When Everything Works Perfectly!

 No True Tracy Way involved with this make! 

I got into a rabbit hole of crocheted summer tops. I searched for a free pattern for days. I'd find a pattern, but the free video wasn't my size and the pattern wasn't free. Or, the pattern didn't match my yarns. Etc.

Then one night, June 16, I was at a meeting for the community band I'm in, and scrolling Facebook Marketplace at the same time. I found an ad for 8 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Baby. I contacted the seller, and he also had 8 balls of Patons' Silk Bamboo in 3 colours. I bought it all for $75 and picked up after the meeting. 

Almost immediately, I started swatching for "All About That Drape" by I Need It Crochet. Using a 5.5mm hook, I thought I matched gauge. I started the piece, and learned about a foundation double crochet. I didn't do the greatest job with that, but in the end, you go back around with single crochets, so don't worry too much. I worked up to the point with the measurement check. 

My piece was way too big. Ripped it out, and went down a size (made the Medium). 

I struggled a bit with some of the rows where you turn. I'm not always very precise.

When I got to the split for the front and back, I went with the large size for the front, which left exactly the same size number of stitches for the back. I wasn't very accurate with my increases as I went up the upper front, but it really doesn't matter too much. 

Tried it on, pinned the shoulders based on what she suggests in the pattern, but that was not right for me. No problem. Sewed it together, sewed under the arm a bit, did the edgings and wham! In under a month, I had a new, fabulous, tank top that fits me so incredibly well, I can't believe I made it.

Here, it's over a silk bias cut dress I wore for a date night. I didn't wear it on the date though, I just wanted to see how it looked over the dress. Love it.

The sizing came out incredibly perfect! Never feel you have to follow a pattern exactly. I KNOW I'm not a 42" bust split perfectly in two, why would I make something that has 21" for both the front and back? I need about 19" for my back, and 23" for my front. Usually, I'd try to have short rows for the bust, but in a patterned crochet, I'm just not sure if it would work.

My husband insisted I "push my boobs out" LOL. This was while we were camping. It wasn't totally finished, and I had it on over a shirt, but I wanted to get a general idea of the fit.  I used almost 6 balls, so I'm counting it as 6 (I had 2 full ones, and a small bit leftover)--300gr, or 750m/820 yds. The pattern says 850yd for the medium.

This pattern really needs a drapey yarn. Don't rely on "going up a hook size" to get the drape. On my YouTube channel, I have a couple short videos about this top, and trying to find a yarn to make a second one: https://youtu.be/vMBUc9aaCmY?si=ERxYGrquqeFrYFQG   https://youtu.be/XZDt6rB0n6M?si=HHo0w5AKoeg60_9v   

My second one is getting close to done, and I've changed it up a little of course!

I wasn't keen on the colour at first, but I do love it. While we were on our road trip, I even bought a fantastic fleece jacket (the weather ranged from 12C to 44C on the trip!).

Now, what do I make with the Bamboo Silk? The hard part is I don't like the three colours together and it's not enough of the cream and pink to make anything that I've found so far.

Yarn In:  3470gr

Yarn Out:   6482gr + 300gr = 6782gr

Balance:  3312gr more OUT than in

Costs: $243.78

Coastal Stripe Socks for a Coastal Road Trip

 For years, I over packed knitting projects on trips. I was overly optimistic, and delusional at the same time. Then I smartened up, and started knitting dishcloths on trips. I'd buy one of those huge "Handicrafter" balls that reflected the mood/location of the trip, and knit corner to corner dishcloths, not even cutting between them until I had a few made. 

However, now I have dishcloths waiting to be used still. Last year, I made a bunch of hats for donation, and I still knit hats to donate, but the yarn requirements to fulfill almost two weeks of knitting was going to be too much to pack. I do have a simple red scarf on the needles that was perfect for this trip.

One day I was looking at the sock yarn in the Mary Maxim catalogue. I don't wear my wool socks much anymore, for a few reasons, but I looked at the names of the Kroy sock yarns, and one was "Northern Lights". Both of our summer road trips could result in seeing the Northern Lights (although sometimes we see them here!).   This would be perfect!  It was out of stock though. I went to two different Michaels, and neither had it. It was way too expensive on Amazon. I picked out Coastal Stripes instead, and also Woodsie (which I did need to order on Amazon). For our trip to northern Ontario, I used Coastal Stripes. 

