2020 Pandemic Purchases

2020 was the year we had a pandemic.  In the beginning, everyone thought it would blow over in a few short months.  As the months dragged on, it became quite clear that the pandemic was not going to end anytime soon and that I wouldn't traveling (and get my knitting fix) any time soon either (at the very least, not this year).😭  So, I did the next best thing that knitters everywhere have been doing:  Go shopping on-line!🙌 🎉👍

There's been a few things that I've been drooling over and it was finally time to buy them. ;)

Here's my 2020 Pandemic Purchases:
(While not knitting related) A super cute fabric basket for my bathroom to hold my face wipes in (from ToteworthyDesigns on Etsy)😍

Knitter's Pride Knit Blockers (in Rainbow!)🌈

This was not nearly as easy to use as I thought it would be.  It took quite some strength to puncture through my project to block it down.  I'm not quite sure if I really like it ... 🤔  Maybe I just need to use it a little bit more to find the right technique. 🤔

A Knitting Bin from Three Bags Full Studio:

I was actually planning on going to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this year to purchase something from this vendor. But, as the pandemic got worse and worse, I knew that going to the Festival was not going to be an option for me. So, instead, I found her on Etsy and low and behold, a bin was purchased in her signature fabric.😍  Isn't it sooooo cute? ♥️😍 As you can see, it holds quite a bit of yarn!🙌  And, it fits perfectly in my knitting cart:

I love this bin so much that it has become the bag of choice at home to store all my active projects in.  (So, yes, it doesn't really live in my knitting cart - it lives in front of my chair where I constantly have a project in there.) 😁🙃😍  

A yarn guide ring

This wasn't an actual pandemic purchase since I had intended to purchase it this year anyways; but, since it was purchased during the pandemic, I thought I'd (also) noted it here.😁

A variety of Chiaogoo cables: the new Blue Flex cables, their short mini cables (that I didn't have) and some other cables that I either didn't have in the Twist & Spin or needed another set of (particularly in Spin). I purchased them from Handsome Fibers. I've purchased from them previously and have always found them to be quick, efficient and they always have items in stock!🎉👍

Another set of Aloha Bags x Sand People in Seashells:

Midi

Mini

They were so cute and pretty that I couldn't help myself! 😍

I finally caved and bought myself a Chiaogoo yarn butler and nostepine from Handsome Fibers as well:

I've been thinking about getting a yarn butler and a nostepine for quite sometime.🤔  I was even thinking that I might find "the one" (finally) this year at the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival. But alas, with COVID-19 and for the cost, functionally and overall beauty of these objects, I found that the Chiaogoo versions were quite nice and comparable. I've found my yarn butler to be VERY useful and it has actually made knitting much easier (no more yarn balls rolling all over the place or making my knitting bag a mini jumping jack). I'm also learning how to use my nostipine. It is a tad different than my old cardboard tube version but I think it's just something I'll just need to learn how to use and tweak my methods:

Update on my nostipine: I can't seem to figure out how to wind my yarn in such a way that it fits onto my yarn butler! 😭  Every time I wind my yarn on it, the hole comes out too small and won't fit on my yarn butler, no matter how loosely I try to wind it.😭  I think I'm going to have to figure out a way to modify it or just give up on this.😒🤔

I bought this book as I fell in love with A LOT of their sweater patterns😍♥️:  

I had actually found this book at my local library and due to COVID, was able to borrow this book for an exceptional long period of time - long enough for me to finish a sweater project and start another one (and long enough for it to convince me to find and actually buy it)! 😁🙃😍  And since I'm currently on a sweater kick, I was lucky enough to find this e-book on sale!

Then Jimmy Beans Wool was having a sale on their Namaste collection in which they were phasing out so, I took the opportunity to pick up this: 

It's the Maker's Portfolio (mine is actual Teal) and it holds both my Chiagoo Needle set and my Denise Needle set.  I've been wanting something that held both of my favorite needle sets in one (1) thing and so far, while this "fits" everything, I can understand why some people didn't love this case as much. It definitely packs (very) tight when you use nearly all the sleeves and in the long run, I can see how one might feel that the plastic sleeves may tear or have the zipper burst (I actually had the back pocket zipper "burst" even though I only had a small tape measure back there - not to worry, I managed to fix it but it was a bit shocking when it happened 😒).  Additionally, when putting needles in the "upper" pockets, they tend to be a little difficult to take out.  While it's not a bad case, there's also room for improvement.  In the end, I used this to store my fixed circulars.

