Secret Santa

#100daysofmaking: Secret Santa gift for work: a free pattern Houzuki Hat by Yoko Johnston in the leftovers of Lydia Squishy yarn from the Erin Lane club I used for a brioche Askews Me Shawl. 

Yellow Tail

#100daysofmaking: Some pre yoga knitting on my Yellow Tail by @taigahilliard in @caterpillargreen MCN Shawl in Ocean Sunset. This has been in my stash and queue for ages but @manicpurl inspired me to cast on with pics of her Yellow Tail in Caterpillar Green.

Backwards knitting

#100daysofmaking: Did some treadmill knitting today and somehow ended up three rows behind where I started ... 😖

100 Days of Making: Baby Sweater

#100daysofmaking: The bad shot of my Baby Vertebrae sweater upside down in the yoga studio lobby. The yarn is an acrylic Hobby Lobby yarn that I only liked so so when I crocheted with it but it is looking so beautiful knit up! Photos are really not catching the subtle shades of yellows in the yarn. It started out as a Newborn Vertebrae but the sport weight yarn has turned it into a 6-12 month version. Oh well. 

Lost count in my 100 Days of Making

#100daysofmaking: Finished a thing. Started two more things. Cause that's how I roll. 

#leslies100daysofmaking

100 Days of Making

#100daysofmaking #muststashyarn #starwarsyarn #bobbafettbobbafettwhere #operationsockdrawer

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100 Days of Making: Day 124

Vacation yarn!

100 Days of Making: Day 124

#day124 of #100daysofmaking: I finished a sweater! My second ever! Kakomu by Kirsten Johnstone in Lindy Chain @knit_picks yarn in the Celery color way. My seaming skills are terrible and I may have ended up with a size that is smaller than I had wanted due to swatch confusion but it looks pretty great regardless of all that. Also this makes me 2/3 of the way to my #stashdash2016 goal! 3K is in my sights! #projectsweaterchest

100 Days of Making: Day 123

#day123 of #100daysofmaking: I can post this now that it's been gifted to my cousin, a "layette" set of an edged flannel receiving blanket (for which I redeveloped a method of crocheting tiny circles and this time I figured out how to tack them down on two sides so they will stay put better after washing-I will post the pattern and hopefully a video tutorial if YouTube will cooperate on my ravelry page soon), a Newborn Vertebrae sweater in Plucky Primo which was coincidentally the same color as the blanket I chose, and a Checkerwork hat by Vexy in KPPM that I found that matched the other two. Made a cute combo despite no initial intention to make the set match.

100 Days of Making: Day 122

#day122 of #100daysofmaking: Knit pucks order of all the needles! Got a few rainbow wood to slow down some slick yarn projects with silk in them. And I couldn't not order some yarn - Hawthorne in Poseidon. Planning on a sweater vest for my son.

100 Days of Making: Day 121

#day121 of #100daysofmaking: I started a Newborn Vertebrae from the leftovers of some Plucky Primo and while laking it for the 4th, I got to the end of the body. Concerned I may not have enough yarn for the sleeves, I examined it closely to realize I had increased on the front when I wasn't supposed to. I could leave it but probably not have yarn for long sleeves. Or I could rip back to row 6 and increase only in the proper places. Based on pic 2, guess what I did?? What a bummer waste of knitting time.

100 Days of Making: Day 120

#day120 of #100daysofmaking: Still not much knitting progress. I took #hitofudecardigan to the park and got half a row done in the blazing heat while the kids climbed up slides. I put two rows on my Inky brioche shawl. But child number one refused to nap and my wrist felt funky after half a row of knitting so for the evening knitertainment, I reorganized my stash that I finally took out of my son's room and moved to the basement, went through a random stack of magazines and added them to my Rav library, and drooled on my just arrived @muststashsheep Woodstock yarn with 20! stripes.

100 Days of Making: Day 119

#day119 of #100daysofmaking: I haven't posted knitting in nearly a month. I have been knitting but not nearly as much as I wish I could. My probably carpal tunnel keeps flaring and I am trying to limit my knitting time (and my yoga) due to pain in my wrists. I would rather do small amounts of knitting and rest every day or two then push it and end up in so much pain that I can't knit at all (or pick up the kids, or type my documentation at work, or do things around the house.... Wait, I can live without the household chores). This is my third Hitofude from @pluckyknitter Lodge Fingering. It's easy to pick up and put down, the pattern is so easy to memorize. I'm still on the sleeves and nearly done with my first (of 3) ball of yarn. It won't be finished as quickly as my first two.

100 Days of Making: Day 118

#day118 of #100daysofmaking: A little bit of car knitting on the way home from the lake. I haven't been knitting much this week - I think I'm beginning to develop some carpel tunnel problems from using laptops at my new job. Knitting doesn't help the situation. So should I quit knitting or quit my job? Tough decision....

