Cast On: Big Bang Vanilla Socks

My needles felt very naked after I finished the Electric Mayhem socks. And I totally NEEDED another self-striping project. My brain was just craving that popcorn knitting of “just one more stripe” type of project.

So I pulled some Turtlepurl Yarns Striped Turtle toes yarn from my stash in the Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock colorway. That is a reference to one of my favorite shows, the Big Bang Theory. And the dyer had already split the 100 grams into two matching 50 gram skeins. I got this wound up and cast on my usual 68 stitch toe up vanilla sock on US 1 needles. I plan to knit tubes again and add afterthought heels later. Based on the yarn….I’m thinking solid red heels. But I’ll see how the tubes turn out first.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Easy Goes It

After my successful Antarktis finish, I really felt the need to fill the shawl sized hole in my knitting life. I did some queue searching and stash diving in my “golden skeins” and came up with a single skein of Neighborhood Fiber Co Rustic Fingering in the Easterwood color. I picked up this skein during my trip to Minnesota last February and it has been popping into my brain every since I brought it home.

This is a singles yarn in 100% merino. So perfect for a shawl and the subtle variegation to the blue would really shine in a single color shawl. I settled on Easy Goes it by Finincky Creations. I thought the name and the garter stitch based construction were just kismet. Easy is about all I am capable of right now, lol.

Thanks to some Grandparent babysitting I managed to get cast on and work the first section of garter and start the second section that incorporates more pattern like stitches. the bag is a Suburban Stitcher bag and I hope to finish this shawl in time to enter it into the PALKAL run by the Actually Knitting podcast. We shall see….there are a lot of baby growth spurts ahead. And I’m not counting my knitting time before it hatches so to speak.

The yarn is lovely but it’s been a long time since I worked with a singles yarn. I do with my needles were slightly more pointy but not too pointy. I’m using bamboo needles from Joann’s because that is what I had on hand. And they are perfectly serviceable, I just wish the tips were just a little bit better to make the knitting faster.

Happy Knitting!!

Mother’s Day Cast On

In addition to a nice Mother’s Day celebration, Jellybean and the Hubby gave me a little breathing space to knit!

I had pulled my skein of KnitCircus Trampoline in the Needle in a Haystack impressionist gradient from my stash. I had a TON of pattern indecision on this one. I wanted a single skein shawl to show off the hand painted yarn but I also needed it be to be simple and beautiful. I finally settled on Antarktis by Janina Kallio. Several other knitters have used similar Knitcircus yarns for this pattern with great results!

In a single day I managed to get through four pattern sections! This pattern uses garter sections, eyelet stripes and eyelet mesh for a beautiful asymmetric triangle shape. Given the state of my brain, I went ahead and threaded in a lifeline after the eyelet lace section…just in case. And then I had Jellybean take a photo with me and my Mother’s Day project for posterity.

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He really needed the skeleton army guy with the ax to be in the photo too. Please excuse the crazed look on my face I was trying not to bust up laughing. But he loves “mommy’s knitting” and this is definitely one memory I won’t forget!

Happy Knitting!!

Mother’s Day Recap

Jellybean and the Hubby made a nice Mother’s Day for me. Jellybean actually went to a sleepover the night before so I could sleep in and be super pregnant without a 3 year old “helping”. But we had a nice lunch just the three of us and Jellybean presented me with hand painted cards and my present….which he promptly tore open the minute I told him he could, lol.

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The both got me a Cast On, Bind Off by Leslie Ann Bestor and a mini digital scale for my scrap blanket shenanigans. I have been eyeing this book for my reference library for awhile. I rarely use the cast on or bind off in patterns that it calls for. I like to use one of my own choosing that fits the garment or item. This book will keep me from having to constantly re-look up YouTube clips or internet articles to remember all the different options. And it’s a great size to tuck into a project bag!

Stay tuned tomorrow for a sneak peak of my Mother’s Day Cast on project for 2018!

Nesting….Knitting Style

So PB’s arrival marches ever closer. And while we are not ready because why would we need the bassinet assembled, the car seat installed, or meals in the freezer? But I do have my hospital bag is packed and you guys…..I may have included a (wishful thinking) project in there.

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I have been lusting after the Thotful Spot Hat by Sarah Schira for awhile. And the speckled DK skein from Potion Yarns has been calling my name since Knitting in the Heartland. In a fit of nesting I pulled out some needles, the yarn, printed pattern and a brand spanking new project bag…..and I cast on and established the brim pattern. And then promptly tucked the whole shebang into my suitcase.

I realistically may never touch it during my hospital stay. (I will have a guaranteed three night stay thanks to a c-section so it is a possibility.) But part of me feels reassured that if need be I will have pretty yarn and an easy project if I get the knitting itch. Maybe that is it’s point? To be a source of comfort and mental focal point during a time of joyous yet monumental change….just waiting in case it’s needed from inside a cheerful project bag. Only time will tell!

Happy Knitting!!!

Cast On: Electric Mayhem Socks

My flow of webex meetings and conference calls is not slowing down anytime soon. So I know I needed more purse/backpack knitting after having empty sock needles. And because I have been storing up a well curated stash…I know I could just go shopping through my lovelies!

