Bandwagon Adjacent

Posted on by
7

When I was cleaning out my knitting tote the other day, I found I have quite the collections of various kinds of knitting pins. A couple were purchased and the rest were included in prize packages or yarn orders. Now I don’t have a Fringe Supply Co Field Bag nor the desire to acquire one. But what I do have is a canvas “test” notions bag my mother made for a sample. It currently holds all my various stitch markers. I thought the plain canvas was a great foil for my bits and bobs of knitting pins. What do you think?

I don’t think I will jump on the pin collecting band wagon in full force. But when a pin finds its way to me, now I have a home for it!

Happy Knitting!!

1,000 Follower Giveaway

Posted on by
21

Here it is folks…the giveaway I teased you about on Monday!

This is a golden skein from my stash that just never found the right project. It’s a hand painted 435 yard skein of sparkle sock yarn in Cranberry from Across the Yarniverse. I don’t think this dyer is is dying anymore but I knit some socks from another skein of sparkle sock in a light pink that I still have today. Her colors were amaze-balls.

Okay….the knitty gritty so to speak….to win this skein you must:

  • Be a follower of this blog
  • Leave a comment below and tell me one thing you would knit with this skein
  • Include your Ravelry name in the comment so I can PM the winner for shipping details.
  • One entry per follower/subscriber

This giveaway will close the evening Friday March 16th at 8 pm or whenever Jellybean finally passes out at bedtime. And I’ll stick the skein into the mail for the lucky winner!

Happy Knitting!!

**its now Friday the 16th and I have picked a winner! Will post the announcement tomorrow in a separate post!**

One Sleeve Down

Posted on by
5

One project that needs to see more love is the Baby Vertebrae for PB.

I’ve finished the first sleeve and put the needles in for the second sleeve. After this it will literally only need a button band and blocking. I think my mental block on this one is the DPNs. They are not my jam. I have to pay special attention to my tension when changing needles to avoid laddering. (This is totally why I knit my socks on 9 inch circs.) I really want this sweater for PB and it should be just right for fall. And the yarn is divine….I am just struggling with my mojo a little bit.

Oh well, slow and stead will still win the race right?

Happy Knitting!!

Blanket Resurrection

Posted on by
5

I recently cleaned my large knitting tote full of WIPs that lives on the chaos of the “mail table” as we call it in this house. I sorted needles, notions, and yarny bits and bobs back to their rightful places that had collected. I also took some WIPs to the craft room for longer term storage. Call it pre-baby knitting nesting if you will. Really it was a task I had been putting off for too long mostly due to the prolonged morning sickness and just general hair on fire craziness at work.

As a reward for completing a boring but necessary task….I treated myself to pulling my memory blanket from hibernation and adding two new squares!

I added a square of deep royal blue from my Midas Hat and as I talked about I added a stripey square from my Accidental Travel vanilla socks. I found I really missed this project! I think this blanket might be the perfect post-partum maternity leave knitting plan. It’s easy to pick up and put down as well as soothing garter stitch. It allows for some quick mini-victories after completing each square that should be good for a soul that doesn’t have many knitting minutes left in the day. Not to mention it’s just lovely and cheery to look at.

I am preparing myself for the joy and total time-suck that is nursing and caring for a newborn baby. And this go around I will also have an active young-ling that will also need his own attention. Knitting is important to me and I’m not going to give that away. But I am mentally preparing for the (temporary) shift in schedule and priorities. I wasn’t able to do that with Jellybean as I literally had no clue what was coming as a first time parent. I want to be kinder and gentler with myself this go around. My littles will only be small for a short time and I want to soak up every second…no matter how exhausting they are!

Happy Knitting!!

A Tale of Two Socks

Posted on by
4

My (accidental) travel socks have been giving me the call of the siren lately. They have been living in my work backpack and I have been pulling them out during my lunch breaks and car riding blocks of time. My work load at my job is totally whack-a-doodle and I have found the need for knitting comfort a lot lately. (Whack-a-doodle being an official accounting term, lol)

I have firmly decided to add contrasting toes and heels in some solid grey that matches nicely. And I am working both socks at the same time. I work a little on one and then some on the other as I feel to keep them roughly the same size. The yarn balls are the same amount by the way, one is center pull and the other pulling from the outside so the stripes match up. Therefore the yarn balls are more/less compact giving the illusion of two different amounts. I’m just going to knit peaceful stockinette until they are long enough or I run out of yarn, whichever comes first.

