Monthly Archives: September 2019

Debating Necklines

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Over the weekend I applied the pattern written neck band to my Worsted Boxy. Guys…I hate it. Straight up white hot disgust. Take a look….

It looks sloppy and when I try it on, the weight of the sweater pulls ALL of the roll out of the collar so it’s just a big chuck of stockinette. And my tension got wonky in a couple of places and I may not have picked up in the cleanest fashion. It all just look Homemade instead of Handmade.

So I ripped it back and grabbed a crochet hook (that took me like 24 minutes to find) and added just a simple single crochet edge treatment. I have a few ends to snug up and weave it. But this feels MUCH better to my eyes. And it sits much nicer around my shoulders when I tried it on.

Now on to sleeves! Happy Knitting!!

So Close To A Sweater

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After putting the kids to bed, doing the dishes and packing lunches I managed to add the last few rows on my Worsted Boxy back panel. From that point it was pretty easy to add the three needle bind offs to get the sweater attached.

My short rows turned out neater than they felt as I was knitting them. And I was only off two stitches on one shoulder when I was seaming. It didn’t look like it was going to show so I just decreased them away as I was binding off.

I did try this on after I seamed. It is not as long as I maybe want. But I only have one skein of yarn left for the collar and both sleeves. (They won’t take the whole skein for sure.) But if I would have added 2 to 3 more inches I would have been in yarn chicken territory. And I’m pretty sure a good blocking will add some length if done right.

P.S. the bottom hem is STILL flipping up. I literally cannot wait to block this into submission!

Lost Knitting Bag….Send Help

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My house is not cluttered and messy but relatively clean. Between a husband, dog and two kids I have given up temporarily the hopes of a tidy home. As long as it’s relatively germ free and I can occasionally see the carpet I’m calling it a win.

But last night I lose my sh*t. I had left a project bag with my Progression Shawl on the basement couch. Where no one but I rarely sit. And this morning it is magically gone. Like POOF and disappeared. No one is claiming to have seen or to have moved it.

I’ve looked in all the usual places and still cannot find it anywhere. It is literally giving me anxiety. Must have been the karmic balancing to my quiet self care night earlier this week. I have to get to work now so I can’t keep looking.

I’m not ready to call in the National Guard as its not a disaster. But momma ain’t happy!! I have a feeling the whole family is going to help organize the basement tonight after supper….

Self Care Renewed

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I started the back portion of my Worsted Boxy last night. It was the hubby’s night for bath and bed so I pulled a bottle of one of my favorite local Kansas wine makers and went to town on some flat stockinette.

I haven’t looked yet this morning, but I’m pretty sure I did not suffer wine induced knitting oopsies. It was actually a very much needed calm evening. (And I busted out the crazy yoga pants that drive my husband crazy.) As I’m getting older (read more tired) I find that I’m getting better about self care and taking care of my needs just as much as I take care of others. Some days is a struggle but it’s always worth it.

Happy Knitting!!

Completed Fronts

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I hit another milestone on my Worsted Boxy by Joji Locatelli. I completed both fronts and have the live stitches on holders.

It was pretty fast to zoom up the stockinette portion of the front. I did have to slow down and take my time to work the short rows in the shoulder shaping. But at least I wasn’t working with 300 plus stitches anymore!

Of course my mom addled brain put the cord in wonky when I put the second should on holders. My OCD can’t handle that it is twisted and won’t lay flat. So I’m off to fix that!

Happy Knitting!!

Mystery Box Surprise

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I really need to unsubscribe from my newsletters or a bit after my last purchase or two. I am a SUCKER for a yarn deal. Oh well, my bills are paid and my family is fed. I’ll just die in a well insulated craft room some day!!

KnitCircus yarns was having another mystery sale. This is where you get to pick a yardage amount and number of skeins but nothing else. And you get a super good deal because they are clearing out the discontinued colors, short skeins, skeins with knots, or happy dye accidents. I picked a 150 g skein plus a second skein that would be tonal or semi-solid. I ended up with these two beauties…

The first is a 150 gram skein of Trampoline gradient yarn in the Sherwood Forest color. This is a discontinued color on their fingering to light fingering base. This should make a really lovely and large shawl some day. Off the top of my head this might be a good use for the Vamping Shawl I tried and failed earlier.

