Scraps Go Fast

I could not put this project down. As with my faded/marled shawls I just kept wanting to knit another row and see how the new yarn was fitting in. The bonus? I have a finished Scrappy Marl!

Pattern: Scrappy Marl by  by Beata Jezek (Ravelry Link)

Yarns: Many many many assorted scraps leftover from my sock weigh yarn. You can see some of them on my Ravelry page if that is a safe place for you

Needles: US 4s and 6s

Mods: None

After final tally this project used up 349 yards of sock weight scraps. That is almost a full skein of yarn! And I was able to craft something purposeful and beautiful. The finished hat does have a little bit of a slouch but not so much that you can turn the brim.

I am tempted to do another one of these hats with the TINY balls of scraps that I have floating around. I don’t think I will be able to plan or fade what I have left. It will be more of a “chaotic” pairing of yarns. But I weighed the bag and I have almost 100 grams of scraps I could use.

As I anticipated, the hat blocked nicely and fits well. It was tight on my skull prior to washing but has relaxed nicely. I really love this hat so I’m not sure if this will go in the gift bin or into my personal hand knit drawer. I have time to decide before it gets cold, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: In The Light (Pink Version)

Ta Dah!! My In The Light (Pink Version) is finished finished finished. And I’m over the moon happy with it!

Pattern: In The Light by Casey Day-Crosier (Rav link)

Yarn: Black Trillium Fibre Studio Pebble Sock in Super Happy Fun, Knitted Witt Victory Sock in Unicorn Giggles and finally KirbyWirby in an OOAK colorway. All combined I used about 1,050 yards of sock yarn out of my stash. So just about two and a half of three skeins.

Needles: US 9

Mods: none

I’m going to toot toot my own horn and fawn over how well all these pinks fade into one another. It really looks like the yarn was designed this way. The truth is that these are three random skeins of yarn I pulled from my stash. I could stare at this for hours…

In the end I love how warm and squishy this shawl turned out to be. I am envisioning wearing this over a black tee or top to really make the pinks pop! This being my third version of this pattern in two months I do think I will move on to other patterns for a bit. But I wouldn’t rule out making this pattern again some day.

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: In The Light

I had the pleasure of attending a virtual professional women’s conference this week. It was 7 hours on zoom learning lots of cool things. But the upside of the virtual conference is that I got to knit all day. I decided to challenge myself to finish my In The Light. And you know what? It worked!

Pattern: In the Light by Casey Day-Crosier (Rav Link)

Needles: US 9s

Yarn: Cloudlover Fiber SW Merino Sock in the Mag Mel and Mojito colorways and One Twisted Tree Prime Fingering in the Forest Floor colorway

Mods; I added tassels to use up more of my skeins of yarn

I am super please with this project and how well all the yarns played together. The two Cloudlover skeins I used at the beginning and end were HIGHLY variagated and you know what? Holding them double really helped blend the yarn. The One Twisted Tree was more of a speckled tonal and gave a nice blend to the middle.

This patterns is addictive and uses SO MUCH SOCK YARN! With the modified tassles I used approximately 1,077 yards of yarn and most of each skein. I had the most left of the middle Forest Floor color. Now this is the simple version and it does use less yarn than the fringed version. I’m okay with that I like the simple elegance of this version.

I’m already itching to cast on a third In The Light in some lights/pinks. I can’t help myself when a pattern is this good and burns through so much sock yarn. Not to mention its helping me with those pesky “pretty” skeins of variegated yarn that I can’t help buying but never know what to do with.

Happy Friday and Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Purple Worsted Hat

Happy Glorious Friday! Spring is really starting to bloom in full force here and I have a FO to share today. My Purple Worsted Hat is done, washed, blocked and photographed!

Pattern: None – a basic 80 stitch toque/beanie with 2×2 rib brim

Yarn: Shepherd’s Mill 3 ply worsted

Needles: US 8s

Mods: None really as I made this up as I went

I went with an 8 point decrease on this hat for no other reason than it divided nicely into the 80 stitch count. I even leveled up my knitting skill and I worked these hat decreases with DPNs while doing an outdoor walk. And I didn’t even fall!!

This hat probably won’t fit the hugest head but will fit an average adult or large child. The fabric did end up very robust and dense so this will be a very warm hat. This has been tucked away in the cedar chest for whenever I need a gift. I didn’t knit this one with a recipient in mind.

And even after four or five hats I am still scheming my next hat cast on, lol. Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Toxic Oreo Vanilla Socks

I held true to my arbitrary knitting rules and finished my Toxic Oreo Vanilla Socks!

Pattern: my own 68 stitch toe up vanilla sock “recipe”

Yarn: Lemonade Shop Sturdy Sock in Toxic Oreo

Needles: US 1

Mods: none really except for a few increases in the leg region to account my calves

The speckling turns out more pronounced in one sock versus the other. But this happens with indie hand dyed yarn and I’m happy with the individuality. The fit is pretty good with some negative ease without being too tight.

The toe up gusset heel from Wendy Johnson turns out to be a really good fit for my foot and instep. They stay well on my foot during wearing them without stretching out or slouching. I ended using 315 yards of yarn or 68 grams of the 100 gram skein of yarn. So there is a decent skein of yarn leftover for scrap projects.

