rainbow socks

I am steadily working on my weekly to do list. Last week the only thing I didn't get to cross off was "new blog post." This week I'd like to finish it, although "sign children up for Driver's ed" seems to be the one that may be beyond my control.

Anyway. Last time I wrote, I had a sweater pattern and yarn and had decided to take a break from the sock I was working on and tackle the sweater. Like all good things, this was maybe too ambitious. I looked a lot closer at the pattern and realized a few things:
* The yarn called for is a worsted weight
* The yarn I have is maybe sport
* I have no idea what size to make
* I don't know if I have enough yarn to make the longer sleeved version I was imagining.

Clearly there are solutions. First solution is obviously to swatch. I have started this, but I feel like maybe my swatch isn't nearly large enough. The second is of course to measure me and the swatch and do some hocus pocus math and just figure the dang things out. As far as having enough yarn? I don't really have a solution other than maybe don't make long sleeves. The one part I was most worried about regarding the pattern itself was the actual stitch pattern, but the swatch has shown me that it is a relatively simple pattern--as long as I follow the cart. And boy am I ever glad I learned to read a chart.

So, instead of deciding any of that, I decided to finish the rainbow and clouds socks. Just because I feel like they may be knit a little too loosely doesn't mean that I don't love them and won't wear them. If someone wants to buy me the sock monkey colorway, I'll knit those at a smaller gauge.

Sock 1 done. ✅ sock 2 begun.

A post shared by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Jan 31, 2018 at 9:57am PST

I've even started the second sock. And yes, I did actually try really hard to start in roughly the same place in the color run.

In which I am bored

First, I just want to start by saying, I am LOVING the socks I'm wearing today. Which happen to be socks I designed my own pattern for and knit this summer. I keep seeing them on my feet and it is really brightening up my day--way more than usual.

That said, the socks I'm knitting now, while I am loving the yarn, I am being really worried that I didn't knit them tight enough. So, I want to set them aside. Because somehow continuing to knit them--and I am nearly done with sock #1 is just making me more anxious. And of course it is cold outside. Which you know what that means? Sweater time.

I remembered that I had a shrug pattern and yarn for it that I was going to make a "while back" and thought I'd dig that pattern up and see what it entailed. So Tuesday night, I decided I'd do that. An hour later....

Ok, I knew the pattern was in my "yarn cupboard" so I started there, but boy howdy was that a mess. I found the yarn first--still in its bag from the yarn store with receipt and everything, but I could NOT find the pattern. So I dragged lots of stuff out, threw things away (including ball bands from socks I no longer own and projects I can't remember and swatches and gasp even some small bits of yarn (because honestly, do I need 10 yards of dishcloth cotton or 5 yards of some sock yarn that I don't even have the socks anymore?). I even recycled a few patterns I had printed from the internet and will not make (toddler sweaters!). I put yarn all away (some in new bins because I had outgrown the cupboard) and have a library box full of magazines that were loose and FINALLY, I found the pattern. It was shoved between the yarn bins and the wall. Or maybe it had fallen. I don't know. All I know is that I had found both the yarn AND the pattern (and 6 other sock yarns I had forgotten about).

Of course after I found it, and looked at it I was so overwhelmed with having spent an hour digging through things and casually discarding things that I didn't have time to look at the pattern. Then last night I was way too tired to tackle anything new. So today, I got it out and thought I'd write about finding it. I started by taking a picture all artfully arranged.

I think this might be next in the queue. You know 3 years after I bought the yarn.

A post shared by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Jan 18, 2018 at 10:35am PST

And the receipt, as I said, is still in the bag. So, after arranging the picture and taking the picture, I dug out the receipt. I bought that yarn on 1/23/2015. Almost exactly three years ago. The yarn (Classic Elite Magnolia) is discontinued.

I feel like I should start this project on the 23rd. Perhaps I'd best get swatching.

Insert witty title here

First up some housekeeping from previous entries.

I mentioned last entry that I couldn't remember what yarn I made the double pom pom hat out of and I hadn't taken a picture of the cowl. So. I dug through the trash can in the tv room where I do most of my knitting and found the ball band. (I'm a terrible person I know). The yarn is Lion Brand Wool Ease thick and quick in "constellation". The yarn has sparkly bits in it that don't really show up well in pictures--and honestly even in real life they occasionally look a bit like lint. The cowl is just "cast on enough stitches in a multiple of four to be the length you want, k2, p2 ribbing until you are nearly out of yarn or it is big enough, BO."

Matching hat and cowl.