Inky by Susanne Sommers in @hedgehogfibres Monarch and Villain

100 Days of Making: Day 118

#day118 of #100daysofmaking: My birthday gift from @czrakes reads "Watch me knit... Watch me crochet..." Since I'm super uncool, I did not catch the hip cultural reference. I only understand yarn and fiber art references. 😝

100 Days of Making: Day 117:

100 days Of Making: Day 117

100 Days of Making: Day 115

#day115 of #100daysofmaking: I bought myself some Mother's Day yarn today, an eye searing skein of pink Mad Tosh sock to match the Hedgehog Fibres skeins I got recently. Because brioche. This will become Inky by Suzanne Sommers when my Askews Me is off the needles

100 Days of Making: Day 113

#day113 of #100daysofmaking: My new Plucky Lodge Fingering arrived... I wanna cast on for my third Hitofude so bad....!

100 Days of Making: Day 113

100 Days of Making: Day 112

#day112 of #100daysofmaking: I am finally blocking some things since I found my blocking boards (after a year MIA). It's pretty amazing what cleaning out your closet can result in.
Four hundred shawl by Lynette Meeks in @buffalowoolco Tracks in Acai colorway from January installment of @erinlanebags Indie Yarn Carnival Club.

100 Days of Making: Day 111

#day111 of #100daysofmaking: Hitofude and mini-Hitofude. Blocked. Now we just need mommy/daughter pics.

100 Days of Making: Day 111

#day111 of #100daysofmaking: Hitofude and mini-Hitofude. Blocked. Now we just need mommy/daughter pics.

100 Days of Making: Day 110

100 Days of Making: Day 109

#day109 of #100daysofmaking: The yarn from this month's @erinlanebags Indie Yarn Carnival club was DK weight and so gorgeous. I have been itching to try brioche which seems to do a little better in thicker yarn but all I stash these days is fingering. So I thought this was a good opportunity to brioche it up and contacted @lydiayarn to see if she would do another skein or two and a contrast color that matched. Angela came up with this gorgeous pinkish speckled yarn. I wound the yarn the day it arrived and cast on for @westknits Askews Me shawl shortly after but there's a bit of learning curve to brioche as my first three attempts and frogs show. Some YouTube videos later and attempt number 4 finally got past the complex brioche garter tab opening and it's looking so good!

100 Days of Making: Day 108

#day108 of #100daysofmaking: You are hereby witnessing a knitting miracle. I had two skeins of @pluckyknitter Lodge fingering yarn (which by the way is my favoritest yarn ever ever ever right now (may have bought more tonight 😳)) to make a #hitofudecardigan. I added some length to it and I didn't think I was going to have enough yarn so I ordered a third skein. This is me binding off with a minuscule amount of the end of the second skein. I was sure I would have to break into the third skein for the last rows of ribbing and/or the bind off but people, I bound off every last stitch with 8 inches to spare! With another whole ball of Lodge left, I am making calculations on how to miniaturize the Hitofude for a child size version for a mommy/daughter set!

100 Days of Making: Day 107

#day107 of #100daysofmaking: I finished something last night so I get to cast something on, right? And I was good, I dug into deep stash and found this Lorna Laces Shepard Sock in Funk Stripes that I bought years ago. Possibly as many as 10. Maybe not that much. But a while ago. Cast on some more #rosecityrollers. I'm still trying to get the perfect sock pattern that's not too loose or slips off my heel into my shoe. #hulksocks

100 Days of Making: Day 105 (2/23)

#day105 of #100daysofmaking: Or more aptly; 100daysofnotmaking. I went to work yesterday and 7 hours of barely trying to use my injured hand aggravated it so I haven't dared to try knitting again. But in happier news, I've been ogling my @strickmich club package that arrived last week. Filter applied in case even this tiny snapshot is too much of a spoiler though I doubt anyone on my feed also got the club. I can't wait to cast it on though I had decided I should wait till I had finished either Emma's or my sweater (#tinyrockycoast and #Hitofude) but now that I am thrown behind on those too, it's going to be very difficult to not cast this on once I can knit again.

100 Days of Making: Day 106

#day106 of #100daysofmaking: The doc says my hand will heal fine and no muscles or tendons were affected. Which is great news considering when I was having trouble sleeping in the middle of the night after I injured it, I ordered this yarn on etsy. 😂😜😅 I mean, it's Fruit Stripe gum yarn! I HAD to!

100 Days of Making: Day 104

#day104 of #100daysofmaking: I tried to knit despite my injury, I found if I just sort of prop the needle in my left hand and throw with the right that I can knit an entire row before it starts to hurt. I was only able to work on my garter stitch Easy by Martina Behm - I will need to be able to knit continental again before I can get back to lace and cables. Hopefully that will be soon. Two whole days of no knitting have been torture.

100 Days of Making: Day 103

#day103 of #100daysofmaking: It's pretty tough taking a sweater in progress selfie while simultaneously trying to cover up your bra and suck in your muffin top. #Hitofude progress: love this knit. Will it fit if I'm not butt naked under it: questionable. Conclusion: make the correct size next time.


