Insomnia Can Be Productive

This week I posted a new podcast, with the same title as this blog post. I hope that you can check it out!

I went to the lake this past weekend with my family. It was an alright time. I couldn't sleep Friday night, so I ended up working a lot on my brother's sweater, which I will show you a little later. I walked over to my grandparents' house early Saturday morning, and I saw a really huge spider web that I took a picture of. It was at least two and a half feet across. It was pretty massive. I saw others on the way, but this was by far the largest. 

There was a lot to talk about on this episode, but I'm afraid I may have rushed through some of it. So, to solve that problem, I thought I would elaborate a bit on here about the different things that I talked about. So first up are my FOs. I finished the Sockhead hat that I had dug out from forever ago and finally finished. I think that it turned out nice, and here it is, all the ends are woven in and everything! I finished it while I was at the lake. I worked in on my 16" Karbonz, US size 2. 

Then I finished the first sock of the speckled socks that I am making out of Plymouth Happy Feet 100 Splash which is a heavy fingering weight yarn. I am working them on my Addi Turbo Sock needles that are 8" around and are size US 2. I really like how these are turning out, and I have an awesome idea for my next socks that I am going to make on these needles. I got the idea off of Instagram, and basically you make stripes with two different self striping sock yarns, and the two sock yarns play together to create an even more interesting striping pattern. I think it will be really fun to work on, and it might help me use up some sock yarn that I've gotten bored by. 

That's all for my Finished Objects. Next off I have WIPs. There are two blankets, a shawl, and a sweater, and that's all that I showed on the podcast. I managed to work a bit on G's socks, but I forgot to show them on the podcast, so I will just wait until next week, when they will be nearing completion. I finished both heels, and have about 2" done on the cuffs or so. The ballband dishcloth blanket is about a third of the way through, and I have been working on it off and on. It's been made out of Red Heart Super Saver in the Primary colorway and Red Heart with Love in the Lettuce colorway. I'm almost through the first skein of both of those, so it's coming right along. I'm working it on US size 7 needles. 

I am also working on baby B's blanket. It is more than half way done. I am working it with size I/9 US Tunisian crochet hook. I am working a honeycomb Tunisian crochet stitch and switching the colors every other row, which gives it a houndstooth appearance. It is worked in Plymouth Encore Worsted in Lime Green and Navy Blue. I want to put a border on it in cream or grey or something, but my grandmother and mother insist that I use either lime green or navy. Which if that is the case I am inclined to do a thick border of lime green and then a small border of navy around it. 

The night that I couldn't sleep at all- Friday night, I stayed up and watched the movie Robots three times, once in English, once in French, and once in Spanish. I don't think I will be wanting to watch that movie for a while. I also worked on my brother's sweater's sleeve. Uninterrupted for nearly 5 hours. So I am now almost half way through the sleeve, maybe half way. I'm not really sure. I like how the pattern is turning out. It's a Hedge Fence Pullover by Elinor Brown. It's a paid for pattern on Ravelry. I am working it in Plymouth Encore Worsted Tweed in a natural colorway. I'm working it on size US 7 needles, from my Hiya Hiya interchangeable set. I really like them. Unfortunately, my size 2 needles broke, and I need to investigate about sending them back for a replacement, or what I need to do with them. I will figure it out though. 

Then I also worked on the Hippy Hippy Shawl by Gabrielle Vezina, which is a free pattern on Ravelry. Only I'm modifying it because it was written for a DK weight yarn, and I'm using fingering, so I'm working it on US size 2 needles, and I am using a mystery fingering weight in a chocolate brown and Knitpicks Chroma, but I'm not sure which Chroma colorway I'm using. I like it though, and am excited for the end product. At the end I'll have a feather and fan border using Boboli Lace yarn. 

In addition to all the knitting that I've gotten done, I've also done a ton of spinning. I've been using spinning to calm down my anxiety and help me get through the day. I finished two skeins, one from the Apothefairy is a gradient. All her braids are one-offs, so there is no colorway name to speak of. I chain plied it, and I'm not real happy about the even-ness of my plying, there seem to be some spots where it's tighter and others where it's looser, so we'll have to see how it knits up. I got 154 yards. I think I want to make a cowl out of it. Then I also finished playing the Barefoot on the Farm Isabelle colorway with the chocolate alpaca fiber, and I got 214 yards. I am not sure what exactly I want to make out of it yet. 