  

Since I was on a mini buying binge, I also saw these stitch markers on Etsy and had a custom set made for me in bright pink and mint:

They are really bright and clearly marked.  I love how big, bright (& light) the markers are! 😍🎉

And, while I was perusing Etsy in one of my favorite shops that I love to drool over, I noticed that they were making new 3D printed items (they specialize in creating 3D printed items for spinning & knitting). So, I asked them if they would be interested in creating a 3D printed nostipine and they said Yes! 🙌. So I was able to work with them to create a custom nostipine that had the top of my trusty cardboard tube and the bottom of my wooden nostipine ... And the best part: it comes in two (2!) pieces! 🙌 🎉 (so it's easier to store!). Here's what it looks like and how it works:

2-pieces

Put together

Nostipine (in hand)

How I store my nostipine

And here's how it works

I (mostly) love it! 😍  It was just as I envisioned and it's so much easier to use than my old cardboard one (the handle makes such a difference!😍). There's even a little notch to hold the yarn so that I no longer have to worry about the end getting lost (and needing to make yarn barf to find it) or needing to make sure I'm holding the end down at the other end while winding my yarn so that I can find it again.  And, the handle comes apart so it's so much smaller to store!  I can literally bring it around with me if I really wanted to since it's so short and small now! 😲😍 🎉  The only draw back is that when winding a lot of yarn, it can become top heavy. I think this is (mainly) due to the fact that the base needed to be thick enough to accommodate the handle and there's a little lip in the base so that the handle doesn't just pop straight through. Also, the cone could be thinner but, I'm not sure if that's why it was so top heavy. I've given the maker my feedback so, hopefully, their final version (should they want to add this to their shop items) will be better. I'm just thrilled that I have a custom made nostipine that was made just for me! 😲😁😍 🙌🎉 

Since I have quite a "selection" of stitch markers now, it was time for it to all live in a cute stitch marker box.  I had a 10% discount for Target for Welly bandages so, I picked this up:

Isn't it soooooo cute?!  I couldn't help myself!🤣😁😍  Now, there's a-lot more room for more stitch markers! 😉😁😍

I caved in and bought a Clover pattern chart marker (from Amazon) (I was hoping to find one in Japan but just couldn't wait). I was finding it too difficult to read my sweater chart (from my new books) with my post-it that was starting to become un-sticky. It was time for something that I could use over the length of my book (vs me trying to line up my post-it & hoping it was straight!).  

It's not as sturdy as I thought it would be; it's actually a lot thinner than expected. It's like really thin plastic (think of those old school report covers people used to use for school (for those old enough to know what I'm talking about)) with thin, light weight magnets attached to them.  It's not bad and it does the job; it's just not what I expected. (I neither hate it nor love it at this juncture.)

Then, I wanted to add on a border to a blanket I made and realized that I didn't have enough cables to do it (even if I were to only add the cables to each side separately instead of having it go all the way around the blanket).  So, after doing some price comparisons between my Denise needle set and my Chiaogoo needle set, I found that the price difference wasn't much; but, if I could get a discount on one of them then that was the set I was going to pick up!  Fortunately for me, Denise had an anniversary sale that not only allowed me to get the needed cables (3 52" in blue & 2 40" in Teal cables - I couldn't get it in the original cable colours I had it in (in Teal & White) as they are phasing these colours out 😭 ) and (4) extenders but a few other things too, including some other cables (1 3" in Yellow, 1 5" in Red, 1 24" in Turquoise & 1 30" in Blue cable) and another full short set (US5-15) that I've been wanting (in Brights for US5-10 & Pastels for US10.5-15) (so now, I really have three (3) needle sets from them so, should I ever want to do DPNs with my Denise needles, I can now. 😉)😍 🙌 🎉 

I had made a gigantic bunny for my niece and "needed" a bigger pom pom maker so, I found this:

