Tag Archives: WIP

An Almost Cardigan

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Well the weekend proved fruitful…sort of. PB received her 2 month vaccinations and required extra snuggles and a TON of nursing to get over the hump. But lots of snuggling meant some easy knitting on PB’s Sporty Cardigan over top of a sleeping baby.

I managed to finish the body, knit on the button bands and *almost* finish the first sleeve. I did have to take Jellybean to the craft store to track down some size 6 metal dpns. I had to settle for Micheals brand store needles. But they worked just fine. I was using my Knit Picks nickle plated interchangeables for the body anyway and I like to use the same needle material when possible to keep gauge consistent.

I’m really hoping to bang out both sleeves this week….fingers crossed! Happy Knitting!!

Sporty Cardigan Update

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I may have an addiction. My Sporty Cardigan for PB is cruising right along.

I managed to work through the raglan increases, separate for the sleeves and work a good chunk of the body! It’s been a quick minute since I had to do so many purl back rows. So much of my last few projects have been garter or in the round that I haven’t had much occasion to do many purl rows!

I’m really hoping against all hopes that I can get this done before I go back to work or before she out grows it….which ever comes first, lol!

Happy Knitting!!

Easy Goes It…Plus Some

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The middle of last week I reached the end of the pattern instructions for my Easy Goes It shawl. I still had a ton of yarn left as the put up on my skein was bigger than the pattern called for yarn. (And I was even using a size 7 US needle instead of the pattern recommended US 6 to make my gauge bigger.)  What is a knitter to do? I didn’t want to bind off and leave so much unused.

Well, I put on my big girl undies and decided to extend the pattern. I am going to work another garter section and weigh my yarn as I go. When I get down to a few grams left I think I will add a short eyelet section before binding off in the pattern recommended manner. I will save just a teeny bit of yarn for my scrap blanket but otherwise I plan to play yarn chicken as best I can. This singles yarn is too yummy to sit in my leftovers.

I’m a few garter bumps in and my yarn is shrinking. I think a good nap knitting session today and post-bedtime session tonight should see me to the rest of my yarn….fingers crossed.

Happy Knitting!!

Big Bang Update

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My Big Bang Vanilla Sock has been growing quietly in the dark.

This is my post-bedtime knitting in the dark while the temperamental PB sleeps in the bassinet next to me. She still has finely tuned baby radar and can tell when she’s alone in the bedroom. Instead of feeling frustrated I take this as an opportunity to knit or honestly….go to sleep too. Babies are exhausting.

This TurtlePurl yarn has an interesting striping sequence. It’s two different two color stripe blocks each separated by a single red stripe. The colors emerge and are a complete surprise to me when I get this out in the daylight. I bought this yarn for the cute name and to be truthful, wasn’t entirely sold on the colors after I started knitting. But they are growing on me.

I have a TON of yarn in this sock set. I’m going to see how long I can stand knitting a plain tube. I am shooting for tall socks but I don’t think I will use up all the yarn. I don’t want to have to figure in calf shaping or too many increases over my standard mid-calf sock recipe. Time will tell!

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Big Bang Vanilla Socks

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My needles felt very naked after I finished the Electric Mayhem socks. And I totally NEEDED another self-striping project. My brain was just craving that popcorn knitting of “just one more stripe” type of project.

So I pulled some Turtlepurl Yarns Striped Turtle toes yarn from my stash in the Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock colorway. That is a reference to one of my favorite shows, the Big Bang Theory. And the dyer had already split the 100 grams into two matching 50 gram skeins. I got this wound up and cast on my usual 68 stitch toe up vanilla sock on US 1 needles. I plan to knit tubes again and add afterthought heels later. Based on the yarn….I’m thinking solid red heels. But I’ll see how the tubes turn out first.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Easy Goes It

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After my successful Antarktis finish, I really felt the need to fill the shawl sized hole in my knitting life. I did some queue searching and stash diving in my “golden skeins” and came up with a single skein of Neighborhood Fiber Co Rustic Fingering in the Easterwood color. I picked up this skein during my trip to Minnesota last February and it has been popping into my brain every since I brought it home.

