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Tag Archives: Knitting
WIPS and soon-to-be cast-ons: with bonus cross-stitch!
I started the New Year with 3 WIP knitting projects and 2 more ready to cast on.
WIPs
- A Homespun House Cozy Comfort throw – this has been in process for awhile now but it’s a blanket, so those usually take me years. I started this last January or February with minis from my A Homespun House Advent calendar held double with Purl Soho line weight merino (yes this was a splurge but it was so worth it). This is my mindless TV knitting and I actually worked on it a lot over the holiday break. It’s knitting up squashy and soft and I love seeing how each mini-skein’s colorway blends or stands out with the prior one.
- Clinton Hill Cashmere’s Bandit Cowl in their bespoke cashmere DK in the Forest colorway. This yarn is knitting nirvana and this is a small indulgence project. I keep this one in my purse or in the car as it is extremely portable “waiting” knitting for when the kid is off doing something and I’m the chauffeur waiting to drive her home.
- The Secret Garden knitted dishcloth from the Kitchen Sink Shop. At some point, she released a free dishcloth pattern every month. I went back and tried to find them all on Ravelry but could only find a few that were still free, and this is one of them. I’m just using cheap cotton from the craft store in a navy blue and this will probably be gift knitting in a package of little things for my bestie. It’s a little rough to work on cotton after the cloudy softness of line weight merino and bespoke cashmere but it’s a fun knit and the pattern emerges in a very satisfying way.
Ready to Cast On
- Road Trippin’ Hat – a free pattern by one of my favorite knitting vloggers, Christina Lundborg of ‘Chelsea Yarns’. I need to use up some of my seemingly bottomless stash of fun sock yarn so I picked a skein of Targhee Sock by Oink Pigments (“Smoky Purl”) that I bought at the Quarter Stitch yarn shop in New Orleans and I’ll be holding it double with a Chelsea Yarns Luxe Mohair (“London Fog”).
- When I took my crochet class last fall at Spun in Ann Arbor, most of my classmates were already knitters so there were some pretty cool handknits being worn. One of my classmates had a careless yet absolutely elegant little triangle scarf / shawl made, she said, from a set of Harry Potter minis in a pattern she couldn’t remember. I was instantaneously envious and needed it in my life. I got myself a Christmas Advent set with this in mind, picking Six & Seven Fiber’s Literary Women 8-skein fingering weight mini set, and with 5 selected colors I’ll be casting on the Mini Solutions Scarf by Kelene Kinnersly Designs very soon (I’ve selected Amy Tan, Toni Morrison, Mary Shelley, Celie, and Louisa May Alcott for my colors!).
Cross- Stitch
I started cross-stitching a couple of years ago and am still plugging away periodically on a seasons sampler, although I haven’t picked it up in awhile. Since October I’ve almost exclusively been working on this Jacob Marley piece by Lindsay Swearingen of ‘Tusk and Cardinal’. The only thing I do more slowly than knit is cross-stitch, and I think it’s pretty funny that this is exactly half-done. The chart prints out half and half on two separate pages and I only printed one page to start with. Then, over the holidays, our printer ran out of ink so I couldn’t print the second half until quite recently. But it’s been fun to fold it over and see how it will look when it’s finished.
LIndsey Swearingen is worth checking out on IG if you’re a cross-stitcher and her book “Creepy Cross-Stitch” is full of fantastically gothic and elegant pieces that I would love to have on my office walls.
I’m being pretty lazy and not linking these projects and patterns, but they’re (mostly) all on Ravelry or for purchase from the yarn web page (as is the case with the Clinton Hill project). I also update my own Ravelry project pages (I’m sixtenpine over there) fairly regularly as things come off the needles or start taking shape, so please check me out if you are looking for more specific information like pattern links, yarn sizes, and notes. I hope you are all starting off your New Year with some fun and satisfying projects. I look forward to revisiting these pieces and providing status updates of my tortoise-speed progress! xo
2022 Make Nine Makealong
Amy of the Noble Character Crafts vlog hosts an annual Make 9 makealong and although I don’t think I’ve ever finished nine projects in a year, I am joining in for 2022. It’s a relaxed and stress-free MAL and I do love a good plan, especially when I can make a vision board to accompany!
