Author Archives: atangledyarn84

A Sweater…Minus The Buttons

Posted on by
8

PB’s Gidday Baby sweater is all done but the buttons.

I need to give this thing a good bath and blocking. It’s not going to solve my obvious sleeve tension issues but it will even out the body stitches and give a nice fresh smell. The sleeves didn’t turn out as long as I thought and I probably should have extended them. But I was kinda over knitting them and bracelet length are okay for babies right?

I need to dig out some buttons as well. I’m really not sure what kind or color I’m looking for. I may just hit the fabric store and browse until something strikes my fancy.

Happy Knitting!!

Date Night Knitting

Posted on by
7

The Hubs and I scored a date night thanks to the grandparents and the glory is that pumped breast milk. We had some yummy mexican food and margaritas followed by a viewing of Ant Man and the Wasp. I had my Big Bang Vanilla Socks hanging out in my purse and I churned through some of the second tube.

I’m doing my best to make them them match….including the increases for some slight calf shaping I put in the first tube. I managed to catch myself just at the right stripe in the dark at the movies to put in the first set.

I managed to put the set in while PB was snoozing and take some sneaky photos on the bed. I’m loving having these easy tubes to knit on. But I’m not sure how or when I’ll manage to get the afterthought heels installed. Between being back at work and taking care of the house and two kids my knitting time is precious and I’m not left with many brain cells.

Maybe I can get the grandparents to come back?? Happy Knitting!

Gauge Is A Thing

Posted on by
7

PB’s Gidday Baby sweater has one sleeve. But my sleep deprived noticed one small problem.

Guess what…..gauge is a thing….

I just grabbed the DPNs at the bottom of my project bag and merrily knit away. Well, they are one size smaller than the needles I used for the body. And boy howdy can you tell they are different gauges. I quickly made the executive decision that I don’t get enough knitting time to rip them out and redo them. I’m just going to call this an “unintentional design feature” and move on the second sleeve.

On the upside….I did manage to minimize the laddering between my DPNs, lol. Happy Knitting!!

Inattentive Gardening

Posted on by
Reply

Between keeping up with a two month old and doing some late summer traveling….we sorta lost track of some of our garden. Our tomatoes and bell peppers aren’t doing diddly squat and worms ate our jalapenos. But wowza our zucchini went nuts and we didn’t notice…..

Here’s my hand for scale….

These were too woody and tough to eat but we made a nice vegetable dice for the deer in the nearby woods, lol. And fingers crossed we can salvage some more produce yet this summer that isn’t ginormous.

 

Gidday Baby Update

Posted on by
8

PB’s Gidday Baby cardigan is done through the body!

I’m so glad the button bands are knit as you go. Not that I mind button bands but I’m absolute rubbish at picking up stitches as I go. I never get the ratio just right. But I’m pleased with this cardigan so far. Berroco vintage is a nice washable workhorse yarn. The sizing is working out decent. I’m not sure this is a 12 month exactly but it’s big enough to fit PB this fall. I still have to work the sleeves and they include some striping.

The only hesitation I have about this garment is the color combo. It’s not horrible but the cream and blue sometimes just catch my eye in an odd way sometimes. But considering PB is gonna spit up and chew on it…..I’m not sure the colors matter all that much, lol. And this is using up some relatively old stash for me so that’s a plus. My hubby keeps saying as long as she warm that’s all that matters!

Happy Knitting!!

It’s Back to Work I Go….With Knitting Of Course

Posted on by
8

I am back to work today. And my desk wouldn’t be complete without a project tucked into it’s drawers to save me during long and boring conference calls/webinars. But I finished my “desk knitting” before PB was born and never replaced it. So when I was packing baby gear to deck out my office I also did up a project bag with some knitting.

I grabbed two skeins of Felici self-striping in Cheer and my US 0 needles and threw into a project bag. The socks are not started and lord knows between catching up on work and taking care of an infant while at work I won’t have time to actually knit. But I find it oddly comforting to know it’s there just in case I need it!

image_medium2.jpg

Am I the only one who stashes knitting like a squirrel stashes nuts?

Cast On: Gidday Baby Cardigan

Posted on by
6

I can’t help myself…..my tiny PB is coming to work with me and she is gonna need A LOT of sweaters. So after the Sporty Cardigan was complete I did some Ravelry searching and came up with my next sweater for PB.

