Christmas

It's that time of year again. I'm not sure why but the people around me are all in panic mode. I've never been one to do this but every now and again I can feel the sense of panic welling up inside.

I can usually talk myself out of this panic. My children are grown so there doesn't seem to be the same sort of demands placed upon trying to have a perfect (whatever that means) Christmas. 

I do however have four little grandsons and I would like to start some Christmas traditions for them. I think if I made them each a handmade ornament every Christmas, that by the time they were grown they would have an armload of beautiful handcrafted Christmas ornaments.

So, with that in mind I crocheted this little beauty.

The pattern is called snowman lights. The design is by Deborah Arch. It is from the crochet magazine called crochet world.

I couldn't be happier with how he turned out. I love his goofy grin. I did make some mods to the pattern. Instead of black beads, I used safety eyes. And I didn't use beads on the mouth.  I embroidered the mouth with some black yarn. The next one I make I will have the earmuffs down over the face a little more. We shall see how they all turned out. One down and three to go.

Edited December 16

So, I finished all four of the snowman. I couldn't be happier with them I am tickled at how cute they turned out.

My embroidery however could use a little work. Look at this photo.

I'm not sure if the lettering is legible or not but I can read them. So, as long as the boys know who owns what it's all good.

I also wanted to share these mittens with you. They are from the self striping club that I was telling you about a couple of posts ago. I'm pretty sure I will be gifting these to my friend Flo. She has been not so subtly hinting for these. This girl professes not to be a yarn snob but she does recognize good yarn when she sees it and who am I to deny someone who has such great taste.

St. John's

I took a quick visit to St John's this past weekend. No trip to town would be complete without a visit to Cast On! Cast Off! 

It's a delightful little LYS ran by the equally delightful Katie. She has curated an amazing collection of indie dyed yarns. If you like to purchase souvenir yarn then I strongly urge you to drop by Katie's shop. 

I bought a sweaters quantity of fingering weight yarn to knit an all over lace pattered cardigan. The yarn is gorgeous! (More about that later in a future post) 

I think I may be crazy for even thinking about this sweater but it's one of those things .... Ya know? It's in my head and I can't stop thinking about it. That and the fact that my friend Jessie is knitting it and hers is turning out so beautifully. 

Katie is running a little KAL this month. It's Christmas ornaments. Knit one for yourself or for her shop. This little cutie is what I made for her. 

The pattern is called "snowball buddies" by Susan Claudino. There are other critters in the collection. I think I'll be making more of these little guys. They are so cute and so easy to make. 

While in town I got to meet up with my gorgeous niece. It was so nice to see her considering we missed her when we visited Newfoundland last month for Dads birthday. 

Here we are at the recently opened Jack Asters in downtown St John's. They have some interesting things on the menu including a side called "stacked jiggs" 

Fellow Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will have some idea of what that is. I didn't try it myself but it sure looked interesting. Maybe next time. 

Winter is Here.

Usually winter comes to this part of the world gradually. We usually will get a snow storm or two before Haloween. The snow melts a little and a little more falls. And little by little our world becomes frozen and covered in snow. But not this year. 

We didn't have any snow for Halloween. But several days after that I get a phone call that the portable insta garage where Kev had been storing wood and the lawnmower had blown into the middle of the street. Of course Kev was out of town for this - as always seems to be the case whenever anything detrimental happens. 

Not only was it windy but about three feet of snow had fallen overnight. And guess what? None of it has melted. We've had more snow since and it too has stayed. Winter has definitely taken hold here and it's not letting go anytime soon. 

The good news is that I'm a knitter and I have a unique skill that allows me to keep warm. And to keep my loved ones warm.

The shawl pictured is a Steven West design. Anyone who has read this blog knows of my affection for Steven West designs. This one is no exception. It's a mystery KAL. It's the third one of his that I've done. I think it's his best one yet and I only gotten two clues done so far but I'm speeding right along. All of the clues have been released and I love the look of some of the finished shawls that are popping up on Rav 

I'm currently in the middle of some travel which usually means some knitting and hopefully some visits to yarn shops. Hopefully I'll finish this shawl up soon. I'm gonna need it. 