A 115cm (that's 4.5 inches) pom pom maker!  Now, I can make some big balls! 😉😁🎉. I also noticed that Clover has improved their pom pom maker ... If you look really closely, they've marked off where it's the quarter, a third and half of the pom pom to help make it easier for you to create all kinds of cute pom poms! 😍♥️

After using my Chiaogoo Yarn Butler for a while, I finally understood why knitters had more than one yarn butler.  So, it was time for me to graduate and also have another one.  Hubs convinced me to splurge a little on my second one so, I got a custom made one on Etsy:

 

OMG ... It's much bigger than my Chiaogoo one and also much quieter!  You can't even hear it spin!  So, while it's significantly bulkier (it breaks down into 2 whole pieces), it definitely is worth every penny spent on it.  It dwarfs the Chiagoo and makes the Chiagoo sound like a Harley when you use it! 🤣

Then, I went on a book buying spree where I purchased:

• KDD's 10 Years In the Making series (OMG! 😍♥️ The sweaters in here!! 😍😍😍♥️)
• The Art of Slip-Stitch Knitting (the possibilities! 😍♥️)
• AlterKnit Stitch Dictionary (the concepts and ideas! 😍♥️)
• Norwegian Knitting Designs - 90 Years Later: A New Look at the Classic Collection of Scandinavian Motifs and Patterns 

I love my Dust Bunny Bin so much that I've been "stealing" my accessories from my sock kit for use in my Dust Bunny.  It was time for it to have it's own accessories so, I picked up the following from Amazon:

another tape measure

another yarn threader (I love this one!😍😍)

My Dust Bunny Knitting Bin may need it's own little tin to hold everything now ... 🤔 😉

I also (finally) picked up another (full) set of knitting needles that I had previously spoke about; I had been wanting to "replace" my 5" Chiaogoo Twist needles with the 4" version for sometime now and Handsome Fibers had a Thanksgiving sale I just couldn't pass up. 😉 Here's my new set of needles in it's full glory:

And, I bought some yarn (from lovecrafts.com):

Two (2) skeins of Juniper Moon (to supplement my "leftover" Aarlan Alpaca & Silk yarn for another sweater)

One (1) skein of Malabrigo Sock (to allow me to experiment with knitting a pattern on a pair of socks)

One (1) skein of Berroco Mantra (to make Hubs something more comfortable for his CPAP headgear)

One (1) skein of Debbie Bliss Fine Dongeal (so that I would have enough yarn to make a tweed sweater)

And, I couldn't resist - more stitch markers purchases from Etsy:

I saw these sweater stitch markers and they were soooo cute!  Look at that hanger!😍 (Note: Mine was a custom-made set. 😉 🙌 🎉)

I've been drooling over these sock stitch markers for a while and finally decided to take the plunge!😍😍

I loved my original stitch markers (that I bought earlier in the year - see above) so much that I bought another set in Emerald Green and Cobalt Blue and a "little" extra (to celebrate the holiday season)!😉😍😍😍  I just need to wait for them to come in now since I ordered it really late this year. 

Then, I found a pair of patterns that I just had to have.  I have been searching for a hot air balloon mobile forever and I think I have finally found it! 😍🎉  I found these patterns on Ravelry and now know what I will be making in 2021!😉🙌 🎉 

• Hot Air Balloon Version 1
• Hot Air Balloon Version 2

And finally, I have been drooling over this darning loom for some time:

Katrinkles Darning Loom

After watching her youtube videos on how to use it, I caved in.😉   Thanks to some credits I have with Jimmy Beans Wools, I finally picked it up! 😍🎉  Here's also another tutorial on how to use it.

