Freshly Finished Friday #14

 

Welcome to a link-up party for your Friday Finished Object posts! In an effort to connect everyone who creates and blogs about it here on the web, I thought providing a place to link up and share your freshly finished creations would be a great way to see what everyone is working on. Please feel free to share ANY of your finished crafty pursuits from knitting and crocheting to sewing and scrapbooking.

Again, no new finishes. However, I have been wearing 3 of my favorite knits:

My Squishy Socks, My Settler Shawl & My Rikke Hat. Not all at the same time, but over the last couple days. In fact, I wore my Settler Shawl to my interview yesterday 🙂 Hopefully it brings me luck.

To join in the fun, click the link up below to see all the others participating in a Freshly Finished Friday! It will take you away from this page, but don’t worry, you will always be able to find your way back. It’s especially helpful if the linked up blog has a link back here. Please add your specific blog post link and remember to link back here in your blog so we can all be connected 🙂

 

❤

Jenna

 

The Mad Rush

Hi there, broken record here…you know, the one that seems to keep saying the same thing over and over again? Yep, that’s me. I am still here. My life has been a little hectic with the holidays. We were hosts to my in-laws for the last week. It was great 🙂 I had a blast cooking for everyone, there was an epic game of dominoes (that is still unfinished!), and so much wonderful time spent with family.

But onto the knitting.

I don’t know what it is about the new year, but I’ve been feeling the desire to clear up my needles. I have so many things I want to start knitting, but it is hard for me to pull out the ball winder and swift to start some new project when I see the pile of WIPs both in real life and on my Rav page.

In good news, I did finish up the Settler Shawl in my Two Grey Dogs yarn. It is luscious! Only slight frustration I had was that I ran out of yarn during the last pattern repeat! Good news? I only had about 2 more rows of garter stitch and the bind off to complete when I scoured my bag-o-ends. I found some shiny, happy pima cotton in the perfect yellow from a wrap I knit myself a couple years ago.

Maybe the cotton will give the edge of the shawl a little weight. I guess it will all come out in the wash.

I also dug out this little bunny that has been hibernating for entirely too long. I finished it up. And it’s super cute!

Only complaint? I chose to do this in a cotton-acrylic blend, it’s worsted weight and I was knitting on US size 3 needles for a super tight fabric so the stuffing wouldn’t show through. It was a bit torturous on my hands but thankfully I didn’t have much left. And the yarn used for the rainbow “socks” was a wool blend and was nice and springy.

I’m surveying what I’ve got left and seeing what I can finish by Friday so I can start a sweater for me in the new year 🙂

Does the rapid approach of the new year make you want to finish all the things??

 

v’s & bumps,

Jenna

Still Knitting…

I know it has been a day or two, maybe a week. I went on an epic journey, consisting of a drive lasting a total of 28 hours and taking approximately 3 days. My amazing grandmother, Freddie, joined me for a good portion of the adventure to go see my brother, Jacob (adorable baby niece Payton’s dad) graduate from college! So so so proud!!

Jacob & Freddie 🙂

Jacob and the most beautiful little lady in the world 🙂

It was so nice to be with family so close to the holidays. Sadly, I won’t be making that trip again for the holiday, but we will be celebrating here in St. Louis.

Don’t worry, I’ve been knitting and finishing things!!

First up, my mom sewed the buttons on that darling sweater. I asked her to help me since they are placed a little close to the mouth of the baby wearing it and I wasn’t going to be the reason for my dear niece to eat a cherry button.

 

It’s officially finished and it fits!!

Second up, I finished the Black Hat turned Balaclava…

Only I’m not sure the recipient would use it. Bah!

I also finished up the Tweedy Honeycomb Toque for my brother-in-law’s girlfriend, Shayna. I know I was uncertain about it as it was coming along, but I LOVE IT!!!

The pompom just makes it! It’s definitely loosening up…I was very concerned initially because my floats were a wee bit tight.

I’ve put a few things in hibernation.

Array Cowl

Skinty Stripe Scarf

Technicolor Socks

Never fear, I am still working on my #MEalong (from A Playful Day) Settler Shawl by Libby from Truly Myrtle…Woah! Talk about link-tastic 🙂 I wanted to participate in the #Grinchalong with the Knitmore Girls, but I was also technically knitting gift :(, but they may or may not have necessarily been for Christmas. Oh well, missed that boat.

Anyway, I’m absolutely loving the way this thing is working up! I just got to the cool border stitches and I just feel so cool knitting it! And the colors. And the yarn. And. And. And!

