Cast On: Vanilla Rainbow Socks

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Spoiler alert…I’ll have a FO to show this Friday. And that FO freed up some needles for another Socktober project.

Using the Surburban Stitcher bag I just splurged on I cast on some new socks in a skein of Cascade Heritage Prints in the rainbow color I picked up this summer. These are destined for the gift pile, quite possibly for my Aunt Barb. They are a toe-up vanilla sock over 64 stitches on size 2 US needles. I only needed the foot to be 8 inches instead of my normal 9 inches. So it just zoomed compared to my normal 68 stitch socks on size 1 US needles.

Seriously though, this project literally flew. The above photo represents two days worth of knitting. And this photo is the first one I took because I couldn’t put the sock down long enough to snap a photo, lol. I’m hoping to keep the mojo going on this project and have another FO very soon!

Happy Knitting!!

My First Suburban Stitcher

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I have been watching the Surburban Stitcher podcast and Dianne Brown’s instagram now for awhile. I simply adore her stuff. But I have been trying to be more careful in managing my yarn purchases and limited splurges. But I had been saving some pennies for the Socktober KAL hosted by the Carolina Fiber Girls. And this year I wanted to knit/use some things from a sponsor. I appreciate when makers take the time to support each other. So used my stash money and picked up a bag and a skein of yarn…

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I got the soda themed small zippered bag. I neglected to get a photo of the inside but it’s the totally adorable coordinating fabric you see on the wrist strap.

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Then I chose this lovely bright greeny sock yarn in the Appletini colorway. It’s her sock base that is a light fingering made of 75% merino and 25% nylon. I’m not sure what this yarn will grow up to be. But for sure I’m using the bag to score some points in this year’s KAL!

Happy Knitting!!

Daunt Progress

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My Daunt Cowl has seen some action this week.

I had a two hour HIPAA training at work that was all slide show/webinar. I knew I needed something to stay awake so I knit quietly under the table and managed to rack up several inches of stockinette. I’m still in the solid main color section and that’s okay. But I can’t wait to get to the colors!

I also pressed a few small binder clips into service to keep my project from curling so I could observe actual knitting project. I know in my head that it grows with every row but it’s nice when my eyes can back up that logic, lol.

Happy Knitting!

Cast On: Be Simple Shawl

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I finished my Jay Jay shawl last week and my fingers were still itching for some shawl knitting. In my project bin of prepped projects I had the yarn caked for the Be Simple Variations by Carolyn Glauz-Todrank. So I started my needles clicking and I have this…

This is some 3+ year old stash of Cloudlover Yarn and Fiber sock yarn. It’s superwash Merino and nylon blend in their Copacabana colorway. It’s a highly variegated teal, orange, brown and purple. I have to be honest…..I’m not loving the yarn and pattern combo. I love the intuitiveness of the pattern. I just hate the colors as a shawl to wear around my face. They just aren’t me. I am thinking this yarn would be better served as socks that go inside shoes….

I have put this yarn into hibernation/time out to think about what I want to do. Any thoughts from the viewers?

FO Friday: Jay Jay Shawl

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I have another lighting quick finish. I think garter stitch one/two skein projects are just my jam right now. Here is the Jay Jay shawl in all her glory!

Pattern: Jay Jay by Francesca Caricato

Yarn: Cascade Yarns Sunseeker in Silver

Needle: US 6

Mods: To maximize yarn in the last section I omitted two garter ridges and added one extra eyelet row. This made it so that I had just a few yards of  yarn left.

This pattern was intuitive and addictive. It made great car knitting too! The yarn I wasn’t so in love with. It’s a DK weight yarn made of cotton, acrylic and metallic thread. It’s very pretty but not very soft or warm. I bought this back in 2013 in a yarn shop because it was pretty and I didn’t know any better at that level of my knitting. This yarn was knit and frogged out of two other shawls before it became Jay Jay. In the end I’m happy with it and very happy it’s out of my stash.

I think this will be a gift for my mother in law. She will appreciate the beauty and in her “season of life” like the fact that it’s not overly warm. Well and with cotton and acrylic I know she won’t felt or shrink it, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Daunt Cowl

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Jellybean had his nasal procedure this week. This was preceded by much anxiety and worry by me the mother. He took the whole mess like a champ and fingers crossed he will be able to breath much better going forward.

