Stacey's Favorite Toe for Knitting Socks

My toes angle straight down from the big toe to the pinky toe, and with most of the knitted toes that I've tried the sock ends up stretched on my big toe and bunches up with extra fabric on the other side.  I'm sure there are quite a few different knit toes that work well for the shape of my toes, but since I found one pattern that I liked, I don't feel the need to try more (at this point).  My go-to toe is the Asymmetric Wedge Toe from Reena Meijer Drees which can be found at http://knitbettersocks.blogspot.com/2012/03/asymmetric-wedge-toe.html. 

Lee's second toe is longer than his big toe, so all of the toe patterns that I've tried have fit him pretty well (lucky guy).  If I want to try additional toe patterns, I'd probably use them on his socks before my own.

West Mitten Crafts is now on Twitch!

Do you ever wish you could take part in our crafting adventures?  We're pleased to announce that you can find me streaming some of my crafting activities on Twitch.  I have been recording from 6-7 a.m. Eastern, and plan to continue this schedule Monday-Friday each week, with the possibility of some weekend recordings too.  Stop by while I'm recording and send a message in chat that I can respond to, or if you're like most people that would rather be sleeping, watch one of the videos I already recorded, they're available to watch for two weeks.

Shop Update

We're running another sale in our Etsy shop!  Today through Labor Day (8/29/18-9/3/18) you can get any of our available items 20% off, no coupon code required.

Sewing

I finished my first Relaxed Raglan pattern from Patterns for Pirates.  This was made in size medium out of some Purple Black Heather Brushed Jersey Sweatshirt Fleece Knit Fabric from Girl Charlee Fabrics.  This sweater fits great, but I prefer smaller necklines, so my next two versions will utilize some of the alternate pieces that Patterns for Pirates offers to switch it up.

In order to make the next two versions, I cut out the pattern pieces for the Patterns for Pirates Relaxed Raglan Add On.  I also cut out the Colette Patterns Sorbetto pattern as well.

I also made my second Squishy Project Bag by Erica Arndt from Confessions of a Homeschooler, and the whole process was streamed on Twitch.  It took three morning craft sessions to finish this project, which included a bit of ripping out stitches because I thought my way was better than the way its recommended.  Some day I'll learn.  I did make the strap two inches longer to make it easier to fit over my hand, but otherwise made the pattern as written.  I expect that I'll make more of these in the future.

Knitting

I have been working on my Two-at-a-time socks and Lee's One Ball Knit Scarfie.  The socks are my standard sock pattern out of Shalimar Yarns Zoe Sock in the Juniper Berry colorway, and they have about one inch of ribbing at this point.  It does seem like they are taking forever, but I've only picked them up a few times and the progress is being shared over the two socks, so technically I have two inches of sock done.

The scarf is getting long (its 4' long so far), but I'm planning on knitting until I run out of yarn, so I'm guessing its about halfway there.  It is being knit out of Lion Brand Scarfie in the Cranberry/Black colorway.

Stacey's update

Hello!  Thanks for checking in on us.  We have been horribly absent from the blog, and even from crafting in general for a while.  I did manage to read 56 books so far this year though!  I have returned to my beloved crafts, and wanted to share my makes so far.

Knitting

Shortly after our last blog post, I decided to attempt the Oaklet Shawl by Megan Goodacre again.  I originally started the shawl back in October of 2013, and had made a fair bit of progress before I noticed that the eyelets were a bit wonky and stopped working on it.  Four years later, it was officially ripped out, as I still had no idea how to fix it, and would not have been happy with it as it was.  It was very pretty though, aside from being skewed on one side.  Apparently, I've become a better knitter in the past five years, so it was a joy to work on this time.  The shawl was knit out of Malabrigo Yarn Sock in the Alcaucil colorway and the knitting was finished on April 29th, and the blocking and weaving in of ends was completed earlier this month.

Stacey's Oaklet Shawl

I then worked on a pair of socks for Lee out of West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 Ply in the Bullfinch (861) colorway that I picked up at the Sin City Knit Shop in Las Vegas last December.  I used my generic sock pattern with Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel and Asymetric Wedge Toe by Reena Meijer Drees.  These socks only took 5 months, and were made within a year of purchasing the yarn, so I'm quite proud of myself.

