Whoop whoop! socks

Socks! This pair felt especially super when I finished sewing in the ends; not only are they for a friend, but they are my thirteenth pair! I have reached my sock goal this year :) since I foresee more sock knitting, I'm increasing my goal to twenty pairs. That might be a little ambitious, especially with holiday knitting starting soon, but I'm going to try!

The yarn is hand dyed and I am so happy with how it knit up.

I hope everyone has been enjoying their weekend :) We have been indulging in the Dead White and Blue marathon, eek! (the Walking Dead) I never ever liked zombies until I started this show. I still don't like them, but I can't stop watching.

Oh one last thing! If you are interested, I am co-hosting a KAL with Jessie from Big Heart in a Small Town - we will be knitting Clinquant shawl by Lisa Mutch. The KAL starts on August 1 and ends on September 23... there is plenty of time to find yarn! If you visit the Ravelry thread for this, you will also find a 50% off coupon code for the pattern! We would love to have you knit along with us :)

Enjoy your weekend!! x

Book Club Baby Shower

Last week our book club gave a baby shower for not one, not two, but three of our expecting mamas! (that is almost half of our total membership!! Someone jokingly asked, What do you guys read??)

We spent the evening at a park eating, laughing, playing games. The weather held, though it sprinkled a little on us.

The super adorable cake Abbey made:

Since we are a book club, our gifts to the mamas were children's books!

FO: Hiking socks

It feels so good to have a finished object! On the pendulum of knitting, I am on the part that swings towards finishing all of the WIPs. Have to keep going while I have the momentum!

I just wanted a simple wool sock to wear with hiking shoes. The yarn is Patons Kroy and I enjoyed using it and I think it will hold up well. These were solely purse socks and knit on them while out and about.

Can't wait to try them out :) These make twelve pairs this year. I am going to change my original goal to knit thirteen pairs... maybe I will shoot for twenty pairs?


I cast on Echo Flowers shawl:

this is my first real lace project. I know they always say lace looks like spaghetti before blocking, but I am seriously worried! I am worried because my yarn is single ply, and wonder if the shawl would hold up better in a 2-ply. That photo represents three hours of knitting! One good thing is the pattern is becoming easier now that I'm on the third pattern repeat. What do you guys think? I will keep knitting on it (unless someone says knitting single ply lace shawls are the worst idea ever!), but any comments are appreciated.


I did make a little progress on Sue's socks:

I also started reading Orange is the New Black since finishing the second season (it's also our book club's next book). In rare history, the book is not as good as the tv show! Character development is nowhere as in depth in the book. I realize they want to make good tv and probably "enhanced" a lot of characters, but it makes the book dull. Oh, and almost all of the characters' names are changed! So that is confusing.


We made these Chia Seed Oatmeal cookies yesterday and they are delicious!

They have no added sugar, and don't use flour or eggs. But honestly, the selling point are the chia seeds! I really wanted to try them. The cookies are moist, chewy, and banana-y :) I definitely recommend them!


Today looks so bright and sunny, I am excited for the day! Hope you have all been enjoying your summer weekend xx

always socks

Hi friends!

I have been such a polygamous knitter lately, it's kind of driving me nuts because I haven't finished anything! I should add, while I usually have several projects going at the same time, this feels a little out of control. eep!

 

Dad's socks have been receiving more knitting time. They won't be finished in time for Father's Day, but I think I will give them to him anyway. I really want him to try them on so I know how much longer to knit them.

 

Look at the cute Belgian waffle stitch marker I received from Brie!! Cute stitch markers definitely help motivate me in that sea of navy blue :)

  

I also have been knitting on Sue's socks. I think I was still on the leg the last time I posted about them. I have turned the heels on both and have knit a little bit of feet :)

  

An eye of partridge heel is still the prettiest, in my opinion!!

 

I finished one hiking sock! Even though they are short, they are sure taking a long time to knit ;) The cuff and the leg are both one inch long, and then I started the heel flap. The yarn is Patons Kroy but doesn't it look like handspun? 

