Knitting Is So Fun

YOP Update – Wk #15

April 18, 2021 by knittingissofun, posted in Knitting, Knitting Plan, Knitting tools, Notions, Sock Knitting, Sweater Knitting, Yarn

SAILORMOON SWEATER

Well, I didn’t make as much progress as I had hoped on my Sailormoon so I’m still working on the body. 😝 My son had a light week of school work so he wanted to play a board game every afternoon. I am only too happy to get to spend time with him as I know those days are numbered. I’m think I will need to add some more stripes before making the lace bottom. I’ll be trying it on later today to see. Plus spring always means lots of yardwork so I didn’t get to knit as much as I’d like.

SOCK KNITTING

I did work a little on my anklets where I’m using up the yarn from my sample knit sock. This is my social knitting project so it’s moving pretty slowly. I did try taking it to the grocery while my husband did most of the grocery shopping. Plus I got a few rows in on the drive to and from the grocery.

MORE BIRTHDAY YARN

I follow the blog for AGirlAndHerWool so she mentioned her business has been off to a slow start this year. I had seen several colorways that I really liked so I decided my birthday last week was a good excuse to order some from her. The colors are just as pretty as I had imagined from the photos. I’m going to make a striped pair of socks with her Smoke Paprika and Orange Sorbet yarns. Then I’m going to pair a grey/blue mini from my advent calendar as the toe/heel contrast yarn with her SeaSalt yarn. It’s not like I don’t have at least 10 other yarns that need to be knit up in socks!! Oh well.

DUH

Last week I shared that I was not real thrilled with how bland my circular needle holder was. A friend commented on how beautiful Roxanne Richardson’s circular needle holder was in her office update podcast. This inspired me that all I needed to do was cover my needle holder with some pretty fabric. Then recut out the slots for the needles to go through. I’m much happier with my “rainbow bright” needle holder.

COMING WEEK

Well, that was my week. Looking forward to hubby and I getting our second and final vaccine shot this week. Fingers crossed the second dose does not make me sick. We were invited by friends to go to Gatlinburg this week but just felt we had tried so hard to get our shots that we didn’t want to delay the second shot even if we were able. It’s going to be super cold this week so it will be a great knitting weather, and too cold for gardening. 😁👍

This is a year of projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog every week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts. YOP is in it’s 10th year although I’m in my first in the group.

Birthday Week

April 11, 2021April 11, 2021 by knittingissofun, posted in Knitting

Not a lot to report on other than birthday purchases – that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it. I received the new swivel cords this week and have one on my Sailormoon sweater. I was having some trouble getting the needle to stay twisted into the cord but I think I finally have it tightened right. Sadly one of my needles came unglued from it’s base. Again, with a little glue I think I have it resealed. So I’m happily knitting away on my Sailormoon sweater. No picture this week since it’s just more stripes on the body. By next week’s post I should be working on the lace portion.

I ordered some yarn from AGirlAndHerWool that will arrive this coming week. Enough to make 2 pairs of socks – someday. Then on my birthday I went to my LYS with my 25% off birthday coupon. I got some red Summer Silk yarn to go with the cream, light grey, and dark greys that I used in my “Shellseeker” striped sweater for the sweater I plan to make for my hubby this fall. I also got some Noro Silk Garden sock yarn as I want to knit up some socks in thicker yarn than the fingering weight I typically use. These may be gifts and likely won’t be worked on until 2022. I also picked up 2 more sets of numbered stitch markers made by Twice Sheared Sheep and some Knit Blockers to add to my blocking wires and blocking pins. Finally some cute fabrics to make either masks, if we are likely to continue to wear masks for the remainder of the year, or else project bags.

I did hang up the circular needle holder that my son gave me for Christmas. It’s a little bland so I’ll be on the lookout for cute knitting related patches/pins that I can put on to give it some color and whimsy. The weiner dog is actually a magnet my daughter-in-law just gave me for my birthday.

I did figure out that I can use half of my advent minis with an oversized skein in my stash to make a waist length top. Another project for 2022 or more likely 2023. I really need to do more knitting and less websurfing to get some of my yarn knit up. Hope you have a great crafting week.

