Shawl Storage

Sep20

Someone commented on my post yesterday, asking how I store my shawls, and it reminded me that I wanted to ask for advice on that! My skinny scarf/shawls go on hooks on my closet door and that’s great, but it’s ~~getting~~ full.

When I started making full-sized shawls, I used some scarf hangers and hung them over the top and through the loops and it was okay. But I keep making shawls because I love to make them so much, and my situation is getting out of hand.

I’ve added at least three shawls since I took this photo. I just keep layering more shawls on top, and I can’t see them all, and the hangers are getting heavier. I love having them out where I can see them, but either I need to buy more hangers or I need a different solution! How do you store your shawls??

I need some lace, stat!

Sep19

I sat down to knit last night and realized that there was a big gaping hole in my WIPs. I currently have two in-the-round stockinette projects, and two simple socks. That’s it. Now, those are very nice projects and I like them, but what happens when I want something more interesting, more engaging? I got nothin’.

Fortunately, that’s easily remedied. After a little bit of time on Ravelry, and a little bit of time digging through my stash, I’ve got a new project ready to cast on.

I was kind of saving the green (MadTosh in Seaglass) for a fade project, but it looks so good with this mystery gray/green that I’m willing to make the sacrifice. Plus, heck, I can always get another skein of Seaglass green someday if I need it. This one is going into a pretty two-color shawl called Spring Rain!

Estonian Lace Cowl

Sep16

I spent the last three days working on donation knitting, but today I need to share a cowl I finished over a week ago! I was just really slow taking pretty photos. This is my Estonian Medallion Lace Cowl.

This is some of my most recent vacation yarn from Colorado, from a local dyer called Herd of Cats. If I read the tag right, the base is Streets, and this might be the Champion Street colorway. Because it was only around 181 yards, I had to modify the pattern a little bit, just by casting on fewer stitches. Toward the end, I was afraid I was going to run out of yarn so I only did 2.5 repeats of the lace instead of three. (Probably could have done all three, though.)

Anyway, the important thing is that the yarn is delicious! It’s thick and squooshy and so soft that I really thought it had some cashmere or silk, but it’s all merino. I believe they sell under the name Road Trip Sock Yarn on Etsy, and this looks like what I had. But also, if you’re ever in Denver, stop by the LambShoppe and check out their yarns!

Okay but seriously

Sep15

Do mittens need to be exactly the same size?? I’ve been working on my donation hats and mittens, and I have two awesome mittens but one is two rows longer than the other. Argh.

I have enough green yarn left to make either a hat, or a second set of mittens so that I have two sets that match. I prefer making hats to mittens but I also prefer to have mittens be the same size. What would you do, mittens or hat?

While I ponder, I’ll make a set of brown mittens and cross my fingers that I can make them the same size! And if anyone else is interested in donating, here’s the info: Maine Access Immigrant Network, 237 Oxford St, Suite 25A, Portland ME 04101.

A hat in a night

Sep13

The other day I saw a post on Instagram calling for hat and mitten donations for asylum-seekers in Maine, and I knew I had to send a few things. I even knew which yarn to use: I had some Cascade Superwash Aran in green, tan, and brown. I’m pretty sure the only reason I bought it in the first place is because it was on sale. It’s very nice yarn, just not my colors. It’s thick and warm, soft for kids, and easy to take care of. Plus it knits up quick: I made this in one evening after work.

This one is child-sized, which made it quicker too, and a very simple ribbed pattern. But it’ll be stretchy and forgiving, and I hope it keeps a little head warm this winter!

I’ve already got a second one done, a little smaller and in the brown, and I’ve got a few balls of leftovers that I’m hoping to make into simple mittens. But first, I discovered a partial skein of hot pink KnitPicks Brava Bulky in my stash that will make a great hat too. It’s a pretty small ball, though, so it’ll probably become a baby hat.

Happy Friday, friends! I hope you have a wonderful weekend awaiting you!

Here’s a sock

Sep11

Somehow I finished a sock yesterday. It’s one of my new yarns, the Mudpunch self-striping, and apparently I find the colors addictive.

I got carried away and made the foot just a tiny bit too long, but it’s comfy. The second sock is already begun and hopefully it goes as quickly as this one did!

Fixing Stitches

Sep10

Sometimes we knitters make mistakes in our projects. When that happens, we have to decide if we can live with it, or if we want to fix it. Many fixes seem rather scary at first, so newer knitters can be shy about diving right in to tinking or picking up dropped stitches. I have a knitter friend who is like that, and I get to feel smart and clever by helping her! Today she had a blanket where she’d purled two stitches that were supposed to be knit. Oops.

