Hi everyone! It’s been way too long since I’ve been here. I was in a bit of a fog for the month of April. Apparently that’s a thing, it seemed to happen last year too, one of the benefits to keeping a blog haha. But now that I’m fully vaccinated, it’s getting nicer outside, and I’m through my friend’s wedding, I’m feeling a lot better! It’s also been hard to write on here, given that the secret test knit has really been a slog. I had grand ideas to write about old projects but just wasn’t really feeling writing about knitting in general. In test knit news, the deadline got extended a month (which is great, I was NOT going to make it on time) but also means, it’s another month of knitting it. I’ve worked on this almost every day for 9 weeks, and I still have probably close to two weeks to go and it’s just exhausting. The good news is I’ve been able to break up what section of the project I’ve worked on a bit so that’s been good. And I’m definitely on the home stretch. I’m excited about the eventual final product but not quite enough to be motivated to knit a lot on it. And it’s not just motivation, it just takes a long time to knit this thing! The total stitch count is 99,944 and none of those represent stockinette or garter so it’s just a lot of thinking which is nice but really exhausting after 9 weeks!
Ok, that’s enough complaining. Let’s do a quick April Wrap-Up and then I’ll talk about what’s been happening since I’ve last caught up with you all!
WIPs/UFOs on April 1: 7
(Great Western Way Shawl, Grandma Shawl, Larksfoot blanket, Grandpa jumper sleeves, Secret Test, Casual Fashion Queen Socks, Wedding Shawl)
Projects cast on in April: 1
(Jabby)
Projects cast off in April: 1
(Jabby)
Projects frogged in April: 0
WIPs/ UFOs on March 31:7
(Great Western Way Shawl, Grandma Shawl, Larksfoot blanket, Grandpa jumper sleeves, Secret Test, Casual Fashion Queen Socks, Wedding Shawl)
Blanket squares completed: 0
Total Stitches in April: 37,215
I’m not too upset about 37K stitches, as that’s more than 1K a day, but it’s actually the smallest amount of monthly/ daily average stitches since I started tracking in August, by a good deal. Not really a problem, just interesting. Like I talked about earlier, most of it has been on the secret test knit which is naturally slow going. I had some personal stuff going on and yeah, it’s all good 🙂 I am going to frog the wedding shawl, unfortunately I didn’t finish it for the wedding and I don’t really like knitting with lace weight. I like the idea of it much more than the actual thing.
The one little FO I was able to get through is Jabby!
I made this little guy on the day I got my first vaccine shot. I meant to make a second one to give to the person giving me the shot when I got my second one but it just didn’t happen. It was a fun little one day pattern which made me smile 🙂 The pattern is extremely well written and really fun!
The other reason knitting didn’t get a whole lot of love in April was because I volunteered to make masks for the bridal party for the wedding! I made 8 masks total, plus several prototypes to make sure it would work. They turned out really well and I’m super happy 🙂
Cutting out main fabric 
I did a middle layer of interfacing 
Cutting done, ready for assembly! 
Pandemic wedding essentials 
In use 🙂
To finish it all off, here’s my April 1SE clip! Hope your week and month went well, and hopefully you’ll be hearing more from me soon!
Okay – first of all: welcome back, I missed you! Second: CONGRATULATIONS on being fully vaccinated!! I’m super happy for you! YEAH!
The masks are really beautiful, elegant even! That was a great job, even if you didn’t make the shawl (but if you now realised that lace weight is not your thing that’s a valuable thing to know, too!)
I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for you on the testknit. You can do it! Go, go, go!
Thank you! Yeah I’m so thankful to be vaccinated, it’s such a relief. It’s not a total license to do whatever but it makes it so much easier to feel more comfortable doing the little things.
Yeah I wanted the masks to be super elegant to the wedding so I’m glad they came across that way!
Welcome back! The wedding masks look really great, I love how the lace looks over the regular fabric. I hoe the test knit goes well, and that you can move on to a bigger variety of knitting soon!
Thanks! Yeah I was so happy with how the attached lace came out
Those masks are great!!
I hope your test wraps up triumphantly, it’s tough to work on something that feels obligatory sometimes.
Virtually high-5 on vaccination! My vaccinated friends and I are dreaming of outdoor picnics for the summer!
Thanks! I definitely do a lot of testing and don’t usually mind the obligation but it’s getting to the point where I’m just a teensey bit over it haha
And yay outdoor picnics!
You look lovely in your dress and bridal party mask! Also, Jabby is very cute 🙂 Hope your test knit is over soon, and then you will have a lovely sweater to enjoy out of!
Good luck finishing your test knit! I think that’s partly why I don’t try too hard to do them–what if I end up having to spend my precious knitting time on things I don’t like? But it looks like you had time for lots of more fun things. The masks are lovely, and you look beautiful all dressed up in your wedding finery!
Ha yes! For me I usually like tests cause I can’t figure out what awesome thing to make with my precious knitting time and this helps me decide, but this one has been the longest and most tedious. I’ll probably take a break from a test that requires more than 1 skein for a while 🙂
And thank you!
The masks are beautiful. You looked lovely for the wedding. I give you so much credit for taking on such a significant test knit. Did you know the scope of the project when you signed on?
Thank you so much!
I sort of knew – there was a drawing of the pattern so I expected the complexity and size but then the gauge ended up being much tighter than expected so that has also contributed to the extra time!
I’m pleased it all went well. A shame about the wedding shawl but I’m sure you’ll make something lovely with the yarn. Saw the pics on Instagram and you looked lovely
Those masks are gorgeous! 🙂
Your masks look good. The bridal party will be lookin’ sharp.