Happy Local Yarn Store Day!

I've been waiting until today, September 12th, LYS Day, to make this very special announcement.  I've finally made one of my biggest dreams come true, I am working at a yarn store!  It's only one day a week but between Xena and Etsy that's all I can handle.  I started working at Atelier Yarns on Divisadero (between Pine and California) in San Francisco 4 weeks ago and this should come as no surprise, I love it SO much!!!

I bought myself this amazing publication to celebrate.

I also finished knitting my final pair of Scrappy B socks from the #ScrappyHappyPals KAL this morning.  These are all of the socks I knit over the past month or so and I am so happy to see all of them together.

I thought it would be fun to take a few photos of them in the shop.

They looked especially comfy in the Madeline Tosh section since the MC is Tosh Sock yarn.

I was hoping to use all of the colorways my pals sent me from the KAL but I forgot how small my feet were so still I have one color leftover to use in the future.

I have so many different fingering weight yarn scraps, my only real problem was trying to choose which colors to use.

I am extremely pleased with the results.  I am sure that many people might consider these to be some of the ugliest socks they've ever seen but I have and always will shamelessly love ALL THE COLORS.

In other fiber news, I can't believe it but I won the Imagiknit 18 year anniversary IG giveaway (which included a free tote, stitch markers and measuring tape) yesterday!  They, along with Firebird Yarns in the Haight and Atelier (where I now work) are the trifecta of awesome LYS's in SF.  

So in spite of the terrible air and all of the other wack shit happening around the world, it's been a very good week.  I am extremely thankful and happy to be alive and I've even made some decent progress on my crazy granny blanket.

I'm trying to take progress photos after every 5 rounds.

Hopefully I'll have some more colorful updates soon!

Knit Faded Pom Squad Sneaker Socks

 A week ago I finished knitting this pair of Pom Squad Sneaker Socks and yesterday I finished this faded version below.

I used all leftover yarn from 3 different projects: Wooly Wonka Aerton sock yarn, KindredRed Oh Snap! sock yarn and Machete Shoppe Alektorophobia sock yarn. 

I used 0's and knit the smallest size of the pattern.

I am positive that these are the coolest little pom poms I've ever made!

Yesterday afternoon, Kristine, my best crochet buddy, and I met up at the Ferry Building to crochet at the cool new giant wooden tables they recently installed.

This heatwave has been killing me but it was somewhat bearable with the help of some hazy IPAs in the shade, by the Bay.

And just look at that!  A freight ship pulled into the harbor, perfectly matching my socks!

Yesterday, I cast on my final pair of socks in the #ScrappyHappyPals KAL and hope to finish them shortly.  This has been such a fun adventure!

Crochet Chevon Blanket for Xena

Because I worked on it so sporadically, this project took me a couple years to finish.  I don't remember exactly when I started it but it was at least by the time we had a crib/bed for Xena and I could take loose measurements for the foundation stitch total set up for my crochet chevron pattern.

This is the most basic SC crochet chevron pattern out there.  Just google it and plenty of free versions will show up or you can refer to my tutorial here or here.  For Xena's blanket I crocheted 13 stitches between each hill and valley and I created a total of 6 chevron points.

I think I misplaced a few ball bands along the way but I used 5-6, 200 yard hanks of (Madeline) Tosh Vintage 100% SWM worsted yarn in the now discontinued Hydrop colorway.  It was originally $23/hank but I know I got a discount for buying in bulk.

I am totally in love with the way the variegation was randomly distributed throughout this blanket!

It's also the perfect size to use as a lap throw.

Xena loves her new blanket just as much as I do!

If you've never crocheted a chevron blanket before, and especially if you already have tight tension, blocking the F.O. is key!  It looks like a wrinkly old rag prior to blocking.

I soaked my blanket for a half hour; normally I only soak socks and sweaters for 15-20 min.  It took about 5 days for my blanket to dry.  

Even if your blanket still looks a little wobbly after blocking, do not fear, a few months of good snuggles will straighten out your lines just perfectly.

Knitpicks Beinn Hat

I used some of the leftover yarn from my 2nd No Frills Cardigan to knit the free Beinn Hat pattern from Knitpicks.  I've always wanted a squishy, slouchy hat.  I knit and crochet so many hats as gifts, I thought it would nice to knit one to match my favorite cardi.

I did knit another hat in this exact pattern with different yarn to give as a gift but I won't post about it until it's already been gifted.

This is a great cabling pattern for beginners.  I used size 5, 16" circulars and DPNs only on the last couple rows.  I am a total sucker for symmetry and I love the origami style shaping of this hat.

In other news, slowly but surely I've been trying to add some of my FO's to Ravelry.  I can't decide if I want to retroactively keep track of every project I've already completed on there since I've already kept detailed notes about everything here.  It feels more like work than joy.  Ultimately, I think I will try to keep track of my future projects that follow an online pattern on Ravelry yet continue to keep more detailed notes on here.  I don't really hang out on or frequent Ravelry like many other fiber artists do, nor do I keep track of my stash and all of my patterns on there, since I started crocheting in the 80s before the internetz even existed.  I still print out paper versions of all of my patterns.  I still buy pattern books and magazines.  I prefer the tangibility of physical patterns.  I tried using the Knit Companion app but ATM, it's not for me.  I actually prefer to avoid constant interaction with digital devices and usually only refer to a digital version of a pattern on my phone if I'm out and about and it's any "emergency".  I know I'm quite antiquated in this fashion but this is what suits me best.

I finally just finished crocheting a chevron blanket for Xena's bed that I have been working on FOREVER and I am still waiting for it to finish blocking.  Hopefully it will finally be dry by tomorrow.  I can't wait to show it off!  

I always like to have some mindless crochet project going so I just started (another) scrappy afghan.  

I have crocheted more giant granny afghans than I can even count.  Most have been given away as gifts.  Previously, I never even kept track of their progress or took F.O. photos so I thought it would be fun to keep track of my progress on this one.  

My plan is to work on at least a few rows/night, usually after Matt and Xena have gone to bed and I can sit peacefully in the living room, with a mug of Sleepytime Exxtra tea and an audiobook.  I have a ton of random leftover yarn that I've accumulated over the years and I am making a point to bust through as much of this old stash as possible to make room for new yarn.  After all of the other knitting projects I've been working on lately, it's so comforting to just sit back an crochet a little.