Socks Time

I actually finished five pairs of socks last year.  They are socks which means I often don't take pictures.

I did take pictures of my Hearts n' Hugs Lace socks.  I adapted the pattern some.  I did one more repeat for the legs and ended the hearts before getting to the toes.  I find that they are a bit more comfortable if the design doesn't go all the way into my shoe.  It is a nice pattern but I don't think it is available any more.  The yarn is Knit Picks bare out of my Mom's stash.

These are Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock with Dutch Heel.  It is my go to pattern for my husband.  The heel does well for his feet and it makes his socks easy to identify in the wash.  There isn't much chance of mixing socks up.  These are wild for him but he has been wearing them.  They were picture worthy because they aren't black, dark blue, or grey.  I believe the yarn is Opal Magic.  Opal does lots of themes and my German is pretty much non-existent.

The other three pairs of socks were also Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock with Dutch Heel. 

Foothills Tea Time Bandana

As part of Yarn Along the Rockies, there was a prequel pattern.  Participating stores had the pattern a selection of yarn for knitting the pattern.  I chose to get both from Blazing Star Ranch. 

The yarn is Tea Time Cranberry Scone from Wonderland Yarns & Frabjous Fibers Mad Hatter.  I chose to go with a larger needle size because I am still a tight knitter.  It was a fast knit.  Took less than a week to make.  

It did turn out larger than the sample I saw. This makes it loose around my neck which I like. 

Masks of 2020

It has been a year of masks.  I have sewn more than we have kept. 

Started off using what I call the New York pattern.  It is a pleated mask with ties.  Found that it helps to make sure the pleats are deep enough so the mask bottom is just at the chin or barely below.

The second pattern I tried was the denim mask pattern. Joanns had a link for it.  This one was a bit better than the pleated mask. Both this and the New York pattern were pointed out by a friend who is retired.

And then another friend provided a link to the Craft Passion pattern. Which I used for a number of masks. I was making the option with both a nose wire holder and a pocket for more material. Found that I forget to put the wire in and don't use the pocket.

Most of the masks are made from left over fabric.  I did purchase some fabric for lining and non floral for men. The Halloween and Christmas masks are from left over fabric because why not have something seasonal when a mask is worn frequently.

 And then one of my friends point me to another mask pattern that amounts to origami with fabric.  These are the two trial masks to see how they work.  They do provide better coverage than the other patterns.

Tour de Fleece - super wash

One of the few fiber events that happened this year after February.  The organizers decide due to its being online and people not getting through usual fiber fixes to hold as scheduled.

I started with super wash wool purchased years ago at the Taos Wool Festival from Fiber Fanatic.  The label said four ounces but really it was closer to eight.   With no receipt, I couldn't tell what I paid.  Also, have no idea if I paid for the correct amount or not.  It does make me wonder if it is truly super wash.

I choose to use my Ackerworks Bobbins for the singles with a 12:1 ratio.   Had my usual tension problems shown by the over twist that can be seen.

The singles stuffed two bobbins.  They turned out pretty even.  

The ply was a 8.5:1 ratio resulting in a two ply approximately worsted weight yarn.  The total yardage in two skeins was about 450 yards.  This will be enough for a scarf.

Bittersweet Celebration Shawl

Hey folks, I am at home due to a snow storm here.  The snow is still coming down and there is already ~12 inches on the ground since yesterday.  Figure, I will catch up a bit on posting projects.

Up next, a Celebration Shawl using Palouse Yarn Company Cashmere Squeeze.

The Bittersweet is both the color of the yarn and how I feel about the project the yarn was purchased for.  The original purchase was for a sweater, which I did knit with the idea that superwash yarn would "grow". I did an estimate based on a scarf, I had knit using one skein of the Night Sky color and the Dark Hedges Scarf pattern. The scarf turned out really nice and gave me a growth factor which turned out to be a lie.

The pattern, I choose for the sweater was Fete Cardigan with a touch of lace and lots of cables.  To line up the skeins by color intensity, I took some photos and changed to black and white based on advice from Kate.  Here is a photo of the skeins in color intensity order.

I started with the lightest skein at the top.  I did get to back up a few times because of knitting mistakes.  And the sweater seemed a touch snug after completing as desired.  Turns out that having a bit of lace in the pattern made the sweater grow more than anticipated.

It turned out really nice. Since, I didn't have it in me to rip and try again, a friend has the sweater. My hope is that she has been enjoying it.

There was enough yarn leftover to do a shawl.  I choose to do the large version of the Celebration Shawl.  I might have been able to do one more repeat but thought that would be too big once it grew during blocking.  The shawl did grow but is still a good size for me. 

The shawl is a triangle and didn't fit in the frame nicely for a photo plus I didn't want some of the background items in the photo.

The series of projects was over a 3 year period.  I didn't learn I have some more super wash for another sweater.

Bronco Colors Hat

This is the second time, I bought roving with a project in mind.  The purchase was two ounces of blue and two ounces of orange to make a hat in the Broncos colors.

I spent time debating whether I want to ply from a ball or do a barber pole and ply from both singles. Obviously, I went with a barber pole. 

Which shows there is some unevenness in the spinning. As often happens, one bobbin had more length than the other.  In this case, it was the orange.  The result was 108 yards of barber pole and 9 yards of orange.

And the hat was knit using a basic formula.  It took a couple of tries to get a good needle size and the right number of stitches.  The final decision was 74 stitches on size 10 needles which indicates the yarn was knitting to a light bulky or very heavy worsted.  The ribbing has the knit stitches twisted so that they look a bit tidier.  I used a knitted cast-on because I wasn't sure how much yarn, it was going to use up.  This lead to a slight unevenness on the edge when I wove in the end.

I do have a small ball of the barber pole remaining.  My guess is about 9 yards. In my world that means all the yarn has been used.

Hopefully, the recipient will like his Christmas present in a few weeks.  My guess is he will never read this blog.  If you know him, please don't tell.

September Spinning - Alpaca Farm Blend

I won a prize by being part of the Kromski Spinning Wheel Owners team for Tour de Fleece.  It was nine ounces of Ranch of the Oaks Alpaca Farm Blend.  A lovely blend of white.  The partial bag was a bit twisted due to a bump being 'torn in half' but I got it sorted out.

 The singles were spun using a 12:1 ratio on my Kromski Minstrel using Ackerworks Bobbins.

 The singles were plied together using a 8.5:1 ratio.  I did a two ply from my overstuffed singles. My last dab was plied from a single center pull ball. I have learned to stick something in the middle of the ball to minimize tangling.

The final result was 514 yards of ~worsted weight yarn in 3 skeins.  I was pleased with the lack of over twist in the final product.