Tag Archives: WIP

Advent Reconfigured

Posted on by
10

I kind of hit stopping point on my Wool and Waves shawl. I just found myself staring at the minis as they dyer had ordered them. Something was niggling away at the back of my brain that made me not want to pick up this project. I will also note that my knitting mojo has kind of taken a hit post-holidays. I think between festivities and three rounds of the stomach virus through my house….this girl is just tired.

But I digress, pictured below is the order the dyer intended. I just don’t like the brown speckled skein in 8th position. And I think the two blue/teal skeins before it should be reversed. It was at this point that I realized I’m the boss of my own knitting and I can do as I darn well please.

So I reorganized like this…..

I think the colors achieve the fade much more like I really want. Each mini has an aspect of the skein before and after it. And I feel like I’m reengaged with this project and ready to knit more. Time will tell…..I’m also addicted to my Christmas Eve cast on. There’s only so many minutes this working momma has to knit in a given day so it’s hard choices all around.

Happy Knitting!!

Palette Cleanser

Posted on by
4

My knitting mojo has hit a lull post Christmas. Don’t get me wrong, Christmas was good and my kids only saw the magic. But there was some unforeseen hospital stays (no need for alarm everyone is doing okay), so much driving and vomiting in between opening presents on Christmas morning. And I ended up doing the brunt of the Christmas prep, cooking, cleaning and running interference between all the grumpy people in my extended family.

I am just plain worn out and I’m slightly concerned my cold turned into bronchitis. So I decided to ignore all my WIPs and pull out my comfort project. My memory scrap blanket that I probably haven’t touched since this past summer. It’s just a nice palette cleanser and it felt nice and warm on my lap as I caught up on Vlogmans videos and knit happily away in garter.

Do you have a palette cleanser project?

Cast On: Wool and Waves

Posted on by
4

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t keep knitting the Annapurna Scarf. It was just too much purling and too many times of getting off my stitch count and not lining up with the pattern. I ripped that baby out before I even got to the first color change. Life is too short to force yourself to knit something!

I did another Ravelry dive. I think now I have like 10 or 12 advent mini patterns floating around in my favorites. I settled on Wool and Waves by Casapinka.  It’s garter stitch and some eyelets and so much more satisfying to work on.

Now mine will not look like the pattern. I am not fussing around with striping my colors. I am just working my quasi-fade and using the stitch patterns. So I will hopefully end up with the same shape but a very different color effect. I have worked mostly through the first mini skein. And for some reason I can’t explain the whole shebang is still living in the large cardboard box it came in…I just can’t be bothered I guess.

PS. I’m still in LOVE with the project bag it came with!

Happy Knitting

Blocking A Rectangle

Posted on by
9

Welcome to 2020 everyone! I hope New Years Eve was kind to all. With two kids now the hubby and I don’t exactly burn it down anymore. We usually watch a comedy on Netflix and share a cocktail after the kids go to bed. It suits us and it’s nice. Plus I don’t feel bad the next day!

The kids are still in the throws of ecstasy of their Christmas presents so I got some decent knitting time in this morning while they wrecked the house.The Sherwood Forest Wrap is bound off with only the tiniest amount of yarn left. I think it was less than two yards…

Jellybean assisted with the washing (mostly the wool soap part) while I manned the blocking wires. He wanted it to dry “super fast” so we turned a fan on it to speed up the process.

The shape is a very tall rectangle. I’m not sure if this will make it hard to wear or not. I will have to see how it wraps around me when it is dry. I’m still in love with this piece and it might be the most joyous thing I knit all year!

What was your best 2019 project?

Snow Knitting

Posted on by
5

I am still plowing through my Sherwood Forest Wrap. And also the roads in Kansas could use a plow as well. It wasn’t that bad according to my husband but I was glad to have my knitting to focus on.

I never heard back from the designer about the pattern error. So I’m just kind of using the pattern as a loose suggestion and making up my own thing to maximize yarn usage. All my sections are equal sized where the pattern has them staggered in a fashion. This might come back to haunt me later.

I am just so addicted to how this gradient is coming out. This is one of those projects I just can’t put down! I should start weighing my yarn to see when I need to start the end but for now I’ll just keep knitting…

Happy Knitting!!

Mammograms and Knitting

Posted on by
3

My Sherwood Forest Wrap recently traveled with me to my annual mammogram (Side note: ladies, make sure you go get yours squished…it saves lives.) I got a clean bill of health and some Lorna Doone cookies to boot. And I was pleasantly surprised at the conversations I had while waiting.

