February Yarn Along

Happy February! We have snow at the Jersey Shore and that makes me so happy. We haven't had a good snow storm here in a few years. Living so close to the beach usually gives us just rain or a sloppy mix. We didn't get a ton of inches and it was mixed with freezing rain and slop, so it's not the best snow...but it's white and the kids have been home doing school virtually. Long gone are the typical "snow days" for school kids. But we aren't complaining!

I have been knitting and reading a lot lately. Over the years I have tried to listen to audio books but I would get distracted. I'm not sure what has changed about me, but audio books have been my jam lately. I borrow books from our library through their app and so far I have listened to a few books. A very cute, easy listener was "How to Walk Away" by Katherine Center. I really enjoyed that one. I am a sucker for a romantic book. It was very Hallmarkish if you like those kinds of stories.

Next up was Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson. What an odd book!!! I don't know to review it! It has realism but also fantasy. It was so weird! I must be getting soft in my "old" age because years ago I probably would have enjoyed this one. 

I also listened to All Adults Here by Emma Straub. It was just ok. I really liked how the book started out and it sucked me right in. But at some point I kept thinking it's ridiculous how many issues this author is throwing in there and I was ready for it to be over. 

Now I'm listening to One Day in December by Josie Silver. Another cute romantic book. The readers of the audio book are British so I enjoy that very much! So far this is a cute book. 

I knit a pair of socks last week. It was the first time I was able to knit a pair of socks without looking at a pattern. I used up some scraps and made them striped with contrasting cuffs, heels, and toes. My feelings about knitting socks has changed lately. I find them soothing for "between" big project knits. I also understand how they are constructed and that helps a lot. I don't have to think as much anymore while knitting them.

  

Another project that I just started are Leg Warmers by Jane Richmond. I am knitting these using the magic loop technique. I tried this technique years ago when I was newer to knitting and had such a hard time with it. Double pointed needles always made more sense to me and I was a wiz at them. But as part of our New to You MAL, I thought I would give magic loop another try. I decided on knitting the leg warmers and I am going to give them to my sister, Liz, for her birthday next week. Shhhh....she doesn't know! I'm using yarn left over from my Leaves of Grass blanket. I hope she loves them! Here is the video I watched to understand magic loop. It's much easier that I remembered. I'm not sure what technique I prefer. I'll do some more small circular projects with magic loop before I decide. 

I also finally finished up the Advent 2019 socks for my sister, Liz. These were supposed to be her Christmas gift but it took me longer than I expected. 

I also knit a new On the C Train hat. I love this hat!!!!! I made a few for the farm store but I made this one to be my "52 Hike Challenge" hat. I want to order one of the patches and sew it on. I used yarn that was given to me by my friend Carrie. She bought it in Ireland and it was too scratchy for her. She gave me to skeins of this and it's a good thing because as of yesterday, my son Garrett took this hat over as his! I'll knit myself another one. I love the flecks of colors in the dark green yarn. Isn't it pretty?