 

Winter is coming

Winter comes quickly here in Labrador. The trees are almost bare. Except my favorite tree. That one still has leaves. I know I'm crazy. I have favorite trees. This one is really Interesting - if trees can be interesting. It's a dog berry tree (I think mainlanders call them dogwood)  

 I see this tree on my drive to work each morning. When all the leaves are gone off of the other trees, this one still has leaves. And look at that colour!! It almost glows. Whatever it is about this tree it somehow seems to be a month behind its counterparts. The leaves on this tree were still green when the others were all turned orange and falling. It's beautiful.  

Do you have a favorite tree? I have otter favorites as well. There is a huge poplar near our cabin that I love. There is also a larch tree that I pass on my way to work that has been trimmed to a pefect round tree. And this time of year the larches (or tameracs) are such a gorgeous shade of this golden yellow. They seem to glow in certain lights

In preparation for winter I am back on my mitten kick. I signed up for the mitten club from Blueberry Pie Studio once again. I was very happy with the colours of yarns received from there last year. The first shipment looks like this. 

The colour is called icecream parlour. I love it. I've already finished one mitten and have started the second. This shipment included a pattern for a multitude of sizes so I hope that each of my little boys will have a pair of handknit mittens from this seasons club. Sadly (not really) this colorway is a little too feminine for their parents who believe in gender based colours even though the little ones don't and think that pink and purple are perfectly good colours for boys. I want these mittens to be worn and the parents still have that control. 

So I may keep them for me or I may give them to my neice. But I've been knitting these mittens by Spilly Jane. It's hard to tell from this photo because I was holding the purple yarn in the wrong hand but, that's an octopus. I'm really thinking these will be perfect for my neice. I have to knit her Something since her brothers have (and will have) handknit socks from me. The second octopus is knit in fushia and I changed hands so the colour pops so much. 

The yarn is Jamison Spindrift. Kevin bought it for me when we visited a yarnshop in Mahone bay called "Have a Yarn"

What a lovely store in a lovely town. I highly recommend a visit if you're in the area. They had the nicest samples knit up. It made me want to knit ALL THE THINGS!!! I bought a Lucy Neatby mitten pattern that I've been resisting the urge to cast on. Seriously, I need to get some of the mittens off of the needles.

When you live in Labrador you can never have too many mittens. 

Happy 70th Birthday to my dad

I feel very fortunate that I grew up in a small town in outport Newfoundland. We had so much freedom and the best 'playgrounds'. Of course I'm talking about the many beaches, coves, wharves, gulches, ponds, woods etc that our parents allowed us to explore and play. THE BEST!!

I also had the best parents ( still do, luckily). Mom was hands on. I often tell people that we had the best Haloween costumes, the best decorated Valentines boxes, and the best painted Easter eggs. Our mom even made furnature for our Barbie dolls. 

Dad took us camping - every summer.  Those are some of my best memories. My brother and sister and I along with mom and dad travelling from park to park all over the island. Sometimes if we were lucky our cousins would be camping nearby. Sometimes it would be my parents' friends with kids our age. But often, it was just us and always we were encouraged to go out and make friends. Looking back on those years it amazes me at how open we were and how easy it was to make friends. If there was a kid our age camping in the same park, chances are that kid was our friend within a day of arriving. 

Our parents taught us by example to be respectful of others, of the environment and of ourselves.  They taught us that family is everything and that laughter is indeed the best medicine. 

They also taught us the importance of service and giving back to the community.  Mom was in Brownies with us. This is where I learned to knit. I'm not sure to this day if it was her or my aunt Marie who taught me. Likely, it was a combination of the two. My dad was in the Navy League (which was like junior sea cadets) with us. 

When I look back on growing up in outport Newfoundland there are so many positive, fun memories.  When I went back home to celebrate dad's birthday we were reminiscing about something that happened on a camping trip years ago when we were small children. Dad was surprised that I'd remembered.  Those are the things that stick with you - forever

Now I have new memories. We took mom and dad to St Mary's bay. Dad had never been there. We wanted to see the bird sanctuary that everyone talks about. In typical Newfoundland fashion the fog was as thick as pea soup and we couldn't see a hand in front of our faces. While we couldn't see the birds we sure could hear them. 

Only the gannets were left. By this time of year the other sea birds go out to sea. Murrs and kittywakes that normally nest on the cliffs in the spring are gone by the fall. 

It was kind of fitting that gannets were left. Mom always compared us to gannets.  Like them we always seemed be hungry. And we were always loud. 

