Fiber Arts Friday: Oak Beanie

I agreed to make a hat for a friend.  She pursued Ravely and chose this pattern.  We then went to a few yarn stores and she chose a pretty pink-ish, single-ply, bulky(!), Merino.

Since she's from a warmer climate, the goal was to make a very warm hat with few holes.

So I'm knitting this yarn on much smaller needles (US7-8) than the suggested (US15-17).

I got the brim completed on US 7... and ordered a set of US8 for the body, which took a couple of weeks to arrive.

Once the US8 needles arrived, I started on the cable.  Then quickly realized that I might not have enough yarn to complete the hat.  The pattern calls for 115 yards of a much smaller gauge yarn and my skein is 109 yards.

So at my first break in the day, I took a sample from the tail end and the ball band to the LYS we bought the first skein from a few weeks ago...  would you believe that they not only had another skein in the same colorway, but that it was also the same dye lot?!?  My Lucky Day!!

After returning home, I did a little math.  At 14 rounds completed + the cast on and 60g used thus far, I should plan that each round uses ~4g.  

At a total of 48 rounds for this project * ~4g per round = ~192g total for the project.  There are a couple of increases and some decreases to come... and all but two rounds thus far was using a smaller needle, so this really is just a rough number.

Each skein is 200g.... so it is possible that I worried for no reason, but it will be very close with one skein.  Therefore, it is better to be safe than sorry with a few rounds to go at the end.  :-)

Stay tuned and Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Cattitude, part 4

As of last time, all of the pieces were made but nothing had been blocked yet...

I've blocked the pieces, but still find them more fiddly to stitch together than I am willing to work with.  So I have decided to scrap the yellow inner ear and just tack the ears down to finish out this project...

Starting first with a quick reminder on how to do the Mattress Stich:

I did finally get the pieces stitched together and tacked down.  This hat is a little big for me, but the double layered brim should be quite warm.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Piney House Socks, part 5

Since early November when I decided to forego the cabling, I have decided to make the legs ~4 inches long.

Now, just shy of 3 months from starting, I have a pair of Piney House Socks.

These fit better than the others I've made... I need to make sure I'm accounting for negative ease in my future socks. doy.

The leg is a little shorter than I tend to like, but about 2-inches longer than it would have been had I followed the pattern exactly as written.

It was a good time to stop... as I was getting quite bored with the Twisted Rib. lol.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Piney House Socks, part 4

As of last time I was ready to begin the cables on the leg of my Piney House Socks and completed several rounds.

However, I was dropping stitches and the cabling was hurting my hands.  So I ripped it out and returned to the smaller needles.

I'm thankful to have the lifeline in place which made the rip out and replacement of needles relatively easy.

I plan to knit the leg/cuff to about 3 inches or so.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Piney House Socks, part 3

As of last time, it was early October 2024 and I had just finished the second foot... and now mid-late October (10/21), I have completed both heels.

On both socks, I skipped the last two heel rounds because of the stitch count.  Both heels are also offset by a couple of stitches.... these together make me think I missed a couple of rounds earlier on....upon reviewing the pattern I did not find anything I missed.

After completing the first inch of the leg, I did find the next size up of needles as you can see now that there is only Twisted-Rib on the round, the leg is necking down and the cables will make it tighter.

Next up, cables.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Alpacamundo Monday: Pre-Winter Chores

 We've had a gloriously long Autumn season... which is about to end later this week.

Over the last several weeks, I've been making sure the pre-winter chores are completed.  That means, the barn is now full with hay...

The sprinklers have been blown out.

The gutters have been emptied of leaves, but first I had to take in the view.  :-)

There are still some leaves to come down.  However, they are sufficiently far from the house, so I don't expect them to find their way into the gutters.

The de-icers have all been set out.  I generally don't feel fully comfortable with the de-icers until we've passed our first hard freeze.  Once that happens, they generally work for the entire season.

Happy Late Fall.  I hope you are enjoying this lovely time of year.

Fiber Arts Friday: Piney House Socks, part 2

As of last time, I was nearly complete with the first foot of my Piney House Socks.

I have been continuing to work a few rounds most mornings and evenings... and there was a short trip out of town that allowed for more progress.  

I completed the second foot in early October.

I like this green a lot.... it's quite cheery.  Interesting how it changes in different light.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!