Dad's 2019 Knit Christmas Socks

My dad's Christmas gift has become just as predictable as me overdoing it with pigs in a blanket on Christmas Eve. But I kind of like that, and I like thinking that his drawer is slowly being stuffed with more and more hand knit socks. He appreciates them and loves them, and so I just keep making them. (Meanwhile many other family members have been cut off from hand knits. You know who you are!)

Pattern: My own cuff-down with 64-stitch cast-on

Yarn: Schachenmayr Regia Pairfect Design Line By Arne & Carlos in Jolster

This is a fun, quick way to incorporate colorwork without doing the actual work. Around this time of year, I'm all for that! Plus when I do floats on socks, I don't feel like they stretch out quite as nice.

Yin-Yang Kitty Knit Socks for Danara

Christmas came early for my friend Danara who visits every Thanksgiving. Last year I made her a pair of knit socks for the first time, and she said she never wears them because she doesn't want to wear them out. We decided she needed a second pair so that having the one pair wasn't such a big deal. (I know a lot of people feel this way about knit socks.)

If you know Danara, you'll know that kitties are the perfect sock for her.



Pattern: YinYang Kitty Ankle Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll in Black and White

Alex wore his fox sweater!

I made this fox sweater for Alex back in April, so today was the first day he was able to actually wear it. It was a big hit at work, so I snapped some photos when he got home. Of course, Nietzsche had to get in on the photo shoot, as he usually does.

Arne & Carlos Pairfect Pair Knit Socks

Another pair of socks to celebrate fall! It's overcast and yucky today, so we're inside watching Breaking Bad. Can you believe Alex has never seen it? It's been so long since I watched it, so it feels a little new to me too.

This is another pair of Arne & Carlos yarn. I love how easy it is to get a pattern on these. I recommend this yarn if you don't want to deal with colorwork or if you just want a colorful pair of socks with very little effort.

Pattern: My usual cuff-down pattern, following the instructions on the yarn label

Yarn: Schachenmayr Regia Pairfect Design Line By Arne & Carlos in color 9093

Random Sewing Projects (One Involving Hedgehogs)

I did quite a bit of sewing over the summer, but I wasn't great at updating. Here are just a couple of my faves.



Pattern: Moneta by Colette Patterns
Fabric: Doodles Hedgehog Knit Fabric from Joann

Alex's Fall Arne and Carlos Knitted Socks

Fall finally arrived today. It was more than 90 degrees on Thursday, and I was worried it was never going to happen! Alex celebrated with a pair of socks I made a few months ago.

Pattern: My usual cuff-down sock pattern
Yarn: Schachenmayr Regia Design Line by Arne & Carlos 4-fädig in 3764 Orchard

This is not the Arne and Carlos yarn with the starter color, but this one works just as well as long as you're comfortable making your own pattern. I'm going to make another pair similar to this for my dad for Christmas this year.

Adiantum Knit Sweater

This sweater was in my Ravelry favorites, but I wasn't planning to make it until I saw some amazing yarn on sale at Black Mountain Yarn Shop that was perfect for it. So I moved it up in the queue.

After working on Alex's For Fox Sake sweater, I was looking for something pretty simple. This sweater did the trick until I got to the yoke. If you're thinking about making it, don't try to watch TV or socialize while you're working on the yoke. It's a wee bit complicated, and it doesn't help that I was reading the chart from my phone screen.

Pattern: Adiantum by Kelly Ordemann from Pom Pom Quarterly, Issue 28: Spring 2019

Yarn: YOTH Yarns Little Brother in Kale and Portabella

For Fox Sake Knitted Sweater

I bought the yarn for this sweater for Alex's birthday back in April, but of course I knew he wouldn't be able to wear it until this winter. There were a few bumps along the road, like me running out of CC1 and the main color of yarn. I still have no idea what happened, but the sweater fits and all is well!

Pattern: For Fox Sake by Maxim Cyr

Yarn: The Farmer's Daughter Fibers Juicy DK in Eagle Eye, YOTH Big Sister in Rosemary (Main color), and madelinetosh Tosh DK in Nocturne and Stormborn

Whale of a Time cozyblue Embroidery

My embroidery wall is growing! This dude was super quick and fun to make. Alex and I have been watching Treme on HBO, so I worked on this while we watched. He goes really well with my Sea Captain embroidery that I did a few years ago.

Pattern: Whale of a Time by cozyblue

Galaxy Girl and Poppy Power Embroidery from cozyblue

I visited my family in Kentucky recently, and I brought an embroidery kit for my niece courtesy of cozyblue. Liz (cozyblue's founder/owner) and I had a plan that I would bring my in-progress embroidery and see if my niece was curious, then I could bring out the kit for her and show her how to do it.

