Category Archives: Knitting

All my knitting adventures

Cast On: Rosewood Sockhead Slouch

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I recently attended a two day conference for work. Thankfully it was a drive home every night kind of thing so I got to be home to be with PB.  This conference was almost exclusively lecture based. So I KNEW I needed knitting. But I didn’t have any autopilot knitting because Rainbow Pop gloves need my eyeballs on them.

So I fished through my tonal sock yarn and pulled out a lovely skein of T & H Fiber Works Heather’s Favorite Sock in the Rosewood color that my mom got at a fiber festival a couple of years ago. Since I hadn’t put away my needles from my Rainbow Pop Sockhead slouch I simply cast on another Sockhead slouch!

Here is my progress by lunch on Day 1….

And here is my progress by the end of day 2…. I got almost of the ribbing done over two days (conference and travel knitting). I got several compliments on my project and a few stares. But my knitting did strike up a conversation with other attendees about Cognitive Anchoring and the benefits of letting people use their hands to be better focused during meetings.

All in all it was a great conference and some great knitting!!

Weight Loss Motivation

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I alluded some mini skein madness in my post about my scrappy memory blanket. Well I have been working steadily on my both my health and fitness after PB. I mean breastfeeding can only burn so many calories and I have added more to my physique with two children than I would like. I am still working on a fitness routine that works as a mom of two very high needs children. But I have been doing much better on both the quality and quantity of food that I’m consuming.

DISCLAIMER: I’m not here to preach or tell anyone how or when they should lose weight or what they should eat. I know my body and it’s chemistry and where I am most happiest at. And I think everyone should live where they are most happiest. I just know I could be living a better life. That being said, as a mom sometimes you tend to put yourself last. And that’s TOTALLY me, so queue some motivation for this momma.

I saw Row One yarn minis on the Grocery Girls podcast. And I thought to myself, if can make some monthly goals and health habits then I am going to sign up for a month. And I hit my targets and got a lovely package that contained Squishy sock yarn from McMullin Fiber Co.

I set some more goals and more healthy habits for month two and you guys….the yarn was an excellent carrot. So after I hit my marks, I let my subscription roll and I got a second reward. This time it was some Matte Sock from Lichen and Lace.

I’m feeling healthier and more able to keep up with the demands of a working mother of two. AND I get to add some squishy bits of yarn to my memory blanket! I am guessing I will have some months where it’s not as good and I will probably keep my “motivation” fresh. I really just want to be as healthy as I can to be the best mom and wife.

Fingers crossed for month three!!

P.S. what I’m not spending on soda and junky fast food lunches in a month more than paid for my yarn subscription. It was humbling and eye opening…..

 

Pigskin Party Frog It Challenge

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Every year I participate in the Down Cellar Studio’s football KAL, the Pigskin Party KAL. In addition to knitting items for points the KAL also includes things called “interceptions” or side challenges. In October they had a Frog It Interception. And I had just the thing to participate with. This is my Stockinette Shrug I made back in 2012. It was my first “real” sweater and made from some Berroco Vintage DK. I never wore it after I took FO photos. It’s too big, not flattering at all, and not easy to style.

So I took this pile of wrinkly sweater….

And turned it into this….

I lost a little bit of yarn cutting into the bind off and dealing with where the ends were woven in. And I haven’t weighed this yarn yet to see what I have left. But it should be a little over three skeins of DK. The next step for this will be to wind them in to hanks and give them a good wash and whack to relax the yarn.

I have no designs on what I will use this yarn for next. But for now I’m happy to have an unhappy FO returned to the state of happy yarn. Not to mention earning a few points for the KAL!

Happy Knitting!!

An Almost Finished Rainbow Mitt

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My Rainbow Pop Fingerless Mitts are moving right along.

I’ve made A TON of mistakes because I’m mainly knitting these in the dark after the kiddos go to bed. I have uttered a lot of curse words and mostly gone back and fixed the dropped stitches and wonky yarn bits. But these will be FAR from perfect. My needles are also very sharp and I feel like that is part of my problem too (besides the dark).

