Author: Anna

I had so much fun knitting in September! It really helps to go into a month with several projects pretty far along. The first thing I finished wasn’t actually any of those garments, however.

This is the Linden Leaf Ornament, a pattern I bought for this (thrifted) yarn a while back. I like the idea of knitting a bunch of these and hanging them on a garland, but I don’t so much love knitting the same thing over and over! I felted the top one, which was interesting. The wool definitely has felted, but the leaf isn’t really any smaller! I don’t know if that’s because it’s garter stitch and can’t pull together as much? Anyway, I maxed out at two leaves. The yarn is very pretty but not colors I’d wear, but I have two balls of it. Maybe some knitted pumpkins?

I got back to my WIPs after the leaf interlude:

I had hoped to finish this dot|top in time to wear it to the MN state fair, but I missed that date and then wasn’t quite so inspired to put in the hours. But it’s done now! The shadow knitting is such a fun effect, even though I didn’t have a ton of fun knitting it — you really have to pay attention, like with regular colorwork. I’m still not entirely sold on summer knitting. This is a DK pattern, and the texture makes the fabric pretty thick. So it would be kind of warm as a tank top on a hot day. But I’ve worn it under an open button up now that the weather is cooler. You just can’t see the fun color shift as well that way!

My next finish was my color-blocked Late Checkout Sweater. I had a lot of reservations about the fit of this — and the colors I was choosing. But it all turned out alright in the end! Most of this is knit out of Briggs & Little Regal, except for a couple of colors, but it’s all the same rustic-style wool yarn. I didn’t have sweater quantities of any of it (except the dark purple, which I have in excess!), so I decided to combine them into one garment.

I did wind up taking out the body hem after I was completely done with the sweater and reknit it on larger needles (and a bit shorter than before). I didn’t like the way the bottom cinched in before, and it was just too tight to block out. But blocking really did wonders for this, once I fixed the hem! I was fairly aggressive in blocking for width on both the body and especially the sleeves. While I was knitting this, I felt that the sleeves were just out of proportion (too narrow) for the sweater, but they look a lot better now. All things considered, I’m very happy with how this turned out! I’ve gotten multiple compliments when I’ve worn it, which is funny because it’s nothing complicated — it just has a lot of colors!

I also finished my Winter League Pullover. I wrote about this a bit in my last recap, but the yarn came from an IKEA blanket I unraveled. I had hoped it was 100% cotton, but it’s actually 80/20 acrylic/cotton. When I tried it on after finishing the sleeves (which I did before the main body), I was worried it was going to be too uncomfortable — not breathable enough. I think that was mostly because I started working on this when it was still pretty hot out.

I picked this pattern out partly because it was free, and I didn’t want to pay for a bulky-weight pattern (not my usual thing) that I was making with yarn I was uncertain about. But I love it so much now! I had actually planned to dye the finished garment, but I’ve even decided I like the icy blue. The pattern is really great, though, and I’m considering making it again. I made some changes, but not major ones. I didn’t do the split hem details or the garter stitches up the sides. I also stopped sleeve decreases sooner than the pattern indicates because I didn’t want the end of the sleeves too tight. And because I was knitting this with two strands of yarn, I made the fold-over collar with only one (and on smaller needles). I don’t mind the chunky ribbing on the bottom hem and sleeves cuffs, but I think it’s nice to have something a little more delicate up at the collar.

Between the synthetic fiber and the heft of the yarn, this is a warm sweater!! I went for a walk while Kid 2 was in band this week, and I think it was only in the 40s (Fahrenheit) that morning, but I was nice and cozy. If I knit this again, I would hold worsted-weight yarn double again instead of buying bulky yarn. I just can’t decide if I want a wool version or 100% cotton!

At some point during the month, I also made these guys:

I am a sucker for a cute animal plush! I think this dachshund pattern popped up on Pinterest, and I followed that to Aunt Charlie’s other patterns and then had decision paralysis trying to pick just one! That little dachshund had already stolen my heart, though. So quick and fun to make with a little bit of sock yarn!

I had announced (mainly to myself) that once I finished those three garment WIPs, I was going to spend some time doing only SMALL projects, to give myself a little break. This was one of the things I kept thinking about but wouldn’t let myself start on until the WIPs were done:

The cowl itself wasn’t even the main thing I had been looking forward to. The yarn was a skein of Purl Soho Campo (discontinued) that my mom had found at the Goodwill bins, and it was a light blue-gray that I wasn’t very excited about. I also wasn’t so sure about 50/50 cotton/merino. Just give me cotton OR wool! But I was excited about dyeing the yarn with some bottles of tie-dye dye we had, since, in theory, the cotton should take it up but not the wool (especially since it wouldn’t be heat-set). Well, it seems to me that 100% of the fiber took the dye, but I love how it turned out! Definitely one of my best “hand-painted” results. The yarn is very nice and soft, as well. (And machine washable, which I did after knitting up the cowl.)

