Wow! I can finally post about a finished project. It’s just a small one but it’s a finished project nonetheless. I’ll get to that in a moment. Last week was Thanksgiving here in Canada and John and I drove to Abbotsford to celebrate with my Mom, my kids, and my grandkids (all 7 of them!). John and I cooked the dinner at my daughter’s apartment and we got to enjoy some quality time with them.
That was on Monday; on Tuesday, John drove back home to Kelowna while I stayed on until Friday. I was able to spend some time with each of my kids and their children, taking each of them out for dinner. It was wonderful to see all of them and to get to know the grandchildren a little more. They’re becoming so grown up and, even though they each have their own issues to deal with, I think I have seven wonderful grandchildren. I’m allowed to say that; I’m their grandmother! (I’d post pictures but I still haven’t downloaded all of them… and no, there really weren’t all that many!)
We stayed at my mother’s for the duration of our stay and one advantage to that is that I did have time to finish a book (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, third in the Stieg Larsson trilogy) and time to work on a small knitting project.
I’ve made a few pairs of wrist warmers for myself over the years because my right wrist gets quite cold and achy, even in the heat of summer. The last pair I made have seen a goodly amount of use and are, quite literally, falling apart. If I were to tug on the loose thread, they would come apart completely so it was definitely time to make myself another pair. I started them a couple of weeks ago but didn’t have a lot of time to work on them. By the time we got to Mom’s, I was up to the cast off on the first wrist warmer; it wasn’t until last Thursday that I finally finished the cast off and immediately cast on for the second one. I finished it on Friday morning, well before I had to catch the bus at 1:30 p.m.
I’m pleased. They’re snug, they’re warm, and they’re not bad looking.
I’m not sure what the yarn is, although I do know that it is 100% wool, and it’s a sport weight yarn. They were knit on 3.0 mm needles, making them nice and snug. The pattern is an offset baby cable. Normally I would have done the baby cable every 4th row; on these, I started working every second column of knit stitches on the 4th row, then alternated on every 8th row. Does that make sense?
The total length of the wrist warmers is 5.5″. If there’s any interest, I’d be more than happy to write out the pattern (it will be the first in a long time!).
Now, I need to make a pair to go with my new winter jacket; it’s lime green and navy blue. I have a pattern in mind but I need to go stash diving to see if I have any yarn that will go with the jacket.
Back to our visit with the kids… One of the things we did while we were there, one of the things John insisted we do, was to make grape jelly with, and for, the grandkids. Trinity was all ears and all eyes as she stood with me and helped while I ladled the hot jelly into the jars. Together, we made nine half pint jars of gorgeous grape jelly. Each of the grandkids was given a jar. The two remaining jars went to my mother and Kristen’s boyfriend. That was Monday. By Tuesday, the half jar that we left with Kristen was already finished. The jelly was a complete success and the kids were thrilled!
After John got home, he picked more grapes and later today, we’ll be making more jelly… for John. Personally, it’s very rare for me to eat toast with jam or jelly. It is, however, an enjoyable task making jams and jellies. It’s such a wonderful feeling seeing those jars of sparkling purple jelly. And, as you can see by the pictures, this was a good year for grapes.
Strings 'n Things 