They only caveat to this plan would be to use the ball (left) that has an un-used center pull portion to add a square to my mitered square blanket before I use up all the yarn. I have been feeling the call of that project as well and I think this cheery skein would be a great addition.

Happy Knitting!!

Major Milestone

Posted on by
9

Here’s a milestone I thought I’d never reach…this little blog has reached a 1,000 followers!

Sometimes I’m really amazed anyone wants to read my yarny ramblings. I’ve been at this on August 28th, 2012….five years ago. I haven’t always been the most consistent but this blog has been a source of knitting community when I didn’t have access to a physical one and when I couldn’t be with other IRL knitters. I have always kind of viewed this space a journal of sorts that helps me stay centered and connected. I’m beyond tickled that other crafters want to see what shenanigans I am up to. I think knitters (and crocheters) are just about the best kind of people.

This milestone has inspired me to do a 1,000 follower give away. I’m going to toss my stash and find a golden skein to share with one of you. So stay tuned for further details!

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Travel Vanilla Socks

Posted on by
2

My Travel Vanilla Socks were very handy at my work conference. (Side note….I saw a fellow attendee doing two handed stranded colorwork with a chart….I was in awe. She was still totally listening and participating. Legitimately awesome.)

I found myself picking them up very often at my conference. So in the span of three days I made the above progress. I’m pretty happy with a good chunk of two socks cranked out.

I also started contemplating how I was going to finish these socks. I don’t normally work cuff down so I don’t have a “favorite” cuff down heel. I recently acquired some plain grey Heritage sock yarn in my stash and I’m considering contrast toes and afterthought heels. So I’m thinking about just cranking these tubes until I get to the length I want and finish toes in grey. I think I’ll just see how my tubes turn out!

Happy Knitting!!

He or She….What Will PB Be?

Posted on by
8

I am (mostly) happily chugging along through week 25 of pregnancy with PB. (PB standing for Picky Baby because of the large volume of food returned to sender). We have had a very clear anatomy scan at 20 weeks and Jellybean hosted a Valentines Themed gender reveal.

Lots of food was consumed and a good time was had by all. So, you must be wondering what is PB…..

Well PB is a she!

So the gender score will be even in our house! Jellybean seems as excited as any 3 year old can possibly be given that he doesn’t really understand how much his world is changing!

Now I just need to get my mojo flowing and crank out some girl knits!

WIP Wednesday: Baby Vertebrae

Posted on by
5

My Baby Vertebrae is crawling along! This is yarn from Winter Woolfest 2018 from Apothefairy Fibers. The speckles are just divine!!

I’m making the 12-18 months size in DK yarn. Babies in my family run big so I thought I’d err on the side of caution. Only one and a half sleeves and a button band to go! I am finding the fabric very pleasing and I often stop to pet the fabric 🙂

Happy Knitting!!

Yarn Shop Adventures

Posted on by
4

My travels for work had me gone over Valentines. Which is not a huge thing for the hubby and I but still seemed a bummer to miss both my boys on such a fun day. I consoled myself by using my first solo Uber and locating a LYS in St. Paul. I found the Yarnery!

It was delightful and the staff was friendly and helpful. They had a TON of yarns that I don’t have access back in Kansas. The shop was organized by weight and very very pretty. I settled on three very pretty yarns and two cash register splurges…

I got some Mrs Crosby Hat Box in the Pansy color. This was a sport weight yarn. Then I chose some Neighborhood Fiber Co. Rustic Fingering in the Easterwood color. This 100% is most definitely for a shawl or hat. Finally from a sale bin I chose a single 50 gram skein of Shibui Knits Staccato in Raspberry. It was the only one of the color but I figured I could make a small pair of mitts while trying a new to me yarn.

Then I splurged on an Yarnery enamel pin and some Love + Leche balm. It was very very dry in Minnesota even compared to Kansas. My lips and hands were in dire need of some hydration!

Finally I rounded out the night by having Valentines dinner delivered to my room. I chose rosemary cheese fries with a side of molten chocolate brownie with ice cream! It was mom-free zone slice of heaven.

I can’t wait to go back next year! Happy knitting!!