In my polygamist state, I cast on a new sock. It's Sunday Swing by Kristel Nyberg in Juno Fibre Arts Buffy Sock, colorway Lilac Pool. This is a BFL yarn and super squishy! One thing I have noticed about knitting with BFL (the other time I knit with BFL was with the String Theory Christmas socks) is that while it stretches very well, it doesn't really sproing back, know what I mean? I started this sock 64 stitches on 2.25 mm needles, which is my usual method, but they were too loose. I started over, 64 stitches on 2.00 mm needles and it fits much better. 

 

  

I really love the pattern! I am ready to start the heel :)

One last project: LACE!

  

It will be an Echo Flower shawl (isn't it pretty?) It's for my friend's boss, who was looking for a light something to wear over her dress at her son's wedding. This will be my first full lace project, with lace yarn, and I am a little apprehensive but also very excited about it. My deadline is July 29. eek!


I didn't take a progress photo of Mrs. Weasley's blanket but I finished the first quadrant (36 squares) and have knit about four squares of the second quadrant. I've received a bunch of mini skeins from Instagram friends and am slowly working them in!

little lovelies!!

oh, that little mouse? The sweet Dani made and sent it for Berny!!

(I posted a video of Berny going crazy for it on Instagram! it was so cute. But then she crashed hard, so I took a photo, of course)

Scott is enjoying his new toy, a PS4 !! He traded in an old PS3 plus some games, and that credit was applied towards the purchase. I think it was a great deal. But while he is playing with his toy, I think I will knit!! I haven't been able to knit as much this week because my coworker is gone, which means I've been working full days. I will tell you what, this weekend has been so blissful and leisurely!!!

Hope you are all enjoying your weekends, and Happy Father's Day!!!
xx

Mischief managed

spring spring S P R I I I I I I I I N G ! ! !

I think spring might be my favorite season after all. I love the cool air during the early morning and late evenings, it isn't too cold, just refreshing. And I love the fact that I can wear Bermuda shorts during the day but can still slip on a sweater to stay comfortable. The trees are all kapow with new leaves, and there are dots of color in front of everyone's home; tulips, irises, poppies.

I've cast on a new blanket and started the annual Harry Potter read. That is how Mrs. Weasley's blanket came to be.

Pattern: based on Hue Shift Afghan by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence

Needles: US 3 or 3.25 mm 

Yarn: only sock yarn scraps

You might remember I've already started one Hue Shift afghan...and haven't finished it. But I have been itching to cast on a sock yarn blanket for awhile, and finally decided to! I love this pattern because you pick up stitches as you go to form the next square, so no sewing blocks together!!! I'm altering this one to have four quadrants of 36 squares, I think that will be plenty large enough. 

It's ridiculous how fast this is going. I started both the blanket and the first HP on May 24, and I've knit a block of 6x5 squares and am on the third book already. I cannot put either down.

Doesn't it look like something Mrs. Weasley would knit?

my tub of sock scraps

That's it from me, I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!! You know what I'll be doing xx

mainly about a Stormborn Shawl

A blog post on a Thursday evening...a little out of the ordinary for me! Truthfully, I meant to write earlier today but then I took a nap... :) so you can clearly see my priorities.

I have been working on a lot of things over the past few weeks.

Dad's socks have heels! I am still decreasing the gussets but I am happy with my slow progress! Fingers crossed they'll be finished by Father's Day.

I cast on Sue's socks in one of the hand dyed skeins that I mentioned last week. I really like it! They are a nice, vanilla pair.

A project I haven't mentioned yet is the Game of Thrones Mystery KAL aka Stormborn Shawl by Kristen Ashbaugh-Helmreich!! I LOVE it!

Since it's a mystery knit along, only bits of the pattern are released at a time so no one knows what the end shawl will look like! This is the third MKAL I've participated in, and they are always so much fun!!

I am using Cascade sock in the color Citron, ooooh! 