I am currently spinning on some wool/mohair 50/50 blend to be plied with the rest of the Barefoot on the Farm top. I think the colors will play nicely together, and there's only 2 ounces of the mohair/wool blend. I am spinning it on my Turkish spindle that I got in a swap. I have a ways to go on this one, since I don't spin as fast on my spindle as I do on my wheel, and I have a lot of projects going. 

I am also spinning some alpaca roving that is cream/white/turquoise and I think I am going to ply it on to itself and make a nice hat- hopefully I can get enough yardage. 

Finally, this week I also talked about my Etsy store briefly and showed off the hats that I've made and put up on there. So that was this week. It was pretty jam packed full of a lot of stuff in a short amount of time. Maybe if I get more comfortable I'll be able to ramble a bit more, but I doubt that I will ever do a two hour podcast by myself like the Dancing Geek does. Anywho, that's all for this week, and hopefully next week I will be able to show you some more finished objects, and maybe some new projects on the needles. 

64 Inch Feet

I just posted my new podcast episode, and the title of this blog post and the episode comes from a slip of the tongue that I had while talking about how I knit socks. Enjoy the video for this week, it's a little longer, and I think I'm a bit more charismatic in it.

This week I finished three blankets. Two for Project Linus, and one for Baby J that will be born in November, and who's baby shower isn't until September. So I am way ahead of schedule.

This is Baby J's blanket. It was made with Plymouth Dreambaby DK using the Walt Paint Chevron Baby Blanket by Danielle Romanetti that's a free pattern on Ravelry. I like how all the colors play together and the yarn is very soft. 

This blanket I just pieced together. I got the squares at a thrift store, and then used donated Red Heart Super Saver one pound skein to go around and make a border. I used almost the entire skein. I probably have 20-15 yards left. I used a size H hook, because that's the size that fit into the loops on the squares that were already made. I prefer to use a size J or I usually. 

This is a log cabin that I improvised that is just garter stitch worked in really bulky acrylic that is all discontinued now. It got a little stuffy working on it during the summer, but at least now it is finished. 

Then I have my WIPs that I am working on right now. There are three more blankets, a hat, two pairs of socks, and a shawl. 

This is Baby B's blanket. I'm working it using tunisian crochet honeycomb stitch in Plymouth Encore Worsted in lime green and navy. 

This is another knit blanket for Project Linus. It's being worked using the ballband dishcloth stitch pattern, and it works up quick and easy to to see progress. I like working with a variegated yarn in the background, I think it gives it more interest than just a plain color would. I'm working this blanket on size US 7 knitting needles. 

This is a ripple blanket from the 100 Colorful Ripple Stitches to Crochet by Leonie Morgan. I love this book. It has so many great stitch patterns in it, and the patterns are charted and the instructions are written out so it's super easy to figure out what the pattern is doing. I almost exclusively use the charts, but not everybody like charts so it's great that both are included. This is being made using scraps of Red Heart Super Saver, and I'm using a size J hook. 

These are the socks for G. I almost have one heel done, so I'm pretty much half way on them. I am using a contrasting color for the toes and heels and upper cuffs, just because there's not enough yarn to really go all the way, and heels and toes use up a fair bit of yarn. These are being worked on size 1 circular needles using the two at a time magic loop technique. 

This sock is from the Plymouth Happy Feet Splatter Dye. I'm working it on an 8" circular, US size 2. It goes really fast and there's no patterning to it, just plain stockinette stitch. I really like this yarn, it's soft and all the colors make it fun to work with. 

This hat is a modified sock head hat pattern, that's also a free pattern on Ravelry. I am making it out of Sausalito yarn by Crystal Palace Yarn. I wanted this to be my "summer" hat, but my mom keeps insisting that I don't need a hat in the summer, so all my hats are languishing, waiting for the weather to cool down so I can wear them again and not have a naked head. 

