Tag Archives: WIP

Re-Swatching Because Swatches Lie

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Earlier this week I had talked about making a second gauge swatch but this time with stripes. Seriously glad I did…because my tension changed while working stripes!! Using this yarn and my needles and making stripes got me a LOT closer to pattern gauge. This means my first spreadsheet math would have had me make a WAAAY to big of a sweater. This washed and blocked swatch only has me go up 1/2 to a whole pattern size. Glad I checked before I had most of a sweater done.

This time I had some better light so I took some better pictures. I am still leaning towards the wrong side of the striping. And I think I’m going to mix and match the single and double garter ridge stripes in some sort of pattern. Stay tuned…

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Helping Hippos Vanilla Socks

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Thanks to some recent car travel time and my children not being COMPLETELY insane. I managed to work a fair bit on my Helping Hippo Vanilla socks!

The sock on the right is the first one and it’s ready for the gusset heel. I didn’t have my heel notes handy and I didn’t have a stitch marker either but I still had quite a ways to go on our drive. So I put those aside and started the sock on the left. I mean…I can’t not knit while in the car right?

I’m really pleased with the speckles and finding it hard to put them down!

Happy Knitting!!

Sweater Math and Color Options

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I was a good knitter and made a gauge swatch for an upcoming sweater.  I off course was not happy with either the gauge at the recommended needle size or actually achieve pattern gauge. I just had to like my gauge at a different needle size. So taking my gauge I popped open excel and did some maths to figure out what size I needed to make to fit my upper bust at my gauge. And boy howdy did that stretch my brain. But I persevered.

So then I checked the pattern to see how much yarn I would need for the size I was going to make….and I didn’t have enough of the grey. But I know I had some more Berroco Chunky in my stash from some old sweaters.  I dug and found a blue and a purple…see below.

I made a WHOLE NEW SWATCH to see how the colors would play out. I am going full bore responsible knitter here guys. This is what my swatch looks like with stripes…

And here is a blown out photo of the wrong side of my stripes. Am I crazy (the answer is yes btw) but I like the wrong side better. It makes it look like poor woman’s colorwork ala the Playful Stripes Cardigan by Alana Dakos.

I need to wash this swatch version and mull over my options. I am really leaning towards the wrong side. But now….do I work single garter ridge stripes or double ridge garter stripes?

Happy Knitting!!!

Rosewood In The Wild

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It’s the time of the year to get all the parts checked and spend waaaaay too long in waiting rooms. Recently at my well woman visit I found myself with a ton of time to kill in the waiting area. So like any good knitter I pulled out my knitting and put some rows on my Rosewood Sockhead Slouch.

And you guys, I found another knitter in the wild because I was knitting in public! A very nice distinguished woman sat down next to me and asked it I was picking or throwing. And my head snapped up because to ask that question…you have to be more than a novice knitter. So we started up a pleasant conversation about knitting and projects until it was time for us to both head into our appointments.

It turned out to be a rather nice way to pass the time. Happy Knitting!!

Rosewood Progress

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My Rosewood Sockhead slouch is about the only knitted item I have been able to make progress on lately. It’s my bedside, in the dark, listening to podcasts and trying not to wake up the baby knitting. It really is knitting up nicely!

I’m at roughly 8 inches of hat and based on my Rainbow Pop sockhead hat I need to get to 11 inches before I start the decreases.

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Rosewood Sockhead Slouch

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Happy Halloween to everyone!! Before I head of to collect candy with Jellybean at my office I wanted to give you an update on a project seeing a ton of time lately.

PB is now over five months old and growing like a weed. And along with that growth has come sleep regressions and sleep training. This isn’t a parenting blog and I’m not seeking sympathy or advice. I’m simply trying to say that I have a happy healthy baby that is locked in a sleep training battle with me while I try to do the best parenting I know how. Lord knows I would get a stubborn daughter and I’m sure my parents are somewhere laughing at the Karma of it all!

The silver lining? Well, my Rosewood Sockhead Slouch is seeing a lot of action as my bedside knitting in the dark.

I’ve managed to finish the ribbing and work over an inch of stockinette of the hat in just over a week. I switched from US 1s for the ribbing to US2s for the remainder of the hat. I forgot to do this on my Rainbow Pop hat so I’m curious to see what difference it makes.

This has all been leading me to wonder….are vanilla hats my new vanilla socks? I haven’t touched a sock in almost two months now……hmmmm….

Happy Knitting!

An Almost Finished Rainbow Mitt

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My Rainbow Pop Fingerless Mitts are moving right along.

I’ve made A TON of mistakes because I’m mainly knitting these in the dark after the kiddos go to bed. I have uttered a lot of curse words and mostly gone back and fixed the dropped stitches and wonky yarn bits. But these will be FAR from perfect. My needles are also very sharp and I feel like that is part of my problem too (besides the dark).

I completely just winged this “pattern” and I really hope I can duplicate for the second mitt! The rubber will really hit the road when I cast off the cuff and try these babies on. I have no idea how these will fit other than I know they will fit over my fist.

Happy Knitting!!

A Little Blanket Knitting

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I loved the Lemonade Shop’s Stormy Day yarn so much that I couldn’t wait to add it to my memory blanket. I wanted to make sure I got my square done before I got started on the Rainbow mitts too.

I haven’t touched this in awhile and I kind of forgot how beautiful this blanket is. I have an itch to work on this, but it won’t earn me any points in the football KAL I’m playing in so I have kind of let it sit in my bag.

My better angels may win out and this may see some action this fall. Especially after I show you some mini madness I have earned. But that needs to be it’s own post. For now I’m going to pet my pretty blanket and snuggle under it.

Happy Knitting!!

Yarn Barf

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I know based on my progress on my Rainbow Pop Sockhead Slouch that I will have enough to A) put in my memory sock yarn blanket and B) make a pair of finger-less mitts. In anticipation of the mitts I pulled some Cascade Heritage Sock in a solid grey from my stash and cast on the first cuff of my vanilla mitt recipe. This way I will have contrasting cuffs and thumbs while also making my rainbow yarn go as far as possible.

But look at this yarn barf hot mess. I was knitting along fine and all of sudden just SOOO many tangles coming from inside the skein. I am eeeking along and steadily untangling as I knit until the cuff is long enough and them I’m breaking the yarn and rewinding this bad boy. Ain’t nobody got time for tangled yarn barf!

Happy Knitting!!

Technology Can Be Cool

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I’m every so close to finishing my Rainbow Pop Sockhead Slouch! I’m at 10 inches and ready to start decreasing. I’ve decided that’s enough slouch for me!

I also recently updated my iPhone to the lastest iOS and I got a new tool downloaded. It’s a measuring ap that uses your camera. So I took it for a spin.

I laid down a traditional tape measure for reference and played with the ap. I did manage to get it to come out to the right answer. But I also got several attempts where it was .5 inches on either side. So it’s close but I wouldn’t use it for anything exacting. I would use it if I was just wanting a ball park and stuck without a tape measure.t

img_5980I’m really happy with how the colors are coming out. I know it will change when I start the crown decreases. For sure there will be some pooling and changes in the color blips. But such is the way of this yarn and I’m at peace with it. I just REALLY want this hat for winter!

Happy Knitting!!