It’s been a while since I was able to show you guys a new pattern, so today’s definitely a special day!
I’d like to introduce you to the happiest socks on the block: the Rainbow Socks!
These guys are in the new super-cheerful sock collection from Knit Picks (Pop Socks), which I definitely recommend you check out.
These adorable little guys are a super simple, top-down sock with an afterthought heel. The only tricky part about them is that they’re absolutely COVERED in bright, stripey rainbows! (Which isn’t really tricky, it just involves a lot of end-weaving.)
I’m so pleased with how these turned out, and even more tickled because the Knit Picks team put together a pack of rainbow-colored minis specifically for this project! You can grab the pack here!
I can’t wait to see folks start knitting up these little guys- nothing says “Spring” like hand-knits covered in rainbows!
Grab the pattern here, the book here, and the yarn here!
I’m going to be honest, I’m kind of winging this sweater. I thought I had a plan- well, I do have a plan, but it’s a very rough plan. And the further in I get to this project, the more I realize that the “pattern” I wrote up at the beginning of this knit is more of a “suggestion” than an actual pattern.
But that’s fine, it just means I do a little math on the fly, and keep my fingers crossed that everything works out in the end.
The most recent thing that I’ve winged is the V-neck for the front of the sweater. I marked the center-most stitch, then decreased 1 stitch each side of the neck, every RS row. I kept decreasing until the neck seemed wide enough (which I always have trouble estimating). It looks a little wonky because of the cables, but I think it will look OK once I add the neckband. I hope.
I’ve roughly estimated the proportions on this sweater by holding up the project against my kid’s favorite sweatshirt. And, so far it looks OK (though the proportions will change a bit with blocking).
I guess I’ll just keep guessing and keep crossing my fingers, and hopefully it’ll turn out OK (or at least OK enough for my kid to wear it a few times).
Do you ever wing your projects, or are you strictly a follow-the-pattern knitter?
This is one of my favorite/least favorite genre of project. It’s one of those tasks that I know I should get done right away, because if I don’t do it right off the bat, then it’ll sit in my “to be mended” pile for months.
And that’s exactly what happened.
At the beginning of Fall, my big kid was wearing their favorite stripey sweater. It’s a cute, scrappy project that I made for them about a year ago. It’s getting a little “well loved” but still has plenty of life in it.
Anyway, I was sitting, chatting with them, and they were wearing the sweater inside-out (because that’s something that 4-year-olds do, I guess). They noticed the ends poking out of the sweater, and since it was a “use up all the scraps” project, there are quite a few ends. Before I could say anything, they grabbed one end, said “What’s this?” and yanked with all their might.
Sigh.
It doesn’t look that bad from the outside, but it’s turned into a weird, 4-inch-long lump. (It’s the blue stripe right at the top of the red section… It kind of pulls in and makes the blue disappear).
But if you look to the inside… it’s pretty obvious that something’s wrong.
So, I thew the sweater in my knitting/mending pile and figured I’d fix it when I had the time.
Long story short… that was probably 3 months ago, and I’m not even sure if the sweater still fits the kid.
Anyway, in a fit of productivity this afternoon, I sat down for 10 minutes (with the kids crawling all over me, so I probably could have gotten it done in 5, had I been alone) and fixed the whole dang thing. I used a big needle to unpick all the super-tight stitches and redistribute the yarn. Simple.
The sweater is good as new! (I mean, not new. There are plenty of stains and the elbows are a little threadbare. But still.)
Why are the simplest tasks sometimes the hardest to finish?
Is it precisely related to knitting? Not on its face, but I think the connection will become clear.
My kid had a playdate yesterday. Our neighbor from down the street came over (by himself!) and the three kids played on their own for just about 2 hours. We’ve never had a kids-only playdate before, and as much as I like having adult friends over, too, this was shockingly lovely.
The kids barricaded themselves into the bedroom, played trains and trucks and LEGO and pretended to be dragons and came out only to ask for a snack about halfway through.
YOU GUYS!!! I GOT TO SIT DOWN BY MYSELF AND KNIT WHILE MY CHILDREN WERE AWAKE AND IN THE HOUSE AND IT WAS AMAZING!
It really feels like this is the beginning of a new era of parenting.
Plus, I got the front of my toddler’s sweater done up to the split for the V-neck. Shocking.
When was the last time that you got surprise time to work on your knitting?
On the Needles 