SOS {summer of stash}

Gosh it’s been awhile! How has your May been? I can’t believe that the end of school is coming up soon. In just a few more weeks the kid will be graduating from junior high. Right now we are busy with field trips & other end of school celebrations, plus transition meetings for high school. High school!!! I am so not ready!!! Can’t wait until summer vacation starts & we can sleep in a little. I love the slower pace of summertime here on the island.

I have already started making some fun knitting plans for the summer. This year has seen a major focus on using up the stash. I’ve been knitting up a storm on the garment front but will wait to share that with you on the next post. Today I want to talk about my newest obsession: shortie socks! They are such great projects for leftover partial skeins of fingering weight yarn. All of the following were knit on 2.25mm needles & 64 stitches:

Design line by Arne & Carlos :: summer night

The above pair was my first attempt. I wasn’t sure how long to knit the cuff/leg so I went with 10 rounds of 2x2 ribbing followed by 10 rounds of stockinette before knitting the fish lips kiss heel. Not bad for the first go round.

West Yorkshire Spinners :: peacock

I decided to increase the cuff length on the next pair: 15 rounds of 2x2 ribbing followed by 10 rounds of stockinette. Better fit but still not perfect.

Knitpicks Felici :: jamboree

Third time’s the charm! 15 rounds of 2x2 ribbing followed by 15 rounds of stockinette. The fit is just the way I like it. Now that I’ve hit on my perfect shortie formula, there’s a bunch of colorful felici sock yarn in the stash just waiting to be cast on!

Before I sign off today, I want to thank you for visiting! I really appreciate the fact that you take time out of your busy lives to read my oftentimes jumbled ramblings. Have a wonderful start to your summer!

march finishes

Hooray I actually finished a sweater!!! So incredibly excited to cast off my Edith Cardigan while it is still chilly enough to wear. Good thing that it is extremely cozy because every year when the calendar turns to March, the hubby dials down the heat to sub-zero temps. But this year I will not engage in thermostat battles :)  I love how warm & woolly this cardigan is. It was my first time knitting a dropped shoulder construction and I was a little concerned with how the finished sweater would look since I usually wear raglan sweaters. Really pleased with the relaxed fit. It was a very well written pattern and would make a great first sweater project. I am debating on whether or not to add in the big patch pockets. Maybe at some point down the line but for now, I want to finish up my Weekender and cast on for some Easter socks. Here’s the pair I made for St. Patrick’s Day:

These were fun fun fun to knit! The yarn is from Desert Vista Dyeworks in the Zombody go bragh colorway. Those green stripes have me looking forward to some fun Spring knitting. What’s currently on your knitting needles? Anything on the radar for Spring?

winter woolens

conversation hearts :: king cole zig zag :: pinks

winter’s day charade :: coopknits socks yeah! :: danburite 

spring stripes vanilla latte :: must stash yarns :: theory 

Well guys, I’m officially hitting the reset button on this year since it feels like hibernation season is almost over. It’s been a rather tough winter healthwise but we are all finally on the mend. Even my laptop got sick. But today the sun is shining brightly and I finally figured out how to blog from my phone using a new to me app for blogger so now I can share all of the winter woolens completed so far.

Of course there are plenty of socks! January’s pair was inspired by the cold winter walks that were taken when we couldn’t stand to be inside all day long. After knitting with greys and blues, the next pair was a wish for Spring. Nothing makes me happier than fun colorful stripes combined with speckles. February’s was Valentines Day themed.

It’s funny how seasonal my sock knitting is. I love choosing yarns and patterns that celebrate the different holidays that are sprinkled throughout the year. So with that in mind, I decided to start a holiday sox box. The goal is to have fun knitting socks for all of my favorite holidays throughout the year with the bonus of having finished socks to wear next year when those holidays roll around again. Feel free to join in :)

I hope that you are all staying healthy and having fun with your knitting & crafting!

autumn fade

How can it be the end of November already!?! It seemed like autumn barely arrived yesterday. We had a very quiet and peaceful Thanksgiving last week. My MIL stopped by for a whirlwind visit on her way to Florida. So we ended up eating Thanksgiving dinner twice (the other dinner was at my brother’s). I also had quite a bit of time to knit since no one trusted me with Turkey duty. Two socks have been cast off since we last spoke. Both have been my constant knitting companions this fall and were joys to knit. The other project finished was a quick Sockhead Hat using a beautiful fall mini’s set from Hue Loco. I am calling it my autumn fade hat. Quite appropriate since we are now heading into the busy holiday season. Time to cast on some festive Christmas socks!

