FO Friday: Pardon Me, Sir Hat

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I couldn’t leave this project alone. I think I knit this over three nights? But I’m just getting around to taking good photos of it. I present to you my My Pardon Me, Sir Hat!

Pattern: A “vanilla” knit beanie knit with 90 stitches (Rav link)

Yarn: KnitCircus Ringmaster in the Pardon Me, Sir colorwa

Needles: US8s

I couldn’t bear not to use every inch of this beautiful gradient. Thus I ended up with a super long and super slouch hat. But I don’t mind because the brim folds up nicely.

The 90 stitches make a nice loose hat on me and a decently firm hat on my husband’s larger head. But the fabric is a nice medium density that keeps out the wind. I am definitely keeping this one for me and it pairs beautifully with my navy blue coat.

Feels really good to have my first FO of 2021. And even better that this gorgeous yarn didn’t languish in my stash very long either. Win win!

Happy Knitting!!

Ready For A Sandy Cuff

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I powered through some knitting this week and finished the heel turn, the leg and calf increases for my Sand Castle Cashmere Vanilla Socks. Added a little gratuitous Christmas decoration that I haven’t had the energy to take down yet.

I flew by the seat of my pants on this one. I just knit up the leg and eyeballed installing the calf increases. I added four or six extra stitches over top half the leg. Maybe not the most scientific and will undoubtedly be super hard to recreate on the second sock. But that is future Rachelle’s problem

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Carbon Sprinkles Vanilla Socks

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Welcome to my happy place…..self striping yarn! My Carbon Sprinkles Vanilla Socks well into production of sock number two.

As with sock number one, I plan to knit sock number two all the way to the cuff as a tube. I’ll install both afterthought heels at the very end. I may regret this choice when I’m on “heel island”, lol.

I am little excited to get these into my sock drawer. I feel that between the patterning and knit fabric feel will mean this will be some favorite go-to socks. I have a full sock drawer now so it’s nice to be able to have lots of choices so I don’t put too much wear on any one pair of socks.

Happy Knitting!!

Ready For The Heel

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I blinked over the weekend and realized I had knit 6 rows past where the heel on my Sand Castle Cashmere Vanilla Socks. I slipped a progress keeper in where I need to tink back to.

I am really enjoying this yarn and project. The cashmere content in the yarn just feels so decadent. And I never seem to tire of vanilla knitting in the round. Up next is to count my stitches and start working the heel turn.

For my toe up socks I used the Wendy Knits pattern for toe up gusset heel socks. Her instructions are clear and happen to match the stitch count I use for my feet. Works every time and the fit is good.

Happy Knitting!!

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?