Category: sweaters

Year of Projects

Posted on Posted in books, gardening, knitting, sewing, sweaters, Works in Progress (WIPs)14 Comments

Knitting

I cut the armhole steeks, seamed the shoulders, and I’m now on the sleeves of Arrowhead! I’ve decided to knit them two-at-a-time to make the colorwork a little easier. It will keep the chart fresh in my mind, and won’t be like starting over from scratch on the second sleeve. This is definitely a product knit for me, and I’m looking forward to finishing it.

I’m nearly to the toe on the second Merry Krampus sock. Maybe I’ll have a sock it to me Monday finished object tomorrow?

Sewing

Joann Fabrics was having a big sale, and I picked up this springy cotton flannel for $2.99 a yard. I’m always running out of flannel PJ pants in the winter, and decided to sew another pair. Sometimes you can save money sewing your own!

Baking

Someone recommended I try making gluten-free sourdough snickerdoodles. They are delicious! I cobbled together a recipe, but it’s easy to find one online. I’m not a big snickerdoodle fan, so next time I might try gluten-free sourdough chocolate chip cookies instead.

Reading

I’m nearing the end of Barkskins. This means I can check off my book for the month, although I might also finish Keeper of the Queen’s Jewels. My bedside stack is still growing. I’ve promised myself to only blog about books that I’ve read recently, as my memory has proved fallible. These are my go-to titles right now.

Gardening

I sketched a garden plan. It looks so neat and tidy on paper, but I know it will be a jungle anyway. It’s supposed to be nice this week, so I may start weeding and plant some greens under the little greenhouse.

This has been a Year of Projects update. You can read my updated project list at this link. You can find out more about the group on Ravelry.

My My Here Come the Fuzz: a YOP Update

Posted on Posted in finished objects, knitting, sweaters, weaving, Works in Progress (WIPs)Tagged , , , 38 Comments
Look at that fuzz!

I finished my Peaceful Lodge Sweater. I absolutely love it. I can wear it without a shirt underneath, too. I was worried about that because of the kid mohair content.

Pattern is Lodge Sweater by Ozetta. Yarn is Peaceful colorway in Superwash Merino DK by Cornbread and Honey held with Aloft by KnitPicks in color Sydney.

I grabbed the Cornbread and Honey yarn last spring at the Wild and Wooly Fiber Expo in Cleveland. There were five skeins of this colorway, and I scooped them all up with the intention of knitting a sweater. This is one of those dream projects that came together without much planning. Just a lot of knitting, so nothing to complain about. Mostly stockinette, too! I knit it on US 9 needles to get the most yardage out of the yarn, plus I hit gauge and liked the drape of the fabric.

I cast on Powdermill this week and have completed one round of corrugated rib. Not much to see so here is a photo of my pins. Marilee and I are having a little Powdermill knitalong. She wanted to start the new year off with a bang.

I continue to make progress on my scarf. I weave at least one color repeat each day, meaning all five colors. The stripes are random, so it’s not a pattern repeat. The purple is my favorite, and I’m halfway wishing I had woven the entire weft in purple. This will be fun to wear, though.

Yesterday, for Saturdate, Bob and I played a new game: Horrified: American Monsters. It was a little complicated at first, but once we got the hang of it, it was really fun. We also watched After Midnight. We enjoyed this romantic horror comedy. I haven’t laughed that hard during a movie in a while.

This has been a Year of Projects update. You can read my updated project list at this link. You can find out more about the group on Ravelry.

Friday FO: This is Halloween 🎃

Posted on Posted in finished objects, knitting, sweatersTagged , , , 18 Comments

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!

This La Bien Aimée gradient has been in my stash since the great yarn hoard of 2020. I bought the purple to go with it, and over dyed the green. I wanted the green for the cat’s eyes. Now I’m thinking a pale teal would have gone with the set better. The original green of the yarn was too pale. This yarn is sport weight, but it’s superwash so it will grow. I’m also a loose knitter. Don’t worry. I’ll knit a swatch. Maybe that will also help me decide what to do about the green.

