FO Monday – Beaded Hitchhiker

On August 8, 2016August 8, 2016 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Scarf22 Comments

In the ramp up to the Ravellenic Games, I finished my Unicorn Fart Hitchhiker with beads! You get to see it today because I’m saving Friday for my Ravellenic sweater! Oh yes, the games started last Friday and the goal of the Sweater Triathlon is to knit a sweater in 17 days. That seems like such a long time though. I’m thinking of this more like a Sweater Sprint! (obviously, I chose the chunky yarn on size 11 needles!) But enough about that…

The base pattern here is the Hitchhiker. I assume we’re all familiar with it’s awesomeness. I’m a big fan, this is my 10th Hitchhiker. As such, I’ve got a string of fun modifications up my sleeve. This iteration employs the eyelet row mod and takes it a step further by adding beads.

It’s a ton of beads. I hadn’t thought of the weight it would add. Ultimately, I enjoy the extra weight. In addition to beautiful drape, it really helps the garment stay put. A happy accident, indeed!

The beads –the rainbow beads!– alone don’t make this scarf though. No, this is about the double rainbow. The yarn is rainbow as well…Unicorn Farts!

YES! and, to make it just a little more special, it’s not just fun rainbow yarn, it’s fun rainbow yarn that my Mom dyed for me! Naturally, I’d been saving it for something special.

Mission accomplished! I’m pleased with this one!

(Of course, I’d still make one small change next time. I used Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off. I think maybe it’s a little too much, next time I’ll be K2Tog tbl. I think that’ll give me a nice edge without that little bit of flare. Or perhaps the Icelandic Bind Off, another bind off that has give without flare. I’m not Type A enough to redo this one though. Plus, I’ve got more pressing issues…like knitting an entire sweater in 7 days! Check back for the unveiling later this week!!)

WIP Wednesday – Current Favs

On August 3, 2016August 3, 2016 By FogKnitsIn Scarf, Shawl, WIP16 Comments

The reality of 10 WIPs at once is most of them are actually being ignored. The proverbial time out corner. The back of the chair is the stuff that will most likely get finished. The green project bags are my favorite to carry, so you’re likely to find my most active projects in them. Today is no exception!

beaded hitchhiker knitting unicorn fart yarn rainbow yarn rainbow beads eyelet hitchhiker

First, my beaded Hitchhiker…nearing the end! The beads are an interesting modification to a classic design. The workflow suits me, 6 mindless garter rows, a (yo, k2tog) row and then one row of focused attention adding the beads. It’s been more of a go-to project than I expected. I’m up to 32 teeth and I haven’t run out of beads yet. I’m currently betting the yarn will run out first. The end is in sight, either way!

The other project getting love this week, my Rockefeller. It was on a bit of a hiatus but it’s happily back in business!

addi rocket sylph jade sapphire rockefeller westknits mkal knitting

beach knitting rockefeller in progress westknits mkal sylph linen cashmere knitting at the beach places where you can knit

icord bind off rockefeller beach knitting intarsia stripes sylph jade sapphire san francisco bay

I’m currently slogging away on the 300+ stitch i-cord bind off. Worth the effort but worthy of a little gripe too! An hour at the beach the other day, an hour at knit night, an hour this morning…persistance is paying off. I WILL get there. And the next section tapers into a point…no bind off! So I’m just getting the obligatory complaint out now :) (don’t worry, I’m still saving the ‘oy! look at all these ends to weave complaint’ for later! ) The yarn is Sylph from Jade Sapphire, a cashmere-linen blend! There will be no complaints when I’m finally wearing this one!

The Ravellenic Games (aka the knitting olympics) begin Friday, I’m fairly certain I can make it until then without casting on something new. :)

Rebirth

On July 13, 2016July 13, 2016 By FogKnitsIn Scarf, Uncategorized, WIP9 Comments

I couldn’t resist, once I frogged the unfortunate project, the yarn just jumped back on the needles!

And so, a new Hitchhiker was born! There are almost 25,000 Hitchhikers on Ravelry?!? That’s a lot of garter stitch! This is my 10th Hitchhiker, so obviously, I get the fandom! The Hitchhiker is certainly worthy of all it’s praise.

