Author Archives: atangledyarn84

Second Set Of Shorties

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The first set of shorties are off my needles and I’m starting to work on my pair. These are pair number two in my Soft Serve Sock Snake Socks.

I had to do some finagling with my scraps for these tubes. I went ahead and added the speckled yarn for contrasting cuffs. But those cuffs completed used up that mini skein with nothing left for heels or toes. Also, the tubes were not the same length by a noticeable amount. So I dug out the leftover scraps from the first pair and added until they were the same length. You can see the strip sequence is off for the sock on the right.

Now my dilemma is what yarn to use for the toes and heels? I pulled a couple options from my stash but I’m not completely sold on either. I might need to do a deeper stash dive after the kiddos go to bed. I don’t need these perfect but some degree of coordination would keep my brain happy.

Happy Knitting!!

Knitting At The Farmers Market

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Wednesday is Farmers Market day in downtown Topeka. It is a small but mighty affair every week. My favorite is the fresh baked bread you can find. But that kind of negates the health benefits of walking, lol. But I digress!

Today’s yarn on the go is brought to you by my Cheery Vanilla socks and their project bag that is much more suited for walking. This time I opted for a zippered sock bag with a fixed wrist strap. It still flopped around while I walked but none of the pesky twisting. I walked roughly 35 minutes and completed two stripes.

Now I also managed to snag a fresh tomato for BLT sandwiches. Because bacon is awesome, obviously.

Happy Knitting!!

Westport Decision Point

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I have reached the end of the pattern instructions for my Westport Blanket. I have completed the pattern recommended number of repeats. But I still have a yarn left and I really want this blanket to consume as much as possible. I’m at a decision point.

I know, roughly, how much yarn each of the stockinette block and garter rows repeat consumes. And I have one full and one partial skein left that I can hold together. I *Think* I have enough yarn for two or three more repeats and then the garter border and bindoff.

My only concern that is if I add too much more length that the blanket will become more of weirdly shaped rectangle and less of a usable blanket. This fabric texture and gauge has some good stretch to be able to shape it. But the high acrylic content tells me that it might not hold a blocking very well. I need some time to muddle on this one…but I REALLY want this off my needles soon!

Happy Knitting!!

Yarn On The Go

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I have been trying to put more “go” in my life and get off my tush and walk. I work in the heart of downtown Topeka and therefore have access to lots of cool places to to walk. Today my Dad’s Christmas Socks and I took a walk to the Capital building.

The project bag that these socks live in is NOT acceptable for walk knitting. It kept twirling and twisting up the yarn so that I would have to stop and unspin my bag. The bag (not pictured) is a drawstring bag by 19 Stitches. And it’s a wonderful bag for holding a project, don’t get me wrong. It’s just not great for walking.

As for the sock, I’m almost to the place where I need to weigh the yarn ball to see if I am close to 50%. I need to make sure I leave enough yarn for a cuff and a heel on sock number one and enough yarn for a complete sock number two. But i’m struggling to remember to do this in the evening after the end of what have been very long days lately.

Happy Knitting!

Soft Serve Sock Snake Shorties

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I’m halfway through my Soft Serve Sock Snake Shorties. The first pair for my sister is done!

I made the choice to rip both the tubes back a bit and re-knit the toes back down with the self-striping yarn. I then used some Acorn Willow merino nylon sock yarn I got at Woolfest 2019 for speckled heels and cuffs. I think this random mini looks really fantastic with these pastel stripes.

I used Cheree of KirbyWirby’s tutorial for a true cut in afterthought heel. I did a pretty good job of preventing a hole at the corner and matching the gauge of the sock tube. My notes on the number of rounds and decreases that work for me are on my Ravelry project page.

I’ll gift these to my sister when I see her in July. And next up I have two tiny tubes left that I am going to try and eek out a second set of shorties for myself!

Happy knitting!!

Happy 4th of July!

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No knitting content today, sorry guys. Between the American holiday today where I will consume way to many s’mores and watch a lot of fireworks to celebrate those that gave so much so that I and my family could have democratic freedom and the fact that my dad and I have been demolishing and relaying the kitchen/office floor for two days straight…I’m tapped out.

