I honestly can’t say I enjoyed knitting this piece but I also can’t say I didn’t. It was challenging but not difficult. It’s all just knitting and purling after all.

What got me were the uneven stitches that come with intarsia. I think that creatives are often prone to perfectionism. So all these oversized stitches drove me a bit bonkers.

I also need to mention the zillion yarn tails that needed to be woven in. I swear I spent more time trying to tidy up the back of the work than I did knitting the damn jacket.

Then, like a big dummy, I decided I would sew in a liner to hide all the grossness on the inside. I didn’t take into account that the liner would affect the elasticity of the overall garment. So when I tried it on, the sleeves didn’t sit right and there was no fixing it… unless I removed the lining.

So the 10+ hours I spent sewing in the linings by hand was partially a waste of time. I left it on the back and two fronts though. But if Sandy tries it on and it sits oddly, we’ll just remove the linings on all the pieces and he’ll just have to look at the mess when he wears it.

I’m not really sure why someone would choose to make more than one intarsia sweater! Haha. My friend Michelle and I were chatting about this on Tuesday. These Mary Maxim sweaters were huge when we were kids. We grew up laughing at how cheesy some of them were (naturally, we thought we were too cool for them). But they were everywhere in all there acrylic glory!!

I’m happy for Mary Maxim though. They must be laughing to the bank these days thanks to Ryan Gosling and the costume designers from Project Hail Mary.

If you’re on the Tube and you want to know a bit more about what I’ve been up to, here is my newest episode:

Cheers!

I wanted to leave a note here to let you know that I’ve started writing over on Substack. I’m still Mimimustknit and I still write about knitting there. But I’ve also started writing about other things.

I decided to start writing there because I love the idea that my “essays” get delivered to your email inbox. How cool is that?!

I find it difficult to keep track of all the people I want to hear from when I have to deliberately go looking for new posts. I LOVE getting the blogs, essays or newsletters delivered right to my email.

If you feel the same, here’s how you can find me. Subscribing to my posts is free. I know there are a lot of paid communities there but mine is free.

I’ll be back soon with an update on my Project Hail Mary jacket.

I was pretty excited this morning when I went through the photos and wrote out my pattern. I’ll be recording a few videos for the techniques too. I’ll post the basic pattern here for free but I’ll also publish a paid version with the videos and all the gauges you can use with the details on needle size, stitch count and yardage. Eeeeeek!

After we got the photos taken and warmed up a bit (that wind was arctic yesterday), we went to work on a basket I started about 13 years ago. Yes, you read that right! I made the body of this basket with a group of women from my old spinning guild but I never finished it. It’s been living in a tote for all this time, taunting me. So I asked Louise if she would help me finish it (hers is finished and we used it as a model). How cute is this basket?

I laid awake last night (because hot flashes – also, I figured out how to insert emojis) and imagined how I could sew a little liner for it so my knitting needles wouldn’t fall through the little cracks. The possibilities… of new fabric. Shhhhhh, you heard nothing!

When the basket was finished and my hands were raw, I spent some time working on my crochet star (see last post: https://mimimustknit.ca/bookmarks-knit-or-crochet/) and a pair of socks.

THEN, we started imagining what it would be like to host a knitting/creative retreat in our area. We talked about other pattern designs, a circular sock knitting machine (that we are considering sharing the cost of), etc. WE. HAD. SO. MANY. IDEAS.

I adore spending time with creative people. We feed off each other and there’s literally no limit to what we can imagine.

This morning, I finished my crochet Bookmark for Wine Lovers. I read the instructions wrong at the end and used the secondary colour to finish the side. I think it looks cute like that. Right? Hope the designer doesn’t mind.

It’s still wet but it’s going to be so cute when I put the fringe on! I can’t wait to use it. I think I did ok for my first try?

I ordered some snaps to use with leather so I can make a shawl cuff to go with my new finished Wiley Shawl. I tried to make one yesterday with fabric snaps but it was a fail.

OMG! I can’t believe I almost forgot that THIS happened…

I read Project Hail Mary and saw the movie last week. Amazing book, great movie. When I saw this sweater on Ryan Gosling, I thought “sweet Baby Jesus! That looks just like a Mary Maxim sweater”. But I didn’t give it a second thought. WELL, yesterday, I noticed that it’s all over Instagram! It was even on CBC, NBC… What is happening!?

I posted it in my stories and two people asked me to knit them one. I’m dying… I couldn’t stop laughing all day yesterday.

So, yarn order is going in when I have the last of the measurements. Pattern already purchased. This is actually happening! I’m making a Mary Maxim sweater (but not in the acrylic kit they sell on their site – squeeky acrylic gives me the ick so I try not to use it if I don’t have to). I will use yarn made in Canada at our very own Briggs & Little in Nova Scotia – the oldest woollen mill in the country.

So, that’s what I’ll be doing for the next few weeks I gather.

Off to Montreal tomorrow to hang with the kid. He told me to bring my “gym clothes” so we can go to the gym together. I wonder if he knows that I work out in my underwear most of the time at home. I would NEVER subject anyone to that IRL so… now I have to find some appropriate workout clothing. Garh!

What are you working on?

NOW, I initially planned to knit a cute lacy number but when I failed to specify that I wanted knitting patterns in my search, I was flooded with really beautiful crochet bookmarks.

I know how to crochet. I don’t know that I could read one of those fancy illustration things… what do they call those? I think it’s a chart just like in knitting, only way fancier. (Am I the only one that thinks they’re so pretty?)

I really don’t know what that gnome is doing in there???!!!

So I scrolled and scrolled through project after project. Then stopped dead when I saw this one:

I. AM. SMITTEN! Honestly, how are there no projects??? It’s SO stunning.

These are the “honourable mentions” in my Favourites Bookmark Bundle:

I was 100% going to make that Pikachu bookmark for my son. He was obsessed with Pokemon growing up. Sadly, this pattern isn’t available anymore. Boooooo! Maybe some day I’ll be able to figure it out without a pattern.

Guess what I did Monday during my lunch hour? I went to Michaels and purchased a really tiny crochet hook and some thread. I haven’t actually started this bookmark because I need to practice this new technique: overlay mosaic crochet. Until about four days ago, I had no idea this existed. So, naturally, I have to make something.

Enter the Mosaic Starburst Square by Erin Toews!

Isn’t she so eye-catching? (How do I insert a heart-eyes emoji dammit?)

This is how mine is going:

Honestly, I’m having a hard time putting this down. (How do I insert an eye-rolling emoji?)

Tell me, where do you stand on the knit vs. crochet bookmark?

Mylène