I made several people quite happy with my knitting needles this Christmas. Probably my most popular gifts were some Harry Potter house mascot hats for Son, DIL, AND SIL. These were a big hit, a HOMERUN, especially when my son called a few days later and said how much he loved his hat! I changed up the background charts for the Slytherin and Ravenclaw hats because knitting those tiny squares was tedious.
Also, over the next few years I am going to make my knitting patterns free instead of selling them. So for starters, here’s the pattern, Sofa Support!
The top row of pictures are projects (all hats!) that I knit from my stash. My stash is dwindling!
Barley hat knit from Baah Yarn LaJolla “Singin’ the Blues” Barley hat from Mrs. Crosby’s Satchel “Northern Parula” and Biches & Buches Le Petit Silk Mohair “Beige“A hat pattern I’m currently working on, knit in Brooklyn Tweed’s Shelter “Sweatshirt”My happy accident hat that was the prototype of the hat above knit in Malabrigo Rios “Camaleón“A Valentine’s sock set from Freckled Whimsy Serendipity “Charming”I squeaked a 2nd pair of socks out of a sock set by adding more pink for the heel and toe after using the remaining mini-skein on the cuff
The bottom row projects are all items I’ve finished from recent yarn purchases. With a dwindling stash and a few projects on long-term hold, maybe I should do some more yarn shopping?!
I have partial yarn skeins, like, many partial yarn skeins (truth be told, a small tub of sock yarn). Do you have this problem too? I think about donating those partial skeins, selling them on eBay, or knitting another scrappy blanket (see this post: End of an Era), but I just keep telling myself that I can find something to do with them. Here’s one option I’ve come up with: Helical Socks.
Kind of a mess but gonna be a sweet pair of shortie socks!
Here’s what I started with: 25 grams of red Cascade Heritage Sock yarn, and 17 grams of Beach Bunny Yarns World Traveler (leftover from this project: Vacation Knitting). I am using the red for the cuff and heel (and maybe the toe if there is enough?)
Sock #2
I started sock #1 and knit through mid-instep. Then I decided to start sock #2 by knitting from the other end of the balls because I’m not sure I’ve got quite enough for two entire socks. (Don’t worry…I have other yarn that can finish the toes of these socks!) It’s kind of messy knitting from two ends of two balls so I can’t take it to meetings or knit in the car, etc. As I take knitting breaks, I carefully lay it out so I can pick it back up again without many tangles.
See where the white yarn starts just below the heel? That’s where I started the “Helical” knitting.
Not sure what Helical knitting is? Need a tutorial? Click here: Helical Knitting Video and thank Jen of Arnall-Culliford Knitwear for her great Year of Techniques Tutorial!
Work, work, work…it’s so busy. Some days I don’t knit at all when I get home. BUT, I have been working on a few things.
What’s up? Right now I am knitting the Waterrock Vest in the Pantone 2023 Color of the Year using Knit One Crochet Too’s Sebago in Magenta. This color choice was just a happy accident, lest you think I am in-the-know about such things; I bought the yarn a few days before the color was announced. Below shows my progress; I’m almost to the armholes.
Vests are under-utilized in wardrobes, especially by knitters. They’re fast because they are sleeveless, and they work with lots of clothing we already possess. More vests, please!
The next object I’ve been knitting is the Easy Folded Poncho except I have a problem, which is, I bought the wrong yarn. It’s Knit Picks City Tweed DK, a nice mix of fibers, but 25% Alpaca. The problem is that I think I’m allergic to alpaca. I can wear it, but when I knit with it, I get congested and sneezy. Even this 25% is bothering me. Does this happen to anyone else? So, I’m going to finish but can only knit about 30 rows per week. Totally my bad for not remembering!
The colorway is “Porpoise” which is a little more blue than the photos show.
For those of us in the north (or Rocky Mountains, as the case may be), this is the best time for knitting all year! It’s freezing outside, snow is falling and blowing, and here we all sit, happily knitting and relaxing!
Two posts ago, I wrote about my brother requesting five pairs of socks this year. I made fun of him a little, because, seriously, he doesn’t know the time and effort put into just one pair of socks, let alone multiple pairs! I knitted one pair of fingering weight socks for him (thumbnail photo below) and delivered them to him after a day spent on planes. Oh, we also raided our snowbird dad’s sock drawer (with permission!) because Dad spends winters in Florida–brother gained about 6 pairs of handknit socks in this fashion.
Then, THEN, my brother told me a few important details about the socks that he wants. He said he only wears the socks to bed, making me think I could get away with knitting sport weight socks for him since he won’t have to worry about fitting thicker socks and his feet into his shoes. He also said he doesn’t need the legs of the socks to be as long. Bingo! Now I can knit a few more pairs for him at a larger gauge and almost fulfill his wish of 5 new pairs this year.
BONUS PAIR! I had two skeins—slightly different colorways—of this sport weight yarn, realized if I combined the leftovers, I would have enough for another pair of socks. Yes, I did! I used a helical knitting technique with the socks below. Maybe one day I’ll write up a pattern for a helical sock.
