Autumn Is Calling

Hey Everyone!

Last night I finally finished up the pair of socks I have been working on for the past three weeks or so.

The colorway of this pair is called “Autumn is Calling”, from Forbidden Fiber Company, on the Pride Yarn Base.

I have been working through the autumn colored yarn, trying to get as many pairs as I can done before the cool weather sets in. The yarn I am working with is the autumn yarn that I had ordered last year.

I am still waiting for the autumn yarn I preordered from Bumblebee Acres Fiber Farm. The yarn base I prefer from this company is thicker and makes super cozy socks.

Being back to work, definitely makes me appreciate my days off and having the time to knit and work on projects.

Over the past couple of weeks we have definitely crossed from straight up summer to that weird place that is between late summer and early fall, our afternoon highs are still summery, yet the nights and the breezes have a coolness to them, as well as the leaves are starting to turn which are signs of early fall, and the crickets, we have started hearing crickets in the evening as well. Summer is ending and fall is upon us.

Highland Heather Socks

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Tuesday night, June 30th, I finished up the fourth pair of socks I had finished up in June. I hadn’t finished any socks in May, and a couple of the pairs were carryovers from socks I had worked on in May.

The last pair I finished up, on Tuesday, was the Highland Heather socks. Highland Heather is the colorway, I got this colorway on the Coquette yarn base from Bumblebee Acres Fiber Farm.

I am definitely trying to utilize and maximize the time I have while on Furlough. My furlough has been extended quite a few times already, and was extended again today. At this point I am off at least until the end of the month.

At this point, I am trying to get the autumn and Christmas sock yarn knit up into socks. I am saving most of the spring and summer colors I have for winter, when it is cold, wet and in when I need some vibrant colors to work with. It would also be nice to have my autumn and christmas colored socks to wear this coming autumn and Christmas season.

Quarantine Socks!

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In the past two weeks (Weeks four and six of quarantine) I have finished up two pairs of socks. Both of these pairs were completely knit up during the six weeks I have been off from work due to the pandemic.

The first pair that I finished, back on the 18th, was the grey pair with purple flecks I shared in my last post.

This pair I knit up was knit out of bounce sock yarn from Long Dog Yarn, in the colorway “Freshwater Pearl”.

The second pair, I just finished up this morning.

For this pair I used the “Healer” colorway (Outlander Inspired), on the Fortitude yarn base from Forbidden Fiber Company. This pair was a little on the rough side to get knit up, but it’s done, and I am glad for that.

I found out last week that my furlough has been extended at least until May 15th, though it will likely last longer than that, as I don’t see my state reopening non essential businesses any time soon, and lifting the stay at home order.

I have fully prepared myself for the long haul, and not going back to work for a bit, as well as that even when I do go back to work, that there could be another peak, and then be off again for a while.

I have plenty of yarn, and books, so, should I be off for a while, I have plenty to do and work on while I am off. Knitting is one if the few things I can do, since there is no place to go and nothing to do besides stay at home and go for walks.

Quarantine Realities

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I am now in week four of being in “quarantine” and being furloughed from work.

Since I finished my last pair of socks, I have been working on these two pairs of socks:

The purple sock is being knit up out of the colorway “healer” on the fortitude yarn base from Forbidden Fiber Company. The grey sock is the “freshwater pearl” colorway on bounce sock base from long dog yarns. The purple sock is the first one of the pair, and the grey sock is the second sock of its respective pair.

With at least three more weeks (though likely longer), of quarantine, I will definitely be knitting until I go back to work, and I am trying to get as much done as I can in that time.

In the state I live in, we have been under a shelter in place order for several weeks already, the governor has cancelled in person classes for the schools statewide for the rest of the year, some churches cancelling events at least through the middle of July, as well as the fact that the company I work for is a larger corporation with stores across the country, and our parent company is even larger, I foresee going back to work later rather than sooner. It’s one of those things where I know the earliest that I could go back, but in all likelihood, that date is going to keep being pushed out for a bit. I am just trying to keep my perspective realistic, and my expectations for things I cannot control low, as well as continue doing things that I enjoy that are within my control.

While the world outside continues to become crazier and more of a mess, the more I do just want to stay home, not because I am afraid of getting sick or anything, but to stay away from the craziness that is outside. I am very much an introvert and a homebody who is perfectly ok with staying home and knitting, away from other people.

I hope all of you are staying safe, being sensible, and working on the crafts and hobbies you have.

