Tag: DIY

February to May
My Knitting Life

February to May

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I bought these yarns (Malabrigo Ultimate Sock, 3 skeins in Whole Grain, and Louisa Harding Amitola, 2 skeins in Tick Tock) in December 2023 to make stranded yoke sweater. After my rough start to 2024, I decided to begin knitting this in mid February for Bang Out a Sweater. Clearly I didn’t finish by March 1 so I took my time finishing it in Me Made May.
I only bought one skein of the Amitola yarn, knew I was going to run out because of the pattern I chose (stranded knitting not only at the yoke, but also at the sleeve and hem bottoms), and went on a furious internet search for another ball. I don’t remember where I bought that second ball, but I am always happy that small LYSs keep their inventory up to date online.
It’s mid May, and not quite cold enough to wear this. But I will remember this sweater when autumn rolls around!

My Knitting Life

Coorie In Poncho Reknit

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Problem 1: I bought yarn with some alpaca content. I think I’m allergic to knitting it (but apparently not so allergic that I can’t wear alpaca?) Maybe fibers flying here and there, causing a runny and stuff nose? The yarn is City Tweed DK from Knit Picks in Porpoise, Great yarn!

Problem 2: I had mostly knit the “Easy Folded Poncho” with this yarn and just wasn’t feeling too happy about the size and the look. So, I tinked the whole thing and started to look for a solution.

Solution: Enter the Coorie in Poncho which I just finished this and I love the result! I’m a little on the short side, so it’s so nice to knit this to my height specifications!

An Interruption to the Knitting
My Knitting Life

An Interruption to the Knitting

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I should have blogged long before now. In fact, I had every intention of publishing a hat pattern in two different yarn weights, going as far as taking the hats on a late-winter get-away for some scenic photo ops.

Dead Horse Point—Chunky
Dead Horse Point—Worsted

But life took a painful turn five days after the trip. It was the first nice day of the year so DH and I went for a bike ride. I went over my handlebars and my bike landed on me as I tried to dodge a lady’s dog, not under control and on a retractable leash. As I was on the ground, the lady and her friends slipped away (heaven forbid people take responsibility grr…) Broken ribs and nose, ambulance ride, X-rays, MRIs, surgery to replace my shattered left shoulder, missed a month of work. Worst of all, no KNITTING!

Now, three months on, I’m on the mend, faithfully doing my PT, and slowly knitting. Here’s a little something I just finished for a new special someone who was born recently!

This sweet little sweater is almost done (button and blocking to go). It is called Simply The Best Cardigan For Babies + Toddlers. I added the little I-cord decoration because flowers are sweet!

Has your knitting life ever been interrupted? If so, how did you get back on track?

Christmas Knitting + Bonus Free Pattern
My Knitting Life

Christmas Knitting + Bonus Free Pattern

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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!

sofa-support.pdfDownload
My Knitting Life

Knitting lately:

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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?!

Helical Knitted Socks
My Knitting Life

Helical Knitted Socks

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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!

My Knitting Life

Currently knitting…

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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!

Free Knitting Patterns · Free Sock Patterns · My Knitting Life

48 Stitch Sock Pattern

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Sport Weight Socks

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.

48 Stitch Sock Pattern

48 Stitch Sock PatternDownload
Let the yarn do the design work!

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.

My Knitting Life · Non-Knitting Projects

Sewing and Knitting: A Happy Combo

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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!

My Knitting Life

Vacation Knitting

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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.

Souvenir Shawl knit with World Traveler by Beach Bunny Yarns

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.

No Frills Dude Sock
Cascade Heritage Sock Yarn and a 68 stitch leg, very similar to my Free on Ravelry 72-Stitch Sock Pattern

This is always my go-to sock yarn, lots of colors and long-wearing.