My DK Ripple Bralet grows apace. I have completed the main body section and working what I think will become the top band?
I have to be honest, I only skimmed through the pattern before starting. So I really don’t know what is happening. I’m just blissfully doing what the pattern tells me. And right now that is 1.5 inches two different kinds of ribbing, one for the front and one for the back.
Surely this will end well right?
I’ve been plugging away at my Retro Rainbow socks as my go-to “waiting” project. I finally got a tube tall enough that I decided to thread in some needles for my afterthought heel.
I’m going to use yarn from the inside of the cake to make the heel. I want to see how much yarn I have left the cuff after that point. I want to make good sized socks. But I’m not going to lie…I also want this beautiful MustStash yarn in my memories blanket. So it’s all about yarn management over here!
Happy Knitting
P.S. This is the Retro Rainbow colorway on MustStash standard sock 😉
I am back to working some days from home every week and school is gearing up to start in a Phase II capacity which means at least three days of home school for Jellybean. And I have been in a bit of a rut. So I decided to ask the hubby to help me rearrange my home office. I ordered an ergonomic keyboard and mouse and moved the monitors around to the center of the desk. It feels much more “officey” this way and it made me feel more engaged. And I made space for Jellybean to work on the backside of my monitors in his own “school space”.
My go-to conference call knitting right now is the body of my Radiate pullover by Joji Locatelli. The pattern tells me I need 14 inches of body but I feel more comfortable usually in the 17 inch range. So I’m doing that. But that means I still have a ways to go and lots of round and round in stockinette.
I did slip this on to my try-it-on tubing to get a feel for length. This is mainly superwash yarn so I know it will grow but I still have a great deal of knitting to do. Not to mention sleeve island….
Happy Knitting!!
My knitting mojo has seen a little hiccup as I have been busting out home improvement projects lately. I’m still working on my DK Ripple Bralet as a wind down before bed project.
I did not end up using the Old Norwegian Cast on. Instead I found Tillybuddy’s Very Stretchy Cast-on for Double and Single Ribbing. It was much easier on my brain and seems to be sufficiently stretchy.
I am through 1×1 twisted rib and into the ribbed body. I needed to determine how far I was into the body but I didn’t have a knitting tape measure. But luckily my home improvement jag had a real deal tape measure laying around. Any tape measure will do right?
Happy Knitting!!
All this time spent at home lately has really made see how shabby some spaces around my home are. I spent all of last Sunday repainting the trim around my front and garage door. Seven years of furniture moving, dog scratches and kid marks really made them look ROUGH.
I busted out some paint from the basement and some painters tape and put two new coats of fresh paint. I was even a good homeowner and pre-sanded the woodwork before painting to make it look smoother and less dented up.
Next up was the bathroom wall that the hubby had turned into swiss cheese while trying to hang a second towel rod. My blessed father patched the interior wall and fixed up the sheet rock for me. All I had to do was sand and paint.
I just happened to have a TEENY TINY amount of green paint left that was JUST enough to repaint this section of wall and feather it in so that you can’t see the contrast of new versus old. Well….good enough for me anyway.
Next up on my to-do list is hang photos from PB’s birth (two years ago) and the kids height boards I received as Christmas gifts. Better late than never!!
I found out one of my favorite podcasts/yarn stores has decided to close their brick and mortar operations. Mind you, they are in New Jersey and I have never been in person. But I feel like I know them after watching hours and hours of podcasts. I soothed my dismay by helping making a small purchase. I picked up a kit of sock yarn with coordinating mohair.
They even through in the tote bag as a special surprise! It is rose gold and super shiny. My children immediately tried to claim it.
The skein on the left is Chelsea Luxe Sock in the Rainbow Sherbet colorway. The yarn base is an 80/20 wool and nylon blend. The skein on the right is Chelsea Luxe Mohair in the Tube Top colorway. It is a 70/30 mohair and silk blend. I have no clue what they will grow up to be but I’m happy to support an LYS as they take their leap into 100% online shopping.
Happy Knitting!!
I did it!! I produced a usable skein of yarn! My 70s Kitchen hand spun is washed, whacked and skein-ed up ready for a project.
I started with four ounces of 100% alpaca and ended up with 88 grams and 56 yards of a bulky yarn. It might be super bulky in some spots. It is a little ropey and still has some twist to the finished skein but I’m super proud.
I am pretty sure I want to knit with this right away. I did some Ravelry searching and found the Alpakka Har by Cait St. George that the toddler size would be just perfect for my yardage. As long as I hit gauge that is. But it’s a basic beanie so I think I can fudge it as needed.
Happy Knitting!!
I got a wild hair this past week and decided to make a Ripple Brawlet DK in some precious Chromatic Yarns DK from my stash. I bought the pattern, skein-ed my yarn, kitted up a project bag and accessories. I was full of enthusiasm and cast-on-itis so I jumped right into the pattern. I then came to a screeching halt as the pattern called for an Old Norwegian Cast on. I don’t know how to do that one and after an hour on YouTube and complete concentration in a kid free environment…I had five stinking stitches.
I used many tutorials including the “slow” version by Very Pink Knits YouTube channel. I just couldn’t make it click with my brain and my hands. I really want to start this project so I think I’m going to use an alternate cast on that is also stretchy. I will learn the Old Norwegian Cast on someday….today is just not that day!
Happy Knitting!!
My Radiate pullover is swimming right along. I’m several inches into the body with lots of zen round and round knitting.
The pattern calls for 14 inches of body and I haven’t measured to see how far I am. The pattern also called for waist decreases and increases. My midsection after two babies is less shaped that it used to be so I’m omitting the shaping and just knitting straight down.
I think I’ll try it on when I get close to 14 inches and see how it looks. Both these yarns are super-wash so I know i’ll get some stretch. But I like a nice long sweatshirt length sweater in my garments. Next up for this one is sleeve island. I think I will use my Chia Goo interchangeable needles to knit the sleeves in the round.
Happy knitting!!
Our current temperature in Kansas is roughly the surface of the sun with like 1,000% humidity. So why wouldn’t I want to haul out all my canning supplies and heat up my kitchen? I was having some anxiety related to world events and general unrest so I felt the need to make something. That feeling turned into one batch of strawberry rhubarb jam, two batches of blackberry jam, two batches of peach jam and one batch of strawberry jam.
Jellybean helped me off and on saying that he “didn’t like the hot and sticky parts”. Which we all know is almost the whole process. He did like how dark and ruby colored the blackberries cooked down into. All this fruit, except for the strawberries, was homegrown from my families gardens. To me this gave me a grounded feeling and a connection to people I can’t visit right now.
This project did make me feel a bit better. I did have a tiny bit of frustration when my peach jam didn’t set and I had to haul all the supplies back out to re-cook and add more pectin. But the re-do process did seem to work. Now I have some jelly stores for the next year and enough to give as gifts this holiday season.
How is everyone else coping lately?
Michele plays with yarn, food, and music in Portland
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