Here I am with my mom and dad. We had just finished a 5km walk around the Salmoneer Line nature park. My dad is 70 and my mom will be 70 very soon. We are so lucky that they are well enough to do these things. 

This is a photo of my dad and some of his siblings. Sadly Aunt Elsie is in a long term care facility so she couldn't make the birthday party. Aunt Diane was there but didn't get in on this photo - there are others that she did sit in on. Being one of the youngest of 13, I guess it stands to reason that many of my aunts and uncles have passed already. But it's still sad. I look back on pictures of dad's 40th birthday and they were all there. They had such a fun time that night. And we had a fun time this night too. 

My sister and I. She is an amazing cook. She did all of the cooking for dad's party. She is awesome! Here we are making fun  (of course that's what sisters do best) of her daughter Jenna) We were actually missing Jenna who couldn't get to the party because she had to work. Jenna takes lots of 'selfies' so we are trying to mimic her. 

My handsome and talented nephew Jordan. I'm always grateful for any time I get to spend with him. He was actually home from university as part of his education course - job shadowing at Discovery Collegiate. My nephew is going to be a teacher. And I think he will be an excellent teacher. 

This photo is of my mom and my youngest nephew Riley. You can't tell from this photo how tall he is. This kid is after growing so much since I've seen him last. He has the most gorgeous curly red hair. And he is SO. FRIGGING. SMART!! He is amazing. 

He is amazing and he is totally knit worthy. So guess what? He got these. As soon as they came off the needles he put them right on his feet. And he loved them and appreciated them.

So of course I had to start a pair for his brother because he is knit worthy too. And I can't have him being jealous of his brother. 

Time lapse

Totally purloining the yarn harlot here. She recently did three blog posts showing photos of an in progress sock during a couple of trips she made. Well,here is my time lapse sock since I too am travelling. Kev and I are enroute to Newfoundland through Quebec and the maritimes. 

This last one looks mangled but I assure you it's all good. Doing an afterthought heel sock courtesy of Laura Linneman. Here we are are the ferry terminal in Godbout Quebec. Kind of exciting because I can see whales here from the shore. 

Another from the ferry. Sock is done and teo needs grafting but I've left the tapestry needle below deck. And visiting your vehicle while transversing the St Lawrence River is forbidden. Yikes. Should I do a three needle bindoff and go back and Kitchener it later?

So I did the three needle bindoff and am now knitting the afterthought heel  - which is essentially the exact same thing as a toe! Who knew. Perhaps I'll have one sock finished by the time this ferry docks.  

Top Down Icelandic Cardigan Part 2

Here we are in September already. The weather here in this part of the world has taken a definite turn. Fall comes quickly when you are this far north. The leaves of the birches are turning yellow already. The dogberry trees are almost void of leaves altogether, though I suspect a beetle or disease if doing that, not really due to fall. 

I've been making slow but steady progress on my topdown Icelandic cardigan. I'm determined that this will be a sweater that I wear. I'm determined to knit it perfectly. I'm determined that the fit will be amazing and that I'll be so happy with my cardigan that I'll never want to take it off. 

I've knit many sweaters for myself. Sadly, I don't wear too many of them. There are many reasons for this. Fit is a big one. I've knit one that's too small, another that's too large, another that for the life of me will not stay on my shoulders. (I think this is a design issue - others on Ravelry have complained of the same). There is one sweater that fits fine but looks ridiculous. It has a long peplum and elbow length sleeves. My daughter says it resembles a bathrobe when I wear it. Not a good look for me. 

Then there is this asymmetric sweater that I modified to make it fit symmetric. I really didn't think this one through. The original pattern had a button closure at the neck.  The left front was thin while  the right front was wider. In the original form it was really quite a pretty pattern. I'm not sure what possessed me to try to modify the pattern so that the opening of the cardigan was in the center. I ended up knitting to thin fronts instead of two wider fronts. The result is a cardigan that resembles a cape with sleeves. Not a very fetching look for me.

The final issue that I've had with handknit sweaters is one of sensibility.  I've knit three short sleeved 100% wool sweaters. Let me tell from living in Labrador I've learned that if it's cold enough to be wearing a wool sweater it's cold enough to require sleeves.  It took three sweaters to realize this. That is a sad reflection upon my powers of observation.

