Monthly Archives: October 2020

FO Friday: Big Comfy Chunky Hat

Posted on by
2

Tah dah!! I have a finished super speedy bulky knit hat. I completed my Big Comfy Chunky Hat in own hand dyed Feast yarn by Nomad Yarns.

Pattern: Big Comfy Chunky Hat by Erica Kempf Broughton

Yarn: Feast by Nomad Yarn in the color Spice Box

Needles: US 11s

Mods: I added some extra rows to the crown decreases to use up the whole skein.

This hat turns out to be reversible because it is essentially all ribbed stitch. Which I think is kind of a sweet design feature. I very carefully wove in the ends so I could fully turn this both ways.

This hat really worked up quickly as promised. I think I finished in two sittings over two days. So maybe roughly 3 hours? I had some tension issues with the crown as I chose to magic loop it instead of getting off my rear to find double pointed needles. But in the finished hat it does not show.

It is a little small for my noggin (which is larger than most) but Jellybean has proclaimed it to be perfect for his head. So this will be one of the hats for our winter hat box by the front door. I need to sew a name tag into it before it leaves the house…you just in case the six year old set it down somewhere, lol.

Happy Knitting and Happy Halloween Eve!!

Zoom Went The Hat

Posted on by
2

This is one sitting’s worth of knitting on my Big Comfy Chunky Hat. I managed to find US11 needles and a decent length enough cord to knit this hat in the round. So I took off and got to knitting last night.

I blasted through the brim ribbing and I’m into the main hat body ribbing. It is really nice intuitive knit that is great for TV watching. I’m also loving how the colors are stacking up with this hand dyed yarn at this gauge. It is very fall appropriate.

I really think that if I buckle down that I can finish this hat in one more sitting. The hubby is in charge of bedtime tonight so I’m hoping to get some dedicated time tonight. But 2020 seems to laugh at my plans this year. Though this is a fairly short term goal so I’m hoping I can squeeze through, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Knitting Through Challenge

Posted on by
5

I did something this week I had never done before. I presented on an accounting topic for a virtual conference put on by a state wide governmental association. I have a theatre background so I never really mind talking to large groups. But this time I was saying my own words instead of someone else’s. I prepared, I took notes, I cleaned a corner of my dining room so as to look like a professional even thought my house is a disaster….and I brought knitting to be used out of Zoom frame. (P.S. That blue box is FULL of yarny stuff and made the perfect laptop stand, lol.)

I knit on my Knit Sky socks while the other presenters spoke. We had WAY too much material for a 60 minute Zoom so we had to rush at the end. But it was a really good step for my career and way to get my face out there. And the audience seemed receptive and I was the panelist, out of three, to get a question. We will get survey scores at the end of the month to rate our performance. I’m not sure I WANT to know the feedback but I feel like it will be good to tweak my approach for any future knitting.

My knitting kept me calm and focused on the process, which was nice. And I think I knit about an inch of sock tube in a 60 minute span. So all in all, it was a good day for my career and a good day for knitting!!

Happy Knitting!!

A Quick Hat

Posted on by
2

I’m already digging into my retreat yarn I recently procured. Kansas saw its first snowfall of the year just yesterday. It was more or less “snowy” depending on how far west you were but flakes fell nonetheless. It really got me thinking about hat and glove weater.

I pulled the skein of Feast yarn from Nomad Yarns. The best analog I can give is this feels and has roughly the same put up as Malabrigo Rasta. This colorway is called Spice Box and is autumn in its full glory.

I plan to cast this on and finish this week at least I hope too, fingers crossed. I chose a pattern from the same designer that dyed the yarn. It is the Big Chunky Comfy Hat by Erica Kempf Broughton. I was promised this was a three to four hour project at most. It’s a free pattern on Ravelry with good reviews and over 2,200 projects completed.

Stay tuned for a finished hat! Happy Knitting!!

Blanket-ish

Posted on by
2

I’m still flexing my crochet muscles on my Marled Crochet Blanket. I finished the skein of red and started the second color which is a watermelon pink. It gets a little tricky working from both end of the blanket.

My inexpert crochet skills have definitely put a “twist” to my blanket. I think I didn’t get my corner increases in the same place every time causing my blanket to spiral a bit. I have decided to call this a “design” feature and keep moving.