It worked! You know what else it did? It made me remember how relaxing embroidery can be. I often get caught up in knitting projects because I have such a long queue, but I have a lot of embroidery patterns I want to make too. So I finished up the one I was working on, and then I completed another one.

Pattern: Galaxy Girl by cozyblue

Back Yard Yarn Bomb: Crochet Mandala

I have a new respect for yarn bombers. These are not easy to hang!

I crochet this mandala/doily in just one Sunday using bulky yarn from my stash. (I almost emptied out an entire drawer of yarn! Woo!) It takes a LOT of yarn to make yarn bombs.

Pattern: Bits of Mandy's Mandala pattern, plus my own additions to the last several rounds to make it larger

Yarn: Lion Brand Hometown USA, Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick, Bernat Mega Bulky

I used about 5 full and 2 partial skeins of yarn. 

Alex helped me hang the crochet mandala on the chain-link fence in our back yard, and it was a lot harder to hang than I thought. If you ever decide to try yarn bombing, these are some of the things I learned:

Alex's New Knit Socks

Spring weather doesn't stop me from knitting socks. I just finished this pair with some yarn I picked up at Purl's Yarn Emporium last year. (I can't tell you how proud I am to be finishing projects with yarn I bought just last year. Progress!)

Pattern: my own cuff-down pattern (64-stitch cast on) with purling on the front, knitting on the back

Yarn: Neighborhood Fiber Company Studio Sock in Fells Point

The Knitorious RBG Sweater Test Knit

In November and December, I committed my knitting to this AMAZING test knit for Park Williams celebrating Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And since today is RBG's birthday, I thought it would be a great time to share it.

There were some adventures along the way. I decided to make the full-length version instead of the cropped version, and I couldn't find the yarn at any of my LYSs, so I had to order it online. It took foreverrrrr to get here, which isn't ideal when you're under a test knit deadline!

Pattern: The Knitorious RBG by Park Williams

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Pitch Black and Natural

Arbor Vitae Sweater and Saying Hi to Stephen West

Hey, it's my birthday sweater! Every December, Sami and I (practically birthday twins, just a day apart) go to Black Mountain Yarn Shop to buy yarn for a birthday sweater. This was my pick for 2018.

Pattern: Arbor Vitae by Joji Locatelli from Pom Pom Quarterly Issue 27

Yarn: House of a la Mode House Fingering Single Ply in Antique

Lots of Thrummed Mittens

As it goes with knitting sometimes, you knit something and get lots of requests for more. That's for sure what happened when I posted a photo of my first attempt at thrumming mittens.

This all started when I saw a couple of people at Echoview Fiber Mill making thrummed slippers. Not long after, Echoview had a big sale where they were getting rid of some gorgeous colors of roving. I needed no other signs! I bought up what I thought was a lot of roving. Good thing I did, because I used all of it.

By the way, if you're interested in thrumming, Echoview has an awesome thrumming tutorial.

Pattern: Chop Wood Carry Water by Jill Draper (pattern free with Creativebug class)
Yarn: Columbia Minerva Knitting Worsted in Turquoise (I inherited this yarn and had it in my stash for maybe even a decade)
Roving: from Echoview Fiber Mill

Trying Sock Blank Knit Socks

I wanted to try knitting from a sock blank for so long, and then last year my friend Liz gifted me a pretty sock blank for my birthday. Yay!

This is a great example of how sometimes the process means just as much as the finished product. I love trying new yarn, tools, and techniques -- even if they don't always turn out the way I want. I think this experiment went pretty well.

Pattern: Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder (Free pattern)

Yarn: Purl's Yarn Emporium Hippie Hippie Sock, Platinum Sock Blank #49170

Beaucoup de Baby Hats

It seems like everyone I know had a baby around the same time. I got behind on gifts really quickly. I intended on knitting something for each baby, but I got overwhelmed with the sheer number of babies so I decided to make multiple jersey hats on my serger instead.

Pattern: Top Knot Baby Hat by Pretty Prudent (Free Pattern)

Fabric: Scraps from many of my Moneta dresses

Katina's Flip Flop Crochet Slippers

A few years ago, my cousin Katina posted a pair of flip-flop sole crochet shoes to my Facebook wall, saying that she was sure I'd get her name for our family Christmas drawing. (Hint, hint.) She was so sure that she even gave me her shoe size.

I didn't get her name that year, but I did get it two years later, and I somehow remembered her posting that. I went on the hunt for a pattern, and I made these cool shoes for her. I hope they fit!

Pattern: Lightweight Slippers with Flip Flop Soles by Make & Do Crew (free pattern on Ravelry)

Yarn: Cloudborn Pima Cotton DK in Lavender