Mittens, Midwest Roadtrip and socks

 

Since my last post, I knit a cute pair of mittens for Xena.  I've been using the same Candide vintage recipe pattern for years.  

 

Last week Matt had to judge the exhibits at Chicagopex.  While he was already at the show, I stayed behind so Xena didn't have to miss school and I could accompany her to All Pro Dads, the monthly PTA sponsored family morning activity at her school.  Next month I will be the guest speaker at Mornings with Moms, which alternates back and forth every month with APD.

As soon as Xena got out of school on Friday, we drove to Huntington, WV and spent the night in this very creepy place.  

On Saturday morning, we drove to the Cincinnati Zoo.

 

Xena wore the sweater I knit her while I proudly displayed my recently knit Arcane beanie and Lackadaisical mitts I knit last year.  I posted the rest of the zoo and stamp show pix on FB.

 

Xena loved Skyline! I knew she would but it was still quite comforting to see her clean her plate.  From Cincy, we headed to Chicago to join Matt at the stamp show.  Xena thoroughly enjoyed the Youth Area this year and I had a terrific time hanging with my stamp friends.  I had a very nice dinner with one of my favorite dealers and stocked up on new inventory for my Etsy shop.

 

While in Chicago, I visited two yarn stores.  The first one was Nina.

It was HUGE; even bigger than DWW!

They had a terrific open kitchen area for dyeing.

This is the backroom, with a large table for teaching.  They sold fabric and sewing supplies as well.

 

They had an excellent selection of local yarn in a variety of bases.  I was quite amused by this Double Door colorway.  I DJ-ed there years ago for Soul Summit.

I bought all local yarns.  

The next shop I visited was Sister-Arts which is located in Boba's old neighborhood.  I even parked on a street I would've parked on when I visited him when he was still alive.  It's always bittersweet visiting Chicago without my best record friend being there anymore but we find our ways to persist.  

 

There was a Babble Stitch trunk show at Sister-Arts.

I bought a hank of their Parchment colorway in their Flora Fingering Cash blend of 80% FSW Merino/10% Cashmere/10% Nylon and also a colorpooling gift for a friend.

Jenny shrunk the Professor Meow sweater I made her.  Thankfully, I had a replacement on hand.  Now Xena has a new cat sweater!

 

During my journey, I finished the sort of self striping socks I started in Ritual Dyes Maven Wild Grape.

 

This yarn is 2 ply fingering US grown and milled 100% Rambouillet from their October subscription.

I love how the stripes fade in and out.  This is one of my favorite yarns to knit with because it is so spongy and springy.

I worked on Black Friday and yesterday was Small Business Saturday.

We debuted the Plied Yarn trunk show.

 

There are a tons of great kits available for this yarn!

Although I 100% do not need anymore yarn, perhaps I'll buy some as a gift.

Yesterday we hung our stockings over the fireplace in the lounge at work.

Ute, our German knit and crochet teacher actually knit and crocheted all of these stockings herself!  Then she got these wood die-cut personalized ornaments for all of us.

 

I picked the crochet grinch because, why wouldn't I?

Matt and Xena return from Boston tonight so I'm just trying to enjoy what little remains of my quiet alone time.  I have no shortage of WIPs and fun new projects in the works.  I also have the new responsibility of planning my own teaching crochet curriculum for DWW for the new year and I am really looking forward to it!

Matching Striped Knit Mommy Daughter Knee Highs and more!

 

 

Last weekend Matt and I attended a special SFE competition and philatelic gala at the National Postal Museum, a swank cocktail party at the Waldorf Astoria and dinner with fellows of the Collectors Club of NY.  I used it as an excuse to get all dressed up in my finest handmade knits and fancy evening dress.

 

The photos above are of me in my Summer Vibe top with my matching mittens and socks.  I already posted the fancy dress photos on IG.

It was even chilly enough to wear my Lighthouse pullover which is quickly becoming my favorite cold weather sweater!

Matt's cousins watched Xena while we were in DC and she wore my handmade knitwear too.

 

I cast on a sock in Ritual Dyes Grape but was so busy with social events that I barely had time or even energy to knit.

 

The NPM was amazing! I could spend days/weeks/months there.  I definitely want to return with Xena when we have more time to properly enjoy it.

 

Right after we returned to RVA, I attended a super fun loom weaving class at DWW taught by Keyser.  Our morning meet up buddies Kelly and Angela aka The Peanut Gallery were there to help me laugh until I peed in my pants a little.

 

In other news, I inherited a ton of amazing ephemera from a retired local fiber artist and have been enjoying flipping through it for inspiration every evening.  I finished my first Grape sock and just started the second yesterday.

I literally finished our matching striped knee highs the day after Halloween but only just got around to photographing them today.  Unless the shape of our legs drastically changes, I think I should be able to use my sizing template for these knee high socks for quite a while. This is really a dream come true for me.  Being so short, it's impossible for me to find commercially made knee highs that actually fit me and this template that I designed fits perfectly.  In order to keep the striping sequences consistent, I used a Twisted German cast on for the socks.  (If you're using self-striping yarn) you can simply place your slip knot wherever you want your first color to start and then do the same for the second sock. 

For my socks, using size 0 needles, I cast on 74 sts, knit the cuff in twisted rib for 1", knit the calf for 3" and then started decreasing.  

1st decrease round: *K1, SSK, knit to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1 (2 sts dec).  Knit even for 6 rows.*

Repeat *.* until 60 sts are achieved then start the heel and work as a basic sock.

For Xena's socks, using size 1 needles, I cast on 52 sts, knit the cuff in twisted rib for 1", knit the calf for 2.5" (or 3 different color stripes).

1st decrease round: *K1, SSK, knit to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1 (2 sts dec).  Knit even for 7 rows.*

Repeat *.* until 40 sts are achieved then work even for about 2" (finishing off the stripe of the next color), start the heel and work as a basic sock.

Basically if you want to design a knee high template for yourself, you just need to figure out the gauge of total stitches for your calf and then work down to your regular sock gauge by gradually decreasing every 1-2 inches.

I have a lot more that I want to write about but I also have a lot to do today so I'm gonna wrap this up for now.