Category Archives: WIPs

Basic Failure

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Well….I got kicked in the teeth by not swatching during what is a very stressful time. My Everyday Slouchy Beanie is TIGHT y’all. Like squeeze my brain out my ears tight.

I made enough fabric in the hat portion to try it on. I had been having a niggling feeling that brim was maybe tight after I had turned and joined the cast on edge. But I just kept knitting and damned if my instinct wasn’t correct.

Now, I have knit a TON of stitches into this thing. Andafter knitting both halves of the brim…I’m not ripping out floofy yarn for that many stitches! This hat will fit someone when I’m done. I might just have to be sad that it doesn’t fit me.

Note to self: Next time you are extraordinarily stressed….check yo gauge!

Turning The Brim

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I’ve overcome my dropped stitch problems and busted through the entire brim! My Everyday Slouchy Beanie is soooo soft, I can help but stop and pet the fabric!

This is yarn I picked up from Winter Woolfest 2020 from Apothefaery Fibers. I’m holding brushed Suri alpaca and fingering weight sock yarn to make my fabric. It’s melted butter soft and doesn’t shed like mohair. And the best part is now I’m on to the bigger needles and the at is just FLYING!

Happy Knitting

Dropped Stitch Drama

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I am cruising along through the brim of my Everyday Slouchy Beanie. This has been my Zoom meeting and assorted work from home conference call knitting that I keep in my lap. I looked down tonight after I had created about an inch of fabric throughout the day to discover a d*mn dropped stitch….

So I took a fortifying drink of chamomile tea and laddered back down in floofy suri alpaca lace weight held double with sock yarn. I didn’t feel like working the dropped stitch back up as it’s own column so I just worked a K2TOG with the stitch next to it. And then worked the single column of stitches all the way back up.

The fix was pretty seamless aside from you can see the decreased stitch. The floof of the suri silk really hides a on of sins. And now I’m back on track to almost be done with the brim. This hat has a folded double brim instead of ribbing. I am almost the point I can pick up my cast on edge and work into my live stiches.

Happy knitting!!

Cast On: The F Bomb

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I felt the itch for a new project this weekend. And in light of recent world events I decided this project from my Ravelry queue would be PERFECT.

I even managed to find some black yarn from my stash that would be serviceable enough for this project. I have some Bernat Satin Solids in black rolling around from my early knitting days. I printed the project, grabbed some needles that should get me gauge and pulled a cute project bag from my stash.

I just need to work up the courage to cast on in the round with a small number of stitches on my DPNs. Not my favorite type of knitting but I really want this project. I will also have to learn to duplicate stitch as the F is added after the fact. So I guess I’ll use this time of distancing to add a new skill to my knitting tool kit.

I would hope to crank out a few of these over the next few weeks. I think they would make cute thank you gifts for my staff and other work colleagues when we (hopefully) get back to working regularly.

Happy Knitting!!

Weaving Fail

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I was trying to be a good knitter and give future Rachelle a leg up on finishing these socks. I decided to weave in the end on my Dark Side Vanilla Socks (Take Two) before starting the heels. I am making these from a sock machine cranked sock tube, so there are a LOT of ends to weave in from the contrast heels, toes and cuffs.

I was working with the sock turned inside out and when I turned them right side out I had a d’oh moment. I had accidentally dipped my needle in too far and grabbed a stitch from the sock. After a couple of curse words I turned the sock inside out again and PICKED OUT MY CAREFULLY WOVEN IN ENDS. It took 30 minutes because the universe was teaching me a lesson.

I very carefully re-wove in the ends after I released the extra stitch. It looks much better now! It was a total weaving fail but at least one I could correct. I think these socks are ready for their afterthought heels now!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Everyday Slouch Beanie

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I have capitalized on my winding frenzy earlier this week and cast on my Everyday Slouchy Beanie by Dragon Hoard Designs. I also threw on the Corner of Craft podcast and had a dose of the amazing Hannah. I’m in my basement guest room/craft room surrounded by chaos but I just felt the need for a new cast on.

The project called for a provisional crochet cast on. I was not in the mood so I just did a knitted on cast on. I may regret my choice when I have to fold this brim over later in the project and join it to the live stitches on my needle. But today I didn’t have the stamina to deal with a crochet provisional cast on. I also chose to have a glass of wine in my favorite glass. The wine is a nice crisp Pinot Grigio from Yellowtail Wines.

Happy Knitting!!

Anxiety and Self Care

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It’s been a rough couple of weeks for everyone far and wide. I’m not going to take space here to regurgitate what is being blasted on every platform possible. What I will say is that my anxiety is very high. I am confident that this pandemic won’t last forever but the ramifications both socially and economically might last longer than we would like. And that bumps up against my anxiety triggers…..I’m an accountant after all. And it’s hard not to be worn down by the onslaught of information and empty store shelves.

I am washing my hands, talking to others support when I need it, and returning to my Midwestern roots and I’m cooking all the comfort foods I can think of. Last night I took some time to rest in bed with the following self care items:

They only thing missing was knitting friends. If anyone out there is similarly missing your knitting groups and friends please feel free to DM me. I’m always around my phone and more than happy to chat and share projects. We are a community and no one has to feel alone. Happy Knitting friends!

So Close To Bullseye

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My Bullseye Vanilla Socks are SUPER close to being done. I only need to put in one more afterthought heel.

I am pretty happy with how well I managed to plan the stripes and to get the socks to match. I did pull out some yarn to try and start at the same place. It’s not an absolute requirement for me in socks. But I do enjoy when they match.

I have cut in the space for the heel. I use the KirbyWirby afterthought heel with no waste yarn. It seems scary but it is really easy to do and doesn’t leave a hole at the corners. I can feel my mojo surging because I want a this finished socks SO BAD. The thought of new socks seems like the perfect balm to my soul right now.

Happy Knitting!!

Weekender On The Weekend

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As we slog through these last few confusing days of winter I find myself excited about Spring approaching in a few days. And in the spirit of spring cleaning (please ignore the not spring cleaned toys in the background) I found myself wanting to “clean up” my WIPs.

I pulled out my Weekender this past weekend and put a few rows on. I’m still slogging through the body but it makes for nice TV knitting with all the stockinette in the round. I have knit past my stitch markers for the purl details a few times. But those are easily fixed.

I’m not finding myself super engaged in this project so I don’t expect it to fly off the needles anytime soon. But I’m hoping this will be a slow and steady tortoise like project that I can enjoy next Fall maybe?

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Dark Side Socks (Take Two)

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I was digging around in my craft room looking for some progress keepers and I came across a sock project bag that I had shoved to the back of a shelf. To my delight, I found that it contained my second pair of Knit Picks Felici socks in the Dark Side colorway.

I had knit up the first pair for my friend in Portland when I went to visit last November. And then in the chaos of the holidays these just got forgotten. The two small tubes both had toes knit into them so all they need are cuffs and heels. I decided to get these fired back up.

The stripes are in reverse order because of how I split the tubes (aka sock snakes) but I really don’t mind. I will just be happy to have a short-ish pair of socks to add to my drawer. Though I think I have wrapped my brain around how to avoid this in the future if I want.

I worked one evening on them and made some decent progress on the first cuff. Maybe these will be my spring time present to myself?

Happy Knitting!