I wanted an eyelet-style dress, but not in white which seems to be the predominant color of eyelet, especially during the summer. So off I went on a fabric-hunting expedition, but with gas at $5.00/gallon, I only went virtually. I shopped online at Fashion Fabrics Club and bought an excellent burgundy eyelet, more geometric in design than floral. For the dress I used McCall’s M7948; at about $7.00/yard multiplied by 3.5 yards, I got a great deal! (It never ceases to amaze me how expensive Joann’s sub-par fabric is.)
About this fabric:
Thing 1: it’s dry clean only, but I’m confident that I can carefully wash it.
Thing 2: It frayed very easily as I was sewing it. It’s a good thing I’m an experienced seamstress!
The fabric is lightweight, and the dress is billowy and comfortable. But because sometimes air conditioning in the summer is a little aggressive, I knit a simple shawl to go along with the dress. The shawl is the Souvenir Shawl by Maria Samuelsson on Ravelry. It’s a great pattern to use up a skein of yarn that just had to be purchased on vacation (better a skein of yarn than a t-shirt, right?)
It’s a 100% self-made outfit! I love it when people say, “I like your dress!” or, “I like your scarf!” At which point I say, “Thanks, I made it!”
What yarn is this, you might ask? It is Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in the February 2020 Pop Up colorway. I bought this when The Loopy Ewe lady was retiring and had a big sale. But don’t worry because The Loopy Ewe lives on! Visit their site, help a new owner of a previously loved LYS by grabbing some yarn!
We flew the coop for Spring Break in a desperate attempt to feel more normal. We boarded a plane and went to visit kid #1 and hubby (and 2 doggies)…for once I only packed two knitting projects, a shawl and a pair of socks.
This shawl was a great traveling companion, easy and fast, especially on a size 6 (US) needle. It’s a great reminder of our family trip to Florida last summer! I dropped the kids off at the jet ski place (don’t worry, they’re adults LOL) and drove about 7 minutes to an awesome LYS in Ormond Beach, Florida, called She Sells Yarn. I’m always pleasantly surprised to find yarn shops in warm places. It was an hour well-spent—“spent” being the operative word!
The other project I brought was sock knitting for my brother. The last time I spoke with him on the phone he offhandedly said, “Hey, I need 5 more pairs of socks.” Ah, the uninformed comments and requests of non-knitters. I told him he could expect exactly two pairs this year, nothing fancy, no cables, twisted stitches, etc. So he’s getting (with love) plain pairs of socks.
The most ridiculous thing happened while I was trying to bang out a sweater before Spring Break. I ran out of yarn with only about 23 rows to go at the bottom of the last sleeve. I quickly ordered more, but the package came more slowly than normal. The postman was pulling up to deliver the yarn as we were wheeling our suitcases to the airport train about two blocks away.
At this point, I thought I had enough yarn. (oh, and banging out a sweater is a thing in knitting circles LOL)
I had a brainiac idea that I should check with my LYS to see if they actually carried the yarn, Berroco Ultra Wool, and yup, they did (egg on face). Would you believe that the yarn I got here at my LYS was the same dye lot as the one I ordered from a shop one state away! But the dye lot wasn’t critical because I was combining it with a strand of mohair type yarn, Berroco Aerial Color. I finished the sweater two days before the other yarn arrived. I guess the joke is on me! I’ll use the excess yarn to knit some hats or something. Here’s the finished cardigan:
It’s cropped, neutral yet slightly variegated and it was oh, so warm for when we traveled back to the cold humidity of the Midwest. Is Kansas City considered the Midwest? Not sure…
I wore it everywhere!
Have you ever banged out a sweater? Suggestion: use big needles!
New furniture needs a pillow refresh. Handmade? Store-bought? I looked at the normal places and found pillows ranging from $50-$90 (ok, so it was Pottery Barn). I saw nothing that I loved, and at that price, it better be something that I love! Being pretty sure I could knit with better yarn and come up with a design that is more to my liking, I developed a pattern!
Click the link to buy the pattern–it’s only a buck!
For this pattern you’ll need some bulky yarn, big needles, and some pillow forms.
This pattern is actually three pillow patterns in one. Pillow 1 (pictured right) starts from the narrow edge and the stripes of the yarn are a little wider.
Pillow #2 starts the knitting on the long edge to create thinner stripes.
Pillow #3 is a slightly smaller rectangle, knit from the short side.
All three…bright and pillowy!
All of the pillows are knit with a little bit of negative ease so they stretch nicely over the pillow forms.
I finished by adding those spicy little corner tassels! See the pattern for more instructions!
One skein of sock yarn to make this super squishy cowl.
Late winter and early spring weather brings warm days and storm days. One day the crocuses are peeking through the ground. The next day the ground is covered in snow. The snow melts and those hardly little crocuses are still thriving with their tiny pop of color. Before the really hot weather sets in, check your stash and find some sock yarn that you’ve been saving for a special project. The yarn I used has tiny and larger flecks of color which remind me of early spring flowers growing in the soil.
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