Wind Down

I'm winding down this lovely long weekend, though the wind is picking up. It's Ontario's first ever Family Day and I've got the day off work. I started off the weekend going top speed, doing chores and cleaning the house because we had my Mom, Dad, Brother and his family all over on Sunday for dinner and a visit.

It wasn't all work. Saturday I met a lady at the dog park, who knows that I knit, and wanted to know of any classes in the area. She and her ten year old daughter want to learn so they can make Christmas presents next year. Boy! She asked the right person. That afternoon we met up at London Yarns where I helped her picked out yarn and needles and I taught her right there in the store. She was a joy to teach, confident, asking questions, and enjoying it! It helped that she was willing to buy alpaca to learn on. :-) We'll be getting together again so she can learn the purl stitch and so I can get her daughter started.

While there, I bought myself a little present. A pair of Fiber Trends sock blockers:

They sure do make my socks look nice.

I have a plan with these Trekking socks. I'm trying to see if I can get two pair from the one ball by using a contrasting color for cuff, heel and toe. I'm going to use the same pattern for both pair and then I can put different socks together, giving me lots of variety!

I did rip the lacey red sock and started off again with a different lace pattern. This one is easier to see so it looks better and the pattern is easier to knit. I think it will look even better on, when my foot stretches out the lace.

But it hasn't been all socks all the time. I've been working on a project late at night, or in the quietest of mornings.

This is my second try at the Shetland Garden Faroese Shawl. The first time I didn't get very far before I made such a mistake that I had to rip the whole thing out. You can see that this time I've used life lines, one for every chart I've finished. There are quite a few charts for this shawl. I didn't like it at first because I couldn't get into a rhythm and found the whole thing confusing. I guess I was being hard on myself for not getting it. I read on Raverly how someone found it to be a complicated shawl, and I was like "Oh, so it's not just me!" Then I relaxed and started to enjoy it.

The wind is howling out side, the kids are giggling inside and the dog wants to play ball. Have a happy Family Day everyone!