I finished the Sis Love Shawl. I haven’t blocked it yet (it’s cotton, so I plan to steam block). I’m not sure what the crochet equivalent to “it’s off the needles” is; it’s off the hook?
I’ve started my Very Bright Blanket and I’m pretty happy with the design I chose. I was inspired by the Munchkin Blanket (Ravelry link.) The pattern is no longer published, but the pattern isn’t difficult. I cast on 4 stitches, and every row is K1, Kfb, K to end of row. I change colors every 10 rows for 8 total colors, and when I get to 84 stitches the pattern changes to K1, ssk, K to end of row until I’m back down to 4 stitches and I bind off.
I’ve completed one square and I’m happy with how it’s looking. I used that and my rudimentary Google Slides skills to do a mockup of my plans for the whole thing. I realized that with just the colorful yarn the blanket would be about 52″ by 65″, and I wanted a bit more coverage. I figured out that adding the black should actually help the colors pop a bit better and will mean I can make a 78″ by 78″ blanket.
The yarns are (from top left to the middle):
Asylum Fibers’ Smooth Sock in Aquamarine
Madeline Tosh’s Twist Light in Kenergy
Salty Blonde Fiber’s 2Ply in Is Butter a Carb
Malabrigo Sock in Cian
Asylum Fibers’ Smooth Sock in Grape Soda
Apple Yarn’s Gala in Sugar Plum Fairy
Salty Blonde Fiber’s 2Ply in Irregardless
Salty Blonde Fiber’s 2Ply in Why Are You So Obsessed With Me
Asylum Fibers’ Smooth Sock in Grape Soda
I’m holding all yarns double to get a nice squishy blanket. The Salty Blonde Fiber’s yarn is a bit thicker than the others, but it’s not really noticeable in the blanket appearance.
I finished the Octility shawl (Ravelry link) a few weeks ago and really enjoyed the knit. It was about 4 weeks of knitting plus a week to block it.
My typical blocking process is as follows, which explains why it takes so long:
Weave in ends, but do not cut. Tie knots in the end of each as it’s done so I can remember which ones I’ve already done.
Put the object in water and forget about it. This is usually an overnight process.
Roll the object in a towel and press to get as much water out as possible.
Pin the object or lay it flat (depending on if it’s lace or a sweater.)
Sometimes put a fan blowing over it. This is decided by whim, not logic.
Forget about it for at least 3 days. This is usually enough for it to dry, even when Seattle is being very humid.
Cut off the woven in ends.
Delight in the finished object.
Maybe remember to photograph it and update Ravelry or the blog?
I don’t think the colors are quite “me,” but I loved working the project and getting to try out assigned pooling. I’ve definitely been bitten by the crochet bug because of those tiny flowers.
At some point I’ll go back to my Smookie sweater, but for now, I’m enjoying working on the Sislove shawl (Ravelry link, picture on left.) It’s my first real crochet project (Pictured on right is the other time I tried crochet – that’s as far as I got on “Persian Tiles” before giving up.) My previous attempts to learn crochet it always felt very awkward and unintuitive, but this time went a lot smoother. I think part of the difference was thanks to All Wound Up’s very clear video tutorials. In 2019 I also updated how I tension my yarn for knitting. Previously I held the yarn in my right hand and wrapped it around the needle every stitch. In 2019 I looked up a bunch of videos on knitting speed, and tried to learn lever knitting. I’m not all the way there, but I think that’s the closest to my style now. The point being that I think the movement I do now when knitting is more similar to crochet than what I used to do.
I’m also thinking that for my Wonky Blocks I may want to try holding the yarn double because my blocks are turning out really small. I need to swatch the Kenergy yarn that way because I don’t want to muddy the brightness, though. I’m also debating switching patterns because I’m worried that the lack of seams/picked up stitches in this garter stitch will be too stretchy and not structured enough to support the weight of a full blanket. I’m thinking about options like a Log Cabin or even Lizard Ridge. I want to balance not having too many pieces to seam at the end but providing a bit of structure to the project.
I’ve had a bit of a case of cast-on-itis (also known as “Ooh shiny!” Disorder) and seem to have a lot of projects in progress right now, so I thought I’d do a bit of an update on my progress.
Please excuse the messy photo, but I decided on adding a couple colors to the blanket I talked about last week. I want to make the blanket fairly large, and this will help with that. It will also use up some leftover skeins from another project as well as some impulse-bought sock yarn.
