Binding Off

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Hi friends,

This post has been a long time coming. 10+ years, really. It’s been so wonderful to “meet” all of you knitters, to write so many patterns that I’m really proud of (and a few that I’ve “learned from”). It’s been lovely to share my knitting thoughts and knowledge with you, to gush over beautiful patterns and lovely sweaters. I’m so pleased that I made the effort all those years ago to step out of my comfort zone and start writing.

That being said, I think it’s about time for me to take a step back from the blog. It seems like the next logical step for me. My knitting time has become much more limited over the last few years (can’t imagine why…), and my creative juices haven’t been flowing like they used to. It’s coming to the point where I have to choose between knitting for the blog, for my design work and for myself, which is really taking the fun out of my favorite pastime. Plus, I just started a new job that I’m so excited about (teaching preschool down the street at a school I love), but which is already eating into my already limited free time and creative energy.

That being said, I’m hoping that by making a little space for myself by stepping away from the blog, I will have more time and energy to experiment with my knitting. I hope to work on more designs, make more sweaters, and otherwise do things for fun that I haven’t had the energy to do in a while. I want to get back to the joy I found in knitting for all those years when it wasn’t my “job.”

I’ll probably be back here from time to time, to show you new patterns, or maybe a FO check-in once in a while. But even if I’m not, know that I’m still out here, still knitting, and still neck-deep in yarn.

Happy knitting!

-Allison

Road Trip Wrap-up

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We’re back! We had a fantastic trip down to Mt. Shasta (which is conveniently located exactly halfway between Seattle and LA, where our friends live). It is a gorgeous place- beautiful scenery, fantastic weather, tasty food! I’d definitely go back again.

And the kids even managed to hang the whole drive down. I got so much knitting done! I made it all the way past the gusset of the first sock in basically one go. It was fantastic.

However, the way back was a different story. Who knew that 2- and 5-year-olds didn’t want to 20+ hours sitting in the back seat of the car? Basically, what ended up happening was that my husband (the hero that he is) managed to wedge himself in-between the car seats in the back and entertain the kids the entire way back while I drove as fast as I could to get us home. So, obviously, I didn’t get the full knitting time I was hoping for. (Honestly, knitting on road trips is the only practical application I can see for self-driving cars.)

It was a fantastic trip, despite the lack of knitting time, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat (but maybe not for a couple weeks).

Do you prefer to be the driver or the passenger on a road trip?

Road Tripping

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As I write this, my family and I are about to head out on a big family road trip down to California to visit friends that we haven’t seen in waaaay too long. (If everything goes as planned, we’ll be home by the time you read this. Fingers crossed.)

My husband is being very responsible and making sure that we have the packing list squared away, hotel reservations for the nights we’re traveling, and a map of all the parks and kid-friendly restaurants between here and northern California. (Basically, a list of all the “Old McDonalds” as our 5 year-old still calls them. Nobody correct them!)

I, on the other hand, am making sure that I have the right kind of knitting project for the trip. It’s going to be a good 20+ hours in the car, and hopefully, I’ll be able to spend at least some of that time knitting (between handing out snacks, manning the audiobooks, and trying desperately to facilitate naps).

I had planned, at first, on bringing my new crochet project to work on, but honestly that project is way too much of a wildcard. I’d hate to get three hours into our drive, rage quit, and have nothing to do the rest of the trip. Plus, I really have to concentrate on the pattern, counting, and making the actual stitches. None of which are super compatible with driving with preschoolers.

So, I’m going back to my comfort zone. Because it’s comfortable there!

I found an unlabeled skein of sock yarn (I’m 80% sure it’s KnitPicks Hawthorn of some sort) and got to work. I’ve got a nice, simple ribbed cuff all done and a couple inches of stockinette started.

I figure I’ll work the leg until we’re about halfway through Oregon, then it should be time to turn the heel.

And maybe by the time we get back, I’ll have a new pair of socks to show you!

What’s your go-to road trip project?

And THIS IS WHY YOU SWATCH

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So after finishing my nice vanilla socks, I decided that I wanted to stretch my legs a bit, metaphorically speaking. I posted a while ago about this sweater (shirt? top? Not sure what to call it).

It’s the Calad Shirt by Jenny Tsung and I just think it’s super cute. Is it something that I’ll wear? Maybe. Have I ever actually, successfully crocheted a garment for myself? No. Do I find crochet patterns above “beginner” basically unreadable? Yes.

Is any of that going to stop me? Absolutely not.

Certainly nothing will go wrong.

Anyway, I dug into my stash and found a couple balls of lace-weight yarn that, honestly, I’m probably never going to use. (I had a big “lace” phase maybe 10 years back, but I don’t have the time or attention to make fancy lace shawls anymore. Maybe when the kids go off to college.) I pulled out a surprisingly tiny crochet hook and went ahead and got swatching. And man, I’m glad I did.

Here’s the swatch. Can you spot what went wrong?

That’s right. It’s supposed to be a rectangle. Not a trapezoid.

I honestly don’t know what I did. I definitely lost stitches somewhere along the line, but where? No idea. And maybe my tension changed, too? Who knows. I’m just glad I didn’t jump right in on the sweater before I got my sea legs. It’s definitely going to take a couple tries to get this pattern figured out. Cross your fingers for me!

Have you ever messed up a swatch as badly as mine?

