I finished knitting my Pumqueen Cardigan, and I love it! Pattern is Fall Favorites Collection by Meghan Regan. Yarn is Cascade BFL. The yarn is a little toothy but silky, and has wonderful drape and stitch definition. Buttons from The Button Bird.
My next Halloween sweater will be the same pattern, but a short sleeved gradient pullover with purple cats!
Knitting: My goal was to finish Bobās socks for Fatherās Day, and I did!
Bob likes the socks I knit for him, which makes me want to knit them more. Yarn is Knit Spin Farmās Blueberry Popover Day colorway in Targhee Sport. No pattern, just a recipe. For sport weight I used 56 stitches on size 3 US needles.
I also finished the yoke on my Pumqueen Cardigan. Now Itās rows and rows of blissful stockinette until the border.
I sewed and dyed last week, but wonāt be able to share photos until the summer boxes are shipped and received.
This week I will be casting on a Summer Solstice wrap. Iām still fussing about the yarn colors, so today I think Iāll wind my yarn and label each one for the order. Iāll feel better if I have a plan.
For sewing this week, Iāve decided to try the Free Range Slacks pattern in black linen. Iāve been seeing them on Instagram, and they look very comfortable. If I have enough fabric, Iāll make a matching a-line tank to wear with them, like a suit. Will I really wear it that way? Who knows? But I like options.
For spinning, Iām going to participate in Tour de Fleece in July. I wonāt be participating officially, as Iām such a noob. But I will spin every day, and I will watch the Tour de France. I should at least be able to get through the wool top that came with the wheel. On challenging days, Iāll ply, or maybe try color.
Itās unseasonably cool, which means itās a good day to weed the garden. I check on my frog daily. I had two at one point, but it looks like weāre back to one. I worry about Croque. I really shouldnāt, since he chose to be there and can leave if he wants. I probably make him nervous, staring at him every morning, talking to him, āBonjour, Croque! Ća va? Quāest-ce que tu manges?ā Itās a great way to practice my French. Heās very polite and doesnāt correct me.
I’ve had the book Knitted Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel for such a long time. I have always wanted to design my own gansey and knit it using the guidelines in the book.
In the spirit of “conserve” (my word for 2022) instead of buying yarn, I begrudgingly trawled my stash for something appropriate. This Quince and Co Tern in Sea Star is fingering weight, but close enough to sport, especially with my loose knitting. Since the content is wool and silk, I knit a swatch to see if the stitches would be crisp enough for a gansey, and I think it works. It will be a nice, light, spring gansey. And, yes, I will probably put an anchor on it somewhere. I’m thinking ladders, wedding lines, a tree of life, and an anchor in a quiet spot. As someone who has moved from place to place throughout my life, an anchor is a symbol that is meaningful to me, even though I don’t live a nautical life.
Have you ever wanted to knit a gansey? If so, are there any symbols that are particularly meaningful for you? If you would like to learn more about ganseys, I found this article Ganseys for Dummies on the Knitting Genie site. I especially liked this bit, “The modern word āyarnā comes from the Old Norse āgarnā (Old English āgearn)ā. That initial āgā in Old English was actually pronounced more like a cross between a āhā and a āyā. So the āgan-seyā may just be a corruption of āyarn-syā, ie: ‘thing made from yarn’.”
I can’t wait to start knitting on my pink yarnsy. I have some math to do first, though.
I finished my Ranunculus Sweater! Pattern is Ranunculus by Midori Hirose. Yarn is The Fibre Co Arranmore in color Ruari. (I believe this yarn is discontinued.) Mods: I used Aran weight yarn and knit the original size, which turned out perfect. I opted for a twisted rib cuff instead of an icord bind off. I knit until the sweater covered my derriĆØre. Itās lovely and I donāt want to take it off. I think the only improvement would have been to include bust darts. But who am I kidding. Thatās way too fussy.
Iāve started the Unbearable Hat (Ravelry link) for Henry, but thereās nothing yet to see other than some black ribbing.
Iāve mended the heels on Bobās socks. Iāve learned that garter stitch doesnāt wear any better than any other stitch. I wonder if leather heel patches would help?
Sewing
I havenāt sewn anything this week.
Spinning
I signed up for a spinning class at the Newark Cultural Arts Center for January 2nd! Itās a spinning wheel class that is one on one to go over all the basics. I hate that I am starting over but I am pretty much starting over. I hope this sets me off on the right foot. (See what I did there?)
I started a thing! I created a meetup called the Granville Stitchers and we had our first meeting yesterday. We drank cider at Seek No Further Cidery, worked on our projects and got to know each other a little bit. It was wonderful! We are meeting again in a couple of weeks!
