Episode 4- Bring on the Broccoli!

The newest episode of my podcast is up! I'm sorry that the lighting is so bad, I had to film in a different location, and thought that it looked fine on my screen when I first set up, it wasn't until I was editing that I realized that I look like Casper the ghost for most of it! I am very pale in general, so just having direct sunlight on me like that really washed me out. This is a good lesson to keep in mind for the future, just in case I am tempted to do something crazy, like record outside or something (yeah, right).

In this episode I go on and on about my failed vegetable garden that I planted this spring, as well as my personal struggle with social anxiety, which is just one facet of Generalized Anxiety Disorder that I am diagnosed with. I have been getting up early this week to try and adjust my sleeping schedule to better work with getting up early to go to school, which starts next week. This has given me even more time for crafting, so I finished two crocheted blankets for Project Linus this month. Project Linus is a charity that accepts handmade blankets, whether they be crocheted, knitted, or quilted, and then distributes them to children that are either sick or have been through trauma. I have been making blankets for Project Linus since the 7th grade, about 13 years ago.

The pattern for these two blankets came from the 100 Colorful Ripples to Crochet by Leonie Morgan. They are made from different acrylics that have been donated to me by people for Project Linus.

This week I also finished half of a pair of socks. I just couldn't resist casting them on, even though I already had two pairs on the needles. I striped two different colorways of Berroco Sox. One was a green colorway and the other was a red, pink, puce, blue, and green colorway. They go together surprisingly well, and I really like the result. I cast off just before recording, so I will definitely work on a matching sock this upcoming week.

Along the lines of half finished socks I finished the cuff and the heel on the speckle dyed socks that I am making from Plymouth Happy Feet 100 Splash. They are going well, but I'm kinda falling out of love with the speckles. I am planning to use the left overs to make striping socks like I am doing with the Berroco Sox with some other stash yarn that I have.

And for the last of the socks, I have the pair of socks for G that I finished both the heels on and am now working on the cuff. I should have them done before I go and see him this Saturday, because I think that that would be a nice present, since I don't get to see him very often. They are made out of JaWoll Lang Color and Cascade Sock. I am working them toe up two at a time.

I added about another repeat of the stitch pattern to my brother's sweater sleeve. Without time that was really quiet and focused it's hard to make myself concentrate enough to knit on the sweater. I am nearing the end of the increases though, and then it will just be the top shaping, since the sweater has set-in sleeves. Then I will work the other sleeve and then the body. I hope to have the sweater done sometime this winter. It is the Hedge Fence Pullover by Elinor Burn, it's a paid for pattern available on Ravelry. It is being worked in Plymouth Encore Worsted Tweed.

I also added a few rows to the Hippy Hippy shawl by Gabrielle Vezina, a free Ravelry download. I am making it out of a mystery acrylic yarn and Knitpicks Chroma. It's a crescent shape shawl and is worked with pinstripes in stockinette.

I added quite a bit to the baby blanket for Baby B. My cousin that is now a few months old. It is Tunisian crochet, worked in the honeycomb stitch, and I change color every row, which gives it a hound's tooth appearance. It is worked in Plymouth Encore Worsted in lime green and navy.

Finally, last but not least, I worked on the knitted ball-band dishcloth blanket that I am also knitting for Project Linus. I am making it out of Red Heart Super Saver in the primary colorway and Red Heart with Love in the Lettuce colorway. It is coming along nicely, and I am almost done with the first two skeins.

My thought of the week this was about how I am going to try to start knitting sweaters for the charity Knit for Kids that is put through World Vision. They look really great and I think it will help me develop as a knitter as well. I also talked about my knitted goodies basket that I put out every Christmas to make the holidays easier on me as a crafter.

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. 

A New Podcast!

I decided, like today, that I would make a new podcast and publish it, and see how it turns out. I think that I did alright. I definitely need more practice though. I think that with time it will get much better and it will all turn out.

I showed all my WIPS on the podcast, but here are pictures of a few of them.

The Royals crackerjack scarf that is coming right along and is clearly more blue than white and yellow, so the boys in blue are doing good! I don't know what I'm going to do with all the ends, since I didn't leave them long enough to weave in, they may just stay that way. It'll all be good.

Then this is my speckle dyed sock that I'm really excited to be working on. It's fun to see the colors pop up, even if it is just for a stitch or two, it keeps it interesting to work on. This is my second purse project, I probably shouldn't have cast it on, but I couldn't resist.

Then this is the other blanket for Project Linus. I think this stitch pattern is called the ball band dishcloth pattern. I like working this pattern it is a slip stitch pattern where you alternate the colors every row. It also keeps it interesting. I cast it on yesterday, because I didn't have anything else to work on at Project Linus once I had woven in the ends for the 15 blankets that I turned in!

This is the stack of blankets. 12 of them were just borders around polar fleece that had punched holes in them. Then there was a Ten-stitch tunisian crochet blanket that I did, and two corner-to-corner throw blankets. I was pleased with all of them, and hopefully I have another productive month.