So for this sweater I think I finally got it. It's going to be that perfect combination of fit and style and sensibility. That is unless I run out of yarn. 

Rigid Heddle Weaving

In my last post I mentioned the Craftsy classes that I had bought.  One was a weaving class for beginners on rigid heddle looms. 

About 4 years ago Kev gave me a loom for my birthday. It was a little rigid heddle loom called a cricket.  I loved it and wove about 4 scarves on it right away. Then I put it away and haven't used it much since.  

I purchased an e book a while back called Kismet from Hill Country Weavers. The premise of this book is simple weaving on rigid heddle looms combining knitting, crochet and sewing. It's a great book with some really cute and interesting patterns. There are about 7 projects here that I'd like to make.  

Like so many books and magazines I buy, I put it aside for later and I kind of forgot it about. Then one of my favorite video podcasters showed a finished object from this little book and I decided to get out my cricket. 

The project is called Wine and Roses.  You really should check out Steph's (from Must Stash Podcast) version here. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/SupaSteph/wine--roses Its really cute and so wearable. I think these would make great gifts for Christmas. 

My poor little loom hasn't seen much action in recent years. Immediately after the fire I cleaned it but even today 2 years after the fire it still smells of smoke. 

Also, the two apron rods were gone. I have no idea what happened to them. In the chaos after the fire and the subsequent cleaning I can only assume they've been misplaced. So I improvised and used two large DPNs.  So far it's working out good. 

You can see the straight knitting needle here. This was too long to wind the warp around so I found the shorter DPNs. 

If you look real close here you can see the DPN. The fringe is tied around the it. I am a little nervous that the strands will slide off the ends of the double pointed needle. 

Here is the weaving so far. I've always loved this combination of colours. When I'm done with the weaving I'll pick up stitches and knit in a solid color for 15 inches or so. I'm not sure the best color to use. I'm thinking a charcoal color perhaps. The entire piece is finished with

A crocheted edging and buttonholes. Perhaps I'll use some of the buttons from the order that I placed from etsy last week.  

Stay tuned to see me complete this piece. My tension sucks so far and you can really see this when you look closely at the edge of the weaving. I plan on making more of these or perhaps others from this book. I can only improve right? 

Top Down Icelandic Cardigan

There is this online learning tool called Craftsy. They offer many types of classes in a great format. Some of the classes are free but the more involved ones have a fee. 

I've taken several classes. Rigid heddle weaving, spinning dyed fibers are two of the paid classes that  I've taken so far. 

Recently I signed up for a class by Icelandic phenom Ragga Eiriksdottir called Top Down Icelandic Cardigan. Check her out here. http://www.ravelry.com/designers/ragga-eiriksdottir

I'm obsessed with the pattern and the class.  I'm not using the recommended Lopi yarn. I'm using Berrocco Peruvia which is very similar to Lopi in my opinion. I can honestly say that I could probably knit this pattern without taking the class. There aren't any new to me techniques but there is just something about knitting along with Ragga that is so enjoyable. 

I knit the yoke up lickedy split. I chose a cream colour for the contrast and a deep chocolate brown for the main colour.  There also is a tiny amount of a 'pop' colour used. For this I chose a bright blue. I love this combination of colours. 

I'm currently at the point where I've already separated for the sleeves. From here on out I'll be knitting with the brown only. While this may get a little boring at times I want this sweater so badly that I really think I'll push through. 

I'm actually looking forward to the steeking believe it or not. And I've already ordered buttons. That's how much I need this sweater. I should also order some gros grain ribbon. Ragga goes over all of this in her class. The steeking, the sewing  on of the grosgrain ribbon, and even crocheting the button loops. 

I've already watched the class straight through. I rewatch each section as I get to it on my sweater. 

I'm am really hoping that I will enjoy wearing this sweater as much as I've enjoyed knitting it. 

Influential Knitter

A few months ago I posted on Instagram a photo of a lace shawl that I had inprogress. It garnered quite a few likes and some questions. The next day the pattern for this shawl was number one on Ravelry's 'Hot Right Now' list.  It's called sweet dreams. 

I was shocked. I have more influence on the knitting community than I realized. I must admit to being a little proud too. The timing of the thing was too perfect for it to have been a coincidence. 

