It’s been a hot minute since I last touched my Conference 2025 Hat. I had some downtime getting my windshield repaired so I got the brim folded and attached.
It feels like riding a bike as I have been on a sweater kick lately and returning to my hat knitting. I have zero plans for this hat, just a slow and steady knit that runs around with me in my work bag.
A few more inches of hat body and I will be ready for decreases! Happy Hat Knitting!!
My knitting plans are absolutely out of sync with my actual time available to knit. I have now a fourth sweater that I am putting in my wishful knitting category.
This time it is the Cozy Classic Raglan by Jessie Maed Designs. I have five skeins of a grey tweed DK from my a 2020 virtual yarn retreat that I went to. And DK has been my preferred yarn weight for finished garments as I am warm but not to warm. And I have not yet developed the mental stamina to do a fingering weight sweater.
I have this yarn wound, pattern printed and bag ready to go. I just need to swatch to chose final needle size. One downside of all this fit of creativity is that most of these sweater need US 7 or US 8 needles and I only have one interchangeable set and not a lot of singular fixed needles in this size.
I am torn between sourcing some additional in this size and just waiting for those needles to come open. I want to keep the mojo going but don’t want to amass too many needles, lol.
Happy Wishful Knitting!!
I have so many wishful knitting projects here and here and here. That I decided to break out my ball winder and swift to do some serious winding. I don’t normally cake my yarn and tend to hand wind my yarn.
So after several hours and more tangles that I like….I wound three sweaters worth of yarn and got caked up. I do have another sweater lot that the skein is too large for my swift and I will definitely have to hand wind those.
This swift is handmade by a family member and it works great. But an umbrella swift would be more beneficial. I am considering put one of those on my wish list. And my bigger wish list is a craft room where I could have all my tools set up and I don’t have to put them away after each use 🙂
Happy Winding!!
I can’t help myself, the cast-on-itis and pattern fever is in full swing. I have another sweater that I want to start.
I have several skeins of Knit Picks of Provincial Tweed in a deep red color. This is a worsted weight so not my usual got to for sweaters as it is very warm. But I have this in my stash and I wanted to use it up. I decided on a Basic Round Yoke Pullover from Quince & Co.
I am really finding that round yokes work on my body type. And I really prefer knitting top down sweaters as I don’t want to think too hard about decided when a sweater body is sufficient when I work bottom up. I know it would work out fine and it’s just an idiosyncrasy or mental block on my side.
When I will get this started? Who knows…but I like that I have a bag, pattern and yarn ready to swatch. I may be tipping dangerously close to too many sweaters on the needles, lol.
Happy Wishful Knitting!!
I made a pretty big leap/purchase at SSK that wasn’t fiber or yarn related. I have been saving my mad money for the past year and I decided to take a leap into an electric wheel. SSK had a “try it” room for tools and wheels as well. I was able to try several brands and versions of e-wheels and I landed on a very nice starter wheel.
This is a Daedalus Sparrow electric spinning wheel. It’s 3D printed and very compact and light. I am excited to see what this does to my spinning output. In my current phase of life I have so many kid events and our house does not have a dedicated craft space for me that I find I don’t get my Ashford Kiwi spinning wheel out very much. I have to take it out and put it away almost every time I use it. Which is a barrier to use for me.
I am hoping that this e-wheel is more portable and accessible for more day to day to use. I have it set up in my office right now so I can drop in and spin as I feel the whim. I am starting with the Fiber Pool fiber mix from SSK 2024. It’s a lot of mix of different types of fiber so I will get to “test” a lot on this new wheel.
Let’s see what I can spin now! Happy Spinning!!
Sneaking out and soaking in the last of summer. I took the kids to an indoor water park today for some fun. I did my mom due diligence and I rode all the slides, swam in the pools and lazied the lazy river. I also sat and read my book club book and tried to knit on my Autumn Gold sweater.
Sleeve number one got done and I put in needles to start sleeves #2. And boy howdy was this yarn “sticky” in the hot and humid environment. Not the most enjoyable knitting but it killed the requisite time until my kids were worn out! I also read Broken Country for book club cover to cover in a couple of hours. This one was a great book and I tore through it. And it had a lot off triggers that really got to me. I will have to process this one a bit before I can give a review.
Happy Last Days of Summer Break!
In my fit of organizing, I bagged up another sweater I want to knit from my queue and SSK 2025 yarn stash.
This is four skeins of Apothefaery Fibers Delightfl DK in a forest green color. I bought this specifically to make the Rock It Tee that I tried on in the SSK Try It On Room. I am looking for a short sleeve and comfy sweater to wear on business casual days or around the house and I loved the fit of the sample I tried.
I am also using my cuss words Fat Squirrel back to hold this one. I printed the pattern and picked a size. I just need to find or free up some needles to be able to start swatching. I am hoping I know based on my current DK sweaters that I should be able to be close to gauge. But I don’t feel like tempting fate….I shall swatch!
Happy (Wishful) Knitting!!
Duke is hellbent on getting into all my of knitting photos lately. He’s cute so I will allow it. Today I did some organizing and got my yarn grouped with pattern and bag to be ready for the Love Note I want to make from SSK 2025 yarn.
I’ve read the pattern and highlighted for my desired fit/size. I need to free up needles to make a swatch for the next step. I still do have Autumn Gold and Bibliophile 2 on the needles so this is more like wishful knitting. And getting it all organized still felt great!
Happy (Wishful) Knitting!!
I didn’t just come home from SSK with market purchases and yarn shop hop goodies, I also won two door prizes!
First up is a lady bug handmade pouch. This would work equally well as a needle/notions pouch or for a pencil case. I might ask if PB wants to use this one? She used to have a thing for Ladybug and Cat Noir cartoon.
Next up are three skeins of sock yarn in coordinating colors. All three are from different dyers but are merino or merino/nylon mixes. The pink is Yarn Cafe Creations, The green is an indie Dyer out of Alaska and the green/pink mix is Unique Sheep sock yarn. I have left these bundled together and I might consider a wrap or faded cropped sweater? I need to marinate more on that….
Happy Stashing!!
Duke is doing his best to derail my Autumn Gold Sweater. It’s a good thing he is super cute and very cuddly.
I was in a place where I needed more “autopilot” knitting and that is NOT this sweater body that has a section with moving increases and decreases. So I broke out the short circulars and started one of the sleeves. This is all stockinette and easy symmetric decreases that a can be counted. I made great progress on the first sleeve in my meeting!
I will probably wrap up this sleeve and go ahead and complete the second one while I am at it. That way I have a better shot at the sleeves matching and being the same length. I can count rows and make the second one identical.
I am really liking this project and the speed at which it is going. Remind me of that when I get back to working the body that has a pattern!
Happy Knitting!!
Michele plays with yarn, food, and music in Portland
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