Monthly Archives: May 2019

FO Friday: Kindness KAL 2019 Shawl

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It’s Friday and I have an FO that has me bursting with happiness. My Kindness KAL 2019 shawl is off the blocking mats ready for a close up!

Pattern: Kindness KAL 2019 shawl by Jaala Spiro

Yarn: Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK in Ink and Salty Tales

Needle: US 7

Mods: Added 12 garter eyelet grows in the final section before the bind off to use up my skein of blue yarn.

It really just looks so good no matter how you twist it! I think it looks gorgeous all laid out. But it also looks amazing wrapped around your neck with all the color and texture changes.

I ended up using basically a full skein of the Ink (blue) and 90% of the Salty Tales (grey speckle). This means this shawl consumed 409 yarns of DK weight yarn and weighs about 215 grams. It will be soooooo warm and smooshy this next winter!

I really gave this shawl a good stretching and my finished dimensions ended up being 41 inches by 56 inches and 23 inches deep at the point. I have a full skein of the Ink leftover and I think I’m going to see what matching accessories I can eek out of that to go with this shawl!

Happy Knitting!!

Neon In The Wild

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It’s that time of year again to drag my happy behind to the doctor and get all the things checked. These appointments are never fun but necessary for good proactive health care. And I have knitting which makes all the waiting bearable. I took my Gonna Need Sunglasses vanilla socks out into the wild!

I managed to turn the heel on the second sock while waiting in all the rooms! And I may have turned a few heads while people took a second to absorb the blinding neon sock in my hands.

I’m pretty happy with sock number two and the color changes are lining up decently well with sock number one. Now I just have a leg to finish and I’ll have another pair of socks to add my drawer for winter!

Happy Knitting!!

Kindness Unblocked

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I WON AT YARN CHICKEN! And here she is….my finished Kindness KAL 2019 shawl in all her unblocked glory!

I squeaked by with just the tiniest bit of blue yarn left without having to break into the second skein. I did have a more substantial ball of the Salty Tales grey color left. I’m using Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK by the way. The blue color is Ink. I even managed to weave in but not trim my ends from all the color changes.

As you read this my shawl has already been soaked and is drying on the blocking mats. Jellybean helped me and we broke out my blocking wires and really gave this shawl a good stretching. In doing this we found ONE dropped stitch. I calmly grabbed my double ended crochet hook and laddered it back up and then secured it with a piece of waste yarn on the wrong side of the work. No one but me will be the wiser!

Humidity has come to Kansas for summer and so I’m not sure how long this puppy will take to dry. Jellybean keeps checking at least every hour to see if it’s done. I think maybe I’ll set a fan on it to speed up the process for both our sakes!

A Game Of Yarn Chicken

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I haven’t wanted to knit on anything else but my Kindness 2019 Shawl from my Mother’s Day cast on. I blew through all the remaining sections and I’m on the last garter eyelets before the garter bind off.

The pattern indicated that you could continue to add eyelets if you had the yarn to do it. So I added 12 extra garter eyelet rows. You can see my remaining yarn above. Did I do the smart thing and weigh my yarn to determine how much each row was consuming so that I could have enough yarn to do the four ridge garter bind off? Nope, I sure did not! I’m just straight playing yarn chicken!

Happy Knitting!!

Happy Mother’s Day To Me

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My husband is a dear man. But he’s about as observant as the average knitting muggle. He has over the last 12 years taken an interest in my knitting and shown a great appreciation for my hobby. But he wouldn’t know sock yarn from bulky yarn if it hit him in the face.

I’ve been having a rough time at work adjusting to a lot of changes and new staff. It has left me drained by the time I get home. Mother’s day was approaching and it was a particularly bad day that had me window shopping on Etsy. I knew my husband hadn’t gotten me anything so I sent him an Etsy screenshot and said “I want this for Mothers Day”. It was a large project bag from Tannei Casey And he said ” buy it”. So I did…

It’s a wonderfully large bag made of some of the sturdiest material I have felt in a long time. The inside has two organization pockets and a box bottom.

