Half Of My Advent Skeins

I decided not to wait until to spin the last half of the 2024 advent spinning calendar to ply the first half. I call it spinners prerogative.

I chain plied these singles to maintain the colors. I think overall I got a heavy worsted that is mostly uniform with some thick/thin spots. I was worried about the colors being too crazy but I think they came our mostly rainbow, in a good way.

My singles were just a tiny bit overspun and a bath washed that right out. The finished skein was 181 grams and 212 yards of yarn. I am going to tuck this into the spinning bag where my other half of the fiber for motivation to finish the rest!

Happy Spinning!!

Finishing Up Advent Fiber

I have opened every single day in my 2024 Knits and Pearls fiber advent calendar!

These last few days included some neon, speckles and definitely stellina. I am worried that day 22 is a little compacted and felted. I will have to see how it spins. The final braid came with an ornament and has a RAINBOW of colors. It does a really great job of incorporating a lot of the colors from the other 24 days.

I am stating my intention to finish this spin in February 2025. I need my wheel to be able to start spinning some of stash down. I pulled some of the fiber I purchased at SSK 2024 to start working on because I AM GOING AGAIN IN 2025 and I am very excited.

Happy Crafting!!

Catching Up Advent Fiber

I completely flamed out on my 2024 advent spinning. But I did finally open up the rest of the days to see all the pretties!

There were a lot of purples and greens in this run. And one mini had a teeny Christmas light stitch marker. I don’t trust my memory so I put these back in the numbered bags for when I finally get around to spinning. I think finishing this spin will be one of my February craft goals?

Tomorrow I will wrap up this calendar and show the full braid that came for day 25! Happy Spinning!!

FO Friday: Queen City Advent Granny Stripe

My Queen City Yarns Granny Stripe blanket is DONE!

Pattern: None really. I chained 245 stitches and followed a basic granny stripe recipe

Yarn: Queen City Yarns NoDa sock and some Amber Waves of Fiber Cashmere sock and some Knitting Fever Teenie Weenie Wool

Hook: G Hook (4MM)

This monster of a project consumed all of the 2,600 yards of yarn in the advent kit and another 200 yards from the skeins I picked to be able to eek out the full blanket. I strategically used the Amber Waves and Knitting Fever yarns to work the Christmas-y stripes in between each day. I doubt now that it’s finished you can tell which stripes are the alts!

The finished size is definitely a throw or lap blanket. I didn’t bother to measure but it fits me nicely in the recliner. The biggest joy? All that yarn is now out of my stash and into something I can enjoy. This won’t be my last crochet blanket but I do think I will go back to knitting and spinning for the next little bit.

Happy Crochet!

Ghosts of Advents Past (Part 2)

When I found my wee advent socks, I also found the mini sweaters I was making. I hated them…they were short sleeved and very tiny. So I ripped them out and figured out a long sleeve and larger version I liked.

They turned our great! I am still using Wee Sweater by Sarah Schira pattern, just with some mods. A wee sweater takes me a full evening of TV knitting. So I only have two of these complete but they are fun and get a little faster each time.

For these, I found some gold ribbon that I plan to “hang” the sweaters from for a sweater garland. This garland will be separate from the tiny sock one. One is good so two must be better!

Happy Knitting!!

Cozy Knitter Sock Advent Progress

I am catching up with the 2022 Cozy Knitter self striping 24 day advent skein!

This is roughly day 10 or so? I may not get a stripe every day but they are only 4/5 rows total so it’s easy to catch up. I am giving myself the grace to complete this as quickly or slowly as I need. After all, I have all of Christmas weekend to do whatever catch-up I need!

Happy Knitting!!

All The Advents

In the chaos of December I completely forgot to share my advent calendars. That’s right I splurged on more than one….no regrets.

First up was the Chromatic Yarns 2021 advent calendar. I felt quite creative when I pressed Jellybean’s remote school calendar into use for holding my daily packages!

Also from the UK is the Bird and Blend Tea advent calendar. This was a first for me. I ended up enjoying most days but for sure some the teas were not in my wheelhouse. I would do this one again because it made my stretch my boundaries.

Last up was the Queen City Yarn Home Alone inspired advent calendar. This was an advent my husband got for me in June as an anniversary present. The packing was on point and the mini skeins made a beautiful fade.

When I get my sh*t together and recover from Christmas I will share the actual yarn, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Closer Than I Think

I am really cruising on my Rainbow Garter wrap now! I am finished with the yellows and on to the oranges.

I laid my project out to see how I was doing as I am now knitting from the All My Stitches I gave up on. And something hit me like a lighting bolt….I might be able to graft the two pieces!!!

There are more stitches on the triangle shaped piece than on my wrap, so I think I need to keep knitting the wrap until I unravel the triangle shaped piece to a point where it has the same number as my main piece. This really means I could have less than a couple hours left on this project!

This proximity to doneness has really ramped up my mojo on this one! Happy Knitting!!

My 2020 Advent Calendar

I have completely unboxed my 2020 Advent calendar from A Girl and Her Wool. I ended up with the quite the collection of minis!

I have hemmed and hawed over what to do with these. I did some pattern searching and pulled down some possibilities. I had been leaning toward a cowl of some sort because the minis are all 10 grams I need something small-ish so that I can see good sized blocks of the different colors.

But then I threw that all out the window and I decided to make my own “advent” socks. I am going to use the full skein to make the heels toes and cuffs. And for each mini I will split in half and knit concurrent socks on two different needles. I think I won’t attempt any color management and will just use them in the order the dyer presented them.

And to keep myself motivated I am going to make myself finish my Carbon Sprinkles Vanilla Socks before letting myself cast on this new project.

Yarny Advent

I jumped on the advent calendar this year again. This time I tried AGirlAndHerWool that I found on Etsy. I opted for 24 ten gram mini skeins and full skein for day 25.

I don’t always remember to open every day between the chaos of school, working remote and trying to do “holiday related” fun things for my kiddos. But below is an example of the first five days that I have opened.

I am really digging the colors and tones of this calendar. They aren’t a fade or a rainbow but rather colors that all kind of coordinate and blend. I don’t have a plan for these for a specific project. Beings as they are 10 gram minis, they might just go eventually into my sock yarn memory blanket as they are perfect size.

But for right now they are doing the perfect job of bolstering my flagging Christmas spirit. What are you doing to pick yourself up in this strange holiday season?