I cast on, and have finished the first two blocks and started on the third. Not a lot so far, but I think it will be a fun one to do a little bit at a time on because it’s so straightforward.
I’m also continuing to work on the MKAL for Octility (spoilers ahead!) I’ve done 3 of the 4 sections and I’m so excited for the final clue to drop tomorrow! I think the colors are a little delicate for me (I tend to prefer colors that hurt to look at), but it’s still a really fun project and I’m sure it’ll find it’s home at some point.
I kept knitting past the color changes and my Thursday night knit group helped me figure out to put a slip knot in at the start of the color section and then slip a locking marker through it. That way I can feel the color change and know I need to pay more attention for a bit. Really helpful!
I’m continuing to work the socks I cast on on the way to Utah. I’ve turned the second heel and just need to knit the foot, but I’ve been less excited to work on it lately. I’m sure I’ll get it done eventually.
And last but not least, I’m working on the Smookie sweater. I’ve split the back and front and am about halfway up the back so far.
I’m not sure how I went from only ever having two projects – a mindless one and a less mindless one – to four, but I’m enjoying what I have. I’m also trying to talk myself either into or out of the Sis Love Shawl (Ravelry link). It’s gorgeous, but I’d be learning to crochet on it which is probably a mistake. Although my LYS is doing it as a knit-along and has great classes… Let me know if you think it’s a good idea or I should hold off on starting more projects!
The only question was what I should make with it. It seemed a bit busy for a garment, and I’m already in the middle of knitting a sweater. I considered a shawl, but I worried that the color changes and patterning would clash and neither would be able to really shine. Then I remembered! This summer I’ve been enjoying the Longmont Yarn Shop’s Fiberside Summer Crawl. As part of signing up, you get access to the Wonky Blocks pattern in both knit and crochet (Ravelry links).
This seems like the perfect way to highlight a really fun, busy color! I would just need a few other colors that really highlighted the joy of Ken-ergy. So I set off for Mt. Vernon (about an hour drive each way) to pick up the yarn. It was everything I hoped.
The next step was to find the perfect contrast colors. I took inspiration from Madeline Tosh’s “Did you bring your roller blades?” kit, but knew that I wanted to buy locally and keep to solid colored yarn so the Ken-ergy could really shine.
Photo credit to Madeline Tosh
I headed to All Wound Up to play and Nora and I must have pulled at least 20 colors out to compare and see what worked. The first one we found was a beautiful purple from Asylum Fibers in Grape Soda. It matches the purple of the Madeline Tosh yarn pretty closely, but the tone is different enough from the main color of Ken-ergy that I’ll get good contrast.
Next we found Aquamarine, also from Asylum Fibers, which pulls out the green/aqua in the main color perfectly.
The final color was the hardest to find. We tried light peaches and pinks, a yellow, and even bright greens. Finally we landed on a beautiful cyan that is impossible for me to photograph. Below on the left is the photo of Malabrigo Cian from All Wound Up’s website, and to the right is my best effort at capturing all of my colors together (with some minor color correcting.)
Overall I’m very excited to get going on this project! Just need to wrap up this week’s Octility clue first… (What Smookie? I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.)
I’m back after an impromptu 2 week break from blogging! Somehow I’ve gone from being a monogamous knitter to having 3 projects on the needles and another one I’m itching to start. Progress on the Smookie has been slow but steady. The socks I started on my trip to Utah are still in progress as my knitting for during work meetings, but I’ve found I’ve had less capacity to work on those lately than I might hope. I’m past the gusset, though, so I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to finish soon(ish). I’ve also started the Octility (Ravelry) MKAL with my LYS. I’m using the Pansy and Rubber Ducky kit. (Spoilers ahead.)
Photo Credit to All Wound Up Yarn Shop
It’s my first time working assigned pooling in a pattern and it’s definitely fun! It definitely requires some focus – the couple times I’ve spaced out I’ve blown right past the assigned pooling color and had to tink back to knit my tiny flowers.
Clue 1 of the Octility MKAL
I’m getting better at the crochet flowers as I go; the biggest challenge is definitely keeping my tension even, but they’re getting more consistent. I’m about a third of the way into Week 2’s clue right now. I’m liking that not knowing what’s coming means I can’t customize it – my brain needs a bit of a break and this means I absolutely can’t modify the pattern in a way that requires me to figure out the geometry
or math of a new stitch count. The knitting is still engaging, though. It’s not too late to join!
