Tag Archives: knitting

26

Jan. ’21

Morning sock knitting

Just wanted to post an update on my current morning sock knitting and the progress I’m making.

Here’s a link to this project on Ravelry. You’ll find more details there but the yarn is Zauberball and the pattern is Taffy Toes by Tabetha Hedrick. This is one that I kitted up a long time ago. I have no idea when. I know I didn’t kit it up for last year so it might have been in 2018 when I put this together. Who knows…

Anyway, I don’t like the yarn. Nothing wrong with Zauberball. It’s all personal preference. It’s single ply and a little inconsistent. Some parts are thicker than other parts. But the color is knitting up amazing and I love the rainbow. I haven’t done cuff down in a long while as I prefer toe up but the pattern is written cuff down and I didn’t have the brain power to switch it. So I stuck with what was written.

I usually knit 15 min/day but the pattern is not too complex and I’m allowing myself 4 rounds per day which is a bit more than 15 minutes. I don’t really keep track unless I’ve got a meeting to attend so I am enjoying my morning knit. I’ve got about 20 more rounds to do before I start the heel which will make the leg a bit longer. It’s currently way longer than I normally knit the leg but I want the full rainbow to be visible so I’m okay with it.

~ Knit on my friends

Melanie

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19

Jan. ’21

2021 Knitting Plans

Morning Sock Knitting. I will continue to knit socks every morning. This is part of my morning ritual and I enjoy it.

My Weasley Sweater – Finally! it’s my turn to knit my Weasley Sweater. I admit I wasn’t looking forward to knitting this. But I am using a different yarn, Manos del Uruguay, and it’s so luscious! But I didn’t like how Ricky’s sweater came out. I followed the pattern exactly and what I found was that the sweater to pattern was cutest on my daughter Kayla as that was a small size. But as I went up sizes first for Jacob and then Ricky, the sweater didn’t come out right. Now for Jacob I admit I made many errors on his. But when I did Ricky’s I was certain that I didn’t make any errors and it came out weird. It works but it wouldn’t be something he or I would ever wear out in public. So I wasn’t looking forward to doing mine. I even considered doing a different sweater and then just sticking an M on it to call it Weasley. But I felt like that was cheating. What I ended up deciding to do was to take this opportunity to start learning how to customize sweaters according to my size. So that’s what I’m going to do. Now I’m excited to about this project again.

24 days of Christmas Shawl from Jimmy Bean- This is the shawl I started last December (2019) with my Advent Calendar I purchased from Jimmy Bean. It’s not done yet but I’m very close. Based on what I have left to do, I imagine this will be done in February. I love this shawl and this is my priority project right now.

Jimmy Bean Advent Calendar Shawl – 2019 Status as of 12/20/2020

Water Lily

Water Lily Back 12/20/2020
Water Lily Front 12/20/2020

Beanie for Kayla – My plan for 2020 was to alternate every row to finish off a skein of yarn with a new skein of yarn. But I totally forgot about this project. I have the yarn in my bin waiting for me to work on this project. And it’s not high on my list for 2021.

Tranquil Mist – started when I finished the Mix Wave cowl twice before this one. The first yarn was a bit variegated but a teal/black and it didn’t look nice with the lace. So I ripped it back and started again with a new yarn. The second yarn was a silk and was so thin it didn’t look right. I got to chart 2 and then messed up. Finally I just ripped it all back and started again with a third yarn. I am loving how this is coming together now.

Tranquil Mist Finished Chart 1 2-3 rows into Chart 2 12/20/2020

Future knitting

Once the Advent Shawl is done I plan to start the Orient Express. And as I finish projects here is what I will work on in this order:

A blue hat that I started in 2020 and still need to complete. It is almost done.

Soldotna

Selbu Mittens

Purple Sweater that I have the yarn for but not a patter

Another Shawl

Hat #150 // Kayla’s Beanie…

Anyway, my plan is that every time I finish something is to start another something.

~Happy Knitting!

