Old Hag socks

Pattern: My own vanilla socks

Yarn: Neeley's Knits in Super sock in Snow White inspired colorway Old Hag

Needles: US Size 1.5 DPNs

Started on: June 18th

Finished on: July 13th

Comments: This is pair # 14 for the year! I could have knit these a lot faster if I didn't get sidetracked and knit other things. I love self striping yarn and seeing each new color knit up. Stripes are easier to match up when the yarn comes with a sidekick skein for cuff, heels, and toes. Another benefit of self striping yarn is I don't have to measure the second sock, I can just count the stripes to make sure they're the same as the first sock.

WIP Wednesday

 Trillian - I started a gradient shawl. I'm soooo close to getting to that second color. I can't wait!

Psychedelic Flowers - I'm planning on starting a pair of socks out of this sparkle sock yarn blank. The photo only shows half of the blank. The other half is just a repeat of these same four flowers. I'm so excited to see how these will knit up.


Old Hag socks - No photo of this one. I'm on the gusset decrease of the second sock, so very close to finishing this pair.

Two Milos

Pattern: Milo designed by Tikki (size 5)

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in colorway 842 Light Iris

Needles: US Size 6

Started on: Jun 1st

Finished on: July 7th

Comments: I did knit this pattern once before about a year or so ago. I knit two so that my girls will have matching vests. I love this pattern, very clever and easy to knit. It also knits quickly assuming you actually work on it. Heh. I knit bigger sizes so that I could use up the yarn and it would fit the girls for longer.

WIP Wednesday

Milo - I actually finished a 5 year old size already, for some reason it never made it on the blog. Either way it's drying now. And I started a new Milo in the same yarn and same colorway as the one I just finished. This one I'm knitting in the 3 year old size. These two will be for my girls.








Old Hag socks - These are plain vanilla socks, they are mostly on hold until I finish the Milos. I have been putting a row in here and there. Once the Milo is finished this will become my primary knitting. It should go quickly once I can focus on them, since I'm already on the second sock.

Wildes Meer

 Pattern: Wildes Meer designed by Voolenvine

Yarn: Neeley's Knits in BFL silk in the colorway Dr. Who inspired Time Vortex

Needles: US Size 6

Started on: June 14th

Finished on: July 1st

Comments: This was a easy pattern to follow and very intuitive to knit. I won my game of yarn chicken. I only had 9 grams left at the end. I really enjoyed knitting this. And I love this shawl. It was a great summer knit. I can't wait to wear it!

June Knitting Stats

It's really been too hot to knit. So not much has happened this month.

I did finish 3 pairs of socks. In total I knit 2.8 balls of yarn / 1,157 yards of yarn. I hope to have more yardage out next month, but really it will depend on if it cools down or stays this hot.

WIP Wednesday

It's been so hot lately, so I haven't been knitting that much this month.

I started the second Old Hag sock. These are vanilla socks. It's fun to watch each new stripe knit up.

I am still working on my shawl, although progress has been very slow.

100

I finished 100 squares in my sock yarn scraps blanket. My plan is to knit 336 squares, so I have quite a ways to go. I'm 29% of the way done with the blanket.

See the ends on the left. Those are the only ends I have left. I've been tucking the ends away as I knit. So kind of the way you do colorwork. As I pick up a new block of stitches and knit the first row, I will wrap the old yarn of the previous block around the new yarn and carry it in the back until the little tail of the old yarn is tucked away. It's worked really well. This was a great early tip I got from a friend who also has knitted this blanket. All the ends on the left will get dealt with when I add new squares to that side.

To give my blanket more variety, I have added in new balls of yarn that I have not used yet. I only add balls that I plan on eventually making socks out of for me (or my Mom or friends). (My Mom and most of my friends and) I have small feet, so I know it does not take an entire ball of yarn to knit a pair of socks. I only have to be careful not to use any sock yarn that is planned for DH. Because his feet are bigger, it might actually take an entire ball of yarn to knit a pair of socks for him.

Kelp Socks

Pattern: Kelp designed by Cookie A, this was originally published as Cookie's Summer Sox. This is still a free pattern, the pay version is only if you want additional sizing.

Yarn: Neeley's Knits in Sparkle Sock in Jade Teacup

Needles: US Size 1.5 DPNs

Started on: June 10th

Finished on: June 21st

Comments: This is pair # 13 for the year. I knitted 4 repeats of the leg pattern and 6 repeats of the foot pattern. These socks knit up really quickly. I am pleased with how well the yarn and pattern compliment each other.