This is the Hippy Hippy Shawl by Gabrielle Vezina. I like how it's turning out so far. I'm just going to do the body until I run out of yarn in these two skeins, then I have a skein of Boboli Lace that I'm going to do a border on it. I'm making this out of mystery chocolate yarn from a consignment shop and Knitpicks Chroma, on size US 2 needles, Karbonz. 

Last but not least I have my spinning wheel still going, this time spinning chocolate colored alpaca fiber that I will ply with a single from Barefoot on the Farm, and hopefully get a DK weight, with enough to make a nice cowl or shawlette. 

Those are all my FOs and WIPs. My thought for the week was trying to encourage everyone to think of what they can do to give back to the community. I was working exclusively on Project Linus blankets for several days, working on them instead of whatever I wanted to work on to try and donate my time and talents that way. 

WIP parade!

So it has been a while since I have been on here, but worry not, I have been quite busy! I didn't even remember what projects I had started and finished, or what projects were on the needles that are now off. I tried to take pictures of everything, but note to self: evening/dusk might as well be night time as far as light goes, and the flash tends to wash out all the colors. But I played with the filters on flickr, trying to get "true to life" colors, but take all pictures of this post with a grain of salt. First, my long term project that is FINALLY done, and has been sent off to be blocked. My 3-in-1 sweater! It's done! I'm not sure if it's the majestic finale that I was expecting, but it does fit, more or less, and it is done. All the ends have been woven in as well, but I didn't take a picture at that point. I'm waiting for it to be brought back from being blocked, so it's all good. 

Then I cast on and cast off a corner-to-corner crochet throw. It's super addicting, and just crochets up so fast. I think that diagonal blankets tend to go faster for me personally anyways. This was made with a size I/9 crochet hook, and I used some of the nicer acrylic in my stash. This blanket is going to be donated to Project Linus this month, along with the other corner-to-corner throw that I was working on last time. 

Similarly, I cast on about two days ago another diagonal blanket. This one is my own design, just working corner to corner, increasing at the end and beginning of every row until it is larger enough, and then decreasing and the beginning and end of every row until it goes back to a point. It's all just single crochet. And this blanket is just scraps of all my projects from the last couple months. I love, love, love working on blankets like this, and even though I rarely make a pattern twice I think this is my fourth or fifth blanket of this same theme. All have been donated to Project Linus, and this one will be too this month. I plan on finishing it either tonight or tomorrow. 

Then there are a couple other old projects. I started a hat way back in about February or March, with the intent that I would wear hats all year round, and this would be my "summer" hat. Silly me, I forgot that it's about a MILLION degrees in Missouri during the summer. So, so much for that idea. but I like how this yarn is knitting up. It's a fingering weight, knit up on size 2 needles. 

Another fingering weight project that I am working on is a preemie blanket for Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. I like working a blanket from the center out. I was experimenting with a center out blanket with both stripes and lace. You can't really see the lace, but it's a diamond lace pattern stolen from a blanket pattern from the 101 Lace One Skein Wonders book. This blanket is also being worked on size 2 needles. 

A third sock weight project is a second pair of socks for G. He really liked and appreciated his first pair, and so I thought I would use the rest of the second skein with doing coordinating heels and toes, and I think that I will have enough yarn. finding the second skein was an adventure in itself. I made the whole sock, and it was going to be like an ankle sock, so I went back to the yarn store, and the yarn was discontinued. So they looked up in the computer who else had bought a similar kind of yarn, and they brought a skein back to the store, and I bought it from them. It was quite the production to get everyone coordinated! So now, I have coordinating dark green yarn for the toes, heels, and cuffs, and have my fingers crossed that I will have enough yarn left to make them a decent length!

Almost off the needles is the baby blanket for my baby cousin J. He is due in November, and his baby shower is in September, so I am WAAAY ahead of schedule. I like how this blanket has turned out, but it was written for worsted weight yarn, and this was worked on size 5 needles in Dreambaby DK, so even though I cast on more stitches, it still ended up being a little narrower than I would have liked. I am happy over all though, and it has a really nice hand to it. 