While in Quarantine;

Hey Everyone!

I had started these socks back in January, and I finally finished them more than two months later.

The yarn itself was from the Christmas / Holiday Collection from Forbidden Fiber Company. This is the “Let it Snow” colorway and it is on the Fortitude yarn base.

Beings that I have been off from work for a week already because of the Coronavirus, and I will be off for at least another week, likely a bit longer though.

I went back, looking at my posts, and I have also been remiss to update about the other pair of socks that I finished earlier last week.

I finished the pair of “Maple Leaf” socks I had been working on as well.

The yarn I used for this pair is from Bumblebee Acres Fiber Farm, it was part if their Autumn / Fall Collection last year. This colorway is on the Coquette yarn base. It definitely makes me think of October, and some of the changing leaves, and the angle of the sun, and how it looks in the afternoon during “golden hour” during that time of year.

The Coquette yarn base is nice and thick, and creates thick and cozy socks without being too thick.

Yet Another Virus Update;

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This whole CoronaVirus situation is ever changing, and the only thing that is reliable is to take each day at a time.

Thursday morning, we were given a brief update by our operations manager (who was covering for our Logistics Manager that morning) on the latest as far as our company is concerned.

Things changed again two days later, and I am off work for a couple weeks, at a minimum. My company is paying us for the two weeks we know we are going to be off, after that, it’s still a day by day / week by week situation. While I am not surprised by the closer, I also have the gut feeling that it will be longer than two weeks.

Not to mention the next couple weeks are supposed to be cold and rainy, which means I will be stay in, not going for walks, and knitting a lot, as well as watching the TV shows I have on DVD. I have so much sock yarn that I am needing to get knit up, and socks to finish. I am going to try to see how many pairs of socks I can finish before I go back to work.

At this point I am fortunate, even though I am off, I will have an extra two weeks paid, as well as still having a job to go back to, many others are not as fortunate. I am also the kind of person who is OK staying home for a while, since I enjoy knitting and watching TV shows, I can occupy myself. I will be glad to go back to work when it is all over. There will be work to be done, there is a new set that will need to be set still, freight to come in and be worked, checking the food for expired stuff and all that jazz.

Even though work itself has slowed down the past three months, the rest of my life outside of work has still been pretty busy, and it will be nice to take a couple weeks, stay home (not because I am sick) and just slow down a bit.

The thing about Variegated Yarn

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I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas season!

The other day, I had cast on the “make it pink, make it blue” yarn, aka the “Princess Aurora” yarn, aka the “All about that Bass” yarn to make the first sock. Once I started getting into the leg of the sock, I was looking at the colors, next to each other. It was at that point where I went from excited to work with it, as it had been so pretty in the hank and the cake, to feeling unimpressed by how the socks themselves were turning out.

It reminded me, how some Variegated Yarns I am less than impressed with in the hank and cake, but turn out to be one of my favorite pairs of socks, while I am super excited about other yarn, and it falls short of my expectations in sock form.

It is also quite interesting to see how the Variegated Yarns work up, especially the hand dyed / hand painted Yarns. Each sock of the hand painted Yarns I have knit up has been different from its mate, and the pair I knit up is different from the pair someone else knits up.

This is definitely one of the things I love about knitting, is seeing how my projects turn out.

Finished My Halloween Socks!

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I finished up my Halloween socks, Sunday morning, just in time to get them washed and blocked as well. They are ready to go for Thursday. I am glad I got them done over the weekend. Going into the weekend, I knew I would be working, at least four days this week, and I was asked to pick up a shift tomorrow morning as well. So this week I will be working at least five days.

I typically wear store bought “cheap” socks for work. Considering that the yarn I had ordered in the most recent orders was between about $27 – $33 per hank, which will knit up into a pair. That, combined with the time I put into to knitting up each pair, makes me not want to wear them just for work.

This week, we are experiencing some unseasonably cold morning low temperatures, combined with the wind chill makes it feel like it is down in the 20’s. Portland is right at the mouth of the Columbia River Gorge, which is bad enough for getting the east wind. The wind is funneled down the gorge, so this time of year, through the winter months, we have strong east winds that are cold, and go right through all the layers you are wearing. Areas out in the east part of the county, like Troutdale, Fairview, Wood Village, Gresham (Where I work), and far Northeast Portland, are that much closer to the river and the mouth of the Gorge get hit even harder. I checked what it was this morning while I was at work, at about 7 am. The temperature was at 35 degrees Fahrenheit, but felt like 24/25 with the wind chill.

