I Continue to Stripe, and Stripe, and Stripe...

 

The Canal Grande scrap wrap is slowly getting bigger and bigger.  The balls of leftover yarn in the bag are getting smaller and smaller.  The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round.

Ooops, I got sidetracked there, sorry.

It's now big enough for Max to curl up under while I work on it as long as I'm careful to twist it back and forth as I work on it instead of around and around.  There are a couple of yarns I'm about to finish up completely so I'm trying to work those in with some of the yarns that have several more stripes worth of yarn in them.  I think if I really work at it, I can finish this wrap in another week or so.  I'm hoping to use up the majority of the yarns I pulled for this project though, so I might make it a little bit longer than I'd originally intended.  I guess I'll know it's done when it's done!

Have a great weekend!

New Footie Socks!

 

I decided my simple, small project would be another pair of footie socks!  This is Malabrigo Sock in Ravelry Red leftover from some gloves (I think) I made a couple of years ago.  I've found that this pattern makes the perfect sleeping sock - just enough sock to be warm, not so much that they get bunched up, and knit in wool, they don't make my feet sweat.  They also knit up very quickly and use just under 50 grams of sock yarn.  According to my Ravelry Projects, I've knit these seven times already and this will be my eighth pair!

Now I have a project that's small and easy, doesn't involve counting or reading directions (for the most part).  Just what I needed!

Lazy Weekend

 

Do you ever have those weekends where you get basically nothing done?  That was this past weekend around here.  What you're looking at is all the knitting I got done - half of a sleeve, and it's not even a long sleeve.  I didn't knit a single stitch at all yesterday.  I did some reading.  I thought about knitting.  I decided I need to have a brainless project.  I decided I didn't feel like wandering upstairs to get yarn for a brainless project.  I was a lump.

Anyway, today I will wander upstairs and get yarn for a brainless project.  I'm thinking footie socks.  Or fingerless mitts.  Once I get this first sleeve knitted, the second will be brainless, but it's not there yet.  I have no idea why I was such a potato all weekend, I just was.  Sometimes you need to be a lump.

Halfway There

 

You can get a lot of knitting done while you time a practice SAT test.  I'm definitely at or past the halfway point now!  (I haven't actually measured with a measuring tape, but I'm assuming 36 inches is halfway since I want it to finish at about 72 inches.  Knitting isn't always a precise art.)

Have a great weekend!

All The Colors!

 

Before I can begin a Find Your Fade (thanks for all your opinions on yesterday's post by the way!), I have to finish my Canal Grande scrap wrap.  I've worked another six inches or so since you saw it last.  I'm pretty sure I'm not quite to halfway but I'm almost there.  This thing stretches like crazy, so I have to keep that in mind so I don't have a finished wrap that drags the ground.

I'm still counting on every wrong side row since apparently I can't remember to increase where I'm supposed to.  This is why I don't do cross stitch - I can't count.  (Also, this is why I don't teach Caleb math.  He has to learn from his math curriculum or Khan Academy.  It works much better that way.)

Playing

I tend to plan what I'm going to cast on next while I'm still knitting on my current project.  So while I'm somewhere around the halfway point of my Canal Grande scrap wrap, I've been thinking about the next shawl I want to knit and I think it's going to be a Find Your Fade.  I knew I had to have yarn in my stash and I think I've found some that will work but I'm not sure which order to use them.  The small leftover balls of English Rose have to be Color A, but the others are all full skeins and can go in any order.  I've come up with three options but I'd like some second opinions, particularly if you've knit a Find Your Fade.  Leave your favorite in the comments!

Option 1:

Option 2:

Option 3:

Which one do you think will work best?

Battle of the Bands

 

I decided to go ahead and get the neck and front bands finished before moving on to the sleeves.  I've finished the neck band and the left front band (the one that will get the buttons sewn to it), and I'm almost finished with the right front band.  If you look carefully you can see the buttonholes!  Everything needs a good blocking (the front bands are actually the same size, or should be - they have the same number of stitches), but that will wait until the end.

I'm really enjoying knitting this cardigan and while part of this is the yarn (I'm definitely going to be using BMFA Cloud Nine again), part of it is the pattern.  It's very well designed and very well written.  I'm almost tempted to knit another one of these as soon as I finish this first Bentley Cardigan!

The Bentley Cardigan

 

I've finally finished the lower ribbing on my Bentley cardigan and bound that off.  I haven't quite decided if I'm going to knit the sleeves next or do the neck and front bands.  I'm kind of leaning towards the neck and front bands, but I've got a suspicion that sleeves will be faster.  (This cardigan is knit at a tighter gauge than a lot of current designs.  It will wear beautifully and hold its shape well, but things like ribbing that are worked on even smaller needles move at a snail's pace.)  Either way, I plan to make up my mind tonight and get back to knitting this!

I hope you have a great weekend and stay safe if you're in the path of this hurricane!

Finished Socks!

 

I finished my Pink Lemonade socks!  I think I forgot to count rounds properly on the leg of one of the socks because as you can see by my heels, things are a little different.  I think I knit a few extra rounds in the leg of the first sock (on the left) and didn't knit them in the second sock.  This is the first time this has happened to me using this yarn so I'm chalking it up to knitter error.  I still love the socks even though they're fraternal twins instead of identical twins.

I've got to weigh my leftovers, but I think I might have enough to knit some footies!  Pink and yellow striped footies sound like a great idea!

Something Fast

 

This weekend I found myself wanting to knit a super quick project that would give me a sense of completion with minimal effort on my part.  (Ever have those kinds of days?)  I decided a worsted weight hat would be exactly what I needed so I grabbed the 10K gift skein from ESK and cast on!

This is Mrs. Crosby Steamer Trunk in A Sweet Race (ESK exclusive color) knit in the Rikke hat pattern.  In my experience, Lorna's Laces yarns tend to pool weirdly and since Mrs. Crosby is part of Lorna's Laces, I've just avoided it as well.  I was pleasantly surprised that at least in worsted weight and this hat pattern it didn't pool but came out really well!  It looks like a cupcake with sprinkles on top.  I've knit the Rikke pattern before and knew it worked up quickly and it did not fail me this time.  In about 24 hours from casting on I was weaving in ends and blocking my finished hat.

Now I feel like I'm actually getting somewhere and can get back to my longer, more involved projects!