Cast On: Crocheted Rainbow

Posted on September 10, 2020 by atangledyarn84

After my disappointing turn with PB’s crochet blanket I decided to work on one that I know will be more successful. Thanks to my tossing of the stash I found that I had almost a perfect rainbow in bulky acrylic yarn. This yarn is DEEP stash from 2013-ish consisting of some Premier Chunky Solids and Loops and Threads Charisma. Both are an 100% acrylic 2-ply yarn with roughly 100 yards per skein.

I did cheat and buy the yellow and sage green from Micheal’s to fill out my rainbow that I was missing from stash. Thank you curbside pickup! My only disappointment was that there was no orange available in my stash or in the store. But this is a stash busting project so I’m plowing ahead!

I pulled my N or 10 MM hook and a tote bag from Chelsea yarns and kitted up this project. I really finding that I enjoy the really large scale crochet. It is really easy to see where my hook needs to go and the projects go SUPER fast. So I get that quick win of a finished object. And this project will clear roughly 1,100 yards of deep stash from my bins.

Happy Crochet!

Redoing PB’s Blanket

Posted on September 9, 2020 by atangledyarn84

After finishing that blue baby blanket last week I got itch to pick up PB’s Baby Blanket. I tried continuing to crochet but I ultimately decided I hated smaller crochet hook and the gauge I was getting. So I ripped it out.

Then I got a wild hair to re-cast it on and started just a simple knit garter stitch baby blanket. I sat one evening and worked back to where I had used all the yarn I had pulled out. It is a lot stitches bunched up on a needle and doesn’t look like much.

What I can’t decide is if I like this any better! Chenille yarn is super hard to knit with as it is very grabby and hard to get any needle that is not super sharp into the stitch. I really prefer to crochet with chenille but hated my first attempt. But I’m determined to use this yarn. I have two big cakes of this Caron cake yarn of it that I would like out of my stash!

I may move this project to time out until I can figure out what I want to do next. In the times that are 2020 I really find that I can’t work on a project that doesn’t excite me. Or at the very least I can’t touch projects that make me grumpy. In the meantime I have a different crochet blanket floating around in my head. What is this craziness!? Where is all this crochet mojo coming from?

Happy Crocheting

Winding Down The Garden

Posted on September 8, 2020 by atangledyarn84

Our garden has dwindled down to just one jalapeno plant and one bell pepper plant. We are pretty satisfactorily neglecting both but they seem to be putting out a bumper crop. I filled this bowl in one picking.

We decided to make jalapeno poppers with this go around to see how hot they are. I am just going to slice them open and put in some seasoned cream cheese and wrap the whole situation in bacon. The hubby and I plan to bake half and air fry half to see what happens. We are in a ‘wing it’ kind of mood.

Happy Cooking!!

To Knee High or Not To Knee High

Posted on September 7, 2020 by atangledyarn84

When I was tossing my stash I found a sock blank that I had had cranked for me. The yarn is lolodidit in her Hippo for Christmas colorway. I got wondering if I could make some knee high socks out of the gloriously long tube. I am pretty sure based on the length of the tube I could end up with decently long socks. I think my next step will be to measure this tube and do a little math. I don’t have any true knee socks in my drawer but I’m not sure this tube will fit over my robust volleyball player calves. Math will definitely be key here…

I have some coordinating contrast yarn in grey from Cascade. I could split the tube in half and pull back a little bit to re-knit and add toes in the main color. I could also rip back the ends and re-knit ribbed cuffs in the main color I could also knit the cuffs in contrast color. That would lead me to use the remaining contrast color to cut in heels.

It is important to note that I still need to finish my Retro Rainbow vanilla socks to free up my size 0 sock needles to even start this project. But one problem at a time…

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Baby Boy Blanket

Posted on September 4, 2020 by atangledyarn84

I kind of fell down the crochet rabbit hole and couldn’t put it down. And then viola…I have a finished Blue Baby Blanket!

Pattern: Crochet Blanket of my own improvisation

Hook: N or 10MM Hook

Yarn: Bernat Blanket Ombre in Teal Dreams

I cast on a whole whack of chained stitches and just started doing a half double crochet stitch. And then I worked through the first ball of yarn and started the second. It was at this point I realized based on my unscientific and not counted cast on, that if I continued on this path I would end up with a long skinny rectangle. And that wasn’t what i was going for in a baby blanekt. So I crocheted until I got to something that was square-ish and then I started working around the edges to add a border with my remaining yarn.

I ended up with a 29 by 33 inch blanket. So while not square, its close enough for me. I really found this a project I couldn’t put down. With the super bulky yarn it I could really see progress. And that just felt so good! I got two LARGE skeins of yarn out of my stash that amounted to roughly 439.6 yards out.

