Monthly Archives: January 2022

Christmas Musselburgh Flashing

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My Christmas Musselburgh is growing here and there. I managed to get fully past the increases and into the body of the hat. It’s great autopilot knitting but also not super exciting now that Christmas has long passed.

I am using hand dyed yarn from Moonstone Dyeworks. And is with all hand dyed yarn, you run the risk of pooling and flashing. I noticed one chunk of some flashing just as I was finishing the increases. Once I got into the body, it all worked itself out.

No telling if it will happen again, I guess I’ll have to keep knitting. Note, it doesn’t bother me. I just find it a fascinating part of how hand dyed yarn, stitch count and gauge all work together to make unique objects, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Windowpanes

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If you have been following my blog this week, you might have keened that I have a case of Cast-On-Itis, lol. Next up is the project I had intended to be my Christmas Eve Cast On. But I didn’t get around to getting that organized thanks to germs and a lack of bandwidth. But I have sorted the cast on now!

I chose Windowpanes by Jill Ramos as its a worsted weight bandana style cowl. I pulled two coordinating skeins of worsted by K-Zip Knits from my stash. I started this once on US 9s and HATED the loose fabric. So I ripped back and started again on US 7s and that made me much happier.

I did have to use my plastic needles from WAY back when I started knitting. Not my ideal needles but I couldn’t lay hands on any other US 7s and I really just wanted to knit. The pattern is pretty straight forward and I have 7 inches of this pattern to do before moving on.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Tiny Tree Socks

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I decided to start using my Chromatic Yarns 2021 advent calendar. I showed you guys the totally unboxed version yesterday. The first mini up is called Magic Aura (all her yarn is D&D themed) and its on a BFL and nylon base.

Whimsy led me to want to make a ton of cute tiny things with this calendar. And the first of that list of things were tiny socks for ornaments or a garland. I ended up using the Tiny Tree Socks pattern by Summer Lee (Rav Link).

And the finished thing is WEE TINY. Like maybe the size of my thumb? It was super quick to make in just over an hour. I did use DPNs which aren’t my favorite and a little fiddly to start but I got in the groove.

Now I just have 23 more colors/days to do! Happy Knitting!!

My 2021 Chromatic Yarn Advent Calendar Revealed!

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I present to you the fully opened 2021 Chromatic Yarns Advent calendar! All the colors are amazing and it was a treat to open each day. Not pictured are the stitch markers and set of D&D dice that came with. I would totally order this advent again as I love Hannah’s dye sense.

I finally settled on what I intend to knit with these since they are beautiful but not necessarily coordinated or faded. I need to do a final Ravelry search and print my patterns. More tomorrow!

A Second Goth Toe

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After finishing the first sock of my Goth Kitty Vanilla Socks, I started the toe for the second. I had my annual mammogram and managed this week baby toe while waiting.

I will admit that I pulled out the second skein and purposely started with the same stripe in the sequence on sock number two. This way my socks will match. Now, they won’t be a row by row match but close enough for an muggle looking at my feet.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Variegated Musselburgh

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Why cast on just one Musselburgh when you can have two going at once?? I had skein of Lemonade Shop Mighty sock just sitting on my work from home desk and I decided to cake it up.

For no reason other than curiousity, I am working this version on a US 3 needle instead of size 2 which I used on my first one and the Christmas version I have in my WIPs. I was a dutiful knitter and measured my gauge and following that directions for the Adult XL for that gauge.

I just finished the increases and this hat is also ready for inches and inches of stockinette. This highly variegated skein is a mix of pinks, reds, and blues with some dark speckles mixed in. The name also gives me much joy as its called “Only Strippers Shave Above the Knees”.

This has been my “my brain has too many tabs open after work” knitting. I am using some wooden needles that catch once in awhile when I skootch my work around. I forgot how annoying that can be!

Happy Knitting!!

One Goth Kitty Sock

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This week I only have a HO, half finished object. The heel is fully installed in my Goth Kitty Vanilla Socks and I even wove in all my ends.

It just so happened to work out that the heel fell in the middle of a stripe. Which I’m not mad at. It meant I could pull my remaining yarn out to a color that would be from a different part of the sequence. I only needed two stripes to get my heel complete.

Now I just need to get the next toe on the needles for my purse knitting! Happy Knitting!!

The Dirtiest Fiber I’ve Ever Spun

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I snuck in a super quick spin after the holidays. I had some unknown fiber in my donated stash bucket. The only thing I know is that it’s from the Weavers Loft, the fiber is brown and I had 2.9 ounces. So I got it on the wheel!

This was quite literally the dirtest fiber I have ever spun. My fingers turned BLACK where the fiber was passing through my fingers. The prepped fiber must have not been washed a ton after shearing. Which is fine but a new experience for me!

I ended up spinning all the fiber on one bobbin and then caking it up into a center pull ball to ply back on itself. When I was done I had a 2-ply skein that measured 114 yards over 74 grams. So a worsted skein with a few thicker spots.

I had to wash and wash and wash this skein to get all the grime out. But I got there and the skein turned out really pretty. Now to plot my next spin! Happy Spinning!!

Cast On: Christmas Musselburgh

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My hat needles told me they were chilly after getting my first Musselburgh off of them. So I couldn’t let them get cold so I got a second hat cast on right away!

I went digging in my stash and found another skein of Moonstone Dyeworks kicking around. This time it is her Stellina Sock base in Christmas on Mars colorway. It’s a nice muted Christmas color with a TON of sparkle to it. I don’t get the sparkle to show up on camera very well.

I am making an adult large again, this time without the extra increases. I’m curious to see how this one differs from my first one. If its too small, then it can go in the gift pile or kid pile. I just finished the increase and its just stockinette for many many inches.

Happy Knitting!!

Labeling Binge

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I present to you….most of my handspun stash!

I was organizing my storage bins and realized that I am amassing quite the collection of handspun. And some of it really looks alike. So went on the interwebs and downloaded some free templates for hand spun yarn labels.

I managed to get each skein labeled with yardage, weight, fiber content and date. I feel like future Rachelle will really appreciate what today Rachelle did. Not to mention it made the organization lobe of my brain REALLY happy.

Happy Spinning!!