FO Friday: Dumpster Fire 2020

I have finished my Dumpster Fire 2020 ornament! And the the duplicate stitch was bad but not insurmountable.

Pattern: Dumpster Fire 2020 by Kino Knits (Rav Link)

Yarn: Wonderland Yarns and Frabjous Fibers Mad Hatter yarn the Dumpster Fire colorway

Needles: US 4

Mods: Only modification was to use a US 4 needle instead of a 3 because that it what I had at hand.

This pattern was pretty quick and I would totally do again. Which is good because this one ornament only used about 40 yards of the 300 yard kit. For now this is photographed on my tree (yes its still up…the world is crazy and the tree makes me happy) and it will eventually get tucked away with the Christmas decorations.

For sure I need more practice on duplicate stitch but the numbers are legible and look normal-ish from farther away, lol. All in all this project was very carthartic!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Dumpster Fire 2020

I couldn’t help myself. I may have ordered a Dumpster Fire kit from Frabjous Fibers/Wonderland Yarns. And now I have knit all the pieces to the Kino Knits 2020 Dumpster Fire ornament. (Rav link)

This yarn is simply wonderful and the pieces very much flew off my needles in a single evening. I have soaked and blocked them into their respective shapes. Now I just have to wait for them to dry so I can assemble. Not really looking to the duplicate stitching of the year but I shall persevere!

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Progression Shawl

I finished a beautiful thing and I’m just busting at the seams to share it. The yarn did most of the work but the pattern and yarn just went together so well. Jellybean helped me style some FO photos of my Progression Shawl.

Pattern: Progression Shawl by Carin Risinger

Yarn: Frabjous Fiber and Wonderland yarns Cheshire Cat in the Mad Tea Party color

Needles: US 5s

Mods: I faded in the color changes between my five mini skeins

This shawl/scarf is MASSIVE. I took out an actual tape measure and the blocked dimensions are 90 inches by 13 inches deep. It fills our king size bed from corner to corner. I was really pleased with this pattern. It was straightforward and easy to hack to fit my yardage. Not to mention it is just plain lovely because garter has a special place in my heart.

I have decided that this will be going in the gift pile. This beauty will be wrapped up under the Christmas tree for my mom. Meanwhile, I am wishful knitting and stash diving for my next shawl cast on.  I can’t have empty shawl needles!!

Happy knitting!

Blocking My Progression

I not only finished the knitting of the Progression shawl but I also got Jellybean to help me block it over the weekend! This thing turned out massively long. It barely fits on our guest bed. We affectionately call it “the Star Wars” bed after the quilt my mom made for my husband.

The eyelets opened up so nicely that I didn’t even pin it out. It was so massive to begin with that I just kind of pulled and patted it into shape. I am going to have to get a real tape measure to measure this object because none of my knitting tape measures a not long enough!!

If the kids let me I’m going to try to get FO pictures this week…fingers crossed.

 

Crafting In Chaos

 

This is my life. Messy basement, five year old crowding me in my knitting chair, knitting podcast on TV, and knitting in my lap. Not the most ergonomic of positions but I can’t turn down a snuggle…now matter how much he pokes me with his elbow and makes me watch PBS Curious George games.

I’ve add the fifth and final color to my Progression Shawl. It’s the purple end of the fragmented rainbow. Jellybean tells me it’s his favorite. I have a TON of stitches on the needle now so the yarn is disappearing quickly now. I’m optimistic that I can finish this maybe this weekend?

That is unless snuggles get priority. Happy knitting!!

Progressing To The Fourth Color

I found my lost knitting bag!! Some helpful little hands had put it inside an empty cardboard box in the basement. But the knitting was not disturbed in any way so I chose to let it slide this time. But momma will be watching from now on!!

Once I found it I realized I was super close to fading in the fourth color of the set of five. So I powered through the last few rows and got the next color added in. This new mini is very teal and Elsa blue. I even spied some purple speckles mixed in.

This is going to be one very electric rainbow in a deconstructed way. My mom has eyed this project several times while she was recuperating from her surgery at my house. (She is healing quite nicely by the way. She had some rough day initially but I think she has turned the corner to feeling more like herself.) So I’m torn between keeping this project or putting it in my Christmas box for presents.

Happy Knitting!!

Progressing To The Third Skein

Thanks to labor day travels I made some teeny tiny progress on my Progression Shawl.

I’m through with the second mini skein (yellow-ish one) and on to the third one (blue green-ish). My mom saw me working on this and commented “oh my that is pretty”. I may see how this knit goes and make it a gift for her….

For sure, this Mad Hatter Tea Party mini skein set is going to make a statement piece. It’s an abstract rainbow with lots of black pops throughout. But I am really finding the garter soothing and easy to work. I have made some mistakes on the eyelets rows and my stitch count got off. But this pattern is easy enough to fudge that I don’t mind. And no one, not even a knitter, will ever find my eyelet mistakes. This yarn is just too busy!

Happy Knitting!!

Progressing To The Second Color

So after showing you AAAALLLLL kinds of neutral beige looking sweaters all week I had to show you the crazy color progression on my Progression Shawl. I just added the second color.

This mini set takes me right from a berry pink color to a highlighter yellow and black color. These two mini skeins are the starkest of contrast in the set. So I hemmed and hawed and then decided to “fade” them as I added the second color. With this shawl being garter it worked out pretty well. And I guessed pretty well with yardage and only have a tiny tiny ball of pink left over.

I’m not sure how much work this will see now that I have both my sweaters either at the sleeves or separated for the sleeves. I feel like if I can give them some good love that I could have two finished sweaters really soon. Not to mention the Pigskin Party 2019 is coming right around the corner and WIPs don’t count for those imaginary point…

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Vamping

I have had this pack of mini skeins in my stash for awhile now and it keeps popping up in my mind. It’s some Frabjous Fibers and Wonderland yarns Cheshire Cat in the Mad Tea Party colorway. There are five mini skeins in a rainbow-ish kind of fade. I picked this pack up at a yarn store closing and I have been hoarding it. Well, last week I got a yarn newsletter that highlighted the Vamping pattern from Jennifer Dassau. And I rushed to my stash to grab my yarn and needles..

I was so lost in the wool fumes that I hand wound the first mini and cast on right then and there. It was like 9:45 pm and my brain was a little foggy so the cast on took three attempts. But I think I’m on track now….I hope….

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: PB’s Sporty Cardigan #2

Well, ladies and gentlemen….PB has a new sweater! The Second Sporty Cardigan is finished, washed, blocked, buttons added and ends trimmed off. Now I just need cute baby photos to put the icing on the cake.

I went with the round two tone buttons. As you can see I really worked a lot of buttons into this sweater. And the top two turned out really close together. But I kind of like it. Now I can fasten the top two buttons and let the rest of the sweater hang open to show a cute onesie underneath.

Note: Blocking didn’t completely correct my buttons bands but it greatly improved them. I’m marking this a win and moving on.

Pattern: Sporty Cardigan for Boys and Girls by Cecilie Clark

Yarn: Frabjous Fibers Messenger Kit and Knit Picks Comfy Sport. I used roughly 266 yards or 89 grams of yarn to make a 12 month sized sweater. This included every last drop of Frabjous Fibers so no pesky leftovers hanging out in my stash!

Needles: US 4s (I forgot to switch to 6s for the body so I just kinda rolled with it. My gauge is just a little tighter and my sweater a smidgen smaller than I wanted but it’s still lovely)

Mods: See above or check out my Rav notes.

Happy Knitting!!