Tag Archives: knitting

Cast On: Daunt Cowl

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Jellybean had his nasal procedure this week. This was preceded by much anxiety and worry by me the mother. He took the whole mess like a champ and fingers crossed he will be able to breath much better going forward.

I knew we would be sitting around the surgery center for a minute or two so I cast on my Daunt Cowl and started stitching. I managed an inch in under and hour in the waiting room.

I used some leftover bits from my Mom’s Christmas socks for the provisional cast on. I worked two rounds before switching to my live yarn. I contacted Mary of KinoKnits to ask about the pattern. Without giving away the secret sauce, a portion of the cowl involved short rows. And full disclosure I have no problem with short rows. But with my scraps spanning the rainbow the matchy-matchy portion of my brain wanted the thing to be the same all the way around. Mary kindly replied that no problem I could make the modification I wanted and still have a beautiful object.

I also made a what I think is a smart decision. I am working from the outside of the massive cake I wound. For two reason, the first being that my colossal cake wouldn’t collapse halfway done. The second being that working from the outside meant I worked the long stretch of main color solid section first and saved the color changes for last. I fee like this will keep me more motivated in the long run.

Happy Knitting!

Cast On: Jay Jay Shawl

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After finishing Reyna I knew I needed another shawl on the needles. I pawed through my bag of prepped projects and pulled out the Jay Jay Shawl by Francesca Caricato. This is a DK weight shawl with garter and eyelets. My yarn was wound, pattern printed and needles ready to go so I cast on.


Jellybean had a doctors appointment and his flu shot which resulted in a very tired and grumpy three year old. He puppy dog eyed me and convinced me to stay home and snuggle him instead of going to daycare/work. And I managed to get a good chunk of the shawl started!

It’s crescent shaped and gorgeous. The yarn is some REALLY old stash that is Cascade Yarns Sunseeker. It’s grey with a fine thread of sparkle running though. It’s not the softest yarn but oh is it pretty!! I’ve got to two skeins and and I plan to use as much as possible. This might be my next obsession!

Happy Knitting!!

Christmas Socks Progress

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I’ve finished a good chunk of the second sock for my Mom’s Christmas socks.


I zoomed up the foot and turned the heel. It’s now October so I’m anxious to get these finished so I can enter them in the Pigskin Party KAL, the Double Dip KAL and the Carolina Fiber Girls Socktober KAL!

Must keep knitting!!

Uh Oh Froggie-O

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My Downpour Socks have been niggling at me from the back of my brain. While I was folding laundry downstairs this past weekend I pulled this WIP out of storage. And it hit me….I cast these on in the WRONG NUMBER OF STITCHES. I was in Colorado when I did it…I’m going to blame the altitude.

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So these beauties are headed to the frog pond. I guess the silver lining is that a) I’ll have socks that actually fit me and I won’t be forced to gift them and b) I can restart them and they will count for the #dcspigskinparty17 KAL.

Le Sigh….more knitting I guess!

FO Friday: Reyna 

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My Reyna is done and here she is in all her glory!

Pattern: Reyna by Noora Laivola

Needles: US 4

Yarn: Knit Picks Hawthorn Speckle in the Cosmic Speckle Colorway (I used almost an entire skein: 93 grams/332 yards)

Mods: I omitted the very last rows of eyelets to conserve yarn

I knit this project in basically a week or 7 days of active knitting. It FLEW off my needles and I just don’t understand/comprehend how obsessed with this project I was.

I was feeling so proud that I hadn’t made any mistakes during the knitting….and then hubris got me. I was on the second-to-last eyelet row and my eyelets got out of alignment. I had missed one teensy tiny stitch. So I carefully tinked back half a row and fixed it (took me 30 minutes). I then proceeded to re-knit that row and then almost the whole last row of eyelets and that knitter niggling started in my brain. I was definitely not going to have enough yarn. So I tinked back two and a half LONG rows to where I would omit the last RS and WS eyelet rows and the started the garter. I was basically back to where I had tinked back to the first time and this took me an hour. But I managed to finish the garter and bind off with just a small nugget of yarn to tuck into my memory blanket!

I washed and blocked this in just under two hours thanks to the late September Kansas heatwave and my husband’s fan. I don’t have blocking wires and you can see where I placed my pins. But I don’t care…it’s all mine now! I cannot wait for fall to when I can wear this beauty out and about! This project really has kicked my knitting mojo into high gear. On to the next thing!!!

Happy Knitting!

Daunt Cowl Preparation 

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Jellybean is now officially three. We had a blowout family bash that was totally spooky and Halloween themed. Literally my kid has not stopped talking about Halloween since last Halloween so we just kinda leaned into the theme for his birthday.