2021 YOP – Week 13 – Sailormoon Sweater

April 4, 2021April 4, 2021 by knittingissofun, posted in Knitting, Knitting tools, Sweater Knitting

Didn’t get a lot of knitting done this week. Didn’t knit much while visiting my daughter and her fiancé. But we did have a wonderful visit. She said “yes to the dress” so she has the big items of venue and wedding dress done. Hubby was able to drive a few hours on the trip to Cincinnati so got some sock knitting done on that travel day. Typical of a man, he sees his 3+ hours of driving equal to my 6+ hours. Seems my days have been filled with errands as we settle back into our home. Have had to relearn how to use the microwave and where the dishes/pots are stored. The cold snap has been brutal (tied coldest opening day for Cincinnati Reds baseball) for my husband so we are really missing Florida. But we are thankful that we both got our first dose of the the Covid vaccine this week.

A fun surprise upon returning home is that some yarn and a swivel cable were waiting for me to open. More Fixation yarn to make cute anklets with the striped balls I already have. A friend has used the new Knit Pick swivel cables and said they are great. They sold out fast so I was only able to get the 20″ cable. I’ll only be able to use it on sleeves. But the new stock just came in!!! I ordered 4 more longer cables. The cable does have 1″ markings so that you can measure your knitting with the cable.

My focus has been my Sailormoon sweater. I really hate picking up stitches although it really wasn’t that big of a deal. Now I’m knitting the body in the round for 10″ so a no brainer knit. I’m looking forward to making the lace panel at the bottom. The back has the interesting striping. I still need to pick up stitches for the sleeves and then the neck. Most knitters make a ribbed neck but I’m hoping to do a bit of lace.

Well, now that we are back it’s time to get onto my homeowner tasks. Yuck. My goal is to work 2 hrs per day on some task; cleaning, gardening, arranging service work, etc. Plus an hour a day on exercise; yoga, walking, etc. Then the remainder of the day can go to knitting/internet/tv. I’m going to try carrying a sock project with me as I walk to practice not looking at my stitches as I knit?? This weekend is gardening – start seeds and clean out the gardening side of our garage. The plants I brought in last fall are heavily whitefly infested so I’ve taken them outside and sprayed them with Neem oil. I may be chucking them and the soil into the woods. With wintering in Florida I’ve realized I need to stop owning plants that need to be brought in for the winter. So this year will be only outdoor flower bed plants and annuals in any deck pots.

YOP Update

March 28, 2021 by knittingissofun, posted in Knitting

ADVENT SOCK

Since I’ve decided to only knit the leg in colorwork, I no longer need to “do a stripe a month” for my advent socks. I knit the final leg stripe and I’m now just knitting a traditional heel, foot, and toe. The sock indeed is quite tight to get over my heel so I’m going to have to block it strongly (fingers crossed). Good lesson so that I knit the next colorwork sock more loosely. I already used a Size 2 needle instead of size 1 but the issue is the floats of course. Need to be more generous. Worse case, I rip out the foot and make them into fingerless mitts!!

SAILORMOON SWEATER

My Sailormoon sweater is coming along. I do love it. I’m almost ready to join the front and start knitting the body. I discovered I miss counted so I have to go back to the left front and add 10 more rows before joining.😣

WHAT I’M WATCHING/LISTENING TO

I’m always looking for podcasts to watch or listen to. I have been watching Grocery Girls, Patty Lyons, and Fruity Knitting regularly for over a year. I love it when I can catch Grocery Girls or Patty Lyons Live but enjoy that I can watch an episode later if I miss it. Andrea’s knitting skills are why beyond anything I aspire to so it’s harder for me to relate to Fruity Knitting episodes. Recently I have started listening to Very Pink as they have restarted their audio podcasting. I definitely don’t always agree with Staci but the episodes have been interesting. I have been enjoying Rox Knits the past few months, mainly her Casual Friday episodes of tidbits. I just discovered Fleece & Harmony video podcasts. I think I’ll go back and watch some of the old ones. I have found that I prefer “friends talking about their knitting” to lessons. I like more “background noise” versus a knitting lesson. What are your favorite video and audio podcasts?

’21 YOP Week 11

March 21, 2021March 21, 2021 by knittingissofun, posted in Knitting, Knitting Plan, Knitting Shows, Knitting tools, Sock Knitting, Sweater Knitting, Yarn

This will be a quick update. I have started my Sailormoon sweater for me. I do love the Madelinetosh yarns I chose, Medieval and Found Pottery. I know I’m going to love wearing it. I need to pay a bit more attention to patterns I pick as this one has lots of picking up stitches and I hate picking up stitches. Oh well. Good practice and maybe I’ll change my mind. Glad this sweater is for me so that when I make it again for my daughter, fit issues should be figured out. Since it’s mostly stockinette, it should be a fairly quick knit even though it’s fingering weight (of course).

