Monthly Archives: February 2016

Mandrake Vanilla Socks

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I currently only have my Active Vanilla Socks on the needles. And that is just not enough!

  I pulled the Mandrake color way from String Theory Colorworks from my box of fingering weight yarn. This is a skein from my 2016 sock experiment and it’s a MCN. Gotta love merino/cashmere/nylon! I’ve divided the skein in half as close as I could while still being able to start with the same colored stripe. As an aside The dyer is fabulous and listed the stripe progression on the label for you!

These will be toe up vanilla socks quite perfect for my purse knitting vacancy. I’m not sure what kind of heel I’ll do yet. The sock will speak to me soon enough! The husband and I had a date night to Hail! Ceasar and I got some serious knitting in. How gorgeous are these stripes!?

  
And for anyone keeping score my husband hated the movie and likes the socks. I however thought the movie was amusing and I’m not sold on the purple stripe.

Happy Knitting!

Cashmere For The Win

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First up, Happy Valentines Day to all!!

I had one more project finished just in under the deadline for the #dcspigskinparty2015….my Cashmere Vanilla socks are done!

  
These are just a pair of toe up vanilla socks with afterthought heel in Dream in Color smooshy. My Ravelry details are here. I’m counting this towards my 2016 sock experiment even though I’ve had this yarn in my stash for a while because this is a new to me yarn.

  
I quite loved knitting these because well cashmere, duh! The fabric is just perfect for petting. The one thing I noticed was that the color/dye rubbed off on my fingers. I started noticing dark stains on my fingers but it took awhile to associate those with my knitting. It washed off fine and I made sure to citric acid soak these socks and the leftover yarn. Better safe than sorry!

   
 The socks didn’t quite come out with as much negative ease as my other 68 stitch socks but they fit nonetheless. Maybe the glorious nature of the cashmere relaxed my tension, lol. I adore these socks for the softness alone! 

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Mom’s Lap Blanket

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Winner winner chicken dinner! I snuck this blanket in under the #dcspigskinparty2015 deadline. This was my one and only project worth blitz points! Woot 😃

  
This is a crochet blanket in half double crochet. I have no clue how many stitches I chained. I didn’t keep copious notes. I know it’s 36 inches wide by 70 inches long. It fits comfortably across my lap and covers even my husbands long legs. I used five skeins of Bernat Blanket in the Sonoma color. It’s interesting to see how the yarn pooled in places. I guess that happens in all yarn craft!

This has been carefully washed and gifted to a happy mother.

  
A little niggle persisted in my brain. It bothered me for the last several days. I finally realized what it is…..I want to make me dad a coordinating blanket to match. I guess I’m not done making blankets!

Knitting Requests

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In all knitters lives there comes a time when you hear “can you knit (insert object here) for me?” Now I’m a pretty selfish knitter but there a few people who are knit worthy in my world. The first is my dearest friend from college, Mere. She texted me awhile back to let me know how much she loved a cowl I made her years ago and could she have another.

  
This is a cowl I free handed at least five years ago for craft fairs. It doesn’t even have a Ravelry page! I know it’s in Homespun but that’s about it. I had her send me some measurements and I pulled a skein of the requested black from my stash. Fingers crossed I can recreate this!

The next request came from my daycare provider. Whom I love and pretty sure Jellybean loves her more than me some days. Her 15 year old has been coveting Jellybean’s Dino Hat.

  
I pulled out the pattern and the hat and sat down to figure the mods. It shouldn’t be too bad to do and I still have the exact yarn colors in my stash. This one might require some ripping and redoing. But this 15 year old takes time out of her afternoon to play ukulele for Jellybean because he likes to help strum. So she pretty much has earned a Dino hat of her own!

Now I just need to find the time to knit all these things!

Happy Knitting  

WIP Wednesday: Active Vanilla Socks  

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I pulled some yarn from my 2016 Sock Experiment to start my next pair of socks! The winner was the Active 6-ply from Regia in eye searing hot pink! I wanted a thick and quick project (relatively speaking for socks).

  
I’m working on size 3US needles over 60 stitches for a toe up vanilla sock. I’ve never worked toe up socks on these large of needles with this heavy of yarn so I’m wary of my guage. I need to pull out one of my fingering weight socks and  measure the total width of the foot fabric. Just eyeballing this sock…it feels big. But we all know swatches and our eyes can lie! Along the same lines, I’m going to work a gusset heel instead of an afterthought heel because I don’t know how far one ball of yarn will go. I only have two balls! I’m sure it will be fine but better safe than sorry.