Lee's From Vegas With Love Socks

Earlier this month, I decided that I wanted to go to knit night again, which requires that I have a project to work on, so I grabbed a ball of Lion Brand Scarfie in the Cranberry/Black colorway that Lee had selected sometime last year (I have not been doing a good job of keeping my Ravelry stash updated).  I cast on a One Ball Knit Scarfie by Lion Brand, and that has been getting a bit of love every day or so. 

Lee's One Ball Knit Scarfie

With Lee's scarf cast on, I suddenly had the urge to cast on more things, so I grabbed some Shalimar Yarns Zoe Sock in the Juniper Berry colorway that I got as part of a Knit Crate package years ago.  I decided that with it taking just 5 months for Lee's socks, I should up the ante and knit my pair two at a time.  Maybe it'll be faster with no second sock syndrome, maybe slower if I get confused and start using the wrong strand of yarn for each sock.  They definitely require a bit more mindfulness, so they aren't my quick grab project (its a good think I've also got the scarf to work on).  

Stacey's Two-at-a-time Socks

Crochet

After the shawl, I worked on two pairs of Baby Strap Flip-Flops by Bethany Dearden for a friend.  These were fairly quick projects, though I had to watch Bethany's youtube video to get some clarification on the pattern.  I managed to hand these over without taking pictures, but they were pretty darn cute.

Sewing

After starting Lee's scarf, and having the needles create quite a few new holes in the first project bag I ever made, I decide to make a better project bag.  I looked online and came across the Squishy Project Bag pattern from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  I went through my stash trying to find some bits that were big enough and would go with the pink zipper that I had, and whipped this pretty little bag up over a few mornings before work.  I love the size of this bag, and am glad that I listened to Lee and quilted the outside.  He thinks I should have used a contrasting thread color for the quilting, so I'll probably try that on the next bag I make.

Closed Squishy Project Bag

Open Squishy Project Bag

I sewed up a tee shirt using the Kwik Sew K3766 pattern that I had sitting around using some knit jersey that I had tried to make a waterfall cardigan from last year.  The hems are a bit wavy and the fabric is a bit stretchier than I like for my shirts, but it fits well, I like the neckline and shoulder seam placement, and it's very comfortable.  I'll definitely make this pattern again, once I can figure out what kind of fabric is appropriate for tee shirts.  I'd love some suggestions...  And the shirt is currently in the laundry, so no picture right now (otherwise the motivation to get this out here might disappear again).

Yesterday I cut the pattern and fabric for my first Relaxed Raglan pattern from Patterns for Pirates.  My chest and waist measurements fell on the low end of the medium size range, but my waist was almost in the extra large size range.  Since it was the relaxed version, and not fitted, I decided to cut a straight medium out of some Purple Black Heather Brushed Jersey Sweatshirt Fleece Knit Fabric from Girl Charlee Fabrics and hope for the best.  I stitched up the front and back to the sleeves this morning, and pinned the neck to the body, so hopefully I'll get that stitched up tomorrow morning.  I'm happy with the sleeve and body length, so I think I'll just hem them and have a finished sweater.  If the finishing goes as well as the rest, I'll definitely be making another one (or five).

Progress on the Relaxed Raglan

Cross-Stitch

I did work on the 2015 Story Time Sampler pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery for a few days, but haven't been picking it up nearly often enough.  Maybe I'll finish it in 2020?

Finished socks, some metalworking, and more delicious pizza

Happy March everyone!

Knitting

Stacey finally finished her second sock out of the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight in the Twinkle Twinkle Little Vampire colorway.  The first sock was cast-on on December 21, 2017, and they were completed on February 22, 2018.  The cuffs were 2x2 rib, the heel used Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel, the foot was knit around, and Reena Meijer Drees Asymmetric Wedge Toe was used for both socks.

And that was it for knitting, and well, all of Stacey's crafting.  The rest of Stacey's week was spent reading.  She really is bad at starting new projects.  Maybe next week...

Woodworking/Metalworking

Does that say metalworking? What kind of blog is this? I came here for woodworking. If that's what your thinking just wait, please. I can pull you back in I promise. 