The pattern I used is the Bandana Cowl, also from Purl Soho. It was tricky to find a pattern I liked that didn’t require too much yardage, as the Campo only has 126yds/skein. I had to change the Bandana Cowl pattern a little bit to work with the amount I had, but that was easy enough — I just did fewer rounds at the top of the cowl. I like the construction of the cowl, too. You cast on in the round, knit the bottom edge in garter, and then use short rows to create the bandana point. It’s fun to make something in a single day when you’re used to garments that take weeks or months!

Works in Progress

While I was still working on my sweaters, I cast on a pair of Kitten Catch Mittens:

I worked pretty diligently at the first mitten until I got to this point, and then I went back to my sweaters and haven’t picked it up since. But the pattern is so cute, and I haven’t done real colorwork for a bit — since the end of last year? I think my Easy V was the last colorwork, whenever that was.

But I couldn’t stay away from garments for very long. I’d thought I’d figured out my next few projects, but I had an itch to work on something that wasn’t just another crewneck (or even V-neck) pullover. So I cast on a Traveler Hoodie:

I’ve been wanting to use these two shades of sport-weight wool for a while. I had initially started a Parnell(?) pullover with it, but that just wasn’t sparking joy. I had decided to make a Hold the Line pullover after that, but my gauge was pretty off, and it’s just a pretty basic crewneck sweater (though I still love the look of it and miiiight make it with some other yarn…).

I’ve been resisting the Traveler patterns because I don’t love purl-heavy projects, but this one is just too cute. I’m very concerned about both the body length and the amount of yarn I have (it should be enough, but…). I’m okay with a cropped body, but I think I’ll add a little extra length before I split for the sleeves. Oh, that was another thing that put me off this pattern at first — I hate bottom-up! Will I be happy to be done with the most boring part first? Yes, but it’s not worth not being able to check the fit as I go! I’m keeping my fingers crossed and my jaw clenched.

Plans

I can’t decide if I want to keep the Traveler Hoodie as my only garment until it’s finished. One of my next cast-ons will be a Moon Set Polo, which looks so cozy. Maybe once I’m done with all this knit-and-purl texture, I’ll be happy to work on an oversized stockinette sweater. I want to make it with the same yarn I used for my Zakkuri, but I’m really close on the yardage. I think there should be enough, though I’ll probably do the sleeves first and then just make the body however long I can with what’s left. I’m sort of tempted to get some navy mohair to hold with the wool, both for the look at the feel of it, but mohair is expensive and not-mohair is free!

Another month gone! All I finished in August was my Sunflower Top:

It’s pretty cute! I should have made it another 1-2″ longer, but I had gotten so bored with knitting the body. It’s fine as a cropped top — I just have to be particular about which bottoms I wear with it, if I want to stay covered. The picot edging on the neck and armholes is very cute! The bottom scallops curl, as expected. I had a hopeful moment when I laid the top out to block, because the scallops lay so nice and flat while it was still wet. But as soon as it dried out, up they went.

Works in Progress

I currently have three garments on the needles (okay three that are active WIPs), each of which is around 3/4 of the way done. Oldest first:

This is my color-blocked Late Checkout Sweater that I first posted about last month. I haven’t been working on this one very much; I have reservations, which always slows me down. I feel better about the sleeve proportions now that the first one is done, although I think it would have looked better with a deeper arm hole that decreased to the final sleeve width. The body is still off, too. The main problem is that I don’t want the bottom hem as cinched in as it is. I’ve roughly blocked it already, but when I do the final block, I’ll really try to get more width from the bottom hem, and if I can’t, I’ll probably frog and redo it on bigger needles.

I’ve just barely started the second sleeve with the blue-gray yarn in the photo. Every time I add a new color, I think, “Eww, this is terrible!” And then I get used to it.

I think my next cast on was the dot|top, which I’d been excited about:

You can see the texture of the dots a bit from straight on, but they pop out like colorwork from the side. I don’t have any complaints about the process of working on this one; it’s just slow going — every line of the pattern is written out. It’s knit sideways, and I’m just about to the final back shoulder. I would like to finish this while it’s still warm enough to wear tank tops, so this is my current priority!