This is a singles yarn in 100% merino. So perfect for a shawl and the subtle variegation to the blue would really shine in a single color shawl. I settled on Easy Goes it by Finincky Creations. I thought the name and the garter stitch based construction were just kismet. Easy is about all I am capable of right now, lol.

Thanks to some Grandparent babysitting I managed to get cast on and work the first section of garter and start the second section that incorporates more pattern like stitches. the bag is a Suburban Stitcher bag and I hope to finish this shawl in time to enter it into the PALKAL run by the Actually Knitting podcast. We shall see….there are a lot of baby growth spurts ahead. And I’m not counting my knitting time before it hatches so to speak.

The yarn is lovely but it’s been a long time since I worked with a singles yarn. I do with my needles were slightly more pointy but not too pointy. I’m using bamboo needles from Joann’s because that is what I had on hand. And they are perfectly serviceable, I just wish the tips were just a little bit better to make the knitting faster.

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Thotful Spot Hat

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The knitting and napping method worked so swell the other day that I tried it again on my Thotful Spot hat!

I’m past the brim and well into the stockinette section. I just need to hit the magic number of 7 inches of work and I can start decreasing for the crown! This project has moved into the “bedside table” slot now that it’s stockinette in the round (in addition to nap-time knitting). But will have to be demoted after I get to the decreases. Double pointed needles plus counting stitches for decreases do not mix with almost complete darkness.

Happy Knitting!!

Knitting and Napping

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My Electric Mayhem socks are all done except the heels! Thus they have moved from nighttime bedside knitting to full on daylight knitting. As brave as I am….I’m not going to knit fingering weight sock yarn in black in the dark, lol

PB has been on hand for the heels. These heels were ready about the same time the 4 week growth spurt hit. So PB has needed a little extra attention and tummy to tummy time from mommy. Luckily I have found a relatively comfortable and ergonomic position to knit while snuggling a baby.

We both stayed warm and cozy listening to music or podcasts while the heels grew and grew.

And sometimes you just have to stop and enjoy the baby snuggles before they are gone!

Happy Knitting!!

Thotful Progress

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One bright side about PB deciding to come early….I got to attend my family’s annual reunion in my hometown. Mind you, this is an event I organize annually and had accepted that I would just miss it this year. But it all worked out and we had a lovely weekend and not a horrible first long car trip with two kids.

I squished myself in the middle row between my two children’s car seats to manage diaper changes, pacifiers, snacks and entertainment. (It wasn’t terribly comfortable but I survived). The kids did REALLY well on both the to and from trips so I squeezed in some knitting in the car and at the reunion while other people were holding/playing with my children. This is my hospital cast on of the Thotful Spot hat by Sarah Schira.

I finished the 2.5 inches of ribbing and put at least a couple inches of stockinette on the hat itself. The yarn is from Potion Yarns in their Temptress base in the Walk on the Left Side color. The blips of color are just mesmerizing to watch develop. Since this is stockinette and I’m back home, this has become my bedside/in the dark knitting. So I’m hoping it grows little by little when I can sneak a few minutes here and there.

Happy Knitting!!

Antarktis Update

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This shawl was my Mother’s Day cast on for 2018. It’s the Antarktis by Janina Kallio in KnitCircus Trampoline base in the Needle in Haystack impressionist gradient.

I’m in the last section of lace and after that it’s just a lace border and BAM I’m done! I’m on track to have enough yarn to finish this project as written. Which is super exciting to get a full skein out of my stash.

I have an almost four week old baby. So I hear you ask, how could I possibly be getting any knitting done? This project has seen some action mostly because my house is has been full of guests willing to hold PB while I cook or knit. I’m grateful for the knitting time but I’m kinda also getting itchy about getting my house back to myself. I guess this world is all about balance and choices, lol. Maybe when all the guests are gone I will miss my knitting time?

In the  meantime…I’m going to look forward to a beautiful finished shawl! Happy Knitting!!