Category Archives: Knitting

All my knitting adventures

Cast On: Medusa Hat

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I decided to dust off my tennis shoes and explore downtown Nashville while at SSK. I walked around the campus of Vanderbuilt and explored Music Row.

I ended up on a rooftop bar with my newest cast on and an ice cold beer. An adorable young musician was playing acoustic guitar covers and some of his originals. I sat for an hour or so and enjoyed my beverage and got my new project started.

This is my last skein of Malabrigo from my Yarn Barn trip and I am making yet another Rachelle recipe hat. This is 88 stitches on US 8s. This version will have a folded stockinette brim. This color is called Medusa so I am super originally calling this my Medusa Hat.

Love the memories that will be attached to this one!

Bliss Yarns Haul

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On one of my breaks from SSK classes, I hopped in my car and navigated to Bliss Yarns in nearby Brentwood.

It was a lovely store where there was a knitting group going on. They were so delightful and we shared lots of regional crafting information. Turns out the shop owner grew up in Kansas and was delightful.

I walked away with a skein of Twisted Ambition Yarn Sweet Sock in the “Gold Rapture” colorway, a skein of Big Sky Yarn Squish DK in the “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” colorway, and finally some Whimzee Stitches Yarn Co Select Worsted in the “Love My Tennessee colorway”. And as a SSK bonus prize, I got to pick out some needles stoppers and I chose cacti.

I would highly recommend this yarn store to anyone. It has a great selection, easy location and great customer service. Happy Shopping!!

Finished English Rose in Another Class

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I finished my English Rose hat in my third and final class for SSK. This class was Bums and Bellies again by Kim McBrien Evans.

I had made some progress in sit and knit groups but the decreases were finished in the class. This had landed in that 75 gram weight so I used 3/4 of the skein. I did notice a unique feature of this skein was a line of dark pink that circled the hat in a spiral. I am now at hat seven so I am close to my gift goal.

The class was very good. I was able to get help with some tricky measurements and get some tips on how to change my sweaters to fit my silhouette. It will require a lot of math on my part and we didn’t get into that depth in the class. So there is homework I need to do but my brain was too full of information get that done in the moment.

Happy Knitting!!

Spinning With Maggie Casey

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Next up on SSK adventures is a spinning class learning long draw with Maggie Casey. This was my day 1 afternoon class. It was great even in the AC was set to 66 degrees.

I brought my Kiwi 3 to spin on and this class really challenged my skills set. I have only spun short forward draw with a death grip to make worsted spun yarn. Long draw means I have to relax my hands and let the twist get between them. Boy did that feel weird. But I managed to get some woolen spun long draw singles on my wheel.

Maggie is correct that this kind of spinning is really a lot easier on my hands. And it makes a super light woolen spun airy yarn. I need to hold myself accountable to practicing this more now that I am home.

Happy Wednesday!

English Rose In Class

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On day two of SSK, I took a morning class on understanding sleeves and sleeve fit from Kim McBrien Evans of Indigo Dragonfly fame.

I had a hat in my bag and being the south….a super crispy cold coca cola. In preparation for the conference, I pulled another skein of malabrigo from my purchase last month and got another stockinette hat on the needles. This one is going to be called the English Rose hat as that is what the colorway is called.

I managed to get the brim finished, turned and started on the hat by the time class was done. I learned a ton about all kinds of sleeves and came out with some measurements and tweaks that I need for my next sweater.

More SSK goodness tomorrow!

FO Friday: Sunflower Hat

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The Sunflower Hat is DONE!

Pattern: My own 88 sts “recipe” for a basic knit beanie with folded brim

Needles: US 8s

Yarn: Malabrigo Rios in the Hojas colorway

I used 80 grams of the skein and therefore eyeballed myself into using 5 more grams than the last hat. I really should never trust my eyes, lol. In the light of day you can really see the variation in this Malabrigo. I think it adds character!

Now back to the hat knitting and next week I will share some of my favorite parts of the SSK Retreat!

Sunflower Decreases

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I held out as long as I can and the Sunflower Beanie has reached its decrease section.

Malabrigo Rios has a reputation for flashing and pooling. This skein definitely held that up. Last night was not great lighting but you can see the large amount of variation that exists in the fabric. I’m not mad at it, it adds character!

I just really enjoy how soft this yarn feels and warm the finished gauge feels. This is hat #5 so I am still making progress to my year end goals. Happy Knitting!!

Sonic And Sunflowers

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It’s busy season at work, a stomach bug has hit our house and summer time kid activities are in full swing. This means LOTS of hydration and windshield time. PB and I ran some errands and then pick up Sonic as a treat. It was happy hour, therefore SUPER busy so I got some stitches in on my Sunflower Beanie.

The beanie brim is done. I really like how fast the folded stockinette brim works up. I am consciously trying to make this hat taller/slouchier. And for the record I got a Route 44 ice water with extra ice (because it’s the good ice) and then a kids lime slush.

Happy Knitting!!

Restocking Hat Yarn

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With all this hat knitting, I needed to restock my worsted yarn. I stopped by YarnBarn in Lawrence and grabbed three new skeins. All Rios but in English Rose, Hojas, and Medusa.

The Hojas color is already on my needles per yesterday’s post. I tried to grab some colors that were different that what I already had made. And I love that YarnBarn already wound these for me. Worsted doesn’t take that long but it sure makes it easy to start another hat super easily.

Happy Stashing!!

Cast On: Sunflower Hay

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Following my Copperhead Hat finish I cast on another beanie. This time in Malabrigo Rios in the Hojas colorway.

Not to be stuck in a rut, but this is another 88 stitch beanie on US 8s. I am going back to my stockinette folded brim. This yarn is variegated and is flashing/pooling a little bit so I am intrigued to see how this comes out.

Bonus point, this hat really blended with the sunflowers in my friends yard. So I am thusly calling this my Sunflower Hat from now on. Summer demand it!

Happy Knitting!!