~Melanie

Posted by . Categories: 2021 Crafty Goals, Knitting. Tags: , , . 8 Comments

17

Nov. ’20

Update on my current socks

Geeky Girls Knit 5th podiversary Current Status 11/17/2020

I’ve not been very good taking progress pictures and posting them anywhere, here Instagram, Facebook… So here you are. It’s been about 2.5 months since I started which is a really long time for me. Mentally, I’m already done with the project.

What you can’t see in the picture is that the heel is already done and I’m working on the leg. I realized that I can finish this now because I’m not one for a long leg and in fact, really like shorties instead. So, I’m finishing up the pattern and will start on the cuff shortly. I think I’ve got 4 rows or so left in the patter. I am very close to a finish.

You might be able to tell some weirdness in the toe area. The original pattern has you purling and purling and purling but after a weekend of purling the toes my hand/thumb/wrist were in so much pain I couldn’t knit for 2 weeks. I decided to turn the toes inside out and just purl where I needed to in the front to keep the pattern but then knit the back side.

~ Knit on my friends

Melanie

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22

Sep. ’20

Finished knitting projects

Every morning I knit a bit on my sock. The current one I’m working on, as detailed on this post,  is a lot of purling. And I was doing the toes (I knit socks two at a time on magic loop) and it just messed up my thumb and wrist. I probably do not purl correctly. But regardless, as a result it’s been tender and I am restricting my sock knitting (or purling at this point) to 1-2 rows a day. During the weekdays I do 1 row but over the weekend I do 2 rows because I have the time to do it slowly and not hurt myself.  I hope this will be okay with my recovery without having to completely stop knitting (purling) on it.

Every evening I work on my husband’s Weasley sweater. My goal for Q3 (which ends at the end of this month) is to finish the sleeves. I had about 20 rows of sleeve to do when I had hubby try it on. The sleeves seemed long. Now, I think that it might be the way he tried it on and the fact that none of the seams have been done but I have a feeling, he may want it longer once we’ve got it all put together nicely.  So, I started the cuff now and when I get the cuff to the length I want the sleeves to be, I plan to put them on cables and not bind off.  I will finish up the rest of the sweater in Q4 and then when everything else is done, we’ll do a try on and see how those sleeves are. By not binding off, I’ll be able to knit more cuff or tink back the cuff, knit more sleeve and then put the cuff back on depending on how much more I have to knit, if any.

I usually get to everything else on Thursday’s during our knit night on zoom.  Over the last few months I finished this cowl.

Mix Wave Cowl
9/12/2020

And last week I finished this pair of socks. All I needed to do was take a picture of it. The picture doesn’t sow the pattern very well but neither does the yarn. I love these kinds of yarn and my stash is filled with speckled, variegated, striped yarn that just do not show off cables or lace very well.  Of course, I love to knit socks with cables and lace so… they don’t go well together.

Dragon Pox
Designer: Knotty Gnome
Finished, 9/4/2020

On my sock knitting post, I wrote about pulling out my sock knitting books and knitting socks from those patterns once I finish the 5 kitted up projects that waiting patiently for their turns.  The problem is that my stash is what it is and the socks I want to knit are what they are and I have decided that I will need to appropriate my yarn to more suitable projects.  And since I do not need more socks and I do not want to buy more yarn, I am not planning to knit socks out of one of my books at this point.  I am thinking of knitting hats or mittens or shawls.  I will pull out my yarn as we get closer to year end to evaluate what I’ve got and what I want to do with it and then kit them up so that I will have my plan ready to go once my sock kits are finally finished up.

Happy knitting, friends!