As for the yarn, it’s not the softest. It feels rather like rope to me. The caveat being that I’m also working on a cashmere/merino blend socks. So I’ll withhold texture judgment until they are done. 

Happy Knitting!

Finding Style

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I took Jellybean to the library this past weekend to run off some steam in a kid friendly environment. While he was playing I picked up a book I’ve been eyeing awhile.

  
It’s Knit Wear Love by Amy Herzog (who is a genius). I previously read Knit To Flatter back in 2014. This book has been out for awhile and all over the blogosphere and podcast world. It was a good read and written at a nice level for me to absorb. It was really interesting to take the time to pin down my “style”. I’m a casual and sporty kind of girl by the way. I gravitate to light fabrics, open cardigans, long sleeves, or just nice cozy pieces. I’m not in place (post baby) that I feel like fitted is a happy place for me. My mom tummy is still working itself down/out. My go to sweater right now is my store bought black fingering weight cashmere open front cardigan with long sleeves. It’s warm, soft, and makes me happy. 

After reading this book, I know at this time in my life I’m probably not going to knit a sweater out of these meta patterns. I just don’t have the bandwidth. But I think I will use the tips and techniques for good construction on other projects. This is definitely a good read if you are into sweaters and want good solid pieces that fit well. Just not one to buy for my personal library right now, maybe later.

Happy Knitting!

What Did I Get Myself Into 

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The yarn for my Aeon Vest is here! Now I’m being a good girl. I’ve knit a swatch…

  
I haven’t blocked it yet. But I did use the recommended size 6 needles and the fabric is very loose. I haven’t compared this to pattern guage because it’s not blocked and I’m not sure I like how this fabric feels. I want this vest not to grow when worn or be too loosey goosey.

Now before I did this swatch I had taken my measurements to find the appropriate pattern size. I then went about marking up the pattern after reading carefully. I like to white out all the directions that don’t apply to me and make notes/highlights to help me along the way. Now I’m not sure the size I marked is the one I’ll end up knitting based on my desired fabric guage…knitting fail.

  
Having done all that, I can’t help but think….what the hell did I get myself into!? This pattern is knit in one piece and has detailed directions. But it’s my first foray into a moderately shaped piece with lots of *at the same time*. I may well lose what little brains I have left. But  I know I will need to color coded the snot out of this to reduce my chance of screwing up.

Only time will tell! Happy Knitting!!

Blanket Fever

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I’m a complete looney tune. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been sneaking another crochet blanket along. I’ve mentioned in previous posts that my mom has hinted more than once that she wanted a chenille blanket. I purchased 5 skeins of the Bernat blanket in the Sonoma color (thanks to a 20% off Joanns coupon). This blanket is going to be huge! I’m carting it and the yarn around in a repurposed comforter bag.  

The deal is that I can kill two birds with one stone with this project. I can get a present for my mother done and score some major points for the #dcspigskinparty2015! The yardage (1,056 yds) alone would be 73 points but since it’s over 1,000 yards I can earn an extra 500 points for a blitz project!

  
I have made more progress since these photos and I only have one skein of yarn left and I need to finish this by tomorrow night.  

Wish me luck!

FO Friday: Go Patriots! Socks

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I did it! I finished my Go Patriots! Socks and just in the nick of time!

Pattern: Toe up Vanilla Sock with Gusset Heel

Yarn: Berry Colorful Yarnings Pats self-striping sock with Premier Sock in Black for the toes

Needle: US 2 nine inch circular

Ravelry notes here.

I had to put my hustle pants on but these socks made the #dcspigskinparty2015 KAL deadline. And my husband even wore then last week during the Patriots/Broncos game. My husband is not superstitious so he held no ill will towards the socks after the Broncos loss thank goodness.

   
 The hubby now has two pair of hand knit socks. One afterthought vanilla pair and this vanilla gusset heel pair. I’m going to make him wear them both for awhile and decide which fit he likes better before I got knitting him many more.

Happy Knitting!

Little Roses For A Little Princess

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Another crochet blanket has hit the finished pile! The Baby Beinhoff Blanket is complete! 

I made this one bigger than my previous attempts. I used two skeins of Bernat Baby Blanket in the colorway Little Roses. It looks more like Neapolitan ice cream to me but I guess no one asked me to name it!

My stitch tension is fairly even and I am having to not stare as intently at the work as much as before. I’m able to read the stitches and feel where things should go. This little blanket is intended for a baby girl due this summer to an old coworker I miss very dearly. She lives 4 hours away and we don’t see much of each other. I guess I’ll just have to settle for swaddling her little princess in yarn!

Stayed tuned for another blanket I’ve been sneaking under the radar to finish strong with the #dcspigskinparty2015!