I’m really starting to pick up steam on my second Hibernation Throw with my Teal Torch Knits 2019 Christmas advent yarn.
I’m omitting the eyelet rows in the pattern and it’s going to be solid garter stitch. And I’ve put some suri alpaca lace weight held double in white in between each color to create some visual interest and to make my blanket just a smidge bigger.
I blew through the first two colors really quickly but now I’m slowing down a bit on the third as the rows get longer. This is my meditation/no extra brain space knitting right now. The color keeps me interested but I don’t have to think about anything but maintaining the garter edge.
I took my kiddos to my parents house for a weekend respite. I may have over packed my knitting….
I pulled out my huge 31 tote and piled in the WIPs. It was hot as hades but I pulled a nice ice cold coca cola and worked on some of my projects. In this bag I had my:
I managed to put a little work on each of them and it was a very zen knitting session. It was a nice recharge to the dumpster fire that is 2020. I kind of like my big ole bag of WIPs. I’m choosing to see them as a big pile of untapped potential. Maybe it is too much ambition? But I’m excited to see what happens.
I have been using my DK Habitation Throw in the evenings a lot. I made it from scraps earlier this year and it was so fun. I have been fighting the itch to cast on another one. I finally tipped over the edge when I found my Teal Torch Knits minis from last Christmas’ advent calendar.
They came in a full spectrum rainbow in 12 minis, so I used my swift and ball winder to wind them into two equal cakes of six colors. I used a loose knot to connect the colors but I will russian join them when I get to the actual knitting. I also spied some leftover Suri Alpaca that I might work into the blanket. I’m considering using it a separation between the rainbow colors OR holding it double with the sock yarn on just the eyelet rows to provide some visual interest. I have some thinking to do on that one.
This project is living in my Cherry Pie Cottage project bag that is the most perfect summer theme of mermaids and ocean creatures. Probably going to be as close as I get to the beach this year!
Spring is around the corner and I have a finished Hibernation Throw! Seems appropriate to be “coming out of hibernation” from winter and to have finished this project.
Yarn: Valley Yarns Franklin Natural coned sock yarn and all the fingering weight scraps from my stash
Mods: I modified this pattern for DK weight yarn (fingering held double) to make a scrappy marled version of this blanket.
This project just ticked all the boxes for me and I’m almost tempted to cast on another one! It was very to memorize and easy to read where I was when I put it down mid repeat. It used up a TON of scraps from my stash. When I weighed this behemoth it weighed 822 grams. Based on some maths I did based on the average sock yarn statistics….this blanket used rough 3,300 yards of yarn!
And I finished this in about a month and a half. That is lighting speed for me and a blanket. But I will fully admit that this became a knitting obsession and I didn’t really work on much else for that period. I did notice that when I was taking FO photos that my blanket is not perfectly square. I found that at multiple times I had to fudge my decreases on the last half because I didn’t have the right number of stitches. I’m pretty confident that this led to the last half being slightly bigger than the first half.
But I don’t care, I have a new snuggly blanket that is 100% mommy’s and no one else can use it without permission! Happy Knitting!!
You guys….my DK Hibernation Throw is sooooo close to being done. I’m definitely using up the smaller and smaller scrap balls now. And the rows are going much faster. Based on what I can cover up with while knitting, I think this should be a good one person lap throw.
It still feels a little “rustic” to the touch thanks to the Franklin Valley Yarns undyed sock yarn I’m holding double throughout. It might soften with washing but I’m not sure I want to wash the blanket right away. I know for a fact some of the yarns I used will bleed. And I sort of want it to be just so…at least until the first time my kids spill on it.
It’s a mix of rainy/cold and snow/cold here today. So I’m super glad my Hibernation Throw is at the point it makes a nice blanket as I knit!
Can I say how exciting it is to be on the downhill slide of a blanket project? The rows on this project are only getting shorter and shorter as I go. I still have plenty of scraps to add to this blanket. I really think this is going to be a nice personal sized blanket when I’m done. I can admit I have googled more coned sock yarn in a grey color because I’m already planning a second throw….sheepish grin….
I’ll try to spread this blanket out and take proper photos of this blanket when I can grab some sunlight. Happy Knitting!!!
My Habitation Throw is over halfway now. I finally got to where it looked good enough for me and I started decreasing.This thing is really screaming through my scraps! I have gone through a good amount of my coned solid white yarn and I had to pull some bigger used skeins out of my stash as I was working the long middle sections.
My widest point is the peachy/pink section. I am now having to strategize with my remaining scraps. I want to make sure the colors look good adjacent to one another but that I will also have roughly enough to do an entire repeat of garter and eyelets. That’s just my personal brand of crazy.
I still have a ton scraps in my bag. And I’ve pulled some DEEP stash skeins of sock blanks and Joann’s sock yarn just in case I need some longer sections. This blanket has literally consumed all my knitting time. I don’t want to work on anything else right now.
My favorite project right now is still my Hibernation Throw. It’s just so fun to watch the colors develop as I add new scraps. Plus it’s extra satisfying when one of these section uses up every last bit of yarn. It makes this knitters heart happy!
I’m still increasing in the pattern and since I’m heavily modifying the pattern I’m not sure when to stop. I might see how many larger sized scrap balls I have left so I can work until I have enough to get to a middle point and then have enough to account for the larger decrease sections as I work down.
I have been kind of monitoring my colors and changing every eyelet row if I haven’t already run out of yarn. This has made my color blocks uniform-ish in size and makes the fabric look intentionally scrappy. My symmetry loving brain really likes this. Though it does mean that some of scraps are used up and I still have little balls leftover.
My Hibernation Throw is continuing to grow and grow. I have almost exhausted the first skein of the Valley Yarns coned sock yarn I had previously done up. I am holding my sock scraps double with this undyed/coned sock yarn for my blanket. So last night I dug out my cone and wound up more yarn. I still have my hand made yarn swift that my husband’s family made me. (The cone is only set on the center for photography purposes…it doesn’t function that way.) I wound off two same-ish sized skeins and tied them off with random scrap yarn.
My husband asked me why I just didn’t work from the cone. Well, this coned yarn has quite a bit of spinning grease left in it and it really plumps up when I wash it. So as not to distort my fabric of my finished blanket when I was it, I really prefer for the plumping to happen before the knitting. It’s extra time and extra steps but I really hope it prevents future heartbreak.
I tried a sample of the Pineapple Grove soak wash. The scent was fine but I didn’t really get a wiff of it on the finished yarn. But it smelled nice in my sink.
Now I just have to wait for these two skeins to dry! I called my main hall bathroom curtain rings into service to hold these skeins out of reach of grubby kid hands. Fingers crossed!
I am an accountant and I have the degrees and fancy certificate to prove it. But oh man, did I have a fail at counting. I have been religiously knitting away on my Hibernation Throw. And last night I looked down and swore a little. (Okay, a lot)
I had knit right past where I was supposed to add the next eyelet row. I failed to count to where I had five garter bumps. I was watching TV and the show must have really captured me because I was on auto-pilot. I do have the pattern memorized….I just lost count. I had added two extra garter bumps in my delirium.
I think I’m going to grab some smaller needles and thread in a lifeline to rip back. I just randomly grabbed US 10s when I hastily cast on this blanket. The fabric seems nice so I’m glad I made a lucky guess. But I think I’ll find some US 3s or 4s to thread in and see if I can rescue this without tinking two yarns held together.
I’m still over the moon with project because I love to see all the stripes forming AND seeing my scrap bin shrinking and shrinking. I just wish I could have remember to count, darn it!!
