It took some getting used to, but I was able to tension one yarn in each hand. I normally knit English style, but I’ve learned continental too, so it wasn’t too bad. I’m pretty happy with the test! I managed to keep the floats from being too tight, so I feel like I can do it in a real project.

Oooh, that looks marvelous! I love the different cables and textures. It looks like the sort of sweater I aspire to knit someday! (I’ve never made a sweater before, but I’m planning to try my first one over the next year.)

These are both just experiments that I’ll be unraveling once I’m done. I think I have an idea what I want to do with socks next. Still deciding about wrist warmers.

It’s right at the temperature where I don’t need the extra layers if I’m up and moving, but at rest I’m freezing without the heavy coat. I get cold easier than the average person, so low 60s make me ache from muscle tension. I’m parked in front of a space heater though, so I’m okay.

My mom and my grandma both wanted to keep their names but changed them anyway and had regrets. I took it as a sign to listen to what I wanted! Right before I got married, I changed my name to a made up one I’d been using socially, and I kept that.

Doubt we’d be able to get anyone in to look at it this week because of Thanksgiving, so luckily it’s not that cold yet. Hopefully next week we can! This week the highs are low 60s, so I’m fine in a coat, but next week is supposed to be high 50s, and that’s harder for me to handle.

Leaning towards it being the furnace. Looks like it’s the original one from the 80s, and a couple other older things here needed fixing/replacing, so one more wouldn’t surprise me. The smart thermostat isn’t perfect, but it’s been working fine for everything else (including the heat last winter).

I’ll be putting these through the wash soon to see how they fare. They’re super-wash wool blended with nylon, so with any luck they won’t shrink or felt if washed cold and dried on low heat with my regular laundry. If it goes badly, I’ll at least know for my next pair!

For the second sock, I strategically made the other color sections a smidge longer so I could still do the reinforced heel and have enough for a slightly smaller purple section.

I was using a set of 5 mini-skeins, so there’s enough for a pair of socks without much left over, if you use all the colors evenly. I didn’t know how much yarn the reinforced heel would use and didn’t think to measure out half of each skein beforehand. Wouldn’t be an issue if I did a regular heel.

I reversed the gradient on the 2nd sock because I couldn’t decide which I wanted. I wanted all the colors to show even when the whole sock wasn’t visible. It was a good thing because I used a bit more than half of one of my colors on the first sock, so it’s less obvious the amounts aren’t the same.

The first sock was started a couple years ago, but I put it down for months at a time. The second one took less than 2 months of casually knitting a couple nights a week.

My yarn tension improved with the second one, so it’s a little smaller than the first one, but not enough to really bother me.

There was a gingerbread cake (same cookbook) I made last month that was particularly good. I think I’d like to make it again. Kind of dense like banana bread, very gingery, and with a subtle kick of black pepper. Nice cut into squares for snacking.