Then when I visited the Yarn Harlots website I realized how delusional I could be.  She was knitting this shawl too. Independent of what I was doing, she had cast on for the exact shawl.   The Yarn Harlot! What was I thinking. Of course the 60 likes I had gotten on Instagram (still impressive in my books) couldn't be enough to influence the top 10 Hot Right Now on Ravelry. But it was really nice for that brief moment.  

I was inspired to cast this on after seeing it knit up in 100% mink yarn at Dartmouth Yarns in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.  It was gorgeous. I purchased the exact same yarn. It was a little darker colour but that didn't matter. I also purchased the same colour glass beads from a store here in town. (There are several stores here that sell beads. We are lucky that way). 

I have no recipient in mind for this little shawl. It is so unbelievably perfect though. The mink. The colour. The beading. And of course the lace. Just look those points. 

The bindoff - as the yarn harlot noted - took forever.  But it was so worth it. 

I had purchased this little shawl pin from an etsy seller out of Montreal called Every Day Peacock.  It is so beautiful!!

And it suits this little shawl so very perfectly. It is the cherry on top of you will. 

By the way if you are in the market for shawl pins or even some very special stitch markers - do check this guy out. His packaging alone made the purchase worth it. I also purchased a really unique music themed pin as a gift for my daughter. It is so beautiful. 

The funny thing was both the Yarn Harlot and I cast on for these shawls about 18 weeks ago (according to Instagram)

And we are both finishing up at the same time even though this shawl didn't take that long to knit. She made many mods to her version making it much larger. I knit mine exactly as the pattern suggested. I did worry about running out of yarn towards the end but it all worked out. 

I wonder what this knitter will be casting on next? Keep looking at Ravelry's top ten. You never know what might show up next. 

Tour de Fleece Time

It's that time of year again. I think it's my seventh tour. Sadly this has been my least productive tour. 

The Tour de Fleece lasts about three weeks. It runs concurrently with the Tour de France.  I have yet to watch a single minute of the bike event but I guess that isn't the point. 

This year I ended up leaving town for a solid week smack dab in the middle of the tour. It really affected my output. I had  fully intended to spindle spin while I was gone but that really didn't work out

Here is my total yardage spun. Sad hey? Well I love these two skeins but still. I'm used to spinning as many as 10 braids of fiber. 

I spun both if these on my Louet DT S10 and not the sidekick for some reason. I need to clean and oil my sidekick. I think I'll take it upstairs and onto the back laptop. I love to spin out there. 

Remember the mittens?

About 5 or 6 posts ago, I wrote about knitting jags. In particular I wrote about going on a mitten knitting jag. I also prophesized that the jag wasn't over because I had a few more mail outs coming from Blueberry Pie Studio's  mmMarvelious Mitten club. 

Turns out I was right. Here's a pair I finished in the great colourway named Turquoise Frosting   I love it so much!! I think this pair may be mine. 

Since I knit these very quickly while travelling to Lab City to watch Max play in a soccer tournament, I immediately cast on for another. The great thing about these club mail outs is that the yarn comes all balled up and ready to go.  This is great when you are looking for something to knit in a hurry. Since I was going to be spending six hours as a passenger driving to Lab City plus hours watching soccer and then six hours driving back I knew that I had lots of knitting time to prepare for. So I grabbed some blueberry pie studio yarns as I was going through the door. 

This colour is called Farmers Market (I think). These will be for one of my lovely stepdaughters. 

I wasn't done yet! I cast on for another pair in some handspun that I had recently finished.  Remember that Lisa Frank batt that I had spun into a dk weight two ply? Well that yarn knit up into a beautiful fabric. It wasn't nearly as crazy looking as I thought it would be. 

I love these so much. I may keep these for myself too. Hey! I live in Labrador. A girl can never have too many mittens. And these are the exact weight and fit that I like my mitts - especially for driving back and forth to work.

And I still wasn't done. This pair is for Cooper.  Again the yarn is from Blueberry Pie Studios Marvelous Mitten Club. The colour is called sunny tulips. 

So what do you think? I'm getting a good start on winter (which comes very quickly here in Labrador). I think I may be done with the mittens for a little while. 

Travelling

When I moved to this town almost 25 years ago it took me a while to figure out something that people who are from here seem to inherently know. That is in order to survive the 'hardships' of living in a very isolated community you MUST find a way to leave it several times a year.

