Tomten

I've been knitting a lot of garter stitch.
I bought the pink and white yarn for this Tomten Jacket in Colorado in October. It was meant all along to be a tomten jacket, but I had forgotten how much yardage garter stitch eats up. After the third white stripe I realized that there was no way the yarn I had would cut it. I was using Plymouth Encore, which is a 75% acrylic 25% wool blend so I dug through the stash and found some spare partial skeins of wool-ease, which is a similar fiber composition. The dark purple and red are wool-ease. But as I continued and thought about the hood and the sleeves I decided to add some of the light purple too, of which there is plenty in the stash. It is 100% acrylic and matches ok texture-wise.
I never sat and thought "hmm, why is this baby cardigan taking so much damn yarn?"
If I had, I might have realized it's a behemoth of a thing.

(I had to bribe the kid with chocolate for this photo and even though all the ends are woven in now and the hood is complete, I'm not going to try for a better photo until the sleeves are done.)

As you can see, it is HUGE. Like, hilariously large. Like, it fits my 5-year-old niece and it's made for my 1-year-old daughter. To be fair, I'm making it in advance of Christmas next year for her. So she has a lot of growing to do, and since it's garter stitch it should fit for basically ever.

And it sure means I've knit up a lot of yardage! Three full skeins of encore plus about 1.5 skeins wool-ease, plus one skein of the acrylic probably adds up to about 900 yards so far. That's not even counting the sleeves! (must add here that the yarn is held double)

On a side note, I have decided to skip Stitches this year because of a few hiccups in life. Namely, my husband is currently unemployed and I just don't have the extra $$ to be throwing down on yarn. Secondly, I still haven't knit the yarn I bought last year at Stitches and I don't feel right getting more until I at least knit up the cashmere. And third, I'd really like to actually attend classes at stitches and not just the market. Finally, we bought a trailer and might be living in it temporarily some time in the next year and I would really need to downsize the stash in order to make that do-able, not upsize.

In other news, my town may be evacuating due flooding soon. The next town over has been affected but so far our levees are holding up ok.

I'll share more soon.

Happy knitting!

Ombre Hat

I cast on and completed this hat day before yesterday. The free pattern is here on Ravelry. I really think I might make a few more of these hats. This one had a few issues with gauge. Mostly, I used a size 7 needle when I should have used 8s but also I used two very different yarns and the white is much thicker than the maroon so the top feels thicker than the bottom.
I haven't decided if this hat is going to be one of my charity knits or if I'm going to save it and give it to someone for Christmas.... I'm leaning towards charity because it's easy-care and I have a goal of knitting 15 charity knits this year.

I can't wait to cast on something new. I am almost done with Randy's socks- I started the toe yesterday at school and should definitely finish that up on Monday. My must have cardigan still awaits, but I am finding it difficult to have "proper" knitting time. I have a lot of sitting at school knitting time, or quick lunch break knitting time, or end of the day my brain hurts too much to think knitting time. But not much time for crossing rows off a chart and making sure all the cables twist correctly. I got a head start on my homework tonight and I have tomorrow off, so maybe I can work on it a little then.

I am going to be knitting two more Christmas stockings next month, and I have a baby hat to make for a friend... another friend wants a unicorn hat... so many projects, so little time!

January Review an ongoing WIP and my newest FO

Well, the first month of the new year has gotten away from us.
I just reviewed my purchases and finished objects and found good things!
I bought 1200 yards of new stash, and used up 1549 yards.
I made a cowl, which will be a Christmas present.
I made a Christmas Stocking, which was a commissioned knit for next Christmas.
I made a GORGEOUS beanie, that doesn't quite have a destination yet but it might be gifted next year too.
And I made a sweater for my daughter.
So 4 projects total for the month of January.

My goals for February are:
1) Finish Randy's birthday socks. (His birthday is in March)
2) Start Mom's birthday socks (Her birthday is in April)
3) Knit an Ombre hat
4) Knit a hat for charity
5) Start Penelope's Tomten

I've also been working on something of a different nature: A knitting journal. I had initially meant to take a video flip through for you guys, but my kids kept barging in on it; they always have to be the center of attention.

I am using templates from Kathrynivy.com, and filling out my project details as I go. It's proving to be quite fun! I used to do this ten years ago in a blank craft paper book, but it was so sloppy and unattractive I gave up on the idea.

I find the binder to be neater and easier to keep organized and attractive. Plus I'm using sheet protectors so I can slip in the whole pattern if need be.

Finally, I started and completed a sweater. My Must Have Cardigan is waiting in a bag, but the cables are too fiddly for relaxing and multi-tasking. I like to knit while I read my textbooks and I like to unwind at night knitting and watching TV, so I dug through my stash and found a few skeins of Lion Brand Homespun, and cast on for Nutmeg- a free pattern on Ravelry. 

But it evolved into something that was not nutmeg. I tried it on, and while it was warm and cozy, it was lacking something and I still had yarn. So I picked up around the neckline and knitted up a hood. That helped some, but now it definitely needed a pocket. I made the pocket in just about a half hour, and then it was complete! I cast on this project on January 30 and completed it February 9. Not bad for someone who goes to school full time and works part time! I wish I could get that kind of almost- instant gratification with every project I knit.

I should find out tomorrow whether I have the weekend of Stitches West off of work. If I do, exciting! If I don't, then another goal for February is to not buy any new yarn. I truly have plenty.

Just look at that pile of yarn!

Lol

As always, happy knitting!