This did result in my purchase of a second yarn butler. I found I really like using one with a large cake of yarn when pulling yarn from the outside. With this sweater, I’m switching between the two colors of yarn every 4 rows which made it a pain to constantly take the cakes off and on the one yarn butler I had. So I bought a second one so the cake can just stay on its butler. This is going quite well and leads to smooth unwinding of the yarn.

I did cast-on a pair of anklets with the leftover yarn from my AGirlAndHerWool sample sock knit and knit the toes. These anklets were not on my 2021 plan. We are down to our last week in Florida. Three months seem to have zoomed by. I can’t believe it’s already time to head back north. On the off chance I get to do any knitting on our drive back home I wanted a simple vanilla sock on needles. Juggling the two balls of yarn on yarn butlers for the Sailormoon sweater would not work in the car. I am usually the driver due to my husband’s health issues. Occasionally I get an hour or so break on our 10 hr/day drives. I am looking forward to spending the weekend with our daughter and her fiancé as a break in our 20 hr drive back to Ohio.

I was excited to learn that our “local” wool gathering will indeed be held this year in September. My knitting friends and I have a day of shopping for yarns and gadgets to look forward to this fall. We are all trying to adhere to a “yarn fast” until September. But I did order some more Fixation yarn this week for anklets to use up leftover yarn and will be picking up yarn I bought from my Cincinnati LYS for hubby’s sweater once we return to Ohio. Funny how leftover yarn leads to more yarn purchased which leads to more leftover yarn, etc. How do you stop this endless cycle of leftover yarn leading to buying more yarn to use up the leftover which leads to more leftover yarn, and on and on?

This is a Year Of Projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog every week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts. YOP is in it’s 10th year although I’m in my first in the group.

First FO of 2021!!

March 14, 2021 by knittingissofun, posted in Knitting, Sock Knitting, Sweater Knitting, Yarn

I’m happy to say that I finished my daughter’s Bisquit top!! I’ve blocked it as best I can since I don’t have my blocking wires or blocking mats. While I’ve bound off the top I haven’t “cut the cord”. I still have the yarn attached in case I need to lengthen it once my daughter tries it on. I have never knit a picot bind-off before so another first. I’m not a babble fan but I do like this babble bind-off.

New Project – Sailormoon Sweater

So that means I get to cast on another project. I’ve decided to cast on a sweater for me even though I’m heading into summer. It’s another striped pattern, Sailormoon, although it has a lace bottom and the stripes aren’t straight across in the yoke. Swatching is not a quick activity for me. I spent yesterday and today just knitting this. It’s still drying so that I can measure the wet block gauge before I decide if I need to try different needles. Fortunately the main color and contrast color are the same yarn so I’m not planning to swatch both colors. The solid color is a deep purple with a beige speckles yarn as the contrast.

Advent Sock

I also added a strip to my Advent sock. I’m starting to think that I may only do colorwork strips on the leg. It seems a waste to do colorwork stripes on the foot. I don’t wear just socks around the house. So I’m thinking about making the foot just stripes of red, green, and white. Or maybe all white with a contrast heel and toe with the purple I have on the cuff. I want to do one more stripe of Christmas trees on the leg and then I’ll start the heel.

Week 9: New Knitting “Toy” and Project Updates

March 7, 2021 by knittingissofun, posted in Knitting, Knitting Plan, Knitting tools, Project Bags, Social Knitting, Sock Knitting, Sweater Knitting

FO??? – Sample Knit Sock

I finished my sample knit sock. Knitting a sample knit wasn’t on my original plan but I was happy to accept the opportunity. I finished the sock in one week which is a first for me. I was monogamous as I wanted to return the sock as soon as possible even though I had till the end of March as my deadline. It was just a plain vanilla pattern so it was easy to knit. But it means I should be able to knit a pair of socks in two weeks instead of the usual month it takes me to get a pair done. Usually I’m also knitting a sweater at the same time I’m knitting the socks so that I can have some variety in my knitting. I’m hoping I’ll get another opportunity to knit more sample socks.

I’m back to knitting on my daughter’s Bisquit top. I weighed how many grams of yarn it takes to make one row (1.5g) to make sure I know how many rows I can make with the yarn I have left. I would prefer to reduce the number of stockinette rows if I need to instead of the bottom lace. I did cast on another pair of Fixation yarn socks. These are not on my 2021 plan but are just to have a small project that I can easily carry with me.

