[FINISHED] 2022 Advent Stripe Socks

Happy new year, friends, and welcome back to me trying to be a legitimate blogger. I swear, there was a time where I was good at pumping out this content, but I seem to have fallen off the wagon as work and life blew up into chaos. And, to be honest, there were a couple years where I wasn’t knitting much because my mental health was in the toilet while I slogged through some stuff - I’m glad that’s changed!

I know that, as a Gemini, this creative spurt is going to be short-lived, so I’m embracing it while I can and getting all the projects off my needles (and hooks). Unfortunately, I also keep buying supplies to put even more projects back on them.

But one of the projects I managed to get off my needles was my annual Cozy Knitter Advent Socks. If you’re unfamiliar, this self-striping yarn comes ready to knit with 24 stripes and is different every year. Ideally, you’d knit a stripe per day, but I never do because I’m usually bogged down with gift-making, so I got myself in the Christmas spirit by starting these the week before Christmas and finishing them a few days after.

With the standard end-of-year insanity that we all try to avoid, I knew I’d want a simple pattern that would be relaxing, but I was tired of the vanilla self-striping patterns I’d knit in recent years, so I took to Ravelry and found the Easy Pattern For Self Striping Socks by Frida Åberg. I barely had to read the pattern to memorize it and I was off.

I made a few changes, namely using the Fish Lips Kiss heel (so I didn’t have to worry about uneven striping) and an Umbrella Toe. And since I’d used green for last year’s contrast color, I decided to use red this year. Which means I’m quickly running out of options for coming years, lol.

These socks are so festive and make me happy and you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be making another pair in 2022.

Project Info

• Yarn: 2021 Advent Stripe by The Cozy Knitter

• Pattern: Easy Pattern For Self Striping Socks by Frida Åberg

[Beer Knits Podcast] Am I Doing This Right?

Beer Knits Show Notes

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SHOW NOTES

• Christmas Candy Sampler Afghan (Annie’s Kit Clubs) by Lena Skvagerson: https://www.annieskitclubs.com/products/crochet-striped-afghan#craft=christmas-candy

• Tree Topper by Satsuma Street: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1116868880/tree-topper-satsuma-street-pdf-instant 

• Shawlography by Stephen West (Wesktknits MKAL 2021): https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/shawlography-westknits-mkal-2021

• Bakery Bears Patreon (where you can read Knitability, published every six weeks): https://www.patreon.com/bakerybearspodcast/ 

• Unicorn tripes Scarf by Antonia Shankland: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/unicorn-stripes-scarf

• No. 4 Blanket Kit from We Are Knitters: https://www.weareknitters.com/knitting-kit/knitting-levels/advanced-level/no-4-blanket

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VIDEO CREDITS

Music: DriftMaster by Shane Ivers - https://www.silvermansound.com

[LIFE STUFF] We're Married! Plus Christmas Projects

Now’s about the time of year where I forget I own a blog because I can’t post a whole heck of a lot (read: Christmas gifts ahoy). So in lieu of knitty updates, I figured I’d come and let you all know our big news: we finally got married!

Yes, as of October 23rd, 2021, I’m no longer a single lady and I couldn’t be happier.

We had two amazing honeymoons, one that included brewery-hopping in Asheville, NC, and another that involved celebrating one of our friends’ weddings and maybe visiting a few more breweries. Our wedding itself was also at a brewery, so if you couldn’t tell, breweries are our thing (one of many, thankfully).

I guess that means I found a guy who was finally knit-worthy and he’ll be getting a new hat or socks for every holiday henceforth. I don’t think he’s mad about it.

Life’s been pretty crazy for us both since the wedding, being that we’ve barely been home, but things have weirdly been winding down as we head into festive season. We’ve both been boosted and are looking forward to celebrating (and baking) with family and friends over the next month. Plus, it’s Scott’s birthday on the 23rd so we’re throwing the first gathering at our house since the panorama started (we haven’t really had anyone over since I moved in last year). It seems like a new world to actually be prepping and tidying for guests; I’m not sure I know how to plan a real event anymore (wedding excluded, assuming everyone had a good time, haha).

As far as Christmas crafting goes, I’ve actually completed a lot of it (shocking, I know). I plan on starting and completing two more major projects this weekend and have a pair of socks on the needles that should take me less than a week to complete, so I have full confidence I’ll be able to crank out lots of handmade goodness before the big day. Of course, I also have loads of other gift ideas I can work on as supplemental gifts if the main events are done with plenty of time, but that means I’m slacking on all my yarn advents. In other words, I’ll be relaxing on a pile of minis come Christmas Eve. Speaking of, I also bought a Christmas Eve cast-on box from Dragon Hoard Yarn. Ayiyi…

Speaking of yarn I bought specifically for the holidays, if you want to indulge in all my Christmas yarn advents, make sure to check out my Instagram story highlights. Each advent yarn is accompanied by one of my favorite Christmas songs and tags the dyer, so you’re in for a festive treat!

And then we’ve got Friendmas coming up, as well as the annual Bake & Bitch with two of my besties where we have lofty cookie exchange goals and just end up salting the dough with our tears and drinking wine.

