Monthly Archives: March 2019

FO Friday: Charlotte Winter

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I finished an EPIC thing and I’m so thrilled I can’t stop smiling you guys. My Charlotte Winter is done and it fits like a dream! This is my first garment for myself in a long time. Having babies has been hard on my body and I haven’t always loved what I see in the mirror. But I for sure love me in this!

Pattern: Charlotte Winter by Carrie Bostick Hoge

Yarn: Berroco Chunky in Grey, Purple and Teal

Needles: US 13s

Mods: I added reverse garter stripes across the yoke to simulate color-work. I worked at a tighter gauge than the pattern and had to math out the size I needed.

It’s the most perfect tunic length and even in bulky yarn it is pretty darn flattering. I so love that I was able to get some finished photos with snow still on the ground. The rest of Kansas might not agree with me. But I’m happy for one last snow!

You can kind of see some extra fabric under the arms ala a dolman adjacent sleeve. My yoke stretched a little more than I had planned so my armpits aren’t in the armpits. That’s what happens with wet/heavy bulky yarn. But the fit feels good and I can always tighten this up a bit in the dryer. I LOVE how far the sleeves come down on my hand. It is so cozy! Plus I can always fold the cuffs up while cooking or typing. I always opt for cozy though…

I do see in this photo one stretched out stitch. It was easy to snag the garter bumps as I was turning this sweater around while knitting. I need to go back and pull the surrounding stitches back into place to close up that hole. If that doesn’t work I’ll duplicate stitch over it with some teal yarn.

I plan to give this an inaugural wearing and decide if I need to sew some grosgrain ribbon on the wrong side of the button bands. My top button is ceramic and very pretty but also very heavy. The bottom buttons are just plastic. I’ll see how it lasts during wear. Ooooo….I remembered when I was sewing the buttons down to leave room under the button for the fabric to slide under. Kind of like having a button shank under there. I usually just sew them down to within an inch of their life. But I feel like a proper knitter now!

Boy do I love this sweater…I gotta stop smiling!

Happy Knitting!!

Fading Into The Homestretch

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My obsession has not slowed this week. My Free Your Fade is into the third color!

I’ve finished my One Twisted Tree DK grey, the Leon Alexander DK variegated and now I’m in to the bright pink Anzula sport. This Anzula is for sure a thinner yarn than the previous two. But as I’ve professed before I’m not fussing about gauge in shawls. This last section has cashmere content and no one can hate that!

I did end up playing yarn chicken with the variegated yarn and had to kind of adjust the fading section. I turned one garter bump to solid from the variegated. I worked out in my favor and I only had a teeny ball of the variegated left over.  And I really don’t think you can tell in the finished section.

Now I just need to get busy and finish this! Happy Knitting!!

Marled Northeasterly

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Yesterday I talked about my memory blanket and it really gave me the itch to pick up my Northeasterly.

I managed to add three more colors and use up those scraps to the very last inch! That aspect of this kind of project just makes me so happy. I love to put every little bit of amazing yarn to good use. I am finding the white sock yarn to be a bit more rough than I’m used to with the indie dyed yarn I have been working with lately. But I think it will all balance out in the end with a good wash.

Happy Marling!!

 

Gradient Squares

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My memory blanket has kind of faded to the background with my mojo shifting towards shawls lately. But I have recently finished my Mini Solutions Scarf and had just the teeniest bits of yarn left of each color.

So I decided I could manually fade them into my memory blanket. It is totally a BUNCH of ends to weave in but the squares are just so gorgeous! I made the first square in the same order as the shawl. And then had enough yarn to reverse the order and do a second square.

I mean the second square really was using up every last inch of the yarn so it’s not as evenly graduated. But I think that just makes each square unique plus I had ZERO leftovers!! These two squares piqued my interest in my other blanket and so I just HAD to work on that one as well. Stay tuned…

Happy Knitting!!

Fading My Heart Out

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You guys…my fade is has become my knitting obsession! I busted my hiney to be able to get into the second color and I LOVE it! I am also just now noticing that it kinda blends into my carpet, whoops!!

I’m working the DK version of Andrea Mowry’s Free Your Fade. This knitter loves how fast DK yarn works up. Though I am slowly a little bit as these rows get longer and longer.

