Almost A Hat

Okay, the guilt about this Cozy hat is getting to me. I am making this my primary knitting every day after I get my advent stripes done on my socks. And the monogamy has paid off as the main body of the hat is largely complete. I am weighing my yarn to know when I can start my decreases and not run out of yarn.

Duke is still not knitting but he is helping with emotional support and the sharing of body heat. It’s Thursday morning and my goal is to have this finished by tomorrow so I can show off FO pictures and mark this off my list.

Happy Knitting!!

Chocolate And Vanilla

The hat mojo continues, and this time its a skein of worsted in “cocoa” from K-Zip Knits. I was feeling another Musselburgh. Kelsey is a great dyer and I got to know here during COVID zoom knit nights. Duke and I started working on this next hat while snuggled

Still using 8US sized needles and this stitch count is looking to be 88 in total based on my gauge thus far. I just liked this photo as its very chocolate and vanilla. Happy Knitting!!

Yarn Chicken Lost

As predicted by my spidey senses, I am losing at yarn chicken. I will not have enough handspun to cast off this hat. But the good news about Musselburgh is that since it tucks inside itself….I can hack the system.

I did a quick search of my scraps and found some DK weight teal mystery yarn that coordinates color with the handspun. I am a little worried about mixing the fiber types but it’s time to live on the edge.

I am so excited to finish this hat!! It’s cold here and my head needs to be cozy. Happy Knitting!

Ready To Advent….Again

I am getting this advent project in by the wire! I finished the toes of my Cozy Knitter 24 stripe advent socks. Now I just need to catch up to the days! I purchased a coordinating mini skein from the dyer for the toes and heels and this is a lovely shade of creamy white. I could also do the cuffs in it, but I don’t like my socks that tall. These will get pretty tall after 24 stripes!

I now have two sets of advent socks on the go for this holiday season. My other pair is from KirbyWirby and is Friends themed, which feels extra special this year given current events.

Can I keep up, lol?

That’s Better

This feels better! My hat is back to normal human sized and zooming right along. The fireplace feels toasty on my feet and the puppy doesn’t understand why I get to bring sticks in the house and he cannot.

Right now this project is cruising along until I get to the right length so the hat will be the right size when doubled inside itself. I MIGHT be playing yarn chicken but again that is a problem for future Rachelle.

It’s also December 1st so I get to start both sock advents today!!! Happy Knitting

Well Shoot….

Last night at golf lessons (indoor, thank goodness) I finally set about looking at my Handspun hat gauge. Doesn’t it look great!

My gauge in this handspun is WILDLY too big. I mean this hat is almost two hand spans! So I pulled the needles out and took a big chug of water for courage.

By the end of the lesson I had the hat ripped back and the needles back into the decreases. This time around I took out 16 stitches and moved this hat down to an 80 stitch count.

So, time to persevere and redo this hat. The silver lining is that my handspun is holding up really well to the knitting and ripping back!

Happy Knitting!!

Maybe Musselburgh?

I have managed a nice fair bit of my handspun hat. The crown decreases are complete and I have many inches hat. I think I might tempt fate and try to make this into a Mussleburgh hat. What better way to maximize this handspun?

I need to take some weight and gauge measurements to see if I can make this pattern idea work. But I’m honestly pretty excited about this idea. Happy Knitting!!

Prepping For Advent

Advent season is almost upon on us and it’s time to prep. After several years of trying different advents I have found that the 24 stripe sock skeins work best for me. I LOVE the mini skein advents but I struggle to use them and I have still have two full sets sitting in my stash.

This is KirbyWirby’s 2023 advent self striping sock. She chose a Friends theme this year and each stripe comes with a coordinating quote from a Friends character. I also opted to buy the coordinating mini for toes and heels.

I am working toe up vanilla socks with an afterthought heel. I got two heels knit up and on my 9 inch circulars. Now come December 1st, I am ready to work the first stripe. The dyer was super organized and marked where my skeins started in the sequence. I am starting on Day 11 instead of Day 1. No matter to me as I will still work all 24 stripes.

I wound up the yarn into two balls so I can work both socks. The smaller ball has two full repeats in it. The larger one must have an extra repeat? We will see when we get there!

P.S……I have two sock advents this year! Whoops 🙂

Cast On: Blue And Gold Handspun Hat

I know, I already have a hat on the needles. But this handspun has been caked up and waiting on my desk for months. I decided to start a hat but from the crown worked down so I can maximize the use of the yarn.

I am using 8US dpns and I cast on 8 stitches and started increases at the end of each needles. This will create four lines of increase. Based on the size large hat I just finished for my coworker, I am going to work up to 96 stitches.

Once this gets up to full stitch count I will switch to a 16 inch circular in the same needle size. I don’t know how I will finish the brim. That is a problem for future Rachelle!

Happy Knitting!!