Lee started working on Kiridashi, this is a Japanese style utility knife. Lee has been interested in these knives for quite some time and figured it was about time to make one. What does this have to do with woodworking, well the one sided blade on the Kiridashi lends itself to being used as a marking knife. Here (Miller Knives - Kiridashi) is a good youtube video that shows the process of making this knife and where Lee got his inspiration. 

Lee was able to take a piece of metal from some scraps in his fathers garage to make the knife from. Here is the pattern drawn out on the knife.

Lee used an angle grinder with a cutoff disc to get the general shape and then moved onto a belt/disc sander to establish the bevel (that's the business end) of the knife.

Onto the woodworking! Stacey and Lee have been enjoying fresh homemade pizza lately and thus decided it was time to make a pizza peel. 

Lee ripped down an oak and padauk board he had laying around from other projects. You can start to see the layout of the pizza peel here. Next week it should be finished and hopefully put to use. Mmmmm pizza.

Lee also cut down some oak scraps to make a couple air hose covers for his fathers garage. One of the things his father built into the garage before putting drywall up was air hoses for his compressor. There are two outlets above the workbench that needed covers. The covers still need their center holes drilled out and to have some screw holes countersunk. 

Delicious pizza, modal verbs, and a very large bookshelf

This week has been a bit light on crafting for us (this seems like a regular occurrence, maybe we should re-frame what a week of crafting should amount to).  On the not-so crafty side of things, we went for our first run outside in 2018, and it was cold.  I think we're going to stick to the treadmill a bit longer.  We also demolished our pantry space in our kitchen, the first of many steps for our kitchen remodel that we'll be working on in bits and pieces in the coming year (or two or three).  We also attended a social event, watched some videos, read some books, and made some delicious pizza.

Knitting

Guess who didn't finish her sock like she said she would last week?  Stacey!  To be fair, she said that she 'might' finish her sock this week, but when does she ever say that she will or won't?  It's always those modal verbs with her....  Regardless, the second of the Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight in the Twinkle Twinkle Little Vampire colorway socks are soooo close to being done, as the toe decreases are only ten rows from being completed, then its just some kitchener stitching and weaving in ends.  

Surely, Stacey will agree to having these done for next weeks post.  So long as something tragic doesn't happen in the meantime.  She refuses to make assurances that it will be completed if she happens to meet her untimely demise.  She hopes you'd understand. 

Woodworking

Lee was able to get the second coat of stain/poly on the bookshelf. The customer stopped by today to take a look and give final approval. The bookshelf has been moved out of the garage for the time being so other work can progress without getting it dusty or dirty.

Lee also spent a bit of time helping his father out with the last of the cabinet carcasses. They built one for over the fridge as well as a riser to bring the fridge up off the concrete. 

Halfway through February

Another week, another crafty update!  We hope everyone is having a wonderful February so far.

Knitting

Stacey has continued to make a fair bit of progress on her second sock out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in the Twinkle Twinkle Little Vampire colorway.  She knit the third wedge of Cat Bordhi's Sweet Tomato Heel, and continued down the foot for about 3".  There's about 1.75" left to knit before the toe decreases begin, so this one may be off the needles next week!

Since Stacey is really awful at getting things started, she has begun thinking about what will be next up on the needles.  Another pair of socks, for herself or for Lee, are of course an option.  Pfeilraupe by Alpi Alpenrose is another option, though will require a considerable amount of brain power, as the instructions are not very clear on first glance, and while their are charts, knitting from charts is not currently in Stacey's skill set.  The third option would be to move on to another craft for a while, and come back to knitting when a project calls out to her.  Of course, there's always the other 147 patterns in her ravelry queue to be considered as well.

Woodworking

Lee has made a lot of progress on both of his projects over the last week. He has been helping his father make cabinets for his new garage, and staining a bookshelf that was commissioned by a co-worker.

Lee made a sketchup model of the garage and cabinets that were built. This helped out quite a bit when it came time to cutting down the 13 sheets of plywood that would make the cabinets in the picture below. There is one cabinet left to make that will go over the fridge. The doors need to be installed on all of the cabinets and the counter top needs to have a sheet of formica glued on it. There are a couple odds and ends beyond that, but the cabinets are basically finished.

