My January KnitPicks order arrived!

Hey Everyone!

A week ago I had ordered some Yarn from KnitPicks. It finally arrived today! I ordered more of the KnitPicks Palette Yarns in 11 different colors. I have been anxiously awaiting this order and had been checking the tracking multiple times a day to see where it was in the trip from Ohio. 

While there are a couple of lighter colors, this round of sock yarn purchased just reinforced my love for darker and natural colors. Especially for socks that I plan to use for boot socks for hiking, I prefer the neutral / natural colors, and more foresty/outdoorsy colors. 

I am currently working on my first pair of socks using the Palette Yarn. It is working up really nicely, and is super soft, which I was not expecting beings that it is 100% Wool. 

I had also ordered a set of blocking boards and some T pins, for when I need to block items I have knit up and subsequently washed, in order to shape them while damp, then let them dry in that shape so the garment will better hold its shape. 

Until I had started making items for myself, I had never blocked anything, but now that I have knit items for myself and blocked them, I love it and finally understand the point of it. 

The blocking boards look and act like puzzle pieces, they easily connect and hold together well which is important when trying to block an item, so they won’t slide and misalign as I am pinning whatever project I am blocking to the boards. They are slightly squishy, and will help repel water. 

Creating my own Sock Pattern!

Hey Everyone! 

I am super excited that I finally finished typing up my own basic knit socks pattern! I built my pattern off swatch testing yarns to figure out gauge and figure out what size needles to use, as well as other patterns to get a rough idea of how many stitches to cast on. Length of cuff and heel flap came from working in the first sock, and I used a tutorial for turning the heel, the gusset and decreasing the toe. I kept comparing the sock against my foot to get the length of the sock correct. 

I finally typed up all the pieces of information I had written down on post it notes and from the blog tutorial I used for the heel, gusset & toe. Now I have it all in the same document and looking nice and easy to use, going forward for more socks. 

This is the first sock I knit up using what has become my sock pattern:

I really like how it turned out. 

I have a fair amount of sock yarn that I am excited to finally get to use for socks, including some wool that I am wanting to use for socks. This wool is KnitPicks Palette yarn, which is super soft, and I am hoping it will be durable, and last a while. 

Birthday Yarn and Pattern

Hey Everyone!

My birthday was this past weekend, and it has become tradition to go get treats and tea then go to my favorite Yarn store here in town to look at (and ultimately purchase) Yarn and the patterns they have in stock. 

This year I wanted more of a chunky Yarn to make a warm scarf out of and see if they had any cool patterns for sale in which to use for my birthday Yarn. What I ended up with below is my birthday pattern and birthday Yarn. 

The Yarn is 100% Peruvian wool and is a really pretty blue – green. The past couple of years I have really been into the darker shades of blue, green, cranberry, grey etc. When I was younger I loved the lighter and brighter colors, as I have gotten older I have fallen in love with the more subdued shades. 

Last Knit for Kids Sweater of 2016

Hey Everyone!

Over the weekend and just before the new year started I completed my last sweater for 2016. 

I had been working on this sweater, among other projects for a couple of months and wanted to get it done before the end of the year, so I did. 

I made a size 6 sweater, and the yarn I had used was red heart super saver yarn in Coffee, Carrot, and Fall. 

It was a simple sweater to knit up especially since most of the body, and sleeves were the fall yarn. There were a few ends to tuck in, but it was no where near as bad as some of the other sweaters I have done. 

I really enjoy working on these little, or not so little in the case of the size 10’s, sweaters. I like having something to work on that goes to a child in need.