The struggle is real.

I've been having a hard time keeping up with the blog, partly because I feel like I need to have a FO every time I blog which is really not easy to sustain unless I'm knitting shawls out of DK or Worsted weight yarn.  And partly because I've been enjoying instagram so much! I get to see what other people are knitting, and the yarns they are using or dying or spinning and it's been really inspiring! Plus, I'm getting feedback from people that love knitting and yarn as much (or in many cases, more than) I do and it's become this nice little community.
I don't know too many knitters IRL and I kind of wish I did, I love knowing what people are knitting, what yarn they are using, what pattern they hated/loved, what yarn they hated/loved. If I wasn't such a bloody introvert I'd probably start going to a knit night.
That being said, I do actually have a couple of finished objects-my Spindrift Shawl by Helen Stewart.

It's the perfect shawl for this time of year, it's light, and it has a really great shape. I'm going to have to make another one at some point, since I screwed up the pattern and didn't even notice until just under half way through  the eyelet section. The rows before and after the eyelets are supposed to be garter ridges-oops.
I sort of finished one of my afterthought heel socks, I'm waiting until I finish the second sock before I knit the heels. But that kind of counts as an FO?
I also finished my third Reyna (today actually). No finished pics yet, I still need to soak it and block it.  But look! WIP pictures!  Look! My favourite stitch marker!

A couple of Sundays ago, mah knitta and I went to Maison Tricote as it had been a while since our last visit. It was a bit intense at first with near incessant baby crying + an unoiled swift squeaking loudly, but it did eventually chill out and we were able to actually hear ourselves talk and focus on knitting.
I had planned to buy a skein or two of Fleece Artist Trail Sock, but they only had a couple of hanks in the sale bin and they weren't colours I was interested in-I suspect they won't be carrying the yarn anymore *super sad face* Where oh where will I find my Trail Sock now?
So instead I bought a Gleener and some sock yarn; a skein of Riverside Studio MCN (merino cashmere nylon) in Walk in the Woods and a skein of Hedgehog fibres sock yarn in Shiver.

I paid for my purchases and happily continued knitting until mah knitta came over with three skeins of Biscotte that she couldn't choose between. Quick as a flash, I snatched Lilas et Moi and growled "miiiiiiiine" and then I bought that too.

A few days after that, I received a package in the mail from loveknitting that I had forgotten about because it took so long (I was planning to call their customer service, figuring it got lost in the mail, turns out it was held at customs for some reason) and got my new 2.25mm karbonz (remember that I've decided to go down a needle size for socks) in 32 and 40 inches, and some Lorna's Laces Solemate in Zombie BBQ-which is a colourway I've been coveting for a long time, and if I bought the yarn I'd be eligible for free shipping and a discount code-it'd have been silly to pass it up.

Libby is very not impressed.


Mother's day happened. M and I (and B) went to visit the moms and then I was treated to a bit of a shopping spree at Espace Tricot, where, along with all the other moms who were spending their gift certificates, I bought three hanks of Quince&Co Lark in  Carrie's Yellow, Winesap, and Peacoat (I have plans to knit a sweater in a neutral colour with those colours as stripes on the arms) and a skein of SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock in Smitten. I also bought another bloody ZigZag stitches boxy bag in the Sheep in Hats print.  Plus, some dryer dots by Gleener. (which work pretty well) My very sweet 16 yr old was suit shopping for his grad that day, and after shopping, he went to the florist and bought me some flowers. (apparently he did not like the first bouquet the florist made so she made him a new one lol) Overall, it was a lovely day.

                                   (Please note the above picture is from the Espace Tricot website)

Somewhere in the last couple of weeks I also bought some Artfil Belle in Fireworks

and the new self striping/speckled sock yarn called Bis-sock Marmicelle from Biscotte yarn in the colourway Sweet Dreams.

 And most recently, because I CLEARLY needed another project bag, I bought a super cute Kitty Heads project bag from  Etsy seller NSPDesigns, who was offering a great discount code (which I found through Instagram btw. Yay IG)
The bag is a really great size, perfect for shawls, the beginning of sweaters and blankets, as well as notions. Besides being freakin adorable (<3 cats), it's also well made, and most definitely not a Regretsy.

If you're keeping track, that's a lot of new sock yarn from someone who wasn't going to buy sock yarn anymore, but sock yarn is just so affordable, and so pretty that it's hard not to buy...Seriously though, I'm dooooone. I'm cold sheeping until Twist.
Luckily,  I've decided to knit a couple of sock yarn shawls since I love my Spindrift so much.

So, I had cast on Reyna 3.0 in the Riverside Studios MCN (my first Reyna with sock yarn!) shortly after buying it and I finished it today while chilling with mah knitta (since today is a holiday for many, we opted to meet this afternoon) Anyway, I finished it and as expected it is very very lovely. You really can't go wrong with Reyna. It's fun, it's easy and it always turns out beautifully.
I suspected that I might finish it while out with mah knitta, so I loaded up my fabulous kitty bag with two possible projects, since I couldn't decide which one I should make.  I brought some Knitpicks Cotlin to make a summery version of the Aiken sweater by Andi Satterlund and I also brought Artfil Belle (sock yarn) in Fireworks to knit the Close to You shawl by Justyna Lorkowska.
I ended up casting on the shawl, using my the addi olivewoods that I had been using to knit Reyna, I hadn't yet put them away, and the cord was just the right length, sooooo...

Freshly cast on, it's barely even a wip!