Cast On: Musselburgh

I decided I could no longer resist seeing all the beautiful Musselburgh hats all over Raverly, social media and podcasts and I needed one of my own! I wound up the skein of Yak Sock from Moonstone Dyeworks and cast on my first Musselburgh.

I must admit I had put this project off for awhile because I HATE fiddly cast-ons with DPNs. I am totally capable of doing them but I have a mental block with them. And my needles definitely slipped out of my first try because it is slick yarn on metal needles.

But now I am off to the races and knitting the prescribed amount so I can determine my gauge and stitch count. Happy Knitting!!

A Hat Is Forming Quickly

I blinked and a hat seems to be falling off of my needles! My Baby Blend Basic Hat it cruising towards completion.

I finished the brim in snap. I did end up working a turned brim and attached the cast on end to my live stitches after six inches of stockinette. Thus by the power of math I have a three inch brim!

I did go down a needle size to a US 7 to work the body of the hat. I felt like I wanted a denser and warmer fabric for the remainder of the hat. At this rate I should be ready for decreases in two more blinks!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Garter Rainbow Wrap

My Garter Rainbow Wrap is done, washed, blocked and photographed!

Pattern: None really but I did take some notes on my Ravelry project page.

Yarn: Cloudborn Fibers Superwash Merino Fingering in Antique white held double with my Teal Torch Knits 2020 Christmas advent calendar

Needles: US 9s

This was my LAST project to use up all my lingering advent calendar yarns before my 2021 calendar shows up. It feels really super good to get this yarn used up and into beautiful project. I think this shawl/wrap will go to work as my “work blanket” when winter really starts to hit. The two end triangles are not perfectly matched but they are close enough for me and anyone who looks too close will get a bop on the nose!

This project was a marled one holding two fingering weight yarns double. I used up an amazing 2,201 yards of yarn! And it wrap nicely around my whole upper torso. I forgot to measure the finished dimensions but I’m guessing its roughly 7 feet long about about 2.5 feet wide. Super cozy! And you can’t even hardly tell where I grafted the last part!

Happy Knitting!!

It’s (Finally) A HO!

I have been struggling with a lingering cold (thanks to my children) that was thankfully not COVID. But it has left my energy levels drained to the point I just needed simple knitting the past few evenings. So I have been working on my Dad’s 2021 Christmas Socks while I lay in bed.

The silver lining? I have finished the first sock completely and zoomed through the foot of the second sock. It does help that this is sport weight sock yarn on size 3 US needles. I am just ready to start the heel on sock number two.

Maybe I do have a shot at actually finishing these things before Christmas! Happy Knitting!!

Ready for Grafting

I did it! I made it to the point on my Rainbow Garter Wrap where I could graft my current work to the portion of the All My Stitches that I abandoned!

YouTube showed me that grafting in garter is pretty easy and only had one “pattern” to remember. But y’all….it really did take me a minute to get my tension right. I started off WAY too tight and then I went to loose. After about three inches I did settle into a nice rhythm and tension.

It took me about 45 minutes to graft all the way across and my shawl is blocking in my laundry room. I hope to snag some cute pictures to show you folks later this week! Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Baby Blend Basic Hat

I’ve had a super soft skein of Shepherd’s Mill Baby Blend DK just sitting on my desk at home. It is a superwash merino, faux cashmere and silk blend in a 2 ply DK weight. I just couldn’t bear to put it in the stash, it needed knit up! So I grabbed one of my new project bag and some needles and started a basic hat.

Based on my hat experiments earlier this year I knew I needed roughly 80 stitches and I’m starting on a size 8 US needle. I think I’m just going to work stockinette and then turn the brim to create a double layer of fabric. The reason? I didn’t feel like doing ribbing and I want to use the majority of the skein inside this project, lol.

So far I’m about five rows in. I just need to stay off my spinning wheel long enough to keep knitting! Happy Knitting!!

The Second Cuff On The First Sock

Basically this point I have knit this pair of socks all inside the first sock given all the ripping back and re-knitting I have done on my Dad’s 2021 Christmas Socks. But I persevere.

I’m finally through the leg and starting the cuff again. Another hour’s worth of work and I should be done with this sock. I have the second sock already started and its toe waiting on holders.

I am really hoping the second sock goes much smoother as I will have the first sock to follow as a template, lol. Happy Knitting!!

The Third? Heel

Dad’s 2021 Christmas Sock is on its THIRD heel and I really hope this one works this time!

I took another chunk of foot knitting out and repositioned the heel. I really like how the blue and yellow ended up disbursing over the heel turn. It looks very intentional! I still would REALLY like to get this completed pair finished by Thanksgiving. This knitting is for a good cause but I really need another sock project that hasn’t killed my joy as much as this one has.

Happy Knitting!!

Closer Than I Think

I am really cruising on my Rainbow Garter wrap now! I am finished with the yellows and on to the oranges.

I laid my project out to see how I was doing as I am now knitting from the All My Stitches I gave up on. And something hit me like a lighting bolt….I might be able to graft the two pieces!!!

There are more stitches on the triangle shaped piece than on my wrap, so I think I need to keep knitting the wrap until I unravel the triangle shaped piece to a point where it has the same number as my main piece. This really means I could have less than a couple hours left on this project!

This proximity to doneness has really ramped up my mojo on this one! Happy Knitting!!

A SAFF Erin Lane Bags Bonus

Erin Lane Bags wasn’t able to attend SAFF due to unforeseen COVID complications so they had a massive online sale to vend all the items they had created for the yarn show. I saw an advertisement on social media and pounced on the chance to get some Larry themed items.

I snagged a blue skein cover. I am increasingly finding these useful since I like to use my cakes from the middle. The covers keep the cake from getting all sloppy as it collapses. Next up was an extra small purple sock sack with Olympic Larry. And finally a regular sock sack with even more Olympic Larry.

Did I need more project bags? No I did not but they make me happy and my dollars went to support a small business during a challenging time. So now I just need to decide what to put in these bags…..

Happy Knitting!!