Tag Archives: merino

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!

Dare I Crop?

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When I digging around in my yarn stash the other day I came across something unexpected and yet spectacular. I found three skeins of DK weight superwash yarn all from the same indie dyer. I had picked these up at different times from her over  the past year when I had the money saved up around the time of her updates.

The dyer is Moonstone Dyeworks out of Acadia California and she has an amazing podcast that enables me all the time. I realized that the skeins really blended and coordinated quite well as I stared at them in my drawer. Almost, dare I say, a really fantastic fade? From left to right they are Falling, Hard Cider and Wild Honey.

I did some pattern searching on Ravelry and found that I might be able to eek out a Party Top by AbbyeKnits in my size. I would JUST have enough yarn if I managed my fade very precisely. This is a cropped sweater and I’m not sure I’ll like it but I can’t put it out of my head. I can just feel this pattern wanting to jump on my needles. I even went so far to research the pattern comments on Ravelry and found a knitter who made a similar faded option in a bigger size than I.

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I literally have two other sweaters quantities wound up and ready to jump on my needles for a Weekender and a Radiate. Why am I so drawn to this when I haven’t even cast on either of those sweaters? My wishful knitting is just on overdrive lately!!

What is a knitter to do!?

Coordinating Accessories

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My Kindness accessories are complete! Below you can see my Kindness KAL 2019 Shawl, my Kindness Mitts and my Kindness Double Brim Hat.  These beauties used three golden skeins of Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK from my stash.

This all started with my Mothers Day Cast on and I was addicted I couldn’t stop knitting this yarn! Now they all just need to be washed and tucked away for the 100+ degree Kansas summers and wait patiently for Fall.

Don’t you just love when a plan comes together! Plus they make my eyes look blue, lol. Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Kindness Double Brim Hat

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My Kindness Double Brim Hat is complete! And I won at yarn chicken!!

My Aunt Barb happened to be around when I finished it and she helped me snap some photos. Now she is probably one of the last people in the United States to have not used a smart phone. So our photos were….interesting. But we did manage the above photo. My hat is a decent size that fits comfortably around with just a touch of slouch.

Pattern: (Heavily Modified Version of) Double Thick Cuff Hat by Staci Perry

Yarn: Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK in Ink and Salty Tales

Needles: US 6s

Mods: I did not work the double cuff and I knit the hat portion according to how much yarn I had. I really just used this wonderful pattern for stitch counts and crown decreases

This hat consumed about 150 yards of DK weight yarn. And I only had the tiniest balls of yarn left above. Not too shabby if you ask me! I might tuck these away for potential knit repairs….or I may let Jellybean  have them for his “crafts”. All in all I’m super pleased to have used these golden skeins of Hedgehog fibers to make some super special accessories for me!

I had Aunt Barb take some photos of the complete set and I’ll share those next week! Happy Knitting!!

How Tall Should A Hat Be?

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Well, I finally settled on a plan for my Kindness Double Brim Hat. I went with coordinating two row stripes to match the Kindness KAL 2019 shawl. I put in six Salty Tales stripes before I decided it looked good enough. I have a tiny ball of yarn left but I think I’ll save that in case I need it to close up the hat.

What I really need to decide is how tall to make the hat! I have a pretty small ball of the Ink (blue) color left. And I am balancing between making a well fitting hat and playing yarn chicken again. I mean I could be bothered to get my scale out and weigh my yarn and track how much yarn each row is consuming. But that seems like a lot of work and I am trying to get this knit done after kiddos bedtimes. My brain is mush at that point!

I think I’ll knit another couple of straight rows and then start decreasing. I can always fudge a few extra decreases here and there if I start running out of yarn right? The husband said I should just quite and make it a messy bun hat. That would be genius but I don’t have enough hair for a messy bun!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Kindness Double Brim Hat

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Last week I finished my Kindness Mitts out of my last skein of Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK. And I have about 80 grams of yarn left between my two colors. So I did some pattern searching and I found pattern to start a hat. I am using Staci Perry’s Double Thick Brim Hat.