They were several rows back, so she was asking what her options were to fix it. I told her the easiest way would be to knit to the stitches and drop down to the errors, then pick the stitches back up with a crochet hook. That seemed scary to her, so I offered to do it. I made sure to text her a scary progress picture.

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Not only were the stitches wrong, but somehow an extra stitch had been added at that same point, so I pulled those unnecessary stitches out, and then pulled out the next row down to the other purl stitch.

Then I used my little hook to pull that stitch up to the top and bam, it was done! There was some extra play in the yarn because of those stitches I pulled out, but that should all even out with the first wash.

This was one of the easiest fixes, honestly. Bulky yarn that is just sticky enough that the stitches don’t come out too easily, and plain stockinette stitches. Next time I’ll make her do it herself, or else how will she learn??

Finished Faery Socks

Sep8

After casting on so many new things last weekend, this weekend I was good and finished one of my older WIPs. I had a second sock that was mid-foot, so I pulled it out during the women’s tennis final last night and sped through to the toe, then finished the toe this morning. I’m delighted to have a pair of new socks for the fall weather that is sure to be coming soon!

fullsizeoutput_2348 You might notice that they don’t match exactly. I made extra-long green cuffs (a full 2″) and when I got to the heel of the second sock, I was afraid I wouldn’t have enough of the green left for both the heel and toe. I wanted a green toe more than I wanted a green heel, so that’s what I did and since Perfectionist Bonny and Knitter Bonny apparently live in two different worlds, I don’t care a bit. I ended up with 2.5 grams of the green left over; I wonder if that would have been enough after all?

I don’t usually wash my socks before wearing them, but I think I should for these. If you look closely at the needles, especially that bottom one, you’ll see a slight dark green tinge. I’m wondering if I’ll end up with green feet if I don’t get some of that excess dye out!

Pattern: Vanilla Latte Socks (modified slightly)

Yarn: Apothefaery Fabrications Middle of the Road Sock, color

Darn that job

Sep7

Don’t you hate it when work gets in the way of your fun stuff? This week has been too busy, and I haven’t had the mental energy to put much toward knitting or blogging or cool things like that. But I’m going to change that today! It’s a cool, sunny morning, so I’m outside with a cup of tea and a couple of dogs and I’m going to clear my head of work.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I HAVE been knitting; I’ve just been working on projects that don’t make me think too much. My Mudpunch sock has gotten the most time, which is why I’m a good way into the foot.

This is the Twizzler socks pattern and I like it a lot, but I also like how this stripe pattern works up in plain stockinette. I almost wish I’d done a vanilla sock. (I also wish I’d taken the time to get a better photo, now that I see this one here. Oops.)

My other project this week has been my Estonian lace cowl. I worked on this while I was watching the US Open, but only during the less critical matches, i.e. not Rafa Nadal. My skein was smaller than the designer’s, so I cast on fewer stitches for a cozier cowl. I might not get the full three repeats of the lace pattern but I’m not bothered. I’ll just go until I can’t go anymore.

And today is Duncan’s Gotcha Day! We’ve had him for two years now and can’t imagine life without him. He’s the husband’s favorite as well as the boy’s favorite, and he’s such a sweet snuggler. I’m just really glad he stopped destroying things as he got older!

Happy weekend, friends!

Pride in the Name of Love

Sep3

Back in June, I impulsively bought yarn after seeing a photo on Instagram. I mean, heck, it might have happened more than once, but today is about just one of those purchases. This yarn was a special collaboration between Three Irish Girls yarn and Eat.Sleep.Knit in recognition of Pride month, all of which I loved. But it was also rainbow colors with PURPLE. Well. Take my money immediately, right? It took me a couple of months but I recently finished the Taina shawl I made with it, and it’s just as gorgeous knit up as it was in a skein.

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The yarn was their Adorn Luxe base, which has 15% nylon, which means I *could* have made socks, but this yarn was way too pretty to go on my feet. It was heavenly to knit with, soft and supple, and it blocked into such a wonderful drape. Can’t wait to wear this little beauty!

The pattern was just my cup of tea too: simple but not completely mindless, forgiving of mistakes if you make a section too long or too short, and lots of squishy garter stitch. It’s a long, narrow shawl — more of a scarf, which is what I prefer. I wish I’d bought a sweater quantity, but alas, I just got the one skein. If you want your own purple Pride yarn, there is some DK still available…unless I snatch it up for a sweater, that is!

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