Category: Knitting

It appears that I’ll be starting my knitted blanket tomorrow. This isn’t the first time that I’ve started a knitted blanket, but it’ll be the first blanket that I complete. The others that I started, I wasn’t satisfied with. What makes me think I’ll complete this one? Well… it’s part of my ‘wrist therapy’ and my therapist gave me the ‘ok’ to engage in this activity and so I’m slowly making that attempt.

However, when I looked at my Hiya Hiya Steel sharp interchangeable knitting needles, I realized that I hadn’t purchased the cable converters for the Hiya Hiya large set and so I quickly remedied that and…

I also noticed that I didn’t purchase the Hiya Hiya stoppers. End stoppers are something I normally don’t use, but… I did find with the other knitted blankets that I was knitting, that occasionally, when I set my project to the side, that my knit in progress would tend to “creep” to the end of the needles. No thanks!

In other news…

I’m planning to incorporate some of my spinning fiber (grey merino fiber if you want to be specific) into an upcoming cold-processed soap. The protein in the fiber tends to add a bit more bubbles. Silk is something I’ve seen used a lot by soapers and of course, I Googled since I do have a fair share of sheep, camel, goat and llama fiber and what do you know? All types of fiber are used in soapmaking.

I’ve been soaping for years. I started “assisting” my mom when I was very young, perhaps seven or eight years old? I continued soaping into adulthood. Artisan soap is the only type of soap I use. On Christmas day 2017, I made my first beer soap. No…. the soap does not smell like beer, but the addition of soap has produced a delightful lather and stable bubbles. True, I already get that from the soaps that I create, but the addition of the beer seems to have added more. Interesting…

Where has the time gone? It’s 2018! The year 2017 flew by for me. Due to my left wrist/arm giving me issues, I haven’t done too much knitting.

However, a few days ago, I started knitting this infinity scarf. It wasn’t until yesterday that I realized that I somehow twisted the stitches…. whoops! That rarely happens and I’m seriously thinking of just leaving the ‘design flaw’ there. If it bothers me too much, I’ll rip out the stitches and start over. I’m a process knitter, so redoing this (which I’ve already restarted this already to create a different stitch) won’t phase me at all.

Last evening, I purchased this yarn and will start making a knitted blanket. It’s Paton’s Dk Superwash wool, the color combination is ‘Welsh Coast.’ I’m wondering how long it will take me to complete? We’ll see…

Since my last writing, I’ve finished a pair of socks for myself and I am working on knitting four at a time socks. Which means a pair for my daughter and another for myself! It’s a long and slow process since I’m experiencing a lot of wrist pain with my left wrist. Naturally, this is a bit frustrating for me since I’m used to knitting quickly. However, I’m doing my best to listen to the doctor and be attentive with my physical and occupational therapy. I’m hoping, in a few months I’ll be able to knit again. Until then, I have a few sewing projects that have been languishing for quite some time. I’ll be sure to post about the cute projects my daughter and I are making very soon.

I’ve been working on these lovely handknit socks for longer than I care to admit. My left shoulder and wrist have been giving me a lot of pain and so normal activities that would take me a week to do can languish for months, such as these handknit socks. My daughter has a similar pair in the same color scheme, but hers are mainly stockinette stitch (her request) almost the entire length of her socks. Also, her socks are crew length. The socks I’m making have surpassed that and might be knee-high socks if I allow myself to knit them that long. We’ll see. Currently, I must admit being a tad impatient since I’m eager to wear with my adored Dr. Martens. I’ve made a lot of progress on these socks and am now speedily in the long home stretch of knitting the cuffs.

The above picture was taken last week. I ordered additional yarn, in case I do want to make knee high socks and that should be arriving tomorrow, which is perfect since I’m might have 150 yards left on the current yarn skein. After I’m finished the cuff, I’ll go back and redo the heel. I think the heel is a bit too big and this will be the perfect opportunity for me to attempt to recreate heel socks. This will be the first time that I’ve attempted that and I must say that I’m looking forward to the opportunity.  While I’m doing that, I believe I will reinforce the heel and toe of the socks. The yarn used to knit these socks are made from 100% merino wool. I anticipate these socks receiving a lot of wear (even though I have plenty of socks to wear) and so it makes sense to make them as durable as possible, right?

Several month ago, I stumbled upon this video about sock knitting. They’re using DPNs and knitting one sock at a time. It’s their preference. My preference is knitting four at a time. Two pairs of socks are completed. Which means my daughter receives a pair and so do I. I imagine when I reach a certain number of handknit socks for both of us, I MIGHT go back to knitting two socks at a time. Then again… maybe not. We’ll see!