Pattern: Plain and Simple by Veera Valimaki

Yarn: Wollmeise 4ply Twin, 2.75 skeins.

Needle size: 2.25mm (yes, that small)

Project time: 10 months approx. a real mojo killer

Buttons: Buttonmania

Alterations: I did some custom side shaping, as the pattern is written with none. Side shaping rocks.

Near disasters: Running out of yarn. I was very lucky to track down the 3rd skein on Ravelry and for it to be a perfect match nonetheless. A very close call.

Learnings: It’s going to be a long time before I knit another sweater in sock gauge. I do enjoy wearing 4 ply garments, but next time I’ll pay closer attention to the gauge needed.

Finally: I love it. It was worth the time and effort and the fit is great.

The cat garden is growing with some interest from Purl. We have lots of ‘cat grass’ or spew grass as I like to call it growing now. The cat nip is finally also making a start. I’m keeping it protected from Purl until it really gets going. There have not been any more instances of hairballs, but I feel a little more prepared just having some cat grass growing.

Purl is also growing. Some days she’s sweet and most others, she’s naughty! Now that footy is over for the year, we’ve switched over our Foxtel package to include the channel ‘Animal Planet’, so ‘I’ can watch my favourite show, ‘My cat from Hell’. It makes Purl look like an absolute angel in comparison. Mind you if I did something ‘silly’ like bring home another kitty or puppy, I’m sure we’d have ‘issues’ on our hands. The host ‘Jackson Galaxy’ does a wonderful job of turning stressed out upset kitty’s into agreeable members of the family.

I guess this is a knitting blog and not a cat blog, so I’ll talk about my project progress. The never-ending ‘Plain and Simple’ top is finished and is currently blocking. The reports of it being worn in public pre-blocking are true. It was only once I left the house that perhaps I realised my mistake. The ribbing and bands really needed a good wash and dry to settle down the curling and to make it sit right. FO photos to come.

I’m now focussing my attentions on my mum’s socks for Christmas. I’ve never knit my mum a pair of socks, I can’t wait for them to go on her (larger than mine) feet. I’m using my orange Sweet Georgia yarn from the Cookie A sock club shipment of June, and I’m making ‘Artemis’ socks from the August patterns. I am once again behind in my sock club knitting and I’m trying not to beat myself up about it. It’s kind of killing the fun of the club knit-along for me. I have pretty yarn and pretty patterns, I’m just not knitting them at the exact same time as everyone else. It feels like I’m running a race and I’m coming last (which physically is what happens if I ran a race). It’s that draining.

Next in my sights is my sisters baby crochet granny square blanket, but I want to get a fair way through my second sock before picking up this project. Even though they are both due around the same time, I find I’m more successful when I concentrate my attentions on one project at a time. But this is no fun. I want to knit all the things. I want to start cardigans, shawls, stripey socks…