This is the hippy hippy shawl. It is worked in stockinette stripes and it will be a crescent shawl. It's made out of Knitpicks Chroma fingering weight and a mystery acrylic brown that was purchased at Fabric Recycles, which is a consignment store for yarn and fabric.

This is a preemie blanket that I finished that will be given to Children's Mercy once it's blocked. It was worked from the center out, in stripes, with a diamond lace border and then a garter stitch border of six rows or so.This was acrylic yarn that my grandparents got for me at various garage sales. I will probably make another one similar just because this was fun to do and I still have quite a bit of yarn.

This is a diagonal striped blanket that I made from scraps from my most recent Project Linus blankets. This is my fourth or fifth blanket just like this, and I like how it turned out.  I will have to make more blankets to have more scraps to make another blanket or two like this one.

And this is my most recent spinning. I have been spinning it thick and then, so it is like art yarn, and I just have about an ounce and a half left of fiber to spin. This is an art batt that I got at the All MO Spin In. I'm not participating in Tour de Fleece this year, but seeing all the pictures on Instagram are really inspiring and have made me want to spin more.

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. 

Lots of blankets

Welcome back, I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, and I honestly don't remember what I was working on last time, so this will be a general update. I did finish the hot pink socks and give them to their recipient. I'm not sure of the reaction though, but I think they went over well. Along that same vein, I started a pair of socks for my boyfriend, G. He has size 13 feet, but since I'm working them from the toe up I tried them on him, and they were a little big. So I will know next time to make them less than half an inch shorter than what I made them this time. I'm making them out of Lang yarns Jawoll Color Aktion, in the color 132.0372 (what an inspiring name). So in hindsight, while this was an excellent color, I should have made the toes and heels in a complimentary color, because they are just above the ankle, and I have run out of yarn. So what happened, was I was knitting along, and realized I would run out of yarn, so I went back to the yarn store, and the yarn has been discontinued. So you know what they did? They looked up in the computer who else had bought that exact same yarn and contacted them to see if they would be willing to sell me the rest. They found someone, and she agreed. So she brought in her skein, and I'm going to pay for part of whatever yarn she chooses to replace it. How cool is that? So the day has been saved, and the socks will be finished by the next time I see G. I am making two at a time toe up, using the same lace pattern that was in the Gridelin, because I thought it looked masculine, and not really like lace. I think the same basic pattern was used in the froot loop socks from Knitty, but I'm not entirely sure.

Speaking of Curls by Hunter Hammersen, I am making another one. This one is Janthine, and I'm making it out of Cascade Heritage Silk Prints. I'm not sure of the color name off the top of my head. It's going along fine, but the lace pattern is not nearly as intuitive as the Gridelin, so I am still working from the chart and using a sticky post-it note to mark my progress so I can sit it down and pick it up whenever I feel like. I'm not entirely happy with this color, because in the skein and wound up it looked like there would be a lot more lilac, and now that it's knitting up it's turning out to be much more variegated. My plan is to finish knitting it, and then overdye it with purple to even out the colors and make them all get along better. Not that they don't get along right now, it's just not what I was expecting.

And then there is my 3-in-1 sweater that I have been working on off and on for about 5 months. I hit a snag, because I tried to do the yoke decreases, but it ended up too shallow. So now I redid the math and have it where I just need to look at the pattern and figure out how to do the multiple layer look on the top, so it is in timeout until I have enough brainspace to look at it. I just started school again this week, so that is taking up most of my brain power (I despise college algebra, just in case any one is wondering).

Since I have stalled out on this sweater, I have been brainstorming other sweaters, and I have decided that I want to make a sweater (or two) that will feature my handspun. I am thinking about Tenney Park by Elizabeth Morrison. I think that I could do the entrelac front panel in handspun, and then have the rest of the sweater in Cascade 220. I think that that would be a really cute sweater. So I got some different braids, and am experimenting to see what would make an awesome yarn. I am planning on putting a gradient, and then two handpainted braids together to make a significant quantity of three ply that I could use as the center panel. So here is the first ply. It's done spinning, and I wound it off onto a tube to await plying.

Then my cousin is pregnant, and I wanted to make her a special baby blanket. So I got ten skeins of Dreambaby DK by Plymouth yarns, and am making a Walt Painted Chevron blanket. It's a free pattern on Ravelry, and I think it's turning out nice. I put in like a million stitch markers so I can keep track of the chevron points and so I don't have to continuously count out every single row. It's going much faster since I put the stitch markers in.

In addition to that baby blanket I am also making two others for Project Linus. One is a Corner-to-Corner throw, and then the other is an improvised knit log cabin. I think that they are both turning out quite nicely.

Other than that I am focusing on school. I also started volunteering at the library genealogy center, typing in names from old obituaries. It's about as interesting as it sounds.