Category Archives: Knitting

All my knitting adventures

Canadian Yarn

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A dear dear friend sent me a quick note to expect a little surprise in my mailbox. We live across the country and once in awhile we tuck things into the mail to surprise each other. Okay….let’s be real…we are 30 something adults with careers and kids. We try to remember each other’s birthdays and end up sending packages 6 months later, lol.

Well, this yarny beauty showed up in my mailbox!

She claims this was a combination of late night Instagram skimming with wine plus the favorable US to Canadian exchange rate. But she thought I needed a pick-me-up skein of self-striping sock yarn. This is even a new to me dyer! I have seen the Cozy Knitter yarn on several podcasts and thought it was amazing. This is a Bliss sock set in “Celebrate the Night”. Jellybean was ecstatic that the contrasting heel/toe/cuff skein was purple. That’s his FAVORITE.

If my Smooth Operator Socks go well and fit like I hope then this skein may just well end up being SOS socks as well!

Happy Knitting!!

Wow Those Are Stripes

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My Smooth Operator Socks have been my bedside knitting here lately. My baby bump has made it increasingly hard to be both comfortable and knit at the same time. I pretty much only feel comfortable laying down at this point. Which obviously makes knitting not always possible.

Despite my physical limitations, I have made a good bit of progress. Self striping always has that effect on me….just one more color change and then I will be don. And these colors…well they sure are vibrant and springy! The color is called Bam! Zap! Pow! and I think that’s apt.

I’m at about 6 inches of leg and I can’t decide if I want to put the afterthought heel in yet or not. I may go ahead and start the second sock to work in tandem until I can decide. I have another size 1 circ needle empty so it would be easy peasy to totally procrastinate that decision.

Happy Knitting!!

Caution…..Yarn Ahead

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My stress level at work has not improved. A very lovely coworker experienced a sudden and sad loss in her family and thanks to the lack of fore planning by my less than stellar supervisor my work load tripled at an already busy time of the year.

And since I can’t drink wine or consume copious amounts of caffeine I drowned my feelings in pretty new yarn. Perhaps not the best for the size of my stash…but it was some pretty awesome self-care in my opinion.

I picked up some Western Sky Knits Aspen sock with nylon in the Fairy Dust colorway. And then I hit up some wish list shopping….The Lemonade Shop! The middle skein is some Mighty Sock in the Toxic Oreo color. And the final skein is Simple Sock in the Stormy Day colorway. I need more yarn like I need a hole in my head but these made me feel the pull of my knitting mojo again which has ebbed in the latter stages of my pregnancy.

Now I just need these beauties to tell me what they want to be! Happy Knitting!!

Socks In The Wild

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I spent some time stomping around my hometown with Jellybean visiting Papa and Grandma last weekend. It was a crisp 40 degrees Fahrenheit but that didn’t stop Jellybean from convincing Papa to play at the park. I played chauffeur.

I wisely chose to sit in the mini van with podcasts (and heat) while Papa chased Jellybean. I had my Vacation Vanilla Socks tucked into my backpack and when I examined them I realized I was ready to start the heel! I improvised some fancy stitch markers from scraps of yarn scavenged from the bottom of my knitting bag and off I went with a standard toe up gusset heel.

This is the second sock and i’m secretly hoping to finish them before PB’s arrival. We shall see…

Happy Knitting

An Almost Sweater

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My second skein of sweater yarn showed up this past week and I wasted NO TIME in working on this puppy. I hand wound the ball because I was at my parents’ house and didn’t have access to my swift.

I also forgot to pack the smaller sized needles that the button band called for. Turns out….I don’t care! I started the band just kept on knitting with the sweater body sized needles. I think I’m 6 or 7 rows into a 12 row button band. Then its just a bath and this baby is done!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Smooth Operator Socks

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Hi, my name is Rachelle and I’m a bit a of selfish knitter. I have felt the siren’s call of a special selfish project for weeks but have put it off in favor of finishing some WIPs and baby knits. Now, don’t get me wrong I loved working on those but my deep deep down knitters heart was still yearning to be free.

So while Jellybean had some quality grandparent time I culled my stash and my Ravelry wish list and came up with the perfect pairing!

My Bam! Zap! Pow! skein of Fibernymph Dye Works Bounce sock yarn told me it wanted to be a some Smooth Operator Socks by Susan B Anderson. Now I normally knit my socks toe-up, I am going to give this pattern the full whirl the first time around. I will work cuff down and follow the pattern as closely as possible. I read the ENTIRE pattern and decided the only mod would be the stitch count. Susan tell you to go down to the nearest stitch count when your measurements fall in between sizes. Well fine blog readers…I have nice muscular volleyball shaped calves. I know using that stitch count and my standard sock gauge will result in a VERY tight leg.