The bookshelf had a coat of stain/poly applied to it and the shelves have had two. The plan as is stands today is to get the second coat on the bookshelf this coming weekend. 

Extending the woodworking season and a finished sock

Knitting:

Stacey attended her first knit night this past week, and made a lot of progress in just two hours on her first sock out of  Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight in the Twinkle Twinkle Little Vampire colorway.

Knit Night Sock Progress

The knitting didn't end there though.  Stacey kept knitting while we watched some television shows in the evening and cuddled with the critters, and she finished the first sock. 

 

Finished first sock!

Then, she started the second sock... that's right, no second sock syndrome here!  She even made it to into the heel, so about 3/4 of a sock was knit in just one week, which is amazing, since Stacey normally takes about a month to knit each sock.

One week's progress on second sock.

Sewing:

While folding some laundry, Stacey noticed this gaping hole on one of Lee's favorite sweatshirts.

I don't think this cuff will hold on much longer.

So, the sweatshirt was rushed off to the craft room for some emergency surgery.  The surgery was successful, and Lee was very happy to put it back to use.

 

Woodworking:

Lee and his father installed a heater in the garage last weekend. There was a pellet stove in the garage, but it was kind of a hassle to run. Having a natural gas heater with a thermostat should make the garage much more usable. 

Since there is a heater in the garage now Lee put it to use and spent some time out there staining the bookshelf that he was commissioned to build. 

All Woodworking

Happy Thursday everyone!

This week has been all Lee on the craft front, as Stacey hasn't been feeling the best and has chosen cuddles with the cat and dog over crafting.

Woodworking:

I have a wooden wallet that I made for myself around 6 months ago, and I love it. I hardly ever carry cash on me, so the wallet only needs to be big enough to hold some credit and insurance cards. The original wallet was made from walnut and cherry. The two below are made from purple heart, maple, walnut and padauk. The inner stripes are maple and padauk. The purple heart and walnut are used on the larger pieces. They still need to have some corners sanded off and to be sanded up to 220 grit. Once that is done they can be finished with a couple coats of tung or danish oil.

The return of woodworking projects and a finished cross-stitch block

This week we have the return of woodworking and a finished cross-stitch block.

Cross-Stitch

Stacey finished the Wizard of Oz block of the 2015 Story Time Sampler pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery!

The frame around the Black Beauty block has been started.

Knitting

The Twinkle Twinkle Little Vampire socks out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight are still coming along nicely.  You can see the stitch marker where I left off last week.

Woodworking

Lee was able to put together the bookshelf someone had commissioned this past weekend. The only thing left to do is stain the bookshelf to the color the customer wants. 

Lee has wanted a mallet to use in the shop for a while. His current rubber mallet leaves black marks on things it hits. This mallet is based on the Paul Sellers video found here. It has a drop in handle that gets wedged in when you swing it to stay tight. It also pops out when you tap it to come apart and make it easier to fit in a toolbox or bag. 

  

Jumping on the pressure cooker bandwagon

This week, we borrowed a pressure cooker from Lee's parents, and put it to the test.  We cooked some dry black, red, and kidney beans for our beans and rice recipe, which was definitely less time intensive and was easier to clean up.  We also tested our sticky chicken recipe in the pressure cooker instead of the crock-pot, which came out a bit less tender but still good.  We'll likely continue to use the crock-pot for this dish.  We made some rice, as we've been considering getting a second, larger, rice cooker.  The rice was a little bit more wet than the rice in our rice cooker, but that would probably be resolved with an adjustment to the proportions of water to rice.  We then cooked some ground turkey from frozen with some taco seasoning, which worked, but the meat doesn't have the texture that Stacey prefers, so we'll go back to our normal way of cooking that as well.

Share some of your favorite pressure cooker foods and recipes with us in the comments below.

Knitting:

Stacey has continued working on her Twinkle Twinkle Little Vampire socks out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight.  The foot is coming along nicely, and it has reached the point in which it actually looks like a sock!  Stacey is still loving the striping pattern from this yarn, and has managed to not go out and purchase all of Blue Moon Fiber Arts self-striping yarn.  (Sorry Blue Moon Fiber Arts!)

