Boughs of Holly

Hey Everybody!

Over the weekend I finished up the pair of Boughs of Holly socks that I started recently.

This colorway is on Coquette sock yarn base from Bumblebee Acres Fiber Farm.

Since I started my new position at work, I have had more free time during the day to work on my knitting. I have gotten so much done. Working freight is still hard, and especially hard with living with an autoimmune disease, but the schedule is easier for me for now with the autoimmune disease. I know it won’t last forever, but it’s a job with health insurance. Having a few hours in the middle of each day to sit and knit is amazing. Working evenings has also been better, and works better for me.

Not only have I gotten this particular pair of socks done, I have also made progress on the scarf I am working on. I worked on it a fair amount over the weekend as I got caught up on the Karen Read trial.

I also started my next pair of socks. I got the cuff finished on the first sock. I am trying to finish up my Christmas socks so I don’t have any more Christmas yarn sitting around. I also want to get them washed and dried, and ready for next Christmas.

More time for Knitting

Hey everyone!

What a month it has been.

In the past month, I have been on a few interviews, took a new position at work, for a change of pace and give myself the opportunity to have more time to do things I am passionate about, outside of work.

I went to the beach at the beginning of the month.

I absolutely love the Oregon Coast. Whether it is a beautiful sunny day or a stormy grey day, I love it.

Yesterday, I went to brunch with a friend. We went to a restaurant that I had never been to before, but have driven by so many times when I worked at the grocery store on Hawthorne.

Since I moved to the role I am in now at work, I have had more time outside of work to work on my knitting, which is amazing. I have missed having the time and energy each day to sit and knit for 2 – 3 hours at a time. It used to be all eat, sleep, work and doctor’s appointments. Now it is still all of that, but I have been able to do more knitting and have a bit more of a social life.

I was reminded recently that what I do for work does not define who I am as a person. I go to work, do a good job while I am there, and then at the end of the day, I clock out and I am more than just a grocery store worker. I am also more than my autoimmune disease.

I am glad to be able to have time to knit more and have the energy to blog again. It has been far too long.

Outlander Unwrapped

Hey Everyone!!!!!

I got an email from Bumblebee Acres while I was at work that had to do with their Outlander collection. Turns out they are rereleasing their 2018 Outlander advent yarns, but without the extras that come in a typical yarn advent calendar. I ordered myself one, so I can make myself an Innsbruck scarf with it. I love how the Innsbruck scarf I made with the advent calendar I ordered last year turned out.

This one will be arriving this summer, as it is set to ship in July. I will have plenty of time to knit it up before the actual advent calendar I preordered ships.

I have loved the Outlander inspired yarns that Bumblebee Acres has come out with, so I am excited to be able to make a scarf with yarn from this collection.

I also washed the pair of socks I just finished as well as a pair I had worn around Christmas (long overdue) today. At least it’s wool.

I definitely plan on doing kind of what I did with the last advent project and sharing what I have completed along the way.

Pumpkin Patch

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What a crazy week and a half it has been. I’ve been in the middle of an autoimmune flare, had two doctors appointments in one day a week and a half ago, started a new med for the autoimmune thing, had jury duty this past week and have had to get to function like I was a normal healthy 20 something person at work when I am definitely not. I had planned on going to the beach today but ended up staying home, sleeping and knitting.

I finished up the second sock to pair I started last fall. This second sock has been sitting unfinished since November. Now that I am done with the Advent Scarf, I have been working on socks again.

This pair is knit out of yarn in the Colorway “Pumpkin Patch” on the Coquette yarn base from Bumblebee Acres Fiber Farm.

We just had our family St Patrick’s day dinner of corned beef and cabbage with potatoes.

The past few days have definitely felt like spring and early summer. Friday, I bought a pint of Ben and Jerry’s non dairy Cherry Garcia, and went and sat outside on my last break.

This job has definitely been good for having health insurance, but now that I am down the road of knowing I have an autoimmune disease, I am ready to move on and not work at a grocery store or around so many people anymore.

Farmhouse Christmas (Advent Day 25)

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Today, I finished up Day 25 of my advent yarn, thus also finishing up my Innsbruck Scarf.

I also tucked in the ends and washed it today as well. I washed it on the delicate cycle on my washing machine and I used Eucalan Wrapture wool wash on it when I washed it. I have it laying flat to dry on my drying rack right now.

Even though the yarn base was all the Coquette yarn base, a few of the color ways started felting more than others which is interesting.