Thunder and Lightning

Pattern: None. This is a simple K3, P1 rib

Yarn: Neeley's Knits in Super Sock Sock Blank In Thunder and Lightning

Needles: US Size 1.5 DPNs

Started on: May 14th

Finished on: June 17th

Comments: This is pair # 12 for the year. I have no idea why these took as long as they did. I guess I just got distracted by all the other projects. It's fun to see how a sock will knit up from a blank. I love seeing how the colors played with each other.

WIP Wednesday

 I am trying to avoid second sock syndrome, so I have two second socks on the needles.

The top sock is a plain K3, P1 rib sock.

The bottom sock is Neeley's Knits yarn in the sparkle sock base in the colorway Jade Teacup. The pattern is Kelp designed by Cookie A. It was originally published as Cookie's Summer Sox and is still available for free. I think the pay pattern is just if you want more sizes.

All I've been knitting lately are socks and my memory blanket. I really started to crave and miss knitting lace and shawls. So I decided to ease my way back into lace/shawl knitting.

I picked the Wildes Meer shawl because it's very pretty, but is small and looks like it will knit up quickly. It calls for fingering weight yarn and has one of my favorite features - a knitted on border.

I'm so excited about this shawl.... I can't wait to finish it! I did have one false start due to my own fault and being rusty since I haven't knit lace or shawls in awhile. I'm on track now so it's all good.

WIP: 86 squares

I can't stop working on this blanket. I'm up to 86 squares now. The second photo shows the blanket on a full sized bed to show scale.  I really love this blanket. It's mindless knitting, but because I get to use different colored yarns it holds my interest.

Haku Socks

Pattern: None. Just a basic K3, P1 rib

Yarn: Gynx Yarns in Strong Sport in the colorway Haku

Needles: US Size 3

Started on: May 17th

Finished on: Jun 1st

Comments: This is pair # 11 for the year. This is my second time using Gynx yarns. The colors are really beautiful and they yarn is very squishy. I enjoyed working with this yarn and seeing how it knits up.

WIP: 76 squares

I spent most of the second half of May working on this blanket. It's super addicting to knit on. I'm up to 76 squares! I really love how this is turning out. I did some math and I think I will need at least 336 squares for it to be the size I would like. So I have quite a long ways to go on this.

May stats

This was my least productive knitting month this year. I only knit 3 balls of yarn/ 989 yards.

In total I finished 2 pairs of socks and 1 shawl. I spent most of my time working on the sock yarn blanket.

Alaskan Nights

Pattern: None

Yarn: Neeley's Knits Super Sock in Alaskan Nights with a sidekick skein in sparkle sock yarn

Needles: US Size 1.5 DPNs

Started on: May 14th

Finished on: May 21st

Comments: I really love this yarn. This is my ideal rainbow. These colors make me so happy. I enjoyed every bit of working with this yarn. I look forward to using the leftovers in my sock yarn scraps memory blanket.

49

I'm up to 49 squares on my sock yarn blanket!

Funnily enough, my sock yarn scraps bin seems to be growing rather then shrinking. I've been knitting a lot of socks, so much yarn has been added to this bin.

WIP Wednesday

I started my second plain sock in the Neeley's Knits self striping super sock in the colorway Alaskan Nights. This is my perfect rainbow. I love these socks so much. As I knit on them I find myself singing the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song from the episode Minnie's Rainbow: "Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, don't forget there's purple too".











I also started a pair of plain K3, P1 ribbed socks in Gynx Yarns in the strong sock base in the colorway Haku.

Easy

Pattern: Easy designed my Martina Behm

Yarn: Neeley's Knits in the gradient Mystic Unicorn

Needles: US Size 3

Started on: May 5th

Finished on: May 12th

Comments: I love this shawl so much! I wasn't quite sure how the pattern would look with this gradient, but it turned out fabulous! The pattern is so simple as the name suggests. And it's so clever, so while
mindless, it still kept my interest. I loved seeing each new color appear. This shawlette/scarf makes me so happy! I couldn't stop knitting on this at all. I loved the knitting and also couldn't wait to get the finished project so I can wear it.

WIP Wednesday

I've been monogamously knitting on my Easy scar/shawlette. My wrist was starting to hurt, so I'm not knitting as much as I usually do, trying to give myself a break.  The pattern is so addicting to knit. And is so cleverly written. The rows are easy to memorize, so it's a mindless knit. I love how this pattern and the gradient yarn look together.

This yarn is Neeley's Knits in the gradient Mystic Unicorn. The yarn isn't exactly how I thought it would look knit up, but I think it's turned out better than I imagined. Heh.

