Tag Archives: WIP

Self Care Renewed

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It’s hot and my kids are extra special kinds of wound up because of the heat and limited hours outside. So this week’s self care is brought to you by….

Leftover cake I found in the freezer from PB’s 1st birthday in May, vanilla ice cream, my Progression Shawl, my worsted boxy as a back up knitting project, and knitting podcasts on the TV.

I mean, whats the worst that can happen? I drip a little cake or melted ice cream on my shawl. I think I’ll risk it. Fall shall be here soon!!

Happy knitting!!

Cast On: Progression Shawl

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I have found my zen again. As I wrote yesterday, I frogged my everyday shawl in my Cheshire Cat mini set yarn. Yet another dive down the Ravelry pattern search rabbit hole led me to the Progression Shawl by Carin Risinger.

This pattern is a garter stitch shawl which makes me happy because I was not in the mood to purl after my issues with the everyday shawl. And it’s also incorporated some easy eyelets to add some interest. The Progression Shawl is also asymmetrical and should made a nice long shawl to wrap up cozy in next winter. Not to mention I feel like the garter and eyelets are suited to the heavy variegation in this yarn.

The added bonus to this pattern is the fact that I can adjust the instructions to easily use up all my yarn. Those kinds of details just make my OCD tendencies SUPER happy. I might decide to save out 8-10 grams total of this set to add to my memory blanket. I’ll have to see how the yarn stacks out in this shawl.

Happy Friday and Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Everyday Shawl

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I have been sitting on a pack of Wonderland Yarns Cheshire Cat mini and tried to make then into a Vamping Shawl. That turned out to not be a great match of pattern and yarn. So after frogging I did some Ravelry searches and came up with Everyday Sahwl by Jenny Faifel. It was a little challenging to find a shawl that fit my yardage that wasn’t all over complicated lace and will suit this variegated yarn. My mom brain has NO space for lace nonsense right now. This shawl looks amazing! It’s alternating sections of stockinette and reverse stockinette so really soothing and easy on my grey matter.

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This is an asymmetrical triangle shawl that will make a nice large shawl that should be very wearable. And I think the pattern should be able to handle the variegated nature of the yarn. It will be interesting to see how the yarn transitions as I add the other minis.

I may or may not have cast this project on at 9 pm at night. Which soothed my soul, but I had to cast this on, rip it back and re-cast on to feel like I was understanding what I should be doing. My stitch counts were all off on the first go round. I’m 100% sure it was (tired) user error. But the good new is the 2-ply yarn structure didn’t seem to suffer from the ripping and re-knitting!

Happy Knitting!!

Not Quite A Full Foot

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I have been pretty diligent about getting off my rear end for lunch and walking. Aside from feeling less stressed and hitting my step goal most days. I’ve been adding more stripes to my Cheery Vanilla Socks.

It’s hard to see from this angle but I have about 5.5 inches of foot complete. I have a 9 inch foot so I like to get to 7 inches (or just shy of) before I add waste yarn for a forethought afterthought heel. Based on how much I get knit…I think I have three more walks and I’ll be at the heel!

Happy Friday to all and keep on Knitting!!

Round and Round

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I have been in need of some zen knitting lately with stress and extra work of remodeling my kitchen and office flooring. And my Worsted Boxy has fit the bill!

After reading some other project notes, I decided to double the ribbing from four to eight rows. This was theoretically to prevent flipping of the hem. As I’m knitting I’m still getting a lot roll and flip. But I’ll withhold judgement until it’s blocked.

I’m about halfway through my first skein and I’m thus far with the fabric I’m making. This has been the only project I have been able to pick up and work on after I’m exhausted from flooring. And boy howdy does 200+ stitches take a LONG time to work a round. With luck I may have this knit by fall?

Happy knitting!!

Cast On: Worsted Boxy

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I consistently find myself late to any and all knitting trends. I mean I knit my first fade only this year and how long has that been around? I have been finding myself attracted to some boxy garments lately. I have been working on my post-PB baby weight loss and I find myself comfortable and pleased with a skinny pant, boxy shirt or sweater and a cute pair of shoes look.

