Category Archives: Knitting

All my knitting adventures

The 2026 Great Packing

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I have been procrastinating dealing with all my clean woolies from winter. And I woman-ed up and dealt with them this past weekend.

Everything was sorted, inspected, folded neatly and put into vacuum bags for the rest of the summer. I ended up with two bags of sweaters and two bags of accessories to be stored. And in full disclosure, some of my store bought items went in here too. I wanted to clear up some space in my closet for summer even though they didn’t see protecting per se.

Now they are living nicely in my craft room closet until I need them again. Next year, my goal is to get this done before summer is half over!

Happy Crafting!!

How The Heck Did That Happen

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I pulled my 2018 Cozy Knitter Advent socks from my work bag the other evening for a night meeting and the project bag was SOAKED.

Honestly it was both wet and stained a pink/orange color. I have NO idea what could have happened. It didn’t smell bad and I don’t remember putting any liquids inside my work back pack. It was bizarre

Luckily, the bag seems to have held the damage. I couldn’t inspect the socks in the moment and I kept knitting because they felt dry to the touch. But I pulled them out at home and I don’t sees any discoloration. I have since put them in a new bag and I am putting the project bag through the wash. And now I will always wonder how to solve this mystery….

Happy Knitting!

Shortened Sleeves

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Okay, the Bibliophile 2 needed some tweaking. I let the sweater fully block and dry before I tried it on. And it was….interesting.

The sleeves were WAY too long and the body was not long enough. Which is fine, as all hte stitches were still live. So I ripped back 2 inches of each sleeve and cast off. I can still cuff each sleeve or let them go past the wrist to my knuckles unfolded.

And then I need to keep knitting on the body. I think at least another inch to two inches on the body before I start the 2×2 ribbing for the hem. I don’t want to be tugging at the lenght but I also don’t want to be swimming in length either. This will surely test my math skills with the blocked versus unblocked gauge.

Happy Knitting!!

Test Block

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I have been feeling the itch of the Bibliophile 2 and to see where I am at after much knitting

I put the sweater body stitches on my stitch cord and the sleeve stitches were already on waste yarn so into the bath it went! I wanted to see how much this Berroco Vintage DK would grow under the full weight of the sweater.

I borrowed my parents patio table that happens to be rust free metal and well ventilated. This worked until the tornado warning and thunderstorm rolled in. Thankfully I got most of th sweater dry in the 100 degree heat and pulled it in before the rain. I am going to let this finish drying and then do a try on to see where I am at.

Happy Knitting!!

Socks At A Conference

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My conference in Chicago had me in ballrooms for eight solid hours over two days. And this place was FREEZING. I was actively shivering for the first four hour session. I honestly knit on my 2018 Advent Socks just to keep my fingers from falling off.

I would knit a stripe on one sock and then switch to knit on the same stripe on the second sock. I think I confused the lady at my table but I had the irresistible urge to keep them “even”, lol. I am on color 14 of the 24, so just over the halfway point.

As with some previous advent socks, I think I will do the 2×2 ribbed cuff in the last four colors of the self striping skein. So I need to keep count when I hit color 20. I bet I mess that up on at least one of the socks.

Happy Knitting!!

Finished: Second Sharing Creativity Cowl

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My second Sharing Creativity Cowl is done and I did some really good blocking on this version. I was really going for the drape factor.

All the pattern and size details are found here in my Ravelry project page. I did not lose yarn chicken and I added I think four extra rows to the main body of the cowl. I could have maybe done two more? But I didn’t want to run out of yarn mid i-cord bind off. I did AGGRESIVELY block this cowl out for the drape factor. I didn’t do that with my first version and I wanted to see the contrast. I can see the benefits of both and they both have limitations.

Jellybean helped me take photos when I looked nice and dressed up for work. But I like how the jewel tones of this cowl looked with the blue maxi dress. This could be some outfit inspo for this coming winter!

Happy Knitting!!

Chicago Adventures

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I took a very quick turnaround trip to Chicago for a professional conference. It didn’t turn out to be the most relaxing of a trip due to some work stress. So, what is a girl to do? Yes, find a yarn store!!

I managed to walk to Yarnify on Chicago’s South Side and peruse a LOVELY store. I forgot to take any pictures of the inside or outside because I was in a mood over work issues. But I did manage to spend some money in the store.

I always try to support local dyers or dyers I don’t see very often. On the left I grabbed some Leading Men Fiber Arts yarn. I grabbed some vivid mini skeins for my scrap/mini skein blankets. And then I got a skein of the Dramaturg base in the “fortune teller” colorway. Next up on the top is some RMR in the Rocio base. New to me dyer and it’s not on Ravelry but I couldn’t resist the speckles.

Next up on the right is some Baah Yarns Savannah in “Lincoln Park After Dark” colorway. This is a cashmere blend and I plan to pet this skein QUITE a lot. And then I finished up with the top corner of some Stone Barn Farms gradient cake called “Eye Of The Storm” colorway.

I really need to take one of these hot afternoons and get all my summer yarn purchases put away and organized into my bins….

Happy Stashing!!

Sharing Creativity In The Round

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It’s hot as BLAZES here in the Midwest and here I am knitting a super bulky cowl….

The second Sharing Creativity Cowl is now joined in the round. Because I did use a little bit of the end of the first skein from the first project, I do plan to add at least a couple of rows to the height of this cowl. I think it will improve the fit of the finished accessory but also maximize the use of yarn.

Will I end up playing yarn chicken, maybe? But it will feel good to finish this yarn and mark complete in my stash. Will I buy Caracol again….maybe, for the right project. To keep in my stash….probably not.

Happy Knitting!!

Easy Saturday Mornings

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This past Saturday Jellybean had an 8 am baseball game. While I was grateful for the cooler temps it was less than ideal to get up early on my day off. The things I do for being a mom. So I grabbed some energy and my 2018 Advent Socks and watched our team win and my son be MVP of the game.

I recently upgraded to a rocking camp chair and it makes all the difference in the world. I feel more comfortable for knitting ergonomics and I can rock out the anxiety of the close plays and my kid’s at bats.

I think I added at least two stripes per sock during this game. I need to count to determine how far I am into the 24 stripes I am for these socks. Socks make such an easy thing to travel with and drop quickly when a foul ball comes at me or PB.

Happy Baseball Knitting!!

Bibliophile 2 Body

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My Bibliophile 2 made it all the way through vacation!

I am still cruising down the main body of the sweater. The pattern states I need 15 inches from the underarm and I’m at roughly 10 (ish) depending on how and where I measure. So lots of round and round left. I do think I will pull out all the sleeve stitch markers as they make a lot of noise and aren’t necessary anymore.

It’s shaping up to be a nice sweater and I think I just got a pair of Stitch Fix pants that will make a lovely fall or winter outfit with this finished sweater. So that is my motivation to finish!

Happy Knitting!!