Cast On: A Hat For Jenn

I have my second worsted skein from Thelittlewolfknits in my stash. That dyer is a Pigskin Party KAL sponsor so this yarn gets me extra points in the game. I also had this thought that my friend Jenn would love this yarn. She is ALL things teal.

Over a cup of yummy coffee, I started a basic beanie. My typical 88 stitches on a US 8 needle. I do NOT feel like ribbing this hat so stockinette it is. Jenn also has a March birthday so I could make this an early birthday present. She doesn’t know about this plan and I kind of like the idea of a random surprise gift in the mail!

Happy Knitting!!

Fleck Update

I am flecking right along on my second 2024 Advent Socks!

I am doing my best to work these in tandem to keep the mojo going on this project. Keeping the tension even and workable between flecks takes some concentration. Not all of my flecks are coming out the same size as I work. I think that is just due to my newbie status at colorwork. It should block our right?

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: 2025 Chiefs Beanie

I have a few days left of the 2024 Pigskin Party KAL and I decided to cast on another football themed hat. This is some malabrigo singles I got last fall.

I am going to make my normal beanie recipe. I am starting with 88 stitches and the yellow. The base is Malabrigo Worsted in 022 Sauterne and then the red is 102 Sealing Wax. I also still have some Chiefs logo patches that I can sew on as well.

This base is a singles and I’m not wild at the moment of how I am struggling with snagging. I think my needles are too blunt. I need to switch to my Chia Goo needles? I do love the hand of the finished fabric as it is very very soft. Therefore I will persevere!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Scandia Hat

After finishing my Flats Hat, I needed another easy project on the needles. So I cast on a hat called the Scandia Hat.

This was the DK yarn that Santa put in my stocking from KnitCircus. It is their Divine DK in the color Pet Rock Speckle. Since this is a plump DK, I moved down to a US 7 but did cast on up to 100 stitches.

These hats are so forgiving that they will always fit someone. I am ribbing this hat brim with a 2×2 rib. It will still be my basic beanie recipe with a folded brim. Those just feel automatic to my hands while I am watching or talking with people.

Happy Hat Knitting!!

Finished: Flats Hat

The Flats Hat is complete and ready for my 2025 gift bag.

Pattern: My own 88 stitch beanie “recipe”

Needles: US 8s

Yarn: Thelittlewolfknits Opti base in the Pigskin Party KAL exclusive colorway “Flats or Drums”

I forced myself to extend this to maximize yarn usage. I used 82 grams or 179 yards of yarn total. I got 40 bonus KAL points for using sponsor yarn. I really like how the dark brown spiraled in this hat at my gauge.

I would definitely buy more yarn from this dyer again. It was nicely dyed and I didn’t have any colors bleed. And the hand of the finished fabric is very soft and nice. Orange isn’t usually my colors but I love how the browns and green bits punch this one up.

Now on to my next hat! Happy Knitting!!

Flats Hat Decreases

My Flats Hat is ready for decreases!

The family sat down and watched RedOne since we missed it in December and I cruised through the body of the hat. The move is great and seeing a jacked Santa was something else! This yarn is Littlewolfknits yarn in the Opti base called “Flats or Drums”. I picked flats because those are the superior wings IMO.

I managed to get my DPNs installed before my eyes started crossing and it was time to go to bed. I should be able to wrap this up in the next couple of days. And bonus for me, it will earn me extra points in the Pigskin Party KAL for an exclusive sponsor product.

Happy Knitting!!

2024: A Year in Stats

Photo by Lukas on Pexels.com

I sat down and updated my Ravelry account to wrap up my 2024 items and I decided to crunch some stats on what I did last year.

  • I finished 51 projects that totaled 13,962 yards of yarn used up
  • I purchased 84.5 skeins of yarn that totaled 16,566 yards of yarn brought in
  • I made 41 completed hats that represented the bulk of my knitting this year
  • I purchased 10 new bats or braids of fiber this year
  • I finished 5 skeins of handspun
    • Tallied a total of 1,429 points for the 2024 Pigksin Party KAL
    • Attended three in person knitting events or retreats

So all in all, a very productive year for me. I really felt my knitting mojo coming back after I changed my work situation. I did bring in more yarn that I used up but only by 2,600 yards so that isn’t so bad. I’m really showing my inner accountant with this post, lol.

I don’t really feel like setting any goals for 2025 and letting the fiber guide me! Happy New Year!!

Cast On: 2024 Advent Socks Take Two

I have been watching The Cozy Knitter make her advent socks and she does this cool feature of adding blips of the contrast yarn as she changes stripes. I have always meant to try it but then the holidays hit and I can only manage stockinette. After finishing a vanilla version, I am committing to trying this out!

I had to dig through my scraps to find some toe yarn. It’s a light grey from Red Door Fibers and should blend well with this mix of colors. I then used the scraps of the white contrast yarn from The Cozy Knitter to start my blips every 4th st.

This is my normal recipe for a 68 stitch toe up vanilla sock. I will do afterthought heels and this time inside a stripe to not mess up my colorwork. I am trying to work hard to make my floats stretchy and not pull them tight. It would be nice if these socks fits at the end!

So far I am happy with the look of these and I am learning a lot about managing the white yarn to avoid 1,000 ends on the inside. Should be interesting!!

Happy Knitting!!

Turning My Flats Brim

Thanks to a holiday dinner at GGs and some family chit chatting….I knit enough to turn the brim on my Flats Hat.

My little cousins were mesmerized at how much fabric I could make during one family party. They tried to convince me that this was orange enough to be a hunting hat, lol. I know I need to make more ribbed brims for my hat collection, but it is just so much faster to work stockinette in infinity.

This hat has a deadline to score some extra points in the Pigskin Party KAL. This yarn from thelittlewolfknits earns me sponsor points! These hats really don’t take much time if I can force myself to be monogamous…but that has been a problem lately as I want to cast on all the things!

Happy Knitting!!

Christmas Tidings

Santa was very kind to me! He left four new skeins of yarn and a bottle of wine in my stocking.

There is one skein of KnitCircus trampoline in the purple to yellow fade, one small skein of Greatest of Ease in the light blue speckle, half skein of the Daring base in the red color and finally a full skein of Divine DK in the grey. I love that they do mystery boxes so its a surprise!

My parents got me a knitting backpack to help me lug around my 1,000 WIPS and my kiddos got me a new set of mermaid themed crochet hooks with soft grips. All in all…I had a pretty good haul! The wine may or may not already be gone…..

Happy Knitting!!