New Project Tote – Clear

I’ve written before how I like to use clear bags for my “projects in waiting” and accessory bags. So I was thinking that I might enjoy having a clear tote to carry around my WIP project(s) and accessory bags when I get together for “knit sessions”. My WIPs are kept in cute fabric project bags. I often carry a sock project and a sweater project when I get together with other knitters so that I can switch projects if I develop a problem or need a simpler project while talking. I have been using quilted totes which I like very much but does lead to “digging around” to find my accessory bag, sock ruler, etc. I’m hoping the clear tote makes it easier to find the item I’m looking for. The clear tote was not expensive so if I don’t end up liking it I didn’t waste much money. Plus I could use it for attending professional sports matches. I have a season ticket to our MLS (soccer) team and clear totes are requested for security reasons.

It was cloudy and cool here in SW Florida today so I got to wear my new “non” shellseeker sweater this evening. I know I’ll have plenty of opportunities to wear it once we get back to Cincinnati in a few weeks. I’m anxious to get back to Cincinnati so I can sign up for the Covid vaccine. I am so looking forward to getting together again with my knitting friends at our local coffee shop once we all have our vaccines.

That’s it for this week. Probably going to be a broken record each week as I focus on getting my daughter’s top finished.

2/12ths Update (Feb) and Knitting Planners/Journals??

February 28, 2021February 28, 2021 by knittingissofun, posted in Knitting, Knitting Plan, Sock Knitting, Sweater Knitting, Yarn

SECOND FO of 2021!!!

FINALLY finished my “non” shellseeker sweater. Definitely like it MUCH better with narrower stripes. Glad to finally have it off my needles. I have now finished both 2020 carryover WIPS. Looking forward to my next sweater project. But first, I have to get back to my daughter’s top so that I can get it finished by the end of March when we pass through her home on our way back north to Ohio.

SAMPLE SOCK 🙂

I did get my sample sock yarn from A Girl And Her Wool Wednesday. This is my first time to be a sample knitter. I only have to knit one sock in a vanilla pattern and it’s only a 56 stitch circumference so it’s going quite quickly. I have till the end of March but I suspect I will get it done in the next few days. The yarn is Terra Cotta Sunset with a tonal grey yarn for the contrast toe/heel/cuff. I like the pop of teal and brick colors in the Terra Cotta main yarn.

KNITTING JOURNAL

I’ve enjoyed being part of this group for many reasons. One is learning how others set up a plan and then track it. I historically have simply done a “Year At A Glance” type excel spreadsheet shown in my intro photo. Each column is an entire month but it keeps the year to a reasonable size display of the year. A list of my planned projects is along the y-axis. Then I highlight the months (x-axis) that I expect to work on each project. This lets me roughly see if I have too many or too few projects planned for some months. A goal for this year is to track how well I actually start and finish projects versus my original time estimates.

But this is feeling very blunt to me. I really like a more traditional calendar where I can see on a daily basis what I’m working on versus a monthly basis. I tend to like digital records instead of real paper. Thus a friend sent me a “teacher’s calendar” that was developed on google sheets. It can be purchased at here. I’ve modified it of course to fit my needs instead of a teachers. I’ve even changed some of the graphics to better match my personality. Currently if a project is a WIP it shows up everyday, even if I don’t knit on it. This helps keep my WIPs front and center. I may change to only putting what project(s) I knit. Have to see. Since it’s google sheets I put how many stitches I knit each day on the calendar. I used conditional formatting so that if it’s less than 1000 stitches (my goal) it shows up with a red numbers and pink background. I also keep track of my monthly average of stitches per day. I can link the pages so that the previous months average are also displayed. I’ve also linked my list of goals from month to month so that if a goal is completed in January it shows as completed in February, March, etc. My “Year At A Glance” is still captured in the Start tab.

I still wonder if I’d like a paper journal. A Girl And Her Wool has created an interesting set of stickers to help make a planner. So maybe that will be something I try in 2022 – paper versus digital. I like that digital allows me to add or subtract lines as I need them. I tend to feel boxed in by paper since it really does have size limitations. My current digital calendar can only handle 4 WIPS but I can easily add rows so that more WIPS can be displayed. A journal would be more of a project scrapbook I think than an actual calendar. I need a calendar to make me feel I’m in control of my knitting. Ha Ha – famous last words I think.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on planning techniques that work for you.

Big Week in 2021 YOP Update

February 21, 2021 by knittingissofun, posted in Knitting, Knitting Plan, Knitting tools, Project Bags, Sock Knitting, Sweater Knitting, Yarn

This has been a week of lots of small things. First off – my first FO!!!!! Gee, only took 6 weeks into 2021 to finally get a FO! It turned out to be finishing a 2020 carryover WIP. But I’m still taking the win. I had a pair of vanilla socks with Fixation yarn on my needles as my “brain dead” project. I love the colors in the yarn – purple, lavender, bright orange, and pale orange.