I knew we would be sitting around the surgery center for a minute or two so I cast on my Daunt Cowl and started stitching. I managed an inch in under and hour in the waiting room.

I used some leftover bits from my Mom’s Christmas socks for the provisional cast on. I worked two rounds before switching to my live yarn. I contacted Mary of KinoKnits to ask about the pattern. Without giving away the secret sauce, a portion of the cowl involved short rows. And full disclosure I have no problem with short rows. But with my scraps spanning the rainbow the matchy-matchy portion of my brain wanted the thing to be the same all the way around. Mary kindly replied that no problem I could make the modification I wanted and still have a beautiful object.

I also made a what I think is a smart decision. I am working from the outside of the massive cake I wound. For two reason, the first being that my colossal cake wouldn’t collapse halfway done. The second being that working from the outside meant I worked the long stretch of main color solid section first and saved the color changes for last. I fee like this will keep me more motivated in the long run.

Happy Knitting!

Cast On: Jay Jay Shawl

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After finishing Reyna I knew I needed another shawl on the needles. I pawed through my bag of prepped projects and pulled out the Jay Jay Shawl by Francesca Caricato. This is a DK weight shawl with garter and eyelets. My yarn was wound, pattern printed and needles ready to go so I cast on.


Jellybean had a doctors appointment and his flu shot which resulted in a very tired and grumpy three year old. He puppy dog eyed me and convinced me to stay home and snuggle him instead of going to daycare/work. And I managed to get a good chunk of the shawl started!

It’s crescent shaped and gorgeous. The yarn is some REALLY old stash that is Cascade Yarns Sunseeker. It’s grey with a fine thread of sparkle running though. It’s not the softest yarn but oh is it pretty!! I’ve got to two skeins and and I plan to use as much as possible. This might be my next obsession!

Happy Knitting!!

Christmas Socks Progress

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I’ve finished a good chunk of the second sock for my Mom’s Christmas socks.


I zoomed up the foot and turned the heel. It’s now October so I’m anxious to get these finished so I can enter them in the Pigskin Party KAL, the Double Dip KAL and the Carolina Fiber Girls Socktober KAL!

Must keep knitting!!

Uh Oh Froggie-O

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My Downpour Socks have been niggling at me from the back of my brain. While I was folding laundry downstairs this past weekend I pulled this WIP out of storage. And it hit me….I cast these on in the WRONG NUMBER OF STITCHES. I was in Colorado when I did it…I’m going to blame the altitude.

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So these beauties are headed to the frog pond. I guess the silver lining is that a) I’ll have socks that actually fit me and I won’t be forced to gift them and b) I can restart them and they will count for the #dcspigskinparty17 KAL.

Le Sigh….more knitting I guess!

FO Friday: Reyna 

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My Reyna is done and here she is in all her glory!

Pattern: Reyna by Noora Laivola

Needles: US 4

Yarn: Knit Picks Hawthorn Speckle in the Cosmic Speckle Colorway (I used almost an entire skein: 93 grams/332 yards)

Mods: I omitted the very last rows of eyelets to conserve yarn

I knit this project in basically a week or 7 days of active knitting. It FLEW off my needles and I just don’t understand/comprehend how obsessed with this project I was.

I was feeling so proud that I hadn’t made any mistakes during the knitting….and then hubris got me. I was on the second-to-last eyelet row and my eyelets got out of alignment. I had missed one teensy tiny stitch. So I carefully tinked back half a row and fixed it (took me 30 minutes). I then proceeded to re-knit that row and then almost the whole last row of eyelets and that knitter niggling started in my brain. I was definitely not going to have enough yarn. So I tinked back two and a half LONG rows to where I would omit the last RS and WS eyelet rows and the started the garter. I was basically back to where I had tinked back to the first time and this took me an hour. But I managed to finish the garter and bind off with just a small nugget of yarn to tuck into my memory blanket!

I washed and blocked this in just under two hours thanks to the late September Kansas heatwave and my husband’s fan. I don’t have blocking wires and you can see where I placed my pins. But I don’t care…it’s all mine now! I cannot wait for fall to when I can wear this beauty out and about! This project really has kicked my knitting mojo into high gear. On to the next thing!!!

Happy Knitting!