~Melanie

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10

Sep. ’20

My Sock Knitting in 2020

New sock for September
Geeky Girls Knit
5th podiversary

Last week, I finished my most recent socks. The ends have not yet been woven in and I have not yet taken a picture so that will have to wait for another day.  But I picked my new sock project and got it started.  As it’s been awhile since I’ve mentioned here what I do, I’ll go into detail as to what I’ve done.  For the last 2-3 years, around October or November I sit down and pull all the sock patterns and single skein sock yarn, match them up together and kit them up.  The very first year, I pulled all my knit picks Felici. I was part of Knitting Expat’s Sock Clubs (she had 2 that year). So it was easy, every month she had a new sock pattern and I would pick one of my knit picks felici yarn and start knitting.  I still have Felici yarn in my stash. Then that October/November, I printed all my sock patterns that I hadn’t knitted, chose yarn to go with the pattern and stuck them in a project bag with a number.  That first year, I had 15.  At that point I had been purchasing or getting free downloads of sock patterns I loved and I wanted to knit them. It was a shame to keep them in my Ravelry library and never actually knit them. So I made my own little club.  Every month, I would ask Siri to pick a number from 1-15 and I would knit whatever it chose. I do not remember how many socks I knitted that year. While part of the Knitting Expat sock club, I challenged myself to knit each pair within the month so that I could stay on track with each pattern as they were released.  Most of the time I was able to stay on track. Every once in awhile I slipped.  But as long as I knit a few rows (at least 5 sometimes more) every day, then I was able to get the pair done each month.  When I started my own mini club I tried to stay within the monthly challenge. This ended fairly quickly mainly because I now have a ton of socks and not enough drawer space. I even sent a lot with my daughter when she went away to college.  Anyway, I don’t need 12 socks every year so I do not push myself to knit a pair a month.  I think 6 weeks is a good time frame. Any longer and I get bored.  At the end of that first year, I think I had 5 projects remaining from the 15.  Then last November I did the same thing, I still had the 5 projects from the previous year and somehow I had more patterns.  So I kitted up more and I started 2020 with 13 kitted sock projects.  Now I have 5 in my project bin. So I’ve got the 1 I started for September, the 1 I still have to weave the ends in so I must have finished 6. I’m pretty sure I didn’t take pictures of all of them and post it.  I will try to do that one of these days.

I’m currently formulating my plan for next year but I do not have as many sock patterns to knit in Ravelry like I’ve had in the past.  My LYS closed this year and I helped buy all their remaining sock books.  I am thinking about picking one of those books and working my way through it and I’ll probably do that until I’ve gone through all the books.  I’ll let you know what I end up deciding. The end of 2020 can’t come soon enough. I’m done with it. I’m hoping for a better end to the year along with a great 2021.

The socks I started last week are from the Geeky Girls Knit podcast. I haven’t watched it in awhile so I’m out of date with them. But when I was watching, they were a mother-daughter team. They were based in Edinburgh when I started watching them but then moved to the Pacific North West.  It’s been a few years since I got this kit and it was sitting waiting for me to get to it.  One of the reasons why I love doing my socks this way is because it means that I will knit the things I want to knit, even when I forget about it.

~Happy knitting to my knitter friends out there.

Melanie

 

 

Posted by . Categories: 2020 Crafty Goals, Knitting. Tags: , , , , . 3 Comments

29

Jun. ’20

Ricky’s Weasley Sweater, Q2 Update

My goal for Q2 was to finish the front side and I’ve done it.

Ricky’s Weasley Sweater
The front side –
6/29/2020

Last quarter’s goal was to finish the back side.

Ricky’s Weasley Sweater
The backside –
4/21/2020

3rd Quarter’s goal is to put the front and back together and do the sleeves.

4th Quarter’s goal is to put it all together, the collar, and weave in all the ends.  I’m on track to getting this sweater finished by 12/25.  Then it can join the rest of the Weasley Sweater family and I can start on mine. 🙂

Kayla and Jacob in their Weasley’s
12/2019

~Always,

Melanie

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24

Apr. ’20

Weasley Sweaters

So I have a long term goal that one Christmas my family (me, hubby and the kids) would take a family pic in our Weasley Sweaters.

I started with Kayla’s using Gryffindor colors first. At that point in my knitting life, Jacob was not interested in wearing any hand knits so I wasn’t about to invest a year of knitting for someone who didn’t appreciate it.  So Kayla’s was first.

