It is Monday and I have two completed socks to share with you!
Okay, yes, you’re right — they’re not matching socks, but it’s still sock progress. The left is Uneek zebra yarn from Urth, and the right is a DK from Desert Panda Fiberarts. It’s much richer and deeper than it looks in this photo. I’ll try to do a better job when I finish the pair!
Happy Monday, friends. I wish it was still the weekend!
Yesterday was a Happy Mail Day — I got my Autumn mystery box from Chestnut Hills Farm and Fiber! I ordered a while back and honestly had forgotten what the inspiration was (it was a photo of hay bales and pumpkins on a truck), so this whole box was a delightful surprise.
Guys, LOOK at that yarn! It’s stunning. I’m not usually a big fan of orange but for some reason I find this skein absolutely gorgeous. It’s dyed by Laughing Cat Fibers and it’s non-superwash, which sometimes I find not quite as soft but not this time. This feels so good and I’m already so inspired to cast on a little shawl that the yarn is already wound! I’ve chosen a pattern called Autumn Falling, which is free on Rav, and yes I will be casting on as soon as this blog post is done.
But there was more in the box! An adorable pumpkin sticker, a stitch marker necklace with sparkly coffin stitch markers dangling from a half-moon (from Gloomy Erina) , some pumpkin spice coffee, and a pumpkin spice latte lip balm which has a subtle fragrance and feels really nice.
This box had such good autumn vibes. Now if only our weather would cooperate! Happy Saturday, friends.
I haven’t just been buying yarn willy-nilly — I’ve also been knitting a bit! Recently I finished another Christmas gift.
These are for a very stylish male friend, so I’m hoping they’re classic and elegant enough. The elegant mostly comes from the yarn, which is a marvelous silk and merino blend from JulieSpins. Seriously, these mitts feel so good. I’m glad I have over half a skein left so I can make some for myself!
The pattern is called Pioneer Gloves and I’d share the link but Rav is currently down so I’m afraid you’ll have to do the extra step on your own. I do think it’s a free pattern, if that helps!
Happy Friday, friends.
Oh goodness. Today’s an overwhelm day, apparently. I spent a long weekend in Wisconsin with knitting friends, and it was a wonderful weekend and I got lots of beautiful yarn. But last night I logged it all in the spreadsheet and added it to the stash shelves, and wow I have a lot of yarn. I need to knit more of it! But I need to wind more to knit more! And I also want to write a blog post! And I want to finish reading the book for my book group, plus read the books I got for my birthday. Add that to my actual job stuff and suddenly I feel like I don’t have time for all the things I want/need to do. So! My solution to that: Make a list and just begin, one thing at a time. Bird by bird, as the wise Anne Lamott once said. Hence, blog post.
There were eight of us who convened in Wisconsin, partly for the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival but also partly just to be together. There were two I’d never met in person who I love even more now, and the others I was delighted to see again. We had one big AirBnB so we spent a lot of time hanging out knitting, but we split into smaller groups for different excursions. It was just GOOD to be together. They even put together a little birthday party for me one night, with cupcakes and the most thoughtful gifts. I’m a lucky lucky girl.
I got to pet sheep and go to a bookstore and a yarn store (The Sow’s Ear is SO GOOD!!) and the yarn I came home with is amazing. It’s a good thing we don’t do this very often! Some things were gifts though — I got a specially-dyed skein of yarn plus a gorgeous project bag from Chestnut Hills Farm & Fiber that I adore.
So yeah, good weekend. But after five days of togetherness, I was ready to recharge with a little solitude. I’ve got two projects in mind to cast on, so hopefully tonight I’ll be able to tackle the “wind yarn” item from my list.
Remember when Sock It To Me Monday used to be a thing?? I do, vaguely! And since I have a finished pair of socks to share, I thought I’d resurrect it.
After finishing a sweater and a shawl, I wanted to see what else I could finish before the end of the month, and this pair of socks was the only feasible option. I was about halfway through the cuff on the second sock when I got bored and set them aside, so it it only took me a couple of days to power through the rest.
The yarn is Ruby & Roses, colors are Disco Ball and Strobe, I think. I wish you could see the sparkle from the stellina but rest assured, it’s there and it’s delightful. Now I just need some cooler weather before I can wear them!
Happy Monday, friends.
I bound off my Rock Candy Mountain shawl last night, wove in the ends and everything like a good little knitter, and I’m obsessed with this shawl.
Knitting this was so addictive — each stripe had short rows so they got shorter and faster, which made me want to keep knitting to get to the next color. I love the i-cord edging. I love the squishiness of the garter stitch. It’s just all so good.
