Project Report 26.30-31: Busy Life, Busy Needles

Holy cow, guys. I had a heck of a week.

I visited with some friends I hadn't seen in ages and got all caught up on everything from new babies to retirement parties. I saw my mother -- twice -- and found out my brother moved to a new apartment. The cucumbers started coming out of the garden in large enough quantities that I had to make a batch of pickles. And, as if that weren't enough, we are now a single-vehicle household, so I've been learning to coordinate my comings and goings with my roommate's work schedule.

PLUS! I was assigned a court date for my disability case, which is a VERY GOOD thing, but it rocketed my anxiety to new heights, so there's that.

But what do we do when life gets chaotic? We knit.

I am so very, very close to finishing my Untimely sweater. Both sleeves are done. There is no ribbing left. All I have to do is finish the button band.

The only problem is that my dumb ass decided to do a double knit button band, which turns out to be the least fun thing ever. I seriously have never been this bored with my knitting. It's the same seven stitches, over and over and over again. It's mind numbing. So I set that aside.

I made a good dent in my roommate's birthday sweater, seeing as how it's already August and his birthday is in three weeks. (How did this happen???? It was just May a minute ago.)

Based on the sweatshirt I'm using as a template, I'm just about done with the body and should be starting the ribbing in a few rows. Then it's one sleeve, a little bit of finishing, and that will be ready to wrap.

As I was avoiding my Untimely sweater and keeping the birthday sweater on the down-low, I needed another project.

Over the weekend, I did a deep dive on Ravelry to pick my next pattern. You can see that chain of consciousness here, if you're interested. 

I ultimately settled on the Alberta Sunshine top by Sandra Buzza and have started knitting it in Lana Grossa Diversa, a sport weight cotton-viscose blend.

So far, I am really enjoying this project. I imagine I'll have second thoughts when I get to the plain stockinette portion, but I think I'll be excited enough about the finished product that it won't be such a slog.

Now, I'm a little embarrassed to share this last thing on the Internet, but I did acquire yarn for another project.... at Walmart.

This is Caron Simply Soft, America's sweetheart for crochet afghans and baby garments galore. I'll be knitting neither. Instead, this will become an adult-sized beanie, and possibly a pair of fingerless gloves, because I don't think I'm going to need 300 yards for a hat. My roommate asked me, very nicely, if I could make a hat for him to give as a gift, and I said yes. I didn't have any pink yarn in stash, and I wanted to be confident that the finished object would survive the standard laundry cycle, so I opted for Simply Soft. It's a staple for a reason, yaknow. 

If you have a go-to box store yarn, I'd love to know about it. I've had good luck with Lion Brand Heartland, but I don't have much experience beyond that. Drop me a comment with your suggestions!