Tag Archives: advent

Day 9 And A New Addition

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I am not up to day NINE in my crochet blanket of advent calendar past.

Duke decided he needed to be in on the photo this time so included are some tiny puppy toes. I have been monitoring my full skein of the Christmas red/green. I am using it WAY faster than I should be to make it to 24 stripes. So I am going to need some help.

I knew I had some other Christmas yarn in my stash from a gal’s gift last year. So I pulled it out to see if it would work. I think the colors blend beautifully. It is a different fiber content with a wool/cashmere/nylon blend. But the thickness and twist are consistent. I’ll just need to be careful with washing/drying.

I have a plan to alternate this in with the full skein I have already been using. I have a scale so I can keep track of how well I think this is working. I also have some mini skeins in solid red/green that I can use in a pinch.

Happy Crocheting!!

Blanket On Parade

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Happy Valentines Day!! I woke up to many many hugs from my littles and chocolate for breakfast.

We are back in full swing with all the lessons/appointments/chores. This means my blanket is on parade. So far this week we have done PB’s gymnastics lessons. The warehouse is still chilly so the blanket felt great on my lap!

And of course in the middle of all this, our washing machine broke and developed a leak. So two hours at a local laundromat got me through 2 weeks of laundry and the next advent day mini skein. I think I am on eight or nine? I should count.

This blanket has also been to work, car rides and at least one doctors appointment. I have just fully embraced this is my public life now. Muggles be darned! I did find another crafter at the laundromat, this lady was working a very complicated and lovely cross stitch.

Happy Crochet!

Crocheting Day 7

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The blanket fever continues apace. I even took this to a crafty lunch at work and my coworkers went GAGA over it. I am just now adding Day 7 mini from this 2021 Queen City Yarns advent calendar.

Thus far I am doing okay at managing my edges and keeping a consistent stitch count. Counting the clusters helps. I also find that I must keep eye contact with this project 90% of the time and I can’t watch and craft. So for this project I am re-watching old shows or listening to media to compensate.

I adore the contrast stripes, but find I am 40% way through the blanket days and over 50% done withe my full skein. I have been weighing to watch the yarn disappear. I may have to go stash diving to find something that compliments this to help me get through all 24 days….

Happy Crocheting!

A New Tool

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A package arrived this week with a new crochet tool. I did some looking around on Etsy for an ergonomic crochet hook and I found this one local-ish to me. I found the AMysticalFarm out of Missouri and loved how quickly the hook would get here.

The hook really feels good in my hand and fits better than the metal one. It also warms as I work and that is nice as well. Not to mention it is gorgeous.

The hang-up is that this hook is not a great fit for this granny stripe project. I am having trouble with grabbing the yarn and splitting the yarn. I am a lot slower with this hook. Probably just need more practice with it or need to dry a different yarn? But for now I want to ZOOM on this blanket so I am going back to my metal hook and going to find a cushion grip to slip on it.

Happy Crochet!!

Moody Blues

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Progress is slow on these socks for the second go around of this yarn. But I have reached the moody/blue section of the fade.

I got a little irked as I found a dropped stich on one these back in the greens. I had knit SO FAR past it that I could not possibly ladder it back up. I slipped a stich marker on it and during a lunch hour I dropped down the row next to it to fix it. I combined that dropped stitch with a good stitch and then laddered back up. And on the next round I just increased one where I lost that stitch.

One stitch won’t affect the overall fit. Just a little mad that I didn’t notice. I will give myself grace that these live loose-ish in my purse and take a lot of abuse. They are faring well considering all that!

Happy Knitting!!

Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop

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This granny stripe blanket is quickly becoming an obsession. It it literally the only thing I want to work on all day long.

This new skill is really itching something in my brain that is brining so much dopamine. I have just started the day 3 mini skein. And I actually really like how the red/green/white stripes are looking between the minis.

I am working on this so much that my hand is hurting a little bit. So I have added some stretching, compression gloves and I have looked online for more ergonomic crochet hooks than this Joann’s $2 special. But in the meantime….I’ll be crocheting!

Two Wee Advent Toes

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I did get two wee toes started with my leftover 2023 CozyKnitter advent skein. This time around I started without a contrast toe so the resulting socks will be shorter.

I may not work a stripe a day, but I do plan to work them in tandem. So if I knit on one, I will stop and do the same on the other. I really wanted to work some sort of slip stitch detail into these but I am not convinced it will show up in the subtle fade. I will try it for a few colors but if it sucks….I’ll rip them back.

Happy Knitting!!

2023 Cozy Knitter Advent Socks

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Continuing my New Year’s parade of FO, I humbly present my 2023 CozyKnitter Advent Socks!

Pattern: My own 72 stitch toe up vanilla sock “recipe” with afterthought heel

Yarn: CozyKnitter Bliss Sock in the 2023 Advent Skein

Needles: US 1s

Mods: I upped my stitch count to 72 from my usual 68 and that works great for the foot and leg. But my heels are baggy and I should have reduced their size by 4 stitches.

I used about 88 grams of yarn or 300 yards of yarn for these including the contrast and stripe. So these go farther up my leg than my KirbyWirby socks. I really enjoyed these socks as this dyer never disappoints. I will admit my old eyes had some problems with these subtle color changes.

I definitely have enough of this yarn for a full color repeat for a second pair of socks. I won’t use a contrast toe this time and I want to incorporate some sort of slipped stitch or contrast stitch in between the colors. And I fully understand that I may have trouble detecting those color changes in some cases. I really want to try but I may hate it and rip it back out. I reserve that right!

Happy Knitting!!

2023 KirbyWirby Friends Advent Socks

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May I present my 2023 KirbyWirby Friends Advent Socks as a delightful FO! They are toasty my tootsies by a roaring fire.

Pattern: My own 72 stitch toe up vanilla sock “recipe” with afterthought heel

Yarn: KirbyWirby Old Faithful Sock in 2023 Friends Advent

Needles: US1s

Mods: I upped my stitch count from 68 to 72 and probably didn’t need to. There is very little negative ease and the heels came out loose/big. But they are serviceable enough.

These came out as ankle socks instead of calf high socks. Which is fine as it adds variety to my sock drawer. The finished object used 62 grams or 280 yards of this yarn kit. That is for both contrast color and self striping. I completely used up the contrast but I may 1.5 repeats of the stripes left? With how I wound my original skeins to be able to start with the same color I am left with one large-ish ball and two small balls.

I don’t think I will attempt to make another matching pair of socks. They would be VERY short. I might think about putting these in my scrap blanket or maybe a pair of mitts? I’ll let that idea marinate for awhile. For now I’m going to snuggle with my new socks!

Happy Knitting!!

2023 Advent Update

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A little toasty update to my 2023 advent socks!

The pair on the left are my Cozy Knitter advent and are for sure coming out in a rainbow. Its beyond gorgeous but sometimes late in the evening the subtle fade is hard to detect. Still so happy with it and wouldn’t change a thing!

The pair on the right are my KirbyWirby advent and its Friends themed. These stripes are random but still cohesive. These stripes are smaller than the other advent and will result in shorter socks. And that’s okay, I’m fine with executing the dyers vision

I will try to sneak in one more update before Christmas on these. I’m so stoked to have two new socks for the season!