Odds And Ends

Posted on January 13, 2015 by atangledyarn84

Due to my recent sock kick (here and here) I’ve got little bits of yarn hanging around. I tend to lose little bits if I just tuck them away. So I implemented a solution I saw in a magazine/Pinterest/somewhere…

Eventually these will fill up and I’ll have pretty vases full of yummy yarn bits. The hope is that I’ll always be able to find sock yarn for sock repair or perhaps a scrap project sometime. Not to mention something I can dig my hands into and pet the lovelies 🙂

How do you store your leftovers you can’t part with?

A Baby Sophisticate

Posted on January 12, 2015 by atangledyarn84

It’s still pretty darn cold here so I’ve been snuggling Jellybean in hand knits. His reaction is priceless…

Not sure what I did or said to provoke this face….but when I saw it I laughed till I cried. Parenting win for sure!

This is my Baby Sophisticate #4. I didn’t add the button holes or button instead opted for an open cardigan. I made this for a friend and she returned it after her baby bear outgrew it. Now it’s keeping my little one warm. Proof that well made and well cared for knits can be passed down and down!

Happy Knitting!

What’s on my Needles

Posted on January 9, 2015 by atangledyarn84

I had a blast with #sockswithsarah last year with KnittingSarah so I decided to play along with her #todayonmyneedles project.

Nothing fancy today, just getting ready for my first afterthought heel!

Notice the photobomb from Chloe, lol.

Happy Knitting!

Goals and The New Year

Posted on January 8, 2015 by atangledyarn84

I have a thriving baby, a career, loving family, and a pretty amazing husband. I just don’t knit as much anymore as the aforementioned things are taking a bit more time. I don’t mind, to all things there is a season. I’ll soon enough have more knitting time and miss these previous days.

That being said, I still have some knitting goals for 2015:

1: Ravel all my projects
2: Keep better track of my yarn in versus yarn out (I heart spreadsheets)
3: Make at least two pairs of socks for my loving husband
4: Knit a winter sweater for Jellybean (12-18 months size)
5: Finish all my 2014 carryover projects
6: Find a space for and use my cedar chest

There you are, nothing drastic but rather logical and reasonable goals for a knitting mommy and wife.

Do you set goals?

WIP Wednesday: Very Berry Vanilla Socks

Posted on January 7, 2015 by atangledyarn84

Some recent windshield time coupled with lots of Grandparents time for Jellybean has meant I’ve gotten some knitting done!

My Very Berry Socks are moving along swimmingly. I’m loosely following the DVD – Simple Toe Up Sock pattern. I’ve reached the after thought heel on sock #1 and very close on sock #2. You may notice that I’m knitting two at a time. For Christmas I got a second 8″ sock circular. And I’m in love!

One thing about these socks….the skeins are different dye lots I picked up from another knitters destash. So I purposely started them at different color stripes. They are almost mirror images of each other. I hope this will help hide the fact the colors don’t match exactly. Fingers crossed….

Biggest Yarn Splurge….Ever

Posted on January 5, 2015 by atangledyarn84

My favorite Aunt did something wonderful this year. Instead of trying to find something I didn’t already have and would love for Christmas, she did something genius. She wrote a letter and tucked in some cash, with one rule. Rule: Spend it on something personal and luxurious! It was something she had always wanted to do and would have loved herself at my stage of life.

I knew right away it would be yarn. And deep down in my knitters soul I knew what I wanted….beautiful gradient sock yarn. I’ve been honing my sock skills this past year. And I’ve always wanted badly to work with gradient color. I went to my favorite Etsy store for gradients: Knitcircus Yarns! I’ve drooled over their yarn forever but couldn’t justify spending that on myself.

I chose carefully…Over The Rainbow custom gradient matching sock yarn. My little knitter hands CANNOT wait to get my hands on this. I had a mini panic attack as this is the most I’ve ever paid for yarn. But I’m worth it…I hope!

Stay tuned and I’ll hope to do something very magical with it. Happy knitting to all!

FO Friday: Baby Knits!!

Posted on January 2, 2015 by atangledyarn84

I finally wrangled Jellybean (thankfully in a happy mood) and took some FO photos for some of my finished baby knits!

First up, my Rolled Cuff Baby Booties! These used a minuscule 43 yards of yarn, weight a measly 22 grams, and took just a couple of hours. They fit perfectly on his one to two month old feet. They are tad bit small on this three month old feet.