I shared my board and an overview of my projects over on my Insta (@sixtenpine) but wanted to provide more detail here – links and some additional info on why I selected each project.
From the top left corner of the photo:
1. Vanilla Beanie by Bruna Cortosi for The Knitting Loft. I need a few more warm knitted hats in our hallway closet and I love the slouchy look of this one. Pattern available on Ravelry.
2. Effervescence Socks by iknit2purl2 – a few of my selections are stashbusters and this is definitely one. I have more sock yarn than I could use in five years. I started this pattern last year, but frogged it because at the time, I hadn’t done any Magic Loop and couldn’t figure out how to convert to dpn’s. Now that I’m well-versed, I want to pick this up again. Pattern available on Ravelry.
3. Cozy Comfort Throw by Molly at A Homespun House – I treated myself to A Homespun House’s 2021 Advent calendar and this was a free pattern available for download with the purchase of the Advent. It’s a perfect use for all of my minis! Pattern available on Ravelry.
4. Modified Seed Stitch Washcloth and Hand Towel by Julie Fraser-Lindsay at Bunny Totem Knits. Another deep stash project. I have a lot of dishcloth cotton from my days of Mason-Dixon knitting obsession and I love the idea of gifting sets of these with a bar of handmade soap. Pattern available on LoveCrafts.
5. Classic Tee by Darling Jadore. This is actually already a WIP but that’s allowed in the MAL rules! I started this last year in a lovely lightweight, silky grey cotton and really need to dig it out and keep going. I love the understated, classic style. Pattern available on LoveCrafts.
6. Advent Mystery KAL socks by Anna Knitter. Amy of Noble Character Crafts knit these and I loved the textured, almost sample-esque quality of the pattern. I have some solid sock yarn in-stash that will show off the stitch patterns beautifully. Pattern available on Etsy from the link to her website above.
7. West Village Skirt by Selma of Little Big Knits – I love this whole look and concept. I’m a little unsure of how it will actually wear – I can envision some scrunching and riding up as unlined skirts frequently do – but I am going to give it a shot anyway because it just looks so cozy and cute.
8. Cornerstone Scarf by Jewell Washington & available in the book ‘Our Maker Life’ – I checked this book out of the library and although I don’t do a lot of scarves, we need more in our closet and I loved the look. I also have some stash yarn that will be perfect.
9. Toasty Mitts by Leslie Friend of A Friend to Knit With. This is a great pattern that I’ve made at least twice before and I absolutely love the finished product. It’s the best fingerless mitt pattern I’ve found. This pair will be a gift for my bestie – she got a pair a few years ago and I think it’s time for a replacement pair. Pattern available on Ravelry.
I’ll keep you posted on my progress here and on IG. And if you want to join, check out Amy’s Noble Character Crafts IG page and her vlog…The more the merrier – and there are prizes!
Happy Knitting! xo
february blahs
January and February are my least favorite months. The short, cold, dark days grind me down and there are no holidays to look forward to. Valentine’s Day doesn’t count because even though I have a top notch sweetie it’s still a stupid holiday.
I try for the cozy glow of November and December but never quite seem to get it back. I hate the pale, slanted quality of the light and the pervasive drear.
It’s better to be working from home than in an office during these days, though. Winter commutes worsen everything. I can pet cats and use my SAD happy lamp without being mocked, stay in my cozy sweats all day and maximize my productive time of day (early mornings).
But I am still tired and struggling not to beat myself up over what I perceive as my lack of productivity and motivation.
I did finish up my Snuggle Down Cowl. This is a pattern by Jooles Hill of Sew Sweet Violet; I knit it in minis from my 2020 Legacy Fiber Artz Advent calendar held with a strand of Casual Fashion Queen’s baby suri alpaca & silk in the Pink Moon colorway.
I finished it during a Thin Man marathon. You get through deep winter any way you can and for me it involves crafting, old movies, fantasy novels and true crime.
Southeastern Michigan is expecting Snowmageddon this week…the kiddo is super excited because it may mean multiple snow days and a trip to the sledding hill. I’m less excited because the downside of working from home is that work is right here no matter what. All the time. Even on snow days, vacations, and holidays. I still vastly prefer it to mandatory office presence but maybe a trip to the sledding hill would be good for my energy and outlook.