Did you cook for Thanksgiving? Any holiday knitting/crafting plans?

color therapy

Oh November why do you have to be so moody and changeable? Sunny blue cold grey dark rainy all in one day....it’s enough to drive a knitter to wanting to cast on all the shiny things. Lucky for me I have a stash full of colorful yarns to chase away the seasonal blues. There’s even a few bright and cheerful wips hanging around requiring just a little attention before they are finished and ready to comfort with their cozy warmth, like these socks that were cast on a few months ago:



I am calling these my Sunbeams Socks because the combination of yarn (SpunRightRound in the shock star colorway) and the fun stitch pattern (from Japanese Stitches Unraveled) creates a fabric with tiny little sunbeams dancing all across it. Pure yarny happiness.



I also pulled out some pretty autumnal mini’s from hueloco for a faded Sockhead Hat:



And of course, the ultimate in woolly color therapy, blankets:



I hope that you are finding comfort in your knitting and crafting as the busy holiday season approaches.

plain ol’ socks

paintbox yarns fair isle :: storybook colorway

regia 4-fadig :: color 07200

We are finished with the second full week of school and I am happy to report that things are going pretty well. One thing that has helped tremendously is giving ourselves plenty of time to get ready in the morning by waking up a little earlier. My husband is an early bird who wakes up at 5am every morning to meditate, do yoga exercises and go kayaking before he has to start work. Me? I’m definitely a night owl and find early mornings quite painful. But not having to rush before getting the kid to school is a good thing for both him and me so I’m willing to wake up with the early birds, at least on school days. An added perk is having some extra time to relax and knit before seeing the kid off. My project of choice for early mornings is plain ol’ socks since they can be knit even while half asleep. It has taken a couple of years but I have finally come up with a recipe that fits great and is fun & relaxing to knit.

For my plain ol’ socks, I cast on 56 stitches with 2.5mm needles using the German Twisted/Old Norwegian cast on or 64 stitches using 2.25mm....it depends on the yarn. I like a pretty tight gauge for my socks, about 9 stitches per inch. Then I knit 2x2 rib for 20 rows. I knit the cuff + leg for about 5.5 to 6 inches before starting the Fish Lips Kiss heel which is my absolute favorite heel as far as fit goes. Also love how quick & easy it is to knit. I knit the foot for about 7.5 inches before starting the toe. My favorite new toe is similar to the umbrella toe by Kay Jones which can be found in her Drippity Drop Socks pattern except that I forgo the Kitchener stitches at the very end and just fasten off the few remaining stitches. Much simpler and neater for me and the resulting fit is perfect for my toes. And that’s all there is to it! Here’s an action shot:



Are you an early bird or night owl? What is your favorite easy knitting project?

sock school 2018

pattern {mercury socks} yarn {hue loco glitz} color {eskimo}

We are trying to get outside as much as possible in order to enjoy these last few weeks of summer. Honestly, if it was up to me, I would rather be inside with the AC on full blast and knitting away on all my sock wips. So it’s a good thing that the kid is in charge and dragging me out of my nest to enjoy/whimper in the hot, humid, changeable weather. It’s been a mix of bright blue skies and brief summer thunderstorms lately.

As far as the knitting goes, this week has been dedicated to finishing up some more wips. Trying my darndest to get all the summer socks projects off the needles before Fall Castonitis hits (yes that’s a real thing!). My first priority was finishing the Mercury Socks for Sock School 2018. Gosh, what a fun enjoyable pattern. Surprisingly so because lace knitting isn’t something that I normally gravitate towards. But the stitch pattern was extremely simple and meditative. Also loved knitting with the sparkly glitz yarn from Hue Loco. This cheerful pair will be going into my Christmas box o’sox.

Are you looking forward to Fall Castonitis as well?

cozy december knits

yarn: opal hundertwassers werk colorway: winterbild

tiny socks (recipe here) yarn: gnomeacres holiday party #nofilter mini-skeins

pattern: mistletoe kisses yarn: turtle purl colorway: mistletoe kisses

tiny squares cozy memories blanket yarn: adelaide cottage advent

#lbkchristmasevecaston2017 yarn: a homespun house colorways: warm and toasty or cozy nights

I hope that you are all having a wonderful holiday season. Are you wrapping up the gift making/shopping? Or are you the last minute type? Just remember that it will all get done in the end and make time to enjoy yourselves. Things here have been pretty quiet. We are enjoying spending time at home and avoiding the holiday hustle and bustle. There has been lots of festive & cozy knitting going on as well. This weekend will be dedicated to some baking and lots of Christmas movie watching. Here’s wishing you all a bright and merry holiday!

socktober

I couldn't let October pass by without posting a sock update in honor of Socktober. Life continues to be crazy busy so the only projects off the needles lately are socks. The first pair is the Pebbles Socks knitted for Sock School 2017, a fun KAL which encourages trying out new techniques. This time around, I decided to knit my first Fish Lips Kiss Heel. And boy, am I so glad that I did! The heels are quick and easy to knit. But most importantly, they are super comfy and fit great. Now I totally get the hype :)

The next pair are just plain vanilla socks with my new favorite FLK heels. But instead of the usual wedge toe shaping, I decided to mix things up and try a new-to-me rounded toe, where the decreases are evenly distributed and which does not require grafting. Really love the fit of these socks.

