• 2026 - Blanket - Cats - Crochet - Garment - Knitting - Socks - Sweater

    March 2026 Projects Update

    March 2, 2026 - By 

    It’s hard to believe it’s already March and I haven’t posted a finished project for 2026. I have been crocheting and knitting a lot this year, I just haven’t completed anything yet!

    I started off the year working on a crochet along with Attic24, the Wildshore Blanket CAL. The CAL takes about 2 months, with the border being released last Friday I should have finished it this past weekend, but I’m just not sure if I’m going to follow the border pattern, or pick something else. It’s the look of the final row that has me uncertain.

    I also started a raglan sweater for myself, that I have knit and frogged multiple times. I received the yarn and pattern as a Christmas gift and I started off knitting it from that, but it was a raglan sweater knit bottom up in pieces and I got frustrated with it. I thought I should switch to a top down raglan knit in once piece that I could try on as I went. Which sounded like a good plan, but then when I finished it, it ended up too big in circumference. When I told James about the latest fitting he said “you always seem to knit your sweaters a few times” I replied, “because I’m not good at it!” LOL I have the techniques down, but I really seem to struggle with garment sizing. So it’s in a time out right now while I think about how I want to fix it.

    I also started a loosey goosey sock knitalong with my friend Terri, I was meant to knit one pair of socks per month throughout the year. I started a pair in January but lost interest in the pattern and frogged it. So no January socks. I started a different pair in February, did I finish them? Also no. I am knitting them two at a time and have managed to knit the legs, do the heel turns and gusset decreases, so I think I am in the home stretch. But then I have to think of March socks…

    You’ll notice that the cats have been spending a lot of time near me as I work. Trixie is very good about leaving my yarn alone, but Miss Marple is a very naughty knitty kitty, she’s always keeping an eye on the yarn and trying to eat it, so that has contributed a bit to my slowness. Hopefully I’ll be adding a flurry of completed project posts in the next few weeks. 😉

    With that thought in mind, I have a couple changes to the blog for this year. I think I’m going to get back to the chatty blog posts I used to write, this past year of only adding projects hasn’t been as creative for me. So fair warning. I’ve also added a “spotlight” page you can access from the top menu, I’ll add photos I particularly like there. I also thought about changing the blog theme and appearance, I even purchased a new “pro” theme but I can’t get it to work the way I want. I need to learn more about working with it, maybe that will be a 2027 update.

  • 2025 - Knitting - Socks

    2025-21 & 22 Basic 64 Stitch Socks

    January 9, 2026 - By 

    I made two pairs of basic socks to keep my hands busy. The purple ones I added to my gifting box, the second pair I forgot to take a photo of before giving them to someone (I can’t remember), but they used up the yarn left over from a previous project. https://micheleleigh.ca/2025-10-11-socks-for-e-j/

    21 Basic 64 Stitch Sock

    Pattern: nothing specific

    Made for: ?

    Craft: knit

    Size 64 sts

    Needle: 2.5mm

    Yarn: Patons Kroy Sock Effects

    Notes: cast on 64 sts, worked 1×1 rib for 1 ¼” then knit stockinette stitch until leg is 6” long. Heel flap is garter edged eye of partridge as in Hermione’s Everyday Sock pattern. Knit foot until 7” ending after finishing sole stitches.

    22 Basic 64 Stitch Sock

    Pattern: 2×2 rib

    Made for: I forget

    Craft: knit

    Size 64 sts

    Needle: 2.25mm

    Yarn: Deborah Norville Serenity Sock Weight

    Colourway: Indigo

    Notes: Used the heel flap pattern from Hermione’s Every Day Socks.

  • 2025 - Knitting - Socks

    2025-20 Scrap Yarn Socks

    January 6, 2026 - By 

    Amy is my youngest sons girlfriend, who also happens to be one of my daughters best friends, we LOVE her! I thought it was time to make her a pair of socks, she is a big crafter, she quilts and makes wonderful articles of clothing with reclaimed fabric, so these scrap yarn socks seemed like the perfect fit for her. She loves them!