Also DD # 1 came over to inspect my knitting. She asked to touch the shawl, and when she did she exclaimed it was so soft! Then she asked to touch the ball of yarn, and said this is so soft also! And then she told me how much she loves purple. Hahaha... I think it's a hint that she's probably going to try to steal the shawl when it's done.

Lime Spritzer socks

Pattern: None. My regular K3, P1 rib

Yarn: Neeley's Knits sports weight in Lime Spritzer

Started on: April 27th

Finished on: May 2nd

Comments: These flew off my needles. It was fun to see each new color stripe appear. I really like that the there are thin stripes and thicker stripes. DH claimed these socks before I had even finished the leg of the first sock. So these are his. I always enjoy knitting with my Neeley's Knits yarns. This is pair # 9 for the year. 

Black Hole of Knitting

I started Juno Regina a month or so ago and haven't really worked on it. I picked it back up again a few days ago and got through the lace portion fairly quickly.

Now I'm slogging through the black hole of knitting, which as it turns out, is a two row repeat that never ends.  (It's a free pattern, so it really doesn't matter if I tell you how it's knit. You can find it on Knitty.) I've figured out that I have to reserve 15 grams to knit the lace portion at the end. That means I still have 83 grams of laceweight on size 4's to knit this two row repeat... And my ball of yarn never shrinks....

Cotton Candy

I finished eight squares in the Cotton Candy colorway. This is all the Cotton Candy yarn I need for the first Vivid blanket. I even got them all blocked out.

April Stats

In April, I finished 3 pairs of socks and 1 shawl. In total I used up 4 balls of yarn/ 1,464 yards.

Come Together Socks

Pattern: None. My regular K3, P1 rib

Yarn: The Cozy Knitter in Bliss in the colorway Come Together

Needles: US Size 1 DPNs

Started on: April 4th

Finished on: April 27th

Comments: I've not shared this sock progress on the blog. This was a stealth knit as they are a gift for DH.

This was my first time using this yarn from this dyer. When I got close to finishing the first sock, I started to get nervous looking at my yarn. It was the first time ever that I actually worried that there wouldn't be enough yarn left to finish the socks.

I went back to the dyer's Etsy page to check the yardage on the skein. When I started the socks, I had assumed that I would have plenty of yardage. I assumed it was like other yarns I bought from other dyers; where it was a 400 yard skein and that the sidekick skein was also 100 yards. So I thought I had a total of 500 yards, which should be more than enough for a pair of man socks.

Upon actually reading the dyer's description of the yarn, I realized it was 420 yards total for both the main skein and the sidekick skein. And she even wrote that it should be enough yarn to knit up to a size 10.5 socks. Well, DH's sock size is 11. Ack. So I panicked a bit. Then decided to finish the first sock then look at the yarn again.

Luckily these are stripey socks, so I can easily look at the remaining ball and count by looking at the colors as to how many stripes I still needed. I am so happy I had enough to knit the second sock. I even have a little bit leftover that will go into my sock scrap memory blanket.

WIP: socks

I started another sock yarn blank. This one is one of a kind from Neeley's Knits in super sock in Thunder and Lightning. The top photo was taken after I knit the first sock. So I don't have a good photo of the entire blank.

I really love the colors in this one and how it's knitting up. It wasn't what I expected, but I feel that's part of the fun in knitting these blanks. I'm using the waffle rib pattern from my SKS book.

The pattern shows up a bit better in person then in the photo. The yarn does compete with the pattern a  little bit, but I don't mind because I really like the texture it's creating. And after knitting all those mindless socks, it's fun to knit a patterned sock, especially one that's easily memorized.

36

I'm now up to 36 squares on my sock yarn memory blanket. It's fun to watch this crazy blanket grow little by little.

Vivid Blanket Project

I love granny squares, but alas, I do not crochet. I came across, Vivid, a knit blanket pattern designed by Tin Can Knits, and it reminded me of granny squares. So I decided to make it.

Well actually, my plan is to make 3 blankets (one for each girl and one for myself). I noticed every year around summer time, I get restless or maybe it's just daydreaming in the good weather. Either way I end up with lofty goals/ ideas and crave knitting large projects.

Luckily, my stash is extensive, so I already have enough yarn to make all three blankets.  I was originally planning to make the ever popular Hue Shifts Blanket, but since I haven't started it, I can repurpose the yarn for this project. DD # 1 is really into being matchy matchy with her sister. So the plan is to make two identical blankets. The third blanket which will be for me will be in the same yarn, but different colors.

The first photo shows yarn for one blanket. The yarn is Knitpicks Brava in Sports weight. The top two yarns are for the border. I'll need to buy more of that color to make the entire border. That colorway is Dove Heather.  From left to right the colors are: Tranquil, Sky, Custard, Blush, Cotton Candy and Lady Slipper.