This may sound a bit extreme to those of you not living in an isolated town but trust me on this one. Now things have certainly improved in the past 25 years. The road through Quebec is so much better with large parts of it now being paved (yeah we have it good) and there is even a second road out of here through the southern part of Labrador. 

My first year in the 'Big Land' was an eye opener. For starters I was a new mother raising my daughter away from my own family. I didn't know many people here. I fell in love with Labrador though. I remember lying on my bed one day nursing my infant daughter when I happened to glance out of the bedroom window only to see the largest bird I had ever laid eyes on perch atop the telephone pole that was just feet from my house. It was a Golden eagle and I'd never seen anything like it!! 

But I became sad somehow. I thought maybe I had the baby blues but that wasn't it. My daughter was the center of my universe. I just missed my family. And I missed being able to go to shops.  I had become a little stir crazy living in such an isolated community. So I visited my mom and my sister. And I went shopping. I came back to Labrador refreshed and revitalized and ever since then I have gotten out of here at least twice a year. 

2014 has been a year like no other!  So far since January I have taken five (that's 5) trips out of Labrador. I've been to St John's three times. I've been to Halifax once. And I've been to Montreal once.  

Now the thing you need to understand about people living in isolated communities is that when given the opportunity to shop somewhere outside (of Labrador in this case) we will do so no matter if we don't need anything. Living in an isolated community almost makes one want to .... (It's such an ugly word) .... hoard.  There, I've said it. We try to anticipate future needs when we get to shop in larger centers because we know that if we buy something in St. John's will likely cost 40% more in Labrador. That's just the way it is. 

Now factor knitting into this equation. Do you see where I'm going with this? Everytime I travel, I look for the best yarn shops in town. And then I try to anticipate any future knitting I might do. This is trickier than it sounds.  My stepdaughters have two young boys each. But are they done making babies? Technically I could have another grandbaby before I travel again. 

Now I will admit that Internet shopping had made things SO. MUCH. EASIER.  But there is something very tactile about yarn shopping. Sure, the colours look great on my computer monitor but I have no way of know what the yarn feels like next to skin. 

Because of this, I tend to hoard yarn. When I get to physically go into a yarn shop and actually pick up and feel yarn and squish yarn and yes, even bury my nose in it and smell yarn, well, I tend to go a little nuts. 

The result is an awesome stash. And I think I have achieved SABLE (stash acquired beyond life expectancy)  

I took a picture of this little yarn/craft shop in St John's called Fiber Lilly. It's pretty cute. 

And this is the yarn that I bought on trip 2 to St John's at Cast On Cast Off. I bought yarn there on each of the three trips. Don't judge. 

This beauty I bought (among others) at Mouline in Montreal. 

And I didn't even take a photo of the stuff that I bought when I went to Halifax. I bought a bunch of yarn at Dartmouth Yarns and even some nice rustic yarns T the Halifax market. (I also bought a darning egg there too but that's another post). 

The sad thig is (or perhaps the great thing) that I'm not done travelling this year. Kev and I are planning a trip to Charlottetown, PEI and perhaps Niagra Falls, Ont - and I know there are yarb shops in both of those cities. We may need to build a piece on. 

Hello Spinning, It's Been Awhile

It's been a very long time since I've blogged about any spinning I've been doing. I'm guessing it'll probably go back to last years tour de fleece. I put my wheel away for a long time. When we moved into our new house I brought all three wheels with me and set them up in my beautiful new craft room and there they sat for a very long time - over six months I'm sure. 

  

And then I got inspired to spin this lovely batt.

 Its from etsy seller Dawning Dreams. Its super wash merino and bamboo. And the colourway is called Lisa Frank. I had no plans for it. I didn't care if it was a single or plied yarn. I had no care as to the weight of the finished yarn either. I just spin. And I let the fiber become what it wanted to become - which ended up being a two ply dk weight yarn.

It was a little tricky to spin. Since it's a batt there were different fiber types in the mix. And different fiber types require different spinning techniques (at least if you want a somewhat uniform yarn). The hot pink that you see was most definitely bamboo and had to be drafted so differently than the other colours which were wools. 

Overall it was a delight to spin. And I'm itching to do something with it. I'm just not sure what to do - knit or perhaps even weave. Time will tell.