Sock Yarn For Life?

 

I came across this contest on Marg's blog and just had to enter! My entry stated:

"I love to knit socks! I would knit some for myself, and some for my kids who have just recently learned that Mom is right. Wool is magic. I would also use a lot of the yarn to make mittens for the kindergarten classes that I supervise at lunch. And some of it would go towards fingerless mitts for gifts. I also use a knitting machine, and it loves sock yarn almost as much as I do!"

Go to http://www.yarncanada.ca/socksforlife to find out how you can enter too!

Although, on one hand, please don't....because I really want to win! If I won, would I tally it up with my "Yarn In" totals? OMG. I'd never get back into the "more used than bought" side again!

Mermaids!

Mermaid blankets are still popular this winter! And why not?! Warm, cozy, they won't fall off your feet, and you can have fun at the same time. I don't mind making them, but I really wish someone would order different colours. I just finished these two, and have another pink/purple one on the go. I do a little to change it up, but there's not a whole lot I can do when the customer says "I like the one in the picture just the way it is".

 Once I had finished, I wasn't sure if it was long enough, so when I went back to the starting chain to crochet over it, I continued upwards a few rows of pattern.

 I wanted the tail to be a bit bigger this time. I starter with more stitches, but it really didn't end up significantly bigger. I don't like the huge tails. They look cool, but they take a lot more yarn, so they weigh quite a bit which isn't the most practical with little kids. And more yarn=more cost and more time. 399gr

For this one, I did some colour blending instead of just going AA, AB, BB, BC, CC in rows. You can see how I did patches of AB. I like it. It was partly to stretch the AA yarn out more, but in the end, I think I had enough. I was working away on the couch, and I couldn't remember how tall the recipient was, so I kept working cause I didn't want to get up and look up the message. Turns out she's not as tall as I was thinking, LOL, so this is going to be super cozy. 1049gr

Again, I tried to enlarge the tail but it still wasn't much bigger. The shape before they get sewn on is rather bizarre, LOL. I'm always freaked out by it. But it looks great once sewn on.

Yarn In:    8023gr

Yarn Out:  1448gr + 6302gr = 7750gr
Balance:  273gr more BROUGHT IN than used
Costs:   $351.86 /331 days = $1.06/day

Yarn, Yarn, Yarn

I'm working on several projects which each required several trips to several yarn stores. So it's been hard posting, since I seem to keep buying yarn faster than I'm using. But I'm going to try.

Fair Isle Stockings--12 balls Rowan Superwash Worsted, 1200gr. Total cost $124.30

Sigh. I think I'll stop there and get the rest together later.

Oh, wait! I already counted the first three Ivory balls of Superwash! Back to the calculator...9 balls, 900gr, $95.07

Yarn In:   900gr + 7123gr = 8023gr

Yarn Out:  6302gr
Balance:  1721gr more BROUGHT IN than used
Costs:   $256.79+$95.07=$351.86 /328 days = $1.07/day

Sentiment and Pompoms

I got an email inquiry in the summer from a lovely lady who wanted new stockings for men marrying her daughters, made to match her family's existing stockings. Not the most complex pattern I've done, but still, there were challenges LOL.  The first thing I did was change the pattern to be knit in the round. The original had a very obvious seam, so for these, I did a "faux seam".

 She had written up the original pattern, but my yarn was slightly thicker, so I had to change some of the instructions to make it match. The bows/hangers were interesting to sew on. I figured out the best way on #2, but then, for some reason, it didn't work on the next one. LOL. If I weren't trying to match old stockings, I would have formed the bow and wrapped the middle with yarn, instead of trying to stitch it all down. I was worried the pompoms wouldn't look right since my yarn was thicker and different. I ended up washing the stockings twice because they took too long to dry the first time. The pompoms fluffed up really nicely in the dryer.

My big challenge was trying to make the pompoms the same size as the original. I got out my plastic ring pompom maker and googled for some instructions and tips. I know how to use it, but I always wonder what happens if you use only the biggest ring and fill it entirely full, vs, keeping all the rings together.  I found one blog that showed this type of pompom maker--most of Google was for newer gadgets. I know the instructions are not all that good on the package, but well...don't follow her's either. You MUST fill up the rings.