That said, I still love discovering new ways to modify the pattern. My last Hitchhiker incorporated a row of eyelets on row 8. I’m taking that modification one step further this time. I’m beading each K2tog from row 8 on row 1.

Rainbow on rainbow action! I’m loving it! Of course, I’m still setting myself up for problems down the line. I’m most certainly going to run out of beads before I run out of yarn. Oh well. I can’t get more so I’m knowingly accepting this problem.

I’ve also created a right side and a wrong side–or at least a beaded side and a side with no beads. I’m okay with that too. In the end, anything is better than curling stockinette.

Easy Come, Easy Go

On July 11, 2016July 11, 2016 By FogKnitsIn Cowl, Frogged17 Comments

It was fun while it lasted but the Candy Dot Cowl is no more. My enthusiasm for rainbows took over for a few days. I wasn’t thinking about anything else. The rainbow on rainbow combo of Unicorn Fart yarn and a rainbow of beads really clouded my vision. That’s the only explanation I can come up with for this…

The dreaded Stockinette Curl. UGH! It’s not going away. There’s no fix for that. Blocking will not cure the curl. Not even for one millisecond. Damn you superwash!

If Ben Franklin had been a knitter he certainly would have said “…nothing can be said to be certain, except death, taxes and the stockinette curl.”

Total rookie move on my part. It’s not as though I didn’t know this would happen. I didn’t expect the results to be any different. Last night, I had a brief moment of clarity and knew there was only one way this could end. And so, it’s been frogged. It’s short life has been extinguished entirely. Gone.

The good news though, the real reason I love to knit, no harm has been done. I can start over again! I’ll get rainbow joy all over again. And this time, I’ll plan better! I’ve narrowed it down to two choices, start the cowl over again in Seed Stitch instead of Stockinette. I love seed stitch so not a bad option.

A beaded rainbow Hitchhiker. My last Hitchhiker modification was adding a K2tog, Yo eyelet row. Perhaps my next modification will be adding beads to the K2tog?

Decisions, Decisions!!

Candy Dot Cowl

On July 5, 2016July 5, 2016 By FogKnitsIn Cowl, WIP3 Comments

I really only meant to swatch. Honest! I was feeling good about finishing up some older WIPs. It was going well, I had my eyes on the prize. And then, Rainbows.

Rainbows derailed that plan quickly. The irresistible rainbow-on-rainbow got me though. I just could not stop!

It reminds me of Candy Dots. Such fun! Who didn’t love tiny bits of sugar with shreds of paper still stuck to the back, as a kid? Even without the beads, this yarn is amazing…it’s so fun to knit rainbows. Especially this weekend, it was a classic foggy San Francisco summer Fourth of July! Just perfect!

Click on over to Ravelry for the pattern details!

Southern Skies Expansion

On July 1, 2016July 1, 2016 By FogKnitsIn Shawl, Stash Enhancement, WIP1 Comment

Progress continues with my renewed enthusiasm for the Southern Skies shawl! I stretched it out on two long cords to check out just how much progress I’d made. It seemed like a lot…

…until the yard stick came out. Circle shawls need to be extra huge…this is no where near done. Except, I’m nearly out of yarn…

That’s all I’ve got left. That’s it.

Apparently, I decided 660 yards would be just enough to cover the patterns recommended 1200 yards?!?!

True Story.

And then, just to reinforce how far off I am, I did a little math. I’ve completed charts A, B, C & D for a total of 17,856 stitches. I’ve just started chart E , with 576 sts/row, has a whopping total of 31,104 stitches.

Meaning I’m not even half done, I’ve got just over one-third completed but I’ve used half the yardage necessary. Thank you, loose knitting for reminding me, I’ll actually need 300 yards extra to compensate for my gauge!

What the heck was I thinking?!? I’m pained to have so many projects run short of yarn lately, knitting from the stash is expensive!?! (The crochet shawl is still stalled, just waiting on more yarn in the mail.) This is definitely an argument for planned shopping and hesitant stashing. One day, I’ll be better at that. In the meantime, the decision is pretty clear here.

This is too gorgeous to abandon now and that’s nothing compared to how it feels! It’s purple cashmere…there’s no way it’s a bad decision. It just stings a little, champagne taste on a beer budget, ya know? So, while I sulk over having to buy more cashmere (really?!?), I’m swatching with these goodies from the stash…

Some of Mom’s hand dyed Unicorn Farts and rainbow beads I got in a de-stash last year!

