craft

FO Friday 2/16/24

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I finished a hat for Elliot. He is suddenly obsessed with Nintendo video games. He asked for a Luigi hat. I found the Luigi’s Mansion pattern on Ravelry and started with that. From there he asked me to add Mario. That was easy enough. I just made him shorter and changed the color of his bibs and hat. Then he wanted Princess Peach, Toad, and Blue Toad. Those I had to sketch out on knitters graph paper. He wanted the 8 bit Princess Peach, which was easier to chart. He wanted Toad from the movie, which was more of a challenge.

Once I was done with the hat he asked for a button on top. What kind of button? The kind that is on the top of the hat I made in October of 2020. Apparently he loves the button. I didn’t have any plastic craft rings on hand, but I had picked up a Coke Zero at Aldi after a stressful grocery trip. A bit of prying, cutting, and sanding is all it took to get started on the button. Well, that and looking up the Bumblebee Acres YouTube with the directions.

The button was a quick make, and it does add a little something to the hat.

In the end Elliot has a hat he loves. I have a lot more experience with duplicate stitch. The hat took less than a week to make. This quick project brought Elliot a lot of joy.

The yarn is Beaverslide Dry Goods delaine merino in the McGill Meadows colorway. The duplicate stitch is done in leftover yarn from my stash.

Did you finish anything this week?

WIP Wednesday

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As I hoped, casting on all sorts of projects has helped me fall in love with knitting my Farmhouse Cardigan. It is still slow going, but I feel like I’m actually making progress now. I would love to have this done in time to wear at Christmas.

I’ve been picking up the Darwinian Evolution scarf and working a few rows here and there, and it’s really adding up. John has been giving this project googly eyes of knitting admiration, so it’s going to be a scarf for him.

My grab and go project has become the sockhead cowl. It is mindless knitting, which will be perfect for knitting at holiday celebrations or when my friends get together to knit.

What are you working on this week?

This Should be a Sock It To Me Monday….

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After finishing The Weekender last week I quickly finished a pumpkin hat for my sister’s baby.

Please note the artfully configured placement of cashews, cell phone charger, peanut butter, and fruit fly trap, because why would you clear off your counter before you take a picture?

Once I finished my hat I told myself I was going to focus on my socks. If I really focused on them I could finish them in time for a sock it to me Monday post. I was determined. I pulled out the socks. I knit one row. Then I tossed them to the side and cast on a baby sweater.

The pattern is Gidday Baby I was looking for a free pattern to use up some Valley Yarns Superwash DK and this sweater fit my needs. I normally believe in paying for patterns because you get what you pay for. I still believe that. The pattern was awkward to work from, only because I’ve knit sweaters before. From the increases to picking up stitches under the arm, I was annoyed every step of the way. But it’s done. And I knit it fast to be done with it.

While blocking the sweater I threw in a pair of socks that needed to be washed. They are socks with very little pink in them, but the socks managed to bleed onto the sweater, so you can see some blotches of pink. I am choosing to think of it as a special gift – this way Mary-Claire can spill something on the sweater and not feel the least bit guilty.

I should get back to work on my socks. Or maybe I’ll start a sweater. What do you think I’ll actually work on next?

Whitehorse

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Had you told me a month ago that I would knit a cropped sweater with bobbles and love it, I would have assumed you were making fun of me. I am not a cropped sweater person. I think bobbles are ridiculous. And yet, here we are.

Pattern is Whitehorse by Caitlin Hunter. I used some yarn that my cousin gave me when she was destashing. I think it is worsted instead of the DK it calls for. I knit my sweater with less positive ease than the pattern called for. I did not go down a needle size on the cuffs or bottom ribbing. I probably should have on the cuffs, but I don’t like tight things on my elbows.

Will I ever wear this sweater out of the home? Maybe. I need to find a dress I can wear it with, which would alleviate the muffin top I developed this summer. Even when I’m back to my normal size I doubt I’ll ever want to wear a sweater this short. That is OK though, as this sweater was very fun to knit.

Now I’m off to knit something else. I’m really glad to have my knitting mojo back.

I Can Explain…

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I’ve spent most of this year doing a great job sticking to my yarn diet. I only buy the yarn that I have earned (100 g earned for every 300 g knit). Recently I went off the rails, and now I’m 2052 g in the hole for the year. I don’t think I’ll be able to knit my way out of it this year. I’m disappointed in myself, and I’ll be continuing my yarn diet next year.

It all started out so simply. My sister is going to have a baby, so I wanted to get yarn to make a baby sweater. I found a pattern and yarn I liked on bluprint and decided to buy it.

I didn’t want to pay for shipping, so I added on a sweater kit I’d been eyeing.

But when the kit arrived I noticed that I had made a grave error. Instead of selecting coral, I distractedly ordered two different teals.

Obviously that wouldn’t work, so when I ordered the coral I added on some yarn to get to free shipping. I found a nice wool/silk blend on sale, so I bought a sweater quantity. The problem is I wanted to buy 1000 yards, but instead I convinced myself I needed 100 g, so now I have enough yarn for two sweaters.

I was going to be done, but I had already promised Ivy I would go to an Andrea Mowry KAL at a local yarn shop. I decided on the Range shawl, but I didn’t have the right yarn for it. So I bought four skeins of Malibrigo for the shawl.

I know I will use all of the yarn I’ve purchased, but I sure do wish I would have utilized my stash first. I have never gone on a yarn binge like this before. I hope I never do again.

So now I’m off to learn brioche so I can continue to work on the shawl. I am also going to work on my whitehorse sweater so I can finish it and cast on the baby sweater. It’s a good thing I feel inspired to knit again, as I have a lot of knitting to do.

Sock It To Me Monday

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The Christmas socks are done. I’m happy with how they turned out. I’m especially happy with how the striping worked out with the heel flap and gusset.

I also make Elliot a hat this weekend. He wanted a red pompom. I thought it would look silly, but it turns out the red looks great on the hat.

I really should have cleaned up the kids art area before taking this picture. My house is messy, but not the hoarder level of messy as it appears in this photo.

Thanks to finishing these projects I’m only around 1650 g of yarn in the yarn diet hole. I don’t think I’ll get out of it this year, but I’m going to try.