Monthly Archives: February 2018

WIP Wednesday: Travel Vanilla Socks

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My Travel Vanilla Socks were very handy at my work conference. (Side note….I saw a fellow attendee doing two handed stranded colorwork with a chart….I was in awe. She was still totally listening and participating. Legitimately awesome.)

I found myself picking them up very often at my conference. So in the span of three days I made the above progress. I’m pretty happy with a good chunk of two socks cranked out.

I also started contemplating how I was going to finish these socks. I don’t normally work cuff down so I don’t have a “favorite” cuff down heel. I recently acquired some plain grey Heritage sock yarn in my stash and I’m considering contrast toes and afterthought heels. So I’m thinking about just cranking these tubes until I get to the length I want and finish toes in grey. I think I’ll just see how my tubes turn out!

Happy Knitting!!

He or She….What Will PB Be?

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I am (mostly) happily chugging along through week 25 of pregnancy with PB. (PB standing for Picky Baby because of the large volume of food returned to sender). We have had a very clear anatomy scan at 20 weeks and Jellybean hosted a Valentines Themed gender reveal.

Lots of food was consumed and a good time was had by all. So, you must be wondering what is PB…..

Well PB is a she!

So the gender score will be even in our house! Jellybean seems as excited as any 3 year old can possibly be given that he doesn’t really understand how much his world is changing!

Now I just need to get my mojo flowing and crank out some girl knits!

WIP Wednesday: Baby Vertebrae

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My Baby Vertebrae is crawling along! This is yarn from Winter Woolfest 2018 from Apothefairy Fibers. The speckles are just divine!!

I’m making the 12-18 months size in DK yarn. Babies in my family run big so I thought I’d err on the side of caution. Only one and a half sleeves and a button band to go! I am finding the fabric very pleasing and I often stop to pet the fabric 🙂

Happy Knitting!!

Yarn Shop Adventures

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My travels for work had me gone over Valentines. Which is not a huge thing for the hubby and I but still seemed a bummer to miss both my boys on such a fun day. I consoled myself by using my first solo Uber and locating a LYS in St. Paul. I found the Yarnery!

It was delightful and the staff was friendly and helpful. They had a TON of yarns that I don’t have access back in Kansas. The shop was organized by weight and very very pretty. I settled on three very pretty yarns and two cash register splurges…

I got some Mrs Crosby Hat Box in the Pansy color. This was a sport weight yarn. Then I chose some Neighborhood Fiber Co. Rustic Fingering in the Easterwood color. This 100% is most definitely for a shawl or hat. Finally from a sale bin I chose a single 50 gram skein of Shibui Knits Staccato in Raspberry. It was the only one of the color but I figured I could make a small pair of mitts while trying a new to me yarn.

Then I splurged on an Yarnery enamel pin and some Love + Leche balm. It was very very dry in Minnesota even compared to Kansas. My lips and hands were in dire need of some hydration!

Finally I rounded out the night by having Valentines dinner delivered to my room. I chose rosemary cheese fries with a side of molten chocolate brownie with ice cream! It was mom-free zone slice of heaven.

I can’t wait to go back next year! Happy knitting!!

Travel Knitting

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Recently I had the opportunity to travel for work. I was headed to the cold tundra that was Minnesota in February. I attended a three day software conference in a very nice part of St. Paul Minnesota in a fantastic hotel. The week that lead up the conference was incredibly busy and hectic including the last minute cancellation of baby sitting plans. I barely had to time to keep my head above water at work and pack something resembling a suitably filled suitcase. At the last second I grabbed by project bag that held my Down Pour socks I had planned on redoing and dashed to the airport. I knew they had wooden needles from Joanns that I wouldn’t mind losing to a zealous TSA agent. 

Once at the airport and safely through security where my knitting was not deemed a security threat, I pulled out my project and pattern only to find that I needed several stitch markers and they were not in my kit. I had needles, yarn and pattern ONLY. Sigh, so these socks had to become cuff down vanilla socks. Not my favorite…but it was better than than no knitting at all for four days.