It’s for me. 🙂

I will try to keep this little corner updated, but I’m not making any promises. With short day light and lots of family time, I will probably spend more time unplugged than usual 🙂

Until next time! Happy Knitting!

v’s & bumps, (or knits & purls)

Jenna

 

I Swear I Swore Off Gift Knitting…

How come even when I have this whole idea about gift knitting that has been in place for several knitting years I have somehow managed to rack up at least 4 gifts I want to finish in the next few weeks????

After my first Christmas as a knitter and the crazy notion that I could knit everyone something then, and failing miserably at that challenge…so much so that 5 years later, I STILL have yarn and projects queued up from that holiday, I made the pledge that I would not knit for the holidays. Instead, knitworthy folks would receive birthday presents. Even those time lines would stretch out, I would present people with their gifts days, weeks, and months late.

So instead of following my own rule of no holiday knitting, I have been  swept up in the gift knitting that seem to be sweeping blogs and podcasts and all the knitting groups I knit with. And let’s face it, every time I come across a pattern I think would be perfect for someone, I queue it and if I’m feeling particularly weak, I pull yarn out of my stash to cast on…and if I don’t have the yarn, I go to the store. I know.

It’s a good thing I’m not on a yarn diet. And I’m relatively weak willed when it comes to yarn and knitting and gifts for people who I think would love them.

So let this serve as a reality check. I CAN’T CAST ANYTHING ELSE ON!!! At least until I finish something. Anything. Let’s check in. Here are the gifts I began…

A hat for my brother-in-law’s girlfriend. We were talking over Thanksgiving while I was knitting on the next project and I offered to knit up something he had in mind. After a little pattern searching I came across the Tweedy Honeycomb Toque by Kent Turman. It’s free on Rav and I figured I could tweak it by adding an additional color into the “comb” part.

 

I’m using some Berroco Vintage Chunky and I’m stranding the colors behind…only problem is that its a little tight and the second color is really, really popping forward. I was hoping it would have fallen back more. And I probably should have made a better effort to keep my floats loose. I’ve already ripped once, I may have to do it again…here’s a link to my Rav page.

Next up the the black hat for my other brother-in-law I told you guys about last week, the Jacques Cousteau Hat. Well, I did a little ripping there and rethinking. While I don’t want to change the rib or the hat decreases, I wanted the piece to be more versatile. Enter this version of a Balaclava by Jacki Kelly and I tweaked my original.

It’s ready for the bind off for the eye slit. This thing is not too far from being finished. I’m using Universal Yarn’s Deluxe DK Superwash in Ebony. It’s not as pure a black as I’ve seen, but the details do disappear when in the wrong light.

I’ve also got two other projects that I started a while ago and want to finish those up. Like the Array Cowl I started. I ran into a road block with this project. It was about a week ago. And I was knitting away and I kept hearing a creaking sound. I check the joins in my interchangable needles, everything was still screwed in tight. Then, “pop” the cable popped out of the join. I need to send them in 😦

So I bought some more needles and got it switched over. Its just a little tedious with all the slipped stitches but it is nice and mindless and I love the colors!

Another project that I’ve had on the needles for far too long is a scarf for my sister-in-law.

This was featured in a few early blog posts as the Skinty Stripe Scarf. It’s Purl Soho’s Diagonal Pinstripe Scarf. I saw this featured on their blog and new it would be perfect for my sister-in-law. Only hang up? It’s laceweight yarn on US Size 3 needles.

But I did finish up some baby socks to go with Payton’s Wee Envelope Sweater. I knit these in one day!!

That hasn’t totally stopped me from working on things for myself…like my Settler Shawl…

And there is the predicament of these socks. I’ll tell you about later this week…

And I may be pondering casting on a Rikke hat for myself out of some lovely Malabrigo Rios and my Turia Sweater…I even wound the yarn because I have zero self-control. I can at least take a little comfort in at least not casting on yet. That’s not to say that I don’t have needles and patterns at the ready.

Don’t worry, I’m not just thinking about me for future knits, I have yarn to make Payton another sweater and my other niece Nora has requested a scarf in her “colors.” How can I say no?

Plus I’m thinking about frogging a few things.

Bah! Humbug!

(not really, I love the holidays!!)

What about you? Have you given in to the gift knitting bug??

v’s & bumps,

Jenna

Enable Me Please!!

