Stashbustin’ #6

Since the completion of my Chevron Baby Blanket I started a new blanket. My friends Ernest and Catherine are due in June and I want something special for them. They don’t know what they are having yet, but will find out in a few weeks. I couldn’t wait to start so I picked unisex colors.

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I selected the Zig Zag Baby Blanket by knitculture.com. I had some skeins of Bernat Cottontots Solids in Sweet Cream and Chocolate. I cast on a few more stitches than the pattern called just to make sure I got a respectable sized blanket.

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Two pattern repeat that creates a zig zag pattern. I can’t wait to see how this one turns out. Follow my Ravelry progress here.

Happy Knitting!

FO: Chevron Baby Blanket

Destashing #4complete!!

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Chevron Baby Blanket is finished thanks to some windshield time this past weekend. I used several skeins of Knit Picks Biggo and Premier Serenity Chunky Heathers out of my stash. The end result is baby butt soft and very kooky.

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The pattern was an easy two row repeat that was easily memorized. The Purl Bee writes a great pattern! Great TV knitting and the bulky yarn flew off the needles. I’m not 100% sold on the color combo. I was shooting for kooky unisex, but I’m just not sure. The end product also ended up more like a beach towel shape than blanket (to me at least). I didn’t swatch for gauge so that might be my bad.

I started with blue then transitioned to grey, then pink, grey again, and finally green. The chevron shape showed up really nicely with the garter stitch.

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I will definitely make this pattern again. I’m just not sure this FO is something I will give away. It’s funky and might be a little too funky for my average friend. I’m going to call this one a win as I used yarn from my burgeoning stash and it was fun to make. It might just be destined for my “secret” some day I’ll have a baby FO stash….

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Time to cast on something new! I have lots of yarn to destash!!

Happy Knitting

Rest and Relaxation

It’s finally Friday and I’m free for a three day weekend! It’s been a busy week so I’m ready to let my hair down…

Destashing update!

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I just started my third stripe on my Chevron Baby Blanket! Only two more to go. This is proving to be a very relaxing project with a memorable pattern. Great for TV knitting.

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So I’ve put my feet up for the night with a great glass of red moscato and some Castle on DVD. Knitting, wine, and Nathan Fillian…..I love my life!

Happy Knitting!!

Something For My Husband

I never knit for my husband. He proclaims yarn to be “too scratchy”. I’ll pause for the gasps of horror…..

He grew up with those horrible acrylic afghans that everyone had in those awful colors. Never fear yarn devotees! I’m working on converting him, I thought I’d start small and make something cute/fun. In the last year he has fallen in love with Dr. Who the British television show. I saw a blog by Knittyfordrwho where the author, Lorenia Lemas, posted a pattern for a tardis washcloth. I had some bright blue Cottontots Solids in Little Boy Blue, so off I went!

The pattern was easy and fast! I knit the whole thing up watching two TV episodes. The pattern only uses knit and purl and practically flies off the needles. Interesting enough to keep my attention but not complicated enough that I couldnt watch TV. It was a nice break from my Chevron Blanket and the never ending garter stitch. I even used yarn from my stash! Finished project was pretty smart looking if I do say myself.

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Upon presenting it to my husband he immediately snapped a photo and sent it to his Dr Who buddies. I think I picked up a few cool wife points and got him to dip his toe into the yarn pool!

Happy Knitting!

A Wonky Cowl

I snagged a great skein of Berroco Borealis at my LYS a few years ago….but only one skein. I can’t remember why I only bought one and I have had a terrible time deciding what to do with this 108 yds of lovely yarn. It’s a great mix of blues and greens and has great “squishy ness”.

I searched Ravelry and finally found something that tripped my trigger so to speak! I found Wonky by Brittany Wilson, a creative one skein cowl. It is knit in the round and the decreases and increases cause it to come out in a zig zag shape….or wonky!

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It has stockinette sections and checkerboard sections that sort of lean. Best part is that this pattern was free! This was a well written pattern but stupid me misread it the first go round. I had it 2/3 done and had to frog it completely after I discovered my error. I blame the TV show I was watching, lol. I persevered and re-knit. I even added one extra pattern repeat to make it a bit taller for me. Even with re-knitting it, I knit this item in one evening and had time to wash and block it.

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It looks really nice against my black wool coat. The yarn isn’t the softest but its very warm! It felt good during our trip to the dog park today as its 30 degrees here!

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Happy Knitting!

FO: Waves and Ripples Blanket

First destashing project complete!!