Wow, this almost sounds like a normal Christmas. I even took my mom to see Sarah Brightman’s “A Winter Symphony” tour on Black Friday, which was fantastical. I’ve been obsessed with Sarah Brightman since my parents brought home the Phantom of the Opera OBC recording when I was six years old, so I’ve now seen her performa all my favorites three times. It was such a great night and I’m really excited that this type of stuff is coming back.

PLEASE GET YOUR BOOSTERS AND BELIEVE IN SCIENCE SO WE CAN KEEP GOING TO THESE THINGS THANK YOU!

Anyway, we’ve obviously got a ton of stuff going on and I’m excited for all of it, even if I’m exhausted just thinking about it. Stay tuned for lots of project posts coming soon once I don’t need to keep them in hiding!

In the meantime, I’m:

Reading: In a Holidaze (ie: Christmas goo from last year’s December BOTM to relax after my heavy Feminist Book Club read, We Keep the Dead Close, which was really amazing but hooooooweee).

Listening: My 2021 Spotify Wrapped

Watching: Like… all the Christmas movies I can get my hands on

[FINISHED] Shell Cottage Socks

As best laid plans are wont to do, my Dotted Rays bind-off didn’t go down the way the pattern said it would and I ended up digging into my stash for a fourth hank of HedgeHog Fibres “Birthday Cake” to finish the i-cord edging. It was a different twist and several years old so not a perfect match, but it got the job done and the only people who will notice are psychopaths and people who read my blog.

Of course, a whole lot of yarn went unused, so I had plenty left over for a full pair of socks (not that I’m complaining). I typically get sick to death of certain colorways by the time I’m done with something, but I think I could have knit with this one forever. It’s stunning.

I didn’t want to make vanilla socks this time and instead opted for an easy pattern repeat designed by Helen Stewart from Curious Handmade. If you haven’t checked out her patterns before, you absolutely should. Each row is written as its own cell as part of a table so you can easily keep track of your progress and your percent complete. I know that the advent of KnitCompanion has made tracking charts much easier, but Helen has saved my butt with her patterns more than a few times now, so I’d highly recommend them.

It also gave me the opportunity to knit the Eye of Partridge heel, which I hadn’t made in a long time. I’d switched to the infamous Fish Lips Kiss heel many moons ago and didn’t start looking back until last summer after realizing a standard slip stitch heel is so much sturdier and long-lasting than so many of the short row heels. So I’m back on the square heel wagon, I guess, and not ashamed.

Project Info

• Pattern: Shell Cottage Socks by Helen Stewart

• Yarn: Hedgehog Fibres Twist Sock

• Colorway: Birthday Cake

PS: If you love this design from Helen, then you might want to check out the next issue of Knitability, due to hit the Bakery Bears Patreon before the end of the month!

[FINISHED] Dark Phoenix

If you’ve been following me on Instagram lately (or had access to my craft room to see my full stash), you’ll know that I’m going through a huge minis phase. And by that, I mean I can’t stop buying themed mini skeins from my favorite dyers, despite being at a loss of what to do with them.

Lucky for me, everyone else has been going through a similar phase, probably thanks to a plethora of yarn advent calendars making their ways into the wild; heck, I even bought Halloween and New Year’s themed kits. That means more and more patterns geared toward minis are also crawling out of the woodwork.

So it should come as no surprise that - during another bout of insomnia that resulting in a middle-of-the-night browse through Instagram - I stumbled upon the Blooming Bouganvillea minis from Emma’s Yarn and needed to give them a go. Firstly, because Emma’s Yarn is always because… I mean… look at all the pink.

However, I went through a short-lived phase where I promised myself I wouldn’t buy yarn unless I had a pattern lined up for it (insert maniacal cackling here), so I did a little Ravelry research before pulling the trigger. That’s how I found Dark Phoenix by Tamy Gore, which is a wonderful smaller pieces that mixes garter, basic lace, and single-color brioche, switching your fade colors at the beginning of each section for an effect that’s - as most fades are - chef’s kiss.

This will be a fun fall accessory to bring on our honeymoon (okay, I’m bringing all my knits on our honeymoon, but that’s fine) and will last all through fall, winter, and even early spring. It’s super wearable and simply lovely, so 10/10 would recommend!

Project Details

• Pattern: Dark Phoenix by Tamy Gore

• Yarn: Emma’s Yarn, Practically Perfect Smalls

• Colorway: Blooming Bouganvillea

I’ve got a lot of projects I need to update you about, but I’m feeling so behind with all things work, wedding, and Knitability editing (you’re going to be really happy with the next few issues, though, so it’s worth it)! I might try to take a few minutes here and there to write a few blogs when I need a brain break, as I’m wont to need lately, but I’ve been defaulting to knitting, cross stitching Christmas gifts, and reading my spooky season books lineup that features a lot of Stephen King.

I do have loads of new Halloween yarn, though, and I’m nearly done with a Weekender sweater and matching Jack & Sally socks for Scott and me that we can sport in Asheville. Needless to say, I’ve got a lot on my plate and I’m clearly avoiding it by casting on all the things. More to come soon!