How is your Stitch Every Day in May going?

I've finished a tee, a shawl, and a cowl in the last two weeks, so I've definitely been stitching. (And my baseline is to stitch every day, and I haven't had any days this month that got fully derailed.) 

We're just past the midpoint of the challenge--and maybe it's getting easier, or maybe it's becoming more challenging*. So let's run through a some strategies for success.

1. Start small. This one is built into the challenge, on purpose. One stitch is all you need to do daily to participate.
2. Attach the habit to something else you do every day. I usually stitch while commuting (previously carpooling + bus, now usually just bus), while having coffee in the morning, or while watching a show after dinner. Sometimes all three, sometimes just one.
3. Stage your life so that there is always a bit of stitching handy. As an example, I always carry a project bag in my backpack (which goes with me most places), I have a couple of longer term projects on the small coat rack I installed next to where I sit on our couch, and when I arrive at work, I make sure there is a small project on my desk downstairs. (Sometimes this is where the backpack project spends the day.) Other possibilities might be a nightstand, or your vehicle. 
4. Identify a failsafe trigger--what is a part of your nighttime routine you could incorporate a reminder into? A note near your toothbrush? A crochet hook on your pillow? Yarn-themed pajamas? 
5. Be gentle with yourself, and start again. On that note, let's return to the asterisk I dropped in above. New this year, I'm granting Yarn Folk participants ONE single day streak freeze, IF the following conditions are met: you must write FREEZE on your tracker on the day you missed. I'm not posting this elsewhere; it's a special reward to you for checking in with our weekly email. And if you've missed more than one day, begin again anyway--you may miss out on the $5 reward challenge and a chance at the grand prize, but you'll still get all the benefits of cultivating a nice stitching practice.

I'm down to one active project, so it's time to cast on! Another nice thing about developing the habit of daily stitching is that the fun of casting on and finishing projects is available year-round, not just in the cozy months. Happy stitching!

There were a million things going on in the shop when Remix Wool DK first arrived--and we were still waiting on a few colors. Developed as an extension of Berroco's original Remix line, Remix Wool DK (and it's big sister, Remix Wool) consist of 100% recycled fibers, but unlike the original Remix, the Remix Wool yarns contain wool. The blend is 38% wool / 28% polyamide / 22% cotton / 7% acrylic / 5% other, making it ideal for spanning seasons. 

I'll be using it to start a (temporarily) secret project soon, and one of the things I'd love to point out about this yarn's versatility is that not only does it bridge seasons, it makes a nice fabric on several different needle sizes. Twenty to twenty-two stitches per inch is nice, but this is a yarn that holds up better than many at a larger gauge. And at $14.50 for 327 yards, it holds a lot of value if you are making a garment. Here's a Ravelry bundle of pattern ideas!

…to inspire

Wavelength Cardigan by © Bea Fischer-Harrison (beacreativeknits)

To whomever tipped me off that Modern Daily Knitting's knitting brackets are back, thank you! I missed them. They used to happen during NCAA March Madness basketball, and were known as MDK March Mayhem. And after a few years' hiatus, they are back, in May, and simply called MDK Mayhem. 

There are 32 sweaters vying for the title, and the initial "conferences" as it were, are Color, Shape, Texture, and Technique. All of the featured designers have fewer than 100,000 Instagram followers (or at least they did at the time of selection!), and all the options are either DK or worsted gauge. My current long-term project, Susanne Sommer's Ginny Cardigan is one of the contenders! If you'd like to participate in the voting, it begins on May 19 (today), and a link to voting will be on the MDK blog post for the day,

Have fun, maybe cast your vote, and perhaps you'll find another option for Remix Wool DK!

 

 

I finished the Golden Hour Shawl, and it is very pretty and soft. I was just a couple of feet shy of having enough of CC1 to complete the last row where it is used; I just substituted CC2 for that row. I didn't check gauge for this ahead of time--if I'd gone down a needle size, it likely would have been fine. Overall, I had enough yarn, and the color scheme is so gentle, any of the other colors would have worked for that row. We still have kits from Factory Girl Designs for this project in both of the colorways, Spring Bloom (this option), and Twilight Bloom (with lavender as the main color).

I also finished the Ellington Bandana this weekend, and I made a couple of modifications. After trying a few bobbles, I grew frustrated. I'm certain that a better crocheter could have expressed their whimsy better than I could, but I pivoted to a different edging. I used the contrast color and followed the instructions for the Cathedral Edging here. And while the bandana can be tied, the ends aren't terribly long, so I added a crochet button loop and sewed on a button. I used two colors from the Rosalinda's Friends palette of Malabrigo Rios, Belinda and Celestina.