Go big or go home!

Any of you ever take it into your mind that you just had to start a new project and it just had to be some big, amazing. crazy kind of project?
Yeah, that's me too apparently. I had been thinking about a crochet project. I don't usually crochet but once in a great while I take into my head to do a little something. I also don't do afghans - EVER.
This January though, I took it into my head to start a temperature blanket. Because why not. I mean, really, lots of people make afghans. It shouldn't be that difficult, right? So I went to the knitpicks website and started color shopping. I knew right off that I wanted to use Swish DK - not to big and not to small but nice and soft and washable. After checking out the colors they had and considering what colors I like I came up with a plan.

1. Wonderland Heather color 1: 0-10

2. Gulfstream color 2: 11-18

3. Twilight color 3: 19-26

4. Dusk color 4: 27-35

5. Delft Heather color 5: 36-42

6. Dove Heather color 6: 43-49

7. Carnation color 7: 50-56

8. Rouge color 8: 57-64

9. Hollyberry color 9: 65-70

10. Marble Heather color 10: 71-77

11. Sugar Plum color 11: 78-82

12. Amethyst Heather color 12: 83-88

13.Eggplant color 13: 89-94

??color 14: 95-100

 By the time my first order arrived January was more than half gone so I was starting out behind the 8 ball already. So I began tracking the local high temps for each day and planning for when the I could start.

 So, these are the colors that January will be made of. Let's see how it goes!!

Have you ever created a temperature blanket? Have you ever started a temperature blanket? Do ou prefer bigger project or quicker, smaller projects?

Yay! I'm done!.......or not.

Jan 14th: I was so excited yesterday to sit down at my wheel and finish spinning the last little bit of Charollais fiber that I had left in this spin. It has been a very enjoyable spin but I was kind of getting a hankering to move on to another thing.
So I spin, spin, spin my little heart out and then finish that little last bit! I snapped a quick photo so I could share the spun singles here on the blog.

 Then I ran to my room, grabbed the bag that contains my extra bobbins for this wheel and promptly noticed a large chunk of fiber sitting there. Hmm, well, okay, I must have picked out the next thing I was going to spin already. That's okay. It only looked like a one-ounce bump, so no biggie.  And then I glanced at the name on it....Charollais....WHAT?!?!?!?! Aww man! Apparently, I'm NOT done with this spin. It's a good thing I have been enjoying this spin.

So let's talk about Charollais fiber since it looks like I am going to be focused on that for a bit longer.
Origin - France
Purpose - primarily meat but also grow a lovely fiber
Color - Generally white
Staple length - 1.5 to 2.3 inches but this claims to be 3 inches.
Micron count - 29-30.5

Charollais was developed as a breed in the early 1800s by crossing a local landrace and Leicester longwools. I grew up being very aware of Charollais as a cattle breed but had never heard of it as a sheep breed. But my family was definitely more heavily invested in cattle. We just weren't sheep people. And then I learned to knit & spin and it all changed.
Hopefully, soon I will have a finished yarn to show off.
Have you ever spun or worked with Charollais? If so what are your thoughts on it? Once this is plied I may have to dye it up and work up a pair of socks!

Sunday Round-up 1/19/2020

Another entire week in the bag! How does that happen so quickly?
Sunday is sometimes a day of relaxation and sometimes just crazy busy with all the things going on at church and small groups. Today was a relaxation day since the winter weather hit with a vengeance this weekend. Plenty of knitting, resting and even some cooking. 
Here's a quick look at where the current WIP's all stand!

Handspun Longline Cardi - my #make30for30 FIVE inches of progress since #make30for30 started!! I'm so glad!

 

Warm Heart Baby Vest - just drying and waiting to be seamed & finished

Baby bibs that just need some seaming - drying and then will get seamed this week

My Beau's Vest & Things - got cast on last night and am making some progress. Hoping to work on it this week. This one will go in my backpack this week.

Blue Rose City Rollers -  Ugh, had to rip out multiple inches of the toe/foot. I got that all picked up and am back to making progress on that. This one is my purse knitting.

Sockhead hat for G - this is a new cast-on as well. This will be my desk knitting. G chose the yarn for this one. 

 And my spinning - this Charollais is just such a joy to spin.

 Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful coming week and that there is time for spinning, knitting, or crafting of your choice!
 

Three and counting!