I need like a whole tube of bio-freeze, a nap and a beer in that order. Happy 4th of July!

white and red flag

Photo by Aaron Schwartz on Pexels.com

Socks On Vacation

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I lost my every loving mind and decided it was a good idea to load up my small children, husband and mother and take a weekend vacation. Jellybean had one wish….to sleep in a hotel. So we planned a simple weekend where my mom could attend a quilt show and the rest of us could play at Science City in Union Station in Kansas City and then we would all have a nice stay in a hotel.

Y’all, it was chaos and no one got any sleep in an unfamiliar place. But all reports say that everyone had a good time. PB up and finally decided to fully commit to walking! We had two adjoining rooms with the second having a balcony. After a FULL day running around Saturday I snuck out on to the patio with Dad’s 2019 Christmas Socks and put on a few rounds after the kids went to sleep.

The Kansas humidity made the wool a little sticky in my hands. But you can’t argue with the sunset view!

Happy Knitting!!

Westport Halfway!

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A very dear and lovely cousin informed us that the baby she and her husband are expecting will be boy arriving in October. And my knitter brain went DING! The Westport Blanket I started earlier this year will make the perfect baby boy gift. A knitter has got to love when you already have a project started and you find the most perfect home for it. So I picked this project back up and have started really working through it. I’m six pattern repeats in and I just started my second skeins.

I am holding Knit Picks Mighty Stitch held double to achieve bulky yarn gauge. I have used two skeins already, attached two more with a third pair waiting in the wings. The last pair aren’t two equal full skeins. I broke into one skein to knit a swatch I have lost to the ether somewhere. So I know I’ll have enough yarn to finish the blanket but I really want to use all the yarn up. So I may have to do a little pattern modification and re-calculation when I get to the end of the instructions and I still have yarn left. We shall see!

Happy Knitting!!

Speckled Heels

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I finished both toes on my Soft Serve Sock Snake Socks and cut in the first heel. I’m pretty pleased with my contrasting mini choice. It’s speckled but yet blends nicely with the stripe colors of the Felici

I have a BIG long tube where two 50 gram skeins of this Felici yarn were cranked together. I chose to put a toe at either end. And then I measured from the toe the appropriate length and cut in a true afterthought heel. I have a “recipe” I use to make the afterthought heel a little larger than the often used Knit One Round then Decrease Next Round method. My notes are in Ravelry project page for those interested. But my recipe allows room for my sister and I’s large heel and high instep.

I’m starting the second heel now. And I have a TON of sock tube in the middle. Once both heels are installed I may do some creative measuring to see if I make two pairs of shorties from one snake with utilizing more coordinating mini skeins.

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: MOA Shawl

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Drum roll please, my MOA shawl is blocked and ready for her close up!

Pattern: MOA (Mother-of-All) Shawl by Nick Davis

Yarn: MJ Yarns Simple Sock in the Mice and Men color

Needles: US 7

Mods: Had to alter the bind off to avoid yarn chicken. I worked rows 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 19 and 20. And I made it with less than 3 yards!

This yarn base is made with 75% Corriedale Yarn and 25% nylon. It’s definitely not a merino like soft yarn. It has some tooth to it and I wouldn’t necessarily want a full sweater of this next to my skin…personally. But this yarn is a light fingering and just blocks and drapes BEAUTIFULLY.

Above is a close up of my modified bind off to account for that fact that I didn’t have the full 440 yards of yarn the pattern requests. Based on weight I had about 350 yards of yarn and I put all but 3 yard of that into this shawl. But I think modifications work and it really blends with the overall aesthetic of the shawl.

This really did block out bigger like I had hoped. As I talked about earlier I’m finding the one skein shawls, especially those triangle shaped, to be harder to style, wear and keep on all day long.  I’m finding my taste shifting to toward two and three skein projects these days. But I started this in 2017 before I made that pivot so I’m going to give myself a little grace here.

I’m glad to finish a long languishing WIP and get a new shawl for my drawer. The pattern was easy and intuitive and I may well consider making it again but next time with two skeins worth of yarn instead of one and really go big with it. Now on to my next knitting adventure!

Happy Knitting