Category Archives: WIPs

Cast On: Bullseye Vanilla Socks

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My sock needles have been conspicuously empty. I was in need of a simple vanilla project for some travel/meeting knitting so I went rummaging in my stash. I have had this Biscotte Yarns Bis-sock self-striping wound up for way too long. But it was ready to go so I pulled my size 0 needles out and hit the road.

I did manage to do the figure 8 cast on and get some of the toe increases established before leaving the house. I much prefer if this had been been to the “round and round” stage but I’m sure I can manage. The yarn is a pretty thin light fingering with a three ply structure. It has a mix of nylon and merino but I still plan on knitting this at pretty tight gauge to make the socks as hard wearing as possible.

I’m not mad at the speckled sections of this self-striping yarn. I’m interested to see how this next solid/tonal section works out!

Happy Knitting!!

One Last Stripe

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I am getting SOOOO close to the end of my Zen Yarn Garden Baby Blanket. I only have one stripe and the bind off to go!

The last stripe is blue and I have almost a full ball to do it. I will certainly have leftovers and I have a small ball of grey and tiny ball of red left as well. My brain is thinking old school tassels on each of the points of the chevrons? Maybe not the most practical for a baby but would use up the last of yarn and give this piece a vintage feel.

I guess I could always add them and take them off later? Thoughts?

Halfway Done Zen

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I feel like I need to do a little pat on my own back. I have powered through a whole metric ton of bulky weight knitting. I have reached the halfway point on my Zen Yarn Garden Chevron Baby Blanket.

I have used up just under half of the blue and grey yarn. And then I added in the middle color block of red. Instead of measuring these rows I simply knit until I ran out of red. This took just over 1.4 skeins of bulky red yarn out of my stash FOREVER….bwahahahaha.

I think the solid middle section in that pop kind of color really add to the color blocking of it all. And makes the blanket less sedate and more fun. It kind of blows out on camera but I adore it in real life.

And smart Rachelle decided to start weaving in my ends. I plugged on some episodes of The Good Place and went to town with my darning needle. I got all the loose ends woven but I’ll wait to trim them until after its washed and blocked. I only have four stripe sections left and this blanket will be done!

Happy Knitting!!

Crazy Orange

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Jellybean needed to blow off some steam the other day so I took him for a post school trip to Skyzone. He got 60 minutes of literally bouncing off the walls and I got to sit and knit where my project matched the landscape, lol.

I had one other mom ask me what I was knitting. I gladly obliged and told her about my project. I even told her she got bonus points for knowing it was knitting! I’m still plugging away at the brim of my Four Seasons Hat. I am not aiming for any particular length or measurement. Just knitting until it looks good and then I’ll start the main body. Nothing super scientific as this is just my purse/zen project.

See you guys tomorrow with something extra cool!

A Present for My Eyes

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My mother is amazing at a lot of things. And shopping for a bargain is one of her most finely honed skills. She was in Joanns with some quilting friends and spied an Ottlite in the clearance section. This is a RARE occurance and she was intrigued. She asked an associate and they told her it was a old “design” that they were told to clearance because a new appearance/look was coming in. So she got a CRAZY good deal on this light and presented it to me for my birthday.

I decided to put it to good use weaving in the ends on my Dark Side Vanilla socks last night. I just plugged it in next to the couch and went to work! My 35 year old eyes LOVED it. It was so easy to see the dark colors and catch the purl ridges. I may never be able to go back to regular light. I might have hugged my mother extra hard for this one!

Happy Knitting!!

Knitting In The Wild

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Jellybean was due for his semi annual dental cleaning and he CRUSHED it. I was so proud of him because he did the x-rays, cleaning and exam like a big ole brave kid. I managed to sit quietly in the corner and knit on my sock. The dentist was duly impressed with both Jellybean’s performance and my sock knitting.

I finished the last two rows of the cuff and cranked out ten or twelve rows of the first heels on my Dark Side Vanilla socks. Current me was very grateful that past me inserted those needles and cut the work apart so it was ready to go!

Thank goodness for purse knitting!!

First Fire

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Kansas has seemed to skip fall and go straight into winter. We had snow on Halloween for Pete’s sake! I batted my eyelashes at my husband and last night he built a fire for me. My house is chaotic and messy but the kids are asleep and I have knitting and a mesmerizing fire.

I worked on the cuffs to the Dark Side vanilla socks that I separated the other day. Nothing too exciting, just good solid progress on a very meditative project. I even inserted the needles for the first heel so it would be ready and waiting after the second cuff.

Happy Knitting!!

Ready For The Hem

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Hallelujah…I think I’m about done with my Autumn League Pullover! I slipped on the “try it on” tubing and slipped into the sweater. I am pleased with my waist increases and the overall length.

For sure I am going to work the hem or ribbing portion using a split hem method. I will simply divide the sweater into front and back sections and work the hem in two pieces by knitting back and forth. I think that will give me the hip ease I need while also be visually pleasing as it lays against my pants.

The one place I’m not SUPER happy about is the under arms. I can see in these photos that there is a ton of extra fabric in my upper arms. As a volleyball player my arms are in decent shape where as my chest and belly show the effects of birthing two children. I am just a mixed body type and probably should have modified the sleeves.

But at this point I’m going to finish the sweater and see how it looks blocked and finished. Maybe the baggy sleeves will just add to the “sweatshirt-ness” off the project. Or maybe I will hate them and I will rip them back and work in decreases and arm shaping. I’m the boss of my knitting and I get to decide!

Happy Knitting!!

Don’t Drink And Seperate

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So earlier this week I managed to measure and start to insert needles so I could cut in afterthought cuffs on my Dark Side Vanilla socks. Well yesterday was my birthday and I had a glass or two of some very fine Rose with my dinner. And somehow it seemed like a great idea to then cut my knitting.

I might have made a small miscalculation when deciding the exact middle of my socks. One sock is noticeably shorter than the other. Like by four or five rows. I think my plan is to just add the extra needed rows in cuff portion so that the overall sock length is the same between the two.

One idiosyncrasy I noticed is that the black stripes mostly line up but the color stripes are not even close. Probably because of the way I knit toes from the opposite ends of the stripe sequence. I am the boss of my knitting and I have decided I like all of the above because its quirky like me!

Happy Knitting!!

Finding The Middle

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I decided to go ahead and add in the cuffs to my Dark Side Vanilla Socks even if I’m not sure when I will add the heels for my friend. From toe to toe I have 22 inches of sock tube. The plan is to find and pick up rows of stitches on either side of 11 inches and then cut the tube apart. The fund part is that the 11 inch mark falls in one of the black stripes….yay.

I managed to get the first side picked up. And then I had to take a break for my eyes sake. It was kind of terrible and made my eyes strain quite a bit. As I trudge closer to 35, tomorrow is my birthday, I find that I need better and better light to see the darker yarns.

But these socks are so worth it! Happy Knitting!!