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. 

Shop Update!

First off I finished a project that has been on the needles for about three months now, I have been working on it, instead of my hats, but have finally finished! It's a cowl that was done in fingering weight yarn, a JaWoll Color ball and then Cascade Heritage Sock yarn in a chocolate brown color. The two colors played really well together, and I'm very happy with the end result. After I did all that knitting I sat in the LYS and kitchener stitched the two ends together to end up with a nearly seamless finished object. So now I have a cowl to keep my neck warm in the winter, and it will be nice and toasty by the time fall arrives in a few months. And now I can work on hats again!

And then I have a shop update of nearly all the hats that I had been working on and finishing at lightning speed at the beginning of the year. They are all up and posted and are ready to be snatched up by anyone that can give them a loving home!

I'm really proudest of the monogrammed "A" hat and the four color work hats to the left, I think they all turned out the best. So now it is just a question of what else I will create to get up in my shop, and what other ideas are floating around in my head thus far!

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!

Finishing Things

I have been quite busy working on things. I finished several things, including one of the books that I was reading. I finished reading Against Calvinism by Roger E. Olson. I thought that it was a good argument against Calvinism, hence the title, but I'm not sure that it totally convinced me, but it didn't really provide very good explanations of alternatives to Calvinism, but just presented problem with the Calvinist theology. I recommend reading it if you are interested in Calvinism, and haven't made up your mind about it, but don't really know anything about it. (This is where I was coming from). It's very informative and good at explaining things, and at a few points almost feels repetitive, which really helps to drive the point home for me personally.

Now I'm reading For Calvinism by Michael S. Horton. Which is the other side of the coin as far as the Calvinist debate goes, just presenting the Calvinism theology with a more positive light, whereas Against Calvinism was an argument against it at every turn, and it was hard to picture why anyone would believe it in the first place. For Calvinism I hope is going to answer the question of why people believe and embrace Calvinism, not that I have decided which side I fall down on, but it's still important and interesting to learn about.

I'm also reading A Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans. It's a book about how she spent a year following all the biblical laws literally and how she discovered things about herself through following the laws. I think that it's interesting, and I'm learning a lot about different Biblical women that I had never heard of, and I am interested in the Bible, and finding someone that scoured the Bible and found all references to women in order to figure out what it means to "live biblically" is really interesting to me. She writes in a very approachable style, and has her own blog, where you can read about different things. She links different pages of her blog in the book, so I think the two are coordinated, but since the book was written several years ago she's probably not writing about being "domestic" anymore.

In other news I finished a scarf that was two strands held together, I'm calling it "Dirty Snow". It was a strand of white boucle with bits of color and then a strand of lace weight that striped between light blue to white to dark blue to tan to brown and then all the way back again. I like how it turned out. It's just a strip of garter stitch, but I thought that any patterning would be lost in the boucle, so I thought it best to just keep it simple, and not have a lot of complicated things going on.

And then here's a close up of the scarf, where I hope you can see the strand of the lace weight. It had a pretty good halo and was also metallic. 

I also finished a hat, knit with mill ends of sock yarn, and it was striped, and I knit it on my size US 2 Karbonz 16" needles. I did about 2.5" of ribbing, 2x2 ribbing. Then I did a simple mesh stitch that I made up. It was a row of eyelets, and then three rows of plain knit. It was knit in the round, and then I did my normal round decrease at the top to close up the hat.

And then finally I made a baby quilt for Project Linus. It was a along time in the coming, and in the last two nights I finished piecing, put on a border, and then quilted it and put on the binding. And I learned that while I am not terrible at long-arm quilting (my mom has a long arm quilting machine), I am absolutely terrible at sewing straight enough to put on binding. It's quite challenging for me and I'm not really sure why. It's a bargello pattern, made by Jodie and some of her other patterns are available at the Project Linus Kansas City Chapter website. 

And then here is a close-up of the back just so you can see some of the quilting a little better. There are little flowers traveling all the way around the border, but because the border is so busy you can't tell that it's quilted at all unless you are feeling it.

So there you go, everything that I've finished in the past few days. I also cooked up a storm yesterday, and now have enough food for several days. Today I'm going up to Angelika's Yarn Store, and I'll be seeing some new friends, and then I'll be going to Matthew's Ministry, which is a ministry for adults and children with special needs. I'm really looking forward to it, I enjoy it a lot.