Anyway! I may be back with a Friday Faves! If I can find the energy! In the meantime keep your feet warm. xo
merry christmas
The kiddo had a minor ear surgery this week and although everything went well, she has still been my focus. Hence my lack of posting.
I took a long walk on the solstice and admired the low, hazy sun. I thought about the year that has passed and the year to come. I missed my dad and saw wild turkeys and several Eastern Bluebirds.
We finished a Harry Potter movie marathon (Brandon had never seen them) and I’m also very, very into the Witcher and Travel Man with Richard Ayoade. Before the kiddo’s surgery, we saw Kings Man in the theater (it was pretty empty because everyone was next door watching Spider Man) and tried a new-to-us local seafood restaurant. There have also been LOTS of Vlogmasses and although I am really enjoying them I’m heartily sick of the YouTube Christmas songs they all use.
I’ve been running just about every other day, and I finished two books (I started the Josie Quinn series at Steph’s recommendation via her blog) and hope to finish two more before the New Year to pad out my Goodreads total.
Also been knitting. Mostly small fiddly ornaments and although that always starts out fun, I’m about ready to call that quits for another year.
Although I’m feeling a bit disconnected and not very Christmassy, today is Christmas Eve and I’ll spend it with my little family in our cozy home. We’ll make something yummy and fun for dinner and play a board game and then eat cake. And I’ll wake up tomorrow to a bounty of gifts and food and Brandon’s birthday. I am so truly and thoroughly blessed. My love and best wishes for a peaceful and contented holiday go out to each of you and your families. xo
first snow and new hat.
I accomplished two of my goals this weekend – our Saturday morning 5-mile run and casting off on the Purl Soho Simple Pleasures hat.
It also snowed this weekend, so it was the perfect time to model it. It’s actually for the kiddo, but I like it so much I might make one for myself too (although I may try to swap out stash yarn instead of the pricey Line Weight merino and silk mohair Tussock that I used for this version). I just bought the kit, in the RIver Rock and Grey Quartz colorways, from the website and it was a quick, satisfying, dreamy knit and as an extra benefit, my daughter seems to like it and I think she’ll actually wear it (it can be a bit touch and go with teenagers and hand-knits).
The week ahead includes a band concert and many home office hours, and planning for Thanksgiving (I bought the turkey on Saturday and it is safely chilling in the freezer waiting for its big day). I hope everyone had a cozy and relaxing weekend and is geared up for another week! xo
friday frivolity: halloween recap, and some new knitting
Halloween was a bit of a disappointment – the forecast was clear, but the weatherpeople were not correct. By 7:30 PM or so, the winds had picked up and the rain was pelting. We were expecting a flood of kids, pent-up demand from the past year, but we had a small turnout and the weather put a damper on festivities. We have LOTS of candy leftover which is terrible for my discipline and self-esteem.
I took Monday off and put away the Halloween decorations, smashed the pumpkins under our birdfeeder and filled them with sunflower seeds. The birds, deer, and other yard wildlife (we have possums and a raccoon) enjoy the smorgasbord. It’s turned colder so the flannel sheets are on the bed and the woodbox is filled. The kiddo and I had dentist appointments this week, on Tuesday Brandon & I went to vote the short local ballot (city council), and work has been a bit stressful. I had a call with Japan one evening that I spent a lot of time preparing for and feeling anxious about and now, here on Friday, I am drained and bloated and sugar-hungover and ready for a weekend of lots of water and fresh, clean food. I haven’t been able to muster the energy to run in the newly cold mornings, which seem increasingly dark, even though I do really like cold-weather running and I have all the appropriate gear, so I have to conclude that I’ve just been silly and have not done the best job at self-care this week.
Vlogtober is OVER and I am bummed out. I so enjoyed following two of my favorite vloggers with their daily updates. Gayna from Tales from Cuckoo Land and Ali from This Little Wonderful Life are just a joy and being able to climb under a blanket with my iPad and watch them every day was a balm for my busy October. Ali is pretty regular so I expect to see her again soon – and I think she’s already committed to Vlogmas – but Gayna has intimated that she maybe won’t be able to film again until the New Year and as I really enjoyed her Vlogmas last year, this is a crushing disappointment. I really need Christina and Red Bank Mike from Chelsea Knits to commit to a Vlogmas so I can fill in my Gayna loss. (Their house and chickens are so fun, and I love her planner vlogs too.)