The heavy canvas bottom might be my favorite thing!  I need to clear my needles a bit of WIPs and then I can’t wait to get a project started that will live in this bag!

Did anyone else get anything yarny for Mothers Day?

Kindness Continued

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My zen knitting default is definitely garter stitch…..back and forth….over and over  and over again. My Kindness KAL 2019 shawl has been my go to project lately with my congested head and brain fog. I’m in section 8 of the pattern already!

I have three full skeins of the Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK, two in the blue and one in the speckled grey. Based on how fast the yarn is disappearing I don’t think I’m going to hit my goal of using up all the yarn. The pattern does have some minimal instruction on how to add to the shawl if you have yarn left. So I’ll see how the shawl looks and how much yarn I have left when I get there. I may have to improvise.

I really want a big squishy shawl for next winter and I’m the boss of my knitting! Now I’m off to down some coffee and take my runny nose to daycare drop and work. Maybe my Rudolph nose will keep people at bay??

Happy Knitting!!

The Next Neon Heel

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I’ve come down with some sniffles thanks to PB and her need to lick my face and try to put her fingers in my mouth. Such is the life of a mother as obsessive hand washing will only get you so far. All that being said, I haven’t had much brain space for anything but garter stitch or stockinette in the round because my head is full of goo. So my Gonna Need Sunglasses Vanilla Socks have seen some action on my lunch hour.

I just kind of eyeballed it by holding the two socks up and said “yeah that looks about right to start knitting the second heel!”. Surely what can go wrong with that kind of attention to detail!

I have been really pleased with how well I have managed to keep the two socks matching so far! I have a feeling my heel turn won’t be spot on based on how fast the color is disappearing. Now….time for more hot tea and tylenol….mom’s don’t get a day off.

Happy Knitting!!

Potato Chip Knitting At Its Finest

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I literally can’t put my mothers day cast on down! Between the luxurious Hedgehog Fibers yarn and the comforting garter stitch, I’ve already made it to section three!!

The speckles in the grey contrast color have me stopping quite frequently to pet and admire the stitches. The pattern is the Kindness KAL 2019 shawl from Jaala Spiro. It’s a free pattern and absolutely wonderful.

I used the needles recommended in the pattern (US 7) and I am finding that gauge is not tight but not very drapey. I probably could have stood to have gone up a needle size. But it’s a shawl and who cares. It will just mean its extra warm for winter!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Baldwin The Bathroom Monster

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Baldwin the Bathroom Monster is DONE! I managed to put in the mouth and weave in all the ends!

Yep, hes a bit wonky! But hes soft and happy and squishy. And most important of all…..ready for PB’s birthday today. One year ago today I tried to got to bed the night before and ended up with my water breaking and heading to meet PB at the hospital.  Tomorrow we will throw a party with our family and let PB smash her face into her first cake. I cannot wait!

Baldwin is all ready to take notes!

Pattern: Baldwin the Bathroom Monster by Rebecca Danger

Yarn: Premier Yarns Parfait Layers in Sweet and Spicy

Needles: US 7

Mods: I accidentally made the feet two different sizes and my magic loop accidentally moved my decreases around a bit so my toy biases a smidge. But he’s perfect!

I used only about 78 yards of this bulky weight yarn. I would say it’s on the lighter end of the bulky spectrum. Baldwin ended up with pants and shirt thanks the self striping nature of the yarn cake. This project took maybe 6-8 hours total to knit so it was a fast one. Except for I only managed to snag a few minutes here and there so it took a lot a lot of days. I’m tempted to make this pattern again and see if I can do the magic loop correctly this time. Hmmmmm

Happy Knitting!!

Mother’s Day Cast On

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The hubby gave me the best Mother’s Day present ever….three hours home alone by myself! I took a luxurious shower and cast on my Mother’s Day Cast On….The Kindness KAL 2019 shawl by Jamal’s Spiro.

I amazed myself and got through two sections while laughing myself silly to Knitting Vicariously podcast. It was HEAVEN!

Did anyone else cast on something special and selfish for Mother’s Day?