Though I did get distracted early on during the dot|top and cast this on:

This is a Winter League Pullover, which is a free pattern!

The yarn came from an IKEA blanket I got as part of a cart-full-of-linens years ago (I don’t know if IKEA still do those, but I used to occasionally find, in their scratch and dent section, a cart full of old display linens, wrapped in plastic, so you couldn’t look through it, for $40-50 — LOVE). It was a chunky, garter-stitch blanket, which is totally impractical for a house full of cats, so it’s never been used much. I started thinking about unraveling it for the yarn a while back and finally did so a few weeks ago.

I’m a little bummed — I had always assumed it was 100% cotton, but it’s actually something like 80/20 acrylic/cotton. It’s so soft that I decide to just go ahead with using it. I have been holding it double and am getting (just about) gauge for the bulky-weight pattern, and it’s really fun and quick to knit. Once I’d done a couple inches of body, I went back and knit both sleeves instead, just in case I start to run short on yarn (which I don’t expect to do, but you never know!). I think because the sleeves are narrow-ish, I really feel the acrylic when I put it on now. That might not be a problem once it’s cold outside — we’ll see. I don’t usually knit with such big yarn, but I can imagine making another of these in wool or cotton!

Plans

I should be able to finish those three WIPs this month, and I think I’d like to take a little break from garments once I do. Probably not for long! I just feel like I haven’t worked on a quicker project in a bit. I’ve recently saved a few colorwork hats and some small scarves and things on Ravelry, so we’ll see what appeals when the time comes!

As I mentioned in my last knitting recap, I was very close to finishing my gradient Gramercy Tee at the end of June. So I was all done about one week into July:

I knit this in a cotton/linen/viscose yarn that I got at Marden’s (in Maine). It was A) fun and B) crazy-making to work this pattern in a gradient yarn. This top starts with the saddle shoulders. Then you pick up and knit the upper back panel, put it on hold, and do the two front panels before joining them with the back and then starting to knit in the round after the V of the neck. I really wanted the gradient to match up on the three pieces (back & two fronts), which took some MATH. I had to calculate how many stitches would be in each front panel, and then I counted back that many stitches (by row) on the back to figure out where in the gradient I needed to start my fronts. At least it worked! Once I started working in the round, the gradient shifted much faster, so then I decided to alternate skeins to slow it down. And I wanted the sleeves to match the saddles AND each other. It was all a whole big thing!

But it turned out so nicely! I love the fit of it, too. I’ve got plans to knit a long-sleeved, mohair version for cooler weather. I rarely knit with plant fibers, and it’s interesting to see how they change my knitting. The columns of stitches on this all slant diagonally, which is something I’ve never had happen before. It made it a bit of a pain to block, but it doesn’t seem to affect how it sits when worn.

Even with sport-weight plant fibers, I still find the tee to be a bit too warm for a true summer’s day. I’ve worn it a couple of times, including once to the beach (aka sitting in the shade while kids swim), and it wasn’t too bad, though.

Works in Progress

Most of July was spent working on a color-blocked Late Checkout Sweater:

I have a lot of worsted wool in smaller quantities, and I thought it might be fun to combine them into something a little zanier than I’d usually make. I say worsted, but actually the lighter body color is aran, and the neck is leftover DK from my Halibut. But the darker green and the rest of the colors I’ll be using are all Briggs & Little Regal.

I’m trying to withhold judgement before I finish this sweater. Mainly the fit of it is bothering me a bit right now. It’s pretty oversized — about 48″ at the bust — but the bottom ribbing is knit on much smaller needles, and it really pulls it in. Between that and the length of the body, something feels a little off. The sleeves also feel a little out of proportion — too narrow for the body, even though they’re plenty wide on their own. This isn’t a critique of the pattern but the specific sweater I’m knitting up (my yarn choices are far less drape-y). I’m telling myself to chill out because I think this will actually have quite a sweatshirt-y fit when it’s all done.

My other WIP is the new Sunflower Top:

This popped up on my IG feed before the pattern was released, and I made a mental note to keep an eye out for it. And then I jumped on the pattern as soon as I could! This is not my typical knit, and I rarely wear sleeveless tops outside the house, but it was calling to me.

It’s a DK top, and I’m using fingering weight held double. The yarn is Eddie Bauer Adventurer Cotton that I got at Joann’s a few years ago. It was a backup yarn for a different project, and it’s just been sitting in a box since I bought it. I didn’t think it was anything special, but I really love the fabric it’s making at this gauge!