I did make a couple of modifications. The blue I had wasn’t a full skein, so to make sure I had enough, I did an extra stitch between each wrap & turn, which made the stripes a little narrower. I also went down two needle sizes, from the suggested 8 to a 6. That was partly to try to conserve yarn, but also to make the garter stitch thicker and squishier. It worked! Maybe even too much. The final product wasn’t quite as long as I was hoping.
It has now been soaked and pinned out as long as a I could stretch it, while still preserving the squish in the depth, and I think it might end up pretty close to perfect. We’ll see. I definitely want to make this pattern again — without modifications — but in shades of purple. Wouldn’t that be cool, to go from the palest lavender to the deepest violet? I’m headed to a Sheep & Wool festival next month and that’s definitely at the top of my wish list!
Happy Saturday, friends!
Or rather a snag hit me. I wore my new sweater to work yesterday and when I got home, the dogs were so excited to see me that they were jumping and of course a claw hooked into my sweater and pulled out a loooooooong snag. I’ve stretched it out as best I can but there’s still plenty left. I guess now I sit with my trusty Ott light and start working it back in.
Anybody know some fabulous snag fixes?
Update: I spent about twenty minutes with a tapestry needle and managed to work it back in. It’s a little loose right now but if I reblock it, that should disappear. Hooray!
My Riprap top is blocked and dry and I even managed to get a couple of photos! They’re not great photos, mind you, but they’re photos. Voilà!
I used Malabrigo Arroyo, which is superwash, which grows when it’s soaked, so I knit the smallest circumference and extended the length by about four inches. I meant to extend it by two inches but things happen and it’s four and I’m not mad about it at all. As far as yardage goes, I didn’t need the fifth skein I purchased, but I’m glad I got it and mixed it in so the color changes are more subtle. It’s designed to be cropped, which is not the best look for me, and I love the length now. I soaked it in Eucalan, put it through the spin cycle of the washer, and put it in the dryer for five minutes before pinning it out to dry. And the nice thing is that if I decide it’s too oversized, I can just soak it again and dry it for longer!
I had it on for the photos and didn’t want to take it off. I think it’ll be great for late summer/fall with a sleeveless tank underneath, and then in winter with a long-sleeve tee. I kind of want to knit another one now! Maybe in non-superwash worsted weight? That could be interesting!
Happy Monday, friends.
I have finished my Riprap top! Hooray! It has been washed and blocked and waiting to be shared another day, once I’m able to get decent photos of the completely-finished sweater. And now that it’s done, I’ve moved on to the other bigger project I’ve been obsessed with lately: the Rock Candy Mountain shawl. I came across this on Instagram and immediately began stash-diving. I didn’t want to just make the pattern, I wanted to make THIS shawl, exactly as she did. (I could only find a ravelry link.)
My stash dive yielded five of the seven colors, and Sarah from Mildly Granola generously offered a skein of reddish-orange from her stash. After that, I had superwash wool in gray, pink, and turquoise, and silk in green and purple. The pattern calls for either DK or fingering weight held double, and I had a mixture. The green silk I had was either a heavy fingering or a light DK but I figured it would be okay. I searched destash yarns on Etsy and soon I had a yellow wool fingering to complete the set and I was off to the races!
Everything went swimmingly until I got to the green. It was indeed lighter weight than the previous colors, which visibly affected the gauge. The silk also felt different than the wool, which I’d expected but didn’t think I would mind. I minded. Luckily for me, this was my main travel project when the husband and I went to Omaha, and among my trips to yarn stores I managed to find a good replacement yarn! I bought the same yarn in purple, since experience had already told me I wouldn’t want to use the purple silk I’d pulled from my stash.
Only two colors left and I can’t imagine they’ll take too long. It’s not exactly the stashbuster I’d planned, since I ended up buying three of the seven colors, but it cleared out four skeins and I sure love it. It’s going to be HUGE and squishy and cozy!
My gift hat has been completed and has its pompom. Though I loved the suggestion of a pink faux fur pompom, I remembered I wanted to do these gifts completely from stash, and I didn’t have a fur pom that worked. What I did have was exactly enough yarn left over for one good-sized pompom!
That literally used up all the yarn, and a I had to use a scrap of another yarn to attach it. I’m calling that a big win! It was so satisfying that I moved right on to my next gift knit, a pair of fingerless gloves. I chose a pattern called Felicity Mitts (free on Rav) and some creamy Malabrigo Sock from the stash. The first mitt went so quickly and I was in love, convinced I’d found my new favorite mitt pattern.
I do love it! Look at the dainty lace that will block out so nicely! But now I have a huge case of second-mitt syndrome and am having the hardest time casting on for mitt two. Thank goodness I still have plenty of time before Christmas!
Happy Saturday, friends.
bonnyknits 