A post shared by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Jan 5, 2018 at 2:08pm PST

Funny side note: My kids both have an instagram account (actually one of them has a a second nail account but I digress). At any rate, whenever one of them wants to post a photo they can spend hours (days occasionally) writing the perfect caption. They will ask everyone in the house "is this a good caption?" I am like the opposite because back when they would ask, "what should I caption this?" (which they never ask anymore) I would always reply something like "delicious dinner" if it was food or "my favorite selfie of the 200 I took today." And I tend to write captions like that. So I captioned the above "matching hat and cowl" because I am boring and what else would I say? (Although the children would have searched for something poetic about stars or the cold or something). Turns out to be good because It's lying flat and looks strangely enough like doll clothes, which I hadn't realized until Karen pointed it out! Perhaps I owe you a picture of it being worn--which honestly is how I would prefer to display my knits even as circumstances prevent it.

At Christmas, when we started the ill fated trip, I asked Facebook to tell me what I should knit. I went totally against the grain and pulled out this brightly colored sock yarn, i purchased a while ago called " Clouds and Rainbows". I just now went to look to see if I could point you to the Etsy shop listed on the tag, and discovered she doesn't do Etsy anymore, but has her own page so yay! You can find lots of different self-striping yarns At Artistic yarns by Abi. I might need the sock money sock yarn, I'm just saying. I had purchased this at my LYS and after looking at her page, I also got a pretty good deal as the price has risen.

Anyway, I'm loving the sock, but I'm feeling I'm knitting it too loosely on my smaller size 1s. I don't want to rip and try the size 0 though. Maybe I'll try it with sock #2 and eventually I'll have three socks?

Clouds and rainbows by #knitpurlgurl I am loving these so much

A post shared by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Jan 10, 2018 at 9:39am PST

The next time that I ask what I should take to knit in the car, I should really just take all the socks that need darning, because I hate darning, and being trapped in the car with nothing to do but mend might mean it actually gets done.

Catching up on december

Every week I add "blog entry" to my to do list and obviously it never seems to get crossed off. And now it's been a whole month so I should have gobs and gobs of finished projects right?

Well, I do have a few and I'll get to that in a minute. First, I wanted to note just how crazy December was for me. Usually, I attempt to finish all my Christmas shopping before school lets out for the holiday. That way, everything is purchased and hidden before noseybutt children are home asking 1million questions. Plus then, I can help them get their things ready. Also in past years, I've baked lots of sweet treats to give as small teacher gifts. I send out holiday cards, but they often get sent out late.

This year though. I did finish my shopping for the children before they were out of school but only because I spent MUCH of that last three days shopping and paid really crazy shipping so things would arrive before Christmas. Holiday cards got mailed Dec 23. And teachers got NO gifts. Seriously. I was sick and felt that maybe the real gift was not making marshmallows that had been coughed upon.

I did make marshmallows and salted caramel, but it was really late (like after school let out) because that's the point I felt I could not cough long enough to get things made. (like I was pretty well over things). So all those are still sitting on the counter slowly getting eaten. Thus the real reason I did the big giveaways. And yes, I suppose I could make up goodie bags for the teachers now but really? Not gonna happen--maybe next year.

We joked this year that I also dropped the ball in figuring out what I wanted to receive this Christmas. Was there yarn I wanted? a New sock club to join? No not really--I'm feeling overwhelmed right now with yarn. Then there was the joke that the one thing I wanted, i bought for myself because I broke down and bought a pom pom maker. I've never had good luck making my own pom poms with cardboard, but I love this little plastic thingy.

I bought a #pompom maker. Yes I know you can make your own #easierthanDIY

A post shared by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Dec 11, 2017 at 4:15pm PST

I put it to good use, first making a pom pom for the white hat I finished in the last entry. And then making TWO pom poms for the second hat I made. (Remember--two girls means two hats).

When you don't have time to take a better picture of the hat you just finished because the recipient grabbed it

A post shared by Jodie (@ja_gardner) on Dec 18, 2017 at 6:16pm PST

I had extra yarn after finishing this hat, so I made a simple scarf to go with it. I haven't photographed it yet.

The pattern for the hat is Creative super twist chunky hat and it was free (that link is a PDF) but that's about the best thing I can say for the pattern--it was free. I had to math out to figure out size, and I think I made mine a bit too big. I had to google what a TW2 was as I had NEVER seen that notation. And it turns out, never done that stitch (but it isn't hard--in case YOU don't want to google it This you tube video explains it well enough.) The yarn is something I picked up at a big box craft store and I'm trying to finish this entry and post it before I got to zumba otherwise I'd go look for the ball band.

So--next on the to do list: take picture of the scarf cow and find the ball band! That and travel knitting gives fodder for another entry--so rejoice!