I’ve got a few more increases to go before I join in the round, but it’s moving along! I don’t think I’ll do any edge finishing for the armholes (the slipped stitches look nice), and the neckline is already so high that I’m not sure I want to add anything to it. Blocking will help with the rolling a little, but I’m also curious if elastic thread would flatten it out more.

Acquisitions/Plans

No acquisitions, thankfully, but I’m full of plans!

I feel like I NEED to try the new dot|top. The shadow knitting has me so excited. The photos on the Ravelry page give you an idea of what it’s like, but it’s worth looking for a video on IG to see it “in person”. It looks like a striped top from straight on, and dots magically appear as you move to the side.

So that might be my NEXT project, but I also have the mohair Gramercy in my mental queue, along with a red Hold the Line pullover. We’ve had a lot of HOT days this summer, and even though I like when it’s green outside, I have to admit that I’m looking forward to sweater weather!

Watch out — I’m recapping March on the very first day of April! And up until recently, I didn’t think I was going to have any finished objects to share, but I became possessed during the last few days of the months and knocked out three sleeves!

Finished Objects

The first finish was my Zakkuri cardigan:

By looking at a calendar, I can see it only took a little over three weeks to knit this, but somehow I spent about a million years working on it. It’s quite oversized, so those loooong purl rows contributed to the endlessness, but also I blame the yarn. I’m very happy with this Briggs & Little Regal — it softened up a lot after blocking, and I think it will continue to soften as I wear and wash the cardigan. But it didn’t move easily along the needles. I usually use bamboo interchangeable circulars, but I went out and bought a stainless steel ChiaoGoo for this, which made it a little easier but not a ton.

Anyway, I’m very happy with the finished product! I wanted this to feel like a sweater version of a spring jacket, and that’s exactly what it is. It IS very oversized (at least 12″ positive ease), but the color and the ribbing stop it from feeling too slouchy. I really like the 3×1 ribbing! The button band is knit along with the body of the cardigan, and then you create button holes by stretching the stitches and overcasting around the opening, and that was a lot easier than I imagined. I’m not 100% sure I love the toggle buttons, but they’re what I was picturing as I was knitting it, and I’m happy enough with them for now.

I knit the Zakkuri sleeves in basically two days, which was WAY too much knitting all at once, but I had gotten the bit in my teeth and couldn’t stop. Instead of celebrating the finish with a long stretch of NOT knitting another sleeve, I dove right into that second sleeve on my Driftwood pullover:

Oh, wait, that photo looks almost EXACTLY like last month’s! I swear it has two sleeves now:

This yarn came from the thrift store; I knew it was all wool but not what brand or kind. After I finished the top, I whipped up a quick tube with all the colors (using a toy knitting machine) and threw it in the washing machine. This yarn is so soft compared to the rustic yarns I’ve been using lately that I couldn’t decide if it felt like superwash. Everything apart from the fuchsia did felt, however. I could tell the fuchsia was different as I was knitting — it was a slightly lighter weight, although you can’t tell now that the sweater has been blocked.

I mentioned last time that I realized I’d chosen too big a size once I separated for the sleeves. I sized up because I wanted more positive ease in the body, but I didn’t think about how that would affect the shoulders. It’s still a wearable top, but the shoulder/sleeve construction is really nice, and it’s wasted on a shirt that doesn’t fit well. This was a fairly quick and fun knit, though, so I think I’ll make it again in a smaller size, with more neutrally-colored yarn.

Works in Progress

I’ve been working on socks here and there (mostly the one from the sock reel that I posted in last month’s recap), but I was very focused on finishing the Zakkuri in March. At one point I cast on for a very boring shawl, though:

Well, boring to knit! It’s just a triangular, garter-stitch shawl. The mohair came from That Estate Sale, and the photo is not doing the color justice at all. There is a lot of variation in the color, from purple to teal-green. The solid gray yarn is an angora/wool mix that came from a thrift store. I originally wanted to make a shawl with some detail — an eyelet lace pattern. But when I caked up the mohair, I realized it was much “wilder” than your typical, commercial mohair yarn, so any detail in a project would be lost. Hence the boring garter stitch. This will be such a lovely finished object, though, extremely squishy and fuzzy and soft.

Plans

I’m not sure what to cast on next! Even though we have ANOTHER snowstorm on its way, my brain has moved on from winter knits. My two top contenders for next cast on are either the Forest Keys vest (finally!) or, like, a shortsleeved Ranunculus, since I’ve already made that pattern more than once, and it knits up sooo quickly.