I did toe up, but I cast on one at a time until I was past the toes, then put them on a spare needle and started the second one. I cast on (2.7mm)  8st (x2), increased every row until 16sts (x2), then every other row until 56 or 58? No, I think 56....this caused a lot of issues when I went to do the Fleegle heel. I was getting so mixed up in my numbers and what was half of that and then add two.... 

I then did a 2x2 rib, switching to a 3mm needle towards the top.  I tried to switch to a 3.25mm after a bit but couldn't find one handy.  Then casted off using the Russian Lace Cast Off. 

I was almost done when we got home from the trip, but the socks were mid-stripe pattern and I wanted to complete the pattern, so I kept knitting for another day. I love the fraternal twin look, though I talked about my disappointment with the heel colours on my YouTube video. 

These may not be Lake Superior rocks, but I think they still suit the theme! The big blue sky, the blue lakes, the grey gravel roads.

I can't wait to wear them (it did cool down here, but not enough for tall wool socks). I'm pretty sure I'll be able to wear them on our next trip, when I work on another pair of socks in the "Woodsie" colourway. We never did see the Northern Lights on our trip. I have a new star map to try out too. It stayed too light, too late for us LOL. And then, there was wildfire smoke and haze so we couldn't even see the sky on the way back!

Yarn In: 100gr + 3370gr = 3470gr

Yarn Out:   6397gr + 85gr = 6482gr

Balance:  3012gr more OUT than in

Costs: $229.79 + $13.99 = $243.78

The Big One--Mosaic Crochet Afghan

 Back in the spring (did we have a spring?), I saw a Facebook ad for an afghan of ducks, in a dark green and yellow stripes. I knew it would be perfect for my daughter who was moving into an apartment (house) with her boyfriend, 1500km away, where she'd been living for a year. 

I looked on the website, and it was showing out of stock in the colourway that is seen in the ad.  I looked at the two yarns individually, and they were both in stock. However, there was no way to buy the pattern. I put my name on the waitlist to be notified, and then sent a message asking why is the kit not available if the yarns are in stock. They just replied that they were getting the kits ready. 

Finally, I got the notification it was in stock, and I hit "Buy".  It did come pretty quickly. And I was quickly overwhelmed with the reality. The pattern booklet was huge!

I also quickly found out that it was the typical crochet from a chart with two colours. No, this was something I had never heard of before--Mosaic Crochet. You work each row from the right side, with only one colour, and cut the yarn at the end of the row. Whoa. What about all those ends? No problem, you just pick up and make a doubled border that encases all the ends.

I watched some videos, and tried a swatch from a video. Got it. Then I looked at the pattern and got overwhelmed again. I took the time to do a swatch, and luckily, the afghan pattern starts with a geometric design so it was easier to see how it builds. 

I won't say it was easy though. I really struggled at times. You have to pay close attention to the chart, counting squares, lining them up, doing the double crochets correctly, or doing a single crochet if charted. 

I realized quickly I needed a way to keep track of what row I was on. I grabbed some Post-it Notes, and blocked off the row above, and showed just 10 stitches at a time. 

The Post-It Notes only last for so long and then lose their stickiness. I needed something more long lasting. I had this ruler I picked up in a mixed bag at a thrift store. I couldn't tell if the middle magnified it or not, but it was working well. For awhile.

The problem I developed was intense neck pain from looking down at the pattern and at the project. So intense, I had to start massage therapy again. Something had to change.

I got out my music stand, and put the pattern on it. Excellent! It really made a difference. However, I couldn't use the ruler on it. I had an old stand for typing--you put the item on it and it holds it up. Like a clipboard but with an arm on the back to stand it up. Instead of a clip, there was a clear bar that slides up and down over the paper to highlight what row you're on. Unfortunately, it's really old, and the bar is no longer perfectly straight.

I hadn't worked very much when I started getting these thick, fuzzy sections of the Bag-o-Day Tonal Hues yarn. I cut out some, and other times it was hidden behind the green. It was really frustrating, because this was not cheap, and the very first ball of this yarn was horrible.

See the thick stitch in the second row down from the top, in the centre? Why?!

Thankfully, this issue seemed to be limited to the first ball only.

I used safety pins and stitch markers to try to indicate the different sections. The pattern was broken up into four sections, going right to left, and four sections, going bottom to top. So for row 1, you'd work 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D. Once you've done the 49 (I think) rows of those 4 pages, you move to the next four pages, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D.  After awhile, I didn't need the markers, but one of the safety pins had split the yarn in the coil and I had to get help to have it snipped and removed because the yarn was getting fuzzy.

