Tag Archives: knitting

I Found A Malabrigo Sale

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I’m so close to finishing my Weekender that I’m making out of Malabrigo Rios. It was my first garment in Rios and my second time ever using Malabrigo. I might be in love…

I am also finding that my knitting mojo is really geared towards garments right now. My cup runneth over with scarves, gloves and hats but I don’t have many nice finished garments that show my current level of skill as knitter. And my stash is largely single or double skeins of yarn. I don’t really have any sweater lots. Which is why I fell hard when Twisted in Portland ran an online sale for Malabrigo Rios.

I managed to grab eight skeins of Jupiter which is a reddish brown variegation. Twisted was amazing and reached out before my order shipped to let me know that they weren’t all the same dye lot. They have five skeins in one lot and three in another and that they were markedly different. They even sent photos!

I decided to risk it. I’ll start my garment with the darker five skeins on the bottom and save the lighter skeins for hems, cuffs and/or collars. Maybe sleeves if I really have to. Part of my brain thought…I could find a five skein pattern for me and then use the last three skeins for a sweater for PB….

I am considering making either the Mountain High by Heidi Kirrmeier or the City Limits by Tanis Lavallee.

But first I probably should finish my Weekender! Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Prism Break Hat

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I got fed up and no shocker, I decided to finish my Prism Break Hat. I didn’t get to the pattern recommended length but I got to “good enough” and put the decreases in. I was ready to have a finished object, lol.

Pattern: Sockhead Slouch by Kelly McClure

Yarn: Wichita Woolery 100% Merino 4-ply in Prism Break Colorway

Needles: US 2s and US 3s

Mods: I got bored and didn’t knit to the full “traditional” slouch length and just finished the darn thing.

I am really pleased with how the colors pooled on this project. I got a really cool micro-stripe effect with the gauge I settled on. And the hat fits pretty nicely as well!

I only used about 60% of the skein of yarn. So I have plenty of yarn for my memory blanket and maybe even a contrast color for a second project? I have made like five of these hats and I have a full hat drawer but I can’t quit this pattern. It’s so soothing when my brain needs some auto pilot.

Bonus….I get a cool hat when I’m done!

Can You Say Ambition?

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I took my kiddos to my parents house for a weekend respite. I may have over packed my knitting….

I pulled out my huge 31 tote and piled in the WIPs. It was hot as hades but I pulled a nice ice cold coca cola and worked on some of my projects. In this bag I had my:

One Perfect Skein Shawl

Rainbow Fluff Habitation Throw

PB’s Birthday Blanket

Retro Rainbow Vanilla Socks

I managed to put a little work on each of them and it was a very zen knitting session. It was a nice recharge to the dumpster fire that is 2020. I kind of like my big ole bag of WIPs. I’m choosing to see them as a big pile of untapped potential. Maybe it is too much ambition? But I’m excited to see what happens.

Happy Knitting!!

Topping Off My Prism Break

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I have a conundrum….I have a yarn I adore and a project I am bored with.

My Prism Break hat is really awesome. And it has got me through some really touch times during COVID19 and crazy work environment. But I’m honestly ready for the project to be done. I think I’m far enough that I can add decreases and still end up with a decent hat. Just maybe not as slouchy as the designer intended.

Do I power through or finish the damn thing? Pretty sure I’m going to finish the thing, lol

Happy Knitting!!

Into The Bath

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My Weekender is 99.9% complete and getting its bath now. I had some false starts and ripping back on the first sleeve to get a fit I liked. But once I had my plan settled I quite literally zoomed through the second sleeve. It was so much easier to just count my rows and know exactly what I was doing next.

Now you might notice I said 99.9% done and keen eyes will see some blue tape and needles in the photo. I finished the knitting of the sleeves but I very purposefully didn’t bind off. This yarn is Malabrigo Rios, which is a superwash yarn. Odds are that this garment is going to GROW depending on how I block it. So to keep my cords and needles nice I used some painters tape to just keep them just above the water line.

After its bath my intent is to pull this sleeves as wide as I can in the upper arms to see if I can buy myself just a teensy bit more ease. But the fabric is going to want to stretch lengthwise regardless. I left the sleeves live just in case I need to rip back and shorten the sleeves if they come out ridiculously long.

I’m hoping that all these precautions will keep my knitting karma in check, the sleeves will turn out fine and I’ll just be able to do the tubular bind off once the sweater is dry. Fingers crossed!!

Happy Knitting!!

Winging It On Sleeve Island

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I have officially reached sleeve island on my Weekender sweater!

