So, my poncho saga continues. You may remember that in my last post I had finally settled on The Comfort Zone poncho to knit in place of the Elim poncho that was going nowhere for me.

I started it! It was going great! I love the yarn! The pattern is easy!

Then, I realized I was using the wrong needle size…

I was using a size US10 needle instead of a size US 10.5 needle. That might not seem like a big difference, but in the knitting world, it can be. So my first thought was to check my gauge. Maybe I was getting gauge and wouldn’t have to rip out my work.

And before you ask: No, I did NOT do a gauge swatch before I started! “Why?” you ask. “Aren’t you ALWAYS supposed to do a gauge swatch?’ you ask. And the answer to the second question is a resounding YES! (Do as I say, not as I do.) The answer to the first question is: I am terribly impatient and want to just get started already, so I tend to not do a swatch unless I am making a sweater that has to fit the right way and I have a limited amount of yarn. But, a poncho (or a scarf or a shawl) doesn’t have to fit exactly. They are supposed to be roomy. So, no way am I doing a swatch.

At any rate, I checked my gauge and it was not good – my poncho would be smaller than I wanted it to be, with the smaller needle.

So, out it came, all the way back to the ribbed neck (which, by the way, I shortened from the turtleneck length).

Here’s a tip: I took all of my stitches off the needle and just unraveled them. This is much quicker than undoing one stitch at a time on the needle (for 15 rounds!). Then, I used a smaller diameter needle to easily scoop up all the stitches. If I had used the larger needle, the stitches would be pulled out of shape and some would have dropped. Then I knitted off that smaller needle with the correct size needle to continue my pattern.

At any rate, got my 10.5 needle going and now I’m cruising along.

I also finished my Halona Shawl! Hooray!

A reminder, I started this April 10, 2015. I finished it January 28, 2021. Boy, that feels good to cross off my WIP list.

I have made such good progress on finishing up my works-in-progress that I’m feeling great about starting new projects.

So, here is an impulse buy from a couple of weeks ago:

Hand dyed yarn from Kristen in Stitches. She is doing a hat pattern/yarn series for each of the national parks. When I saw the most recent one was for Yellowstone National Park I had to get it. Paul and I had a wonderful vacation there a few years ago.

Kristen’s hat pattern is called Yellowstone and the yarn she dyed for the pattern has the colorway name of Old Faithful.

You can see that the yarn has most of the colors that are in this picture! So cool. How could I not buy it, right????

I started it yesterday and it’s coming along nicely. It has a folded brim, so that means using a provisional cast on.

I’m just about ready to fold up the brim and then get into the body of the pattern.

I’ve got one more pattern on deck, for when I finish this hat.

This is the Forest Path sock pattern by Patricia Fortune of Knitography Farm in Norway. I bought the kit from her as an impulse buy this past summer. Then I saw she had forest project bags to match, so I got that too. I can’t wait to start them.

Two more things to tell you about this week.

Thing the first…. here is my progress on my Mooreland crochet blanket:

The top of the picture is what I’m working on how. Happy to get to my favorite purple-y blues.

Thing the second… Next Saturday, February 6 at 9:00am I am teaching a FREE techniques class on knitting increases and decreases for The Spinning Room yarn shop. I wanted to offer this as a short, free class so that participants could see what it would be like to take an online knitting class. I think some are reluctant, thinking they wouldn’t learn as much (you will!) or it wouldn’t be worth it (it will be!) to pay for a class that does not have in-person instruction.

I also think there are some that are not as comfortable using Zoom. So, the first part of class will be to help participants set up their computer/tablet screen for the best possible viewing. I’ll show them how to switch from gallery view to showing just one video and how to “pin” that video so it won’t disappear, mute/unmute and chat.

Then I’ll do some demonstrations on how to increase and decrease in knitting and you will be able to see how I use a second camera so you can easily see what I’m doing and practice it yourself during class.

f you would like to participate in this FREE class, please contact The Spinning Room yarn shop at 518-861-0038 or email them: info at spinningroom dot net. Or go to their website : The Spinning Room.

For now, since it is -94 degrees here, I’m going to sit by the fire and knit and have some tea. (ok, it’s really 9 degrees, but still….)