It is going to be a snuggly perfectly imperfect blanket for this winter! Happy Crochet!!

FO Friday: Good Old Raglan

Posted on by
6

I finished my wee sweater for PB!! I won at yarn chicken and managed a sweater that also fits my tiny human. Behold the completed Good Old Raglan.

Pattern: Good Ole Raglan by Karen O’Hanlon Cohrt (Ravelry link)

Yarn: Hedgehog Fibers DK in Deep End and Treasure Goddess Yarns DK in Gunsmoke

Needles: US 6

Mods: I followed the pattern except for omitting the stripes and did my own color thing. I as well only knit the body for as long as I could go with running out of black yarn.

I’m just pleased as punch with now well this turned out and how cute it is next to my sweater. But, as I examined the photos I realized I BUTCHERED the raglan placement. The variegated yarn really hides the fact that raglan lines are askew to what you would normally expect. I’m sure this deviation was due to knitting while zooming in to a virtual yarn retreat. But I still managed a sweater shape and it fits PB. But my project photos DEFINITELY do not look like the rest of the finished objects on Ravelry.

I used up close to 433 yards of yarn to make size 5 child size. It’s a bit big on PB but that just means she has room to grow!

And the best of all? I even got her to put it on at the same time I was wearing my sweater and pose for photos. It was an evening, not the best light and we were both tired. But it’s a memory regardless. Maybe someday we will take ‘fancy’ photos but for now we are just going to be cozy in our sweaters!

Happy Knitting!!

It’s Fall Y’all

Posted on by
5

Fall has hit me full force. I pulled out my good Swedish Lutheran roots and cooked up a full midwestern chili dinner. And no chili dinner can’t be complete without cinnamon rolls!

I slipped some of my husband’s smoked brisket from the freezer into the chili for a bit of a smoky twist. It turned out delicious and carbtastic.

I have no idea why my family of four (two of which are small children) needed a full pot of chili and an entire pan of cinnamon rolls. But hey, it got us all in the fall mood and we have leftovers for the whole week.

Happy eating!!

Now For Tiny Sleeves

Posted on by
2

As I predicted on Monday, I ran out of black yarn on my Good Ole Raglan. I worked until I had less than a yard left and then put in a hem in the blue yarn. I don’t think it turned out too badly.

I now have a small ball of the blue Hedgehog Fibers left. My plan is to weigh the ball and split it as evenly as I can into two balls. I will then knit each sleeves the best I can. Based on my unprofessional opinion, I can probably eek out elbow length sleeves…..maybe.

Stay tuned!!

Retreat Yarn

Posted on by
8

My “retreat” yarn showed up in the mail this week! As part of my virtual yarn retreat earlier this month I got to have a personal zoom shopping appointment on the Nomad Yarn truck. And I fell down with my wallet.

From the top right is a skein of Nomad Yarn Feast in the spice box colorway. This will surely become a bulky hat. Next up is two skeins of Nomad Yarn Fireworks in the Magnesium colorway. It is a sparkly single and I am picturing a nice big two skein wrap or shawl.

The bottom right is five skeins of Nomad Yarn Tweed Rocks in the Steel colorway. I want this to become a nice tweedy top down sweater for myself. And finally I could resist a skein of Malabrigo sock in a beautiful speckle color. This will NEED to be socks for my feet. It’s just so lovely.

It was a nice mail day and a sweet way to remember the weekend where I didn’t have to mom AT ALL and got to knit for 24 hours straight. Happy Knitting!!

Almost A Finished Raglan

Posted on by
3

Hello yarn chicken, my old friend. I am cruising through body of PB’s Good Ole Raglan but I am almost out of black yarn.

The sweater is still kind of short for my long bodied child. I think my plan is to knit until I am almost out of black yarn and then use some of the blue Hedgehog Fibers for the bottom ribbing band. It’s going to have to be a skinny band because I still need to knit the sleeves with the blue. Almost certainly they are going to be short sleeves to maybe three quarter sleeves.

I am confident I can eek out a manageable sweater out of this yarn. But darn I think it’s going to be yarn chicken all the way!