DK Ribbed Sock Pattern

DK Ribbed Socks: Free pattern here.

We have a lot to catch up on. Up first and most excitingly: I finished my DK weight ribbed socks last night! The yarn has been in my stash for about a year. 

My stash

I keep my stash, minus dishcloth yarn which never counts as proper yarn stash, in this vintage crate from hubby's mom. I had to rescue it as he was going to pitch it. Can you believe it!? Back to the socks. I taught myself to knit socks two at a time. Very excited about this. I used a tutorial by verypinkknits, click here. She has great tutorials about pretty much everything knitting related.

Two at a time! Fancy filter via Instagram

Again back to the socks. I couldn't find a pattern I liked for this yarn. I didn't want anything busy because the yarn has a fair isle effect - that's fake color patterning for you non-knitters. I also NEED ribbing in my socks or I feel like I have to fight with them to stay up. Who needs to fight with their socks, right? I've knit enough socks that I know the basics: short row heel, gusset, toe shaping, etc. So, why not just make up a pattern? Here's what I did: I spent about an hour or so swatching to get the exact number of stitches I wanted and to figure out my gauge, which oddly was very, very, close to the gauge on the yarn band. When does that ever happen? Then I just kept track of what I did, typed it up, and viola! a pattern. I put it on Ravelry and am sharing it for free on my blog. Just click on the first tab under my heading. The pattern hasn't been test driven yet, so if you notice any problems please let me know.

Just click the first tab on the left called "DK Ribbed Socks"

I also put my free baby santa hat on a tab too. Since Christmas is coming...  but, let's wait until Halloween has passed to blog about it. Oh and the santa hat pattern has been test driven. Try to find the same yarn I used if you can. It's sooo soft and relatively inexpensive for a yarn shop yarn.

My first 31 party!

My next exciting news - I've become a bag lady! No pitter-patter of little feet kind of news here. Almost a month ago I joined Thirty-One as a consultant. My kids are older and don't need me as much, and I am a social creature, and I love parties, and I love bags, so this is a perfect fit. Too excited for that not to be a run-on sentence. I had my first two parties this week and am so excited about this company! How many times have I used some form of the word "excite" in this post, I wonder? Anyway, a friend was gracious enough to hostess my first party in her new kitchen. Above is a picture. There's not much of the kitchen showing as I was focusing on my bags, but it really is a fabulous kitchen. 

I have a 31 website where you can look at the catalog and see the monthly specials. If you want to do any shopping for the holiday I'm not blogging about until after Halloween, my contact info is on the site. Product can be direct shipped to you or if you live in West Michigan I can combine it with a party and save you a couple bucks toward shipping. Here's the site: http://www.mythirtyone.com/toppen/

Basket weave dishcloth. Fancy filter via Instagram.

I also started knitting dishcloths again. I'm giving them as 31 hostess gifts. Who wouldn't want to spend a couple hours with friends and cocktails to get a beautiful dishcloth knit by yours truly? I know. Love this safety orange yarn I found in my dishcloth yarn stash, not to be confused with my proper yarn stash. I dug up my old pattern books so I can make different types of dishcloths.

Well, this post is getting long and it's a school night so I'll sign off. I'll leave you with a few pictures of beautiful Lake Michigan via Grand Haven beach. We spent a few hours there last Sunday hanging out with friends and watching a kite surfing race.

Lake Michigan at Grand Haven Beach

Lake Michigan at Grand Haven Beach

Thanks for reading and please let me know what's new and exciting in your life. New career ventures, knitting adventures, holiday plans... Please comment :) Christina

Knitting In Motown

Knitting at Comerica Park

I had a great time in Detroit this weekend. Went to a Tiger's game with great friends, enjoyed wonderful weather, saw the sun... And, I had time to knit during the game. They really don't do much of a security check at the gate - so my needles made it in no problem. I was a little worried, even though some of you commented that knitting needles are allowed. Anyway, the Tigers played the Minnesota Twins and won. It was a shut out meaning the Twins didn't get a hit - well, they did hit the ball but the guy batting was out meaning it doesn't count as a hit. So even though the ball was hit, it wasn't a hit, or something like that. Right. Back to knitting.

I also managed to finish the mittens I've been writing a pattern for. Please disregard the preposition at the end of that last sentence. I finished the first one, see mitten on the right, but didn't like how pointy the top was. So... I went back the the drawing board and knit up a second one. I changed the decreasing/shaping and got a more rounded top, see mitten on the left.

Pattern info coming soon.

Then, I ripped back the first mitten, re-shaped the top... and, viola! They are both more round. Here is a picture before blocking. I do love the way Noro stripes. I purposely didn't match up the stripes. The mittens are currently taking a Eucalan bath. I will post pictures once blocked and share the pattern.

Time to pick out my school clothes for tomorrow, iron, and snuggle up with my Kindle. Hope you all had a great weekend. I'd love to hear about what you're knitting, crocheting, crafting, etc., and reading. Thanks so much for reading and taking the time to comment! ~ Christina

Can You Bring Knitting Needles to a Major League Baseball Game?

Blueberry Waffle Socks. Pattern info here: Ravelry.

Yikes! I haven’t blogged in a few weeks. Sorry about that. After finishing my Blueberry Waffle Socks, I decided to use up some leftover Noro from a sweater I frogged. Frogged, verb, a knitter’s term for officially giving up on a project and resigning oneself to unraveling and finding something else to make with the yarn. Take a deep breath because here comes a run-on sentence. I gave up on the sweater because I could get stitch gauge but not row gauge and the side had a curve thing going on and the pattern was written for numbers of rows not inches and I tried to wing it but it's very hard to wing a curve thing, blah, blah, blah... hence the frogging. Full-stop and breathe. The frogged sweater is in my Ravlery notebook if you want to have a look. I’m sure it would have been a very nice sweater. Anyway, here is the vest I made instead. It was also my first seam job - so please disregard the lack of perfection there.

Noro Design 4 Sleeveless Top. Pattern info here: Ravelry.

Since I have plenty of yarn left over, I sought out a mitten pattern. People in Michigan can always use another pair of mittens, and the way Noro stripes is really cool right, so why not? Anyway, I found a pattern but the ribbing was too big and it had seams. Why seam mittens when you can knit in the round? Sooo... I’m winging/writing my own pattern. Clearly, I did not learn my lesson from the frogged sweater mentioned above. 

Attempts #1 and #2 at pattern-writing. Color filter via Instagram.

I have one mitten finished. I’m not entirely happy with the way I decreased to shape the top: too pointy. For attempt #3, I’m knitting the second mitten and trying something slightly different at the top. If I like it, I’ll rip back the first a little and duplicate it. If it doesn’t work, I’ll just have two pointy mittens. Such is the life of a knitter who insists on venturing out on her own rather than just knitting from a pattern.

Mitten #1. Gorgeous color but kinda pointy.

Speaking of venturing out, I’m heading to a Detroit Tiger's baseball game on Saturday. Circling back to my title here, I used to be an English teacher - can’t help but circle back, does anyone know if you can bring knitting needles into a stadium? Hoping not to offend here, but baseball games bore me to tears. I know, I know, why go you’re wondering(?) I love Detroit, we are going with very fun friends, and people watching is usually entertaining. Anyway, I’m hoping to bring along something to knit. Signing off now to grade some papers. Let me know what you know about knitting needles at sporting events. Many thanks for reading and commenting my friends. ~ Christina