I picked the Gidday Baby Sweater by Georgie Nicolson because I loved how the garter yoke looked with the stripes and the eyelets. And I adored the simple two button closure at the top while the rest of the sweater is worn open.

The only catch was that I wanted to make 9 or 12 month sized sweater for PB to grow into and this pattern is only written for newborn and 3 months. So I decided to be the boss of my own knitting and used some logic with a sprinkling of math. I took the yarn weight from DK to worsted and the needles to US 7s and 8s. Based on my known gauge with Berroco Vintage and some slight length alterations…I was pretty sure I could make this a larger sweater.

I’m following the 3 month size stitch counts for the pattern instructions but modeling the schematic off of a 12 month sized commercially made baby sweater. Fingers crossed this doesn’t come back to bite me. If so, then it will make a good story for the blog! I’m only 8 rows in and it seems okay so far, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: PB’s Sporty Cardigan

Posted on by
11

Hey look….it’s an adorable baby sweater! The Sporty Cardigan for PB is complete and even washed and blocked….

Pattern: Sporty Cardigan for Boys and Girls by Cecilie Clark

Yarn: Frabjous Fibers Messenger Kit in Color #13. I used 100 grams of the 170 gram set for a six month sized sweater.

Needles: US 4s and US 6s

Mods: Omitted the sleeve shaping for my hulk of a baby. Omitted the bottom button of the button band because Jellybean lost the fifth button before I could sew it on or take it away from him….

Seriously this chunk of a two month old is ALWAYS fussy when it’s overly air conditioned. Pop a sweater on her and shes happy as a clam. But don’t you dare put a hat on her! This six month sized sweater fits just about right for my two month old….insert insane laughter here…. I snapped a quick photo of her in it before I had the buttons sewn on, she didn’t seem to mind.

Happy Knitting!!

 

Wishful Knitting: Golden Skein Yarns

Posted on by
10

Like any other knitter with a stash, I have some skeins that I would consider “golden skeins” or just too precious to use without just the perfectly suited pattern. For me this is definitely some Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK skeins I have tucked away.

16272D7E-B749-49B0-8786-BEA221896AFA_small2.jpeg2F263A20-097E-447E-8C50-E9739483E548_medium2.jpeg

I have two skeins of Ink (blue) and one skein of Salty Tales (grey speckle). I purchased these wanting someday to make a nice big squishy DK weight shawl in two colors. But I keep having analysis paralysis when it comes to pairing them with the perfect pattern. So today for my “wishful knitting” post I’m going to audition a potential pattern.

I found the Touchstone by Laura Aylor on Ravelry. It’s a asymmetric triangle shaped shawl that uses about same amount of yardage I have on hand. It appears to be squishy garter stitch and lovely eyelets. That’s right up my baby hormone addled brain right now. And a DK weight shawl should work up waaaay faster than a fingering weight one. The pattern is written to use all one color but since I have two I think I would do the garter in the Salty Tales and the Eyelets in the Ink color. I’m not sure how that work work out as far as yarn management goes. But hey, this is wishful knitting and I can do what I want!

My inner mommy also thinks that I should consider making PB a sweater in this as it would go with her beautiful blue eyes…..but I’m not sure I’m ready to give PB Hedgehog yarn until I know how much she will chew on it and spit up on it. I may not be that selfless of a mom….

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Big Bang Socks

Posted on by
4

I finished the first tube of the Big Bang Vanilla Socks!

This is a LONG tube and I still had yarn left. I safely tucked the cake away into the tube lest sticky Jellybean fingers latch onto it. For a minute I considered knitting them until I ran out of  yarn…but ain’t nobody in this house have the time to figure out calf shaping. Especially with my 20+ years of volleyball muscled calves. Maybe I’ll have enough yarn to make tube socks for PB?

In order to keep my bedside/in the dark knitting going I quickly cast on the toe of the second sock and re-stashed in my nightstand. I feel this project losing a bit of steam as I’ve been obsessed with PB’s Sporty Cardigan. But hey….what else are nice plain vanilla socks for anyway? Always there and ready to be picked up with no pattern to fuss about!

Happy Knitting!!