Next up the Candy Corn baby booties and hat! To be honest these booties are just weirdly shaped and never really fit his feet well. The hat though….just perfect. It’s just more adorable than I can imagine. We get tons of compliments when we wear this hat out and about. My Ravelry details are here.

Lastly is the Garter Ear Flap Hat by Purl Soho. This one had some issues and all totally my fault. I had size problems with the first one I knit. The second attempt honestly languished on the needles. I just lost the mojo to work on this one. So I stuffed this hat into my purse over Christmas and got it done! Sad news….Jellybean has almost outgrown this size now, lol. My original one actually fits better now. Not to mention I messed up one of the pattern rounds on this second attempt. Oh well….it’s cute and will keep him warm at least once or twice. My Ravelry notes on this one are here for those interested.

Yes….he’s figured out how to stick out his baby tongue. And enjoys doing so profusely!

Happy Knitting to all of you from Jellybean and I!

My Very Own Cedar Chest

Posted on January 1, 2015 by atangledyarn84

My mother works part time in an antique store and I have put her on the hunt for a cedar chest over the last year. One FINALLY came through the store. It’s small-ish but in very good shape. It just needs a good polish on the outside. I’m not sure where it’s going to live in our home but for now it’s in the basement. (Sorry for the crappy photos…winter time in a not well lit basement. Well you get the point)

This knitters heart is happy. I have a great place to stash my finished woolen items and woolly yarn! Hopefully this means no more dreaded moth damage…

How do you protect your precious items?

WIP Wednesday: Very Berry Vanilla Socks

Posted on December 31, 2014 by atangledyarn84

After I cast off the last pair of vanilla socks I had the itch to cast on another pair. I dug around in my stash for some more Knit Picks Felici self-striping yarn and came up with two skeins of Mixed Berry. Then I hunted through my Rav queue and found DVD – Simple Toe Up Socks .

So onto the needles they went. I quickly realized I need to change the pattern….

The toe increases at 2 stitches per round just don’t cut it for my man-like toes. So to the frog pond I went. I used a 4 stitch increase per round and got this…

Much better! I’m working both socks at once, just on separate sets of circulars. So I actually have two toes made. On to the foot sections I go. This pattern uses an afterthought heel and I’m excited to learn this method!

Ps. Happy New Year to all 😉

Finish It or Frog It

Posted on December 30, 2014 by atangledyarn84

Jellybean is napping and I’m taking advantage of it. It’s the end of the year and it’s time to go through my WIPs in a “finish it or frog it” frame of mind.

Here is what I’ve decided so far..

The Baby Bunting from Jellybean’s nursery…Frog it!! With Jellybean coming early I just couldn’t finish this and honestly don’t have the time or energy to work this now. I’d rather knit him cute clothes now that we now that we know he’s a he, lol.

A random ribbon scarf from at least two years ago…Frog it!! I was working these for craft fairs, and in which I’m no longer interested. So into the frog pond this went and the yarn back into my stash.

Fingerless Mits from who knows how long ago made from leftover bits from some sweater yarn? …. TBD. I don’t want to frog these as I could really use some fingerless mits, but I don’t have the urge to knit them currently. I’m going think more on these.

My Plain Rye socks…Finish them!! These woolen socks are perfect for my cold feet. I’ve finished the first sock and then fallen victim to the dreaded SSS. I’ve put these on my night stand to finish this winter!!

Random sock project…Frog it!! These pre-date my Ravelry tracking. I don’t even know what in the heck these are, lol. Nuff said..My Cuff to Cuff Sweater…Finish it! I’m excited to wear this. It might not get done this winter. But get done it shall! I’m enjoying this knit so I’m not in any hurry.

There you have it! My craft room feels so much better already and my project bags are organized and ready to go for 2015. Anyone else out there do any purging these last few days of 2014?

My Tangled Yarn Knitting Adventures

Ramblings from an obsessed knitter

Category Archives: Knitting

Odds And Ends

A Baby Sophisticate

What’s on my Needles

Goals and The New Year

WIP Wednesday: Very Berry Vanilla Socks

Biggest Yarn Splurge….Ever

FO Friday: Baby Knits!!

My Very Own Cedar Chest

WIP Wednesday: Very Berry Vanilla Socks

Finish It or Frog It