Now I’m just using this pattern as loose guide. I definitely don’t have enough yarn to knit a double thick brim or to make it exceedingly slouchy. But I like the stitch count and gauge enough I think I can modify it enough for my purposes.

I’ve completed about 3 inches (ish) of ribbing and I’m starting the stockinette portion. The next trick will be to decide how to work in the Salty Tales (grey speckle) color into my hat to maximize my hat size. I am deciding between small stripes to match my Kindness KAL 2019 shawl or one thick band/stripe just to be done faster.

Happy Knitting!

FO Friday: Kindness Mitts

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Here are my Kindness Mitts in all their unblocked glory! 

Pattern: Fingerless Mitts by Cheryl Goyer

Yarn: Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK in Ink

Needles: US 5s

Mods: I didn’t work the full thumb as prescribed in the pattern. I knit until it looked good enough and cast off.

 

 

As predicted the fit is pretty baggy. But they don’t fall off so I’m calling it a win. I used 125 yards or roughly 65 grams of yarn for these two mitts. I knit the first one to pattern measurements and then I knit the second one by counting the rows in the first one. I felt pretty smart doing that. They ended up almost identical!

What I’m really pleased about is that they will smashing with my Kindness KAL 2019 shawl as matching accessories. And I’m currently weighing my leftovers of this last skein of Ink and my Salty Tales to see if I have enough to eeek out a matching hat! Stay tuned….

Happy Knitting!!

Almost Complete Mitts

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My Kindness Mitts are working up in a flash! I have both mitts knit and just waiting for thumbs!

I worked these up on size 5 US short circular needle. They might be a bit baggy on my hands and I could have probably used to reduce my stitch count by about four. But they aren’t fall off loose and should be perfect driving mitts! Now I just need to dig through my messy craft room and find some size 56 dpns!

Happy knitting!!

 

FO Friday: Kindness KAL 2019 Shawl

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It’s Friday and I have an FO that has me bursting with happiness. My Kindness KAL 2019 shawl is off the blocking mats ready for a close up!

Pattern: Kindness KAL 2019 shawl by Jaala Spiro

Yarn: Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK in Ink and Salty Tales

Needle: US 7

Mods: Added 12 garter eyelet grows in the final section before the bind off to use up my skein of blue yarn.

It really just looks so good no matter how you twist it! I think it looks gorgeous all laid out. But it also looks amazing wrapped around your neck with all the color and texture changes.

I ended up using basically a full skein of the Ink (blue) and 90% of the Salty Tales (grey speckle). This means this shawl consumed 409 yarns of DK weight yarn and weighs about 215 grams. It will be soooooo warm and smooshy this next winter!

I really gave this shawl a good stretching and my finished dimensions ended up being 41 inches by 56 inches and 23 inches deep at the point. I have a full skein of the Ink leftover and I think I’m going to see what matching accessories I can eek out of that to go with this shawl!

Happy Knitting!!

Kindness Unblocked

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I WON AT YARN CHICKEN! And here she is….my finished Kindness KAL 2019 shawl in all her unblocked glory!

I squeaked by with just the tiniest bit of blue yarn left without having to break into the second skein. I did have a more substantial ball of the Salty Tales grey color left. I’m using Hedgehog Fibers Merino DK by the way. The blue color is Ink. I even managed to weave in but not trim my ends from all the color changes.

As you read this my shawl has already been soaked and is drying on the blocking mats. Jellybean helped me and we broke out my blocking wires and really gave this shawl a good stretching. In doing this we found ONE dropped stitch. I calmly grabbed my double ended crochet hook and laddered it back up and then secured it with a piece of waste yarn on the wrong side of the work. No one but me will be the wiser!

Humidity has come to Kansas for summer and so I’m not sure how long this puppy will take to dry. Jellybean keeps checking at least every hour to see if it’s done. I think maybe I’ll set a fan on it to speed up the process for both our sakes!