Cast On: Online Training Hat

I have two solid weeks of online training for my professional CPE. I am less than excited and I need a knitting project to keep my fingers busy and the snacking to a minimum. My needles have been empty since I finished the 2025 Conference Hat.

I grabbed some Big Sky Yarn Co Squish DK that I picked up at SSK 2024 and some hat needles. And in my haste, I may have made a misstep. This is DK yarn and I brough worsted weight hat needles. I hand wound the skein and pondered and still cast on.

This yarn is a heavier DK and I am going to knit some 1×1 ribbing and “swatch” to see if this would actually work out. At the very least I am working on something and it accidently matches my shirt….

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Love Note

I finished my Autumn Gold and it’s football season! Time for my first Pigskin Party 2025 KAL cast on for my Love Note.

Jellybean missed the Chiefs Brazil game when he was at a sleepover. He wanted to see all his favorite YouTubers making cameos….or that is my suspicion. So we watched the recording and I started my sweater! Was the not the Chiefs best outing but we had chili and snuggles. I’ll take that as a win.

I am getting a ton of fuzz in my face and it tickles but the Love Note is off and running!!

Cast On: Emotional Support Chicken #2

I am still feeling the mojo for the Emotional Support Chickens. I decided to cast on #2 with the opposite colors of #1.

This cream color handspun is much more consistent than the darker color I from the last one. I am hoping I will get a more consistent fabric? This chicken will be for Aunt Barb, who helped me make jam this year, to give to her best friend who loves chicken. I am on a bit of time crunch as this ladies birthday is coming up so I need to get knitting!

Happy Crafting!!

Cast On: Handspun Emotional Support Chicken

I am finally getting my Emotional Support Chicken on the needles. I have a whole bag of crunchy woolly and rough handspun that will be great for this type of project.

I chose not to swatch as I am not aiming for a specific size of finished toy. I am just making sure that I have a tight gauge to keep the stuffing on the inside. I chose US 7s and this handspun is worsted to bulky weight.

This is a lot of my early handspun that is pretty thick and thin. The dark brown is unknown wool and the lighter is romney. We will see how this knits up. I still need to track down some yellow and red accent for the beak and comb.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Bibliophile 2

One of the tasks I accomplished at SSK was casting on the Bibliophile 2 that I was swatching. Swatch #1 was not succesful but I tried another size of needle.

My second swatch was more successful. I am within half of a stitch of the pattern gauge. My swatch was a little unconvential….but it works.

I didn’t realize the yoke of the sweater is worked flat for a minute. Not ideal, but I guess I can manage a few purl rows. In an SSK class I realized that I am a combination knitter and purl the English way. Hit me like a lightning bolt that is why my decreases lean opposite ways sometimes!

The more you know!! Happy Knitting!

Cast On: Conference 2025 Hat

Alas, it’s time to wrap up my DC trip and head home. I did get to cast on my next hat in the last session to have it ready for my flight home. I am calling this one my Conference 2025 Hat.

Like a broken record this is my 88 stitches on US 8s with worsted yarn basic hat “recipe” and I made good progress on the flight. Though I got a little distracted. The lovely young women next to me turned out to be a NASA scientist how also knits! We talked for quite awhile.

I think I shocked her a little bit as she is just getting out of scarf and blanket phase and into garments. I showed her some of my stuff and talked about my knitting, to which she responded “Oh you are a like a KNITTER then”. And I laughed as I couldn’t disagree!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Autumn Gold Sweater

Thanks to my successful swatching, I was able to start my Autumn Gold Sweater!

I am making the size XL and have already made one modification. I did not want to work the ribbing on the pattern recommended needles so I chose other needles. They are smaller than I will work on the body so there will be a size difference, just not to the designers specs.

I am done with the 1×1 ribbing and can switch over to the main body in stockinette. I much prefer stockinette in the round to ribbing in the round! How about you?

Cast On: Crown Town Hat

I finally decided to get my Crown Town Hat cast on.

The only thing holding me back was was winding the dang yarn. So I finally did that. I know my gauge on US 5s with this dyer so I am choosing the adult medium size in the pattern. I got my cast on done and working in the round without a twist. I think I am deciding that I will do the colorwork on the inside of the brim.

Happy Knitting!!

Siren Brim

I have been packing my Siren Beanie in my purse for my “on the go knitting” and it has paid off. I managed to knit and fold over the brim for this hat.

I am really loving the subtle tone shifts in this hand dyed yarn. It makes the fabric look luxurious to me. I am set up to work in the round for the main body of the hat. Therefore perfect for this week’s on the go with work, swim lessons and a lot of road miles.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Copycat CC Beanie

After finishing my Radiate Hat, I got my Copycat CC beanie cast on and started. This has been on my wishful knitting planning for a little bit.

I chose to use a skein of Malabrigo Rios that was already wound up and ready to go. The pattern called for twisted ribbing and I failed to do that, oops. But I have almost the full brim done and I need to fold it over and attach before starting the main body pattern.

This is going pretty fast but there is a lot of purling in my future….happy knitting!!