RavingLoon Studio

creations of a crafter

Tag: scrappyknitting

  • July 2025

    July 2025

    “Summer has always seemed to me the season in which our bodies make their presence most known to us.”

    – Maggie; Or, a Man and a Woman Walk into a Bar [Katie Yee]

    July came and went. I mostly hid in my house. Here is this month's recap:

    Some finished socks! These are Simply Ribbed Socks with Square Heel by This Handmade Life using Biscotte Yarns Felix Self-Striping in the Carousel colourway. These were fun to knit, and being a ribbed sock had lots of knit/purl changes. I did not do anything special in the heel knitting to accommodate for the self-striping yarn, but they turned out great anyway!

    I've seen significant growth in my teeny tiny little garden where all I have going is some raspberries, strawberries, tomatoes, and some peppers.

    Color of my Fiber had a sale and I took advantage and purchased six skeins for future projects (socks!).

    After completing a pair of socks, I immediately cast on a new pair, these are Woodnote Socks by This Handmade Life and they are adorable. I used some deep stash that has some micro striping. It may not have been the best pairing, but I was honestly curious to see how the yarn would knit up in a very textured pattern. I did a solid colour heel flap and toes out of some scrap yarn, still ended up with some pooling around the decreases, but that's ok! They are fun and I enjoyed knitting them! I have a decent amount of the yarn left for another project.

    Since I yet again, did not have socks on my needles, I got right to it and wound up two 50g cakes for a new pair of socks. I'm looking at Sweet Woodruff by This Handmade Life because I think they would indeed be sweet in the newly acquired Peach colourway by Color of My Fiber. 

    This month, I came into possession of a huge bag of apples from a backyard apple tree. Lucky me! They were small but tasty. I decided to peel and slice about a hundred of the little suckers and made apple pie filling. My fingertips are still numb but my tummy will be satisfied for months to come.

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥

  • March 2024

    This month's recap:

    I'm burning through my leftover yarns is this scrappy project and still loving how meditative the knitting is.

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥

  • January 2024

    I finally found the scrappy project I've been looking for! This is very exciting for me. I've gathered all my leftover fingering weight and have started knitting and knitting and knitting (it looks like brioche, but it's not!). This project is easily one that I will turn to for ongoing joy. Progress has been fast because it's been so soothing and meditative to work on, but it's really a yarn hog, so I will eventually have to slow down in order to knit more socks to add to the leftover pile.  


    The pattern I'm using is Bits And Bobs Blanket by Kay F JonesThe weight and squishiness of this blanket is seriously unreal. 

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥

  • August 2023

    Here's an August recap:

    Remember that quilt I finished last month that I had the top sitting around for 10,000 years without reason, well, someone mark the calendar because I am on a roll. 

    I am ashamed to admit that I had another quilt, in an even sadder state of unfinished. This one had all the cutting done, but still required some piecing, and it had been sitting around even longer than 10,000 years. Literally. Ok so! I finished piecing! Most (almost all) of the fabric used for this quilt was from stash or leftover scraps. The pattern I used is called Triangularity by Jeni Baker. 

    Every month or couple months, I look very forward to catching up with Arne & Carlos and all of their adventures and shenanigans, seriously, if I am in a less than sunshiney mood, these two can have me hitting replay and gut laughing in minutes, I absolutely adore them. Anyway, I felt inspired to knit one of their patterns and try out the famous Norwegian yarn, and so I purchased the Redd Barna Unisex Jumper and knit this in Rowan wool and simply chose the (near) same colours that was in their original design. This month, I got a good start on that sweater.

    I found myself with some waiting time this month and so cast on a new pair of socks in fun summery colours and since it was so hot, felt to make a pair of shorties for summer. 

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥
  • February 2023

    February 2023

    This month I finished the scrappy pair cabled socks I had started a couple of months ago.

    Out of some Quince & Co. Lark in the River colourway, I knit a Huxley by Jared Flood, I'm thinking, since I haven't been having much luck with sweater knitting, perhaps a vest is what I'm in the market for?
    This vest is adorable and I am really happy with how it turned out. Will I wear it? I am not sure. I've never worn a vest before in my life and maybe I need to wear it around the house to get used to it before venturing into the wild with it.

    A pair of socks I started last month got completed and blocked. The colour pooling is fun in these socks and I am a sucker for purple, overall it was just fun to knit these.

    Honestly, I can't help but take advantage of a sale when I see one. Sigh. This time it was Andrea Mowry again with her adorable pattern photoshoots and personality. I know that I said it was time to break up, but maybe just maybe, I can win this. I took advantage of a coupon code to purchase Pink Fizz and by golly I want to make this work, ok, so here is my plan. I am knitting with 100% alpaca, super super soft, super light, super drapey and my hope it that the sweater is not constricting in any way, not itchy in any way AND, I am knitting this in a semi-neutral colour, so all signs point to a successful sweater.

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥

  • October 2022

    October 2022

    This month, I realized I have been missing sock knitting and decided to throw some leftover fingering together to get started. I just made up some cabling for the pattern. I love those flecks of neon in the grey. That's it for this month!

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥
  • September 2022

    September 2022

    This month I knit a third Musselburgh by Ysolda Teague, this time, I used only scrap yarns and held two fingering strands double hoping and successfully achieving a marled look! I really love how this one turned out! And this toque is reversible, if you didn't know, so I did plan a bit of a gradient so it looks completely different inside out!

