Yarning Along: Festive plans afoot

I've got a much longer Yarning Along post for you today than usual. Partly to make up for the lack of post last week, and partly because I have plans afoot!

It was Halloween yesterday, and while it's not a festival I celebrate, I did make a token effort with some pumpkin carving, which I enjoyed much more the previous attempts I've made (I think I chose the right knife this year, which made it much quicker than earlier efforts). I also took my kids along to the school Halloween disco, which they enjoyed and I endured. I like parties with music, but it's not that much fun when you're expected not to dance!

  

And now it's November 1st and I can get started on my Christmas knitting almost guilt-free (I have a few commissions that I need to get finished so that I can cast something else on completely guilt-free). First up, I will be casting on some Christmas socks in this very festive yarn from Unbelievawool (it was a club colourway a couple of years ago), and carrying the project round in my brand new Christmas sloths bag from Yarn Magpie. Seriously, the bag is amazing, beautifully made and a lovely size, and who doesn't need festive creatures on their project bags. And once my Unbelievawool socks are done, I'll be knitting some Candy Cane striped socks in the new yarn from West Yorkshire Spinners (which I ordered the second I knew of its existence!).

While the socks will be my out and about knitting, my home project will be a Christmas stocking for a friend's daughter. I made a stocking for my friend's eldest a couple of years ago, and am pleased that a second was requested for their new daughter who arrived earlier in the year.

After the stocking is knitted, I shall be totally indulgent and cast on my Sincerely Louise reindeer head so it can be mounted on the wall in time for Christmas. I'm not certain the deer was designed as a Christmas ornament, but mine shall be adorned with tinsel over the festive period, and maybe even some fairy lights, so it will be super-festive!

You may remember that last year I had not one, not two, but three yarn advent calendars. You may also have noticed that I didn't show you the after photo for the sock yarn blanket. And that's because I still haven't completed all 24 days of squares, oops. My schedule required two squares per day, which was never going to happen, but over the next few weeks I am planning on adding the final 16 squares (days 16-24), so that I can be ready to add this year's advent squares over the course of December (one per day; the yarn will come from an advent calendar swap that someone was organising on Instagram). Here's what the advent section of the blanket looks like at the minute.

And in the spirit of Yarning Along, here's what I'm currently reading: The Power by Naomi Alderman. I heard of this book via Radio 4 ages ago, but was reminded of it last week and ordered a copy straight away. The premise is interesting: what would happen if all girls suddenly had the ability to control electricity and as a result became physically stronger than men. I'm a big fan of well-written dystopian novels, and so far this one is ticking all the boxes.

I finished reading Autumn just before half term, and felt the book was far too clever for me. I am actually considering reading it for the second time as I think there's a lot more I could get out of it now I know that it is character- rather than plot-driven. I have a couple of other books I am very excited to get started with over the next few weeks: The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman and Into the Water by Paula Hawkins. I loved the His Dark Materials series, so am glad that Pullman is revisiting that world again. I'm saving the book for a clear weekend as I suspect that once I start reading it I won't be able to put it down again! Into the Water is by the same author as The Girl on the Train, which I read very quickly a couple of years ago; I heard an small extract from Into the Water on the radio when it first came out and am excited to see what happens.

Thanks for reading. What are you excited about at the minute?

As ever, linking up with Rachel for Yarning Along.

Do you have any festive knitting plans? If you do, why not join in with the Vikki Bird Designs' Christmas KAL? All the details can be found in my Ravelry group.*

*Ravelry link. Requires a Ravelry account to read; membership is free.

Best Year Ever CKAL

Last year at The Flock launch party I met a lovely blogger and podcaster called Nikki.* I have been listening to her podcast Tea and Possibilities ever since (and if you haven't checked out her podcast already, I would definitely recommend it, especially if you like knitting, books, tea and Harry Potter; it's a lovely cheerful corner of the internet). This year Nikki is running a year long knit and crochet along (might even be a craft along, you'd have to check) called the Best Year Ever CKAL in her Ravelry group,* and the aim is to make four things over the course of the year that make you happy.

I know that joining in a CKAL so early in the year is clearly a breech of my "no more KALs" rule, but this one is pretty straightforward, and I was planning on making (at least) four things over the course of the year anyway, so I'm definitely on board. All you have to do is make four things and post about them in Nikki's Ravelry group.

So what are my four happy-making things?

1. Antler jumper 

I cast on an Antler cardigan for myself last year and rapidly decided I had started the wrong size and that I wanted a jumper rather than a cardigan. This year I am going to get that back on the needles and get the garment I want.

I'll be knitting it in Sirdar Wool Rich Aran, which I believe is discontinued - I managed to snag ten balls (that's a full kilo) for just over £25 last January with this garment in mind.

 

2. Lush cardigan

I have loved this Tin Can Knits pattern since before it came out a few years ago (I think I snuck a look at it on a testing thread). The cardigan is beautiful, and so unusual. I bought the yarn for it in a clearance sale at the department store near my parents' house at some point in 2015, definitely with a plan to use it for this pattern, and haven't got round to casting it on yet, but will do this year. For a minute I thought about completing it time for a yarn retreat I'm going to at the end of February, then remembered that was a crazy idea!

3. A squishy purple shawl

Having said I only got one ball of wool for Christmas, this week's post proved me wrong when the Christmas present from my brother arrived: two skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in an amazing shade of purple. This will definitely become a shawl for me to replace the purple one I made last year that was too itchy for me to wear. I'll probably use one of Susan Ashcroft's shawl patterns as I want to use every last scrap of yarn, and the Love Train shawl I made last year gets a lot of wear.

4. A reindeer head

I have talked myself out of knitting a unicorn head as my husband doesn't want an animal head up on the wall all year round, boo. But I think I can probably get away with a reindeer head instead as it only has to be out for about a month per year (though I am tempted to leave it up in the spare room all year round and decorate it seasonally for guests to appreciate).

What happy things are you planning on working on this year?

 

*You will need to be logged into Ravelry for these links to work. Ravelry is free to sign up to, and is an excellent resource for all things related to knitting and crochet.

 

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