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Waves and Ripples Blanket is complete! This blanket is destined for my cousins Josh and Amy (saying this because I’m very confident they don’t follow this blog) who are due in April. They aren’t finding out the babies sex so I went with unisex colors of cream and white.

Josh is my cousin and I absolutely adore his wife. She and I are very much alike and have been known to let our hair down together at more than one family wedding. They got married only a few months after my husband and I five years ago. We had a pact for a long time to hold out with having kids (much to our respective parents chagrin). Now she has left me high and dry. With the birth of their child my parents will be the only ones without grand kids…and I haven’t heard the end of it yet.

Such is life! Despite her betrayal (kidding) I really wanted to make her something special!

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I used five skeins of Brava Bulky and an improvised design of my own.

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I used left and right leaning decreases and increases to create chevron stripes. See my Rav notes for the details. I simply worked one skein clear to end and then changed colors. Easy peasy! I did run out of yarn as reported in a previous blog post. Luckily I was able to source enough in the right dye lots online.

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This project was hard to put down and took no time at all (even with waiting for yarn). Loved the texture of the yarn and I felt very connected to the project of my own design. This blanket will be washing machine and dryer friendly and super duper soft for baby.

I cannot wait to give it to Josh and Amy and oh ya meet the newest addition! Now on to other projects…

Happy Knitting and may Monday be kind to you!

Stashbustin’ #5

I found a few skeins at the bottom of my stash that I procured at a garage sale. Mostly some Lion Brand Homespun, a skein of baby yarn, and a skein of sock yarn. It got me thinking of something that happened at my last fair.

I had the pleasure of meeting the director of the Topeka Crochet Guild at my last craft fair. She mentioned that they always take donations of yarn to make projects for local shelters and charities. So in the spirit of charity and needing to unclutter my life, here is what I’m donating!

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The make hats, scarves, blankets, and much more for those in need! So I went through my bag of hand knits and found some of my first “projects”. Surely they will keep someone warm this winter even with uneven stitches and crazy yarn choices right?

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I get the double whammy of the feeling of charity and the glow of reducing my yarn load! I think I might even join the guild, they even welcome us knitters! I’m always looking for new fiber friends 🙂

Happy Knitting!

Stashbustin’ #4

After hitting the proverbial wall and running out of yarn on my Waves and Ripples Blanket I had to develop a plan b so I could keep my fingers busy. I’ve had my eye on the Chevron Blanket by the Purl Bee for awhile.

I dug through my stash and came up with four skeins (three Knit Picks Biggo yarn and one Premier Serenity Chunky Heathers) of chunky and soft colors I found pleasing together.

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I won’t be following the pattern exactly. I plan to follow the stitch pattern and then knit each color into one large stripe (until I run out of yarn) and then change to next. I’m planing the following sequence:
– blue
– grey
– pink
– grey
– green

I’ll try to keep to keep good track of my alterations/notes and update my Ravelry project page. Follow it here!

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Chloe is less than impressed with the amount of time I have been knitting lately.

Uh Oh #%36($ +>~ 42/;

GASP…..THE HORROR……I RAN OUT OF YARN FOR MY PROJECT….

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It’s 110% my fault. In my zeal to destash and cast on a project, I didn’t stop to calculate yarn yardage. I just grabbed stash yarn and went to town. See that small bundle at the top? Ya…that’s what I have left. Luckily I was able to source the necessary two additional skeins I need from the Internet for my Waves and Ripples blanket.

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I’m bummed a little. The pattern is easy to memorize and the yarn is yummy. I’m sad that I can’t keep knitting as this bulky project is flying off my needles! And how amazing is the zig zag and the cream/white contrast!? Sigh, now I have to wait for my Knit Picks box to here…guess I’ll have to cast on another stashbustin’ project. Stay tuned tomorrow!

Happy Knitting!

Yarn Swift Victory!

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In an effort to cull my stash and destash in 2013 I have been going through my finished projects as well. I had a few baby snuggle/kick sacks that weren’t selling on etsy. (My shop is here)

I frogged three whole items because I felt the three skeins of Knit Picks Biggo were destined for more worthy projects. Stay tuned later this week to see what I decided to use this yarn for!

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I got to use my new hand crafted yarn swift I received at Christmas! It’s butter soft and smooth = no yarn snags. But it is heavy enough that my yarn wonder can pull it itself. So you have to work (in my case) the yarn winder with right hand and the swift with my left. Takes a few tries to get coordinated but I managed to get the hang of it! Kind of like patting your head and rubbing your tummy, lol

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I think my swift will be getting A LOT of use!! Now….just where to store it?

Happy Knitting