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.”
For Ravelry users: There are links throughout this post that link to Ravelry. If you are experiencing issues with the new Ravelry design, you may not want to click on those links. You can also see pictures on my instagram account, youtube channel or feel free to go to the contact form and send me a note if you have any questions.
Total: 7 WIPs (3 active)
Knitting: 5 projects -1 sweater, 2 shawls, 1 pair of socks and 1 blanket
Crochet: 1 project – 1 blanket
Spinning: 1 project
Finished: 1 project
2020 Total Finished: 15
J’s Tube Socks – DONE
Pattern: Socks for Gnomes and Giants / Red and the Wolf Designs
Yarn: agirlandherwool / Sock / One of a Kind
Needles: Size 0 Needles
Gauge: IDK
Cast on: 6/14/2020 (there abouts)
Cast off: 6/22/2020
Since we last spoke, I both cast on and cast off a pair of tube socks for my niece. If you have been reading this and have a great memory, my niece saw a skein of one of my one of a kind skeins and wanted socks out of them. The overall color in the skein was green, but there some bits of blue and red as well. She called it the “Poison Ivy” yarn and wanted “Poison Ivy” clothes. I told her one skein of yarn couldn’t make a shirt, pants and dress, as she requested, so we settled on socks. This was back on Thanksgiving. She knew she wasn’t going to have them before Christmas and I’m so glad I got them done in time for her birthday, 7 months later. Good thing about kids is they do not care.
It was getting close to her birthday and I realized I really just needed to get these done. I haven’t been in much of a knitting groove lately and I think setting this deadline for myself helped. Long ago, I wound off the yarn into 2 identical balls so I could knit these two at a time. The pattern is a tube sock meaning there is no heel and you just make them as long as you need. I followed the directions on how long to make them. It’s a spiral rib pattern, which does add interest. I believe the ribbing on there also helps as the kid grows.
If you’re new to tube socks, they’re designed to not have a heel and also usually includes ribbing so that the kid won’t grow out of them as their feet grow. The idea is they’ll last for a few years that way. I knit the kids size, which should be good for my niece, they do in fact fit now and it’ll be interesting to see how long they last. It is summer now, so I’m not sure how much use they will get now, but my niece did seem happy to get them. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be there to give them to her in person, but luckily we have video chats that are better than nothing.
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
Are you sick of this shawl? I don’t blame you. I’m not really sick of it because I’m enjoying the simple garter stitch, but there’s really not that much to continue talking about. I am up to the edging, which means it should be done in the next week or so. I have a 4 day weekend upcoming and boy do I have plans. I really do plan on a lot of relaxation, knitting and of course, some dyeing.
Magnolia Socks
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
The first sock is done! I haven’t cast on the second though, so ya know, it is what it is. This sock was part of the cast on party I had quite a while ago. It worked out so well when I needed a project and this sock was just ready to go! For now, I hope to finish up some other projects before coming back to this one.
I found this pattern a bit harder to memorize than some of the others from this collection. I don’t know what it was about it, but I definitely had a harder time knowing which row I should be on and had to look back at the pattern quite a bit. Otherwise, it was pretty straightforward. I did a standard 2×2 cuff this time around along with a fish lips kiss heel.
Altheda Sweater
Pattern: Altheda / Jennifer Steingass
Yarn: Rauma Finull PT 2
Needles: Size 1 Needles (neckline), Size 2 Needles (Body) and Size 3 Needles (colorwork)
Gauge: This is actually a funny story
Cast on: 6/9/2020
Cast off goal: None
I seriously hadn’t worked on this probably since I last posted. I guess that means I really didn’t do anything at all besides what I cast on for it during the cast on party. In the past week or so, I’ve knit through about half of the yoke. I think generally, yokes go pretty quick because you get into a nice rhythm of the colorwork and it’s always nice to see it come together.
You might remember that I talked about knitting three different contrast colors into this sweater. I’ve since decided that I’m going to just knit it with the white (who saw that coming) and keep the other skeins for something else. I think the blue would make a great main color for a sweater and then I might use the brown for the cuffs. I dont know. I don’t have to decide today.
I’m not sure if that means that I will run out of the white, but I can always order an additional skein if I need to.
Other
1. Spinning – I did spin! I’m hoping to finish the first half of the braid this weekend.
2. Northeasterly – I worked in another color or 2.
3. I’m working on a test knit out of my newest gradient, Mountain Springs Lake. It is a blue to brown gradient. Once I finish up the test knit, I will talk more about this pattern.
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?
Really just making progress on everything I have on the needles. I also have a crochet project that I hope to cast on soon, but I want to cast off a bit first.
Shop
As I mentioned, there’s a new gradient in the shop. There’s also mystery yarn of the month clubs and advent calendars still available.
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.