Nothing – I didn’t actually complete any projects at all this month, but the shawl is a large on going project, so I don’t feel too bad about that. It takes a while to knit 1200 yards after all!
I did do a little bit of spinning! I’m working through my large stash of alpaca fiber.
Current WIPs:
Sockhead Cowl (50%)
Scrap Blanket (2%)
For the Horde Mitten Liners (0%)
Stillness Shawl (50%)
TAAT January Sock Club socks
Completed February Goals:
50% of my Stillness shawl (YES!)
Frog Silver Bell Sweater (No)
Complete Sockhead Cowl (No)
Work from stash only (YES!)
March Goals:
I want to carry over a few that are from February
90% of my Stillness Shawl completed by the end of March (hopefully)
I’m really liking the pattern for these socks. I’m knitting them TAAT (two at a time) toe up, all of which is new to me. I’ve been trying to make sure I get 50% of my shawl completed before the end of the month, so the socks are sort of a leftover knitting project when I have some spare time.
My February goal is to hit 50% on my shawl and so far I’m right on schedule. I’m 38% done the shawl so far, by the end of this week I should be 40% done (or more, easily) then another 10% through the rest of February. It works out to roughly 2-3 rows each day in order to keep on track, and with 260+ stitches per row, it still takes some time. Having it in bite sized pieces lets me visualize where I’m at, and keeps me from procrastinating too much.
Plus, just look at those colours. They’re amazing! I can’t wait to block this one and wear it (or gift it, I haven’t decided yet).
My goal for February is to knit 50% of Stillness – a shawl pattern I picked up on Ravelry. I planned it all out and assigned each week to approximately 10% of the shawl, and so far that is working out very well for me. Yesterday I reached 30% which is exactly where I should be. If I knit 3-4 rows each day, I’ll have no issues hitting 50%. There’s 262 stitches per row right now so it takes a bit of time to get through them all, but three rows a day is pretty reasonable. You can see the gradient starting to take shape, too. I expect the next drastic colour change should happen around 40%.
I’m also well into the lace work on this shawl which makes it difficult to photograph and I’m very eager to get it completed and blocked. It will probably take me at least another month to finish, but I’m not feeling daunted by the work at least.
One of my goals for 2021 was to learn how to knit socks two at a time. There’s a few reasons for this, but for me personally it’s because Second Sock Syndrome is a real thing. My husband asked me if knitting two socks at the same time would be any faster than knitting one – and the truth is, no. It’s not faster. In fact it might even be slower because of all the adjusting I have to do. That doesn’t mean that TAAT socks don’t benefit me though. See, when I complete a project, it gives me an adrenaline rush. I feel good. I feel happy. The problem is in my case that’s typically only ONE sock, and I still have an entire other sock to knit. My mind, doesn’t want to. It wants to bask in the euphoric feeling I got when I finished the first one. So I procrastinate starting that second sock. Sometimes I even wait a few months before casting the second one on. The one sock I’ve completed is left lonely wondering if they’ll ever have a partner. One sock I knit doesn’t even have a partner. Casting on two socks at the same time means it’s one project even though it’s two items. Until one is done, none is done, and when one is done they will both be done. A mental game against myself.
So no, knitting TAAT is not really faster – except that it is. It’s also a great way to keep even tension and to remember the pattern and all that good stuff. I’m knitting my socks using The Blue Brick’s sock club yarn which is starting to grow on me. It’s a gradient, so we’ll see how it goes once the colours start changing. I don’t have a pattern and I’m just winging it. I cast on 32 stitches using Judy’s Magic Loop (16 per ‘side’) and then increased every 2nd row until I reached 72. I’m using a 4 row repeat pattern for the sock itself, the bottom is just plain knit. I am thinking I’ll do a fish lip heel, but we’ll see when I get there. If it all works out, I’ll post the pattern up later.
stargrace 