Not only was the receptionist intrigued by my knitting but so a woman in queue to check out.  The siren call of beautiful yarn is strong! Turned out she was a crocheter, recently retired and expressed interest about learning to kni. So I chatted about the LYS just a stone’s throw from the clinic and the classes I had seen in their newsletter.

I’m finished with the first stockinette and lace sections. Now I’m set to repeat those two over and over until I get near to the end of my yarn. I love watching the colors develop. Based on my yarn consumption per repeat section I am going to have to do some math and add some rows to modify the pattern. If I don’t I won’t get through all the colors and have a ton of yarn leftover. I want to use as much of the gradient by KnitCircus as possible. I might be risking yarn chicken but it will be worth it!!

Happy Knitting!!

Let’s Helix This Thing

Posted on by
3

My Weekender is joined in the round! I flew through the first hem like it was nothing. And then it took me a day or so to power up enough for the second tubular cast on for the back hem. But I managed quite nicely and have the whole project joined in the round.

My next new challenge is to use helical knitting to alternate my hand dyed skeins. This is my first go at it and I’m interested to see how managing the yarn cakes will go. I used a single skein to knit my ribbing because honestly I didn’t have the brain space to alternate while knitting flat and absolutely no one would notice if I had or hadn’t. I have markers in for the center front and center back slipped stitch detail.

I’m knitting the 48.5 inch bust sweater for roughly 4-5 inches of positive ease. Which is less than the pattern calls for but as I’m more average size than most knitting models I don’t want something so baggy that it will make me look bigger than I actually am.

I also would like to note that I have not gauge swatched either. I am going to gamble on this one because it’s an over sized sweater anyway and I hope to be able to block it a little either way if needed. Surely this will end in disaster but I’m doing it anyway!

WIP Wednesday: Sherwood Forest Wrap

Posted on by
4

My Sherwood Forest Wrap has come to live in my purse. It’s kind of an odd purse project as it takes a very long time to work a single row but yet here I am. After an initial thrust of travel knitting progress this project is only getting a repeat or two every now and then.

But I guess that all adds up, I did manage to complete the first garter and stockinette sections. And I’m establishing the first lace section. With so much work bunched up on the needles I have to be careful to mind all the yarn overs and to remember the garter edges. But so far so good!

P.S. I have not heard back from the designer about the error on her paid for pattern. So that is less than encouraging but I will try to contact her again.

Happy Knitting!!

One Last Stripe

Posted on by
4

I am getting SOOOO close to the end of my Zen Yarn Garden Baby Blanket. I only have one stripe and the bind off to go!

The last stripe is blue and I have almost a full ball to do it. I will certainly have leftovers and I have a small ball of grey and tiny ball of red left as well. My brain is thinking old school tassels on each of the points of the chevrons? Maybe not the most practical for a baby but would use up the last of yarn and give this piece a vintage feel.

I guess I could always add them and take them off later? Thoughts?

A Well Traveled Hat

Posted on by
8

My Four Seasons hat was very well traveled during my recent birthday trip to Portland.  This is where my hat started at 6 am at the Kansas City Airport. The terminal was shockingly busy for such an early Saturday morning. But based on overheard conversations, a TON of people were headed to Mexican resorts to escape the impending arctic blast.

I only knit on this hat while on modes of transportation during my trip. And by Monday morning when I boarded my flight it looked like this. (I also treated myself to a Mimosa to cap off a wonderful weekend. It wasn’t the greatest I’ve ever had but it felt decadent to do while traveling without the fam.)

And this last photo is brought to you by the KCI airport bathroom. I literally bound off the top of the hat while we were taxiing to our gate. The gentleman seated next to me complimented me on finishing so quickly. I think I earned some bonus points with him because I had asked him if my knitting would bother him  during the flight. He nicely told me it would not so he earned some good karma points in my book as well.

It’s a good thing this was done. It was 18 degrees with a feels like temperature of 9 degrees. I literally wore this out of the airport and all the way to my car….ends hanging out and all! It was perfection!

I’m going to drop this hat into a nice Eucalan bath and hope to have some non bathroom selfie FO pictures later this week. Happy knitting!!

P.S. My shirt says “I run on Caffiene, Wine and Bad Words”. I got a few chuckles from fellow passengers during my travels.