Author Archives: atangledyarn84

Teaching Myself To Flick

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I finished a worsted weight hat last week. It was supposed to be for my dad but ended up going to my daycare provider who is losing her hair to chemo. Well, my needles were cold so I pulled out the second skein of Lilliput Yarn Woof Worsted and cast on another hat over the weekend.

This is the chasing cars colorway and is a nice mix of blues, greens and yellows. I want to learn to flick instead of throw my yarn. I think it will cut down stress on my wrist and possibly make me a faster knitter because I won’t let go of the right hand needle.

Flicking in ribbing was really slow and my index finger got tired so I used a mix of flicking and throwing on the brim. But for the stockinette portion I am flicking all the way and I’m FLYING through this hat. I do have some tension issues but they will work out with practice and aren’t that big of a deal in hat. Honestly, my brain feels kind of good learning a new skill.

Happy Knitting!!

Jumping Right In

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My Kiwi 3 has been sitting in my house all ready to go. The hubby even got it all oiled and ready for me to use. I read the source material from Ashford and pulled the prepped fiber from my Hitchhiker wheel and got to spinning.

First blush, this wheel is MUCH easier to control than the hitchhiker. I have managed to spin some very thick but lovely singles on this wheel. I’m still working on my hand control of the fiber but that will come with time. And the wheel is whisper quiet which is a plus for this overstimulated working mother.

My only hurdle now is to get my kids not to touch the peddles when i’m not using it, lol.

Happy Spinning!!

FO Friday: A Hat For Dad

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The super slouch Hat for Dad is done, washed and ready to head out the door. I made a left turn after I finished this hat. It’s not going to be for my dad. It’s going to my daycare provider as she is starting 18 weeks of chemo and going to lose all her hair. She needs this worse than my dad and I just want to wrap her in wooly hugs.

Pattern: None, just a basic 88 stitch worsted weight beanie

Yarn: Lilliput Yarn in Woof Worsted in the Man’s Best Friend Colorway

Needles: US 8s

Mods: None because I made up the hat as I went, lol.

This hat turned out to be a SUPER slouch when used with single brim. But is a nice beanie with the brim folded double. I ended with 11 gram leftover, so a nice sized ball. The hat only took 89 grams or 194 yards. So my prediction was correct…winging it made me have a decent chunk of yarn leftover, lol.

I’m still proud of this hat and I’m itching to get another one on the needles. I have a second skein of this Lilliput yarn in the Chasing Cars colorway that I think will be next up on the needles.

Happy Friday and Happy Knitting!!

Heels For Advent Socks

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I am into the fifth color on my 2020 Advent Socks and I am SUPER happy that I am doing these in tandem. It’s going to feel so good to cast off the cuffs and have a finished pair of socks!

I have the first heel finished all the way and I’m into the decreases on the second sock. I think I should be able to fit about three more minis into these socks before the cuff. Who knows….maybe I will go crazy and make tall socks. Who am I kidding, it likely depend on how tired I am by the time I finish the legs.

Happy Knitting!!

Adding A Wheel

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Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all! I got the best gift (that I got myself) in the mail today. I have been saving my pennies all winter and then the virtual yarn show I had planned to attend in January got cancelled. Bummer. But I had some funds saved up and I decided to save a little more and splurge on an Ashfor spinning wheel. I ended up choosing Kiwi 3 and I can’t hardly wait!

It came “some assembly required” but the husband told me “challenge accepted” and took it to the work bench in the garage.

I bought the wheel from a local US shop but they were on back order so I got it straight from New Zealand complete with two tiny fluffs of New Zealand wool.

In the end….it’s beautiful and the hubby did a great job. So far I just sit down at night and just treadle making sure to practice going both directions. This is a double treadle wheel and so far MUCH easier to control than the single treadle Hitchhiker wheel my mom got me two christmas’s ago. I think this feels like a much better beginner wheel and when I have better skills I am going to be able to kick but on the Hitchhiker as well.

Now I just need to train PB and Jellybean to NOT TOUCH OR RUN MOMMY’S SPINNING WHEEL. It is a tool and not a toy…

Happy Spinning!

Spinning Outdoors!

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Spring reared her head temporarily and early here in Kansas. So I took advantage and kicked the kids into the back yarn and grabbed my spinning. I have long neglected my Tequila Sunrise Singles on my top whorl drop spindle.

This was a braid of fiber from Blueberry Chick Yarns back from the 2020 Splashpad Party KAL from the Down Cellar Studio podcast. Last year I had spun all the yellows and oranges so only the pink is left. After about an hour of play with the kids I have about half the pinks spun onto my spindle. My work is getting heavy and lopsided so I need to wind off my singles and finish the last half of the pink.

It felt good to pick up a dormant project and make some progress. And I think this will be a really good finished yarn. I want to three ply the yarn to maintain the color progression. But honestly…I have no idea how to three ply and not enough hours in the day right now. It’s audit season and year end close for this accountant. These singles might need to rest for a bit, lol.

Happy Spinning!!

Closer To A Hat

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Dad’s hat is swimming right along. This has been great knit night knitting and zoom meeting knitting.

I am not following any kind of pattern. I have 88 stitches and I’m just knitting what feels good. No clue how many inches of ribbing, no clue how long I’ll make the hat portion and no pre-plan for the crown decreases. I’ve been knitting long enough that I’m comfortable with just winging it.

The only thing I do want to try to do is use as much yarn as possible. But I feel like that is a chuckle waiting to happen since I’m winging it. I firmly believe I will either be wildly over or under and either run out or have a ton left. Time will tell, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

2020 Memories

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My sock yarn memory blanket has seen some recent daylight. It if officially “squared off” again as I just completed a full row.

I counted and I officially have 165 squares! It fits comfortably across my lap with lots of fabric to spare on either side. I still think I will make it wider but for now I’m going to focus on length.

Some of my more recent square additions include yarn from my Into the Light and Retro Rainbow Vanilla socks. I am still sort of planning my squares. I don’t put self striping next to self striping or solid next to solid. But it’s getting harder and hard to do that the bigger this thing gets. The good news is that it really doesn’t matter as their is enough color in this blanket that it all kind of blends.

Happy Knitting!!

A Toxic Oreo Heel

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I finished turning the heel on my Zoom meeting project. My first Toxic Oreo sock now has a heel!

I’m really happy with how evenly the speckles spread out as I increased the number of stitches in the heel. And I’m now I’m set up to just keep working up the leg. This is now PERFECT meeting knitting. And the Lemonade Shop yarn is just the perfect bright pick-me-up to the winter grey and gloom.

What is your favorite meeting knitting?

Cast On: A Hat For Dad

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I needed some easy peasy no concentration knitting after I finished my Into The Light shawl. I decided to cast on a generic worsted weight beanie for my dad.

I cast on 88 stitches in the round on a US 8 needle and started 2×2 ribbed brim. I will work the brim until it looks good enough and then switch to stockinette. I think I want a decent amount of ribbing so the brim can be folded double for extra warmth.

The yarn is some recently obtained Lilliput Yarn in her Woof Worsted. This blue color is her Man’s Best Friend colorway. I’m really pleased with the variagation and subtle tones that are playing out as this knits up. We will see if I get any pooling or flashing as I keep going.

Happy Knitting!!