I made up for my project D’oh by knitting in the posh hotel wrapped in a plush bathrobe with the remote control all to myself! I have to say is that was pretty much heaven to a pregnant knitter after sitting in ballroom conference chairs for 7 hours!

I’ll try to show my total trip progress if I can grab some updated photos this week. Happy Knitting!!

Another One Bites the Dust

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I popped open my email the other day to a sad note. One of my favorite local(ish) yarn stores was closing after 12 years. Yarns Sold and Told is an hour and a half away from my house so I didn’t exactly drop in all the time but I adored it none the less. It’s where I took Jellybean for his monkey yarn. The lovely ladies there were always welcoming and helpful without being pushy, and the yarn selection and aesthetic was right up my design aesthetic. I always found something that needed to come home with me.

Well they are closing their doors and the entire store was 40% off…..I’ll pause for dramatic effect. So while my husband was out of town I took Jellybean to Papa’s house for a boys only day and my mother, aunt and I hit the yarn store. I pretty much exhausted my yarn savings account. But I came away with some really need stuff to fill holes in my stash and new yarns I haven’t tried yet! (And mom purchased two sweater quantities of Berroco Chunky and Berroco DK for my birthday….next November). It was a lovely day of shopping with family, just sad for the reason for our trip.

Any way…..here is the flash of stash or yarn porn section of this post….

From left to right you can see

  • Cascade Heritage Sock in Italian Plum
  • Cascade Heritage Sock in Dahlia
  • Cascade Heritage Sock in Moss
  • Wonderland Yarns Cheshire Cat Mini Pack in Mad Tea Party
  • Wonderland Yarns Messenger Kit #13
  • Cascade Heritage Sock in Zinnia Red
  • Anzula Ava in Raspeberry (this one has cashmere….mmmmm)
  • Cascade Heritage Prints in the Tropics

I picked up the solid colors of the Heritage Sock for contrasting heels, toes and cuffs. And the rest of the yarn was just pure lust and yarn fumes. I just couldn’t pass up the 40% off deal. It’s how I dealt with the impending loss of one of my favorite yarn shops. Now I just need to jump start my knitting mojo and get some of this yarn cooking!!

Happy Knitting!!

One Skein Down

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Jellybean’s Purple Blanket is one skein in!

The jumbo locking stitch markers are a HUGE help to this novice crocheter. I have thus far (knock on wood) been able to maintain 10 stitches in between the markers. I have had to fudge once or twice but no one can tell and the blanket is still square! I do struggle with consistent tension. But that will come with time and practice. I don’t find crochet as therapeutic as knitting so I don’t know that I will devote a ton of time to crochet versus knitting. But it’s nice to have that tool in the toolkit.

I leave this project in the living room where Jellybean and I both can see it. He reminds me every once in a while that his blanket isn’t done yet. So it’s good motivation to add a few stitches every night. Now I only have 2-3 more massive chenille skeins to go….

Happy Knitting….er, I mean crocheting!

FO Friday: Midas Hat

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Hip hip hooray….I have a FO!! My Midas hat is done and soooooo pretty!

Pattern: Midas Hat by Laura Reinbach

Yarn: MJ Yarns Simple Sock in King’s Blue

Needle: US 3

Mods: None

The color is a little blown out in the photo above. But boy do I love me some symmetrical hat decreases. This pattern was simple, concise and just what I needed. The double thickness brim should do quite nicely in the cold Kansas winter. And it has juuuuuust the right amount of slouch for this knitter.

The one caveat is the yarn. I LOVE the color but the knit fabric has a little “crunch” to it. MJ Simple Sock is a light fingering yarn made of 75% wool and 25% nylon. So definitely not as soft as Merino or anything but what can you expect from miscellaneous wool. It did soften after a dip in wool wash. But I may give it another bath with some gentle conditioner after a test wear. My face breaks out easily from grease or irritation so I may be a little bit of a princess on this one. But for this beautiful simple silhouette and GORGEOUS color I can suffer a little bit.

Happy Knitting!!