Moving Along

 I posted a few posts ago about casting on way too many stitches for a blanket.

I cast on the appropriate number of stitches and got going. It's pretty quick, since there's 5 rows out of 6 that are just knit plain!

The colours seem much more vibrant in these pictures. I don't notice a bright yellow stripe in real life!

Quick Knit

 This was one of those projects that seemed like it was taking forever, and then suddenly, it's done. 

I was browsing in my yarn store (what my family calls my stash) and found this ball of soft yarn.  I thought the colours would look nice with my two new winter coats--one bright pink, one dark wine. I used to have a lot of winter accessories in wine/plum/marron, but they're quite worn, or even no longer in my bin (even though I still have the coat they were made for). 

I knew from the roving style, and a quick Ravelry search, that the yarn needed a stitch pattern with some structure, to help it keep from pilling. My first thought was a nice squishy Brioche scarf. Brioche takes more yarn than regular ribbing though, and I wasn't sure the one ball was going to be enough. I did find a mobius neck warmer in the projects that were done with the yarn. It linked to a Purl Soho pattern for a Fisherman's Rib scarf. The woman had given it a twist before sewing the ends together. She says she used one ball, and cast on 21 sts. 

So that's what I did.

It seemed to go so slow. Not very long rows, but for a thick yarn, the length sure didn't grow very fast.

And then, all of a sudden, I was nearly at the end of the ball, and it was not long enough to wrap twice around me snugly (I didn't want long and drape-y; I wanted it close fitting). I found this ball of Lopi in my "store". The colour worked. It is 100% wool, and a bit scratchy, and will felt if washed/dry wrong, but the main yarn said handwash too.  I ripped back a ways, then did chunky stripes where I used one yarn for one row, slide the stitches back, used the other yarn for the next row (but having to purl in the stitch below rather than knit in the stitch below). It was turning out one colour on one side and the other colour on the other side. Then I accidentally switched for two stripes. Then I went back to thick sections with one colour on each side.

I did manage to figure out one row stripes (the green and wine section)

I figure once it's wrapped around my neck twice, it all gets mixed together

I did end up having to do a bit at the end with just the Lopi. Then I gave it one twist, and grafted the start to the end (I had done a provisional cast on). I didn't do a great job; one side it blends in, the other side has a ridge.

You can see the two rows of Lopi  here, but over all I think it blends fine.

It works well with my coat. I can wrap it twice, and pull it over my nose, or I can loop it once and it lays pretty flat inside my coat. 

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out:  156gr + 600gr = 756gr

Balance:  756gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0, $0/day

Happy Heart Day

 I don't think I've ever decorated for Valentine's Day before. I keep my snowmen and snowflake stuff up, but I don't think I have anything else. So, since I have the Cricut now, I decided it was time! I wanted to do a layered heart. Should be simple to find a SVG, right?

Nope. Well, yes, there are some out there. They either cost money, or the website caused my virus protection to stop me, or the link was dead or just not what I wanted. 

I finally found this one:  https://linkedgovinyl.com/product/3d-layered-heart-graphic-free-3d-svg/  but of course, I couldn't make it with just four layers! I took the third layer, duplicated it, then created an outset. Then I had to enlarge the bottom layer too, increasing it by the same number of outsets (Inkscape).

I thought I had deleted tiny cutouts, but due to the smaller size (8.5"x11"), I could have simplified it a b it more.

Here are all the layers. Adding the extra layer just filled it in a bit. It would have been fine without it, but I'm of the mindset, the more layers, the better LOL.

I did have some issues cutting this. I used the intricate cut setting. I don't know if the blade had some residue, or is getting worn, or if it was the red paper (different colours cut differently). I had to use my little swivel blade to cut parts out by hand.

I found some red ribbon in my sewing desk, and along with some painter's tape, I have a new front door decoration! Simple and sweet, just like me.

Woolies by Request

 When Christmas lists were being created, Lucy asked for some custom Tricolour mittens. I wrote about that HERE, and choosing the Topsy Farm yarn. I finally got started on the mittens just after New Year's. I used the schematic and math from Ann Budd's "The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns".  This is a great book! It's even better if you actually do a gauge swatch LOL. The cuff went fine, but as often happens, I had gotten almost all my thumb gusset stitches increased, but still needed more height to the gusset.  Instead of 3 plain rows, I did 4 or 5 and then the next increase. 

I almost always knit my mittens two at a time on one circular needle, for the very reason that if I need to alter the pattern, I don't have to try to remember what I did for the second, or look for something to scribble on and then try to interpret my scribbles for the second mitten. 

At the thumb gusset, to continue the body, I cast on about 3 or 4 stitches. Then I decrease these out over the next few rows. This just gives a bit more ease to the gusset. 

I ended up knitting the top decreases a couple times before I got the length right. Maybe I should have just done some math LOL. 

I also knit the thumb maybe....three times? I just couldn't get it to look good. I had increased a lot of stitches in the gusset but the thumb didn't need that many. Decreasing them out make the thumb look wonky. When I start the thumbs, I pick up extra stitches from where I had cast on for the main part of the hand. Those also needed to get eliminated.

I soaked them in the sink with some Soak. I think I might have put them in the dryer for just a little bit to get out some moisture. The Topsy Yarn does soften up with washing, but these are definitely not merino. They're hardwearing, rugged, see you through a Kingston winter, mittens. This also happened this past week:

Would have been cool if she was a '23 but we've got a '22 there now (in another program...who seems to be on a 5 year plan...).

My kitchen scale seems to be malfunctioning, so 80gr is the best answer I have for the weight. Which means I have enough left for two more pairs of mittens if I do other colours as the dominate colours.  That means $9 for a pair of handknit wool mittens. Pretty awesome. I think if I do another pair (I wish her birthday wasn't in November, but actually, that gives me some time), I'll make them double layered, and use a softer wool on the inside. Such a spoiled girl, she is. But at the same time, it warms my heart to know that she values wool mittens, and that she wanted ME to make them.

Yarn In:  0gr

Yarn Out: 83gr + 517gr =600gr 

Balance:  600gr more OUT than in

Cost:  $0, $0/day

I rounded up to 83gr because I had some small bits left after reknitting the cuffs because the stripes were too thick. And, it's my blog, so I can do that. And 600gr out looks better than 597gr. 

Math

 "Do a gauge swatch if you really want to know..."

I say it all the time. 

And, "Trust your gut". 

Well, I DID do a swatch. I just didn't do the math right LOL. I was knitting and knitting....it seemed to take forever to do one row. There seemed to be a lot of knitting scrunched up on the needles. It seemed to be using up a LOT of yarn. 

Finally, I grabbed a couple other needles, and stretched it out.

Oops.

It was supposed to be 35". The tape measure beside it is 60" and the knitting continues past the end of it by quite a bit. 

I have no idea how I messed up the math. I had to consider not just how many stitches per inch I got, but also the pattern repeat and the extra stitches (repeat of 4st plus 3 extra). 

I'm glad I didn't continue any further! Trust yourself! This got ripped and re-started and is flying along now.