There were a few times I made mistakes. When it was near the left edge, I could unravel each row as far back as needed, then re-work them one row at a time. I created a YouTube Short about this. 

The problems came when I went to do a row, and realized there was a mistake at the start of the row below. I was NOT undoing an entire row. I got brave, and unpicked the stitches from the right edge, and re-worked them. I think I did it two ways--once sewing in the join and the other time working the little section backwards. It really doesn't show in the bigger picture.

The slightly bent bar was annoying, and there was a scratch off lottery ticket on the table, so I grabbed it, slipped it under the bar and lined it up so it covered the row above. It worked really well, covering up the entire row!

I really wanted to get the blanket finished because I was ready to move on to other projects, and it was so hot on my lap. It had been a very long, cool spring, and then it went suddenly very hot for a short while. Even inside, this blanket was a lot to deal with on my lap. As well, we had nailed down the dates we would be visiting my daughter, and it was coming quickly. Finally, I had the blanket done and just needed to do the border. There wasn't specific instructions in the pattern for what stripes, or even stitch, to do the border in, so I winged it. 

I did find out I had a few blips of the wrong colour showing on the border, but it ended up that it was on the inside of the doubled border. 

Finished afghan! It weighs a ton! Actually, it only weighs 

The backside is pretty cool, with the shadowing effect.

The little details are incredible! Look at those little flecks in the back of the duck!

Rob demanded to test it out. I think I might have crocheted a bit tight and it could have been a bit wider. I thought I would crochet the border until I ran out of yarn, but each round had to be done on the front border and the back border, and it took me about an hour to go around once! I have a full ball of the Tonal Hues (and a tiny ball), and less than a skein of the Premier Anti-Pilling. The blanket was too heavy and large for my kitchen scale, so I'm calculating the weight based on the yarn left over. 

Megan was really excited by it. It doesn't match their couch (I never even thought to find that out, I just knew I didn't like the other colour options in the kit. I would have preferred shifting blues instead of yellow, although when we left Thunder Bay, the sky was those colours due to wildfires!). 

9 skeins Premiere Anti-Pilling (sample in Fern - Color A); 5 skeins Bag-O-Day (sample in Live at

Wembley – Color B)

Yarn In: 1720gr +  1,650 gr = 3370gr

Yarn Out:   5099gr + 1298gr = 6397gr

Balance:  3027gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $125.42 + $104.37 = $229.79

Random Hats

 I have a fair bit of Patons "Decor" in my stash. However, there's not much that goes together. I had two balls of this periwinkle, but I didn't want to do a solid colour. I found two balls of grey worsted that were very similar, but not quite identical. I cast on a ribbed chunky hat (PassionKnit Kelsey pattern), and changed the grey every row. 

I weighs in at 112gr. 

I also have a fair bit of this rustic wool, Condon's Yarns, from PEI. The label is faded, but I think it says 2 ply. This is the type of wool that gives wool a bad name. It does soften up with washing but it's still not merino.

I used 3 strands--tan, pewter, and cream. 

Knit up, it was kind of floppy, and very rustic. I washed it pretty aggressively. It's for donation, and I doubt it'll get handwashed by the recipient. 

Pre-wash, the yarns are very tightly spun and the three strands are quite separate from each other.

The yarn really fluffed up. It's a large hat, though not too stretchy now. It will be very warm! It took 154gr.

Yarn In: 1720gr

Yarn Out:  4823gr + 112gr + 154gr = 5099gr

Balance:  3379gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $104.37

Finished Items, and..... I Bought Yarn!

 I finished off two red scarves! 

I did share one in a couple of YouTube videos--one on how to cable without a cable needle, and one chat vlog. 

I did a wide rib up either edge of the scarf, and steamed it fairly hard. It's still folding in where the rib meets the purl section of the cabling. I could steam it more, but I think I'll just roll it up carefully.

It's Premier Everyday Basixs DK, 100gr (okay, it weighs 98gr, but that is after weaving in the ends, and I think there was a knot that I cut out too).

The other scarf is very soft, sort of furry yarn. It's plush, but not chenille. Sort of like terry, but very soft. 

It was just a simple rib, weighing in at 100gr (again, it says 96gr, but that's after trimming tails). 

The third item is another ribbed hat. 