The first year of the pandemic has nearly ended and the pandemic itself isn't showing any signs of ending anytime soon ... This has been a stellar year in my knitting accessory purchase buys - more than I think I would've normally done. 😲😍 🎉  I wonder what else I will be buying next year ... 🤔 😉 😁🙌 🎉 

My 2020 Yearly Recap

2020 has proven to be an "interesting" year.  It was the year we had a pandemic 😲 (hopefully, the only pandemic I will see in my lifetime!🤞🍀).  As scary as the pandemic was (it had killed, at the time of this writing, nearly 344K people have died and sickened 19.9M people in the U.S. alone), there were up-sides of the pandemic.  "What?!", you cry! "How could you say that?!  You just told me that 19.9M people have gotten sick from the pandemic and 344K people have actually died!"  While the U.S. death toll and how it had handled the pandemic was abysmal (at best), really, there were up-sides - like:

• It forced a lot of companies to rethink how we should be doing business.  This meant that a lot of people who worked in offices were "suddenly" allowed to telework (a concept that in many businesses here where I live was only a pipe dream for many).  For me, that meant that I was actually able to telework full-time (also once was just a pipe dream for me) for the year.  Hubs was also able to (mainly) telework full-time.  It was quite an adjustment for him (and really for the both of us) but, after a month or so, we had our rhythm down.  Now, I'm actually dreading the day we will need to return back to the office! 😭 

• While many people were out of work, it forced many others to evaluate their lifestyle, find what was really important to them and their families, and showed how we could be together when we couldn't.  For my family and I, we were very fortunate: Everyone was able to keep their jobs and for the most part, our lives went on as normal (well, as normal as one could be during a pandemic).  For some in my family, when the pandemic forced us to stay at home all the time, it drove them stir crazy; for others in my family, well, they just continued on with their lives as if there was no pandemic and just went out as they pleased.  Personally, this time showed me that I was born to stay at home all the time (and really relished being at home all the time); it showed me that keeping in touch with my family and friends was something I didn't quite do when I could see them whenever I pleased and that while not being able to physically see them was not ideal, it also meant that I actually communicated more frequently with them than I used to.  Also, it showed me that the way we lived our lives, we would've been able to survive any fall out should we have lost of our jobs, needed to economize/downsize, etc. And, most importantly, it gave me a taste in what it would be like when I retired (I was able to have many l-o-n-g weekends) and now, I really can't wait to be retired (unfortunately, that is my other pipe dream right now)! 😉😁

• On that note, since we rarely went out (and there was no longer any commuting time), that meant I had a lot more knitting time this year! 😉😁😍 🙌 🎉  So, here's my accomplishments for the year:

• Made Hubs nine (9!) pairs of socks! 😍 🙌 🎉
• Made myself three (3) pairs of socks and fixed an old pair of socks.
• Made a few toys for all of my little ones.
• Upgraded a baby blanket.
• Made a cozy for my Shirka.
• Made two (2) sweaters! 😍 🙌 🎉
• Made a Bento Bag.
• Fix the collar of my Kanpeki na Ume
• Yarn bombed Maryann
• Helped to improve my Hub's cpap headgear.
• Made "snowballs" and "fixed" a tail.
• I was also able to:
• Experiment a little and made a pair of zori for us.
• Knitted in "public".
• Enjoyed all of my knitting accessories that I purchased during the pandemic.
• Blogged significantly more than I have in previous years! 🙌 🎉 (Including noting what I have been grateful for this year.)

• And, while I was able to use some of my stash this year, I also was finally able to get around to:

• Started fixing my yoked sweater (so I can actually wear it!) 🤦

• Here's my new year's resolution for 2021:

• Finish fixing my yoked sweater (the sleeves are taking forever! 😭 🤦)
• (As always), Use more stash!  My goals is to get down to 1 (not overly stuffed) sock yarn box (getting there), 1 polyester box (I need easy to care for yarn for my little ones to have fun stuff to play with and be able to destroy) (almost there), 1 sweater yarn box (need to work on this), and 1 "other"/leftover yarn box (almost there).
• Looks like there will be more sweaters in my near future, especially since I bought so many new knitting books (& sweater patterns!) this year!😉😁 🙌 🎉
• Make Hot Air Balloons! 😁 🙌 🎉

I wonder what the new year will bring ... Hopefully, the pandemic will "end", we'll have a vaccine (that works! and will keep us safe from COVID) and we will finally be able to "go back to" our (new) normal lives and at the very least, be able to safely physically see our friends and family again.🤞🍀

It Started With a Tail

My lil' one is either a dog or has a destructive streak in her.  As you know, for her birthday, I had made her a bunny with a cool rainbow tail.  Well, apparently, like any curious little girl, she wanted to see if the "fluffy" part was really fluffy and started to pull yarn out.