I've finished three squares so far. My current goal is to make 48 squares. So that means I will need eight squares out of each of the six different colors.

I started with Cotton Candy. And in the photo, the squares aren't blocked yet, which is why they aren't laying flat. I really like the way these look. It actually takes quite a bit of time to knit one square. So this is definitely a long term project.

Dancing Bunnies Socks

 Pattern: None - plain vanilla stockinette socks over 64 stitches

Yarn: Gale's Art in Sock Yarn Blank Dancing Bunnies

Needles: US Size 1.5 DPNs

Started on: April 4th

Finished on: April 14th

Comments: This is pair # 7 for the year. I'm almost caught up. My goal is to knit two pairs of socks per month. I still need to finish one more this month. Hopefully I can reach that goal.

The yardage on this yarn is very generous (463 yards) and I have small feet. So I knew I wouldn't run out of yarn, if I took off the purple on the top. I wanted to start knitting the bunnies right away. I forgot to make a note of how much I wound off/ where I started. So when it came to the second sock, I tried to guess how much to wind off to make matching socks. I was off by quite a bit. But for non self striping socks, I don't really mind that they don't match.

I found the yarn itself to be really soft and nice, but incredibly splitty. So it wasn't as mindless as I would like. I kept having to keep an eye on it because I would constantly split the yarn, then have to tink back to make sure I was knitting the entire strand of yarn. That being said, I am smitten and love the beautiful patterns/stenciled designs in the yarn. It's so fun to see how it will knit up.

Black Waltz Socks

Pattern: None

Yarn: Gynx Yarns Sports Weight in Black Waltz

Needles: US Size 3 DPNs

Started on: April 6th

Finished on: April 13th

Comments: This is pair # 6 for the year. This is my go to plain K3, P1 rib socks. This was my first time using Gynx yarns. I enjoyed knitting with this yarn. It's soft and squishy. I really like this color way.

WIP: Second Socks

 All I'm working on are second socks.

I'm almost done with the leg of my second Dancing Bunnies Socks. The second photo shows how much I have left of the sock blank. I did wind off some of the yarn, to try to start around the same place as my first sock. I didn't do it too accurately, as I can tell that I'm going to be off. But that's fine, I don't mind that these socks won't be matchy matchy.

I'm working on the foot of a second sock of my other plain socks. This one is just a K3, P1 rib in Gynx Yarns Sports weight in the colorway Black Waltz. This one is knitting up quickly as it's sports weight. I think I'll have this one done in a couple of days. I'm excited to have a new pair of socks!

WIP: Sock blank

I started knitting vanilla socks from the Dancing Bunnies sock yarn blank. The first picture only shows half of the sock blank. The second picture shows the full sock blank. So you can see how it's possible to get two close to identical socks if you wanted to.

I wanted to start knitting the bunnies right away.  I also have tiny feet. So I knew I could cut out the first purple section and part of the white section and still have enough yarn left to knit the socks for myself. (Don't worry the purple and white section I cut out won't go to waste. I saved them so that they will be knit into my sock yarn memory blanket.)

I love how cute the bunnies are on this sock blank. The blips of yellow, pink and purple are how the bunnies knit up into the sock. It's fun to see how the pops of color will appear on the sock.

Dragonfly Wings

Pattern: Dragonfly Wings designed by Boo Knits

Yarn: Lamb and Wolf in 80% wool and 20% angora fingering weight in the colorway Sapphire City

Needles: US Size 6, 7, 8, and 9

Started on: March 31st

Finished on: April 2nd

Comments: I was completely enchanted by both the pattern and the yarn. It felt like it just knit itself up. I'm not usually one who likes small shawls, but I really love the ones with long ends that you can just wrap yourself up in them. This was such a fun knit, and this yarn was lovely and soft to work with. These colors are so beautiful and are very me. I'm so happy to have this new shawlette to wear.

March Stats

In March, I finished 1 pair of socks and 3 shawls. In total I used up 6 balls of yarn/ 1,752 yards.  This is my highest yardage for a single month in a very long time. I don't think I'll be able to repeat this amount in April.

WIP: Tiny Tea Leaves

I've been sick, so I haven't been knitting too much. I decided to make the Tiny Tea Leaves Cardigan for the girls. I finished the body of the first one. It still needs sleeves and the button band. I decided to knit the body of the second one. (No photo of the second one because I barely started it.) And when that's finished I'll knit the sleeves for both cardigans and the button bands.

I also started a pair of socks, but they are barely cast on, so no photo of that one either.