2020….How Did I Do?

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Being an accountant I like spreadsheets and tracking things. And that includes my knitting! I use Ravelry to store my projects and tag them with identifiers but at the end of the day I still keep my Yarn In versus Yarn out spreadsheet in Excel. I have the best of intentions/goal each year to knit down more yarn than I bring in. How did I do in 2020?

  1. I completed 27 projects this year:
    1. five pairs of socks
    2. six blankets
    3. eight accessories
    4. four toys
    5. four sweaters
  2. I brought in:
    1. 92.2 skeins of yarn
    2. 4,269 grams of yarn
    3. 17,871.60 yards of yarn (16,374.50 meters of yarn)
  3. I knit or crocheted up:
    1. 69.18 skeins of yarn
    2. 15,592.50 yards of yarn (14,320.14 meters of yarn)

This means I did not end hitting my goal. I got really close? I ended up with a net in of roughly 2,300 yarns or 2,050 meters of yarn in to my stash. But all in all I created a lot of beautiful items in an otherwise crazy year. And some of that stash “out” was some super old yarn that needed using up.

I am pretty happy with the yarn I chose to bring in this year. I found myself buying more sweater quantities as I am currently drawn to garment knitting more and more. Probably the a contributing factor to the more in than out as well, lol.

Now….let’s see what I can do in 2021! Happy Knitting!!

Mend and Make Do

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I won’t be sad to see 2020 go. I don’t feel like 2021 is going to magically different but I hope it’s going to trend in the right direction. The kids are out of school and daycare so we had a project day around the house. Today’s agenda: mend the kids pants.

We managed to mend the side seam in a 2 year old’s pair of sweat pants, the knee seam in a 6 year old’s pants and patch two holes in the 6 year old’s pants. Disclaimer…I have a sewing machine but I’m TOTALLY an amatuer.

My kids and I had fun pinning seams and running the foot pedal. And at the end of 45 minutes I got back three pairs of pants for my kids. Now, I will admit that the pair with holes and blue flannel patches are going to “wear only at home” kind of pants. But the other two pairs are good enough for wearing in public, at least in my humble opinion.

It was fun to do something with the kids and they were pretty excited to have their pants back in rotation.

Happy Mending!!

Cast On: Pardon Me Sir Hat

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Y’all, tomorrow is a new year and I have cast-on-itis. I pulled a skein of KnitCircus worsted weight yarn in the Pardon Me, Sir colorway and cast on a hat last night. After binging some of my favorite TV comedies I have a GOOD start on a hat.

I worked completely through the brim yesterday morning and by the evening I am a fair ways into the hat portion. I’m going full skein with this project. I am not using a pattern. I cast on 90 stitches and I’m making it up as I go. I want to use up as much of this yarn as possible to capture the wonderful gradient.

I think why I like this project so much is that these are my high school alma mater colors. And it will coordinate with my winter coat. This hat will most definitely be for me. The colors are sublime and the yarn extra extra soft. I can’t wait to finish this one!

Happy New Year and Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Sand Castle Vanilla Socks

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Do I have at least two pairs of of socks on the needles? Why yes, I do. Did I need another? Why yes I do! I pulled some cashmere sock yarn from my stash from Leading Man Fiber Arts in the Sand Castle colorway and started some toe up vanilla socks.

This yarn feels like BUTTER between my fingers. It’s so amazing that I don’t care how long these socks will last as they will feel AMAZING on my feet when they are done. I have managed to get the toe increases done and I’m ready for just a poop ton of ’round and round’ in stockinette. That is my sweet spot of knitting right now. It’s my happy place

What is your happy place?

One Finished Tube

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Thanks to some holiday downtime I managed to get the first sock tube completed for my Carbon Sprinkles Vanilla Socks.

I feel like I knit a pretty long tube and I even worked some increases in the leg portion. I’m sure it won’t be as long as I think it will be. That’s probably the impatient knitter in me. I need to weigh the yarn to see how much I used to create the first tube before I start the second tube.

I really think I’m going to be lazy and not put the heel right now. I will install both heels when I am done with the second tube. Why? I really don’t know why other than “I just feel like it”, lol.

I am really really really liking the speckles in this striping yarn. I need to get my DPNs out and get the second tube started before I get second sock syndrome.

Happy Knitting!!

Christmas Baking

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I was looking through my camera roll on my found some of my favorite photos of the season and I wanted to share.

First up….baking with a 6 year old and 2 year old equals flour EVERYWHERE. Including all over the two year old who got too close to the mixer when we added flour.

Next up the 6 year old’s version of sugar cooking decorating complete with extra frosting.

And finally about 1 bazillion almond bark coated pretzels. These are the reason I need legging post Christmas :O

The chaos is *almost* worth the memories! I sure hope my kids remember all the fun when they are bigger. Anyone have a favorite christmas memory to share?

Christmas Eve Cast On

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I admit I am struggling to get fully into the holiday spirit. I knew I wanted a Christmas Eve cast on but I just couldn’t decide what I wanted it to be. So I decided to make up a kit from stuff I already had. And it worked out nicely

I pulled out last year’s Christmas pajamas and I’m just praying they fit after my COVID weight gain. And then I grabbed a bottle of wine off my wine rack that I have been meaning to try.

Next up was the yarn and pattern I received as part of my 2020 Nomad Yarns retreat back in October. I grabbed the Transforming Mitts pattern by Erika Kempf Broughton and the yarn of Tweed Rocks from Nomad Yarns. It feels good to use this yarn with the pattern it was designed for.

It’s not the perfect AHA project I have had in years past. But it’s good enough for 2020. And I mostly can’t wait to put the world aside and just watch Christmas through my children’s eyes. We are going to “bubble” with my parents and isolate from the world on their property. All I want for Christmas is knitting, a good wine and not to be the primary adult for a little bit.

What do you want Santa to bring you?

Blanket Dreaming

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The other thing that jumped into my cart on black friday from Knit Picks was a blanket quantity of Knit Picks in Garnet Heather.

I am dreaming of a smooshy and soft throw for myself. This yarn is 50/50 acrylic and wool but it’s two ply structure and loosely spun nature just makes it so smooth and soft. Even Jellybean petted it and commented on how soft it is.

This will have to wait until after Christmas, but I’m excited about it!

Merry Christmas and Happy Knitting to all!

Coordinating Felici

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I fell down on black friday on the knit picks website. I needed two skeins of Knit Picks Biggo to finish my Peace Blanket and some how a bunch of other yarn jumped in my cart. I managed to snag coordinating sets of Felici. I got Felici Worsted and Felici Sock in the Goth Kitty and Punch Bug.

I am envisioning matching hat and sock sets. How cute would those be for future gifts? And if I get the sock yarn cranked into sock tubes they would be really quick (relatively speaking) gifts. At least that sounds like a good idea, lol.

Happy Knitting