Monthly Archives: June 2021

WIP Wednesday: Green Worsted Hat

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My Green Worsted Hat is growing quickly. And it has been a nice palette cleanser from all the sock yarn I have been using in my cowls and socks.

I am totally just eyeballing this hat. I checked and I do have 80 total stiches in total for this. And I worked roughly 3 or 3.5 inches of ribbing. Next step is to knit the body of the hat until I am nervous that I won’t have enough yarn to do the crown decreases…..and then start the crown decreases, lol.

PS. It’s my wedding anniversary today so I have the day off work and I’m making the hubby drive me to KC for a fancy lunch and date SANS KIDS!! Woot!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: 2020 Advent Socks #2

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I may have already ordered not one but two yarny advent calendars…..sue me. But it really made motivated to keep working through my agirlandherwool advent calendar from Christmas 2020. I really liked how the first advent/scrappy socks turned out so I am casting on another pair.

I decided not to use the full skein/main color in this pair. I’m just diving right into the minis since they are 20 grams and go really far towards making a sock. I split the mini into two 10 gram balls and I will work each sock concurrently to make sure I keep the colors the same.

Depending on how many minis I use, I might even squeak out a third pair? My main goal is to get all the minis knit up before the other calendars show up in November, wish me luck!

Happy Knitting!

Ready For Section Four

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My Volcano Trail cowl is whizzing right along. I am now adding my mystery skein of green sock yarn and this time I’m doing it correctly!

I am solidly in section four and getting ready to start section five. As with most of my projects where I hold yarn double…..I still fixing my mistakes where I don’t get both strands in both stitches. Sigh….

The only yarn I have left to fade in is a purple speckled/variegated skein of Ms. Crosby’s Hat box. I am thinking it will blend nicely. I am intrigued to see how I will end up seaming this up an what the finish will look like. Its in the 90s here in Kansas so I won’t be needing what will about to a DK weight cowl anytime soon!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Knee High Christmas Socks

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At long last I finally have my (Not So) Knee High Christmas Socks off the needles!

Pattern: None, a 72 stitch sock snake with toes, heels and cuffs hand knitted on

Yarn: Lolodidit Plush Sock in Hippo for Christmas

Needles: US 0s

Since I decided to scrap the knee high concept and just make regular socks, I ended up using the main yarn for both cuffs and heels. Plush Sock has a generous put up of 430 yards and I ended up consuming 84 grams or 360 yards of the yarn. So I have some nubs of yarn leftover for my scrap blanket.

The fit is pretty decent they are not tight on my calves as I had expected. They do come up a tad bit higher than my regular socks. These will be nice boot socks for the winter. I do need to do a citric acid soak on these as I’ve had the speckles on Lolodidit yarn fade on past projects.

Happy Knitting!!

Knitting Pool Side

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Summer is in full swing around here and that includes swim lessons. Jellybean is taking group lessons and PB has parent/tot lessons. My hubby took to the water so I was free to lounge poolside with Purple Rain Vanilla socks.

This still sock number and and I’m fully past the heel and working up the leg. I think I have one grey/purple color left before the final pink. My plan is to work the pink section 2×2 ribbing to close out the sock.

I did have another swim parent, a dad to boot, recognize my knitting and correctly identify it as a sock. I missed Knitting in Public day earlier this June so I am counting this as my event, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Well…..Shoot

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So my Volcano Trail hit a speed bump. I had grossly misinterpreted the pattern and had my color changes ALLLLL wrong. So I had to pull back a full section of my cowl….sigh

Basically I jumped right to adding the third color (green) instead of slowing fading through the pink where you hold it double with itself. It wasn’t too bad to get back on the needles because with I just fed my needle through the top loops of the garter bumps and I then I was free to pull out the work above it. I did have to fix about 1/3 of the stitches where I accidently got down a row.

My brain had been looking at the green and it did look quite jarring. I MUCH prefer the slow pink fade that I have now. It’s a lot more subtle and beautiful. I have been making this my go-to after the kids go to bed knitting. It’s great tired mommy brain knitting while I binge my latest show.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Green Worsted Hat

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My hat streak continues with the last cake of worsted yarn that I have wound up many moons ago. This hat is going to be eloquently called “Green Worsted Hat” as the yarn doesn’t have a colorway name and I’m not feeling creative, lol.

This is very THICK or heavy worsted yarn so I am creating robust fabric. I think I cast on 80 stitches and I’m working on a US 8 needle. The yarn is disappearing quickly so I should get close to using up the whole skein.

Still don’t have a solid plan for this hat other than my growing collection stowed away in my cedar chest. Maybe a gift? Who knows but I know I am not done knitting hats, lol.

Happy Knitting!

Volcano Trail Progress

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I would have thought I would have been obsessed with this cowl as much as I had been with my In The Lights, but I have more of a regular interest in this latest marling project. Which means normal Rachelle progress on this cowl. My Volcano Trail has moved past the edge and the first marling section and I’m well into the third.

So far the colors are blending nicely and making very defined but still coordinating color blocks. I do have to be careful to make sure I am getting both strands of yarn. I find myself fixing stitches from the previous row more often that I would care to.

The bottom rolly section will get seamed back on itself so I’m not worried about that. And this pattern has an incredibly creative way to make invisible increases in garter stitch. I really like that trick and will definitely keep that in my tool box.

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Mom’s Bonus Christmas Hat

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Mom’s Bonus Hat is done and dusted! I crushed this project with only inches of yarn leftover!! (Picture me doing enthusiastic fist pumps in the air.) And perhaps by coincidence or fate….today is her birthday. So happy birthday Mom!!

Pattern: My own 88 stitch basic beanie with a flat/seamed crown

Needles: US 7

Yarn: Shepherd’s Mill 2 ply DK in the Berry Gradient colorway

Mods: None really I was just creating on the fly for this project.

This hat used up almost every last bit of the 51 grams or 141 yards of the remaining gradient I had leftover from my Mom’s first Christmas gift hat. I am SUPER pleased with how my idea for the boxed crown came out. An my Kitchener skills aren’t too shabby either, lol.

I think I will plan on wrapping up the first hat I knit and give to her for her birthday with a bottle of wine. And then this recent hat will sit until Christmas time where everyone I know will be getting hand knit hats, lol.

Now I just need to scheme my next hat cast on! Happy knitting!!

A Purple Rain Heel

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Purse knitting for the win! I have reached the heel on my first Purple Rain Vanilla Sock

This yarn is turning out less gradient and more color blocky. But I am considering that a pleasant surprise. I am still struggling to make sure I don’t split the plies on this yarn but as long as I pay attention, its not horrible. My plan is to just knit up the leg until I get the last color block and then add the cuff. And I will make the cuff until I run out of yarn!

My one bummer is that in one of the darker purple sections had a ply break. And that run away play wound it backwards on to the previous yarn. So now I have a line. The dark line is where I have three plies of yarn that is immediately followed by a lighter section of just one ply. This could potentially be a week section of the sock. For this reason I won’t gift these socks. I figure if something goes wrong then I can always mend or patch what blows out.

But it has been good for my knitting mojo to have this project showing such good progress. It makes me feel accomplished even though I can’t seem to find big blocks of time for knitting!

Happy Knitting!!