I was in my basement stash, "shopping" and thought it was time to use up the large amount of Patons "Decor" I have. However, these hats need two strands, and most of what I have just doesn't work together or the ball is very small. I grabbed a tan and a varigated. They weren't full balls, so I cast on 56 stitches this time (I usually use 60).  It still turned out too short though. It's now a beanie without a fold up brim. That's fine. It's 61gr. 

And, the other new thing. I bought yarn. From Facebook Marketplace. Maybe not the colours I would normally choose, but I don't mind. I spend $75 and got 8 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Baby (50gr x 8=400gr, and 8 balls of Patons "Silk Bambloo" in 3 colours (65gr x 8=520gr). 

Yarn In: 920gr + 800gr = 1720gr

Yarn Out:  261gr + 4562gr =  4823gr

Balance:  3103gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $75 + $29.37 = $104.37

I Sewed!

 I finally decided I needed to sew something. It still took me a bit of time to get to it, then even after it was done, I didn't even get to wear it right away! 

It's New Look 6807. I had made it before, but apparently it's been awhile. I looked at the tracing I had made, and compared it to the actual pattern and it wasn't all that much different. So I just went back to the original pattern, and made, I think, a 14 in the shoulders and back and upper sleeves, and a 16 from the chest down. 

I don't seem to have a picture of it, but you can see it in this YouTube Short during Me Made May 2026:  https://youtube.com/shorts/6X2yBYAHlW0?si=iUPwHTPkkQ_usiqf  

I have a pair of pants cut out but I haven't gotten to sewing, because Megan had a somewhat unexpected trip home and asked me to mend her welding jacket.

I used some twill behind it and mended it. I also did some on the sleeves, and fixed the inside pocket. It's a pretty basic jacket. I was thinking I should make her one with a bit more shaping for a woman.

But now she wants me to make her a new welding cap when she comes home next weekend. 

Just Keep Ribbing

 What can I say? I have a lot of stash, and ribbed chunky hats (adapted from PassioKnit Kelsie) is a simple pattern. I made a few changes, which I've mentioned elsewhere, like my tutorial for a different type of cast on that works really well with ribbing. 

This was one strand of the yarn left over from the dog sweater in the previous post, and one strand (3 colours) of a Moda Dea "Washable Wool". It's a little bit thicker, and has a different texture because it's three plies of two ply strands. 

Weighs in at a whopping 130gr.

Yarn In: 800gr

Yarn Out:  130gr + 4432gr =  4562gr

Balance:  3762 gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $29.37

How NOT to Machine Knit a Dog Sweater

 I started watching Georgina Honestly  on YouTube. She crochets, and has a LK150 that she was struggling with. She was wanting to make dog sweaters for her local Yorkie rescue. I knew I had a pattern from when I made my parents' dog a bee sweater, so I dug it out. I had just resurrected my YouTube channel,  so I figured I could just whip up a tutorial at the same time.

OMG. 

Everything went wrong. My video turned into how NOT to make a dog sweater. I mean, you still can follow it, and even download the pattern,  This video will show you lots of ways to make mistakes. 

The cream yarn was really a little too thick. I had to turn the tension looser, several numbers.

It's a little plain (which is good for a tutorial), and could really use some decorating--embroidery, patches, etc on the back. I'm not going to do that, but I will donate it to the local shelter.

Yarn In: 800gr

Yarn Out:  170gr + 4262gr = 4432gr

Balance:  3632gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $29.37

Update on Jacket Disaster

 I posted earlier in May about taking apart a baby jacket to harvest the yarn, and having it turn into a million little balls of yarn. I even made a Short about it! Have you checked out my revitalized YouTube channel? 

I got one hat finished, weighed the remaining yarn, and made another one.

There's all the yarn that's left. Of course, I did keep it. I don't remember which of the two I already showed, but I'm going to say this one weighed the same. 

Yarn In: 800gr

Yarn Out:  93gr + 4169gr = 4262gr

Balance:  3462gr more OUT than in

Costs:  $29.37

Oops, I Did It Again!

 I'm working on a red scarf for the World AIDS Day project. It has a wide ribbing border on each edge, and then a fairly simple cable going up the middle. The ribbing was flipping in, so I decided to steam it to see if it was going to end up laying flat. 

I didn't realize the needle was on the scarf (it might have been under).  Can you see where it imprinted on to the purl stitches next to the cable?

It's not as bad as when I did it on a custom Christmas stocking, but still, I know better. You can also clearly see the difference between the lower part that I steamed, and the fresh knitting at the top. It flattened the cabling a bit, so I will be a bit more gentle with the finished item.