On the knitting front, now that the Halloween socks are finished, I have turned my attention to a couple of other projects. I cast on a hat for the kiddo – the SImple Pleasures hat by Purl Soho. It is fantastic. She picked the grey tones and the yarn is absolutely luscious to work with. For the ribbing, you hold two strands of the wool, and once you get into the body of the hat, you cut one strand and replace it with a strand of the kid mohair. I’m considering doing another one for myself, maybe in one of the plum tones. I also got myself a little gift for Thanksgiving knitting – this tiny stitch marker from Sucre Sucre Miniatures. It’s the most perfect, detailed, immaculate slice of pumpkin pie and the artistry is amazing.
I’m also winding yarn for the Snuggle Down Cowl by Jooles Hill. This has been on my short list for awhile, and I’m finally winding up some of my mini-skeins from last year’s Legacy FIber Artz Advent calendar. I’m pairing them with a silk mohair in a pink shade from one of my new favorite indie dyers, Casual Fashion Queen, who is up in Ironwood, MI, where it’s already snowing.
So there’s my Friday update for you all. I hope you are well and safe, warm if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, and cool if you’re under the Southern Cross. We change our clocks back this weekend so the long days of dark are upon us. Be well, be kind, and enjoy. xo
halloween socks 2021!
Last year, I was madly casting off and stitching the toes up on Halloween, this year I finished my Halloween socks a full week early!
These are the Hermione’s Everyday Socks pattern by Erica Lueder, knit on Casual Fashion Queen’s plush merino sock in the Spider’s Lullaby colorway (with just some black Patons for toes and cuffs).
The only bummer is that I usually use a 2.0 mm for my socks and this time – following the pattern exactly because they are my first pair of magic loop socks – I used a 2.25. They’re too big for me. I can wear them with another pair of socks underneath but I need a 2.0 Chiao Goo red lace needle for future magic loop projects. These are modeled by my daughter whose feet are bigger than mine.
Happy knitting!
happy monday
I hate to start out a blog post with bitching, but the weather right now is too damn hot. I am ready for the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness and the forecast for Tuesday is 87 degrees. Completely unacceptable. But I also know that in the depths of bleak February I will miss these days.
I had a fairly relaxing Saturday but Sunday was rife with preparation for the week ahead. A very humid mid-morning run, a trip to the nursery to buy more plants for my planters (no fun to be planting fall ornamentals in 80+ degree weather with sweat pouring into your eyes). Meal planning and grocery shopping.
On a minor grocery shopping rant – lately I have been choosing to shop mostly at the smaller and slightly more organic, upscale grocery stores in my town, which are more expensive; but they offer greater selection and a more relaxed and enjoyable shopping experience. During lockdown I exclusively patronized them because everyone was masked and considerate. I felt safe. My local Kroger was a melee of angry people ramming carts around and being pissy about masks, getting too close and just general bullshit. So I have been feeling like even in non-lockdown times I should shift my business to the entities where I felt safest when the chips were down. Unfortunately, Kroger is much cheaper and yesterday I had two rewards checks and so I bit the bullet.
It was as unpleasant as I remembered. So many angry people. Dude – I don’t say a freaking word to you about your maskless state. I choose to wear a mask (same as I chose to be vaccinated) and if you don’t, I just go right on past because honestly I don’t give two shits about hassling with you. You do you – just accept the consequences of your choice, which again have nothing to do with me. Yet you want to bleat about personal freedoms and then tell ME that I shouldn’t wear a mask? Where’s the respect for individual free choice in THAT? Ohhh – yeah, I forgot, it’s only free thinking and independent and non-sheeplike if everyone is doing what YOU want them to do. Got it.
How about you worry about your own face and leave mine the hell alone.
ANYWAY my planters turned out nicely – I’ll post some pics when they fill out a bit. Black petunias and ornamental cabbages!