It’s a holiday weekend, why not have a little cast on party? It’s been 5 whole days since my last cast on! 5 AND a half, if we’re being precise! What could possibly go wrong?

FO Friday – It’s been a busy week

On October 23, 2015October 23, 2015 By FogKnitsIn Cowl, FO Friday, Hat4 Comments

I’ve got three hats and a cowl to show for this week! Turns out there’s a lot of knitting time involved with getting to New York and back again!

The first two hats are Unicorn Fart hats! I love seeing the effect of removing just a few stitches from the cast on! Two completely different hats! (Read Here to find out how to dye your own Unicorn Farts!) My Mom dyed the energizer bunny of yarn skeins…3 hats and I’ve barely made a dent in it! I’m sure I’ll get at least 3 more out of it!

The third hat we’ve been calling the Midnight Ride of the Unicorn. It’s Unicorn Farts on a dark navy yarn instead of a white yarn! I wanted to have a little fun with it, so it became a stocking cap! I love seeing the pattern change as the rounds get shorter and shorter! This is a lot of fun to wear!

My last FO of the week is by no means the least of the week…a real rabbit fur cowl!

Yes, that is actually knit! The ‘yarn’ is a bit of rabbit hide with the fur still in tact!

It’s from meat packing plants in Europe where they eat a lot of rabbit. At least that’s the story…I’m choosing to believe it’s the truth because I really love this cowl!

It’s as soft and lovely as you’d expect a cute fuzzy bunny to be. I’ll bet he tasted good too! (ha! too soon?) Here’s a link to the fur page on Ravelry! It’s fun stuff! Eventually, I’ll have one in every color! I’ve also done a few hats with it, I’ve gotta stop giving those away!

Here’s a sneak peek of my Rhinebeck yarn to hit the needles…details next week! It’s a good one!

FO Friday – Unicorn Farts Hat

On September 25, 2015October 23, 2015 By FogKnitsIn FO Friday, Hat6 Comments

Earlier in the week, back when I was laughing in the face of deadlines, I started (and subsequently finished) a new hat! If only I’d done Sleeve #2 instead of goofed off…that’s a whole other story though…

Turns out Unicorn Farts are the perfect remedy for the Brown Sweater Blues. I love how wearable my brown sweater will be but seeing this rainbow swirl develop was a lot more exciting!

This is some of the yarn my Mom dyed for me! She followed this very detailed tutorial to dye what is called Unicorn Farts with Kool-Aid! I decided to make a hat with it because I’ll actually be able to make multiple hats! This yarn is too fun not to share.

I love everything about this hat! I can’t wait to make more, but first it’s a sea of brown and camel for me!

My Gift from the Magi

On August 6, 2015August 6, 2015 By FogKnitsIn Stash Enhancement11 Comments

I suffer from an embarrassment of riches on a daily basis. Please don’t take this as a complaint. I’m really trying to keep the whining to a minimum. But seriousileeeee…as if yesterday wasn’t enough, today I got a giant box of yarn from my Mom. and it’s all awesome. The first day of work was also a success. I’m theoretically part time but both HR and my new manager mentioned full time in the near future. I miss my free time already. I just wanna knit. Waaaahhhh! Being unemployed was so fun! and since I went a little crazy with the casting on over the weekend, I won’t be starting a new project anytime soon. This is a crisis of O. Henry proportions!

Here’s the new beauties I need to resist…

Four skeins of formerly white Cascade 220. Mom dyed them varying shades of brown and green with few touches of blue thrown in. They’ve turned in to Ewoks in my mind. Maybe that means I should be looking for cowl and hood patterns?!

and my new favorite…Unicorn Farts!

If you haven’t seen this before, check out the tutorial from Tom Boy Knits! It’s super fun! I sent Mom the link and within 24 hours she was doing it! I had to wind it right away. I haven’t decided what to do with it yet, so maybe that’ll slow me down!

This is one huge sport weight skein, 770 yards. I’m thinking something from the Martina Behm catalog to avoid unsightly pooling but I don’t want it to be garter stitch. I liked doing a seed stitch version of the Hitchhiker. Maybe I need to swatch a little. That doesn’t really count as an official project, right?