Since I am making a blanket for baby J, I also need to make one for baby B (who was born about two months ago- so I am a bit behind with him, OOPS). I am tunisian crocheting, with lime green and navy Plymouth Encore, size I/9 hook, and it's a worsted weight yarn. It also has a nice hand, and I am liking the new technique, because I got the new double ended hook, with a cable connecting the two ends. It's pretty exciting how long I can make my rows now!

On the other end of the spectrum is another blanket for Project Linus made out of bulky yarn, that is being knit on size 11 needles. I am just having a hard time getting into this project. The needles are too big and they honestly hurt my hands, after knitting on such a small scale for so long, it's just too big of a transition. The yarn was donated to me after a Make-A-Blanket day about a year ago, so it is high time that I actually finished this project though. The blanket has only been on the needles about a month or so though. 

Last but not least I have been spinning as well. I'm not really participating in Tour de Fleece, but everyone else posting their beautiful pictures to Instagram has inspired me to sit at the wheel a couple times during the last week, so I am making slow, but steady process on a braid that I got at the All MO Spin-In that was held in Chillicothe, MO that was a ton of fun. The colors are way funky, and I tried to correct them with flickr filters, but I don't think it worked very well. They are pretty muted and almost muddy in real life, I am going to ply them with a dark brown alpaca and have a really interesting yarn for a cowl or something of that nature. 

And in upcoming news, I have my next project planned. Granted, there are a few projects hibernating, and several that I've blogged about in this post that are almost done, so I don't really feel like I am being to crazy here. I am wanting to make a crescent shawl- I haven't finalized the pattern yet, but I am really looking towards something that I can have stripes on. I am really digging stripes right now, and just don't have enough of them in my life. So I picked out a skein of Boboli Lace that was on sale at the yarn store, and paired in with a skein of Knit Picks Chroma fingering, and a skein of mystery fingering weight brown yarn from a consignment yarn store. I am really excited about watching them all play together, and I think it will make a lovely shawl. I've never made a crescent shawl, so I am excited to see how the construction varies from just a regular triangle shawl. 

I will try to post some time in the next few days and get back into a schedule with my posts. I'm really tempted to start a podcast, just because I think it would be fun, but I think I need to be more disciplined with releasing different blogs and whatnot before I actually invest into that kind of equipment and such. 

Sparkles and Glitz

I finished the glitter hat with sequins that I was working on last time I updated this blog. I had a knit and purl pattern on it that I think shows up better in this photo than the one before. I haven't worn it yet, still waiting for a special occasion to pull it out. I wear hats all the time, that I've made and I think that they make it better for me while I'm growing my hair out. I cut off 12 inches and it was really short for about the past six months, like shaved at the neck and not much longer going up, like how middle aged women wear there hair. And now I'm growing it out, but it has a nasty habit of standing straight up on end, and I don't think that that's very attractive, so I'm wearing hats pretty much non-stop.

I also finished a ten stitch Tunisian crochet blanket that I started just a couple of days ago. I really liked working on this blanket, it was addicting to just make short rows, back and forth. And with Tunisian crochet you don't have to turn your work every row, or learn how to knit backwards. I think that I'm going to make another one with two colors spiraling around at the same time, because I like how that looks. This one I started with one variegated, and then did a round of tan, and then another variegated skein and then another round of the tan. I really like how it turned out. I used a size 10 Tunisian crochet hook. And all the variegated yarn was Red Heart Super Saver, and the tan was a Caron Simply One Pound. This blanket will go to Project Linus.

The next one that I am going to make is going to be a bright green with a steel blue spiraling around each other, I think that it will look interesting.

I also took pictures for my etsy shop of my knitted items, but am waffling as to whether they are nice enough to put up. I think that they look alright, but all the advice on sites from Pinterest and other blogs says to make a light box and have a white background, but I don't see why you couldn't have a nice setting for your background as well. I will decide in the next couple of days, at the very worst I could post them, see if they get any hits, and then if they don't take them down and re-do the pictures. I think I might have to do that with my bags that I put up anyways. I'm not sure. I'm just trying to wing it as I go.