So I decided to try knitting Worsted Boxy by Joji Locatelli in some Berroco Vintage from DEEP DEEP stash. My line of thinking is:

  • This yarn has tried to be several things and it has never quite worked. So why not a comfy sweatshirt style neutral color garment?
  • I’ll get this sweater quantity out of my stash for good if I finish this
  • A worsted sweater should go faster than the fingering weight boxy
  • If I finish it and it look hideous or the color doesn’t favor me…I’ll find it a good home somewhere!

I’m knitting the medium size in the pattern. It won’t give me quite the full ease that Joji calls for but enough ease that it fit loosely but still be flattering. I have managed to cast on the 200+ stitches WITHOUT TWISTING and I have started the ribbing. Based on reading other notes I think I’m going to double the ribbing called for in the pattern to prevent the hem from rolling. Wish me luck!

Happy Knitting!!

A Heel For Dad

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I made really good progress on Dad’s socks while on vacation. I finished a good chunk of the leg and weighed my skein. I was already dangerously close to using 50% of the skein and I hadn’t put in the afterthought heel yet!

So in an effort to stave off knitting disaster I split the skein in half by weight and looked at my remaining ball for sock number one. It was tiny! So I broke the yarn and inserted the heel. I managed to finish the heel but I wasn’t going to have enough yarn to do a decently tall cuff.

I did a quick Ravely search of my stash and found a single skein of Berroco Vintage DK in my stash that would be about right. It was plain black and coordinately decently with this stripe colors. And it has a relatively close fiber content so the washing instructions would be the same. I am still periodically holding this sock up against previously knit socks that I know fit my dad. And this sock matches the measurements but it still looks to my eye to be crazy big.

Dad will be here for a visit in a few days. I might break down and have him try this first sock on to see if it fits before I start the second sock. I risk having to re-knit the first sock but that is better than wasting a whole skein of perfectly good sock yarn that won’t get worn!

Happy Knitting!!

Self Care And Socks

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My four year old Jellybean is testing my limits with all he’s got. Bedtime has turned into a huge ordeal. I know this is part of his growing up and learning to question the world and push boundaries. But ooof, it’s exhausting and consumes almost all my patience. So last night after a 55 minute bedtime battle I settled in for some self care.

I poured myself a low carb beer, turned on the Wet Coast Wools podcast and worked on the toe of my Soft Serve Sock Snake socks. As far as self care goes I feel like this was the better option than the large bowl of ice cream I really wanted. Though my sock toe might be a little wonkier than if I had skipped the beer, lol.

Happy Knitting and take care of yourself!

Cast On: Vamping

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I have had this pack of mini skeins in my stash for awhile now and it keeps popping up in my mind. It’s some Frabjous Fibers and Wonderland yarns Cheshire Cat in the Mad Tea Party colorway. There are five mini skeins in a rainbow-ish kind of fade. I picked this pack up at a yarn store closing and I have been hoarding it. Well, last week I got a yarn newsletter that highlighted the Vamping pattern from Jennifer Dassau. And I rushed to my stash to grab my yarn and needles..

I was so lost in the wool fumes that I hand wound the first mini and cast on right then and there. It was like 9:45 pm and my brain was a little foggy so the cast on took three attempts. But I think I’m on track now….I hope….

Happy Knitting!!

Second Set Of Shorties

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The first set of shorties are off my needles and I’m starting to work on my pair. These are pair number two in my Soft Serve Sock Snake Socks.

I had to do some finagling with my scraps for these tubes. I went ahead and added the speckled yarn for contrasting cuffs. But those cuffs completed used up that mini skein with nothing left for heels or toes. Also, the tubes were not the same length by a noticeable amount. So I dug out the leftover scraps from the first pair and added until they were the same length. You can see the strip sequence is off for the sock on the right.

Now my dilemma is what yarn to use for the toes and heels? I pulled a couple options from my stash but I’m not completely sold on either. I might need to do a deeper stash dive after the kiddos go to bed. I don’t need these perfect but some degree of coordination would keep my brain happy.

Happy Knitting!!