I feel like I am on a roll here, but let's be honest, they are only little knits. Still, progress is progress, right? So here is finished object number 3 for 2020! 

It's another sockhead hat!

• Sockhead Hat 
• by Kelly McClure
• size: adult medium, as written
• Knit for: me, well, originally the Savvy Barbarian in my life but then I decided for me.
• Yarn: Canon Hand Dyes in the Virginia base, self-striping
• Colorway name: "make not your thoughts your prisons" Antony & Cleopatra
• Needles: US 2.5 (3mm)
• Began Oct 2019 - Completed January 16th, 2020

Notes: Not too much to say. Followed the pattern as written again. No changes needed. One of these days I'll try some with patterning on the portion above the ribbing. It is just so hard to mess with it though because it is the perfect purse/no thought knitting.

 

 I had to include pictures of my 'helper' of course. She is constantly under my needles and in my way while I am knitting. She is pretty sure all yarn & needles are made for her pleasure and her pleasure alone.

Now that my desk project is completed I need to decide what will take its place. Some days are just really slow and I need something mindless to occupy my hands. It also helps to have knitting there in case I forget my knitting when I go to church. Then I can grab my desk knitting from the office. In addition to my desk project being mindless knitting, it also needs to be a project that has no deadline since it may only get worked on in little bits and pieces. I don't like to take those projects back and forth in case I were to forget it at home. I don't think any of my current WIP's are really very good candidates. So I could start a new pair of socks or perhaps cast-on my son's sockhead hat. I am going to have to give this some thought this weekend. I'm just not sure which thing I want to do. I could perhaps do a pair of fingerless mitts...I have been wanting to do some of those for a while. I'll need to figure it out before Monday so I can get it cast on Sunday night at the latest. Oh well, we shall see.
For now, I am going to spend some time on my sweater for #Make30in30 and also work on the baby project that is on the needles. I need to get that moving and off the needles. I hope each of you has a lot of knitting/crafting time this weekend!

All the little babies...all the little babies...

One-Skein Wonders® for Babies: 101 Knitting Projects for Infants & Toddlers

Yep, that's the book - the one I have been knitting all the baby items from of late. I don't know what it is about this book that I love so much but there are so many cute items in it that I want to knit. As I mentioned before, I went so far as to number all the patterns and then choose yarns to go with them! I could be a little overly excited about these knits...maybe just a little. Or maybe it isn't overly-excited, but exactly the right amount of excitement. It is hard to not get excited about babies! And when all my friends are having babies around me...that just means all the baby knits HAVE to happen and I get a touch excited. Today I was at a baby shower for one of them while holding another friend's baby who was born a month or so ago. Yes, I was in baby heaven.

So, back to the book. There are numerous sections of the book from little ensembles to tops to bottoms to dresses to hats to socks & booties to accessories to blankets to toys and finished off with a miscellany section. Now let's just get this right out of the way - I don't knit afghans as a general rule and toys tend to hurt my hands because of the tight tension. So those patterns won't really be of much use to me. However, oh my the tops, the hats, the bibs, the bottoms, the sweaters...yeah I think they make it so worth it!

Let's take a look at some of the yarns and items I have chosen to work on this year! Here are the yarns.

 

Now to have a peak with how I am pairing some of these with patterns from the books!
This one is the Warm Heart Baby Vest and is the baby project I have been working on lately.

 

And the next one I will cast on from the baby knits books is the My Beau's Vest and Things. This little vest just makes my heart sing! It is so cute!! I have never done an i-cord edging before but I look forward to learning that technique and putting it into practice.

I also cast on the Birthday baby sweater but did so in girly colors and apparently all my friends are having boys. I'm pretty sure it is a conspiracy.

A couple of the others I am looking forward to knitting (just a few)

Yes, I really do have a thing for all the cute girly knits. *chuckle*

So you can see why I went ahead and purchased this book! If you are needing to knit a bunch of baby items or just love to knit them maybe you should check out this book!