Now I need to scheme/brainstorm for my next pair of vanilla socks! Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Dad’s Camo Hat

My Dad’s Camo Hat is done, blocked and ready to be tucked away for Christmas 2021! Worsted weight decreases really truly go ZOOM and I was done before I know it. I even had time to wash and set this hat out last night to block and dry before I headed to bed.

Pattern: My own beanie “recipe” worked with 80 stitches

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lanaloft Worsted in Chameleon Green colorway

Needles: US 8s

I used roughly 131 yards or 120 meters of yarn to finish this hat. So just shy of a full skein. The whole thing weighs 82 grams.

The yarn is a single and was quite nice to work with. At my gauge and needle size I ended up with a pretty nicely dense fabric. This hat should be wind proof. The finished fabric is not exactly merino soft but its not 100% rustic either. It is somewhere in the middle.

I’m really happy with this hat and I feel quite accomplished to be already building my Christmas stash. That isn’t my primary intention, I’m just following where my knitting mojo is leading me.

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: He Will Have His Revenge Hat

I have another hat that fairly FLEW off my needles. My He Will Have His Revenge Hat is complete and tucked away in the Christmas gift pile.

Pattern: None, just a basic beanie I unvented using 88 stitch cast on

Yarn: Leading Men Fiber Arts Box Office base in He Will Have His Revent

Needles: US 8s

Mods: none really I just knit a basic beanie I have memorized.

I was really pleased with how the decreases spiraled and came in on themselves. Also a fantastic happenstance is how the speckles never really pooled or flashed…even as I decreased.

I will definitely work with this yarn again. Those guys at LMFA realy know their color theory and the base itself feels great in my hands as I knit. This was a skein of yarn I picked up at a trunk show they did in Kansas City before the world shut down. It has a unique place in my heart.

This beanie ended up being pretty slouchy/massively tall. In my estimation this will make it even warmer when you double over the brim. And the recipient can choose their level of slouch or not slouch. I ended up using about 3/4 of the skein or 166 yarns/76 grams. So I have a little nugget to add to my leftover pile.

And my hat mojo is going strong so I’m already plotting my next hat cast on!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: 2020 Advent Socks

I have another pair of socks for my sock drawer! The 2020 Advent Socks are done and ready for my feet.

Pattern: My own 68 stitch toe up vanilla sock “recipe” with a gusset heel

Needles: US 1s

Yarn: AGirlAndHerWool 2020 Christmas Advent Calendar (minis #1 through #8)

These socks are just so cheery and happy. It felt satisfying to actually use up the mini skeins from my advent calendar instead of hoarding them. I will admit the socks are a tad bit big or maybe have less ease that I would normally want. I could have probably done with 64 stitches instead of 68 for the foot and heel sections. But 68 feels good in the leg.

The socks ended up decently tall and the BFL content feels soft but hardy on my feet. I ended up using roughly 360 yards of yarn to finish these socks so that puts these on par with the amount I use from a normal skein.

Finishing these socks inspired me to clean my sock drawer. I pulled out six pairs of socks that I have knit that have shrank in washing (or my feet grew during pregnancy) and no longer fit super well. I gave all six pairs to my sister who wears a size 7 shoe compared to my size 9.5. She was super grateful and I’m hoping those socks get some wear instead of hanging out sadly in my drawer.

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Learning To Flick Hat

TGIF and I have a FO! My Learning To Flick Hat is done and dusted! 🙂

In full honesty, this is done but not washed or blocked. My hat knitting mojo is strong and I think I want to crank out a bunch of hats for knitting practice and to give out as gifts throughout the year. I will do one massive block and wash once I have a few piled up, fingers crossed anyway.

Pattern: None, just an 88 stitch beanie with decreases made up on the fly

Needles: US 8s

Yarn: Lilliput Yarn Woof Worsted in Chasing Cars colorway

Mods: none because I just made this up.

I knit this thing thing in basically four evenings over nine days. It was super quick especially with worsted weight yarn and teaching myself to flick. I used up 81 grams of yarn or roughly 176 yards. I have a decent nugget leftover for my leftovers pile.

The variegated yarn played really well with the overall stitch count but also with the decreases. I never saw one peek of flashing or pooling. I would absolutely get and use more of this yarn in the future. It was great to knit with and makes a beautiful finished product.

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: A Hat For Dad

The super slouch Hat for Dad is done, washed and ready to head out the door. I made a left turn after I finished this hat. It’s not going to be for my dad. It’s going to my daycare provider as she is starting 18 weeks of chemo and going to lose all her hair. She needs this worse than my dad and I just want to wrap her in wooly hugs.

Pattern: None, just a basic 88 stitch worsted weight beanie

Yarn: Lilliput Yarn in Woof Worsted in the Man’s Best Friend Colorway

Needles: US 8s

Mods: None because I made up the hat as I went, lol.

This hat turned out to be a SUPER slouch when used with single brim. But is a nice beanie with the brim folded double. I ended with 11 gram leftover, so a nice sized ball. The hat only took 89 grams or 194 yards. So my prediction was correct…winging it made me have a decent chunk of yarn leftover, lol.

I’m still proud of this hat and I’m itching to get another one on the needles. I have a second skein of this Lilliput yarn in the Chasing Cars colorway that I think will be next up on the needles.

Happy Friday and Happy Knitting!!