While the pattern for this scarf is not complicated at all, I definitely had times where I got off on counting and had to take out a bit and redo it.

I definitely enjoyed this project and want to do it again. It’s a big project especially when working full time, but it was worth it. I also really enjoyed the Advent Calendar part and having a yarn to open each day during advent.

It might be march, and spring is trying to creep in, the past few days have still been very wintery. Cold, wet and even a bit of snow. So it has been nice to get this project wrapped up while it still feels like winter and Advent.

Cozy Christmas Eve (Advent Day 24)

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Yesterday, I finished knitting up day 24 of my yarn advent calendar. This one was the Christmas Eve yarn, called “Cozy Christmas Eve”. The jewel tones in this one were so pretty to work with.

The end of this scarf is in sight. I have one more day to knit up.

I thought that December was busy, but the past month and a half have been even busier. I have been having to adjust to my regular boss being back from leave, after 2/3 of a year of a year of her being gone, having a temp boss and being on my own. The adjustment has been hard. I have also been going on adventures on Mondays, so I haven’t spent as much time knitting this month.

I am going to try to get day 25 done sooner rather than later, and get this scarf done.

Annual Snowman Convention (Advent Day 22)

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I just finished up knitting day 22 of my yarn advent calendar. At this point I started this scarf at the beginning of Advent, and I will be finishing it up during Lent.

It’s crazy that I only have three days of yarn left to knit up, and that I am almost done. Once this project is done, I will be going back to working on socks. This has been such a fun project.

I was able to set up an interview for a job that would be a promotion today, but my interview is a week away. I know I can do the job, December taught me that. December was when I ran my entire department on my own, so it taught me that I could do it.

Galena’s Luminaria (Advent Day 23)

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Oh man, here we are in the middle of February, and Lent has already begun, yet I am still working on my Advent calendar shawl. I definitely got behind. Life happens, and I am only two days worth of yarn away from being done.

I finished up day 23, which was called Galena’s Luminaria. I had to look up what that was. Night of the Luminaria and Living Windows is an event / festival that takes place one night in December in the town of Galena, Illinois. It looks like it would be really fun to attend.

Life and work has been busy, this week in particular I had an appointment with one of the specialists I have had to see, then got my annual review at work, and had an interview for a promotion. While I didn’t bomb my interview, it also wasn’t the greatest one I have ever had. I will find out sometime this week whether or not I got the job. If I don’t get it, I will keep looking for other opportunities, and ones that better fit me, and this phase of life that I am in.

As far as this scarf goes, I am definitely ready to get it done and go back to other projects. It’s been fun, but sometimes you are ready to move on.

Snowy Pines (Advent day 21)

Hey Everyone!

This week has been crazy. Monday I went to the beach for the day, and it was perfect. Tuesday, I was on my own to prep for TPR, yesterday was TPR, and today was busy because it was the day after TPR. Today also marked one year in my current position at work. This past Sunday marked 2.5 years with the company I work at. So it’s been a busy one. I should also mention that after work yesterday I went and upgraded my phone.

I finished up day 21 of my yarn advent calendar. It still baffles me that it is already February, at the same time I only have four days worth of advent yarn to knit up.

Part of me is ready to be done with this scarf, yet another part of me is not ready to be done, and misses the anticipation of yarn reveal, each day.

Red Barn in Winter (Advent Day 20)

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I am amazed that I have finished up my eighth section of my Innsbruck Scarf this month. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep up with a section every day on the day I opened it during Advent, but I am amazed that I finished up day 20 already.

Having some snow days helped in getting sections completed.

Day 20 is “Red Barn in Winter,” and it is very pretty and very Christmas-y. This is definitely one that I wouldn’t mind getting a full hank of and knitting into Socks.

This project has been a big undertaking. While I want to do it again this year and make one for myself, it’s definitely not for the faint of heart.

I also didn’t think through the whole creating content for 25 different sections, plus a few more Instagram posts I made at the beginning of this journey. When you are not used to weekly or sometimes daily content creation, coming up with creative ideas and things to talk about can be a challenge.

I haven’t been this active on my blog or Instagram on a regular basis in basically a decade when I was still making Sweaters. There was that one year (2013) when I made 17 Sweaters. 2013 was the best year for my blog because I was able to dedicate more time to it, as I was not working full time.

I also realized today that my one year anniversary in my current position at work is next week, and next week is also the day that marks 2.5 years with the company I am at. I never thought i would work at a grocery store for as long as I have. C