Monday I mentioned that fellow bloggers have been oh-so-kind and generous lately. I thought I’d share just what their favor has brought me…

First up, Kat at Knittin’ in the Sun ran a giveaway for her 100th post!! She was generously donating a pattern of your choice under $10 on Ravelry. Kat very kindly gifted me the Daybreak Shawl pattern by Stephen West. I’m planning to make this with some Mini Mochi I received in a swap package back in August paired with some Tibetan Cloud Fingering.

Next, Christina at Feel Good Knitting interviewed Sashka Macievich of SashkaKnits for the Indie Gift-A-Long. Christina and Sashka very kindly donated a pattern to one lucky commenter and it turned out to be me!! I love Sashka’s Auberge Shawl and am definitely looking forward to searching the stash for a lovely to knit up 🙂

 

Maybe the Holiday Flock Sock in Queen of Hearts red…or the Susquehanna Sparkle Sock in the Trumpet colorway which has a nice strand of shimmer running through the peachy pink..or maybe my most recent purchase of some Dyeabolical Tenacious Sock in the Raja grey color. Any of these would make a gorgeous Auberge shawl…I just have quite a few WIPs to finish and needles to clear up before I can start something new.

Last bit of generous bloggery, Sarah from A Little Knit just posted about some of her favorite blogs to read here and I made the cut!! Sarah says, “Jenna’s blog is full of tasty looking yarns and the intricate projects that she is working on.” So kind 🙂 She also highlights Pia of Noget Uldent, Tahnee of Woollen Wilderness, and Nadia from Abso-knitting-lutely.

If you haven’t had the chance to check out Sarah over at her blog, A Little Knit, I highly recommend it. She is a self-taught knitter and crocheter who is so relatable. I love reading about her fearless adventures into pattern modification on the fly and the challenges she works through on her super cool patchwork blanket. She’s definitely someone I enjoy hearing from and find her work super cool and inspiring 🙂

Since it is a WIP Wednesday, I thought I’d give you a quick update on the thing I enjoy working on the most…I’m about 2/3 of the way through the garter portion of the shawl and I’m absolutely loving it! Behold, The Settler Shawl!!

Pair these sweet giveaways with all the sales going on around the internet for the holidays and you’ve got yourself a habit…the habit of spending too much, casting on too much, and reading blogs too much.

Enjoy 🙂

v’s & bumps,

Jenna

Linking up with Nicole at Frontier Dreams, Stitch Along Wednesday over on Life & Yarn, and Whatcha Workin’ On Wednesday over on iKnead2Knit.

Giving Thanks

The previous stretch of Blog Silence brought to you by the Season of Thanksgiving!

I had at least one small intention to post last Wednesday before the holiday here in America but that quickly fell apart as my day slipped away. I was thawing a turkey, making cornbread for the cornbread dressing, and being generally lazy 🙂 Thursday turned out to be wonderful! I didn’t burn or dry out the turkey and it was my first one! My husband and I stayed in St. Louis and spent time with his brothers and his mom. It was just so nice to be around family. I enjoyed it so much that even though my husband had to work, I spent time with everyone anyway.

I have always been one to enjoy my family. My parents, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and now nieces and nephews, and in-laws are all fantastic people! Since I was a kid, my favorite part about any holiday was getting to see everyone and spend time together. We traveled a lot when I was a kid because my parents do not live near their parents or brothers and sisters. We would load up the car and go 🙂 I can probably count on one hand the number of times we stayed put for a holiday!

This holiday was different because I did not have to travel any great distance but was still able to spend it with some pretty great people! It certainly made me miss spending time with my parents and brother and grands and aunts and uncles and cousins, but this was a great holiday 🙂

On to the yarn.

So here in the US there is usually a huge shopping day following Thanksgiving on Thursday. It’s Black Friday and all the businesses here go nuts. It’s gotten so bad that some businesses are opening on Thanksgiving day, calling employees in from time with family just to make a buck. I was an employee who worked last year on Thanksgiving. Every time a customer would come in, I would have to fight the urge to berate them for leaving time with their family to come have a cup of coffee. Maybe because that is where I wanted to be?? So before you spend your money at a business open on a holiday, think of the employees. By supporting those businesses on those days, you are saying it is more important to spend money on that day than to spend time with your family.

Oh that was a fun tangent. I was supposed to tell you in there that I went over to Knitorious Friday and bought yarn. Then I went to Hearthstone Knits on Saturday and bought yarn.

Really, the yarn.

