Category Archives: WIPs

Date Knitting

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The COVID situation isn’t really getting any better in my region of Kansas so my family and I are really limited in what we feel safe doing. And that has led us all to feel a little cooped up and grumpy. But I was able to find a great babysitter inside our “bubble” and I convinced the hubby to drive me out to my favorite local winery, Prairie Fire Winery, for our first outside the house date in 6 months.

The owners are extremely careful with sanitation and social distancing so I feel safe there. And on weekends they have live music outdoors. We grabbed our masks, my knitting and had some wine in the shade while we listened to a couple of very talented local musicians. I tasted some very yummy Traminette and a semi dry Vignoles varietal.

There was something very soothing about watching the prairie grass wave in the wind and knit round and round on my Retro Rainbow vanilla sock. Also, the hubby got pooped on by a bird….twice…I couldn’t stop laughing. May have lost some wife points over that one, oh well!

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: DK Ripple Bralet

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My DK Ripple Bralet grows apace. I have completed the main body section and working what I think will become the top band?

I have to be honest, I only skimmed through the pattern before starting. So I really don’t know what is happening. I’m just blissfully doing what the pattern tells me. And right now that is 1.5 inches two different kinds of ribbing, one for the front and one for the back.

Surely this will end well right?

A Retro Rainbow Heel

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I’ve been plugging away at my Retro Rainbow socks as my go-to “waiting” project. I finally got a tube tall enough that I decided to thread in some needles for my afterthought heel.

I’m going to use yarn from the inside of the cake to make the heel. I want to see how much yarn I have left the cuff after that point. I want to make good sized socks. But I’m not going to lie…I also want this beautiful MustStash yarn in my memories blanket. So it’s all about yarn management over here!

Happy Knitting

P.S. This is the Retro Rainbow colorway on MustStash standard sock 😉

Office Upgrades and Sweater Progress

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I am back to working some days from home every week and school is gearing up to start in a Phase II capacity which means at least three days of home school for Jellybean. And I have been in a bit of a rut. So I decided to ask the hubby to help me rearrange my home office. I ordered an ergonomic keyboard and mouse and moved the monitors around to the center of the desk. It feels much more “officey” this way and it made me feel more engaged. And I made space for Jellybean to work on the backside of my monitors in his own “school space”.

My go-to conference call knitting right now is the body of my Radiate pullover by Joji Locatelli. The pattern tells me I need 14 inches of body but I feel more comfortable usually in the 17 inch range. So I’m doing that. But that means I still have a ways to go and lots of round and round in stockinette.

I did slip this on to my try-it-on tubing to get a feel for length. This is mainly superwash yarn so I know it will grow but I still have a great deal of knitting to do. Not to mention sleeve island….

Happy Knitting!!

Any Tape Measure Will Do

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My knitting mojo has seen a little hiccup as I have been busting out home improvement projects lately. I’m still working on my DK Ripple Bralet as a wind down before bed project.

I did not end up using the Old Norwegian Cast on. Instead I found Tillybuddy’s Very Stretchy Cast-on for Double and Single Ribbing. It was much easier on my brain and seems to be sufficiently stretchy.

I am through 1×1 twisted rib and into the ribbed body. I needed to determine how far I was into the body but I didn’t have a knitting tape measure. But luckily my home improvement jag had a real deal tape measure laying around. Any tape measure will do right?

Happy Knitting!!

Radiate Progress

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My Radiate pullover is swimming right along. I’m several inches into the body with lots of zen round and round knitting.

The pattern calls for 14 inches of body and I haven’t measured to see how far I am. The pattern also called for waist decreases and increases. My midsection after two babies is less shaped that it used to be so I’m omitting the shaping and just knitting straight down.

I think I’ll try it on when I get close to 14 inches and see how it looks. Both these yarns are super-wash so I know i’ll get some stretch. But I like a nice long sweatshirt length sweater in my garments. Next up for this one is sleeve island. I think I will use my Chia Goo interchangeable needles to knit the sleeves in the round.

Happy knitting!!

Knitting Poolside

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We are in the middle of a long heat wave in the Midwest right along side big increases in COVID cases. So my family and I are doing our best to find ways to have fun and stay safe at home. This week’s adventure had water balloons, lots of driveway swimming pool time and me knitting in the shade.

Modified version of Helen Stewart’s Habitation Throw

This photo was taken 10 minutes before I dropped a stitch and made a huge hole in my Rainbow Habitation Throw. I literally spent the next hour tinking back two and a half rows to fix my mistake because it just wouldn’t ladder back down and back up again correctly. So that means I’m still in my fourth color of twelve.

But the good thing about knitting garter stitch is that you can just knit and knit and eventually you look down and a blanket has popped out of nowhere!

P.S. I completely see the irony of knitting a lap blanket during a heat wave. I’m a special kind of crazy!

Happy Knitting!!

Sunlight and Knitting

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I took advantage of my parent’s deck to take some beauty shots of my Rainbow Fluff Habitation Throw. I couldn’t get over how beautiful the sunlight looked shining through the fabric.

This is a modified Habitation Throw by Helen Stewart. I’m omitting the eyelets and adding a fluffy alpaca stripe in between each color change. I’m just starting the fourth color of the gradient. I have 12 colors total so I’ll work the increasing section for the first six colors and then decrease for the last six.

This has been a nice lighweight knit to keep in my lap while it’s hot. It’s also soothing garter stitch with a little interest at the edges. So it is balm for my troubled mind and spirit. I haven even started weaving in my ends so I don’t leave them all to the end. You are welcome future Rachelle!

Happy Knitting!!

Retro Rainbow Progress

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Sock knitting really hasn’t been my jam lately, but my purse knitting is still a pair of socks. My Retro Rainbow Socks are a few stripes longer now.

I’m knitting these as sock tubes and I will cut in afterthought heels. The yarn is some de-stashed MustStash yarn in Stacie’ Retro Rainbow colorway. I’m working 72 stitches on US 0 needles.

I’m not going many places anymore so I don’t seem to pick these up as often. We largely go to work and then stay home otherwise so I am putting a lot more work on my larger projects. Good thing yarn and knitting doesn’t go bad!

Happy Knitting!!

Splitting For Radiate Sleeves

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Thanks to the long holiday weekend and lots of grandparent babysitting, I managed to knit through the yoke of my Radiate sweater and split for sleeves.

I even slipped on an extra knitting needles and tried this sweater on. Even unblocked it falls appropriately in all the places. The neck was higher than I anticipated but other wise the bust and armscye fits nicely. I’ll have to be careful with blocking this super wash yarn so that I don’t make it too big.

Now I have like 14 to 17 inches of sweater body to knit. Lots of round and round in stockinette! Happy Knitting!!