Tag Archives: knitting

Snow Washing

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I’m channeling my inner Yarn Harlot or Norwegian ancestor. We had some SUPER cold temps and very dry fine snow. So I decided at 6 pm to snow wash some of my woolens.

I started with all the wool hand knit sweaters I could lay hands on. There is my Autumn Gold, Love Note, Round Yoke pullover, and Rainbow Radiate. And a few more not pictured 🙂

And with the kids (and dog) using the knit blankets more, I decided to snow wash the blankets as well. I left everything out for about 3 or 3.5 hours before I shook out and took inside. I splurged a little and pulled out that woolen spray from yesterday and gave everything a spritz of yummy scent.

I think next up will be my shawls…..they could use a wash.

Happy Winter!!

2025 Fall Hat Progress

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I am really trying to finish this hat this month. And the Fall Conference Hat is still slow going. I got a decent inch added during a long work meeting.

I think I need another solid inch and I can start the decreases. This yarn is single and can get splitty. I am interested to see how well I can work the decreases without driving myself insane.

I am fully into the second ball of yarn. So there will be leftovers for my leftover pile. That pile got bigger when I did the annual stash toss and container consolidation. I need to come up with more ideas than worsted weight hats.

Happy Knitting!!

Zebra Heels

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I think I am getting close to where I need to start the heels on Rhiannon’s socks.

She is a US 7 women’s foot so I am using the internet to help me gauge how long the foot needs to be based on averages. Negative ease can help me here along with the fact that wool stretches out. It should all be fine.

I need to dust off my turned heel instructions…..

Happy Knitting!!

A Couple of Toes

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Rhiannon’s socks are coming along nicely. I think working socks in tandem is just how to trick my brain to work better.

This yarn is working up at least semi consistently across the two socks. One side is micro striping and the other side has some thicker black stripes. I haven’t decided which “side” is going to be the bottom of the foot and which will be the top.

I am also very torn about the kind of heel. I feel like a turned heel is the right choice but I feel nervous about knitting that kind for a person I have never met before. I just need to put my big kid pants on and just knuckle under I guess. They will fit someone if they don’t fit my intended recipient.

Happy Knitting!!

Finished: 2025 Advent Socks 2

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The 2025 Advent Socks #2 are done and blocked even!

Pattern: My own toe up vanilla sock “recipe” with 64 stitches and an afterthought heel

Needles: US 1s

Yarn: The Cozy Knitter Bliss Sock for the 2025 advent with contrasting white mini and an extra KFI Collection Teenie Weenie mini in grey.

This combination of yarns used accounted for 282 yards of yarn. Not bad for a women’s medium is sock. And I used up all of three yarns without adding scraps. I do realize now that one white toe is longer than the other. And I cut the heels in by where the colors changed and not by measuring both socks. In hindsight, I should have measured both. So one foot is definitely slightly different than the other. I don’t think by more than a couple rows. It should all work out fine for my friend. She wears these insider her Birkenstock sandals or just has house slippers.

Now on to focus on the black and white socks! Happy Knitting!!

Found The Lost Tub

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I did a DEEP purge in my storage and laundry area this week. I took several bags of kids clothes to the local Boys and Girl Club as well some household stuff to the thrift shop. It felt really good to have more space!

And I did in fact find the tub of knitting items that I knew I was missing. Some of this yarn I had forgotten about. It was a lot of Caron Simply Soft and some chenille for blankets. And weirdly a ton of knit picks back from my craft fair days.

I kept some of the knit picks and put a lot of the rest into my donate pile. And reclaimed an entire storage tub!

Now on to the knitting part!

Now For The Heels

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The tubes for my 2025 Advent Socks 2 are fully completed and I’m ready to start the afterthought heels.

This recipient has slightly smaller feet than me. She is the one who gets my shrunk or slightly felted socks when they are too small for me. I usually make a 7 inch leg for my foot so I decided to cut in the heel at 6.5 inches to not knit quite as deep. This could be a disaster? But I was hoping to get something to fit her more custom than my hand me downs, lol.

I am using some contrast grey to make the heels as I used up all the white in the toes. The good news is that knitting stretches and some negative ease helps with fit and sliding down in your shoe. I’ll have to find out after I deliver her gift box!

Happy Knitting!!

Snuggle Cuffs

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It has been an eventful and cozy weekend. Both tubes for my 2025 Advent Socks Take 2 are close to done!

We had some snuggly fire time and watched a few movies. I powered through most of the rest of the rainbow and almost ready to bind off the ribbing. Just a few more minutes and then I can calculate and cut in my afterthought heel.

I will have to use some scraps or minis from my stash to do these heels. I need to do some stash diving to find the right mix. I am thinking a neutral grey?

Happy Knitting!!

Personalized Book Mark

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Jellybean has really blossomed into a reader as he progressed through elementary. We read a lot of his books together: Magic Treehouse series, The Bad Guys, Cat on the Run, etc. He learned how to make his own bookmarks at school and it covers his love of art too.

He borrowed my phone last week to google some images and he free hand drew me a bookmark for my new Christmas books! I love it so much and all the more that he gets my hobbies. It’s really weird having a “big” who share things with me 🙂

Happy Reading!

Many Stripes, Again

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My 2025 Advent Socks Take 2 are progressing nicely. I really haven’t knit many socks these past two years and I forget how fast they go.

I am not quite halfway but the stripes are progressing nicely. I do notice that without the flecks/contrast added that this stockinette is working up at firmer gauge. Not always a bad thing for sock, especially when someone else will wash/wear them. I’m hoping with the upcoming weekend that I can get pretty far.

Happy Knitting!!