I wanted to get a pic before it got dark, but you can see Iām so close to finishing my Christmas Ranunculus sweater! I just need to finish the left sleeve, which I will definitely do tonight!
My goal was to make a cardigan to replace my favorite thrift store Marks and Spencer lambswool cardigan that started unraveling at the elbows. I definitely succeeded! I will be wearing this over my favorite t-shirts, fall through spring.
In other news, I reorganized my craft room. All the fabric is now in a big tub that used to hold wool fiber. I’ve used up enough on my art that I was able to consolidate that to one tub. Moving the fabric freed up several smaller tubs, so I was able to put all of my yarn stash into tubs by size. I feel much more in control of my stash and projects now.
Have you finished any projects, or done any craft organizing lately? I would love to hear about it.
Last week was busy at work. We took a trip to Cleveland to visit kids on Friday and Saturday. And then, I had a colonoscopy yesterday. So, I took today off as well to recover from the anesthesia. I donāt want to be making important work decisions with anesthesia brain.
This is my second DIY fall advent bag. I am definitely making these, but I havenāt started on the first project yet! I guess I can always rebag what I donāt get to for next year.
This is the first pair of Halloween PJ pants Iāve sewn plus a new seasonal shirt. Iām going to stay in PJs today. Iāve started calling JoJo āJoJo Binx.ā
I worked on my Milkshake Cardigan yesterday as itās pretty straight forward. Once I finish the second sleeve, just the button band to go! I look forward to wearing this cardigan when the weather turns chilly.
Last night we started watching Chapelwaite. It is so good, and is getting me in the mood for the spooky season! But before I immerse myself in autumn leaves and pumpkins please, I need to can some tomatoes.
In addition to finishing Bob’s Pride socks, I’ve made good progress on my Milkshake Cardigan, and have been keeping up with the clues for my mystery knit along.
Sewing
I finished my Emerson shorts. I’ve got some other sewing projects I’d like to get to, but today I focused on…
Fiber Art
I made a new piece today. I had the same problem with the felt not attaching to the prefelt backing. I think the prefelt backing is the problem, as all my fiber felted together really well. It just slid off the backing. So that’s more needle felting to do, and I’m not sure how I feel about this piece. It’s the remake of the one I don’t like. Why do I keep making it? Because I love the photo! It’s inspired by a photo I took in Iona, Nova Scotia. It’s just really hard to interpret in wool.
Podcast
A new episode “dropped” today, as the young folks say. In honor of Plastic Free July, I thought I would stick close to home and interview someone who inspires me a great deal. He has made a huge impact on reducing the amount of plastic waste in our home by creating almost all the soaps we use in our household from scratch. Listen in as I interview my husband, Bob, about soapmaking, the magic of science, and how to save money while saving the world. (It’s not as dangerous as it looks.) You can listen here or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
My Milkshake Cardigan is coming along. I love the construction. Itās very straightforward. I love the gray. I love all the stockinette. Itās the kind of thing I like to knit, and like to wear. This sweater reminds me of the Kids in the Hall skit āAre Extraterrestrials Dull?ā It will be a quality garment. Yarn is Kelbourne Woolens Scout in Heather Gray from my stash. I decided the Tunis yarn is too special and will still make up the Kiki with it, when I am ready for cables again.
The garden is burgeoning. I wish I had planted more flowers. I might try peonies in here somewhere. I am still fighting slugs. Theyāve just about taken out my Gerber Daisies, and it was a mature plant going in. Maybe I should try cosmos since I could dye with them.
The indigo is up, but so far only one madder seed has germinated. No tansy yet. I think I need a trip to the garden center!
I finished my Turtledove (Rav project page) and I love it. I was inspired to make it because Liz made two, she loves to wear hers so much. It was an easy, quick, straightforward knit, which I enjoy. And itās my favorite color. Pattern is Turtledove by Espace Tricot (Rav link). Yarn is Cascade Eco in color Twilight.
I removed the background in this photo because it was taken on carpet. Letās have some fun with that.
Saturday Sweater in a Starry SkySaturday Sweater on SnowSaturday Sweater with Sheep
There are many more fun things I could do with this sweater, like turn it into an Asteroids ship or have it rocketing to the moon, but that takes a lot of time and I would rather knit. Well maybe just one…
Shooting Star Sweater
I needed that. Hereās a photo of the underarm seams.
Not gorgeous but much better than I could do picking up stitches. I cast on six stitches on the sleeve side and used a mattress stitch to seam them.
Now Iām off to knit knit knit on my Water Shawl, and hopefully take a walk in nature this afternoon. What are you doing today?
headknits 