I’ve got another finished object today. Just to be clear, I did most of the knitting for this ages ago, but I just now did the finishing up. I just don’t want you to think I’ll have a new garment every week!
My LYS did a mystery knit-along last year for the Ratha Poncho or Shawl (Ravelry links). Being I’m a larger body, I knew I wanted to wait to see the finished product so I could adjust the sizing appropriately. I loved how the poncho looked in both the sample and in one of my knitting group friend’s projects (Ravelry). So I decided to go for it and bought an extra skein so that I’d have enough to make it a bit longer.
The gradient I picked out. Please excuse the messy background.
I bought Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere for an extremely luxurious, drapery fabric. The colors I chose were: Melon Bomb, Desert City Wattage, Liberation, Winebrrry, Velvet Port, Amethyst, Galaxy, and Shadowbox. I swatched and was happy with how the colors worked together and my gauge.
The knitting went by much quicker than I expected, in large part thanks to holding the yarn double. I liked the fade I was able to create because of this technique, and I think that the cables between reverse stockinette sections did a good job helping to blend the colors.
I finished the knitting and blocked (carefully so the dye wouldn’t bleed. I found that Shadowbox particularly bled dye onto my hands as I knit.) I seamed each short piece to a long piece.
And then I used binder clips to attach the two long pieces together. At this point I tried it on, just to see what I was working with.
Unfortunately, I didn’t like how it was fitting. Because my arms are pretty big and my shoulders are fairly round, the square corner at the shoulder just didn’t fit well.
I thought about my options. I tried pinning the pieces together a few different ways. I thought about making the whole thing into a blanket. But I didn’t want a cabled cashmere blanket, I wanted a garment. So I left the project in time out for 4 months. Finally, I decided to ask a professional for help. I scheduled time with Nona at All Wound Up and we looked at how it was fitting. She had the brilliant idea to move the hole for the head to the center, rather than at the corner. I moved the binder clips around and tried it on – a huge improvement! Then a knitting buddy suggested seeing the bottom corners together so I’d end up with wide sleeves – another great idea.
This is what the final project looks like. It was a good reminder to ask for help and a set of fresh eyes before ripping out a ton of work or giving up. I’m so grateful to have found such a supportive community who is willing to help problem solve. (And yes, this is me at the Joni Mitchell concert at the Gorge, literally a childhood dream come true.)
My apologies for my abrupt absence – life got in the way for a bit there!
Amongst other things, I did spend part of my absence on a lovely break in Maine. This is our third year going to the same cabin, and I realized that every year I have taken some pretty similar photos of my vacation knitting. So I thought it would be fun to look through them!
First, this year’s photos. We had an unusually cool and rainy trip, so I got a lot more knitting done than usual – over 6 inches on the body of a sweater on size 3 needles! The project is Mount Pleasant by Megan Nodecker, and the yarn is KnitPicks Stroll Tonal in Cordial. To be honest, the pattern itself is fine (though I’m side-eyeing the lack of short rows at the shoulders – I might add those in myself) but the way the yarn is pooling is not terribly appealing to me! My plan is to finish the project, wash and block it, and then decide if I want to try overdyeing it. I also think I might end up with enough leftover yarn to add on some extra sleeves, but I’m not sure I want them! This project is pretty far outside my normal knitting wheelhouse and that’s pretty exciting.
Last year’s photos! I was working on Lapponia by Veera Välimäki. The yarn is the (sadly discontinued) Superwash Merino Sport Twist from Cloudborn Fibers in Dark Teal, Maize Heather, and Ivory. I enjoyed knitting this pattern and would consider making it again! The colorwork really helped break up the monotony of the stockinette body, and I loved the look of the cream and yellow against the dark teal.
My only notes are that the neckline in my size came out a little bigger than I prefer. I know Alexis likes a bit more space at the neck, but I tend to prefer a fairly close crew neck on most sweaters – that gives me a lot more freedom for what I can wear under them, and since I’m mainly wearing them during the colder months I think it keeps me warmer! I also knit the cuffs on the sleeves a bit tighter than I should have – at some point I really want to unravel the last few inches of sleeve and redo that so I have a little more freedom of movement. That was definitely an issue that I added in and not an issue with the pattern, though. My arms are a bit small in proportion to my bust, so I often size down in the sleeves to make sweaters fit me better – I just took it a bit far in this case!
