yarn along:: may 2023, in progress

We're in the throes of packing unnecessaries (mostly books that we'll not read in the next few months) and painting and repairs and cleaning up the dust from painting and repairs.  So much dust!  I love the new paint color, seen here in the master bedroom, which brightens and enlarges our space.  Fingers crossed that prospective buyers feel the same way.  

My projects and books are ones that I can put down and pick up and put down and pick up, on repeat, a million times a day.  All our attentions are scattered due to some Really Fun Plans, but we need to Finish Out the School Year.

I recently began making granny squares to make the Battenberg Blanket, a pattern by Sandra Paul.  I doubt I'll have the patience to make mine as large as hers (1020 squares is a lot of squares!), but so far they're quick to make.  I timed myself: 8 minutes from start to finish.  1020 squares would take 136 hours, or approximately 5 2/3 days to make.  Wild.  For my neutral shade, I chose Cascade Heritage Sock in China Blue.  Webs was having a sale, and I picked up 7 skeins for a steal!  My rule is "only soft colors"; the squares so far are lovely.

My bias granny stripe afghan is almost finished, which seems like a major accomplishment in this season of life.  The rows are getting smaller, and choosing a new color for each one motivates me to keep going.  I'll add a single crochet border of a few rows in the neutral taupe color and then a final single crochet row of dark blue.  It's my at-home project.  

For brainless on-the-go knitting, there are socks.  Lots of socks.  There's a pair of vanilla socks in Opal for my sister-in-law, a pair for me, and six(!) more for me in the queue.  I am loving the Harvest Sock pattern by Olivia Villarreal, which has just the right amount of pattern to keep it interesting but not slow me down.  The yarn is pillowy and very different from all other sock yarn I've tried!  It's Pirika 75/25 sock yarn in Shabby Chic from Knitters Without Borders.  (The shop is temporarily closed, so no links!)

I'm gathering speed for my 2023-2024 Term 1 pre-reading.  I don't have any beautiful pictures, but if you're curious about my booklists, check out the CMEC's website or Instagram account.  I've made a good dent in the Term 1 assignments for The Story of the Middle Ages, my second time teaching this book.  Fingers crossed that the information sticks in my brain this time!

What are you knitting?  Reading?

Below is a before picture of our master bedroom, slurped from the previous owner's Zillow listing.  I've saved it all this time because I was hoping we'd eventually get around to painting.  Such a huge change!