WIP Wednesday

mildlygranola, , 7 Comments

If you want to feel like you’ve accomplished a lot of knitting without actually doing a lot of knitting, I highly recommend making short socks for a three-year-old.

I started these socks for Elliot on Sunday. I’ve already completed the gusset of the second sock. These are the first pair of socks I’ve made for Elliot. I always make socks for Audrey and assume they will be handed down to him. That isn’t going to work, as he already has feet the same size as her. 18 months doesn’t buy me as much size difference as I had hoped. I’m making these big for him in the hopes that they will still fit next winter.

I’m making an adapted version of Rose City Rollers. I was done with the heel of the first sock before I added the project to Ravelry and discovered I didn’t have to make up a kids version because a kids Rose City Rollers pattern already exists. I will be using that pattern next time to see if I like it better than my made up version.

The yarn I’m using is Dreams in Color, a local dyer. I’m not sure if she still dyes yarn, as I haven’t seen her at any markets recently. If you aren’t from the Des Moines metro area you’re probably more familiar with her work as a pattern writer – she designed Hermione’s Everyday Socks. I really like her yarn, which is good because I have several skeins in my stash.

I hope to have these done in time for another installment of Sock It To Me Monday. I can sense your excitement from here.

Rainbows & Donuts

mildlygranola, 5 Comments

Yesterday morning I was planning on packing before we met friends who were celebrating the end of the school year. I had the best plans to get things done. I was really going to focus.

Then I lost my damn mind. Instead of packing I made the kids matching rainbows & donuts sweatpants. I decided that if we were going to get donuts they should have matching pants.

I love how they turned out, sloppy sewing and all. I used the Mini Hudson Pant pattern and some knit fabric I found at JoAnns. I had issues with the pattern, but I’m 80% sure that was due to SWT (sewing while tired). I’ll be making these pants again. They have a women’s and men’s version of the Hudson Pant, so I’m trying to make holiday matching family pants a thing (I’ll let you know if I get John on board with this).

What crafty obsession have you been sucked into this week?

Sock It To Me Monday

mildlygranola, , 8 Comments

I have to be honest: I think it would be really cool if I could knit a pair of socks a week and share them with you every Monday, only because I like saying Sock It To Me.

I finished my Rainbow Dashing socks. I love how they turned out. Yarn Geek Fibers is wonderful, and I highly recommend you check her out. She goes to a lot of fiber festivals around the Mid-West, so if you are regionally local you might be able to find her in person. Her skeins are 110 g instead of 100 g, which I really like because I like tall socks. I also like bonus socks, and in this case I have enough leftover to make Audrey a pair of Rose City Rollers.

I hope all of your projects are making progress. I also hope you will find a way to use the phrase “sock it to me” in conversation sometime this week. I also hope I’m not the only one who used to watch Laugh In on Nick at Night.

BINGO!

mildlygranola, , 11 Comments

I love BINGO. I love spending time with friends. I love slushy boozy punch. Yesterday all of those things converged at the best party I’ve been to in years.

I played BINGO. I drank punch. I ate the most delicious monster cookies I’ve ever had. I caught up with friends I hadn’t seen in months.

John was one of the first winners and picked the Miss Babs yarn pictured above (Yummy 2-ply in the Mad Hatter Colorway) as his prize. I was not subtle about how important it was for him to pick that prize if he were to win a BINGO before me. He’s a good husband.

I won a small travel coffee mug, which is the perfect size for the limited amount of coffee I can drink in a day (no caffeine after 10 am, no more than 2 cups or I can’t sleep).

My friend says she is going to throw another BINGO party this fall. I can’t wait.

What is the best party you have ever been to?

skinnytaste Week 20

mildlygranola3 Comments

It has been beautiful here this week. It’s starting to feel like summer. We were able to eat outside after grilling, something it has been too cold to do until now. For the BBQ I made Instant Pot Brown Sugar Baked Beans.

These beans were really easy. The hardest thing to do when making these was chopping an onion. The flavor was close to canned baked beans, but they are much lower in sugar. I loved them. I’ll be making them again, opting to use all great northern beans instead of a mix of three kinds of beans; I liked the variety, but John wants them to look more like baked beans (he’s 40 going on 4).

If you like baked beans you should make these. The recipe also has directions for a crock pot, which I might do if we go to a potluck. I’m now going to go heat up some leftover beans. Yum.

I’m a Sucker for Seersucker

mildlygranola9 Comments

After I finished my project bags I was ready to tackle a bigger sewing project. I bought some seersucker for another Fen Dress soon after I made the first one, and I decided it was time to put it to use.

I like the dress, but I don’t like that I have to wear a slip with it. I don’t own a slip. Well, that’s not true. I didn’t own a slip until I MacGyvered one this afternoon. I had an old layering tank top and a quarter yard of knit fabric. I did some serger magic and created a slip. The slip is fine (even though it looks a bit like a dress a Kardashian would wear), but I think it will be too warm for seersucker. I am now going to look for a slip pattern (if you have a suggestion, please send it my way)

I have the fabric for a t shirt and a pair of pants in my stash. I’m hoping to finish another sewing project next week, but that will involve taping a pattern together so it might not happen.

What are you working on this weekend?