Last, my first year at the lake. The pattern for this is Vellichor by Andrea Mowry. I’m embarrassed to say that I still haven’t finished this project, but looking at this photo I really should because it’s pretty cute! I’m not sure what the dark blue yarn even is at this point, but the contrast yarn is Maine Yarn & Fiber Supply Penobscot, picked up on an even earlier trip to Maine from Mother of Purl in Freeport. Perhaps I’ll pick it back up after I finish Mount Pleasant!
Every year for the past few years, designer Ann Budd has run a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s Research as part of the Alzheimer’s Association’s Longest Day campaign. Each year she designs a pattern, and part of the sales get donated. She commits to knitting the project all day, and for every $50 donated to her campaign you are entered once into a raffle for the finished object. This was my first year participating and I highly recommend it for next year if you have availability that day. Ann’s description of the event provides more details about the exact logistics.
The pattern is available here (Ann Budd’s website) and through the end of August, $5 from each pattern sale will be donated to Alzheimer’s research. I love the meaning behind the various pattern elements. Ann knit hers with dark to light to represent the vividness of the thoughts fading away. I knit mine from light to dark, thinking about forgetting as darkness. Either way, it’s very impactful. The holes of the lace can represent gaps in memory, and the zig-zags can represent how thought patterns can get twisted with Alzheimer’s.
Many of the participating shops are donating funds from yarn purchases to the cause, so if you’re interested, check out Ann’s description linked above and look up the shops. I bought the yarn at the very last minute on Saturday, so I did not swatch. I used Schoppel’s Gradient (Link to All Wound Up shop – $5 donation to Ann’s campaign per skein) yarn in Shadows. My LYS had tested the yarn and found it worked well for the pattern using size 4’s, so I worked with it on faith. I re-wound the ball and broke the yarn at the white and knit all of the white yarn, then when I got into grey I alternated between the continuing gradient and the yarn I’d broken off to make the gradient longer.
I cast on on Saturday night and knit the first few rows but stopped before the lace chart. I got up at dawn on Sunday (5 AM!) and joined the 6 AM zoom call. This is where I was by 10 AM – pretty slow going at first!
By 5 PM I’d gotten a lot further and only made a couple mistakes that I had to drop back to fix – not my favorite thing, but better than ripping back. A number of the Zoom participants shared who they were knitting in honor of. It was very moving to hear everyone’s personal experiences with individuals fighting through Alzheimer’s.
I put in a valiant effort, but wasn’t quite able to finish by 10 PM, when I realized I was too exhausted to continue (both my hands and my brain.) When I picked the knitting up Monday morning I found a bunch of mistakes, but luckily I was able to correct them all without ripping back.
I was able to finish on Monday, and this is a great example of the importance of blocking.
This is definitely a squishy and cozy knit more than a slinky one like Ann’s version. I’m very excited to wear it in the cooler weather! I’m tempted to get yarn to knit a slinkier version as well, but I haven’t quite decided yet.
Trying to knit the whole thing in one day was a fun challenge, even if I’m not quite fast enough yet! It was a nice break from all the big projects I’ve been doing to have one that was really quick and I didn’t make any mods to.
If you want to donate to Ann’s team, please visit her page by August 31st. Last year she was the 4th highest fundraiser in Colorado, and we’re hoping to get her even higher this year!
To be honest, I’m still waiting for something to go wrong. In a previous post I talked about the disaster that was this test knit. After knitting the yoke 4 times, the collar 5 times, the right sleeve twice and cuff three times, and the left cuff twice, I believe it is done. Hopefully.
Very wonky collar at left and improved collar at right.
I added some short rows at the back above the colorwork, which I don’t think is standard for bottom up sweaters (which the yoke was, even if the body wasn’t), but it seemed to improve the fit. I originally knit the collar on size 1’s but found it was flopping over weirdly, so I reknit it on 00’s which seemed to work well.
There were a lot of ends to weave in, but I got it all done in an afternoon at the lake, which I highly recommend as a pleasant place to do that kind of work.
Sweater going in for a soak.
I soaked the sweater (overnight because I forgot about it.) Laid it out to dry on a drying rack, trimmed all those ends from earlier, and it’s ready to wear! Just in time for summer!