You’ll be happy to know that I have pretty much finished up the adorable pink Wee Envelope sweater for Payton.

It’s been blocked. I’ve woven in the ends.

The only thing missing are the cute buttons! I can’t quite bring myself to sew them on! Ridiculous! And I have so much extra yarn…those might need to be socks for her. DK socks go so fast!

I pretty much considered the thing finished because I bought more yarn to make her another sweater. This time maybe a cardigan. I’m thinking the Baby Sophisticate by Linden Down in some fluffy Plymouth Encore Dynamo. It’s an Aran weight 75/25 Acrylic Wool Blend and I’ve got 400 yds. I saw the cutest sample cardi knit up in it at the shop and had to make one for little bit.

I just love the colors. They are so subtle.

It has been super cold here. Like real, real cold. My niece and nephew have already worn their fluff hats in the snow. I noticed that their dad could use a cozy hat, too. So what did I do? Cast one on. I wanted to make him something that he could wear to work. So I chose….

black!

I know, I must be nuts. I keep wondering that myself. I try to just get in a rhythm where I don’t have to look down and see what stitch is next. It’s the Jacques Cousteau hat. I modified it just a touch so that the brim could be worn double for extra warmth. I even reversed the ribbing and started knitting the other way so the brim rib and the hat rib would line up. I know, nutty.

Last but not least in terms of active, fun things I’m working on…the Settler Shawl in my Two Grey Dogs yarn. (that link takes you to their etsy shop where they are having a Cyber Monday sale…)

I love it.

It makes me so happy. Whenever I want to drop kick the black hat, I just set it down and pick this up. I’m loving the crescent shape!!

I think that is all for now. I’ll stop in Wednesday with some fun thoughts. This is truly the season of giving and people have been very generous in both words and patterns 🙂

v’s & bumps,

Jenna

Hand Knit Love

How can one be so concerned at the ripe old age of 3 months?? Especially when your head is so toasty warm? I’m not sure 🙂 but I do know that this baby girl is loving my hand knits and will continue to receive them until she is old enough to object…and even then I’m not making any promises. Plus babies are so stinkin’ cute in Stocking Caps…it’s my new favorite!

Speaking of baby knits, how about that darling Wee Envelope I’ve been knitting away on?

The Luna Grey Aspen Sport has such a nice squish factor. It’s 100% Superwash Merino and has a nice, tight twist to it. I’m not usually one to love knitting pink for baby girls, but this is such a lovely shade called Primrose. And the darn thing is literally flying off my needles even though it is on US 4s!! Just another 2 inches or so on the body and I’m done! Just have to sew on buttons, block, and weave in the ends 🙂

I’ve also been a bit pre-occupied by the Two Grey Dogs Schnauzer Snuggle that I wanted to design a crescent shaped shawl with, but was thoroughly, mentally blocked on. I’ve been lusting after the Truly Myrtle Settler Shawl since she released the design on her blog back in August. After my miserable fail at the designing process on Friday, I was “flipping” through my queue’d shawls and ran across the Settler Shawl and a light bulb went off. It was the crescent shape I desired for a shawl and the details were sleek enough to look good in the slightly variegated Orange at Sea colorway I wanted to use.

So I did the only reasonable thing I could do besides go insane…

I cast on!!

 

I am LOVING the way this is knitting up so far! The shawl is growing nicely into a long, thin crescent shape and the yarn has such a nice spring with the Merino content while the silk content is giving it a nice sheen and I’m hoping for a good amount of drape. I’m a little nervous about blocking it…I don’t want to lose the squish in the garter stitch but I think the lace-y, openwork border will need a good wet block to show up. We shall see.

I know I have other things I should/could be working on, but my beautiful stash display is tempting me! So much so that I may be ready for my first, actual, long-sleeved, yoked sweater!

Meet Turia. I talked about her back when I first started the blog and really addressed my own form of Sweater-phobia! I’m no longer feeling the apprehension and impending doom when I think about starting a sweater to fit me. It may have to do with the fact that my Whispers top fits me.

I’ve got the yarn for her. I’ve got the pattern. And I’ve got the needles. Now, I even have the courage to wind her up and cast her on. Wish me luck!! I’d like to wait until I at least finish up the Wee Envelope before I wind this yarn…we shall see!

Until we meet again 🙂

v’s & bumps,

Jenna

PS. Sorry the photos are a bit dark…it is getting dark here so much earlier AND it was rainy and dreary all day 😦