Cross-stitch:

Stacey has gotten back to the Wizard of Oz block of the 2015 Story Time Sampler pattern from The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery.  Toto has been added to the block, as has a good amount of the basket and the yellow brick road.  

Ironing paper, a self-striping sock, and a finished shirt

Happy Thursday!  We hope you've all made it through last weeks crazy weather unscathed.  We've been lucky enough to just have a really cold spell, so we've been rocking our hand knit socks, hats, and scarves earlier in this past week.

Disclosure: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.  Purchasing items after following a link in this post may provide us with a commission, at no extra cost to you. 

Knitting:

Stacey has continued working on her Twinkle Twinkle Little Vampire socks out of Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Lightweight.  She has managed to only do the three necessary heel turns on the first sock, so hopefully this pair won't be a repeat of the last pair of socks.  The yarn is incredibly sproingy, which is not a real word, but a perfect description.  Stacey is loving the different striping patterns that are coming out in each section of the sock, and is showing a fair amount of restraint in the purchase of many more skeins of Socks that Rock yarn. 

Sewing:

Stacey decided to reconstruct a tee shirt using one of Lee's old and too short tees and her recently acquired Kwik Sew K3766 pattern.  The instructions for the pattern are very well written and easy to follow, but of course, were not followed as written.  As the fabric was coming from an existing shirt, the neckband and sleeves were reused as-is.  Stacey's measurements fall right between the Medium and Large sizes, so she opted to make the Large as she prefers to have a bit of extra room in tee shirts and the fabric has a bit of stretch to it.

This shirt actually came out really well, to our surprise (based on previous clothing sewing attempts, not the pattern!).  This will definitely be used (following all instructions) again, as soon as some more tee shirt fabric is obtained.  If you have any recommendations for comfortable tee shirt fabrics or favorite places to purchase fabric, let us know in the comments.

Just for fun, in case anyone who reads this is just starting out and wants to know that they're not alone, I'm sharing a couple of memorable thoughts from this project.

First, I actually read all of the instructions before I started.  Then I read through them as I went to make sure I didn't miss any steps.  There's a section at the beginning to iron the pattern paper to remove the creases so that you can cut out your size correctly.  My thoughts: Wait, am I really supposed to iron this pattern paper?  *Reread instructions.* What setting do you iron paper with?  Wait, is this paper or some kind of very thin fabric?  *Reread instructions again.*  Ok, lowest setting.  And we're ironing.  (a few minutes pass)  Gah, this is taking forever.  Second iron setting.  (a few more minutes pass)  Hmm, I guess that worked.

My second and third thoughts: Noooooo, I ran out of thread! and Really, I ran out of thread again?

Happy 2018

We hope everyone had an awesome holiday season!  We did a bit of traveling, so had limited time and resources to devote to crafting, but here's what we were able to accomplish since the last blog post.

Sewing:

Lee's winter coat developed a nice big tear under an arm, so Stacey patched that up.  

Knitting:

Stacey started another set of socks using the Sweet Tomato Heel and the Asymmetric Wedge Toe, as her Hermione's Everyday Socks and Knit One Vanilla Socks fit really well.  This yarn for this pair is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock lightweight in the Twinkle Twinkle Little Vampire colorway.  She did decrease down to 72 stitches to make the socks a little bit snugger around the foot.

Soapy Goodness:

While on vacation, Stacey was lured into some shops by some adorable soaps, bath bombs, and other skincare products.  With an awesome bath tub in our hotel room, she decided to try the Detoxify your Mind bath bomb from Nectar Bath Treats, which was quite nice and very moisturizing, so on another expedition out, a Brightside Bubble Bar and Dragon's Egg Bath Bomb were purchased from Lush.  With the fancy jets in the hotel bath, the bubbles from the bubble bar were awesome.  Upon our return home, a bath bomb making session was in order.  We made a batch of bath bombs in an ice cube tray and used a Grapefruit Bellini fragrance oil for them.  We also made some Grapefruit Bellini scented sugar scrub for an extra decadent bathing experience.