    20 Scrap Yarn Socks

    Pattern: from Leftover Sock Yarn Socks — Knitting Squirrel

    Made for: Amy

    Craft: knit

    Size: 64 stitches

    Needle: 2.25 mm

    Yarn: 10-15 colours of about 10 grams each of scrap yarn.

    Notes: First stripe is cast on plus 3. Then 5 stripes of each colour.

    I followed the advice in the pattern to weave my ends in as I went, because there were so many of them! To do this, I wove in the tail of the yarn of the previous section on the first round, then the tail end of the yarn of the current section on the second round. I wanted to make it feel a bit less bulky. I also followed the advice to do a jogless join, I used this method – How to do the Jogless Jog — Knitting Squirrel 

    15 stripes for leg.

    Work 32 rows for heel flap to end with 18 sts after heel turn.

    Pick up and knit 16 stitches plus one more in the gap for each side of gusset. Knit into the back loop for 2nd side of gusset. 

  • 2025 - Cats - Knitting - Shawl

    2025-8 Maple Leaf Wrap

    June 18, 2025 - By 

    In February our neighbours to the south started a trade war with us, so early March brought a renewed sense of Canadian pride, we started buying only Canadian products, or from our friendlier trade partners. It also inspired us to craft with Canadian pride. Knit Me is a Canadian company that offers yarn subscription boxes which I had previously been gifted, they also sell patterns individually. One of them is the Maple Leaf Wrap, if you look closely you can see the maple leaves.

    I had a skein and a bit of the yarn recommended for this pattern, leftover from knitting a sweater a couple years ago, So I decided to wind it up and make a “just because” gift for my BFF. Ancient Arts Revival Fingering is an environmentally conscious yarn made from recycled and reclaimed fibers from the carding and milling process, it’s 49% Wool, 34% Mohair, 11% Nylon, 4% Acrylic, 2% Silk.

    The pattern starts with a garter tab, then you work a 23 row lace pattern with increases on each end, so you do have to pay attention to your row count. There are also a few special stitches to sort out, but the pattern is well written and the special stitches have good descriptions.

    Overall I’m pretty happy with how it turned out and Sheila liked it.

    8 Maple Leaf Wrap

    Pattern: Maple Leaf Wrap by Knit Me

    Craft: knit

    Made for: Sheila

    Needle: 3.25 mm

    Yarn: Ancient Arts Revival

    Colourway: Beaujolais Nouveau 115 grams total

    Notes: 5 repeats plus 5 rows = 409 sts 

  • 2025 - Cats - Crochet - Introduction - Knitting

    2025, ugh…

    June 3, 2025 - By 

    As my tagline says, I’m just a girl, holding an existential crisis at bay, the best way I know how. Knitting and crocheting my way through my yarn stash, usually with a cat on my lap.

    Trixie the mackeral tabby cat on a crocheted blanket on my lap with a partially knit shawl

    The last five years have been hard, we have lived through a global pandemic, we’re seeing a rise in fascism, social media has turned into a dumpster fire of hate and conspiracy theories, and now measles is on the rise, measles? The childhood disease with a safe and effective vaccine? Yeah that one. On a personal note, all my kids have moved out and I’m stumbling my way into menopause, with all the joyful symptoms that entails. Thank you to the pharmaceutical industry, and a family doctor who listens to me, which is a minor miracle since I live in Alberta and our health care system is collapsing. Yeah it’s been a hard few years.

    Playing with yarn, and snuggling my cats really is my therapy. This year I wanted to create a positive space to share my projects, a home on the internet free of everything mentioned above. It’s taken me a few months to get it going, but I think it’s time to start writing and posting photos. Let’s start with a photo of Trixie on my lap, because it brings me joy.