Monthly Recap: October
- kniteweup
- Nov 7, 2019
- 4 min read
Did anyone else feel like October stretched on for ages? Not in a bad way though: I am forever enamoured with the crisp, slightly woodsmoke-y air; bright leaves sweeping across the mountainside as though from a painter's brush; fog creeping slowly up towards the morning sun, stretching out across rolling acres of wild brush... What is not to love about October?
And there was something special to love about this particular October: Knit City, an annual fibre fest in Vancouver! After experiencing the excitement of fibre gatherings at Edinburgh Yarn Fest last March, I was determined not to miss this one. This time I also signed up for a Coast Salish weaving class, to try out a new craft.
So, the first weekend of October my mum, my lovely friend Alex, and I packed up the car and made the trek down to Vancouver for a weekend of wooly wonder. Our first evening was spent talking excitedly about the game plan for the next day, eating delicious food, and making plans to meet some internet friends IRL.
The first market day was such an amazing, slightly overwhelming blur of colour and lovely people and yarn squishing! I had so much fun wandering around, chatting with Alex, and slowly working my way through my shopping list. I tried to limit myself to my list and I was very strict about finding the perfect colours... and I'm so happy with my haul!
We also met some lovely knitters: Alyssa (@thelavenderpurl), Candace (@transitory), Tracie and Jodi of The Grocery Girls (@grocerygirlsknit), and the one and only Andrea Mowry (@dreareneeknits) were absolutely wonderful, and it was so amazing to connect with other wool lovers!
And now onto the actual knitting update! After much trial and tribulation, I decided to frog my Spray Lake socks, which was so heartbreaking! I finally decided to pull the plug after trying on my second sock... and discovering it was a completely different size *insert massive face-palm here*. Somehow my gauge had changed monumentally between the two socks, so I decided I'd cut my losses and rip back both and make a fresh start...
The Aveiro Sweater by Orlane Sucche -- If you follow me on Instagram, then you already know: I managed to finish knitting and block my gorgeous stripey sweater in time for Knit City! I wore it for our big market day (and got so many compliments -- thank you, thank you, thank you!!) and it kept me perfectly cozy through the evening. It's gotten so much wear already, and I love how the colours turned out!
The North Shore Beanie by Knit Ewe Up -- This was another successful FO (finished object) this month! I have yet to wear it yet as it took quite a while to finish blocking (probably due to my being too gently re: wringing out the extra water...) but I foresee it being in regular rotation as the days get colder.
Modified No Frills Sweater by Petite Knit -- I ordered the gorgeous "Kyoko's House" from Grenouille Co. over the summer and immediately knew I wanted to make another cropped No Frills with it! The colours are wonderfully autumnal and have so much depth and variation. After a few fraught beginnings (hello terrible gauge and side-by-side sleeves!) I finally managed to perfect the raglan construction and am now thoroughly making progress. Next stop: sleeve island!
October was a crazy month for reading! School was in full swing and I was frantically trying to keep up, although I'll admit to little success... many of the books remain unfinished (although I am determined to return to them over the holidays!). So, while I can't provide full reviews or opinions on the books, here's what has been keeping me busy this past month...
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot -- I was excited to start this one, as I am a fan of Victorian literature, but in all honesty found it quite dry and dragging. I made it about half (or maybe two-thirds?) of the way through, and while it wasn't necessarily a bad read (see: Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore), it definitely won't be high up on the list of "must-finish" reads.
Diamond Grill by Fred Wah, on the other hand, was very good! Again, I didn't manage to finish this one, but I am in love with Wah's writing and novel structure... or is it poetry? I highly recommend it, and will definitely be returning to it once term dies down again.
In Search of April Raintree by Beatrice Culleton Mosionier -- I'm a bit on the fence with this one; the story is beautiful and heartbreaking, and I was deeply invested in the characters. However, and this is a controversial point within criticism of Mosionier's novel, I found that the writing itself is perhaps too simplistic and, dare I say, childish? That said, I completely understand the possible artistic decision behind this stylistic choice (the main character suffers a lot of trauma during childhood) and still really enjoyed the novel.
Overall, October was a beautiful, exciting, slightly stressful month. I'm glad I was able to squeeze in even a tiiiny bit of knitting here and there, and I'm really looking forward to putting in some serious hours after term breaks for the holidays!
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