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥

  • October 2019

    October 2019

    This month's recap:

    There is something outrageously fun about putting together colours with plans to bring a little creature to life. I knit Gnome De Plume by Sarah Schira and had a blast doing it. This surprised me because I don't usually enjoy knitting tiny but for some reason, knitting little i-cords and doing a teeny little colour change didn't bother me because I knew they were Gnorman's little arms and hands. And blocking his little beard! I mean, I can't handle it. This is apparently a spectacular way to use up yarn scraps.

    After hitting up Michael's to experiment with some Wool Ease Thick & Quick, I cast on and knit up the Winston Pullover by Jane Richmond. The yarn called for in this pattern is a super bulky weight 80% Acrylic, 20% Wool blend that is extremely economical and there was something nice about that. This sweater thick and warm and will be perfect for those days when layering up to combat Winter chill is non-optional.

    This month, I also took a leap and learned how to cut, solder and make a suncatcher with stained glass. Unfortunately, this did require a larger investment and I found it disappointing that there are no stores that sell these supplies anywhere even remotely close to me. I had to order everything online, even the sheets of coloured glass, which I would have preferred to have look at in person, because stained glass is similar to knitting in that every sheet multi-coloured sheet is completely unique, not unlike hand dyed yarn.

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥

  • March 2019

    March 2019

    I cozied up this month, hunkering down knitting some columns on my Northeasterly by Skeinanigans. I love the emotional connections I have to all these leftover balls of sock yarn. It's like my memories from the time I knit with that yarn are imprinted in the yarn itself. 

    Honestly, I am still a bit on the fence about this pattern as a way to use up my scraps, it requires more attention in a way that I don't always have the capacity to give.

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥
  • October 2017

    October 2017

    This month just flew right by!

    My Monster Socks are finished being knit and all done being blocked. There are a lot of my favourite yarns used in these socks which makes the socks carry quite a lot of nostalgia. I used a heel flap with eye of the partridge stitch because it really does fit my foot the best. 

    Also completed this month is my Ladies Classic Raglan Pullover by Jane Richmond and I have to say it is all that is promised to be! I'm really excited to get wearing this, but the weather has been quite warm this year, so I might have to hold off the fashion show until a bit later into this Winter season.

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥
  • September 2016

    September 2016

    This month was a slow crafting month, but I did manage to whip up some Monster Socks using fingering leftover from skeins used to make other socks. Just a simple stockinette sock and a heel flap with eye of the partridge. I love a scrappy sock and I am happy with how they turned out.

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥
  • July 2016

    July 2016

    July has always been a hard month for me, for reasons I can't discern and don't really have an interest in dissecting at this time. But despite that, I was able to finish up a few projects.

    Completed this month are both my stockinette pairs of socks with an eye of the partridge heel flap, this is my go to when I really am attached to the yarn colourway and don't want the pattern to detract or muddle the dyers intent. The bonus is that for the most part, I can watch TV or read and the socks just hum along.

    The first yarn was Regia, a line by Arne & Carlos in a colourway called Tokke. In the spirit of knitting with Arne & Carlos yarn, I actually used double-pointed needles and knit this pair one at a time. 

    The second yarn was made with a sock blank from Black Market Wool. I love both pairs.

    Just for fun, I knit a little beaver who is wearing a little scarf out of some scrap yarn, in another attempt to find out what kind of scrapy project is the one for me. I'm not sure that I have the fortitude for these tiny ornament style stuffies, but now I can go forward with that information.

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥
  • April 2016

    April 2016

    So as a sock knitter, I have a substantial amount of leftover balls of yarn, each maybe 5-15 grams, which is too much to really make one project with, but not so little that I am comfortable just tossing it. So even thought the little balls look so cute and make me happy, they are multiplying quickly and before they take over, I've decided to experiment with some scrappy projects.
     

    The scrappy scarf I chose is knit using a linen stitch, with the intention of breaking up some of the stripes and I think bring the stripes together. For me, this was very tedious. I concentrated on this project all month, working on nothing else, but didn't make a lot of headway and when I had just enough fabric to call it a scarf, I stopped.

    Likely not something I will make again, or necessarily recommend to people, when worn though, this scarf is super warm and can really block the wind and the chill from creeping in.

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥
  • March 2014

    March 2014

    Ok so... almost always, after knitting socks, I am left with two small balls of leftover yarn, so when I saw that there was a Monster Sock knit along, I jumped right in to participate. Monster Socks essentially are just a plain stockinette sock but the yarn used is uncoordinated and used, in my case, in a random order to kind of Frankenstein them together. It was pretty cool to see everyone's completely different versions.

    I worked a little on my Great Divide Shawl

    Wild Olive's Winter Seasonal Stitch-A-Long came together beautifully and I am thrilled with my table mat.

    If you are familiar with me, you may know that I made a sampler style quilt using Katy Jones' 25 Patchwork Quilt Blocks and when she published volume 2, I had to jump on it.

    I cast on two new pairs of socks this month. The first is Garter Rib by Charlene Schurch using Candy Skein's yarn in a Caribbean Cocktail colourway and the second pair I cast on is Hermione's Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder in The Wacky Windmill's colourway named Scarlet which has glitter in the base :-)

    Also, had to hop on Bunny Nuggets by Rebecca Danger and knit up the sweetest little guy with some leftover sock yarn.

    That's it - Happy crafting! Nic ♥