaking of Noro, while knitting at our usual spot last Sunday, mah knitta and I were approached by a older woman who obviously is a knitter herself-evident by the way she stroked my yarn and asked what it was made of. When I answered "wool, mohair and silk" she kind of sighed and said "Noro?"
Indeed.
Anywhoo, back to Nereid; I'm really like the shape of this shawl, and the knitting is fun, so of course, I'm wondering about how it would look in a gradient set with a slow transition.  I'm also wondering how quickly it would knit up in a DK weight...I wonder if there are there any gradient sets in a DK weight??

I bought a couple of patterns using one of those pre-paid visa cards that I got for my birthday, and boy do I ever love those cards for online shopping. Anywhoo, I bought Ingot and Nimbus by Lisa Mutch (also known as NorthBoundKnitting) I have yarn in mind for Ingot, but no idea what to make Nimbus out of; though I know for sure that it isn't going to be sock/fingering weight. I'll likely go up to a sport weight or possibly even a DK weight.
I have a feeling I'll be buying more of her patterns, her shawls are utterly gorgeous. I've spent hours that I could have been knitting, just looking at her patterns. They are absolutely beautiful, and I don't know how I hadn't heard of her before.


Still enjoying Netflix!  I recently watched a sad/sweet indie drama called Short Stay 12, staring Brie Larson and Rami Malek. Good story, good acting. Really solid.
I've gotten totally sucked into Rectify. It's slower paced than what I'm used to, but the writing and acting are top notch. I'm almost finished the latest (and last) season. I'm going to be bummed when it's done. And I'll need to find a new show to watch...speaking of new shows; I tried an episode of Riverdale, I didn't finish it though. It was awful. Really, truly awful.

Not much reading has been happening; I finished The Blade Artist by Irvine Welsh. I enjoyed it. Begbie wasn't a favourite character, but I still enjoyed reading about him, and how he's changed (and how he's stayed the same).
Currently reading Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs. I've really liked this series of books, one of the better Urban Fantasy series in my opinion. I should be able to finish it this week, it's March Break! B and C are off (as am I, obviously) but M has to work, and A only gets March break the following week, so we will be hanging around town.  Not sure we will do anything too exciting, B doesn't do well in crowds and with all the elementary schools and high schools off, all the fun stuff will be absolutely packed full of people, but I know B would like to go swimming a couple of times, and take a trip to the Science Center. I'd love to go to the Biodome/Botanical Gardens as well, but B doesn't particularly enjoy either of those places.  Whatever we end up doing, I'm sure it will be fun! But mostly, I'm looking forward to turning off the alarms on my phone! The alarm to get up, the second alarm to get up, the alarm to go to work, the alarm to pick up B after school-all of them off!  It's going to be great getting up at whatever time my body wakes me (or more likely, whatever time the cats wake me) for one whole week!
Also nice; no swimming lesson the next two weeks, and no class this coming Tuesday!
Yay March Break!