 

Her mother was not pleased.

To make matters worse, she tried to eat the yarn (she's a mouther - everything goes into that girl's mouth! 😱😳😒).  So, I was tasked to make another tail.

I had some pink netting that I was using to store yarn in (and A LOT of it).  Thinking that it may make a cute bunny tail (& possibly something she couldn't tear apart and eat), I created this:

Then I looked at the rest of my "stash" of neeting and thought, "Hmmmm ... 🤔  What if I could make more "balls"?" So I proceeded to spend the next 2 hrs making this:

Then, I thought, "Oh! Wouldn't it be cute if she could roll them around like snowballs ..." 🤔  So, then I found this pattern and started making "snowballs" instead.

Using my Denise 4mm (US6) needles and my mystery Cream yarn, I pretty much followed the pattern but needed to expand it after Row 12 where I continued in pattern until there were 30 sts (KFB, K8); then continued on with the pattern for 8 rows, except instead of K2TOG, I SSK instead. Then for the decreasing rows, I started at SSK, K6, I skipped all the K rows.

Then, I thought, "Well, we live somewhere where there's no snow. Wouldn't it be more fun if she had coloured "snowballs"?  So, I dug through my stash and I ended up making these:

A Red Sparkly one: I followed the pattern I used for the Cream one except: I also K every other row as I decreased; as it was a little tight, did 2 rows of K when I reached the SSK, K2 portion before doing the final decreases and binding off.

A Mint one: I followed the same pattern as the Red Sparkly one except: I used my Denise US8 needles; P everything instead of K; only went up to PFB, P6 before I started to decrease; skipped the P row after SSP, P3 before binding off.

A Piggy Pink one: I followed the same pattern as the Mint one except: I skipped the 2 P rows after PFB, P6; started to decrease until I got to SSP,  P4; then skipped to SSP, P2; SSP and bound off.

A Gecko Green one: I followed the same pattern as the Red Sparkly one except: I only went up to KFB, K7 before decreasing (in pattern) and binding off.

A Sunshine Yellow one: I followed the same pattern as the Piggy Pink one except: I skipped the P rows on the decreasing round after SSP, P4 before binding off.

A Brown one: I followed the same pattern as the Gecko Geen one except: I used my Denise US9 needles; went up to KFB, K5; K 2 rows then started decreasing

A Sky Blue one: I followed the same pattern as the Sunshine Yellow one except: I purled up to PFB, P5; skipped the P row and immediately started decreasing; then bound off.

Viola!  Now, she has a bunch of (not so) "snowballs" to play with (and hopefully, not break anything in the house!😉😁).  I hope she enjoys them!🤞😍

Here's what it looks like:

 

So ... you must be wondering ... well, what about the actual tail that started all of this?  What does it look like now?  Well, that was an adventure in and of itself!  First, I drew out a picture of how big the original pom pom was so I could get an idea of what it would look like:

Then I proceeded to knit what I graphed out.  However, it was a miniscule tail!  It was only slightly bigger than Bunny's eyes! 🤦. So, I ripped it out and multiplied three (3) times; it came out better but I could quite shape it to a round tail ...😒🤦. Hubs was watching me work on this and said: "Why don't you just make it like the snowballs?". Eureka! 🎉🤦 Why didn't I think of that?!  So, I proceeded to make a rainbow (snowball) tail and here's how it went:

• Cast on with the Pink; K6; KFB.
• Switching to the Red, KFB, K1; K 1 row; KFB, K2.
• Switching to the Orange, K 1 row; KFB, K3; K 1 row.
• Switching to the Yellow, KFB, K4; K 1 row; KFB, K5.
• Switching to the Lime Green, K 1 row; K2TOG, K5; K 1 row.
• Switching to the Green, K 1 row; K2TOG, K4; K 1 row.
• Switching to the Blue, K2TOG, K3; K 1 row; K2TOG, K2.
• Switching to the Light Blue, K 1 row; K2TOG, K1; K 1 row.
• Switching to the Purple, K2TOG; K 1 row, K2TOG; Bind off.

Here's the new tail and what it looks like on Bunny:

Top View

Side View

Other Side View

On Bunny

Let's see if my destructive girl can rip out this tail! 😉