Snowy Finished Socks

A snowy finish to share this week! My 2023 Christmas Eve Socks are complete with frosty photo shoot!

Pattern: My own toe up 60 stitch sock with Wendy B Johnson gusset heel

Yarn: Lilliput Rudy’s Sport in Tail Wagging colorway

Needles: US 2s

Mods: very little but I did add some leg increases to accommodate my calves

These socks have the perfect amount of ease. I do find that the feet portion are maybe 3-4 rows too long. The toes have a little too much fabric to them in my boots. But they will work. The variegation really played out nicely in this FO. It kind of reminds me of some vintage Christmasy types of decor and ornaments.

I do have another skein of sport weight yarn picked out to start. I also have the advent leftovers on the needles. I should buckle down and finish those but I am going to follow my whims and work a little on both!

Happy Knitting!!

It Always Looks Like A Thong

Yes, I still have lights up in my house. I finally took down Christmas decor but the lights just hit right with my seasonal effectiveness disorder. So I am leaning in. And I am getting on to my WIP pile. First up is my Mom’s In The Light.

This construction of shawl always looks like a thong at this stage. But I am moving along. I have made this pattern three times before so I’m pretty familiar. This version will not be faded and I might be playing yarn chicken. But this is what my Mom gave me to work with so I am going to figure it out.

Right now I’m just cruising through the garter in a two row repeat. Perfect for TV and fireplace knitting. Happy Knitting!!

Teeny Toe

I have been focused on my 2023 Christmas Eve cast on socks, but my Advent Leftover Socks saw a little daylight this week thanks to an evening work meeting.

I think I added two color stripes during the 2 hour meeting? I did have to do some typing and working depending on the topic. I am keeping my socks from tangling by using skein sleeve aka ball sacks. This really helps to keep things tidy when these just get tossed into my backpack.

It’s been SUPER cold this month and I have been using lots of wool socks. I have found a flaw in my current sock mix. I have been wearing more skinny jeans and leggings and I don’t have nearly enough short wool socks to pair with them. My mid calf socks kinda ruin the vibe. So these socks will definitely be knit as shorties!

Happy Knitting!!

Well, It’s A Hat

Well, the Teal Dreams hat is done and off the needles.

Pattern: My own 96 stitch “basic” beanie with folded stockinette brim

Needles: US 8s

Yarn: Lilliput Yarn Woof Worsted in the Tucker colorway

And now I present to you the glitch. When I was knitting together the folded brim, I developed a little pucker. My last few brims have been ribbed and easy to keep the edges aligned. I guess that is a little harder to keep track of in stockinette and I had more live stitches than cast on. Sigh

I didn’t notice this until I was three inches into the body of the hat. And I made the executive decision to just keep going. The hat will still stay on a head and keep it warm. It’s just not up to my exacting standards. This hat will live in the kid bin for school/sledding/etc.

I am going to start my next had to clear my palette of this oops! Happy Knitting!!

Dry Knitting

I’m doing some health conscious practices this January. I’m not a big resolution person but I do believe in purposeful choices. One of those is dry January. So at night with my knitting I am choosing caffeine free soda, like this cream soda, or some sparkling lemonade. For me, its not about what the beverage is and it more about the ritual of my evening. Time alone, beverages I don’t have to share and just some quiet peace.

My rituals have (and the fact this is sport weight yarn) made significant progress on my 2023 Christmas Eve socks. I finished the foot, the gusset heel and part of the leg. If I stay on this track I should have finished socks soon!

I may or may not have pulled another skein of sport weight merino/nylon/cashmere from my Christmas haul to start my next pair of sport weight socks. 🙂

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Sparkle Handspun Mitts

After knitting three darn gloves, my Sparkly Handspun Mitts are DONE!

Pattern: Loosely based off the Dreaming of Spring Fingerless Mitts by Joelle Hoverson

Yarn: My own bulky handspun

Needles: US 7s

Mods: Started at 44 stitches and ripped back to 40 for a better fit

The finished product ended up weighing about 100 grams which by some basic math worked out to 83 yards. Seems crazy to see how big these are but I guess that’s the magic of bulky/heavy worsted yarn.

I have a little bit left of this skein of handspun and a second full skein. I think I will try and Musselburgh all that I have into a matching handspun hat. But I need to clear some needles first, lol.

Happy Friday and Happy Knitting!!

Saturday Mornings

This is pretty much what every Saturday morning looks like for me. PB has early morning gymnastics so I am the wrangler of the beverages and all assorted baggage. It’s coffee for me and water or powerade for her.

This past trip I took both my Teal Dreams Beanie and my 2023 Christmas Eve Cast on socks. I ignored the beanie and focused on my socks as I was able to get the second sock to where I was starting the gusset heel increases. And reaching that milestone felt really good.

I am supporting my choices that feel mindful and happy. And keeping myself sane during a 60 minute lesson is a freezing warehouse building, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Let’s Kitchener

I am persevering with my glitchy beanie. For no good reason other than I wanted to use up the yarn, I knit the hat until I had a a yard or so left. I am going to split the hat on two needles and just kitchener closed.

This photo creatively hides the oops/glitch from you. I’ll show you it after I have the hat finished. For now I am catching up on my Knitgirllls podcast episodes while I work on the finishing. All I am missing is a good cup of coffee.

Happy Knitting!!

Worsted Haul

The Hat Mojo is going strong into 2024. And I have worked up almost every single worsted weight skein that is not handspun in my stash. Therefore, I got more. This time from Treasure Goddess Yarn, which is local (ish) to me.

My hat stash over-floweth here at Casa Rachelle so these hats will definitely be donated or gifted. So I went with some basic and easy to coordinate colors. I totally understand my color sense doesn’t always jive with other peoples.

The tonal black skein on the right is going to be a pony tail hat for a coworker friend. In 2023 my proverbial tanks were so low that trying to work on “duty bound” knitting really had me avoiding it. And towards the end of the year I just worked on project that were easy and gave me joy. I was much happier and more engaged. So that’s the plan for 2024.

No lists, no duty…..just knitting joy. Even if it’s 1,000 basic beanies 🙂

Happy Knitting!!

Hat With A Glitch

Whelp, my Teal Dreams Hat has a tiny glitch. When I was last knitting it, it was late in the evening by firelight. Aaaannnd, that led to a glitch. When I joined in the round I didn’t line up the stitches and it created a weird fold/twist at the BOR/EOR where I had more stitches on the live stitches versus the cast on edge. I didn’t think it was a big deal and just made it work, or so I thought.

I’m too far to rip this back. But it’s enough to make me not want to gift this one. It will still make a perfectly warm hat. I will finish this as a vanilla beanie and either keep for our stash or put in a donate pile. Sigh, I really shouldn’t knit in the dark when doing technical bits…

Happy Knitting!!