So I’m working the cuff and the leg in a stitch count I know will fit and before I get to the heel I will reduce down to the pattern recommended count for the heel and foot. I feel like this is the best plan to avoid tears and cursing down the road. And you know what? It’s just knitting, if the first sock fails I can always rip out and try again. I’m the boss of my knitting after all!

Wish me luck! Happy Knitting!!

A Pair of Tutus

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While not so patiently waiting for my baby sweater yarn to arrive I decided to crank out another wish list baby item.  I managed to make two tutus for PB!

The top soft pink and purple tutu is the standard newborn size from the Lexi’s Knitted Tutu pattern. It’s a good size but I wanted something for my hospital bag and photos so I made a “modified newborn” in the circus/rainbow colors that took the stitch count down a bit. I’m really pleased with both! The bottom rainbow one will fit for like three seconds but that’s all I really need it for anyway, lol.

And it was super satisfying to scratch something off my pre-baby to do list. We didn’t find out Jellybean’s gender so I didn’t have any cute knits tucked into my hospital bag. Not that it mattered one way or the other at the time. But this time it feels right and special. I’m one happy momma to be!

Happy Knitting!!

Yarn Chicken Fail

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My Baby Vertebrae for PB officially has two sleeves!

I can’t help but keep thinking the speckles of this yarn paired with this pattern are just so sharp looking! And the fabric has quite the soft hand to it even before washing. It’s 100% merino and a nice plump 4-ply DK. I just love it so hard. I have forbade the husband from even THINKING about washing this in fear of felting it. I might even make a dark red HAND WASH ONLY tag and affix to the inside, lol.

I’m very clearly ready for button bands. But guess what guys…I lost at yarn chicken….

All I have left is this TINY ball of yarn and an entire button band to knit on. I broke down and ordered another skein from Apothefaery Fibers in her Etsy shop in this same color. I know the skeins won’t likely match. But I only have the button band left and I’m okay if that color difference shows. I can totally spin that as intentional! Now I just have to sit and wait for the mailman to bring me my pretty!

Happy Knitting!!

A Fine Ruler

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I tucked another knitting wish list item into my KnitCircus purchase…why not while I was at it??

I picked up the Ann Budd Knit Gauge Ruler. I have seen this thing ALL over the knitisphere. It’s so simple and effective….tis genius and witchcraft at the same time. I tried it out on my recent finished socks.

Turns out I knit these puppies at nine stitches to the inch. The ruler was easy to use and I just kept sliding the gauge until I found my little Vs lining up with the marks.

My inner OCD accounting brain wants to go back and MEASURE ALL THE FINISHED THINGS just to see what my gauge is like. But my pregnancy brain tells that part of my brain to shush and go eat ice cream. I likely know which one will win right now, lol. But I can tell you for darn sure I will be using this going forward!

Happy Knitting!

Yarning Again

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My knitting mojo has been a bit illusive lately. Even though I have lots of things on the needles and I love them all….I just can’t quite get excited about them. I’m in my third trimester and outside of ice cream or a nap not a lot make makes my heart go pitter patter, lol.

I got a small boost in my knitting realm the other day, I was the lucky recipient of a giveaway on the Bede Sisters Podcast and the host Kay. She’s a delight to listen to and the giveaway win is just the pick me up I needed! I received this special package in the mail…

And in it was two skeins of Felici Sock in the Soft Serve colorway. They are the most delicate Easter/ice cream colors and this yarn is my sister’s FAVORITE to receive hand knit socks in. She loves the soft fabric it creates. I’m not sure given my impending due date that these will hit the needles right away, but it’s nice to tuck away some yarn that I know will have an enthusiastic recipient.

I was also weak…..my job has really stunk here lately. Like it’s been super stressful and busy and just a hot mess where I may have actually cried one day. I sort of self-medicated with some super super duper wish list yarn. I have one pair of KnitCircus socks from their gorgeous rainbow gradient and I have been craving their yarn since then. And having an internet enable smart device while pregnant and stressed is a heady mix.

I picked up some KnitCircus Greatest of Ease 75 gram matching sock set in the Electric Mayhem color. These will need to be on my needles SOON! They are a pregnancy dream….already matched and wound into ready to knit cakes. Now I just need needles and a bag and I’m good to go. Soon my pretties….soon….

Happy Knitting!!