Advent Heels

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My 2020 Advent Socks #2 are humming right along. I am working them in tandem so I can split each 20 gram mini in half.

I need to catch up the bottom sock to where I am on the top sock. The top one has the heel increases started. But the bottom one needs a smidge more stockinette still. This has been my grab and go car knitting as well as my “I’m too tired at night to knit anything else”.

I need to do some yarn planning to determine how tall I will make these. I could cut them off a decent but short-ish length and save enough yarn for another pair of socks. Something to ponder…

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: All My Stitches

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I couldn’t help myself the cast-on-itis was too strong with this one. I had all the minis prepped from my frogged Rainbow Fluff Hibernation Throw so I cast on the All My Stitches!

I am using just a plain white opal sock yarn that I found on Etsy. It should flow nicely as I progress through the rainbow. And I have confession….I have two skeins of the white Opal but I didn’t check yardage to see if it would be enough to last through advent minis. I may end up with yarn chicken on this one!

This cast on did take some brain space, the increase section is a four row repeat. I need to make sure I have time to complete the repeat before setting it down. So this is an “after the kids go to bed” kind of project. I’m anxious to get past the increase so I can just ZOOM in garter or awhile!

Happy Knitting!!

Knitting And Other Life Skills

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PB and I did some “quality” time the other day when daycare was closed. I worked on my 2020 Advent Socks #2 and she “did” some dishes in luke warm soapy water. We both practiced some positive life skills I would say.

Total win/win. She played happily for about 45 minutes and I added a third color to my scrappy socks. I love knitting and listen to her little brain chatter away. She’s very much in the “stream of consciousness” phase right now. Sometimes the honesty hurts and sometimes its hilarious. I’ll take whatever I can get, lol!

Happy Knitting!!

Doctor’s Like Knitting

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How is August already!? I blinked and school is around the corner. But I digress….my second Purple Rain Vanilla sock grew about two inches last week. That is what I accomplished while sitting in a doctor’s lobby for about four hours.

So far it’s been smooth sailing. I’m on the foot so no increases or fancy stuff….just round and round in stockinette. Very nice auto pilot knitting!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Volcano Trail

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FO Friday time! My Volcano Trail is done, blocked and ready for fall temperatures.

Pattern: Volcano Trail by Maxim Cyr (Ravelry link)

Yarn: Mrs Crosby Hat Box in Pansy (purple), green variagated mystery sock yarn, Spunky Eclectic Spunky Sock in Wild Child (pink) and Shibui Knits Staccato in Raspberry

Needles: US 6

Mods: None

This was a really good stash buster. I didn’t use up any of the yarns completely but I did crank out a project that used 873 yards of yarn or roughly the equivalent of two skeins of sock yarn. Can’t beat that! And I have enough of each color to add at least one square on my mitered square memory blanket.

I couldn’t be happier with the color fade. These random skeins look almost like they were designed for each other! These photos are all from the front. I did not photo graph my duplicate stitch on the back. I’m not happy with it….I may rip it out and redo it. Just not today.

Bonus….this will be incredibly warm and very snuggly. I can wear it down and tucked inside my jacket. Or it pulls up nicely to cover my face on a super cold day. I would make this pattern again…but maybe for a gift? I’m not sure I need more than one of these in my wardrobe based on how long it stays cold here.

Happy Knitting!!

Destashes Get Me Every Time

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Pretty yarn destashes get me every stinking time! I fell down on Instagram when I saw a knitter was culling her stash on Etsy. There were two skeins that just needed to come to my house.

First up was a single skein of Chromatic Yarns Sturdy Sock in Druidcraft. I have a lot of greens in my stash so this will fit in nicely. I have really like mixed, matching and marling my sock yarns to make bigger projects than socks. Plus Hannah of the Corner of Craft is one of my favorite dyers.

Second (and last) was a single sock skein from The Lemondade Shop, a dyer out of Colorado. This reminds me of cotton candy but I didn’t buy it for the colors. I bought it for the name……”Only Strippers Shave Above The Knees”. I cackled laughing at this one.

Happy Stashing!!

Frog-tastic Summer

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I am on a bender….of frogging. I may have been rooting around in my WIP bag and found not one but two advent mini skein projects in hibernation. I spread them out and gave them a good look…..I didn’t want to finish either of them.

First up to frog is my Rainbow Fluff Habitation Throw made with my 2020 Teal Torch Knits advent set. Its a rainbow gradient and I was making a lap blanket with a little suri alpaca thrown in. It’s now back to a bunch of minis. Since I’m all about holding yarns double and marling…..this yarn is now going to be the All My Stitches wrap by Beata Jezek (Rav link). I ordered some plain white Opal Sock yarn to hold with the colors.

Next up in the frog pond…..my Wool and Waves Advent Scarf. This was my 2019 Advent of choice. I clearly made it SUPER far, hahaha. It’s now ripped out and I’m considering making it into the Zest by Josh Ryks-Robinsky (Rav link). I need to get on the interwebs or hit my LYS to find a second yarn to hold double with this set.

I definitely feel like I have a theme to my knitting this year, hats and holding sock yarn double. Both are really helping me use all the wonderful yarn I have stashed for year. Plus I’m getting a lot of cool FOs for next fall.

Happy Knitting!!

A Blanket Focused Weekend

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I needed a brain break and maybe a palette cleanser. So this past weekend I just focused on one project….my Sock Yarn Memory Blanket.

Above is pictured spread out on a king sized bed. So it’s getting pretty impressive in size! I focused on adding length and not width this weekend. I have a TON of scraps to go in this thing but I focused on incorporating all the leftovers from my recent finished like In the Light and Christmas socks.

I was a good knitter and placed a stitch market to mark where I started. It’s hard to see the purple unicorn on the purple square over there in the corner….but it’s there. So that means I added eight squares in one weekend! (Note to self….move stitch marker….)

I am no where ready for this to be done. I think I’ll just keep plodding along and see how it keeps growing! 😛

Happy Knitting!!

The Second Purple Rain Sock

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Not one to let my needles get cold…I have cast on for my second Purple Rain Vanilla Sock. I needed to get my easy purse knitting restarted as I am taking a friend to some medical appointments this week.

I really enjoy making socks with my nine inch circular needles. I can’t cast on the toe of course, I do use DPNs (double pointed needles) for those. After I get the last increase round done I move my sock toe to the small circulars.

Because I have the first sock done I will need to pay a little more attention to this project to make sure I mirror what I did on the first one. I didn’t do a great job of taking notes or putting in markers. I was just winging it, lol. Guess I’m paying for that decision now!

Happy Knitting!!

HO Alert: Purple Rain Vanilla Socks

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Boom! I have a finished cuff/bind off on my Purple Rain Vanilla Socks. That means this Friday that I have a HO (half finished object).

Other than the dark line in the foot where the marling broke, I am pleased with these socks. The gradient is really cute and there were more transitions than I expected.

I think I ended these socks in the nick of time. They do fit my calves but only just so. If I had gone much taller I would have needed more increases to fit on my leg. Now the challenge is to start sock number two and mirror what I did with sock number one. I have some medical appointments coming up that I need purse knitting for. Sock number two should be a good choice!

P.S. It’s really hard to take photos of one own’s feet….I almost fell off the chair I was sitting on, lol.

Happy Knitting!!