I will switch to a longer cable, but here is one half stretched out and pinned:

This is my first time knitting a lace shawl. It is challenging; for this clue we worked from two separate charts for one single row! I've had to tink back several times because my stitch count has been off, but it is such a good kind of challenge. It's the reason I'm hooked on knitting.

These photos are all through Clue 2, and there will be six total clues. I can't wait to see how it will turn out!! It calls for about 800 yards of yarn, so it's going to be huge!

(I am obsessed with it. And with the show as well.)


I've been spinning on this:

It's from Sheep on a Spring. The roving is called Norma and is a blend of merino, angora, and alpaca! The colors are so vibrant and pretty, it's asking to be barber pole plied :)


I recently finished spinning this lovely:

It's from Moonrover. It started as a gorgeous batt full of yummy secret things, like soy silk, angelina, corriedale, and fire star (I'm not even sure what that is!)!

It made 202 yards of a fingering weight, 2-ply. Very pleased.

I also finished this shawl for my mom:

Pattern: Picabeau by Jennifer Dassau
Yarn: Knit Picks Gloss in Guava
Needles: US 6 circular
Modifications: none! I knit it to the pattern 

This is a wonderful pattern! The shape of the finished product is more of a scarf really, long and thin-ish. It seems like it would make for a nice layering option, like for colder mornings. It may have been the yarn that contributed to that, too. It was my first time using Knit Picks Gloss, and I enjoyed working with it! I won this yarn from My Sister's Knitter midway-Resolutions KAL.

One last thing, I am hosting a KAL! My dear friend, Dag, recently published her first Ravelry pattern and I want to help her celebrate!!

The pattern is called Enchanted Shorty Shrug and the KAL starts on Saturday, May 17!!! I want to knit so many of them, in all of the colors! A lot of the action is going to take place on Instagram and you can find more photos with the tags #enchantedshortyshrug and #enchantedshortyshrugkal. I hope you will join us! There is also a thread on Ravelry here.


Wishing you all a HAPPY FRIDAY tomorrow and hoping you can do what you love x

a little of everything

Good Sunday afternoon friends!

I'm going to start off with some hand dyeing that I did last week:

I am really excited about these and I have plans to dye up some more too. I received the acid dyes and some bare yarn for my birthday, and after reading Hand Dyeing Yarn and Fleece by Gail Callahan about five times, I finally worked up my nerve! (it is a really good resource, I highly recommend checking it out!)

soon to be socks!

A friend on Instagram and I have made a swap together; socks knit by me (I'm going to use the skein pictured above) in exchange for this yarn she sent me:

A pretty fantastic swap! I am so crazy for Crazy Zauberballs :)


As for WIPs, I have a new shawl on the needles:

 

The pattern is Picabeau by Jennifer Dassau and it is such a delight to knit! The pattern is super easy to memorize. And it's customizable to how much yarn you have; you start decreasing once you've used half of your yarn! I think that's so cool.

I am using yarn that I won from a My Sister's Knitter KAL. It's Knit Picks Gloss in Guava! It's a really pretty pink and with the yarn's silk content, it should be very cozy!

Right now I'm knitting a short pair of hiking socks for myself. I want to be able to wear nice, wool socks with shorts and hiking shoes this summer. I think these will do the trick.

I have used an Eye of the Partridge heel flap... I think it's the prettiest. The yarn is Patons Kroy in Celestial Colors on 2.25 mm needles. I have been keeping this sock in my purse and surprisingly, I've been able to knit on it a lot while running errands.


Progress on my Once Upon a Time sampler:

I've finished April in time for May, yay!! So sweet, isn't it?

But you can see that I still have a few blocks to fill in :) You can find the pattern here.



Guess what? I finished a pair of socks! Only, I have a few ends to weave in.

heheh :) My goal today is to finish weaving them in. I have one sock's ends woven in, but had to take a break. I really don't mind weaving ends in. I've decided that it looks much neater on the right side than a Russian join. For some reason, I always get a little bump with Russian joins.


Enjoy your week! x