Because of my baby brain and current complete lack of energy I knew the perfect sock skein to grab. And by perfect, I mean already caked up in a matching set….no winding up required! This is my Electric Mayem color from KnitCircus Yarn on their Greatest of Ease base. Literally I only had to grab a project bag and some empty needles.

I hope to get these cast on today during my webinar. My plan is to get started on a 68 stitch toe-up vanilla sock and knit the tube until I run out of yarn. This is their 75 gram set  so that should be just about the right amount of yarn for my size socks while not having to stop before the gradient is done. I will use my big box store workhorse yarn to put in afterthought heels in a solid black.

This is one yarn I’m not concerned about saving scraps for my memory blanket. I want to get every bit of delicious color gradient into the sock. I am so giddy to get these going and watch those electric colors transition!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Smooth Operator Socks

Hi, my name is Rachelle and I’m a bit a of selfish knitter. I have felt the siren’s call of a special selfish project for weeks but have put it off in favor of finishing some WIPs and baby knits. Now, don’t get me wrong I loved working on those but my deep deep down knitters heart was still yearning to be free.

So while Jellybean had some quality grandparent time I culled my stash and my Ravelry wish list and came up with the perfect pairing!

My Bam! Zap! Pow! skein of Fibernymph Dye Works Bounce sock yarn told me it wanted to be a some Smooth Operator Socks by Susan B Anderson. Now I normally knit my socks toe-up, I am going to give this pattern the full whirl the first time around. I will work cuff down and follow the pattern as closely as possible. I read the ENTIRE pattern and decided the only mod would be the stitch count. Susan tell you to go down to the nearest stitch count when your measurements fall in between sizes. Well fine blog readers…I have nice muscular volleyball shaped calves. I know using that stitch count and my standard sock gauge will result in a VERY tight leg.

So I’m working the cuff and the leg in a stitch count I know will fit and before I get to the heel I will reduce down to the pattern recommended count for the heel and foot. I feel like this is the best plan to avoid tears and cursing down the road. And you know what? It’s just knitting, if the first sock fails I can always rip out and try again. I’m the boss of my knitting after all!

Wish me luck! Happy Knitting!!

A Purple Blanket for Jellybean

The ongoing sleep deprivation by a certain small human in this house has continued. My child is a happy and healthy robust 3 year old that simply does not need as much sleep as some other children his age. That being said he (and we) are still needing to find ways to cope with some relaxation and snoring issues. We have been put in touch with a fantastic regional children’s sleep clinic and we all have high hopes that this will be good for everyone.

That being said my Jellybean is also VERY attached to the color purple. If it’s purple….it’s his. He received a purple sparkly throw blanket for his third birthday and it MUST be with him in bed for sleeping. He doesn’t want to cover up with it necessarily….it just is there for comfort. We have had some nights where said blanket cannot be located and it’s the end of the world. So industrious knitter that I am had him pick out some purple yarn at Joanns so we can have TWO acceptable purple blankets.

He chose some Bernat Blanket Brights in POW Purple. I also got a new and lighter Clover crochet hook in the appropriate bulky size and some locking stitch markers to help me count across my piece. As a novice crocheter I sometimes have trouble placing my hook and unintentionally add or drop stitches.

I also decided that I wasn’t going to wing this blanket. I went to Ravelry and did a search for a pattern that suited my needs. I found the Hudson Baby Blanket by Jamie Williams. It’s basically the blanket I have been improvising but checked for gauge and the better directions for adding height when turning rows. I did modify from the pattern by going up to 90 stitches from the pattern recommended 64. I need my blanket to be more child sized than baby sized. Jellybean is already wearing clothes from the boys section at 3 years old….

I’m hoping to have this baby done up soon so the blanket crisis is a thing of the past!

Happy Knitting!!

A Monkey With No Name

Last night Jellybean was enthralled with playing games with his father. So I snuck away to this…

The Grocery Girls latest podcast and….

Starting Jellybean’s toy monkey while snuggling up with my fur baby. The pattern named him Gilbert but I think I’ll let Jellybean name him officially. So right now he is “TBD” the monkey, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Mother-Of-All Shawl

This is one of the last project/yarn combos I put together waaaay back in August to prepare for the Pigskin Party KAL. This is the MOA Shawl by Nick Davis using my MJ Yarns Simple Sock in the Mice and Men color.

I haven’t been getting a lot of knitting time lately and I’ve gotten in a bit of funk. Nothing in my WIPs *sounded* like fun. So I started this baby on annual personal day off of work to celebrate my birthday.

I’m two full repeats into the very easy pattern. I’m finding the variegated yarn is playing nicely with the pattern. This yarn will need a good blocking as this project just likes to kink back on itself like CRAZY! You see my fingers in the  photo because that’s the only way I could showcase the pattern!

Honestly I don’t know what I will wear this shawl with as my closet leans green and blue. But it’s just so pretty I’ll have to find something. Or else it will be my snoodling up shawl at my bedside!

Happy Knitting!!