Shout out to the Fuzzy Goat!

I ordered a "box of goats" from Fuzzy Goat Yarn shop in Thomasville, Georgia, after seeing a Facebook ad. The description on their web site was 

"Box of Goats is 31 whimsical surprises from Fuzzy Goat including pleasing yarns from Emma's Yarns and some indulgences just for you – a daily smile to delight you in December. Your box will include the 2020 Box of Goats pattern for one project, and 31 packages (one to open each day of December), including mini skeins to make the pattern."

It sounded like an Advent Calendar!  

So, it not only is a box of yarn, it is also a Facebook group and a Knit A Long.  (KAL) I am knitting on the machine, although it seems to be mostly hand-knitters in the group, and at least one crocheter.  The yarns are 80% superwash merino and 20% nylon.  It's a fingering or sock weight. 

The included pattern was for a scarf with a garter border and a simple pattern repeat. It calls for a size 7 needle, so the resulting fabric would have a lot of drape, as that is a fairly large needle for that weight of yarn.   It only calls for 42 stitches to be cast on.  This seems like it would be quite narrow, for a scarf.  OK, I can do the garter border by using the garter bar.  But the stitch pattern?  "Sl 1 wyif, K1"  Can't do that.  

A slip stitch with yarn in front is not easily achieved on the knitting machine, at least not on my Brother machines. I can do a slip stitch with yarn in back very easily, but with yarn in front?  I can't do this stitch on the machine. 

The skeins are each 40 yards long. The color names on the labels are very amusing.  

Today's is "Fun Guy" 

  So I have only opened the first 5, but I assume each one will be a different color.  So, I opened up Stitch World and started looking at the multicolor tuck and slip stitches. I thought about doing #306, which is frequently used for baby blankets, but I settled on stitch pattern # 308.  I decided to supplement the supplied yarns with one from my stash.  It is the same weight, I bought at Vogue Knitting conference when we were allowed to travel.  The label says it is from Carodan Farm and the yarn is Chincoteague Colors - Goldenrod.  I will use it as the background, ecru in the stitch world illustration. 

On my first attempt at this, I tried to follow the color changes per the stitch pattern design to use multiple colors.  But I did not have the pattern synched with the color changes, and after knitting almost 200 rows I realized that I was getting stripes on the right side.  After ripping all the way back to the garter rows last night, I decided it would be better to just knit the entire mini-skein all at once and then change to the next.  I'm on my third mini-skein now, and the scarf is about 2 feet long.  If I use all 15 mini-skeins, I will have a 10-foot scarf?  Here's my progress so far. 

I liked the Advent Box so much I went ahead and signed up for the Good Vibrations Tour.  Like I really need more yarn.  But these yarns are so nice, they are a pleasure to work with.  I hope they are doing a similar Facebook group with the Good Vibrations Tour. It is nice to see other people's work.