As always, I hope you are still all staying safe, happy and sane. Thank you for reading my blog and I hope it brings you some joy during this tumultuous time. Definitely check out my YouTube channel to see any projects “in person.”
Total: 6 WIPs (3 active)
Knitting: 4 projects – 2 shawls, 1 pair of socks and 1 blanket
Crochet: 1 project – 1 blanket
Spinning: 1 project
Finished: 1 project
2020 Total Finished: 13
Honey Bee Dance Socks – DONE
Pattern: Honey Bee Dance Socks / Helen Stewart / Curious Handmade
Yarn: One Twisted Tree / Prime / Rare Woman Claire
Needles: Size 0 DPNs
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 3/29/2020
Cast off goal: 4/19/2020
Cast off date: 4/23/2020
It’s been so long since I did a WIP post that I guess I never showed this finished. Well – they are finished and check out this FO Friday post about the socks if you haven’t already.
Drachenfels Shawl
Pattern: Drachenfels / Melanie Berg
Yarn: Suburban Stitcher / Single Sock / Darkest Hour, Clementine and Sweet Adeline
Needles: Size 4 Needles
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 3/18/2020
Cast off goal: None
I really took a break on this shawl as I was focused on the next project you will see here. I did pick it back up recently and I’m finished with the striping and onto the last garter ridge section before the border. I do expect this to be done before fall, haha. That probably seems so far away, but I really just work on this here and there and am happy to have a simple project when I need it.
Painting Bricks Shawl – NEW!
Pattern: Painting Bricks / Stephen West
Yarn: agirlandherwool / Sock base / Neon Unicorn gradient and Denim
Needles: Size 4 Needles
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 4/25/2020
Cast off goal: 6/7/2020
I cannot believe this project is considered new on the blog. I probably started it the day after I last posted and have been working on it ever since. I feel as though I’ve knitted this shawl 3 times already because of the number of times I’ve ripped it back and kept going.
As you can see in the above picture, I’m knitting this out of my Neon Unicorn gradient. This is a gradient that goes from a deep turquoise into a lighter blue and then a hot pink. There are various speckles throughout the gradient. The main color, the outlines, is Denim, which a tonal denim blue.
The way the pattern is written is that each set of bricks is one color and you cut the contrast color at the end of each repeat. In the sample, Stephen goes through his repeat of colors throughout the shawl. In my version, I decided to just use the gradient as one long gradient. This means that most of the shawl is blue with wider, but less rows, of the pink.
At first, I was trying to control this by using less of the blue and planned to use more of the pink later on. Once I got to the border, I quickly realized this wasn’t going to work out and I would have ended up with less rows of the total shawl. As I planned to use this for a shop sample, I really didn’t want it to come across like I didn’t have enough yarn, even though I used less on purpose early on.
I ended up ripping back most of the shawl to maybe the 3rd blue color. There are 10 total colors and I was probably on the 8th or 9th at the time, so it was a lot of ripping back. I then got back to the border and started working on it again, satisfied with the amount of yarn I had left.
It didn’t take long for me to not be excited about the chevron border. I felt like it was getting lost in the gradient because there was no clear cut color change like there is in the original pattern. So, I decided to do away with the chevron and just continue the recipe of the body of the shawl for the remainder of the yarn. I think this will work out better and continue to show off the gradient design.
Overall, the pattern goes quickly when you only knit it once. It’s easy enough with just knits and purls for the most part. When I finish the shawl, I’ll go into a little more detail on my thoughts on it. I expect to finish it this week and feature it for the next FO Friday post next week.
Magnolia Socks – NEW!
Pattern: Magnolia Socks / Helen Stewart
Yarn: agirlandherwool / BFL sock base / Golden Hour
Needles: Size 0 Needles
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 5/26/2020
Cast off goal: None
In case you missed it, I did a bit of a cast on party over on my YouTube channel, which you can view here.
One of the projects I cast on during that session was a pair of socks in my newest base, BFL sock, in my Golden Hour colorway. It’s a tonal color of a golden yellow with bits of brown throughout it as well.
As you’ve seen before on this blog, I have been knitting socks from the Handmade Sock Society season 1 set. The magnolia socks is the last design left that I haven’t knit and plan to knit. I do also plan to make some of these again. It’s a cabley and lacey design meant to look like flowers. In some ways, it is similar to the Honey Bee Dance socks, but they are different and do look different in the end.
I picked these up after needing some time away from the Painting Bricks shawl. For that reason, I really do have to say that the cast on party worked. It was extremely nice to have a pair of socks ready to go without having to do all of the prep work. As the toe was already cast on, all I needed to do was just go on the pattern. After about 2 repeats, I had the pattern memorized and so I have been able to take these socks around with me, which really is what socks are all about.
I do find it funny that I continue to knit on socks even though I keep saying I’m tired of them. I have to say that while knitting on these socks, I feel less worn out from them than I have from other pairs. Maybe because the only other projects that I have are huge shawls with extremely long rows. Nothing beats a small round like a pair of socks.
They’re flowing well and I do love how this colorway is knitting up. I used the same colorway in my Time Trades Shawl and so while it’s not completely knew, it is on a new base and the only colorway, so it seems different. No pressure to finish these socks as I only picked them up in a time of need, but I have been enjoying them and hope to continue to do so.
Other
1. Spinning – Did not spin
2. Northeasterly – I made a bit of progress as I work on this before bed.
Inactive
1. Neat Ripple – This is on hold until I finish up the charity items with the colors that I have used so far.
What’s Next?
When I finish the Painting Bricks shawl, I will pick up the Altheda sweater that I cast on during my cast on party. I plan to knit through the colorwork until it becomes a stockinette body. Otherwise, not too many other plans right now.
Shop
There are multiple advent calendar options in the shop in addition to a few 8 Nights of Hanukkah options. I also released some fun new summer colorways, so definitely go check those out.
As always, I have pairings already set up that you can order at a discount and not worry about deciding which colorways go together.
New products are coming soon, so stay tuned!
Check out the shop here. There are some great kits for shawls and socks along with good pairings for sweaters. Let me know if you need help with some color selections.