I completely just winged this “pattern” and I really hope I can duplicate for the second mitt! The rubber will really hit the road when I cast off the cuff and try these babies on. I have no idea how these will fit other than I know they will fit over my fist.

Happy Knitting!!

A Little Blanket Knitting

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I loved the Lemonade Shop’s Stormy Day yarn so much that I couldn’t wait to add it to my memory blanket. I wanted to make sure I got my square done before I got started on the Rainbow mitts too.

I haven’t touched this in awhile and I kind of forgot how beautiful this blanket is. I have an itch to work on this, but it won’t earn me any points in the football KAL I’m playing in so I have kind of let it sit in my bag.

My better angels may win out and this may see some action this fall. Especially after I show you some mini madness I have earned. But that needs to be it’s own post. For now I’m going to pet my pretty blanket and snuggle under it.

Happy Knitting!!

Here Comes The Rainbow

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After the Yarn Barf incident and then my finished Rainbow Pop Sockhead Slouch I FINALLY got started on my finger-less mitts to match.

And thank the Yarn Gods, I managed to get a good gauge and have the rainbow blips fall nicely around the mitt on the first try! Now all I have to do is just keep knitting!!!

P.S. the yarn barf cake is now a nicely hand wound ball. I’ll knit this project and then probably re-cake (loosely) for storage.

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Rainbow Pop Sockhead Slouch

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My Rainbow Pop Sockhead Slouch is done, blocked and dry. I am just over the moon with how cool this yarn and pattern combo turned out!

This is how the hat looks with no folded brim. It’s very slouchy and accommodates a pony tail.

Pattern: Sockhead Slouch by Kelly McClure

Yarn: Lemondade Shop Simple Sock in Stormy Day. I used 76 grams or 304 yards of yarn for this hat.

Needles: US 2s. My gauge turned out to be 7.5 stitches and 11 rows to 1 inch.

And here is how it looks with a folded brim. I personally think this is how I’ll be wearing mine. It just looks so sharp!

I did get some pooling at the crown decreases but it’s very negligible. And if anyone gets that close to notice and point that out then I will just headbutt them. This project was soothing balm to my sleep deprived mommy soul. I almost want to cast on another one to have such a happy meditative knit in my bag.

Happy Knitting!!

Yarn Barf

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I know based on my progress on my Rainbow Pop Sockhead Slouch that I will have enough to A) put in my memory sock yarn blanket and B) make a pair of finger-less mitts. In anticipation of the mitts I pulled some Cascade Heritage Sock in a solid grey from my stash and cast on the first cuff of my vanilla mitt recipe. This way I will have contrasting cuffs and thumbs while also making my rainbow yarn go as far as possible.

But look at this yarn barf hot mess. I was knitting along fine and all of sudden just SOOO many tangles coming from inside the skein. I am eeeking along and steadily untangling as I knit until the cuff is long enough and them I’m breaking the yarn and rewinding this bad boy. Ain’t nobody got time for tangled yarn barf!

Happy Knitting!!

Alternate Sweater Path

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I have for years coveted the Breezy Cardigan by Hannah Fettig. To me it represents easy classic effortless style. But it is also MILES of stockinette in fingering weight yarn. My size could easily consume 1,900 to 2,000 yards of yarn. There is no way I could manage that with two small kids without losing my mind and hating how long it took. Well I was at Sams Club shopping for toilet paper….(seriously potty training a boy shouldn’t consume this much paper but I’m just glad he’s finally catching on)…and I see these cardigans on an end cap.

I snatched one up and realized its a commercial version of the Breezy! It’s a very fine gauge Rayon, Polyester and Spandex fabric. But it’s butter soft the touch and the spandex makes it hug all the right places without being unflattering to a new mom.

And it’s got the huge drapey fronts! They wrap so nicely around my big kiddo and make a decent nursing cover up for PB. I was in LOVE and they were under $15…

img_5951I may have bought three (in different colors) to feed my cardigan obsession. I can’t explain why but this commercial sweater just makes me so happy right now. I still want to knit a Breezy someday but it’s reassuring to know for the mean time I have these pieces to keep me warm while my children still want to snuggle. (And a good plus, it looks kick ass on me).

Happy Knitting!!