Needle Review/ My Personal Opinion

Today I'm going to talk about different needles that I am using and have used in making the color work hats that I am going to sell on Etsy, but first, let's have a quick look at the projects that I finished yesterday, shall we?

These are five little pocket bags that I finished up yesterday. They are approximately 3.5" by 5" by 7". The wider striped ones are going to be priced more because I pieced the base fabric for the bag, almost all of them have different sizes of black and white polka dots as the pocket lining. How the bags are made the inside of the bags are the same as the outside. It's a pretty neat little design, not a lot of cutting, just quite a bit of folding. 

This is another blanket for Project Linus, it's crochet, the stitch is a Catherine Wheel, with three colors, and then borders to make it big enough, since I ran out of yarn before it was big enough. Then I did a shell edge, just to tie it all together. 

And now for the needles. In this picture you can see a colorwork hat, made on size US 2 needles, with Knitpicks palette yarn, for almost all of it, the grey is sockweight yarn that was white and I dyed it and ended up with a tonal grey. The three types of needles in this picture are an unknown brand set of double points, size US 2, bamboo. Then there are the Hiya Hiya interchangeables with a 24" cable and size US 2 tips. Finally there are a set of Knitter's Pride Karbonz in size US 2 with a 16" cable. 

First, the double pointed needles, they are probably the most traditional. I have done quite a few socks exclusively on double points, and once you get the hang of them they are really pretty slick and I don't find them excessively fiddly. Now I usually only use DPNs for finishing the top of hats where the circumference of the knitting prohibits it working on a flexible cabled needle. I have an issue with using bamboo, I use bamboo over metal because it is less slick and I don't have to worry about stitches falling off, which has been an issue for me in the past. (There was one time I was working on socks on US 00 DPNs on a back country road at the lake, and we hit a bump and half of my stitches on a short row heel, half way through it, fell off, and I literally screamed and held my breath while I worked on getting the stitches back on the needles. The finished project ended up being very stiff, as the gauge was too small for the yarn, and the heel just did not fit right. I only finished the one as it was a bit of a disaster). 

 OK, back to the review. This Christmas I made approximately 18 hats for all they guys at the church group that I go to. 15 were done with sock yarn, and the Hiya Hiya interchangeables that are pictured above. I like the join between the tips and the cable, it's a screw attachment, and I find it secure and stable. I also like that the interchangeables go down to a size US 2, since most interchangeable sets that I have seen usually only go down to the size US 4, which just isn't small enough for me personally. The only problem that I am finding with these needles is that because I work a little tensely, and at the tip of the needle, I have been sharpening the needle to the point that it stabs me in the pointer finger on my right hand. I realize that this is probably not a common problem, and I don't think that what I have done with these needles should be considered "normal use", but it is something that I have noticed. 

The last set of needles is the Knitter's Pride Karbonz needles. They have metal tips with carbon fiber shafts, and metal joins to the plastic cable. The 16" cable is really nice for me, because of the hats that I am making the stitches fit better on that size of cable, but that is not really a critique of the needles. The carbon fiber shaft feels a little funny, but they don't snag stitches at all, and the joins are very smooth, and I am finding that I can knit very fast on these needles with minimal stabbing, since the points are not blunt but rounded so my finger is not suffering. 

So there you go, I really think it comes down to personal preference. At this point I prefer the Knitter's Pride Karbonz, but I am not everyone so I think there is a lot of wiggle room about which needles will work for you!

Alive Again!

Hello everyone, I am now back again again. This time I will be being much more vigilant in posting on here and see what we can come up with.
My current large, overambitious project is to open up my Etsy store again, and to have quarterly updates. I will be having very nice pictures taken and posted to my shop and on here, but so far, this is what I have.

They are little bags called pocket bags, with a drawstring closure, and there are two pockets on the outside of each bag. They are roughly 5" by 3.5" by 7". I think that it is a good size for a notions bag and that it will be a good launching point for my store. I have also made some hats. They are sock weight and color work, all variations in the same weight, but with different designs and colors throughout. 

They are slouchy hats, and are completely handmade. I think that these will add a nice aspect of my own handmade to the store, and I think that I will also have some scarves and cowls in there as well.

So that is what is going on as far as my store front is concerned, in other news I have been very busy in making things for people in my life, and for Project Linus that will be given to children that are either ill or in traumatic situations. Here are some examples of those.

So that's pretty much it. I have finished ECT treatments and am working on getting on with my life, but this is what I've been up to so far and there will be more updates to come. Thanks for reading, and hope to be catching up with you tomorrow!