Category Archives: Knitting

All my knitting adventures

Woolfest 2017

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Despite a rather persistent and pesky sinus infection I dragged my butt out to the reschedule Woolfest 2017 in Wamego, KS. For those not aware this is where the Wizard of Oz is celebrated here in Kansas and there is even a museum! It’s very cheerful…

But I digress, Woolfest was originally supposed to be earlier in the month but an ice storm that didn’t actually happen in our area saw it postponed. It must have been the yarn fumes, but this is the only photo I managed to snap of the actual event. The inside was just so full of vendors, people and yarny things that I forgot to take anymore.

I think I will save my purchased goodies for a separate post. Our household budget is currently running very lean so I restrained myself. On top of, A LOT of the vendors featured either spinning fiber or alpaca yarn and fiber. While I love to look and pet all those lovelies they are not in my craft wheelhouse right now so it was easy to resist. Upside? I learned that there are a TON of alpaca ranches in Kansas and Missouri, lol.

After my jaunt through the fair I had a flash of brilliance. I grabbed some lovely BBQ yummies from a cafe next door and headed down I-70 about 5 miles to my friends winery, Prairie Fire Winery. I settled in with my takeout and a glass of hot mulled red wine.

Then for desert (and because my hubby was holding down the home front with the toddler) I had some wine spiked bundt cake with the hot mulled white wine. Oh…my….gosh it was wonderful!

The tasting room hadn’t gotten in full swing yet. This winery is very popular and makes me proud of my friends! So I snuck in some sockhead hat knitting.

Pretty soon the tasting room was filling up quickly so I bundled myself up and walked the property. I had the privilege of helping to plant some of these vines. The Flint Hills really are gorgeous all year round. Oooh…I even saw a juvenile bald eagle soaring above the grasslands stalking it’s lunch!

All in all, it was a much needed mom-free day that was very restorative for both my spirit and my mind. I got to play with yarny goods and have a lovely glass of vino. Stay tuned for tomorrow to see my purchases from Woolfest!

Happy Knitting!!

Wool Pigery

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Instagram enabled me HARD this past weekend. Despite having a near SABLE sized sock yarn stash I couldn’t resist the Kirby Wirby Etsy update. I mean she hasn’t had one in a while, how could I not?


It’s a lovely yellow, grayish, and blue combo with sparkle. These were my high school colors and I just couldn’t resist. The color is Poly Pigtails.

Shhhh….don’t tell my husband ☺️

WIP Wednesday: Storytime Scholar

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I’ve reached sleeve purgatory in my Storytime Scholar!


I’m making the 4T size and I feel it’s taking forever. I thought I was close to finishing the first sleeve but when I held it up against a slightly too big tee….I still need more. Sigh


It really is close. And it’s bulky yarn so I just need to suck it up. I don’t mind the knitting, it’s just I can’t wait to get this on Jellybean!

Happy Knitting!!

Miles and Miles to Go

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It seems like winter should be about over but we have miles and miles to go yet. The germs brought in by a certain toddler have really hit our house hard. Since Christmas we have had colds, the stomach flu, and now pink eye. I’m so over it!

The only bright side is that my Sockhead hat has seen some decent progress!


I finished the brim and an inch of stockinette while home with a sick baby. The other couple of inches of stockinette are thanks to back to back webinars at work last week.

I’m IN LOVE with this yarn. The speckles are just the right amount of cheer to ward off the grey winter. I’m a little hopeful I can finish these before the super bowl so I can have another FO for the Pigskin Party KAL.

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Storytime Scholar

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My Storytime Scholar is cruising right along. I’m past the pockets and almost done with the ribbing. 

It’s knitting up very well with semi-dense fabric. Which I’m hoping will withstand the toddler abuse. I keep thinking it looks frighteningly big. But the thing with kids is that they keep growing!

My next step will be to bind off the ribbing and then I think I will seam up the pockets. The pattern calls for to do this last but the extra flapping fabric is bothering me. After that I guess it’s the dreaded sleeves. I’m saving the collar for last in case I need to use yarn management.

Happy Knitting!

Taming The Queue

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My name is Rachelle…and I’m a queue junkie. In the past I have thrown every pattern that caught me eye into my Ravelry queue. I had 12 pages at the beginning of 2016. This summer I culled that list to 6 pages based on my current aesthetic and knitting mojo. It was still daunting to me. Then the Ravelry code geniuses moved the Wish List feature to Favorites and it hit me…I need to use my Favorites better.

I spent far too many hours that I will admit to analyzing my queue. I moved anything that wasn’t lighting an immediate fire in me from queue to favorites. And I added the paid for patterns to my wish list. Then I took the patterns still in my queue and tried to match them up with stash. Boy that was hard! I even going to take it another step farther and goback through my queue and moved anything not matched up yarn into my favorites.

It made me make hard decision but I feel less overwhelmed now. I know I can go to my queue when I need a project and pull a pattern already matched with yarn. And if that doesn’t tickle my fancy I can peruse my favorites for inspiration. I’m hoping this helps me better utilize yarns I already own.

Am I OCD organization crazy, or do other knitters do this??

FO Friday: Happy Valley Vanilla Socks

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It’s a happy day! My Happy Valley Vanilla Socks are done!

You have to love the simplicity and speed of toe-up vanilla socks with sport weight yarn! I knit these babies in 12 calendar days without too much hassle. I successfully made it without any pooling or flashing. Just some mild striping. I used 98 of the 100 grams of yarn in a simple toe-up vanilla sock with gusset heel. I knit the leg until my ball of yarn got small enough that I was worried and then started ribbing. 

I will admit one sock is slightly smaller than the other. It was the second sock. I’m not sure if it was just the rush to finish them or what. I thought I held the second one up to the first to make sure I was starting the various phases at the same time. It’s totally not enough difference that they don’t fit. And no one but me would probably even notice!

All I know is that Winter is still here in Kansas and I have another finished pair of socks for my drawer!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Storytime Scholar Sweater

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My son is a tiny little inferno. It’s been legit below zero in Kansas a few time this winter and I’ve had to literally fight to get a coat on my 2.5 year old. A kind older couple (strangers to us) at the next table very nicely assisted in scamming my son into his coat after we enjoyed a nice dinner out. I mouthed a silent thank you to what I assume was a very accomplished Grandma. Or at least she should be one…she was great!

Having written this…I’m not sure why I’m even knitting what I’m about to show you…

This is the Storytime Scholar by Lisa Chemery. It’s a paid for pattern that I spotted one night on a Ravelry binge. It’s bulky and gorgeous and just all the things. I checked the “In My Stash” feature on Ravelry and noticed I had enough Knit Picks Biggo to make this in a suitable neutral outerwear color. And I have the needles…so off I went! Being that this bulky I cruised through the raglan increases in one night. I’m now in the body and in skein two of yarn. It’s 50/50 superwash merino and nylon so it should wear just fine. Not that my little Jellybean will stop growing long enough to wear it out anyway. My 2.5 year old is already in 3-4T toddler clothing. So I’m hedging my bets and making the largest pattern size of 4T.

Fingers crossed he will wear it long enough for me to take at least some decent photos of it. And that it’s cold enough that I can get a few outings of this yet this winter.

Happy Knitting!