I picked up the pattern recommended number of stitches at the arm hole and knit an inch or so to where the pattern wanted me to start decreasing. Then I stepped back and looked at my sleeve and looked my arm….and looked at my sleeve and back to my arm. I’m confident the sleeve will fit my upper arm as it is now but I’m just as confident it will not fit if I work the pattern decreases as written.

My arm and shoulders are a little robust from hauling around a 31 pound toddler who still likes to be carried and snuggled. My arms taper more sharply at my forearms to my wrist. So based on this I have decided to wing it for the sleeve shaping. I’m going to just knit and keep trying the sleeve on as I go. I’ll start my decrease at or just below the elbow. I dug out some locking stitch markers to start marking my decreases to help me remember how to knit the second sleeve.

I am also pleased to be using my Chia Goo mini twist set that I got last Christmas so that I can knit the sleeves on a tiny circular. This way I can just zoom along and not fuss with changing DPNs or creating ladders.

I’m really happy with this sweater and hope to have this done very soon. Though it is now officially 100 degrees Fahrenheit here in Kansas so I won’t get to wear it until the Fall. Oh well, sometimes it’s just about the process right?

Happy Knitting!!

A Blanket Itch

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I have been using my DK Habitation Throw in the evenings a lot. I made it from scraps earlier this year and it was so fun. I have been fighting the itch to cast on another one. I finally tipped over the edge when I found my Teal Torch Knits minis from last Christmas’ advent calendar.

They came in a full spectrum rainbow in 12 minis, so I used my swift and ball winder to wind them into two equal cakes of six colors. I used a loose knot to connect the colors but I will russian join them when I get to the actual knitting. I also spied some leftover Suri Alpaca that I might work into the blanket. I’m considering using it a separation between the rainbow colors OR holding it double with the sock yarn on just the eyelet rows to provide some visual interest. I have some thinking to do on that one.

This project is living in my Cherry Pie Cottage project bag that is the most perfect summer theme of mermaids and ocean creatures. Probably going to be as close as I get to the beach this year!

Happy Knitting!!

A Body Complete

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I did it! I finished the body of my Weekender!!

The short rows were easier than I thought and I did manage to do each side the same. The ribbing was a bit of a challenge as I had an extra stitch on one side and one short on the other. I just fudged it to make it work. And bonus, I was able to try this one!

As suspected, the sweater is not exceedingly oversized on me. It still has positive ease but it’s not exactly boxy on me as it is in the pattern. But the length is nice and I’m glad I added the 2-3 extra inches in the body.

I finished the body and I have two 100 gram skeins left for each sleeve. So I have more than enough yarn to knit each sleeve and I won’t have to alternate skeins. I measured the armhole and my arms will fit through but they don’t have a ton of ease either. I think I will have to call an audible and knit my own sleeves. I will not have a lot of space in the upper arms to do the decreases the pattern calls for. I think my plan is just to knit a tube to my elbow and then try it on. I will just crunch the numbers and plan out my decreases from elbow to wrist.

I’m getting so antsy to finish this! I can’t wait to wash and see how the final garment is going to come out. I am also seriously considering casting on a second one in the next size up right after I finish this one! Am I crazy?

Cast On: Retro Rainbow Vanilla Socks

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As promised, after I finished my Antagonist Vanilla Socks I put some needles right back on the needles. I remembered that I still had the MustStash sock yarn wound up from my winding frenzy and so I got to work on another vanilla toe up sock.

I’m just doing a 72 stitch toe up sock on US0 needles. Nothing super fancy, I’m just going to let the yarn sing. I did notice that thanks to my winding I will be working one sock from the inside of the cake and the other from the outside to make them match. Whoops!

This is the Retro Rainbow color from Stacey at MustStash and it’s brilliant. I haven’t even finished the full six color repeat and I’m already in love. Self striping sock yarn is the most perfect kind of magic.

These socks are the perfect pick me up to tuck in my purse to wait in social distancing lines and drive thrus. Thank goodness for knitting!!

Weekending Short Rows

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I’m inching every closer to finishing my Weekender Sweater. I had split for the armholes and knit up both sides in the plain section. I’m finding it helpful to knit the sections in one after another. Meaning I knit up the front until I got the right height and then I counted my rows and knit up the back to same measurement.

The next step in this project is to knit a series of short rows before the final ribbing that will create the boat neck collar. I think I will like ways knit those in a similar fashion. I hope these will mean I can keep them symmetrical and therefore matching.

I’m keen to get this knit up and bound off so I can try the sweater on. I am thinking its not going to have as much ease as the pattern suggests. That is what I get for not swatching but I do believe blocking will add some because the Malabrigo is superwash. And for my body shape it is not always a bad thing not to have a huge amount of ease and be a little closer fitting. I just need to knit faster so I can find out!

Happy Knitting!