I have no plans for this FO. I think I will just put it in the gift box and wait until I have a need for a cute baby gift. But this has left with me with the itch to do another one of these projects but that would mean buying more yarn for a project I don’t have a recipient for. I think I will put a pin in that thought and see if it keeps coming back.

Happy Crafting!!

Recasting On DK Ripple Bralet

Posted on September 3, 2020 by atangledyarn84

I got over my disappointment for my first attempt at the DK Ripple bralet and re-cast on. I went up two whole pattern sizes this time to account for my gauge in the first go around.

I managed to complete the stretchy cast on again and get working in the round for the 1×1 twisted rib. Twisted rib is not my favorite but it doesn’t last long for this project. I think I may sit this one aside for a bit until I can finish the sleeves on my Radiate pullover. I really feel like I need another FO win to boost my mojo.

So for now, I think I’ll stick to one sweater a time! Happy Knitting!!

Tossing The Stash

Posted on September 2, 2020 by atangledyarn84

I recently signed up for the Yarn Harlot’s patreon and I have been watching her videos. The most recent one was a tour of her stash and how to best care for your yarn. One of the items she recommended was to do a “toss” off the stash a couple of times of year to look for pests and to reacquaint yourself with what you have.

I got a wild hair this past weekend and pulled out every skein of yarn I own. Warning….yarn content ahead. Avert you gaze if chaos and piles of yarn will offend your sensibilities.

Okay, I warned you. The below photo is the entirety of my stash. I very carefully emptied every tub and examined every bag. I found a single spider but other than that my yarn appears to be clean and pest free. And then I had to put it all back….

I carefully curated each yarn category and repacked into clean bags. For instance my sock yarn and lace yarn is below. Starting at the bottom left working clockwise I have a large pile of variegated yarn, then above that is my self-striping, then sock blanks and sock tubes, followed by lace mohair or suri alpaca, below that is sock sets, then a small pile speckled yarn and lastly in the bottom right corner are my solid and tonals.

I packed each kind of yarn together and but into drawers. And then for the first time I affixed labels to each drawer so that I know where to look for various items.

Some of my categories were by weight, fiber content or sometimes by manufacturer. It may not make sense for everyone else, but I think it’s going to work for me.

What did I learn from this? I have WAY too much variegated sock yarn, less self-striping sock yarn than I would have guessed, very few sweater quantities and almost no worsted weight yarn whatsoever. I’m hoping this review will help me make more productive purchases in the future. But who knows….sometimes a knitter never learns, lol!

Happy Knitting

Radiate Sleeves

Posted on September 1, 2020 by atangledyarn84

My Radiate body is complete and I’m squarely into swimming on sleeve island!

I managed to slip on this garment and I’m pleased to report that it fits. It does need a good blocking for the fabric to relax into that good sweatshirt style fit I want. I’m super pleased with my alternating skeins of the hand dyed yarn. I can’t discern any pooling or flashing in the sweater body. I do not plan to alternate skeins on the first sleeve. I have enough yarn left over that I can knit the full sleeve from the same skein of yarn.

I can FEEL this sweater almost being done. So I’m hoping to power through the sleeves so I can have another fall sweater.

Happy Knitting!!

Warming Up My Crochet Muscles

Posted on August 31, 2020 by atangledyarn84

After my craft project purge, I found the inspiration to keep picking up this long languishing blanket project.

I am having to warm up my crochet muscles a bit. This is super bulky yarn and a big hook so I have to take breaks to avoid soreness and injury. But so far I have crocheted through the first skein of Bernat Blanket and I’m starting the second.

I’m having a little trouble maintaining good edges. One side is okay and the other is a bit wonky. But I’m going to keep moving forward and it will be blanket-like in the end. I have no recipient in mind, I’m just enjoying getting this yarn out of my stash and having a “new to me” project to work on.

Happy Crafting!!

Culinary Adventures

Posted on August 28, 2020 by atangledyarn84

This week in Green Chef adventures was the Italian Sausage Puttanesca and spicy roasted broccoli. It plated up very well and looked great. But the results were mixed in my opinion.

The flavor was good and recipe was super easy. I loved the broccoli but I could have taken or left the pasta sauce. The hubby and I decided we don’t like olives and if we make this again we would keep the capers and leave off the olives. And then I don’t really care for sausage in the first place so its not my favorite. But the hubby really enjoyed the sausage.

It was a nice a change of pace and stretched my comfort zone. Which is exactly what I was looking for to shake up our mealtimes. I think we are going to do one more delivery from this company and then maybe try a different service.