Knitting

Cable Hoodie – Update1

stargrace August 18, 2021 0Comment

Now that I’ve finished my TAAT socks (picture will be posted once I actually weave in my ends, so sometime by 2025 I’m sure) I’ve decided on my next project. It’s called Cable Crush Hoodie and it’s a pattern by Chantal Miyagishima (Knitatude) which you can find on Ravelry and on her own site as well. It’s an absolutely beautiful sweater that includes cables in the front and back, a batwing sleeve construction, and a hood with icord draw string. I’m knitting it in upcycled wool from knitpicks, which is basically wool constructed of bits and pieces of other wool that wasn’t enough to make an entire skein of type A. Chantal’s patterns are easy to follow and use lovely construction, my silver bell sweater was also one of her designs and had I used the appropriate yarn I’m sure mine would have turned out better (not that it isn’t lovely, it is). I’m hoping to do well with this one, and have it turn out as beautiful as all of the others. I have never knit a hood before, but I have done quite a few cables. It’s knit in worsted yarn, so I’m also hoping it doesn’t drag on forever and maybe I can get it completed before Halloween. We’ll see. I’m a bit further along than this picture shows, I’ve done 8 rows of ribbing, and I’m on row 6 of the body. I’ll do row 1-10 4 times, so I’m 6/40. That’s something, at least. The sweater starts out at 230 stitches and grows to 310 – I’m hoping to knit 5 rows a day. Let’s see if I can do it!

Knitting Yarn

Home Stretch – Update 6

stargrace August 12, 2021 0Comment

I’m finally working the cuff of my sock, and it’s turning out lovely. I’m knitting through the back loop to keep the rows neat and organized, in a 1×1 ribbed pattern. A few more rows, and I can comfortably bind these socks off and move on to the next project! With fall just around the corner I’m thinking a nice cardigan is in order, but we’ll just have to see. I don’t tend to plan my projects but just go with whatever mood I’m in when I’m searching through my stash.

Speaking of stash, I decided to explore Hobbii a bit and see if I could get the site to work in my favour. See, Canada has a rule that if you order anything more than $100 from outside the country, you have to pay duties (on most things, not everything). Sometimes companies cover this cost (like Knitpicks) and other times, the company does not (Hobbii). Duty fees are high, and Hobbii also has a pretty high shipping cost if you don’t buy enough to qualify for free shipping. So free shipping is $75 USD, and duty is anything under $100. I managed to spend around $98.89 CAD which put me into both of those categories. I bought a yarn bag (for storage / projects on the go), and around 10 skeins of yarn. Most are sock yarn but two skeins are worsted weight acrylic that I’m hoping turn into a nice sweater. Some people really love their yarn, others have opinions. I figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a try, and in the grand scheme of things, this little experiment didn’t cost me too much (plus it has been a while since I picked up any yarn).

Knitting Yarn

TAAT Progress – Update 5

stargrace August 7, 2021 0Comment

I’ve been working on these socks off and on since February, and normally it doesn’t take me that long to knit a pair of socks but these ones seem to be dragging on. That being said, I love the simple pattern and I know they’ll be worth it in the end. I’ve also been distracted by other projects, having completed 9 so far for 2021 (my goal is to complete 12 projects, one per month, no matter how big or small). I know splitting my time between other hobbies as well as gaming (which I suppose is a hobby) cuts into all this time I could spend knitting, but my hands honestly couldn’t take all of that anyway.

Just a few more rows for the leg, then a nice 2×2 ribbed cuff (through the back loop to keep it tidy) and a stretchy bind off – I’m confident I can get these done in August at least. I also plan on charting how much yarn I purchased for 2021 vs. how much yarn I actually used – I want to have more yarn going out than coming in (ideally). Plus who doesn’t like to track things. I probably spend more time making spreadsheets than anything else in my life, lol.

Happy knitting!

Knitting Yarn

Knitting Goals – August 2021

stargrace August 2, 2021 0Comment

Completed in July:

Despite being displaced for 10 days – I DID finish my Silver Bell Sweater! YAY! I love it, and I can’t wait for fall because 33C is a little bit warm to be wearing silk and alpaca.

Current WIPS:

Scrap blanket
For the horde mitten liners
TAAT January sock club socks

August Goals:

Finish my TAAT socks. These are on the leg right now, so they SHOULD be able to be completed – of course I also said that in July and it never happened (we were also evacuated for 10 days and I didn’t have any knitting with me).

I’m not sure I want to line my for the horde mittens any more with all of the Activision/Blizzard drama going on, I’m honestly not feeling it. I may just leave them as is for now, and pick a different project. If I get my socks done, that opens up the ability to pick something new to work on, which I would really love (and have no idea what I’ll do).

Knitting Yarn

Silver Bell Sweater – Completed!

stargrace July 19, 2021 0Comment

It took a REALLY long time, and multiple time-outs, but I FINALLY completed my Silver Bell Sweater. I started this project back in December of 2020 but was constantly fighting with the needles as I knit it, making it a bundle of not-fun. I ended up having to frog most of the body due to some awkward dropped stitches along the neck line, then frogging most of the body a second time due to some dropped stitches in the back. I ordered a set of ChiaoGoo needles (best needles I’ve ever owned, incase you’re wondering) and got back to it this year. Then I messed up a sleeve, and had to frog that and start over. Finally, we were evacuated when I had just 10 stitches left and I didn’t bring any spare needles with me since I wasn’t expecting to be gone that long, and I couldn’t finish it until we arrived back home yesterday.

This sweater is so incredibly comfortable, and I’m very happy with it. It’s huge and oversized, perfect for wearing over a tank top. I expect I’ll get a lot of use from it in the fall and winter months. PLUS I knocked a large project off of the to-do list, and I’m glad for that.

Next? Finishing off the second heel on my socks so that I can hopefully fly through the legs.

Cable Hoodie – Update1

Home Stretch – Update 6

TAAT Progress – Update 5

Knitting Goals – August 2021

Silver Bell Sweater – Completed!

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