Brought to you by the letter F

F is for Friday, and for furlough. To kick off 2021, after months of being closed to the public (= no revenue coming in), my workplace put employees on an 80% schedule, with Fridays off for the first 3 months of the year. The corresponding 20% pay reduction makes me grateful for my crafting stash because there won’t be money for extras. I am definitely pleased to have 3-day weekends for a while. What to do with the time?

F is for finishing. I hope to finish some projects, crafting and non-crafting, that have languished.

F is for fabric shopping. After I cut out the Casey Skirt and pinned it together, I decided I want a bit more heft and easier seam finishing so I bought some thin cotton today to use as flatlining material. It’s a hard-to-photograph vivid shade of salmon orange/pink, which will look nice against the navy when the wind inevitably exposes the lining to the world. I also bought two tools that were on my shopping list, a curved ruler so I can finish the flowered linen skirt I started re-making in October, and a little square grid ruler to make small cuts easier.

F is for foxes. When I gave away most of Mr. MmmYarn’s clothing, I kept some of his shirts, intending to make a memory quilt, uh, “someday,” with a mix of his and my old shirts. I bought the quilt pattern for Fancy Fox in summer 2018; it’s time I used it. F is also for foxing, common on household goods in an ocean-climate residence, so I have to send the whole lot through the wash before starting.

F is for phooey (phoenetically, it is). It’s going to cost me 2 loads at the Laundromat because I can’t wash the salmon fabric with the shirts. It means a trek to the bank to plead my case again for a roll of quarters. Looking at the photo, I also just realized I don’t think the darkest striped shirt will work for eyes and noses. We’ll see.

F is for frogging (sigh). These are mittens I made a good while back and decided to unravel because, while beautiful even without blocking, they have nowhere to go.

Pattern: Octopus Mittens by Emily Peters
Yarn: Dragonfly Fibers Traveller, 100% merino, just about 57g / 140 yards each of purple and orange (no yarn labels in this kit)
Needles: US size 0
Started 12/21/2016 and finished knitting 1/25/2017, except thumbs, which I made 7/1/2018 (but never added the orange to them)

Such a pretty design, and I really like these colors. The mittens can’t go in the big box of finished items because no one ever wants mittens from me, and they can’t go in the Wool-Aid box because they depict an animal. So the yarn will be something else. Frogging/unraveling is all part and parcel of the knitting game and it means I get to enjoy this very lovely yarn a second time, and I can use the octopus chart on something else.

What could be more fun than first fourth (of the year) Friday furlough fox-y fabric frolicking? I had better be fleiβig*.

* (German for industriousness and diligence, definitely needed in this household)