Kayla’s Weasley Sweater
4/12/18

 

After Jacob saw the sweater he liked it and was okay with me making him one. And I spent 2019 making his. His is Ravenclaw colors: Blue and Gray (or silver).

 

 

Jacob’s Weasley Sweater
12/2019

So last Christmas, there were 2 –

Kayla and Jacob in their Weasley’s
12/2019

This year, 2020, I’m working on my hubby’s. I just finished the back:

Ricky’s Weasley Sweater
The backside –
4/21/2020

The color is washed out in this picture but it’s a blue/gray with a green stripe. It’s suppose to be Slytherin but the hubby didn’t want a green sweater. So I made it a gray/blue with a green stripe. The letter will be green and I plan to put green stripes in the front and on the sleeves.  The hubby ended up really liking the green but it’s Knitted Wit and I bought all the shop had (2-3 mini skeins) which would not have been enough for an extra large sweater.  I actually came close to ordering yarn for him and it was going to run close to $300.  Needless to say, he’s not planning on wearing this but once a year for our annual family Christmas picture. So, I just used the yarn I originally bought.

My goal is to get the front done in Q2, the sleeves done in Q3 and then sew it all up, knit the collar and weave in the ends  in Q4.  I’m a little behind since it’s already 21 days into Q2 but I hope I’ve given myself enough of a buffer in Q4 to still get this done in time for Christmas. 🙂

Hope you all are doing well!

~Melanie

Posted by . Categories: 2020 Crafty Goals, Knitting. Tags: , , . 2 Comments

17

Apr. ’20

Harriets Hat, another finish. kind of.

Hariett’s Hat
04/2020

 

Harriet’s Hat
04/2020

At Stitches Socal 2019, my friend Liz and I went halfsies on a colorwork project called Harriet’s Hat. Really, we wanted to try the yarn Jamieson and Smith but didn’t want to invest too much money on something we possibly would hate. So we decided a hat would be a good trial project. Liz started on hers way before me but something happened and she put it in timeout. I got through most of the hat when I ran out of the white yarn. Liz popped over with the remaining bit of white from her project and I was able to finish knitting this dreamy project.  I still have to weave in ends and block it but all the knitting is done and it’s beautiful.

 Next Stitches SoCal we plan to get a sweaters quantity of this yarn to make a colorwork sweater. We have a bunch lined up.

 

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29

Mar. ’20

Day 17 at home

Today is day 17 and I’m finding it difficult to stick with a schedule. I normally work from home so that’s not my problem. My kids are home all the time but they are older and do not require as much from me as they would if they were younger.  Last week I was supposed to be on vacation. But with everything going on with the stock market I worked for most of it.  I was able to get off early in the day and do various things but not nearly as much as I wanted to.  I’m okay with it. But life will be more hectic next week as we finish up one quarter and start another. So I need to figure out how I want things to be.

In the meantime, here’s what I’ve been working on:

Knitting – I’m still knitting on my morning socks and almost daily I’m able to knit a couple of rows on Ricky’s Weasley Sweater. But those pictures are no fun. Just a little bit longer and bigger than the last picture. I will try to take pics this week since the month is ending and I want to take end of Month pictures. My real knitting love is this hat:

Harriet’s Hat
3/29/2020

I ran out of the white yarn and luckily I have a friend who’s knitting the same hat with me. As soon as she is done, she will be dropping off (social distancing being kept) her leftover white.  In the meantime, I just love looking at it. I am still working on my mix wave cowl, water lily top, etc. Basically I’m doing my daily and weekly knitting. Mostly.

For cross stitch, since I finished Mama’s Bukid I started working on Titania by Mirabilia. I started this a long time ago – 2018 – and only did a bit on it. I hated working on it. Really hated it. I had never worked on linen before. Before this, I didn’t realize that there were different fabrics and every Flosstube I watched was talking about how great linen was. So I kitted this project up with linen and did not like it. I couldn’t see the holes and they were uneven. It was awful and sat in a box for 2 years. Every once in awhile early on I would take it out and try for a bit but it’s been in complete timeout this last year. This time I started working on it again and while I can’t say I love working on it, I am better at it and it is now doable.  I am loving what I’m seeing and it was my focus xstitch project for this week:

Titania
Mirabilia
3/29/2020

Here’s what it will grow up to be:

 

I finally finished this dress:

LAFS: Megan Dress

I’m not totally in love with it but it makes a great house dress. This is my second real dress but the first time with set in sleeve, gathers, my first time with darts, and a bunch of other things, I am really happy with how it turned out and how I can wear it. I plan to make skirts and other dresses one of these days.

