Category Archives: cast on

Cast On: Mom’s In The Light

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This past summer my mom went a quilt shop hop and ended up finding yarn. She has been wanting a shawl to wear at church or in her basement sewing room when it gets a bit chilly. I admit, I did some pattern research and then lost all track of this during the last 6 months of crazy.

So to get past decision fatigue, I decided to knit something I knew I love and could do. I am knitting another In The Light. I have already made three of these and love them all. I asked my mom if she wanted color blocks or marling. She said “whatever I want” so I picked marling to make color management easier.

She picked a nice forest green and pale variegated yellow in the Barefoot base by Laneras. this yarn is 100% Polworth and should make an execptionally warm shawl. I am a little light on yardage so I might have to tweak the pattern. But that is a problem for later!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Basic Dude Beanie

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Golf lessons continue into the cooler weather of fall. This led me to want to start another beanie. My Punch Bug Vanilla Beanie is at the brim decreases and not conducive to traveling.

I had a single skein of Ella Rae Classic wool from a mystery grab bag I purchased. It’s pretty toothy wool and just 200 yards of worsted. Made perfect sense to make a hat. This time I decided on a folded stockinette brim. I am hoping this type of construction can help me maximize the full skein. No science, just gut instinct and going to knit until I get close on yarn.

The last hat was a little snug on the husband so I went up to 96 stitches on US 8s instead of 88. This should make it a better fit for a dude. I think this hat will go to live with a coworker who often works out in the cold at all hours.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Emotional Support Socks

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To keep my needles warm, I cast on another pair of socks straight away after finishing my 2023 GFOA Socks. I went for an easy one and yarn that was already caked up. I had the full skein of BFL from 2020 AGirlandherwool advent calendar. Ravelry said I have 300+ yards left so that should be a good pair of socks!

I managed a wee toe cast on with FlexiFlip needles. I may switch to my 9 inch circulars after a bit. But I do find I like the flexible DPNs for cast ons.

Fall golf lessons have started for Jellybean so I get 3 hours a week of patio knitting while he golfs. Win win!

Happy Knitting!!

Punch Bug Vanilla Beanie: Take Two

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I found my Chia Goo interchangeable needles and managed to get my Punch Bug Beanie back on the needles. I am calling this one “Take Two”.

I am still casting on 88 stitches for this redo but this time its on 8 US needles. So the fabric is not as loosey goosey as it was on 10 US. This is a pretty fat skein of worsted therefore I think I will knit the ribbing doubly long and fold it over. In hopes of maximizing using up the full skein.

Happy Knitting!!

My First Handspun Sock

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I cast on my handspun sock yarn! It is summer travel time and Kansas has some long flat highways!!

I got the toe started and I’m working in the round now. I am using US 4 needles and this gauge is TIGHT. I am pleased with handspun but I think I need to muddle on stitch count and needle size.

This is feeling much like heavy worsted and would benefit from fewer stitches and bigger needles. I don’t think I have enough for a full pair of socks. Though I have decided I am going to power through and see what I can make. A single handspun sock is still valuable as a learning experience!

Happy Knitting!!

2022 Christmas Eve Cast On

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I knew that I would finish up my 2022 Cozy Knitter advent socks on Christmas Eve so I planned another cast on for my Christmas Eve project. This was a skein of Must Stash Yarn that I scored on a destash.

It’s called Bumbles Bounce and its one of her must match skeins. So that means it actually two perfectly aligned half skeins starting at the same point. They also matched my Christmas jammies very well.

As they are aligned correctly, I think I will work them very similar to my advent socks. I will work equal numbers of stripes on each sock so they progress in tandem. That way I have finished socks at the same time. It really was satisfying!

Did you cast on anything for Christmas or Christmas Eve?

Cast On: 2022 Advent Socks

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I didn’t go full advent calendar this year but I did buy the Cozy Knitter 2022 self-striping sock set. The idea is that there are 24 stripes and you knit one a day starting December first and by Christmas you have finished socks.

I have been keeping up fairly well with the daily knitting as it doesn’t take much time to roughly four or five rows. I haven’t been as good with photographing my progress, but I have these snaps from when I started.

Full disclosure, the skeins did not come with the contrast skein. I dug around in my minis and pulled out one from Leading Man Fiber Arts in the “It’s Cold Outside” colorway. The name made it the perfect match to some Christmas socks. It’s a little darker than the blue in the skein but I like things a little quirky!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Punch Bug Beanie

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Before I jump into sweater surgery with both feet, I decided to take up something more mindless as a palette cleanser.

This skein of Felici Worsted is the companion skein to my Punch Bug Vanilla Socks. I couldn’t find my US 8 needles and I was impatient so I grabbed 10.5US needles. This meant I needed to take my standard 88 stitch worsted hat down to 80 stiches.

I got the brim cast on and the ribbing established. I can’t decide if I am going to do a standard ribbed brim or a folded ribbed brim for extra cushy factor. I think I will knit a little longer and decide later.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Chromatic Yarns Zigzag Blanket

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I couldn’t wait any longer, I cast on a Zigzag blanket from my stash of Chromatic Yarns DK.

This will hopefully be throw sized as there are over 300 stitches on my needles. It was a lot of counting to get the zig zag set up successfully. But now I hope it’s going to cruise along. I am using size 5 needles with DK weight yarn.

I have the colors laid out to make a fade of sorts. I will knit until I run out of my current color and then add the next. The yarn is variegated enough that I don’t think actually fading would add that much. So simple and stead it is!

This should make for some cozy winter knitting. Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Punch Bug Vanilla Socks

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After finishing my UniZebraCorn socks last week, I started another pair of vanilla socks. I’m calling these my Punch Bug Vanilla socks!

First of all, this cast on is brought to you by a child’s birthday party at the local trampoline park. The only reason I stayed sane was a podcast in my earbud and knitting in my hands. That place is insanely loud but it SURE does wear my kiddos out.

I had to grab this project quickly, so I grabbed some Knit Picks felici sock yarn because it didn’t require any winding. The colorway is called Punch Bug and I have a full sock quantity and a worsted skein to make a matching hat. I’m using my standard 68 stitch count and knitting round and round in a tube.

This is also likely to be my purse/meeting knitting. I don’t have many autopilot projects on the go right now. So these socks will be important to my rotation, lol. Happy Knitting!!