Category Archives: WIPs

Re-Swatching Because Swatches Lie

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Earlier this week I had talked about making a second gauge swatch but this time with stripes. Seriously glad I did…because my tension changed while working stripes!! Using this yarn and my needles and making stripes got me a LOT closer to pattern gauge. This means my first spreadsheet math would have had me make a WAAAY to big of a sweater. This washed and blocked swatch only has me go up 1/2 to a whole pattern size. Glad I checked before I had most of a sweater done.

This time I had some better light so I took some better pictures. I am still leaning towards the wrong side of the striping. And I think I’m going to mix and match the single and double garter ridge stripes in some sort of pattern. Stay tuned…

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Helping Hippos Vanilla Socks

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Thanks to some recent car travel time and my children not being COMPLETELY insane. I managed to work a fair bit on my Helping Hippo Vanilla socks!

The sock on the right is the first one and it’s ready for the gusset heel. I didn’t have my heel notes handy and I didn’t have a stitch marker either but I still had quite a ways to go on our drive. So I put those aside and started the sock on the left. I mean…I can’t not knit while in the car right?

I’m really pleased with the speckles and finding it hard to put them down!

Happy Knitting!!

Sweater Math and Color Options

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I was a good knitter and made a gauge swatch for an upcoming sweater.  I off course was not happy with either the gauge at the recommended needle size or actually achieve pattern gauge. I just had to like my gauge at a different needle size. So taking my gauge I popped open excel and did some maths to figure out what size I needed to make to fit my upper bust at my gauge. And boy howdy did that stretch my brain. But I persevered.

So then I checked the pattern to see how much yarn I would need for the size I was going to make….and I didn’t have enough of the grey. But I know I had some more Berroco Chunky in my stash from some old sweaters.  I dug and found a blue and a purple…see below.

I made a WHOLE NEW SWATCH to see how the colors would play out. I am going full bore responsible knitter here guys. This is what my swatch looks like with stripes…

And here is a blown out photo of the wrong side of my stripes. Am I crazy (the answer is yes btw) but I like the wrong side better. It makes it look like poor woman’s colorwork ala the Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos.

I need to wash this swatch version and mull over my options. I am really leaning towards the wrong side. But now….do I work single garter ridge stripes or double ridge garter stripes?

Happy Knitting!!!

Cast On: Helping Hippos Vanilla Socks

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My sock needles have been telling me that they feel very cold lately. Other than the backup pair of socks in my desk that haven’t seen the light of day in ages….I don’t have any socks on the go. This is very abnormal for me.

So I decided to pull some special yarn from my stash. It’s a Lolodidit hippo colorway….Helping Hippos (that she made for hurricane relief). It’s a ton of many many colored speckles and the perfect antidote to the grey of winter coming. I split the hank into two equal 50 gram skeins to make a pair of socks.

These are my own sock recipe of a toe-up 68 stitch vanilla sock with a gusset heel. I am knitting these on US 1.5 nine inch circular needles. I managed to get the first toe started!

Happy Knitting!!

Rosewood In The Wild

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It’s the time of the year to get all the parts checked and spend waaaaay too long in waiting rooms. Recently at my well woman visit I found myself with a ton of time to kill in the waiting area. So like any good knitter I pulled out my knitting and put some rows on my Rosewood Sockhead Slouch.

And you guys, I found another knitter in the wild because I was knitting in public! A very nice distinguished woman sat down next to me and asked it I was picking or throwing. And my head snapped up because to ask that question…you have to be more than a novice knitter. So we started up a pleasant conversation about knitting and projects until it was time for us to both head into our appointments.

It turned out to be a rather nice way to pass the time. Happy Knitting!!

Better The Second Time

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My buggered cast on has been rectified. I was able to restart and *correctly* follow the first set of increases.

This is my Mackenzie 5-ply for Jellybean in the 7 year old size. It’s a pullover but it has a button placket at the neck. So I am slogging through the knitting across and purling back right now. I’ve done the first button hole and ready to start the second.

I have the project living in my Bags by Awesome grannie bag. It’s the PERFECT sweater size and Jellybean likes that it has donuts on it. Win win 🙂

Happy Knitting!!

Rosewood Progress

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My Rosewood Sockhead slouch is about the only knitted item I have been able to make progress on lately. It’s my bedside, in the dark, listening to podcasts and trying not to wake up the baby knitting. It really is knitting up nicely!

I’m at roughly 8 inches of hat and based on my Rainbow Pop sockhead hat I need to get to 11 inches before I start the decreases.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Mackenzie 5 Ply

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I had been wishful knitting a sweater for Jellybean. And Jellybean LOVES purple and I just so happen to have a sweater quantity of purple Knit Picks Brava Sport in my stash. I decided to cast on the Mackenzie 5 ply by Rebecca Newman

So I printed and read my pattern. Dutifully cast on after some gauge swatching and promptly knit the first page of instructions. Well….PB is on a sleep jihad much like her brother as an infant. So what little knitting time I get here lately is deeply affected by lack of sleep. I completely buggered the raglan increases. So an evening’s worth of work you see above? Yeah….it needs ripped. Sigh

I’m not too mad because it’s my own bonehead fault. And I know the yarn will stand up to ripping so I guess there’s that!

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Rosewood Sockhead Slouch

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Happy Halloween to everyone!! Before I head of to collect candy with Jellybean at my office I wanted to give you an update on a project seeing a ton of time lately.

PB is now over five months old and growing like a weed. And along with that growth has come sleep regressions and sleep training. This isn’t a parenting blog and I’m not seeking sympathy or advice. I’m simply trying to say that I have a happy healthy baby that is locked in a sleep training battle with me while I try to do the best parenting I know how. Lord knows I would get a stubborn daughter and I’m sure my parents are somewhere laughing at the Karma of it all!

The silver lining? Well, my Rosewood Sockhead Slouch is seeing a lot of action as my bedside knitting in the dark.

I’ve managed to finish the ribbing and work over an inch of stockinette of the hat in just over a week. I switched from US 1s for the ribbing to US2s for the remainder of the hat. I forgot to do this on my Rainbow Pop hat so I’m curious to see what difference it makes.

This has all been leading me to wonder….are vanilla hats my new vanilla socks? I haven’t touched a sock in almost two months now……hmmmm….

Happy Knitting!

Dino Legs

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My Dino Jr now has four legs!

The legs were SUPER easy to knit and I knocked all four out in less than one Netflix show. I did have some laddering between my DPNs because of the small circumference and my tension. I just simply used the extra yarn after seaming to kind of embroider those ladders “closed”. Now no one will ever notice and no fiber fill will peak out.

I did make my hubby laugh. He came upstairs just as I was finishing the sewing of the second leg and started giggling at my knitting.

I’ll leave it it you to figure out why, lol.

Happy Knitting!!