It has been ridiculously cold this winter. I am so glad the kids are on a winter break (although @aimeludick is working hard at her job anyway!) and are able to stay safe and warm. In Cape Town, we don't usually have thunder and lightening in the winter, But in the last few days and weeks, the heavens have really descended upon us!
I must admit I rushed this one towards the end, trying to get it done before school holiday time runs out, but I think I did an amazing job, for a novice :)
I definitely need more practice with finer wool and I think I need to get some thin wooden or metal needles as apposed to the plastic ones I'm currently using. The set I have for the thick wool is fine as they themselves are thick and easy to work with, but I find the plastic needles bend too easily and make it far too easy to drop stitches, which is far more visible with fine wool that it is with chunkier wool. I do try to pick up stitches as soon as they're dropped, but sometimes I find I haven't even realized I've done it till a few rows later, when its impossible to find or rectify.
That being said, as I mentioned above, I am super proud of myself as this makes the fourth scarf/ Oogieliboo completed, leaving just little old me needing one! I must admit my hands are itching to start a new project! It's funny how, in the beginning, we so look forward to the end, but when we get to the end, we just want more!
I may even skip my own scarf over in favor of knitting for charity/ the homeless as the cold of this winter gets right to your bones. I can only imagine what it is like to be stuck outside in this freezing weather, with no real way of getting warm or dry.
Cape Town's homeless epidemic rears it's ugly head at this tie of year, with the homeless setting up wherever they can. Just to find some sort of protection from the elements and from criminals who would take what few possessions they hold dear. recently, we have had some "undesirables" set up outside our home, and I am so torn. I know that it makes me exceptionally uncomfortable that my daughter has to walk past them every day, and the danger this poses, but then I feel like a complete hypocrite, having chastised people for complaining about exactly the same thing on other forums. I just want to take them soup and help them stay warm.... but I also want to keep my family safe.
The best I can do is contribute what I can, I guess, to the knitting drives around the peninsula and helping out where I can.
Back to @merenludick's awesome scarf/ Oogieliboo, I am most proud! I had to be super neat with this one. At least I got plenty of practice in changing wool, mid-knitting, while knitting @matthew-williams 's Striped Monstrosity
, so at least I had that on my side. But this time I really had to concentrate hard on counting stitches and rows to make sure that the school finds my scarf acceptable as part of the uniform. It's a toughie as they don't actually have a school scarf, so I really had to "wing it" and try to match the jersey and socks.
Meren is thrilled to finally have his own scarf though. He has been borrowing his dad's Oogieliboo and even washed it by hand before returning it to @zakludick. Bless him. And doesn't he look so handsome!?
I love how wide and thick it turned out as it means extra warmth, which is what I am ultimately tying to achieve, after all.
Knitting has become a new love language for me, and I think I may have picked up a slight addiction 😂❤️🤦♀️ Somehow, though, I don't think it's a bad habit to have picked up 😜❤️