Category Archives: WIPs

Self Care And Socks

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My four year old Jellybean is testing my limits with all he’s got. Bedtime has turned into a huge ordeal. I know this is part of his growing up and learning to question the world and push boundaries. But ooof, it’s exhausting and consumes almost all my patience. So last night after a 55 minute bedtime battle I settled in for some self care.

I poured myself a low carb beer, turned on the Wet Coast Wools podcast and worked on the toe of my Soft Serve Sock Snake socks. As far as self care goes I feel like this was the better option than the large bowl of ice cream I really wanted. Though my sock toe might be a little wonkier than if I had skipped the beer, lol.

Happy Knitting and take care of yourself!

Cast On: Vamping

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I have had this pack of mini skeins in my stash for awhile now and it keeps popping up in my mind. It’s some Frabjous Fibers and Wonderland yarns Cheshire Cat in the Mad Tea Party colorway. There are five mini skeins in a rainbow-ish kind of fade. I picked this pack up at a yarn store closing and I have been hoarding it. Well, last week I got a yarn newsletter that highlighted the Vamping pattern from Jennifer Dassau. And I rushed to my stash to grab my yarn and needles..

I was so lost in the wool fumes that I hand wound the first mini and cast on right then and there. It was like 9:45 pm and my brain was a little foggy so the cast on took three attempts. But I think I’m on track now….I hope….

Happy Knitting!!

Second Set Of Shorties

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The first set of shorties are off my needles and I’m starting to work on my pair. These are pair number two in my Soft Serve Sock Snake Socks.

I had to do some finagling with my scraps for these tubes. I went ahead and added the speckled yarn for contrasting cuffs. But those cuffs completed used up that mini skein with nothing left for heels or toes. Also, the tubes were not the same length by a noticeable amount. So I dug out the leftover scraps from the first pair and added until they were the same length. You can see the strip sequence is off for the sock on the right.

Now my dilemma is what yarn to use for the toes and heels? I pulled a couple options from my stash but I’m not completely sold on either. I might need to do a deeper stash dive after the kiddos go to bed. I don’t need these perfect but some degree of coordination would keep my brain happy.

Happy Knitting!!

Knitting At The Farmers Market

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Wednesday is Farmers Market day in downtown Topeka. It is a small but mighty affair every week. My favorite is the fresh baked bread you can find. But that kind of negates the health benefits of walking, lol. But I digress!

Today’s yarn on the go is brought to you by my Cheery Vanilla socks and their project bag that is much more suited for walking. This time I opted for a zippered sock bag with a fixed wrist strap. It still flopped around while I walked but none of the pesky twisting. I walked roughly 35 minutes and completed two stripes.

Now I also managed to snag a fresh tomato for BLT sandwiches. Because bacon is awesome, obviously.

Happy Knitting!!

Westport Decision Point

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I have reached the end of the pattern instructions for my Westport Blanket. I have completed the pattern recommended number of repeats. But I still have a yarn left and I really want this blanket to consume as much as possible. I’m at a decision point.

I know, roughly, how much yarn each of the stockinette block and garter rows repeat consumes. And I have one full and one partial skein left that I can hold together. I *Think* I have enough yarn for two or three more repeats and then the garter border and bindoff.

My only concern that is if I add too much more length that the blanket will become more of weirdly shaped rectangle and less of a usable blanket. This fabric texture and gauge has some good stretch to be able to shape it. But the high acrylic content tells me that it might not hold a blocking very well. I need some time to muddle on this one…but I REALLY want this off my needles soon!

Happy Knitting!!

Yarn On The Go

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I have been trying to put more “go” in my life and get off my tush and walk. I work in the heart of downtown Topeka and therefore have access to lots of cool places to to walk. Today my Dad’s Christmas Socks and I took a walk to the Capital building.