I saved my favorite for last: Spooky Scrappy Halloween Socks!

These were a do-over from last year's unfinished Pixel Rise socks which ended up being too small. I used the Vanilla Bean Striped Socks pattern with an afterthought heel and a modified rounded toe for the pair above.

Can't believe that it's already Halloween! Autumn is zooming along at full speed. I hope that you are making time for some fun fall activities as well as getting lots of knitting and crafting in.

sock school 2017

yarn: woolberry fiber co. in the pride and prejudice colorway

school supplies: notions pouch/tuft woolens hand balm/wooden sock knitting tools from little skein in the big wool

pattern: pebble socks

My assignment for this year's sock school is to finally tackle the Fish Lips Kiss Heel. I have had this pattern in my Ravelry queue ever since it was published back in 2013. Coming in at 16 pages, it can appear to be pretty intimidating at first glance, with a lot of detailed explanations on how to create a foot pattern as well as an in-depth review of sock architecture. It also has a visual tutorial on the short row technique used for the heel. The actual pattern for the heel is only 5 pages long and includes both toe-up and cuff-down instructions. I found the pattern to be very clear and easy to follow. The heel knits up so much faster than I had anticipated! Much faster than a traditional flap & gusset. But the true test will be how comfortable the fit is. What is your favorite heel to knit and wear?

(I had planned to publish this post yesterday but at around 1:30am Monday morning, we woke up to a tornado alert on our cellphones. We didn't even have time to make it downstairs to our safe spot before the house started shaking from the impact. It happened so terrifyingly fast. Feeling thankful and blessed that my family and loved ones are safe. My thoughts and prayers go out to those on the island who lost their homes. Thankfully there were no fatalities)

summer festival socks

Continuing with the seasonal socks theme, I'm thrilled to have my summer festival socks off the needles. These were such a blast to knit, mainly due to the interesting stitch pattern. I find that patterned socks knit up much more quickly for me than vanilla socks. The grey yarn is KnitPicks stroll in dove heather and the brightly variegated contrasting yarn is from KnittyAndColor. Not sure what the name of the colorway is since it was part of a miniskein set. It's funny how these socks came about: I had originally knitted the yarn into my cozy memories blanket but found that the bright colors didn't jive very well with the surrounding squares. I ended up ripping out the square and randomly throwing it in a bag with the grey stroll yarn. Something about the color combination caught my eye and prompted me to go on a Ravelry search where I came across this fun free pattern, appropriately called Froot Loop. It's funny how inspiration strikes like that. I am feeling like my sock knitting mojo is finally returning and can't wait to cast on another pair.

Things here have been pretty quiet of late. The little guy is at summer camp for the first time. He is having a fun adventure and making new friends. The hubby is starting a new venture of his own by exploring how to mine for cryptocurrency. It was hilarious how excited he was to mine $2 worth....in 24 hours. Oh well, it keeps him out of trouble. Meanwhile I've been getting lots of knitting and podcast listening in. My current faves are Little Bobbins, Yarngasm and Inside Number 23. Do you listen to knitting podcasts? Any favorite listens at the moment?

celebrations

It's been a wonderful week of celebrations around here :) My niece graduated from high school. Hard to believe that the tiny screaming baby that I saw come into the world is now the confident and caring young woman smiling before me. I am so proud of her, but a part of me wishes that time wouldn't fly by so fast.

This past Sunday was National Cancer Survivors Day. One of my closest friends and I marked the occasion by taking a river cruise down the Choptank River. We ate a delicious lunch, watched the gorgeous scenery pass by and laughed a lot. It was a beautiful way to celebrate life and friendship.

This Friday is the last day of school for the little guy. It's been a successful school year and I couldn't help but cast on a celebratory sock.

pattern: froot loop

These are going to be my Summer festival socks to usher in the season. With all of the sad events happening right now, it seems even more important to celebrate and be grateful for the joyful moments that life has to offer, both big and small.

seasonal socks

Hello and happy Sunday! Just wanted to post a quick sock update. The sock knitting has really slowed down this year, especially since starting two blankets and several shawls. These things tend to go in cycles so I am hoping my sock knitting mojo will return soon. I did manage to recently finish a few that have been hanging out on the needles for way too long.

{Winter solstice socks} pattern: charade, yarn: endoftherowyarns

{Spring wildflower socks} pattern: blueberry waffle yarn: lichen & lace

So I guess instead of a pair a month, my new goal will be a pair each season. Guess it's time to pick out some yarn and a pattern for summer. I can't believe how fast the seasons are changing!

Leaving you with some pictures of my Mother's Day present. According to my little guy, the fairies who live in this garden love to knit, eat pie and drink tea :)