Another Neck Warmer

Yesterday I had the urge to try out some of my new fabrics and make another Zippy Bag. I'm not sure why it took me so long but I got one finished. I went for high contrast for the backing/binding.

The zipper was a regular one from my stash. I'll use the Lori Holt ones at some point.

I quilt the larger piece onto fusible batting with the non-fusible side against the fabric. I do this so I can fuse the batting to the back piece before I do the folded binding. It keeps things from shifting.

Now that I've finished crocheting my second Persian Tiles blanket, I needed something to work on while I watch TV in the evenings. I don't usually stitch whilst sitting in the family room so needed another crochet project or a knitting project.

I had a look in my big tote of laceweight yarn and discovered this MadelineTosh Prairie 100% superwash merino laceweight in the Cousteau colourway. I'm old enough to remember Jacques Cousteau's shows exploring the 'undersea world' with his ship, the Calypso. 4mm needles.

I had purchased the skein at the Kitchener-Waterloo Knitter's Fair in 2013. Good thing yarns don't 'go bad' after sitting around for over a decade.

I had divided the skein into two equal balls of yarn so for the Vent d'Est Vent d'Ouest neck ring, I held the yarn double to make a fingering weight. It only took me a couple of nights of knitting to finish it.

This morning I wet blocked it and it's in the process of drying.

This is a free pattern on Ravelry by Marie Adeline Boyer. There are two sizes listed with both written instructions and charts. This is the sixth one I've knit. 

I knit Chart A once and Chart B twice before casting off with Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. Instructions for a stretchy bind off are in the instructions but I referred to this video to make sure I was doing it right. The video details binding off in both knit and purl stitches. I just used the knit stitch method so the top of my neck ring would look uniform.

This morning our Monday morning group was supposed to convene at Barb's but in light of the snowfall last night she decided to host a Zoom meeting instead. We used to meet this way during COVID. Another group met every Wednesday and Sunday at 1pm as well. Today we did all the usual things - showing what we'd done since last together and general chit chat on a myriad of topics.

I worked on finishing the mortar on the house.

I tried doing some of the border but counting while Zooming was not possible. I kept making mistakes and having to pick out the stitches. I am liking the look of the Algerian eyelets and I LOVE the colours. I also notice the flowers on top of the house are very similar to the flowers on the fence in Winter Rose Manor; just reversed somewhat.

After the call I had a hankering for something easy for lunch so opened a can of tomato soup and made a small grilled cheese sandwich. Pretty yummy.

With that knitting project done, I need to find something else to keep my hands busy at night. I'll be taking a look at my Favourites on Ravelry and see if anything appeals to me.