 

Second Project off the Broken Needles

I am excited to say that I have completed my second item for the new year...yes it was a hat and therefore a small item but nonetheless, it is a COMPLETED item! Yay!!! I am not excited to say that I had to resort to my DPN's while doing the decreases because my circular needle came apart. Sadness.
This hat practically flew off the needles. The great thing about self-striping yarn is that it is so quick to knit. It seems I get sucked into that "just one more stripe" mentality and things just fly right off the needles!
So, on to the details:

• Sockhead Hat 
• by Kelly McClure
• size: adult medium, as written
• Knit for: AW
• Yarn: Quaere Fibre Bow Ties are Cool
• Needles: US 2.5 (3mm)
• Began Dec 2019 - Completed January 11th, 2020

Notes: Followed the pattern pretty closely as written this time.  This is a pattern I have knit many times. I even have another on the needles at the moment stashed in my desk at work for when I need something to occupy myself. I have yarn sitting by my chair to cast on the next one already. My 18 yr old son picked out yarns for a hat for himself. So I will probably cast that on pretty soon.

What do I work on next? I definitely want to continue my #Make30for30 with my sweater. I love that I am making progress on it. I also need to continue progress on the baby knit that is currently on the needles. It isn't necessarily the best on the go knitting because I have to pay close attention to the pattern stitch and where I am in it. Also, I have to count. I don't like things that require counting when I am in church/BIble study or having conversations with people. I prefer mindless knitting for that sort of thing. My sweater is good mindless knitting but it is large to cart around places. So do I start a new project or find something else in my WIP pile that fits my criteria? 
The sockhead hat for me stays in my drawer at the office so that can't really replace the one I just finished. The baby bibs need to be washed/blocked so they can be seamed. I can do that when I wash/block the parts of the current baby project, take care of it all in one go. I feel like about the only thing that fits my on the go knitting criteria is maybe the blue rose city rollers. Dragging those out, it looks like the first one is on the toe decreases and the second has not yet been cast on. They are at a total of 48 stitches, so not a lot left on the first one. Maybe if I dig out another needle I could cast on the second one and just stick it in the bag for when the first is finished. Decisions, decisions. I guess that is the decision made! Socks for purse knitting. Easy enough. *grin*
Do you carry around purse knitting? If so what do you typically carry places? Are you a sock knitter or do you prefer something else? What do you look for in a purse knitting project?

Make 30 for 30

Wow! The past week has really gotten away from me. However, I have been busily knitting away in whatever moments I could find. Some days I wish I was a monogamous knitter again but other days I think there is no way I could go back to only working on one project at a time. BUT, argues my conscience, I get so much more accomplished when working on only one item at a time...yeah, I know.
This week I have been working on THREE things.
First is a sock head hat for a friend. She chose the yarn a couple of months ago and I cast it on late last month. I need another inch and a half or so of stockinette and then it will be time for the decreases (yay, happy dance!). I love this colorway. It is called Bow Ties Are Cool (happy Dr reference!) and is dyed by Quaere Fibre (she has some gorgeous, bright, striping colorways).

I am looking forward to wrapping this little gem up. Of course, when I do I'll probably cast on another. It seems like I always have a sock head hat on the needles. I'm not sure when that developed but I have knit quite a few of them now. Any time I have a skein of sock yarn that I don't have a plan for I end up casting on a sock head hat. One of these days I'll attempt one that isn't just stockinette but has a fun bit of patterning in it.

The second thing I have been working on is a baby item. It is getting closer to being finished. If I had maybe 2 days to just sit and work on it I would probably get it done. I don't have two days though...the shower is tomorrow...ooops.

And the third thing I have been working on is my Longline cardi, aka my handspun sweater. A couple of years ago I participated in a sweater spin/make along that legacy knits started. I dyed some bfl, spun it and then cast on the sweater. Granted it took me over a year to spin the yarn. And now the sweater has been on the needles for closing on two years. So when I saw the podcast that Knitty Natty of the Love in Stitches podcast put out about #Make30for30 I was intrigued. Could I spend thirty consecutive days knitting for 30 minutes on a project? Maybe. I could certainly try. And what better project to focus on than my handspun sweater. I might actually *gasp* get it done...well, that's probably not realistic but some progress would be wonderful. So that is what I have been trying for. Day 1 was June 5th. So today is day 6. I have made almost an inch and a half of progress. That doesn't sound like much but a finger/sport weight sweater in a plus size...that's a lot of stitches. So I am tickled that I am making progress. It definitely beats the sweater sitting in its project bag never seeing the light of day.

So, if you were to #Make30for30, what would you concentrate on? I am wondering if I do this successfully if I might turn into a habit. It would be nice to make progress on some of the WIP's that followed me into 2020 but still be able to spend other knitting time on new projects that interested me.