Part of my motivation to finish the socks was I needed the excess yarn to darn a pair of Fixation footies that had developed a hole in the heel. They are also brightly colored so the patch “kinda” matches. I don’t care since the patch is on the bottom and they are for me. So this week was accomplishing a new “technique” – darning. I actually did two darning techniques. For my freshly finished socks, I reenforced the heel bottom by using duplicate stitches. For my pair that already had a hole, I used the patch technique. Both methods are shown on The Woolery site. https://woolery.com/blog/how-to-darn-socks-3-ways/

A second technique I started this week was colorwork. Yes, I’ve been knitting for 4+ years and still hadn’t tried colorwork beyond the stripes in my sweater. As discussed in previous blogs, on my plan for this year is a pair of “advent” socks. The plan is to make a stripe or two of colorwork each month so that the socks are finished by advent come December. I had made the cuff but had put aside the socks until I realized I was “behind”. Oh goodness. Now I get it. Colorwork is indeed fun!! In only 10-11 rows you have a pattern come alive. I am loving my stripes so far. The next stripe will be red background with pink poinsettias. It took till the 3rd stripe to start getting the hang of keep the pattern yarn in my left hand and the background yarn in my right hand. I know that fit can be an issue with colorwork socks so here’s hoping I’ll be able to get them on. I think I’m going to keep the leg fairly short to help with getting them on. If they don’t fit they will be Christmas decorations in my knitting nook.

And yes, I was back to buying a knitting need. I like colorful but clear plastic bags for my accessory bags and project-in-waiting bags. For accessory bags, I want to be able to see what’s inside without having to dump out the bag or rout around. For project bags, I want to be reminded visually what yarn I have waiting to be knit. I had a set of small cosmetic bags I bought probably 2 years ago but the zipper broke off again this week. Plus the bags didn’t close all the way so some small items could fall out of my accessory bag. I ordered some new ones that zipped close completely. I would have liked to get the slightly larger size but they weren’t available in the multiple colors (I didn’t want 5 blue ones). The size is perfectly fine for my accessory bag which was the original purpose. They are also fine for sock projects-in-waiting. One is even perfect for all the small balls of yarn generated by ripping out my striped sweater. We will see how they wear but they weren’t expensive and the colors are fun.

Finally, I’m getting soooo close on finishing my “non” shellseeker sweater. I’m sure it will be an FO by next week’s update. The body is completely done. I have about 5 more stripes to knit on the sleeves before binding off.

Then it will be back to knitting on my daughter’s Bisquit top. I did wet block what I had knit on her top and indeed the gauge does not match the wet block gauge of my swatch. So I’m going to go down a needle size for the remainder of the body and hope the top lace panel isn’t too wide for her shoulders.

2021 YOP Progress

February 14, 2021February 14, 2021 by knittingissofun, posted in Knitting, Sock Knitting, Sweater Knitting, Yarn

Not a lot happening this week so this post will be fairly short. It was a pretty monogamous knitting week. I focused on my daughter’s top. Sadly, I’m not liking the lace yoke that much. Guess we will see when it’s done and blocked if I like it better. If she doesn’t like it, I will rip out the lace top part and create a new lace pattern. I really like the lace pattern of my Eyelet to Eyelet top. I am not a fan of purls so I’m thinking that’s what I don’t like about this pattern’s lace.

As a matter of fact, I was so faithful to knitting this top that my right elbow started to hurt. I knit English style. So today I went back to knitting my “Halloween” socks. Since they are simple “vanilla” socks, I can knit Continental. I call them my “Halloween” socks because the yarn is stripes of dark purple, lavendar, bright orange, and light orange. I’m only going to make them ankle length instead of my the more “full” crew length. This will give me leftover yarn to create a reenforced heel and yarn to use in as a patch for some other fixation yarn socks that have worn through the heels. It will be my first time to darn socks. Yea, a new skill for 2021!!

Last Sunday, before the Super Bowl game, I participated in a Zoom call put on by WEBS with the owner of Hedgehog fibers. It was so interesting! And I do adore her yarn. I wish they had recorded it as I’d love to watch it again.

I hope everyone has a nice Valentine’s Day with their sweetie. My husband is “treating” me to pizza and beer -because we have coupons for a free cheese pizza and and a free beer – always the big spender. Actually he has already made me chocolate covered strawberries and hazelnut biscotti!! He couldn’t wait until tomorrow so I’ve gotten to taste both already. They are delicious!! I’m giving him socks, and not even ones I knit.