Sent from my iPhone

100 Days of Making: Day 103

Sent from my iPhone

100 Days of Making: Day 105

#day105 of #100daysofmaking: Or more aptly; 100daysofnotmaking. I went to work yesterday and 7 hours of barely trying to use my injured hand aggravated it so I haven't dared to try knitting again. But in happier news, I've been ogling my @strickmich club package that arrived last week. Filter applied in case even this tiny snapshot is too much of a spoiler though I doubt anyone on my feed also got the club. I can't wait to cast it on though I had decided I should wait till I had finished either Emma's or my sweater (#tinyrockycoast and #Hitofude) but now that I am thrown behind on those too, it's going to be very difficult to not cast this on once I can knit again.

100 Days of Making: Day 102

#day102 of #100daysofmaking: My Hitofude cardigan is going awesome in @pluckyknitter Lodge fingering. If I could marry a yarn, this might be it. I have been bribing myself to work on other projects by rewarding a little progress on them with a few rows on #Hitofude. And because I'm still suffering from a very serious long lasting case of cast-on-itis, I started crochet edging a flannel receiving blanket and cast on a #tinyrockycoast cardigan for my daughter in @dana_of_unwind Luxe Sock. I bought this yarn with the intention of knitting a Marian Dress for her but lately every time she sees me knitting, she asks if it's a sweater for her. I tried to convince her she wants a dress but no dice. #projectsweaterchest for momma and baby.


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100 Days of Making: Day 101

#day 101 of #100daysofmaking: It's been way more than 100 total days and now more than 100 documented days of making but this format is keeping me current so I'm going to just keep going. So here's a summary of my past week of knitting: That's a broken needle cable top left 😨 and of course it went kablewy in the middle of a row and dropped half a shawl's worth of stitches. It was the 400 shawl (top right) but though scary, the stitches were fairly easily picked back up. The cord just separated from the grommet. I could have been upset but the cable may be as old as 10 years - I've had my knit picks interchangeables for a long time. Easy come, easy go. I have plenty more cables. 

I did finish the 400 this week from my #erinlane Indie Yarn Carnival club. Extended it a little bit with the extra yarn she sent to make up for the yarn being a bit thick/short on yardage. Blocked it on a towel in the floor last night and the kids kept trying to stomp on it. Can't find any pins so I just stretched it out. 

Bottom left is some Plucky Primo that I ripped out because can you see the leaf pattern in there? Neither could I. The Not A Drop pattern was not working with the very round structure of this yarn so instead I cast on To infinity and beyond by #Joji. 

Lastly because I don't have enough projects on the needles, I cast on some more Plucky, in Lodge Fingering that just fell into my house last week. I thought I would make a sweater for my son from the Grumpy Old Sailer color but I thought it was a dark turquoise and it turned out to be a dark gray with blueish tones. And heathery because of the silk content. It's merino cashmere silk and flax which is way too fine for a toddler, right? So a Hitofude for me it is! Btw, that's not how a ball winder is supposed to work. 😖

100 Days of Making: Day 100

#day100 of #100daysofmaking: More #rosecityrollers but with an added lace and cable pattern I put together to make the semisolid of the #jilldraperyarn more interesting. The yarn is beautiful as is but that beauty wouldn't be as obvious in short socks. So some pattern.

100 Days of Making: Day 98

#day98 of #100daysofmaking: Funished some more #rosecityrollers in #missbabsyarn Zombie Prom.

100 Days of Making: Day 97

#day97 of #100daysofmaking: Sadly I found two holes in my son's Slates and Balustrades hat - I suspect my daughter and scissors. I was pretty discouraged but I finally decided the best way to repair it was to knot the cut ends together and use the yarn I thankfully had left (and actually was able to find easily!) to sew the hole closed, catching the dropped stitches and making a gauge attempt to recreate the knits and purls. The left is the inside with knots and the right is one of the repaired spots just above my thumb. It isn't terribly obvious because the wrinkly waffle pattern masks the uneven square but it's more obvious in person. Not great but not horrible. It'll do. #visiblemending #crappymending  

100 Days of Making: Day 96

#day96 of #100daysofmaking: Made a long time ago, I finally wore the socks from @lollipopyarn in Cutie Patootie to work. I am finally going to start wearing my hand knit socks to work... It's time to actually wear some knit things!

100 Days of Making: Day 95

#day95 of #100daysofmaking: I and two of my friends went to visit my friend who just had a baby boy but I don't think any of us remembered to take any pictures of the tiny cutie! I made him this little bearded hat, newborn size but his head was tiny and this hat will be enormous. The beard turned out quite large also, so instead of sewing it onto the hat, I attached it with buttons so that they could be worn separately and maybe I'll make him a bigger hat for next year to attach the beard to. The baby's daddy (used to) have a giant long beard and so I thought it only appropriate for his son to match.