The project bag that these socks live in is NOT acceptable for walk knitting. It kept twirling and twisting up the yarn so that I would have to stop and unspin my bag. The bag (not pictured) is a drawstring bag by 19 Stitches. And it’s a wonderful bag for holding a project, don’t get me wrong. It’s just not great for walking.

As for the sock, I’m almost to the place where I need to weigh the yarn ball to see if I am close to 50%. I need to make sure I leave enough yarn for a cuff and a heel on sock number one and enough yarn for a complete sock number two. But i’m struggling to remember to do this in the evening after the end of what have been very long days lately.

Happy Knitting!

Socks On Vacation

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I lost my every loving mind and decided it was a good idea to load up my small children, husband and mother and take a weekend vacation. Jellybean had one wish….to sleep in a hotel. So we planned a simple weekend where my mom could attend a quilt show and the rest of us could play at Science City in Union Station in Kansas City and then we would all have a nice stay in a hotel.

Y’all, it was chaos and no one got any sleep in an unfamiliar place. But all reports say that everyone had a good time. PB up and finally decided to fully commit to walking! We had two adjoining rooms with the second having a balcony. After a FULL day running around Saturday I snuck out on to the patio with Dad’s 2019 Christmas Socks and put on a few rounds after the kids went to sleep.

The Kansas humidity made the wool a little sticky in my hands. But you can’t argue with the sunset view!

Happy Knitting!!

Westport Halfway!

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A very dear and lovely cousin informed us that the baby she and her husband are expecting will be boy arriving in October. And my knitter brain went DING! The Westport Blanket I started earlier this year will make the perfect baby boy gift. A knitter has got to love when you already have a project started and you find the most perfect home for it. So I picked this project back up and have started really working through it. I’m six pattern repeats in and I just started my second skeins.

I am holding Knit Picks Mighty Stitch held double to achieve bulky yarn gauge. I have used two skeins already, attached two more with a third pair waiting in the wings. The last pair aren’t two equal full skeins. I broke into one skein to knit a swatch I have lost to the ether somewhere. So I know I’ll have enough yarn to finish the blanket but I really want to use all the yarn up. So I may have to do a little pattern modification and re-calculation when I get to the end of the instructions and I still have yarn left. We shall see!

Happy Knitting!!

Speckled Heels

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I finished both toes on my Soft Serve Sock Snake Socks and cut in the first heel. I’m pretty pleased with my contrasting mini choice. It’s speckled but yet blends nicely with the stripe colors of the Felici

I have a BIG long tube where two 50 gram skeins of this Felici yarn were cranked together. I chose to put a toe at either end. And then I measured from the toe the appropriate length and cut in a true afterthought heel. I have a “recipe” I use to make the afterthought heel a little larger than the often used Knit One Round then Decrease Next Round method. My notes are in Ravelry project page for those interested. But my recipe allows room for my sister and I’s large heel and high instep.

I’m starting the second heel now. And I have a TON of sock tube in the middle. Once both heels are installed I may do some creative measuring to see if I make two pairs of shorties from one snake with utilizing more coordinating mini skeins.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Soft Serve Sock Snake Socks

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My sister has a June birthday and for the past couple of years I have made an effort to make her hand knit socks. She’s very knit-worthy as she lives in Colorado where it’s cold and she takes very good care of woolly items. But this year life with two kids just didn’t get me to a place where I could knit for other people. I really just wanted to take my time and knit for me as a self care theme.

But I talked previously about getting some sock snakes cranked by the dyer of MintRain yarns. So I cut off the first Felici snake in the Soft Serve color and pulled a mini from my scrap blanket stash and went to town. I was excited to see how this would work and if I liked it.

For the toes I decided instead of using the contrasting mini, I just pulled back the sock snake a couple of stripes and then re-knit down decreasing for a toe. I personally like hte idea of less ends woven in near my toe region. I’m not super fussy about the feel of it but I like the idea of continuous yarn being stronger in a high wear area of the sock.

I obviously did not get these done in time for her birthday but I hope to have the pair done before she visits in July. Fingers crossed!