Année de Projets

Posted on Posted in knitting, socks, sweaters, Works in Progress (WIPs), Year of ProjectsTagged , , 31 Comments

Knitting: My goal was to finish Bob’s socks for Father’s Day, and I did!

Bob likes the socks I knit for him, which makes me want to knit them more. Yarn is Knit Spin Farm’s 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 It’s rows and rows of blissful stockinette until the border.

I sewed and dyed last week, but won’t be able to share photos until the summer boxes are shipped and received.

This week I will be casting on a Summer Solstice wrap. I’m still fussing about the yarn colors, so today I think I’ll wind my yarn and label each one for the order. I’ll feel better if I have a plan.

For sewing this week, I’ve decided to try the Free Range Slacks pattern in black linen. I’ve been seeing them on Instagram, and they look very comfortable. If I have enough fabric, I’ll 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, I’m going to participate in Tour de Fleece in July. I won’t be participating officially, as I’m 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, I’ll ply, or maybe try color.

It’s unseasonably cool, which means it’s a good day to weed the garden. I check on my frog daily. I had two at one point, but it looks like we’re back to one. I worry about Croque. I really shouldn’t, 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, “Bonjour, Croque! Ça va? Qu’est-ce que tu manges?” It’s a great way to practice my French. He’s very polite and doesn’t correct me.

This has been a Year Of Projects (Année de Projets) update. You can find out more about the group here (Rav link) or here: Backstage Kath’s YOP bloggers list. You can read my updated list of projects here.

Planning a Gansey

Posted on Posted in design, knitting, sweatersTagged , 19 Comments

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 ‘yarn’ comes from the Old Norse ‘garn’ (Old English ‘gearn)’. That initial ‘g’ in Old English was actually pronounced more like a cross between a ‘h’ and a ‘y’. So the ‘gan-sey’ may just be a corruption of ‘yarn-sy’, ie: ‘thing made from yarn’.”

I can’t wait to start knitting on my pink yarnsy. I have some math to do first, though.

O’YOPpenbaum

Posted on Posted in holidays, knitting, sweaters, Year of ProjectsTagged , , , 23 Comments

Knitting

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 derrière. It’s lovely and I don’t want to take it off. I think the only improvement would have been to include bust darts. But who am I kidding. That’s way too fussy.

I’ve started the Unbearable Hat (Ravelry link) for Henry, but there’s nothing yet to see other than some black ribbing.

I’ve mended the heels on Bob’s socks. I’ve learned that garter stitch doesn’t wear any better than any other stitch. I wonder if leather heel patches would help?

Sewing

I haven’t sewn anything this week.

Spinning

I signed up for a spinning class at the Newark Cultural Arts Center for January 2nd! It’s 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!

This has been a Year of Projects update. You can find out more about the group here (Rav link) or here: Backstage Kath’s YOP bloggers list. You can read my updated list of projects here.

My Milkshake Cardi Brings the Knitters to the Yard – Friday FO

Posted on Posted in finished objects, knitting, sweatersTagged , , , , 24 Comments

I finished my Milkshake Cardigan (Rav project link)! Pattern by Joji Locatelli for Madeline Tosh. Yarn is Kelbourne Woolens Scout in Gray Heather. Buttons are natural horn from Lithuania (Etsy link).

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.

TLC Tuesday

Posted on Posted in holidays, knitting, life, sewing, sweaters, Works in Progress (WIPs)Tagged , , , 16 Comments

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 don’t 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 haven’t started on the first project yet! I guess I can always rebag what I don’t get to for next year.

This is the first pair of Halloween PJ pants I’ve sewn plus a new seasonal shirt. I’m going to stay in PJs today. I’ve started calling JoJo “JoJo Binx.”

I worked on my Milkshake Cardigan yesterday as it’s 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.

A Fairly Productive Week 2: Year of Projects

Posted on Posted in art, knitting, sewing, sweaters, The Just Craft, Works in Progress (WIPs), Year of ProjectsTagged , , , , 15 Comments

Knitting

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.

Listening to Music Intentionally

This one seems appropriate.

This has been a Year of Projects Update. You can learn more about the group on Ravelry. You can read my updated list of projects here.