Episode 258: Finally Home & Fun Finishes

Thank you for tuning in to Episode 258 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. This week’s segments included:   Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins From the Armchair In my Travels KAL News Events Life in Focus On a Happy Note Quote of the Week Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Summer Rainbow Socks   Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Yarn:  Desert Vista Dyeworks Viso base in the Summer Rainbow Colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page 253.8 meters for Stash Dash Hattie’s Water Bottle Holder   Pattern: Freedom Water Bottle Holder by Wendy Serrao (free crochet pattern available on Ravelry & on Wendy’s website) Yarn: Lion Brand Re-Up Hook: G (4.25 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the project: Hattie (age 5) saw a water bottle holder at the local refill store and asked for one. Her Mom, Megg texted asking if I could please make one for Hattie. The pattern is designed for an adult/larger sized water bottle so I knew I wanted to make mine smaller than called for in the pattern. I started in blue and increased up to about 38 sts around. Instead of double crochets, I worked half double crochets instead. 6 rows hdc, followed by 3 rows of (ch1, dc around) in purple. Then I repeated that in pink. I had planned to do the strap half pink and half purple, but when I had Hattie try it on, it was too long (even though I had been accounting for a serious amount of stretch). She said it needed attention regardless because there wasn’t any blue in the strap. Noted. Thankfully, I’d anticipated my picky client and brought all three colors with me to the pool. I ripped back, adjusted the length, added some blue to the second half of the strap and voila! 80.2 meters for Stash Dash Seeing Spirals Washcloth   Pattern: Seeing Spirals Washcloth by Lindsey Dale (free crochet pattern available on Ravelry or on Lindsey’s website) Yarn: Lion Brand Re-Up Hook: G (4.25 mm) Ravelry Project Page 14 meters for Stash Dash Musselburgh Hat   Pattern: Musselburgh by Ysolda Teague ($7.77 US/ 6 GBP knitting pattern available on Ravelry or on Ysolda’s website) Yarn: YarnBaker Fingering in the Blazer Colorway & On The Round Nimble Sock (unsure of colorway) Needles: US 2 (2.75) circular- 32 in (magic loop for beginning & end of project & US 2 (also called US 2.5) 3.0 mm 16-inch circular for the body of the hat Ravelry Project Page Size: Adult Medium About the project: Half light blue, half darker denim blue, about 8.5 inches tall. You can still fold up the brim if you really want to. 384.7 meters for Stash Dash Chevron Scrap Blanket   Pattern: Chevron Scrap Blanket by Maria’s Blue Crayon (free crochet pattern) available on Ravelry & the Maria’s Blue Crayon Website. This pattern presumes you already know the c2c crochet technique. Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Worsted in White & Tranquil (light green), Lion Brand Pound of Love in Pastel Pink and Loops & Threads Snuggly Wuggly Big! in colorway Soft Lilac Hook: J (6.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page (I crocheted one of these in summer 2020- click here for that Ravelry Project Page) For help learning the Corner to Corner Crochet method you could check out this free Ravelry Download from Lauri Bolland or this video tutorial from Lion Brand on https://youtu.be/mQPVlaRE4Gw Each section is 11 squares tall. Green, white, pink, white, purple, white. I used mattress stitch to seam  all 6 strips together. I used white to do a dc border round, then a hdc round. From there I did a crochet pom pom border using 2 puff stitches that you fold over to make bobbles. I first used this border on a Cozy Clusters Blanket last summer (Ravelry project page here). I learned about this edge technique on this website. 3,024 meters for Stash Dash On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins Mini Skein Hexagon Blanket   Pattern: Basic Crochet Hexagon Pattern & Tips from Make Do and Crew Website & https://youtu.be/X4hgFCAKHkg?list=PLsrz34yAA5TqZ9zDYjyLp4A1tx_2x0Ub6 Hook: F (3.75 mm) Yarn: Mini skeins from 2022 agirlandherwool Advent Calendar, 24 Days of Cheer Swap minis + other scraps/swap yarn Ravelry Project Page I’ve been closing the end of each hexagon with this join- link to Instagram post 4 rounds per hexagon. 3.75 inches each. Likely need over 300 Twin sized blanket is 60×80 inches. 17×22 hexis- 374. Learned double magic circle from this YouTube video. The trick is to know how to pull both loops to tighten the loop. Progress: I started seaming! 3 Christmas Stockings   Pattern: Christmas Stockings to Knit and Crochet from Family Circle Magazine. Available in this web archive link. I’ve also saved it to my podcast Gmail Google Drive in case it disappears! web.archive.org-Christmas Stockings to Knit and Crochet from Our Archives.pdf Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Cherry Red, Hunter Green and White Hook: G (4.0 mm) Ravelry Project Page Progress: I have 3 of the 4 front/back panels I need for the frist 2 done. The forth is onto the leg. I am going to crochet up 2 more and then iron them, and start seaming them. LFA Helical Socks   Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Yarn: Legacy Fiber Artz Steel Toes in the Portal Colorway + 50g skein in a mystery colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the colorways: both have a pink base. The mystery skein leans more to blues and purples. Portal has some brighter sky blues and bits of green and maroon. Together they just look like one beautiful colorway.  