XO socks

Hi friends! This weekend has been perfect for recuperation, there has been lots of knitting (crochet too, eek!) and reading. Today was especially cozy for staying indoors because it rained and was cloudy.

This morning I finished a pair of socks that have been on the needles since February.

Pattern: Allons-y!! by Jennifer Thomassian
Yarn: The Little Mount Yarn Co in Chocolate Covered Cherry
Needles: 2.25 mm

I follow Madeline of The Little Mount Yarn Co on Instagram, and when she posted a photo of this yarn I snatched it right away! The yarn is gorgeous and was so nice to knit with!!

The pattern is by another Instagram friend, Jennifer. The X O pattern might be a little lost in the yarn, and it especially doesn't photograph well, but I love the pairing! I love that this pair of socks reminds me of two crafty and inspiring friends :)

I cast on two new pairs, one I will share next time because I'm not very far along yet! A photo of the yarn though:

A Fine Fish Yarns

and the second pair:

Pattern: Blueberry Waffle Socks by Sandy Turner
Yarn: Knit and Fiber Creation in colorway Stanley Shunpike (!!!!!)
Needles: 2.25 mm

This yarn came with a small skein of gray for contrast heels and toes, which I love. I have been seeing a lot of knitters creating contrast heels and I just love it! These pairs by Andi (she also convinced me to cast on a pair of Blueberry Waffles after a recent post) and Dani, in particular!


Alright... I've done something recently that I haven't done in years.

Crochet.

And it's all Dani's fault!!! I mean, just look at her project page.

The pattern is Weekender Blanket by Sandra Paul. The designer used DK weight, but Dani is using sock scraps so I had to, too :)  I love these teeny hexis!!! Utterly addictive. And they join as you go, which is such a time saver.



I hope everybody has a fabulous week!!

Spring is here!

these daffodils were only $1.99 and they spent the week slowly blooming :) they are so cheerful to have in the kitchen... money well spent! And I just returned from having my taxes filed...whew! I am so glad to have that done.

That little bunny nugget is knit from my handspun!! He turned out kind of big actually, because the yarn ended up being bulky! They are so much more squishable at this size :) he is being sent to my swap partner, along with this shawl:

The swap was organized on Instagram and is called I Yarn, U Stitch (or #yarnstitchswap). The idea is you knit or crochet for someone, and then you receive a sewn item (or vice versa, depending on your handicraft). Swappers aren't necessarily paired up with the same people they are making for, so it's very exciting!! My partner said she would like a scarf and that her favorite color is purple.

My Ravelry page has this named Once Upon a Time because I marathoned a season and a half of the show Once Upon a Time while knitting it :) and the color plus lace...it's kind of fairy tale-ish, right? :)

Pattern: Definitely Diagonal Scarf by Kris Basta

Yarn: Berroco Vintage

Needles: US 10 circular

Modifications: none! 

The drape is lovely and the worsted weight yarn makes for such a cozy and squishy shawl... I really want one for myself now!! This pattern is very easy to memorize and knitting went quickly. The rows become pretty long, but that is the only negative thing I have to say :)

I also finished a pair of socks:

These are the Monster Socks. I used about 252 yards of socks scraps! That's a pretty rough estimate. I know each stripe used about six yards of yarn because I measured and cut them to size (all except the last two stripes because I ran out of magic ball!)

Do you track your yardage through knitmeter.com? I am obsessed lately with knowing how much I've knit! So far this year, I have knit 1.5 miles!!

I used Hermione's Everyday Socks for the pattern and incorporated a Fish Lips Kiss Heel too.

Very pleased with them! They are pair 8/13.


Let's see, ongoing projects... I am eager to finish this gift:

It's a Hitchhiker knit in Knit Picks Glimmer, colorway Peacock. I love knitting with glitter yarn! This is another one that will be hard to part with... 

I also have a plain vanilla sock on the needles:

It's in Knit Picks Felici, colorway High Tide. It will have an afterthought heel.

I just realized it looks like a sushi roll when I do this... hehe

One last thing. I bought a Sock Sack and it's too cute:

Michelle from StudioInTheGreen sewed it.... I had to have it because of the kitties. But when it arrived, I fell in love with the mice too!

Midway through this post I remembered I've been soaking hand knit socks for about two hours... oops! Better take care of them.

I hope everyone has a joyful weekend xx

more dyeing

I am quite hooked.

I dyed these skeins this morning. I tried a new method of putting a few drops of food coloring into the pan with a little bit of water, and then placing the skein on top of the dye. The wool really sucks the color up; it's pretty neat to watch!

and these are some skeins from earlier this week:

this behemoth is half a pile of fiber I spun during the summer

I am seriously infatuated with the dyeing process!

Other than dyeing, I also knit this little bunny from handspun:

it was a teeny skein someone gifted me in a swap package, and it made a very sweet bunny nugget! I still have some left, I could probably squeeze a few more out of it.

I also finished Call the Midwife: Shadows of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth. There are three books to the series (I haven't read the first one) and this is the second. It has also been developed into a tv series on PBS. I really enjoyed reading this. I expected it to be more of a memoir, and about halfway through, it did read more like one. The first half tells the stories of three people Jennifer Worth came to know, how they survived life in the workhouse, and their lives after. They are very sad but beautiful and moving stories. The second half shows more of her life as a nurse and her very special friendship she makes with one man. I do recommend this book.

 One last thing to share:

This absolutely yummy fiber is from paperdag of Sheep on a Spring. Gahhh!! I can't wait to spin them up! aren't the colors amazing??

I have a short work week, so today is my Friday, woo hoo!!!!
I hope you all have a wonderful day xx