General Update

So today is a day of catching up, because I have been working on things, but I am just about halfway done or further on several projects, so I will be posting those. Today is also a day of blurry pictures, why? you ask. Well, because apparently I am incapable of operating a camera and I didn't realize it until the pictures were all loaded. Also, everything that I'm posting today is for me, not for my etsy shop, and in case you were wondering I'm waiting until I can get professional photos to post my knitting items up onto etsy. So they will be up shortly, just not today, or tomorrow. So first off, I finished a bag that had been sitting on my UFO (unfinished objects) pile for ages, like seriously, at least two years. And all that it needed was a lining! All the knitting was done, so I sewed up a lining for it, and am now using it as my project bag when I go up to my LYS (local yarn store) to craft with the ladies on Saturdays.

In addition to crafting with the fun ladies at Yarn Mercantile, I have been spinning quite a bit. I finished a singles skein from a center pull batt from a swap that I did in November that was video game themed. I got 282 yds, which is a fair amount for me, I have the problem of spinning almost all of my singles as worsted weight, which means if I want to ply them at all I get a bulky, so I have been trying to practice spinning thinner, but I'm not really sure how well it is working. But these are totally my colors! I am thinking that it is about the weight of Cascade 220, and I am going to go to the yarn shop and find a nice charcoal grey that I can do a stripe with it, and do a nice striping cowl type things, is my plan.

Then I wanted to do a traditional three ply again, because the fiber had such dark colors with bright pops of orange that I thought it would spin better and have a more blended appearance, I'm not sure if I was right or not. I also misread the band on the fiber, and thought I had 8oz, only to discover after I had spun and plied it all that I only ended up with 82 yards, so I clearly only had 4oz, which is disappointing, and I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with this, other than go and get a chocolate brown bulky to stripe it with and make someone a scarf or something, they aren't really my colors, and I don't think I would be happy wearing them.

Then there is the one big project that I have been slogging away at, even though I really love the end product, I just don't think I am a sweater making type of person. It's just not that fun to me, and I would rather make almost anything. I even really enjoy making blankets, just not sweaters, I'm not really sure why. So this one is stuck at a stage in it's life where the body is done and it has one sleeve, and I just need to knit up the other sleeve. I've taken good notes, and I have all the yarn, it's just a matter of sitting down and doing it, and I think in order to procrastinate on this project I have started so many others. So that's my explanation of why I have been having cast-on-itis as of late. So here is my 3 in 1 sweater that I am knitting in Cascade 220 superwash.

So two weeks ago I went to the LYS, and wanted to make a evening hat, something fancier for myself, since I wear hats all the time, but didn't have anything even slightly dressy to wear, and then I wanted to make a evening bag, since I went to the thrift store and found the handles that one sews onto craft bags for $2 a pair, and I got three. So, I went and found a yarn that is DK called twinkle, and a sequin yarn that I held together to create the hat, and I really got a bad picture of it. I am improving the design as I work and am really liking the results so far. It has a slight purl texture, but you really can't see in the picture.

And then for the purse I found some silk yarn so it will have a nice drape, and then I will line it and sew on the handles when I am done. The yarn is a sock weight, and I am working on it with an E hook. This picture looks gray but it real life the color has more purple in it.

And that is what I am working on, I just didn't want to wait until I finished everything to post a new blog entry, since it felt like it had been a while since I posted.

Finished Projects

I recently went to the local big box craft store, which everyone knows can be a dangerous adventure, and I located their fat quarter batiks. I would just like to start off with the full disclosure that I love batiks. I love graphic prints. I think that these are wonderful things that need to be celebrated and be made part of decorating and accessories all around. So, in order to do my little part I purchased enough gray fabric to line all the bags that I planned on making, and then picked out zippers, and then picked out fabric that coordinated with the zippers. I realize that this may sound a bit backwards, but when you think about it, there are far more fabric choices than zipper choices, so I thought that it was safer to pick out the thing with the smaller selection, because I didn't want to end up with awesome fabric and having to get a boring black zipper to go in them. I also added a handle to these box bags, because it seemed like a good idea. So, there is that too.

I think that they turned out really cute, and was quite pleased with them.