Progress: a few inches from the heel on the first sock Zebra Stripes Socks   Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams ($5 knitting pattern available on Ravelry ) Yarn: Patons Kroy in the Zebra Stripes Colorway Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page About the colorway- approximately 3 round stripes of black and cream Progress: Finished first sock. Turned the heel on the second sock. Woolens and Nosh Socks   Yarn: Woolens & Nosh Targee Socks- 2022 Advent Calendar Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams ($5 Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry) Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) Ravelry Project Page 1 stripe a day. So manageable– then I got to Vegas and realized I was using US 2 instead of US 1.5. Thought the gauge looked strange. Ripped back to cuff. I got off track after that. 20g mini in dark purple; used for cuff and will use for the heel. Progress: I finished the first sock (did not use the mini for the toe). Cast on the second sock, using the mini for the cuff. From the Armchair Watching: Shrinking (on Apple TV+)I finished reading: Beach Read by Emily Henry. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link. Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.   In My Travels While in Phoenix with Mom, she, Merry & I took a day trip tour to Sedona through Detours. Nicki was our guide. First stop: Montezuma Castle. where the Sinagua people built dwellings into the side of the rock face. It was a 20 room, multi-story structure access via sets of wooden ladders. Bell Rock trailhead/ vista.  Chapel of the Holy Cross – beautiful setting with nearly 360 views of the red rocks all around, beautiful face of windows on one end with a large statue of Jesus over the altar. Uptown Sedona. Lunch. Coffee. Shopping. Ice cream! KAL News Splash Pad Party 23: May 26-July 31, 2023   Sign up using this Google Form. To confirm you’re signed up, check the Stats/Registration Spreadsheet here. Splash Pad '23 Sponsors  with all the links you need to their websites & social media. Many of our Sponsors are offering coupon codes. Find them here- Google Doc or Ravelry Thread. Tune in to hear if you are one of our Participation Winners Events Stash Dash, hosted by Leslie & Laura of the Knit Girllls Video Podcast starts May 26th and runs through August 31, 2023. Check out details in the knit girllls discord My total as of this episode: 5,630 meters You can check out my Stash Dash 2023 Progress on this Google Sheet. Legacy Fiber Artz Knit Your Stash MAL- check out the details on the Treehouse Fiber Arts website Runs May 29- September 4, 2023 #legacyfiberartzknityourstashMal and #flashyourstash Crafty Bingo- Craft Cook Read Repeat Podcast May 26-September 4, 2023 Grab the Bingo card over on their Instagram feed The Grocery Girls are hosting Hot Granny Square Summer MAL. Check out details in their Ravelry Group & in Episode 183 on their YouTube Channel. Summer Sock Camp hosted in the Crazy Sock Lady Ravelry Group 5/26- 8/31/2023 Vermont Sheep & Wool: Sept 30 & Oct 1 at the Tunbridge Fairgrounds Check out some West Coast (US) Events on the Seattle Knitters Guild site (thanks Kristen- kips206) Life in Focus I shared in the last episode that my mother-in-law, Marilyn, passed away shortly before I left for Phoenix. When I returned home, we finished the of the plans and held her funeral mass that Thursday morning. Dan’s younger sister Kathy (and her husband Tony) came in from Florida and stayed with us as did my friend Laura (from NYC). We all met up for dinner on Wednesday night with Dan & Matt’s aunt who came in from Maine and 2 of her daughters and their families. The services and lunch afterwards were beautiful. Readings and music were all specially chosen and read/performed by people she loved. Its was a beautiful send off. We had a small gathering after at my friend Megg’s house. She, Laura and I walked down to the beach just before sunset. On a Happy Note While Laura was in town we went for a late lunch with Kris and Megg at the Salt Society and then Laura, Kris and I got ice cream at Hornstra and Laura and I went on to see No Hard Feelings at the movies. Saturday July 8th we had a big pool party for our friend Trish’s birthday. Fun day with all the kiddos before they head off to their various camps. On Sunday, Dan’s friends came for a visit and brought us a delicious homemade strawberry rhubarb pie. Monday night we did a double date night with Megg and Tom to The Snug, an Irish pub, for live music to catch up before they head to Ireland for summer visits. Thursday I celebrated 20 years at Mass General with the annual Ether Day Dinner (normally held in October but ours was postponed) where they celebrate staff with milestones in 5 year increments from 20-60 years of service. Cocktail hour with live music followed by a delicious dinner for over 600 people! It was made especially fun because my dear friend Waveney and her husband Atticus were there- and Dan ran into a friend from work whose wife was also celebrating 20 years. On October 16, 1846, the first successful public demonstration of the use of ether for surgical anesthesia was performed, making pain-free surgery possible. Friday pool night. Meagan and Gayle, up from NH, brought resin/acrylic crafts and the fam decorated cutting boards and trays. I missed it but Dan and the others who learned are going to teach me. Quote of the Week We can take a wonderful vacation in spirit, even though we are obliged to stay at home, if we will only drop our burdens from our minds for a while. –Laura Ingalls Wilder Thank you for tuning in!Contact Information:   Check out the Down Cellar Studio Patreon! Ravelry: BostonJen & Down Cellar Studio Podcast Ravelry Group Instagram: BostonJen1 YouTube: Down Cellar Studio Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/downcellarstudio Sign up for my email newsletter to get the latest on everything happening in the Down Cellar Studio Check out my Down Cellar Studio YouTube Channel Knit Picks Affiliate Link Bookshop Affiliate Link Yarnable Subscription Box Affiliate Link Music -“Soft Orange Glow” by Josh Woodward. Free download: http://joshwoodward.com/ Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.