The final yoke pattern wound up being:
Start with 504 sts
1. k1 MC, k1 CC around
2. k1 CC, k1 MC around
I knit 8 rounds of color A, then 2 rounds of color B, then 1 round of color A, then 8 rounds of color B, then 2 rounds of color C… Etc. I decreased on the following rows:
So last week I talked about some of my favorite patterns from this year’s tour, and this week I’m going to share some pretty pictures of the yarn I got.
Day 1 my only purchase was from Seattle Yarn for The All In Shawl. I went with red and a deep eggplant purple. I loved the blue of the sample so much, but I think the purple will get more wear in my wardrobe. I’ve used Indigo Dragonfly before, though in Chameleon Sock, and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to trying it out on another base.
On Day 1 I also saw a display at Quintessential Knits from lavendersheep that really appealed to me. I wanted to get the Peacock color in the front of the first picture on the yak base, but when I returned on Friday it was sold out (fair enough!) I wound up going with this set instead – I’m thinking I’ll do some kind of shawl with contrast colors of the mini skeins.
At The Nifty Knitter (also day 1) I saw a display from A Whimsical Woods Yarn Co. I’ve wanted to check out their yarn for a while, but can never get it together to camp the shop updates. This was the perfect chance to see it in person and get to pick some up! I knew I wanted to come back for some, but wasn’t sure exactly which skeins. I’m pretty happy with the colors I picked on Friday though – “Tidal Wave” on Endorphin DK and “know how it ends for me… one of my kids will unplug my life support to charge their phone.” on Brigo Fingering. The DK will likely become a boy’s baby sweater – I never have good boy colors on hand so I figure this is a good option. No idea what the sock yarn will become – maybe socks, maybe a shawl, maybe a contrast color for a sweater. But it’s pretty and I liked it, so it’s now in my absurd stash.
Bazaar Girls‘ featured yarn was Blu Fiber Co‘s Cashmerino DK. It was gorgeous and squishy and I immediately fell in love with some bright neons in pink, green, yellow, and blue. I was just about to buy 5 skeins of it (those 4 plus a black…) when my day 2 touring buddy found a pack of mini skeins with all 4 of those colors, saving me from a very expensive choice. I’m thinking they’ll become a colorwork hat or something, though with 540 yards I might be able to get a small wrap out of it? I also got a skein of 80/20 merino/linen blend sock weight. Again, no idea what I’ll do with it. I’m guessing it’ll have good drape, but I’m not sure what kind of projects it will be good for yet.
The second to last shop on Day 2 was Stranded by the Sea, and they had a vibrant in-house yarn. The pattern they designed takes advantage of the splashes of color to make squiggles on a cowl pattern (Tidal Flux Cowl, ravelry link). I’ll likely try to modify it to be a hat due to my personal preferences, but it’s a very fun idea and I’m looking forward to playing with it. My tour buddy also got a skein and has started on the cowl already. I’m so excited to see how it works up!
Also at Stranded, I got this adorable little spider kit that I’d been eying since Halloween.
My final stop on Day 2 was store 20, All Wound Up. I got a cute sticker and a bag of chocolates (not shown due to devouring) and the tour was complete!
Or so I thought. Because, as I hinted at above, I had a couple stores I needed to go back to on Friday, Day 3. For one thing, I’d forgotten to pick up a shop sticker at the New Knittery. And then I wanted to get the yarn from Nifty Knitter and Quintessential. And Tolt is literally right in between those. And then I got a call from All Wound Up that I’d won the daily drawing… so that was already 5 whole shops that I’d be re-visiting!
The prize bag was pretty amazing.
And since I was at All Wound Up to pick up the prize bag, I also picked up some of Nona Pearl Creation’s beautiful bags. I love these for sock knitting on the go because I can loop them around my wrist and work on the project at the same time.
So then, with 5 shops already done, I figured I might as well go an extra 7 and get an entry in the 12 shop drawing. So I did! My second finish was at Stranded by the Sea, where I got this beautiful laser cut cedar ornament. And I’ve been entered in both the 12 and 20 shop drawings… we’ll see if I win a prize, but it was certainly an adventure! Next year I’m only planning to do the tour once instead of 1.6 times, and I think I’ll try to finish at a different shop than I’ve done before. Might as well see what all the different finisher celebrations are like!
Alexis
Caroline
Pretty Needles Across Yarny Oceans 