Next up is a skein of worsted weight Ringmaster in a prototype autumnal color on a skein with knots. Orange isn’t usually my color but this should make a wonderful hat. Maybe a Barley by TinCan knits or a Quick Ombre Hat by Emily Dormier. I have been meaning to dip my toe into colorwork.

Have you ever bought mystery yarn?

Picking Sweater Colors

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I am down the rabbit hole and back from looking at DK/Sport weight sweaters for my recent stash enhancement. I was flipping through pages and pages of results when Joji Locatelli’s Radiate practically jumped off the screen at me. It’s a top down yoked sweater with a two color slipped stitch design in the yoke. I bought the patter on the spot.

Then I jumped to my stash and dug out all my superwash merino DK yarn to find a contrast color. I found three, a Treasure Goddess DK skein in a Merlot wine color, a Blueberry Chick yarn in a Lilac color and finally a Moonstone Dyeworks DK yarn in honey color.

Because I have been burned before, I pulled out my phone and took a black and white photo. Immediately this eliminated the wine color because it does not have enough contrast.

The lilac and honey both contrast nicely. But I’m left really having to decide if either of those two colors are really what I want. I don’t have a specific color in mind. I’m just not 100% sold that either of those two are “it”. I need to do some pondering….I really want this sweater to be SHARP.

I need to gauge swatch anyway. I might start swatching and work in both colors without cutting the yarn to see what they look like? Or I may pull up the pattern page and look at what others have done. Or both….bwhahahaha!

Happy knitting!!

Progressing To The Third Skein

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Thanks to labor day travels I made some teeny tiny progress on my Progression Shawl.

I’m through with the second mini skein (yellow-ish one) and on to the third one (blue green-ish). My mom saw me working on this and commented “oh my that is pretty”. I may see how this knit goes and make it a gift for her….

For sure, this Mad Hatter Tea Party mini skein set is going to make a statement piece. It’s an abstract rainbow with lots of black pops throughout. But I am really finding the garter soothing and easy to work. I have made some mistakes on the eyelets rows and my stitch count got off. But this pattern is easy enough to fudge that I don’t mind. And no one, not even a knitter, will ever find my eyelet mistakes. This yarn is just too busy!

Happy Knitting!!

Emotional Purchasing

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I am normally a pretty even keeled person and I can let stuff roll off my back fairly well. I really do have a very good life in the grand scheme of things. However, my work life has been more stress and less success lately. I had a professional opportunity get postponed at the last minute that left me kind of bummed. Jellybean got me flowers which made did make me feel better. But later that same evening I got an email notification that a local to me dyer was having a 40% off and free shipping sale. I caved like a house of cards….I succumbed to emotional purchasing.

The Treasure Goddess Yarn shop sucked me right in. I am feeling the sweater mojo here lately so I picked up five skeins of her DK Treasure yarn in the “Gunpowder” colorway. It is black without being all black so that I can’t see to knit with it. It is hand dyed yarn so I will have to alternate skeins not matter what pattern I pick. But I feel like this should make a staple wardrobe kind of sweater.

Now I find myself slowly cruising Ravelry to find my next sweater pattern….but I’ll save that rabbit hole for another day. Happy Knitting!!

Temporarily a A Crop Sweater

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I took some time this weekend to crank out the collar of my Autumn League Pullover. And its done and looks pretty darn good (despite my dismal ability to properly pick up stitches) and it inspired me to try it on.

Thanks to try it on tubing (I have this kind) I managed to slip on this sweater to get a feel for the fit. Now…it’s basically a boob cozy or crop top at this point. But I wanted to see how the neck and sleeves felt.

It definitely has positive ease in the sleeves and the body. Yet I don’t think it looks sloppy. I can totally tell this yarn is an acrylic yarn. It doesn’t have the drape that wool does but it will still make suitable sweater. And the yarn will be gone from my stash.

As I look at my sweater I think I might alter this pattern for a split seam on the ribbing and if I have enough yarn then I will make the back ribbing a little longer than the front. I’m ready to go full cozy sweatshirt on this project. Bring on winter!!

Happy Knitting!!