Monthly Archives: July 2021

FO Friday: Volcano Trail

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FO Friday time! My Volcano Trail is done, blocked and ready for fall temperatures.

Pattern: Volcano Trail by Maxim Cyr (Ravelry link)

Yarn: Mrs Crosby Hat Box in Pansy (purple), green variagated mystery sock yarn, Spunky Eclectic Spunky Sock in Wild Child (pink) and Shibui Knits Staccato in Raspberry

Needles: US 6

Mods: None

This was a really good stash buster. I didn’t use up any of the yarns completely but I did crank out a project that used 873 yards of yarn or roughly the equivalent of two skeins of sock yarn. Can’t beat that! And I have enough of each color to add at least one square on my mitered square memory blanket.

I couldn’t be happier with the color fade. These random skeins look almost like they were designed for each other! These photos are all from the front. I did not photo graph my duplicate stitch on the back. I’m not happy with it….I may rip it out and redo it. Just not today.

Bonus….this will be incredibly warm and very snuggly. I can wear it down and tucked inside my jacket. Or it pulls up nicely to cover my face on a super cold day. I would make this pattern again…but maybe for a gift? I’m not sure I need more than one of these in my wardrobe based on how long it stays cold here.

Happy Knitting!!

Destashes Get Me Every Time

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Pretty yarn destashes get me every stinking time! I fell down on Instagram when I saw a knitter was culling her stash on Etsy. There were two skeins that just needed to come to my house.

First up was a single skein of Chromatic Yarns Sturdy Sock in Druidcraft. I have a lot of greens in my stash so this will fit in nicely. I have really like mixed, matching and marling my sock yarns to make bigger projects than socks. Plus Hannah of the Corner of Craft is one of my favorite dyers.

Second (and last) was a single sock skein from The Lemondade Shop, a dyer out of Colorado. This reminds me of cotton candy but I didn’t buy it for the colors. I bought it for the name……”Only Strippers Shave Above The Knees”. I cackled laughing at this one.

Happy Stashing!!

Frog-tastic Summer

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I am on a bender….of frogging. I may have been rooting around in my WIP bag and found not one but two advent mini skein projects in hibernation. I spread them out and gave them a good look…..I didn’t want to finish either of them.

First up to frog is my Rainbow Fluff Habitation Throw made with my 2020 Teal Torch Knits advent set. Its a rainbow gradient and I was making a lap blanket with a little suri alpaca thrown in. It’s now back to a bunch of minis. Since I’m all about holding yarns double and marling…..this yarn is now going to be the All My Stitches wrap by Beata Jezek (Rav link). I ordered some plain white Opal Sock yarn to hold with the colors.

Next up in the frog pond…..my Wool and Waves Advent Scarf. This was my 2019 Advent of choice. I clearly made it SUPER far, hahaha. It’s now ripped out and I’m considering making it into the Zest by Josh Ryks-Robinsky (Rav link). I need to get on the interwebs or hit my LYS to find a second yarn to hold double with this set.

I definitely feel like I have a theme to my knitting this year, hats and holding sock yarn double. Both are really helping me use all the wonderful yarn I have stashed for year. Plus I’m getting a lot of cool FOs for next fall.

Happy Knitting!!

A Blanket Focused Weekend

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I needed a brain break and maybe a palette cleanser. So this past weekend I just focused on one project….my Sock Yarn Memory Blanket.

Above is pictured spread out on a king sized bed. So it’s getting pretty impressive in size! I focused on adding length and not width this weekend. I have a TON of scraps to go in this thing but I focused on incorporating all the leftovers from my recent finished like In the Light and Christmas socks.

I was a good knitter and placed a stitch market to mark where I started. It’s hard to see the purple unicorn on the purple square over there in the corner….but it’s there. So that means I added eight squares in one weekend! (Note to self….move stitch marker….)

I am no where ready for this to be done. I think I’ll just keep plodding along and see how it keeps growing! 😛

Happy Knitting!!

The Second Purple Rain Sock

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Not one to let my needles get cold…I have cast on for my second Purple Rain Vanilla Sock. I needed to get my easy purse knitting restarted as I am taking a friend to some medical appointments this week.

I really enjoy making socks with my nine inch circular needles. I can’t cast on the toe of course, I do use DPNs (double pointed needles) for those. After I get the last increase round done I move my sock toe to the small circulars.

Because I have the first sock done I will need to pay a little more attention to this project to make sure I mirror what I did on the first one. I didn’t do a great job of taking notes or putting in markers. I was just winging it, lol. Guess I’m paying for that decision now!

Happy Knitting!!

HO Alert: Purple Rain Vanilla Socks

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Boom! I have a finished cuff/bind off on my Purple Rain Vanilla Socks. That means this Friday that I have a HO (half finished object).

Other than the dark line in the foot where the marling broke, I am pleased with these socks. The gradient is really cute and there were more transitions than I expected.

I think I ended these socks in the nick of time. They do fit my calves but only just so. If I had gone much taller I would have needed more increases to fit on my leg. Now the challenge is to start sock number two and mirror what I did with sock number one. I have some medical appointments coming up that I need purse knitting for. Sock number two should be a good choice!

P.S. It’s really hard to take photos of one own’s feet….I almost fell off the chair I was sitting on, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

All But The Duplicate Stitch

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Isn’t this just so pretty?? I can’t stop petting and staring at this project! The Volcano Trail is all done save the duplicate stitch on the back.

My mattress stitching skills didn’t turn out to shabby! I am pretty happy with the seam. You can still totally tell where the line is but I didn’t predict that it would disappear being as its garter stitch.

Now I just need to knuckle under and get through the duplicate stitch. Which for me, I am sloppy at and never looks as polished I had hoped. So while not difficult, I do not look forward to that particular technique. I know I just need more practice on it but I don’t have to be happy about it either, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

More Uses Than Knitting

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I was in a hurry this week and I didn’t have time to prep my normal “work” bag that I carry my notebooks in between work remote and in office. Being industrious I grabbed the Tannie Casey bag I picked up this summer and tossed in all my nonsense.

Everything fit nicely and I had room for my Volcano Trail cowl. I have high hopes that I can seam the back of the cowl over my lunch break!

I got several compliments on my bag choice. I don’t think I will use this bag regularly as I don’t want to stress out the leather straps with my HEAVY notebooks and planners. Yes, that is plural, I maintain more than one planner. Its a problem but I’m working on it, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Happy Volcano!

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My Volcano Trail cowl is two (maybe three) steps from being completely done!

I got the last section completed last week and Monday during my knit night I carefully hemmed down the stockinette cuff/edge. It was TEDIOUS but it does look extremely polished and makes a nice edge.

I still need to pick up and hem the cast on edge. Then I believe I will seam shut the main body where I knit flat. Pretty sure I will have to do the googles on how to mattress seam this much garter stitch. The final step is to duplicated a slipped stitch to mirror the front. SUPER not looking forward to that. But I will do it anyway, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

So Over This Sock

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I have affirmed my decision to be freaking done with this sock. I have added some dark pink and I STILL HAVE A WALNUT SIZED BALL OF YARN! This Purple Rain sock is going to be bound off and I’m moving on.

The silver lining of this decision? I’ll have a little scrap to add to my memory blanket. And I bet I will have a little nugget left from sock number two so that it might get a full square? I am the boss of my own knitting and I don’t have to use up every little scrap!

Happy Knitting!!