Hello!

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I’m in-between projects right now, so I decided to take this opportunity to break out a toy that I got for my birthday: my Hello Loom!

It’s so cute- it’s a laser-cut wooden loom. Actually, it’s two looms! One is about the size of a credit card and the other is the size of a paperback book. It reminds me of the cardboard looms I’d make from cereal boxes when I was a kid. (I don’t think I ever actually finished a woven piece when I was a kid. Much like grown-up Allison, kid Allison was good at starting projects, but not great at finishing them.)

Anyway, I pulled out a big box of yarn leftovers and started playing around. It was super easy to set up, and before I knew it, I was halfway through. Then, after an evening of Star Trek, I was finished. So fun! It’s certainly not perfect, but I enjoyed playing with my loom.

Now, I only have two questions:

  1. What am I supposed to do with my little piece(s) of weaving? Or am I just making a bunch of coasters? And,
  2. How am I supposed to get it off the loom without messing it up?

Any of you weavers that can help me?

Done and Dusted

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Not much to report this week, just that I finished my self-striping socks! Woo!

And, just like I said last week, it took maybe 20 minutes to finish them up. 30 if you include weaving in the ends and blocking them. Sure, I could have pushed through and finished them last week, but it was kind of nice taking my time with them and only working on them when I was really in the mood.

I’m glad I got them done, and I’m so pleased with how they turned out. The colors are so pretty. And, the fabric is so soft and smooth, especially since I knit them with smaller needles than I usually use.

I can’t wait until the weather turns and I can wear them!

Have you finished anything lately?

So close, so far

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I was totally determined to get these socks done this week, but it’s just not happening. Not from lack of trying (sorta).

I got close. I’m halfway through the toe decreases on the second sock. In fact, if I hadn’t sat down to write, I could probably have finished by the time I post this.

But, you know what, I’m a-OK with leaving them as they are right now. The socks are pretty. They’re going to be lovely when they’re done, but it’s hot outside. It’s not like I’m itching to put on a pair of new wool socks right now, anyway. And I’m super tired after almost a month of near daily playdates and almost constantly entertaining my kids, so I’m going to give myself a break. (School is out for the summer, and it’s become wildly obvious (again) that they’re both huge extroverts. They need to play with kids and get out of the house every day, or they turn into little chaos gremlins. I, however, am a big old introvert (hence the knitting), which means that every playdate and outing I set up for them leaves me fully overstimulated and exhausted.)

Anyway, all that’s a long-winded way of saying, the socks aren’t done yet. They will be done, and soon, but not yet.

How hard do you push to finish a project?

1.5

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I’m one and a half socks deep into this project, and I’m still making progress. Something that doesn’t feel like it happens much these days.

I did my best to match up the stripes, but my first try, I was wildly off. I ended up having to frog basically the whole leg portion and re-knit it, which is never my favorite. But I’m so glad I did!

They’re not an exact match, but if you look closely at the colors, they’re actually dyed slightly differently, so no matter how careful I was, I could never have matched them up perfectly. I guess that’s just how hand-dyed yarn goes.

I was a little bummed about it at first, but the more I look at it, the more I like it. That little bit of variation makes the socks even more interesting.

Do you try to match up your socks perfectly, or do you go with the flow?

One Down

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Woo! I’m on a roll. I just got back from a big trip to visit family, and my kids are finally at the age where they can just sit in the airplane and watch shows/play games on their tablets. Instead of having to do a whole dog-and-pony show for my toddler, I was able to sit for a good chunk of our flights and just knit and listen to my book. It was fantastic.

Not only did I get to do some knitting, I managed to knit up a whole sock (and a half, but then I frogged it).

And I gotta say this yarn is full of surprises. First, I thought it was variegated, then I thought it was an ombre/gradient situation. But now, it turns out that it’s fully striped! I don’t know if I’ve ever been so surprised by a yarn.

Luckily, it’s been a good surprise so far.

I mean, it’s super cute! And “Uneek” (which I guess should have been a clue). I don’t know if I would have put these colors together on my own, but I really like how the yarn looks knit up.

Now to match the stripe pattern for the second one.

When’s the last time you used self-striping yarn?

Gorgeous

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Y’all. I can’t get over how beautiful this yarn is turning out! I’m literally making the simplest, most vanilla socks ever, yet I can’t wait to pick them up. The colors are blowing my mind!

Look at it!

It’s like a gorgeous jewel-toned sunset or something! I love the subtle blue/green stripes at the top, and how the yarn changes so slowly into a deep fire-y red. I can’t wait to see what this yarn does next!

Looking at the ball of yarn, I’m guessing that it’s dyed so that the pair will be twins (or at least siblings), but there won’t be any repetition in the stripe pattern within the sock. I have to say, I really lucked out here- I thought I was just getting a pretty (but fairly normal) variegated skein of yarn. Turns out I’ve got myself a full-on work of art!

Plus the yarn base is so lovely. I thought it was going to be a little thin and splitty, but it’s really nice to work with. I’m knitting it up on US1s, and the fabric is coming out soft, firm and silky. (Which makes it sound like tofu. Or maybe I’m just hungry.)

I’m honestly a little bummed that I’m going to have to turn the heel soon. I kind of just want to keep knitting the leg so that I can see the entire stripe pattern all laid out.

Have you ever surprised yourself with a skein of something really special?