Then also last night I finished a hat for my friend K, and she will be getting it whenever I see her next, hopefully on Sunday at our young adult group. So there is that too. It was made with Plymouth Coffee Bean, which is a worsted weight. The construction of the yarn was really interesting, it was a three ply with one of the plies being slightly thick and thin so it gave a slight bit of texture to the finished hat as well as just some visual interest that I liked. The pattern was a free pattern off of Ravelry, the "big fat cable hat". I really liked this pattern, and thought that it was written out really well, and that it turned out really cute and slouchy. I am seriously considering making some more of these for Christmas and other similar occasions.

And finally this afternoon I finished another bias scrap blanket for Project Linus. I liked how it turned out, I just made it from scraps on a US Size I crochet hook, single crochet increasing until it was about three feet on a side and then decreasing until I reached a point. Unfortunately, Project Linus meet-up is on Sunday and it looks like this will be the only knit/crochet blanket that I have finished, I do have the bargello quilted one that I showed previously, but I really like to turn in more yarn based blankets, especially since I have received yarn donations and I like to have a good turn around on those so I am not just hoarding it. (Even though the donations are usually just Red Heart Super Saver, so it's not like there's a whole lot else I can do with them, it's still nice to have a fairly quick turn around on those sort of things.)

I finished For Calvinism by Michael S. Horton, and while I thought it was a well written book, I don't think that it necessarily convinced me that Calvinism is the way to go. There seemed to be some parts in the logic where he didn't really answer the question proposed and just skirted around the issue in order to arrive at the safe conclusion that supported his answer. So it was interesting, but I don't know that it accomplished it's goal. I started The Case for God by Karen Armstrong, but am not really far enough into it to say one way or the other how it's going to turn out, it is interesting so far, but that's about all the insight I can give to it.

Closet Treasures

While I was in my stash closet the other day I stumbled upon a large white trash bag. I had assumed that this was the final resting place for many project disasters. But much to my surprise I found some really delightful creations, and many of them were made with handspun, so I think that they are extra fancy. This post is really picture heavy, but I just wanted to show them all to you, because they show what I used to knit, and how free form and creative I was with things, not going off a pattern at all and just making really unique items. So without further ado here is the surprise projects.

This scarf has all commercial yarn, different textures, some fun fur, and some that was commercial yarn plied together.

 This hat is just a simple beanie made with novelty commercial yarn

This is a little hat made out of handspun that I thought turned out nice.

This is another hat made out of handspun, it's all crochet and has a really nice slouch to it.

These are all fingerless mitts made out of the same thick and thin blue and tan yarn that I got thinking I would make a sweater with it, but the sweater didn't look good with yarn that was this busy. I still have a ton left of it. One Christmas I made several slippers out of it too, and my grandmother felted hers! So I guess I should make some more slippers this year.

This is a simple triangle shawl with eyelet rows, made from Noro sock yarn, which I think is extra lovely.

This is a headband made from handspun, a really simple pattern just singe crochet.

This is a handspun shawlette, and I did a sort of stitch sample on it trying out different textures and patterns.

This is a scarf made out of handspun, and I really like how the colors played with each other, I just thought they all went together really nice.

This is a crocheted scarf from alpcaca, which means it's nice and soft, and even though I have a lot of alpaca to spin, this is not anything that I have spun.

This scarf also plays with texture. The grey-ish green parts are reclaimed yarn from a thrift store sweater, and there is novelty yarn as well, it's all shades of green and it's a fun scarf.

Then there are two that I finished before I started blogging again, and they will go up in my Etsy shop too, along with everything else that I have shown thus far. First there is a fair isle hat that I really like, and I have one just like it and I wear mine all the time, so I think it's pretty classy. Only mine is cool colors while this one is warm colors. 

And then there is a scarf that I tunisian crocheted from yarn that I got from Hobby Lobby, but I don't remember the name of it exactly. The stitch is a simple lace stitch (that's really the name of the stitch), and I thought that it turned out really cute. 

And last but not least yesterday I finished a hat that has a monogram "A" on it, and I'm super proud of this hat because I charted out the A all by myself and then did it with stranded knitting so I think that it really pops. 

I think that I have enough inventory to open my shop up next month, but I am going to continue making things (obviously), maybe just not at the frantic pace that I have been. Currently I'm working on a sweater, and two blankets and a pair of socks. Once I finish my sweater I'm going to start on a sweater for my brother, so that is all a lot of knitting, but I'm up for the challenge!