Category Archives: WIPs

Sweater Math and Color Options

Posted on by
8

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

Posted on by
4

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

Posted on by
8

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

Posted on by
2

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

Posted on by
7

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

Posted on by
2

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

Posted on by
5

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

Posted on by
3

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!!

Dino Jr Has A Body

Posted on by
3

I spent some time cleaning this weekend and I found the Dino I was working on for Jellybean. I had cast on and just worked the head and put it down. That’s just silly! This is a worsted weight toy over not that many stitches. So I buckled down during naps and bedtime and cranked through the entire body. It really didn’t take that long at all and I kinda kicked myself for letting it languish. The hardest part was running out to Joanns for more fiber fill because I was out!

I need to do some massaging to get the stuffing evened out and the body less lumpy. And after that I just have four legs and the scales to knit. Surely by the grace of the baby nap gods I can get those done soon. This definitely needs legs as it kind of looks like a snail now, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Rosewood Sockhead Slouch

Posted on by
11

I recently attended a two day conference for work. Thankfully it was a drive home every night kind of thing so I got to be home to be with PB.  This conference was almost exclusively lecture based. So I KNEW I needed knitting. But I didn’t have any autopilot knitting because Rainbow Pop gloves need my eyeballs on them.

So I fished through my tonal sock yarn and pulled out a lovely skein of T & H Fiber Works Heather’s Favorite Sock in the Rosewood color that my mom got at a fiber festival a couple of years ago. Since I hadn’t put away my needles from my Rainbow Pop Sockhead slouch I simply cast on another Sockhead slouch!

Here is my progress by lunch on Day 1….

And here is my progress by the end of day 2…. I got almost of the ribbing done over two days (conference and travel knitting). I got several compliments on my project and a few stares. But my knitting did strike up a conversation with other attendees about Cognitive Anchoring and the benefits of letting people use their hands to be better focused during meetings.

All in all it was a great conference and some great knitting!!