 It looks pretty ratty and ragged at first!  Trimming fixes all of that.

 Or, just use the smallest rings. One really important tip I have learned over time, is to use a finer yarn as the tie yarn. Something strong. Some people use cotton soaked in hot water, saying it will shrink when it dries. Maybe. By using a finer yarn, you don't get that gap around the equator.  I also like to steam my pompoms. This brings the yarn to life and fills it in really well. This time, I forgot to do that, but the washing machine and dryer did a good job.

Not shown here, but you can see it on my Instagram page, I believe---I am paranoid about spelling names right or phrases, etc. I somehow added an extra R to Merry on one stocking. Thankfully I noticed as I was working on the Y!

Yarn In:    7123gr

Yarn Out:  100gr x4= 400gr + 5902gr =6302gr
Balance:  821gr more BROUGHT IN than used
Costs:   $256.79 /322 days = $0.80/day

I can't find where I wrote down the weight of the stockings. This is an estimate based on other stockings. I think it's a smidge high, but the pompoms and bows do add up!

Need to Catch Up

Last week kind of kicked my butt. Busy week, as usual, and the lack of sleep just really got to me. I'm getting back in the groove this week, but still feel about a week behind in life.

I checked out a new yarn "store" recently to pick up some Rowan Pure Wool Superwash Worsted for some Christmas stockings. Less than 15 minutes from me, out in the country fringes of this megatropolis I live in. Nice drive, nice little shop. She is selling the property though and doesn't know what will happen.

When I went to drop those red scarves on, I was also searching for superwash wool for two different Christmas stocking orders--although one hadn't given me the deposit yet, so I didn't want to go ahead with getting the yarn for it, but I wanted the same yarn (different colours) for both. The store I was at didn't have the base colour (white), and recommended the Knit Kabin. She also told me that Rowan was bought by Sirdar and they can't order any yarn from either company until the merger is complete and re-organized. I was hoping I was going to find the perfect yarn for these stockings, since the design work takes a bit of time, but the machine knitting is fast, so it'd be a great item to add to my regular product line. So, I'm still not sure what I'll do.

I picked up three balls of Ivory, 100gr each. Now I have to go back to the first store for the two other colours, possibly three, and then back out to the Knit Kabin (who is doing appointment only) for more white and possibly a fourth colour.  Plus, a run to Michael's for another ball of dark purple for another mermaid blanket in pink and purple. So much running around and design work, and not enough actual knitting time!!

Yarn In:   300gr + 6823gr = 7123gr

Yarn Out:  5902gr
Balance:  1221gr more BROUGHT IN than used
Costs:    $29.25 +$227.54= $256.79 /315 days = $0.82/day

Bring on Winter!

In a home-business crafter's group on Facebook, a woman was selling a huge lot of wool.  A few different types, lots of colours, part balls and whole balls.  I said I'd take all her part balls and I've already included that in my yarn totals (there was 1900gr!). A pair of mitts for the kindergarten kids takes about 40gr of yarn. I should be able to get 47 pairs of itty bitty mitts, at about $1 a pair :)  To replenish the spare mitten box right away, I went with neutrals for the first few pairs.

 I started working one burgundy, one green mitten as two at a time on two circulars. It was getting a little tangly and somehow I got off course with the grey spiral. This yarn is a little thicker than others and these are a nice, dense mitten.  I was hoping to use up the remainder grey with the pair on the right, but well...these take less wool than I always expect!

The wool is NOT a soft wool, by any stretch of the  imagination.  This is a hard working, utility wool.  I washed them, and even with a bit of conditioner in the rinse, they still aren't soft, but wow, did the yarn ever bloom! Hands will be toasty warm and dry in these mitts!  Look at all those short wool fibers poking out! Sure, there are some great soft, delicious wools out there, but for kids 3-6 playing outside for 30 minutes in a Canadian winter? These are perfect.

I've got another pair on the needles already, brown and green stripes.

Yarn In:   6823gr

Yarn Out: 117gr + 5785gr = 5902gr
Balance:  921gr more BROUGHT IN than used
Costs:    $227.54 /307 days = $0.74/day