On the quilting front: It’s harder to take pictures. I finished putting together this inner top –

2012 Southern CA
Quilt Run
Area One
Mystery quilt

I know the picture is not the finished top. It was harder to take a picture it because it is just too big.

2012 Southern CA
Quilt Run
Area One
Mystery quilt
3/29/2020

Here it is on my bed. I plan to do a small border – maybe about 5 inches all around.  I am loving it but put it away for now.

Here are some other things I’ve been working on here and there…

I bound a few mats that I had practiced quilting on the Q20. Here’s a table runner. I picked up the top at one of our guild’s treasure hunts for, quilted and bound it. Now it’s gracing my table.

More practice on the Q20

Fun stuff.

Hope you are doing well during this time. I’m up and down and tend to stay offline when I’m not doing so well.  I also try to remember that things are not so bad, people experience and survive much worse than being stuck at home with all the crafts, and I try to be very grateful for what I have and where I am.  It’s still hard and there are a lot of sad things going on. Stay strong, friends.

Love always,

Melanie

Posted by . Categories: 2020 Crafty Goals, Cross Stitch, Knitting, Quilting. Tags: , , , , , . Leave a comment

01

Feb. ’20

My weekly update, 2/01/2020

So much has happened in the last 2 weeks. First I wasn’t able to post because of Road to California and all the shenanigans that happen there. I was exhausted on Sunday and spent the day resting. And that morning, Kobe Bryant and his daughter passed away in a helicopter crash. It’s heartbreaking and I continue to cry every day.  I cannot imagine what his wife and family are going through and I offer my prayers and hugs to them.

And here’s my update…

First, the week before Road:

I didn’t cross stitch at all that week, I did some knitting and that was it.  I went to yoga once.  That’s it. I played on the Bernina Q20 that Friday and quilted on practice sandwiches. At the end, I took out this table runner and quilted it. Now it’s done and all I have to do is bind it.

I also went to a featherweight maintenance class and now I have the knowledge I need to oil and service my featherweight!

On Sunday, I spent the day finishing up clue 3 on my scrappy quilt (no pictures because I was so busy sewing).  Time just goes by so fast. Then the week started up again.

So this past week, I was a bit more productive.  I cross stitched 4 of the 5 days and I finished the columns I was working on last time and now I’m on the next set of columns.

Mama’s Bukid
1/31/2020

I went to yoga once so I’m averaging about once a week.  Much better than not going at all but I’m striving for twice a week.

Next I accomplished my morning knitting on socks for 15 minutes every Monday – Friday.

1/18/2020

These babies are now done!

knit picks
scrappy socks
2/1/2020

All the ends are woven in and I started on my next monday morning socks:

Pattern: Jo’s perfect slipper socks
2/1/2020

 

Second, my evening knitting on Ricky’s Weasley Sweater every Monday through Friday.

Ricky’s Weasley Sweater
1/11/2020

I checked this off for 6 of 10 days.  Here’s an updated picture:

Ricky’s Weasley Sweater
about 14″
2/1/2020

It’s hard to see the green stripe but it’s still there.

I only worked on the Fairy Hill Shawl during knit night but that’s okay. I have about 7 rows left to do.

Fairy Hill Shawl
2/1/2020

I hope you all have a happy crafty week!

Melanie

To see the full 2020 crafty plan, click for quilting, knitting, cross stitch, and everything else.

Posted by . Categories: 2020 Crafty Goals, Cross Stitch, Knitting, Quilting. Tags: , , , , , , . Leave a comment