My Knitting Escapades
The top row of pictures are projects (all hats!) that I knit from my stash. My stash is dwindling!
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.
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?)
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.
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!
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.
48 Stitch Sock Pattern
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!
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.
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…
Have you ever banged out a sweater? Suggestion: use big needles!
Someday one of my kids will call and say, “You’re going to be a grandma!” I decided not to wait for that moment to start knitting some little baby things. I started with this blanket in a soft yarn that has excellent drape. It’s machine washable in warm water, but it will need to dry flat. That’s not too bad!
This is an easy blanket to knit, with a 24 row “modified basketweave” stitch pattern, 18 of which are just knit rows. The other rows of this basketweave pattern are a knit 3, purl 3 repeat across the row. It makes for nice texture and something a little more interesting than plain garter stitch. Oh, and the pattern is free! Click the link below!
The blanket measures 28″ x 32″ and should be easy to tote along for families on the go. I recall having a few blankets that were way too large to bring along, so I didn’t want to make this one too big.
For those experienced in knitting for grandkids, what do you suggest I knit next? Follow my blog and make a comment, and I’ll pick a winner to receive 3 balls of Brilliant Blues Universal Yarns Bamboo POP yarn! Winner will be chosen randomly on Sunday, June 14, 2020 at 8pm MST. I will notify you by commenting on your comment, so stay tuned!
I’ve been knitting through these quiet days, but I haven’t finished as many things as I thought I might. Yes, there has been knitting in the evenings, but also sewing, stitching, and general peaceful projects to try my hand at.
First, I’ll mention that I bought an embroidered wool skirt at a second hand store (4 years ago?!), not because I wanted the skirt, but because I wanted to turn it into something else. I finally settled on turning the skirt into a bucket bag. Wow! That’s a change, huh? Check out the pictures:
OK, so I cheated and bought some leather handles from Amazon ($15) even though it took a week for Amazon to ship because everyone was obsessing about toilet paper in March.
I knitted some socks too. Two pairs. From 100 grams of the main yarn. To squeak out two pairs, I used some contrasting yarn for the cuff, heels, and toes for the larger pair. I just made a stockinette stitch leg and used the Arne and Carlos afterthought heel to show off the yarn and to just get this yarn out of my stash! Someone at church passed this yarn on to me. Thanks!
I hope you have found some peaceful quiet times during this pandemic to relax and work with your hands!
So. Cold. Here.
The last part of October gave us temperatures in the teens and twenties! Time to pick up the knitting game a little bit more to stay warm. I came up with these leg-warmers with cables and ribbing, both of which help to keep the leg-warmers in place. They’re a fast knit because there is very little shaping. AND if you know how to cable without a cable needle, you’ll get warm legs even more quickly! Enjoy this free pattern, but remember to abide by the rules of copyright.
Subtitled: How to Upcycle a Sweater
I was in a thrift store a few years back and saw what I affectionately call an “oops” sweater. You know, the kind of sweater where someone didn’t believe the “dry clean only” directions?! In fact, I found three of them, so I bought them with the well-meaning intention of doing something fabulous with them. Several years later I am just getting around to working with them. Here are all the items I made with one sweater:
Much of the sweater body went to make a custom computer case with leather details (I also bought a leather skirt at the thrift store that day–smile). Actually, I finished this right after buying the sweater. The sweater sleeves went to make some water bottle covers and coffee travel cozies. And my feet are showing off the me-sized slippers. I modified a pattern from Purl Soho (here’s the LINK) by sandwiching some plastic canvas between the bottom pieces, blanket stitching it all together, and then adding a back strap. Instant warmth! Or, maybe several hours of sewing and then the warmth.
As for those sweet little baby slippers, I used another pattern from Purl Soho (Felt Baby Slippers). I cut out the pattern pieces with my pinking shearers, pinned them together, and then hand sewed them with sock yarn and a running stitch. Maybe 2 hours tops to complete. You can also check out this patternLINK for baby shoes.
Yeah, I’m not going to be doing this again, except for the baby slippers because they’re so cute! And to be honest, I feel like a super-dork in my slippers, but a warm super-dork!
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