Unraveling

December 19, 2018 By Carole

First of all, because every blog post should have a picture, behold my year of colour from Instagram:

It seems like an appropriate photo for a post about knitting because so much of knitting is about color.

I don’t have any finished knitting to show you but I have been knitting and thinking about what I want to knit, not just next week (because vacation) but also into 2019.

I set a Ravelry Project Challenge for the year at 15 items and so far I’ve completed 13. (Ravelry says 10 but it’s counting the three pairs of Appleseed Mitts I made as 1 project and the two Hamilton Ornaments are also counted as 1.) I might just actually make my goal if I finish the hat I’m knitting for Jackie (which should be a slam dunk) as well as the current socks I have in progress. I have the Project Peace 2018 cowl on my needles but that’s a slow going knit and I’m guessing it won’t be done until after the first of the year. Then again. I have a thing about finishing up works in progress before the end of the year so perhaps I’ll have it done.

Looking ahead, I still want to knit the Party of Five cowl (I have the perfect gradient kit for it) as well as Orbit (I bought two different skeins of Tosh DK from the Loopy Ewe recently) so those will be carried over into my 2019 challenge. I also decided yesterday that I’m going to frog Skogafjall (it’s been in time out since last winter) and instead I’m going to use the yarn I have to knit another Stopover. Finally, I want to knit some hats. I bought a kit from Knitterly Things to make a Chevron Love Slouch Hat and I’ve also got the Ombre Cable Hat in my queue. Hats are a quick and useful knit and I’d do well to remember that.

On the reading front, well, there hasn’t been a lot of time for reading . . . but the good news is that I’m (finally) reading a book that I love: Circe by Madeline Miller. I resisted this one despite the fact that so many of you read and loved it because it just didn’t appeal to me. In fact, I think I’ve gotten it twice through Overdrive and just returned it without evening starting it. Last week, though, I asked Kym and she was pretty certain I’d enjoy it and she was right. It’s great . . . a compelling story, a strong female protagonist, and descriptions so real you feel like you’re right there. I’m hoping to sneak in some knitting time in between prep for our Christmas Eve party because I am enjoying this one very much.

How about you? What are you knitting and reading this week? Be sure and head over to Kat’s to check in with everyone on the unraveled front.

Wednesdays Are For Knitting: Hamilton Ornament

December 12, 2018 By Carole

When Kym posted that she knit a Hamilton Ball from Lexicorp I knew immediately I had to knit this. It’s so fresh and fun and trendy. My experience with it was pretty awesome. The instructions are clear, the mini skein of yarn is just the right amount, and the Hamilton logo is perfection. It’s supposed to be a bit fiddly at the top but I have a set of very short size one needles that were perfect for this project and my gauge was a little looser than it should have been so those decreases weren’t so bad.

In fact, not only was it not so bad, it was charming enough that I ordered and knit two of them. One for me. One for Jo-Ann.

You see, Jo-Ann and I are going to see Hamilton together in New York City in March (cue the squeals of excitement) and I thought gifting her this ornament would be the perfect way to not only commemorate (in advance) our trip but to remember it as well.

I gave her the ornament last Thursday and on Friday I knit mine up (it’s very fast) and now it’s on my tree, making things look festive and pretty but also increasing my excitement about our trip and this show every time I see it.

Alexander Hamilton
I knit Alexander Hamilton
And there’s a million things I haven’t knit
But just you wait, just you wait

(sorry. I couldn’t resist.)

Wednesdays Are For Knitting: Baa-ble Hat

December 5, 2018 By Carole

Remember a few years back when it seemed that everyone was knitting the Baa-ble Hat? I didn’t jump on the bandwagon then but I thought it was a super cute pattern.

And then last January I was in my local-ish yarn shop and they had kits for this project all made up. The right yarn in the right amounts and colors along with the pattern. I grabbed it and it sat in my craft room for the rest of the winter. BUT I had set myself a deadline for the end of this year as part of Ravelry’s new feature they rolled out last January and it’s been weighing on my mind to get this done.

I knit it up over the Columbus Day weekend back in October. It went fast and, even though it looked awfully big, I persevered.

You know where this is going, right?

Too big. Waaaaaay too big.

Huh. Maybe it will fit Dale?

Annnnnnnd . . . no.

Jo-Ann had the brilliant idea of ripping it back and turning it into a cowl. I tried that and it was soft and cute but ultimately was a disservice to the pattern. As in, it just looked like a blue, green and white striped cowl because you couldn’t tell there were sheep.

I put the thing in time out.

But that Ravelry deadline was bugging me. And really, I wanted the hat to be done so I could wear it.

A week or so ago I ripped it out completely and started over with significantly smaller needles. (Can I just say? I must have read the pattern wrong because the needles I used originally were 2 sizes bigger than recommended. #rookiemistake)

I finished it up and I added a pom pom and done!

Of course the ultimate test is . . . does it fit?

Yep! It fits great and the pom pom is the bomb and the sheep are super cute and I love it!

It took a while to get to the finish line with this one but I sure am glad I stuck to my goal and got it done.

Wednesdays Are For Knitting: Appleseed Mitts

November 28, 2018 By Carole

You guys! It took some fits and starts but I finally got my groove on with the Appleseed Mitts.

And I proceeded to knit 3 pairs.

Now. These are unconventional. The yarn I used is Mission Falls 1824 Wool. It’s sadly discontinued and I had 5 skeins in a variety of colors that I bought eons ago but not enough of any one color to knit a pair.

So I mixed it up. Combos of teal and gold, maroon and natural, gold with both maroon and natural just fell off my needles once I got the hang of the pattern.

And speaking of the pattern, it really is great despite my earlier issues. I will say that I used the smaller needle for the cuff and the larger needle for the hand (which is not how the pattern is written) and that worked well for me. Yes, it was initially an error but sometimes mistakes work out for the best. (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it)

This a great project for binge knitting and now I’ve got three Christmas gifts ready to go. There’s only one pair with a definite recipient, the rest are up for grabs, frankly.

Want one?

Wednesdays Are For Knitting: True Colors

November 14, 2018 By Carole

Today I am finally going to share my finished True Colors with you. I took these photos last week and I have to admit I was rather disappointed when I finally got around to processing them yesterday. I almost put this post off again so that I could take better shots but at this point I’m going with “done is better than perfect” and sharing them even if they aren’t up to my usual standards.

In all honesty, this is a tricky piece to photograph. It’s very long and it starts out really narrow (that pink bit toward the bottom right) and then it increases to the wide natural stripes at the end.

And oh man do I love those stripes! The yarn is from Woolen Rabbit, the mini skeins were in a kit I picked up at a Fiber Revival a few years back, I think, and the natural is just Kim’s undyed base – but I can’t remember what base this is. #badknitter

I had to modify the pattern some since it calls for 10 different colors plus the natural. I had 5 colors in this kit so I just rotated my way through them. And I didn’t have quite enough to make this as big as the pattern calls for but, honestly, it’s huge and I wouldn’t want it to be any bigger than it is.

I love the way the colors reverse as the scarf (shawl? I can’t decide) reaches it widest point. And yes, that was a crap ton of ends to weave in. It was a labor of love, though, and I really am thrilled with the way it came out.

And now that I’ve blogged it – I get to wear it!