Chapter 37 - COVID KNITTING

THE GREAT PANDEMIC OF 2020

A view of a neighbor's yard in Melbourne Beach, FL

Everyone has opinions on staying home, reasons for going out, and their own rules for social intermingling, and curiously, these tend to be different than what they tolerate in others. The laws are debated as if they are merely suggestions, and the guidelines are ignored if they are disagreeable. To refer to personal freedom and human rights in any discussion, or conversely, to speak of social responsibility and civic duty, opens up a flood gate of arguments.

It's not a nice time, is it? 

Through it all, one thing has been constant and comforting in my life: Knitting. As you saw in my last post, I organized my stash closet. Since then it has been such a joy to open the closet doors and imagine all of the projects I might start. Sometimes, I notice a particular yarn as if for the first time, and I spend days mulling over whether or not to wind it into a cake. Other days I'll come across an intriguing pattern in a knitting podcast and wonder if I've got the perfect yarn for it, and I dash off to the closet to have a look. 

But the best part of being a knitter during the quarantine is all that time I have to actually knit. I've allowed myself to have more than the usual amount of works-in-progress on the needles, something which I'm usually strict about. It's been such a delight to pick up a project and work on it until I just don't feel like it any more, knowing that there are other projects within arm's reach to revive my enthusiasm and spark my interest. Really, I could go on all day like that, from knitting this to knitting that, if I didn't have to give the appearance of caring about household duties.

FINISHED OBJECTS

The Fonse Shawlette by Joyce Fassbender

The Fonse Shawlette by Joyce Fassbender

This little shawl was all about using the mini-skein set I bought at Four Purls in Winter Garden (the family yarn store of designer Laura Dobratz and her dyer daughter, Emma) last fall. I held the five fingering-weight yarns together with an off-white mohair, and it's so soft and light it almost floats. 

The pattern was well written and the design is a gorgeous lace motif. But, I found it impossible to memorize, and to make matters worse, it's a charted pattern, and I have a mental block against charts. I'm one of those people that needs to read instructions to make sense of them.

Detail of the Fonse Shawlette showing the pretty pattern along the edge.

I already posted photos of the yarns used for this shawl, in this post from November 2019.

If you'd like more information please comment below.

Fabulosity by Casapinka

Fabulosity by Casapinka

My LYS, Knit and Stitch Boutique in Cocoa, FL, organized a cruise for October 2020, and the guest speaker/workshop leader is Casapinka. Though we made reservations when we heard about it last year, we didn't end up keeping them; but in anticipation of meeting the woman behind Casapinka I wanted to make sure I had one of her designs knitted up and ready to wear. That's how I ended up making this enormous shawl.

Back view of Fabulosity

 

Fabulosity is a large crescent that goes on for miles, and has many, many stitch variations to keep you on your toes. There are a couple of short-row sections that go from wide to narrow and vice versa, which gives the design a less rigid look. The bobble stitch section was tedious to me, but so worth the effort for the effect it has.

This detail shows the bobble stitch section

I used a bronze yarn from Emma's Yarns, but the rest were from stash. Please see my November 2019 post for all the details.

MORE LATER

Come back tomorrow for more COVID FO's and WIP's!

♕♕♕

And there you have it! Thanks for stopping by.

TTFN!