So yeah, here I am at about 2:00 pm, ready to get some knitting done, while my laundry is in the dryer, and before having to go to bed in about five hours to start it all over again tomorrow morning at 3:15 am, to start work at 5:00 am. I have to pay for the yarn I ordered somehow.

They Won’t Be Around Forever

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I am back, with another finished project post! This evening, I finished up the pair of Victoria’s Memory socks that I have been working on for a couple weeks now. I am loving how they turned out. I love the colors, and everything!

The yarn based I had ordered this particular colorway on, was the Babel yarn base. The fiber content / makeup of this particular yarn base is 70% superwash merino, 20% Nylon and 10% Yak. It is so soft, yet sturdy.

So, this week I may have gone a little crazy on ordering more sock yarn. Most of it is Autumnal colored yarn, with a couple Hanks of Christmas yarn, and just some pretty yarn. I am going to be busy for a while, which is going to be good. I am excited to be sharing them all with you! One of the autumn colors I ordered, I have been wanting since last year. One of the Hanks I ordered is part of the Steampunk Collection, so I will add it to the other two I still have left to knit up.

This week, I came to the realization that the Pacific Northwest, is home. At the same time, I know staying in the Portland metro area isn’t for me. That is part of why I have been stocking up on sock yarn now, while I am in the city, and still close to the shipping hubs. I feel like shipping may be a bit quicker and slightly cheaper because I am currently in the city, since it doesn’t have to come into the city then trucked out to a smaller community (especially if it involves having to go over the mountains in winter time). It also gives me a jump start on these socks, while I am still looking for work opportunities, someplace I would prefer to live. The beach is my preferred location, but I am still seeking God’s will and direction in where he would have me move.

Autumn is finally here, and I am so excited! Our autumn set was set up earlier this week at work. I love that we finally are able to have it available, as well as the fact that the weather is finally starting to turn. Some of the leaves started turning a while ago, but are increasingly turning. I love it, and love that my favorite season is here. I love the colors, the cooler temperatures, the smells.

There will come a time, when I can wear cute clothes more often, and in the colder months, I can pair my good clothes with the socks I have made and will made, and boots and rock them autumn to spring. Two of the areas of my top three places I would love to live, that are still close enough to drive here, to see my parents (since they won’t live forever), get snow in the winter. One of the things I realized here recently, is that while I am yearning for living in a small town life, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, I don’t want to live more than 7.5 – 8 hours away (driving), and not outside of the PNW (well, Oregon, Washington and Idaho anyway).

Outlander Inspired Sock Yarn

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The yarn that I had mentioned that I was waiting for in my last post, finally arrived a week ago, five weeks after I ordered it.

This is the yarn I ordered from bumblebee acres, the yarn base is the bubble sock, and the colorway is Scottish Thistle, which is one of their Outlander inspired Yarns, and is currently (as of writing this post) no long available online. Also note, they are also very busy and if you order online you will be waiting for your yarn to arrive, for a good 4 – 6 weeks.

I was able to get this yarn wound up once I got it. I cast on my first sock of this yarn early this afternoon after I had finished up my pair of Fraser’s Ridge Socks.

Like I just mentioned, I finished up the pair of Fraser’s Ridge socks I had been working on for a couple weeks.

The yarn I used for this pair of socks is from Forbidden Fiber Company, the yarn base is their Fortitude yarn base, in the Colorway: Fraser’s Ridge. This is one of their Outlander inspired Colorways. This colorway, on the yarn base I ordered (Fortitude), is still available on their website for order. They were very prompt in their shipping, even though I am sure they are just as busy with fiber festivals as the other shop I ordered from. I got this yarn within a week of ordering it (note, I ordered these two Yarns within a few minutes of each other).

At this point in my life, and knitting “career”, since I am not in a place to be able to travel to fiber festivals, to support these small businesses in person, besides the quality of the yarn, the biggest thing that will impress me, as an online customer is how the yarn is packaged for shipment, and your promptness in shipping. I am well aware that it does take time to dye to order, but don’t hide how long it is going to take in a page I have to hunt for in order to find, or have a pop up when I am about to complete my order.

I would love to be able to go to yarn and fiber festivals, but at this point in my life I cannot afford it, nor is it part of my paid job. Maybe one day I will get to go to at least one. My goal for next spring is to participate in the Rose City Yarn Crawl.