Tag Archives: knitting

FO Friday: Bullseye Vanilla Socks

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I have a FO this week!! My bullseye vanilla socks are done, washed and blocked!!

Pattern: My own 72 stitch toe up vanilla sock “recipe”

Yarn: Biscotte Yarns Bis-sock in the Bullseye colorway

Needles: US 0s

I used roughly 300 yards of yarn or 70 grams of this skein of yarn. They socks are in between my normal tall socks and a shortie sock. I have absolutely no rhyme or reason why. I just got tired of knitting the first sock leg and put the cuff on. So I made the second one to match. Perfectly scientific, right?

They fit quite nicely and almost perfectly match. It’s getting warm enough that these will likely go right into summer sock storage. But I needed this win this week. I can’t control the world but I can knit some royally good socks!

What is your win this week?

Anxiety and Self Care

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It’s been a rough couple of weeks for everyone far and wide. I’m not going to take space here to regurgitate what is being blasted on every platform possible. What I will say is that my anxiety is very high. I am confident that this pandemic won’t last forever but the ramifications both socially and economically might last longer than we would like. And that bumps up against my anxiety triggers…..I’m an accountant after all. And it’s hard not to be worn down by the onslaught of information and empty store shelves.

I am washing my hands, talking to others support when I need it, and returning to my Midwestern roots and I’m cooking all the comfort foods I can think of. Last night I took some time to rest in bed with the following self care items:

They only thing missing was knitting friends. If anyone out there is similarly missing your knitting groups and friends please feel free to DM me. I’m always around my phone and more than happy to chat and share projects. We are a community and no one has to feel alone. Happy Knitting friends!

So Close To Bullseye

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My Bullseye Vanilla Socks are SUPER close to being done. I only need to put in one more afterthought heel.

I am pretty happy with how well I managed to plan the stripes and to get the socks to match. I did pull out some yarn to try and start at the same place. It’s not an absolute requirement for me in socks. But I do enjoy when they match.

I have cut in the space for the heel. I use the KirbyWirby afterthought heel with no waste yarn. It seems scary but it is really easy to do and doesn’t leave a hole at the corners. I can feel my mojo surging because I want a this finished socks SO BAD. The thought of new socks seems like the perfect balm to my soul right now.

Happy Knitting!!

Stashing Down Scraps

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I am still riding the wave of accomplishment from finishing my scrappy DK Hibernation Throw last week. I was cleaning up the project bag it had been living in to put the needles and notions away and noticed how small the pile of scraps were at the bottom of the bag. When I started I had two gallon sized ziplock bags full of scraps and a CONE of undyed sock yarn. Now I’m left with two quart sized bags and one sandwich sized bag of scraps that don’t have a plan.

Now, full disclosures these are not all my scraps or mini skeins. I still have my mitred square memory blanket going. I “tossed the stash” so to speak and aired out that bag to make sure all my yarn was in good order. It’s safe to say I I have plenty to work with, lol.

I’m just the kind of knitter that gets a thrill from using up as much of every skein of yarn I possibly can. I like the idea of scrappy projects where I can remember all the cool things I made with the full skein. Its akin to checking completed items off a list for me.

I’m curious, are most knitters this way? Do you keep your scraps?

Weekender On The Weekend

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As we slog through these last few confusing days of winter I find myself excited about Spring approaching in a few days. And in the spirit of spring cleaning (please ignore the not spring cleaned toys in the background) I found myself wanting to “clean up” my WIPs.

I pulled out my Weekender this past weekend and put a few rows on. I’m still slogging through the body but it makes for nice TV knitting with all the stockinette in the round. I have knit past my stitch markers for the purl details a few times. But those are easily fixed.

I’m not finding myself super engaged in this project so I don’t expect it to fly off the needles anytime soon. But I’m hoping this will be a slow and steady tortoise like project that I can enjoy next Fall maybe?

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: DK Hibernation Throw

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Spring is around the corner and I have a finished Hibernation Throw! Seems appropriate to be “coming out of hibernation” from winter and to have finished this project.

Pattern: Habitation Throw by Helen Stewart

Needles: US 10s

Yarn: Valley Yarns Franklin Natural coned sock yarn and all the fingering weight scraps from my stash

Mods: I modified this pattern for DK weight yarn (fingering held double) to make a scrappy marled version of this blanket.

This project just ticked all the boxes for me and I’m almost tempted to cast on another one! It was very to memorize and easy to read where I was when I put it down mid repeat. It used up a TON of scraps from my stash. When I weighed this behemoth it weighed 822 grams. Based on some maths I did based on the average sock yarn statistics….this blanket used rough 3,300 yards of yarn!

And I finished this in about a month and a half. That is lighting speed for me and a blanket. But I will fully admit that this became a knitting obsession and I didn’t really work on much else for that period. I did notice that when I was taking FO photos that my blanket is not perfectly square. I found that at multiple times I had to fudge my decreases on the last half because I didn’t have the right number of stitches. I’m pretty confident that this led to the last half being slightly bigger than the first half.

But I don’t care, I have a new snuggly blanket that is 100% mommy’s and no one else can use it without permission! Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Dark Side Socks (Take Two)

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I was digging around in my craft room looking for some progress keepers and I came across a sock project bag that I had shoved to the back of a shelf. To my delight, I found that it contained my second pair of Knit Picks Felici socks in the Dark Side colorway.

I had knit up the first pair for my friend in Portland when I went to visit last November. And then in the chaos of the holidays these just got forgotten. The two small tubes both had toes knit into them so all they need are cuffs and heels. I decided to get these fired back up.

The stripes are in reverse order because of how I split the tubes (aka sock snakes) but I really don’t mind. I will just be happy to have a short-ish pair of socks to add to my drawer. Though I think I have wrapped my brain around how to avoid this in the future if I want.

I worked one evening on them and made some decent progress on the first cuff. Maybe these will be my spring time present to myself?

Happy Knitting!

So Close To The End Of Hibernation

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You guys….my DK Hibernation Throw is sooooo close to being done. I’m definitely using up the smaller and smaller scrap balls now. And the rows are going much faster. Based on what I can cover up with while knitting, I think this should be a good one person lap throw.

It still feels a little “rustic” to the touch thanks to the Franklin Valley Yarns undyed sock yarn I’m holding double throughout. It might soften with washing but I’m not sure I want to wash the blanket right away. I know for a fact some of the yarns I used will bleed. And I sort of want it to be just so…at least until the first time my kids spill on it.

Happy Knitting!!

Knitting For Warmth

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It’s a mix of rainy/cold and snow/cold here today. So I’m super glad my Hibernation Throw is at the point it makes a nice blanket as I knit!

Can I say how exciting it is to be on the downhill slide of a blanket project? The rows on this project are only getting shorter and shorter as I go. I still have plenty of scraps to add to this blanket. I really think this is going to be a nice personal sized blanket when I’m done. I can admit I have googled more coned sock yarn in a grey color because I’m already planning a second throw….sheepish grin….

I’ll try to spread this blanket out and take proper photos of this blanket when I can grab some sunlight. Happy Knitting!!!