Planning for a good time

We have another two weeks of stage four lockdown and then a graduated release, where things only really start opening up on the 23rd of October. I'm in a very fortunate position - I like the person I'm living with, I have time consuming hobbies, both of us still have our jobs, I "see" my friends regularly through Zoom. But like everyone else, I've got a touch of lockdown fatigue. I've done all the things I wanted to (new kitchen, new dining chairs, redecorate my living room as a tropical lagoon). I've got great knitting projects lined up and a lot of good books to read. But everything feels really routine and blah. So this is what I'm doing to make the next 2 months fun:

At the beginning of Stage four we contacted Nath, from Enfer running and got him to program a months worth of run training. Because he's Nath, he programmed to (what was meant to be) the end of stage four - today. We didn't have any actual goals, but it got me running regularly for the first time in a while, and it got me used to training with power. For the next training cycle we're aiming to improve our 5km times, so that should be fun.

I signed up for Power and Posture, am 8 week coached program to work on my handstands and inversions. I did a cycle with them back in 2017 when I broke my finger and my foot, and I thought it would be fun to have something concrete to work on.

In knitting I am seriously considering doing Stephen West MKAL, starting in October. I've got 4 colours of yarn that go really well together, and would love to dye a 5th, speckled yarn to go with. He releases some colour thoughts todayand then more basic information on Monday or Tuesday my time. The clues will be coming out at the beginning of the weekend Melbourne time, so that could be really fun.

And finally Kate Davies has a new yarn and a new club. It looks like fun, and I always join her clubs, for her insightful writing as much as the patterns, although I've always knit some of the patterns, and knit some things that I otherwise might not have. And I LOVE two of the colours of the new club, so I might treat myself if I loke the patterns. I would also be very happy buying some yarn from Bendigo or Wangarrata woolen mills and dying it up myself. We shall see.

Look at those colours (for KDD website)

So those are my plans and just writing them here has cheered me up no end. Yes there are things I can't do right now, but there are so many things I can do - things that I might not have / or make time for in a busier time in my life. There are silver linings, and I'm going to sit in the glow of them, because this time is going to happen and I can sit in the grumpinesss of it all, or I can have some fun.

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Geogradiant MKAL Part 1 - that was unexpected (spoilers)

Stephen West released the first MKAL clue on Thursday night. I started knitting it without looking at spoilers. When I got up on Friday he had sent through an "alternative" clue one. I then went and had a look at the spoiler thread to try to work out what was going on. Which was that some people thought the pattern looked like a "German hate symbol". I knit on anyway, since I was half-way through. Then he took down the original clue, replacing it with a mitred square in garter stitch. The Ravelry forums and Instagram are a complete shit-show, even though Rav is being moderated. It's been a bit disheartening, having something that is usually quite light and fun weighed down with all this. I admire Stephen's quick and sensitive response to this drama. I also feel that anything can look like anything if you squint. To me this looks like a Celtic knot. I think mine is pretty, and I'll knit on through all crises.

Linky Wednesday - the one with the drama

The drama about the Stephen West MKAL continues, and I can't be bothered with it. It's meant to be a fun, interesting, communal knit and and that's not what this year has turned in to. Stephen has done his best in a difficult situation, but I'm just not feeling it. Meanwhile, Israel is at war, and we (as a country) are going to vote "no" on a referendum that asks for basic consideration for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders. So yeah, lots of turmoil here. It's very tiring. I'm knitting a sock and considering what happens next. Luckily the reading was dramatic in a good way. I'm reading a NetGalley review copy of Last Summer at the Lake House and it's great. Super dramatic family drama about three sisters who loose their father unexpectedly and then find out that the family has secrets. I 've nearly finished it and I don't know what I'm going to read next. I've got a bit of a break between review books, so maybe Sta

Mussleburgh musings

I made a Mussleburgh hat earlier in the year, and even though I thought I was following the directions exactly it did not come out quite right. It was a little bit loose. My head is 51 cm, my gauge was 7 stitches, so according to the pattern I knit the right size. It's also a little bit shorter than I would like it. Too long for a beanie, too short for a good turn-up. I couldn't work out why. I still wore it, but it was not quite right. When I decided to knit one for Elise I knew I wanted to make it longer, and tighter. After I finished Elise's (with 24 fewer stitches) I realised something about mine: Now, this is a knit tube. I know how to knit tubes. When I make sleeves or socks, they don't balloon out in the middle. So I decided to reblock it. The instructions actually specifically say to fold it inside each other after blocking, but I probably folded it and dried it on my head, because that's how I block my hats. Not this time: Now it's longer and thinner

What I made, by Sharon

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