Home value

Last week I posted my almost-finished mermaid sweater – this week it is done! The pattern is She Makes Waves ( Ravelry link ) by Natascha Tullock. I made a couple modifications to the original pattern – I did short sleeves for mine and added the little fish pattern band at the bottom. And all I did for that was copy a couple of the fish and bubbles from the main pattern and moved them down. But it works! The yarn is Cascade Anchor Bay in the Aqua Glass and Dark Teal colorways. Anchor Bay is a 50/50 mix of wool and cotton, which I picked because I thought it might be a little cooler for summer sweater weight. It’s actually warmer than I thought it would be, but that is OK. It is really soft, and wears like a good sweatshirt. I would use this yarn again – its a good mix! I started this sweater last summer as a KAL with Alissa of AlissaMakes and now we finished it together as part of our Crack that WIP KAL. We are KAL gal pals! Anyway, Alissa also finished her lovely version, and al...

As it turns out, time flies no matter if you are having fun or not! It’s been a whirlwind of a month so far. It was my birthday last week, so had fun celebrating that. Also, my short break from schoolwork ended and I am back in class #4. As always, I am learning a lot and it’s interesting, but a LOT of work. I am getting some knitting in though! For the Crack that WIP KAL I am doing with Alissa of AlissaMakes I am making good progress on my She Makes Waves pullover. I’ve got a little left to do on the second sleeve and a lot of ends to weave in. I may also have to add some length. I don’t like cropped length sweaters, and it is seeming a little short to me. But we shall see. And I’m also working on a pair of socks. They will eventually have a mothman stranded colorwork pattern near the ribbing, but for now they are just dark socks. As usual, I am working on catching up with reading everyone’s blogs – hopefully this week. How are you doing? What are you working on, crafty or other...

First off – Happy New Year! I finished out the year with one last completed project – the socks I started working on earlier this month That’s actually what I did on NY eve – finished these socks and watched the new season of Midsummer Murders Although I have a lot of WIPs left over from this last year, I didn’t do too badly for getting things finished, all things considered. 2025 finishes: – 3 sweaters – 5 pairs of socks – 1 hat – 2 cowls – 4 shawls – untold numbers of knitted jewelry I do have some plans for 2026 knitting, mainly a Crack That WIP KAL with Alissa from Alissa Makes . But more about that next post! How was your New Year’s Eve? Did you do anything fun?

Back to regularly scheduled knitting! A little while ago I started a pair of socks to have something to work on in the car. Now that Mom’s sweater is done, I have been focusing on getting them done. They are coming along pretty well! I’m not using a pattern, just my standard recipe – 2 at a time, toe up! The yarn is from Gnome Depot , bought on a yarn crawl a few years ago. I don’t honestly remember the shop – it’s all a blur, as these things often are. For some reason I feel compelled to finish them in 2025, so will probably start knitting the ribbing tomorrow and cast off when I am tired of doing that I didn’t get a lot of knitting done this year, but I can finish these socks!

The secret gift project I have been working on for the last two months was finished with a few days to spare, which was cutting it a little closer than I like. However, the recipient has received it, so now I can share it here. I made my Mom the autumn leaf version of the Fall Favorites sweater! This is the same sweater that I have made 3 different Halloween versions of for myself. The yarn is Cascade 220 sport weight. The copper sparkle buttons are from the Magpie’s Eye , as usual. The pattern bands really do line up correctly – I’m not sure why they look goofy here. Mom is happy with it, and it fits, so all is good there Now back to my selfish knitting! I had big plans for 2025, but halfway through the year, graduate school entered the chat. So my plan for 2026 is to finish all the WIPs I started this year, along with a few pairs of socks and some other accessories. Do you have plans in mind for your crafting for next year? Or just letting it roll?

Very best wishes to everyone for happy holiday(s) – whichever one(s) you celebrate!

Well. This has been quite a month. Lots of work-related work, and lots of school-related work. I have been attempting to catch up on blog reading, and hopefully will have everyone’s posts read! It is great seeing what everyone has been doing and creating! DH and I took a little break last Saturday and went to see the World’s Tallest Glass Tree Festival ! It sounded like a nifty event, put on by a glassblowing organization that emphasizes using recycled glass. It also helped that the event was being held at Yerkes Observatory , which I dearly love and have been agitating to visit since we were there last fall. It was a pretty good time, though it was crazy cold out. Unfortunately no one was adding glass to the tree while we there, but we did get to look around the artisan market, had a hot chocolate, and got to roam around part of the observatory. Have you been doing any fun winter or holiday events? Do tell!