Cast On: SSK Tweed Hat

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The SSK retreat has this cool benefit that for a small donation or tip, they will wind yarn for you with some fancy equipment. I had a skein of what I thought was worsted in my knitting bag and I put into be wound.

When I got it back, I realized it was in fact NOT worsted and actually a sport weight from Red Door Fibers that I picked up from KITH KC 2024. I decided to roll with it. But that meant stopping and doing some calculations to adjust stitch count and needle size for this weight of yarn.

After some maths, I landed on 112 stitches on US 5s. Still thinking a stockinette folded brim followed by a vanilla beanie style. This hat is going decidedly slower with the smaller yarn and more stitches. I think this will migrate to being my work backpack knitting and therefore a slow and stead progress kind of project?

I have another skein of sport wound up in cake that needs knit up. So if this works, I will get that skein into my project queue.

Happy Knitting!!

Knitting Nest

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After walking about 4 miles being a tourist in Nashville, my dogs were barking so I settled in for a cozy night in my dorm at SSK.

I admittedly WAY overpacked my crafting plans for SSK. I took my spinning wheel and like 5 projects and I still bought yarn there. For this night I pulled out my Super Scrappy Granny Stripe blanket. I binged some NCIS and added two rows before sleep overtook me.

And while shopping I added several new mini skeins to stash for this one. More on that later!

Happy Crochet

Cast On: Medusa Hat

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I decided to dust off my tennis shoes and explore downtown Nashville while at SSK. I walked around the campus of Vanderbuilt and explored Music Row.

I ended up on a rooftop bar with my newest cast on and an ice cold beer. An adorable young musician was playing acoustic guitar covers and some of his originals. I sat for an hour or so and enjoyed my beverage and got my new project started.

This is my last skein of Malabrigo from my Yarn Barn trip and I am making yet another Rachelle recipe hat. This is 88 stitches on US 8s. This version will have a folded stockinette brim. This color is called Medusa so I am super originally calling this my Medusa Hat.

Love the memories that will be attached to this one!

Bliss Yarns Haul

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On one of my breaks from SSK classes, I hopped in my car and navigated to Bliss Yarns in nearby Brentwood.

It was a lovely store where there was a knitting group going on. They were so delightful and we shared lots of regional crafting information. Turns out the shop owner grew up in Kansas and was delightful.

I walked away with a skein of Twisted Ambition Yarn Sweet Sock in the “Gold Rapture” colorway, a skein of Big Sky Yarn Squish DK in the “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” colorway, and finally some Whimzee Stitches Yarn Co Select Worsted in the “Love My Tennessee colorway”. And as a SSK bonus prize, I got to pick out some needles stoppers and I chose cacti.

I would highly recommend this yarn store to anyone. It has a great selection, easy location and great customer service. Happy Shopping!!

Finished English Rose in Another Class

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I finished my English Rose hat in my third and final class for SSK. This class was Bums and Bellies again by Kim McBrien Evans.

I had made some progress in sit and knit groups but the decreases were finished in the class. This had landed in that 75 gram weight so I used 3/4 of the skein. I did notice a unique feature of this skein was a line of dark pink that circled the hat in a spiral. I am now at hat seven so I am close to my gift goal.

The class was very good. I was able to get help with some tricky measurements and get some tips on how to change my sweaters to fit my silhouette. It will require a lot of math on my part and we didn’t get into that depth in the class. So there is homework I need to do but my brain was too full of information get that done in the moment.

Happy Knitting!!

Spinning With Maggie Casey

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Next up on SSK adventures is a spinning class learning long draw with Maggie Casey. This was my day 1 afternoon class. It was great even in the AC was set to 66 degrees.

I brought my Kiwi 3 to spin on and this class really challenged my skills set. I have only spun short forward draw with a death grip to make worsted spun yarn. Long draw means I have to relax my hands and let the twist get between them. Boy did that feel weird. But I managed to get some woolen spun long draw singles on my wheel.

Maggie is correct that this kind of spinning is really a lot easier on my hands. And it makes a super light woolen spun airy yarn. I need to hold myself accountable to practicing this more now that I am home.

Happy Wednesday!

English Rose In Class

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On day two of SSK, I took a morning class on understanding sleeves and sleeve fit from Kim McBrien Evans of Indigo Dragonfly fame.

I had a hat in my bag and being the south….a super crispy cold coca cola. In preparation for the conference, I pulled another skein of malabrigo from my purchase last month and got another stockinette hat on the needles. This one is going to be called the English Rose hat as that is what the colorway is called.

I managed to get the brim finished, turned and started on the hat by the time class was done. I learned a ton about all kinds of sleeves and came out with some measurements and tweaks that I need for my next sweater.

More SSK goodness tomorrow!

SSK Fiber Mini Swap

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I’ve been home from Super Summer Knitogether (SSK) for several days now and I have SO MUCH to share. For my own sanity I’m going to break all the goodness into a blog series.

I drove 10 hours to Nashville TN and made registration just in time for opening ceremony and the fiber mini swap. This is where you bring fiber and break into minis and make fiber soup. Then you leave with as many ounces as you came with…..just in chaos style.

The pool was hard to mix and I definitely got some of the same braids but I was very happy with the colors I received. Of course I have zero clue what fiber content is but that is okay. I am just looking forward to this spinning!

FO Friday: Sunflower Hat

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The Sunflower Hat is DONE!

Pattern: My own 88 sts “recipe” for a basic knit beanie with folded brim

Needles: US 8s

Yarn: Malabrigo Rios in the Hojas colorway

I used 80 grams of the skein and therefore eyeballed myself into using 5 more grams than the last hat. I really should never trust my eyes, lol. In the light of day you can really see the variation in this Malabrigo. I think it adds character!

Now back to the hat knitting and next week I will share some of my favorite parts of the SSK Retreat!

Tossing The Stash 2024

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Thanks to the basement flood, I had some wide open and clean floor space. I decided to toss the stash! I happen to be headed to an event where I can rehome my yarn to appreciative new homes.

The kiddos and I worked through all the Sport to bulky bins. We checked everything for bugs, dirt and damp. Then made sure all the items were safely tucked into ziplocks. I had kind of fallen off that practice.

The fingering and lace weight stash was next. This is the bulk of my stash. I got this nicely organized and I really need to make some big shawls or blankets with all these single skeins, lol.

In the end, I cleaned half a large trash bag of donation yarn out of my stash. I was Type A enough to even remove it from my Ravelry account. All my yarn is safely organized and tucked away. I do actually feel lighter!

Happy Stashing!!