I got a lot of knitting done on my Halloween socks. I guess the upside of the hot weather is that there can be a lot of front porch knitting with vlogs and small chipmunk visitors.
I was a bit worried that my chosen pattern – Hermione’s Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder – wouldn’t be visible due to the colorful yarn, but the more I knit the more the texture is apparent. And I’m really pleased with pattern and yarn.
Since I can’t seem to get my act together for a Show Us Your Books lately, here’s a mini recommendation- “Fire Keeper’s Daughter” by Angeline Boulley. It’s a YA novel that doesn’t read YA. Plus it’s set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula which is cool for a downstate Michigander and centers around an Ojibwe woman and her community. It took me about 80 pages to really get into it but after that point it caught fire and I couldn’t put it down.
So that’s my weekend and my week ahead will be more heat, home office work (did I mention that we’re back to predominantly remote again? Through early December now), school for Miss L, some charitable donation dropoffs (a stash of Colors of the World crayons & colored pencils for a local school and stuff for some of Miss L’s classrooms) and the usual cooking, laundry, and running. I hopefully will also get to sneak in a few rows on the Halloween socks and continue with some goth cross-stitch.
I hope wherever you are, you are well, safe, and happy. xo
the real new year
To me, September has always felt like the true new year, when you buy new clothes and pencils and organize your stuff and have a new schedule to attend to. Even as a 48-year old grown woman, Labor Day to me is the time when I set new resolutions. And one of my resolutions for the true New Year is to get back to blogging on a more regular cadence. It’s been hard for me since my dad passed to find a lot of joy and comfort in self-reflection because the pain of missing him is always right near the surface. But although that has not changed, and probably will never change, because he was such a massive part of our lives, I’m ready to pick up this stitch and keep going.
So here’s a few recent photos from my camera roll to ease me back in.
I finished up my mom’s birthday socks! These took me forever because knitting also sort of fell by the wayside. These are Raveled but I’ll tell you that they are the Kia pattern by the wonderful Dawn Henderson (find her on Insta as knit.yarn.stuff) knit with Six and Seven Alfalfa base which is stunning.
The little one is back to school in-person for the first time since the pandemic. And not so little anymore. She’s vaxxed and they wear masks. (And seriously, adults – neither she or any of her friends have lodged a single complaint about full day masking. Quit your bitching. If my 13-year old can wear one without issue, SO CAN YOU.) She’s very happy to be back, and is expanding her fashion sense now that she can see all the different “lewks” at the morning bus stop. (So far she is heavily favoring a ‘90s throwback, with ripped boyfriend jeans, t-shirts of bands she probably has never listened to, combat boots and oversized flannels, with a sk8ter boi undercut for her glossy red locks.)
Watching a lot of stuff lately – a very mixed bag. A pretty bad Heidi Fleiss doc, ‘Fast Times at Ridgemont High’, and ‘Val’, which Brandon and I highly recommend. Heartbreaking and interesting and nostalgic and ultimately uplifting.
And lastly- shame, shame, shame on Texas. For my friends not in the US, this state has recently enacted the most restrictive abortion law in the country, banning abortion after the sixth week,when many women don’t even yet know they are pregnant. Moreover, the Texas law deputizes private citizens to sue anyone who performs an abortion or aids an abortion. So yeah, think – Uber driver. Friend. Any plaintiff unconnected to the patient or the provider can bring a (frivolous) lawsuit, collect attorney fees and a $10k bounty. As you may expect, this law disproportionately affects vulnerable populations- teens, and low-income populations who can’t afford to travel to obtain safe healthcare. As well as allowing a bunch of self righteous Karens and Bubbas to clog up an already taxed legal system.
Withholding critical healthcare, without ramifications for the young men who participate in insemination, without aid or assistance after that baby is born, no carveouts for rape or incest, taking choice away when this is the ultimate choice of the woman and the woman alone – nothing good can come of that. And don’t ever tell me you are “pro-life” if you don’t care what happens after that baby is born. It’s the most nonsensical and cruel virtue signaling.
Abortions will continue to occur – now they will just occur in more highly risky conditions under more barbaric and traumatic circumstances.
I hope everyone out there in the US has a fantastic Labor Day and in other areas a great end of your weekend / beginning of your week.
Six Ten 