This pink variegated DK yarn from Leon Alexander Yarns is a bit more plump than the One Twisted Tree DK. But this is a shawl and who worries about gauge?? It’s going to wonderfully squishy and warm for next winter!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Mini Solutions Scarf

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I have a finished thing!! My mini solutions scarf is in the books! On Monday this week I managed to tuck in all my ends and give this lovely a bath. I have a literally worn this every day since I finished blocking this.

Pattern: Mini Solutions Scarf by Kelene Kinnersly

Yarn: Treasure Goddess Yarn Super Toes Cashmere MCN gradient set in Blackbeard’s Revenge and lolodidit Everyday Sock in Naked Hippo

Needles: US 7

Mods: None

This puppy turned out LONG. I used roughly 515 yards of fingering weight yarn and this project is longer than my wingspan. I couldn’t be bothered to actually measure this because I couldn’t make myself take it off! This skinny shawl (aka scarf) wraps really nicely around my neck for warmth with good tails hanging down. It is very narrow in depth (maybe 10 or 11 inches) but that is fine by be. The cashmere content makes this next to skin heaven. And the color changes made this a complete and utter potato chip knitting. As is evident by all my blog posts, I was kinda obsessed with this project.

This pattern is definitely one I will do again. I can see this being a great gift knitting pattern. Soothing and squishy garter stitch but with just enough change to keep me going. And this kind of scarf is very wearable.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Free Your Fade

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I have a FO to show you tomorrow and to celebrate I cast on a project I have been thinking about for MONTHS! I finally put my Free Your Fade on the needles!

I finally settled on my One Twisted Tree Lavish in Chaotic Nuetral (grey) followed by Leon Alexander Yarns Duke DK in Oh La La (variegated) and finished by some Anzula Ava in Raspberry (pink).  It’s neutral(ish) with nice pops of colors and should coordinate with my wardrobe really well.

It took me honestly casting on three times to get a product I was happy with. I didn’t like my initial slipped stitches on the edges. Then I messed up the yarn overs on the my second go. But finally this third attempt is looking pretty spiffy! This might quickly become my new obsession…

Happy Knitting!!

Blowing The Dust Off

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I managed to make it to work one day this week and forgot half my brain at home. I had a lunch box with an empty Tupperware container and an apple and then no knitting in my purse. It was a very rough day. Sleep deprivation is real yo!

I managed to scrounge a can of soup from my desk drawer so as not to starve. And I also remembered way back in August I had tucked some knitting away in my desk for just such days as this.

I pulled out my Cheery Vanilla Socks and added two whole stripes during my weekly conference call on my big work project. Sometimes it is good to stash knitting around like a squirrel stashes nuts! I may need to add a car project…..

Happy Knitting!!

Dude Socks Are No Joke

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I had a moment of doubt while working my Dad’s 2019 Christmas Socks. They just felt and looked HUGE. Significantly enough that I quit knitting and put them aside just in case I had messed up somewhere.

I mean they are as wide as my hand! See??

I took them and held them up against a pair of socks I previously knit for my husband. Both he and my dad have size 13 feet and can wear the same shoes. And guess what? They were just right.  I guess after knitting women’s socks for so long I forgot what dude socks are like. And size 13 is no joke!

I’m through an entire repeat of the colors. I think I’ve managed 7 inches? My struggle is now to decide on a heel. I’ve always put toe up gusset heels in my dad and husband’s socks because they accommodate a wide foot really well. But this is self striping and I like the look of the bulls-eye looking afterthought heel. I’m just not sure how that will fit? Much debate is going on in my brain because I can’t just easily put in an afterthought heel and change my mind. I would have to re-knit the leg! Sigh…

Happy Knitting!

Halfway Done With Sleeve Island

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This past weekend I managed to crank out a FO (finished object) that I will show you Friday. This finish really cranked my knitting mojo into high gear. It made me want to finish ALL THE THINGS. So I pulled out my Charlotte Winter sweater. I had been plodding slowly through the first sleeve trying to give my hands a break from turning a huge heavy sweater while sleeve knitting.

I was a good chunk through the decreases on sleeve one so I hunkered down and finished the sleeve. Purling in the round on huge US 13 dpns….NOT my favorite but I was committed.

I finished sleeve number one and immediately tried it on. It fits very nicely and snug. That’s pre-blocking of course. So I hope that means I won’t get a baggy sloppy fit after washing and blocking. I’m really hoping to get this done soon so I can get maybe one wear of this yet this extended winter.

Happy Knitting!!