Well birthday party meant quality grandparent time which then correlates into mommy free time. I had been thinking more and more about the Daunt Cowl. The only thing holding me back was the lack of a good neutral in my stash. All my sock stash is highly variegated or self-striping. So I tip-toed over to my LYS and found a neutral sock yarn…..Plymouth Yarn Happy Feet 100 Splash in the Autumn color….

So while Jellybean was showing Papa around the local Zoo…I culled my sock scraps and found a rainbow’s worth. That’s 24 minis that go from grey/pink through the rainbow and back to grey. I made a pattern page here and you can see what my scraps are.

I painstakingly weighed and wound according to the directions and look what beauty I got!

Isn’t this about the best thing you have ever seen? My ball winder JUST barely was able to wind this bad-boy. It’s over 1,000 yards because some of my scraps were over the 5 gram suggested allotment. I wanted to use up as much as possible plus this now counts as a Blitz project for the #pigskinparty17 KAL!

I’m going to cast on as soon as my Reyna is finished 😉

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Reyna

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It’s confession time….I’m ADDICTED to this project. My Reyna is now over halfway done!

I literally wake up in the middle of the night and seriously consider knitting on this project. I’ve been knitting during meetings, over my lunch, every spare minute I’m not in charge of Jellybean. The pattern is just so intuitive and the fact that the pattern has neat little boxes to tick off your row progress is heaven. I just can’t wait to cross off more squares! I haven’t knit a stitch on anything else since I cast this on.

And *knock on wood* I haven’t made any serious mistakes that I couldn’t fix. All my eyelets are lining up and my center spine is straight! I’m hoping that maybe, just maybe I can finish this by Friday…..we’ll see!

Happy Knitting!!

Flash of Briliance or Flash of Crazy

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Okay, this post may be a flash of brilliance or a flash of crazy…I’m not sure. I have a bag full of tiny balls and not so tiny sock leftovers after working mitre squares from my Sock Yarn Memory Blanket. Look at all that crazy color!

I’m also a subscriber to Mary of Kino Knits newsletter. And one of the perks is coupons and sometimes a free pattern. She recently launched the Daunt Cowl and it’s free to subscribers. It’s just so gorgeous!!

Daunt Cowl

Photo credit: @Kino Knits

What would happen if I made a crazy scrappy Daunt?? I could maybe make a rainbow, or just work crazy random colors, or maybe a stay in a single color family? I wouldn’t necessarily have enough of any one scarp to complete a stripe as Mary shows. But who’s to say my stripes need to be equal? I have some neutral sock yarns in stash to work in between. This pattern is specifically designed to use up bits and pieces. I am REALLY feeling the siren’s call of this project. All I’m missing is short circumference size 4 needles….

I think I need to send the toddler on a play date and just spread all my leftovers on the floor and have a party!

HO Friday: Mom’s Christmas Socks

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With some personal perseverance and some Knitflixing, I finished the leg of the first sock for my Mom’s Christmas Socks!

I am using size 2 needles and my mom wears a size 8/8.5 US women’s shoe. I cast on and worked 66 stitches for the foot to get the circumference where I needed it. Right before the heel I decreased away two stitches to get the count to 64 to make the heel turn work. And then after the heel I went back to 66 stitches for the leg. And finally before the cuff I increased up to 68 stitches for both roominess and to make by 2×2 rib work. I’m just so please with this sock! I managed the whole sock in roughly a week and a week that involved a lot of sleep deprivation!

The sock fits me nicely as well. I’m a size longer than my mother but my foot is not a wide. So I feel like the fabric is very forgiving will conform to the foot very well. Now I just need to make sure I cast on the second sock and get a cooking. I’m hoping to get this finished so I can enter into the 12monthstoXmas KAL, the Pigskin Party KAL, and possibly the Double Dip KAL by the Bede Sisters Podcast.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Reyna

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During my tomato madness last weekend I decided to pull a project from my Pigskin Party KAL prep. I cast on for the Reyna Shawl by Noora Laivola.

I had some beautiful speckled Hawthorn Speckle Handpaint in the Cosmic Speckle in my stash. This yarn told me it needed to be something squishy in garter stitch.  I’m loving how the pops of color are popping up!

This pattern is just so amazing. It’s a free pattern and has been knit over 5,000 times. I’m probably the last person on Ravelry to stumble on this one, lol. The pattern fits on one page, it’s well written, and you guys it has a row tracker check box thingy! With as much as I have to pick up and put down my knitting this is a life saver! I completed the cast on, one garter section and one lace section in one sitting.

I can quickly feel this project becoming addicting!! This yarn is just so yummy I can’t wait to see the finished product. I was thinking this was going to go into the gift box…but I may not be able to part with it!!

Happy Knitting!!