Kit and I love our local yarn shop: The Yarn Stories. On Knit Nite, I bought some absolutely gorgeous yarn to cast on a project I’ve been anticipating for a long time: yet another pair of long cabled fingerless mitts. I’m working with the Fire and Ice Fingerless Mitts pattern by Roz Harmon, which is both free and well-written! The pattern is adjustable for many sizes. I’m gradually collecting long cabled mitt patterns to knit for our household and our etsy shop; I think this pattern will be one of my favorites. I really enjoyed the main cable, and the small 2×2 twists on the underside are a great design feature. Malabrigo Merino Worsted in VAA I love this yarn. Yes, I realize I’ve said this...
Today I’m sharing with you one of my longest-running current projects, biggest headaches, and greatest sources of pride – my six-month-and-counting journey of knitting Renate Haeckler‘s Anna Baltzer Wings of Peace shawl pattern. Have you ever looked at the plans for a project, thought “yeah I could do that,” and found yourself regretting that sentiment once you’re fingers-deep in the work? That is exactly what happened to me with this pattern. I promised my wife I would knit her a shawl. I showed her all the shawl patterns I’d already saved in my Ravelry library. And, based on looking at the photographs of finished objects, she picked this one – and I, not yet aware of how deeply misleading Ravelry’s crowdsourced “difficulty ratings”...
Hey everyone! I’m here with an update on that project I mentioned back in my very first post. This Friday, I have two finished objects to show off: one small lace bag, and my very first attempt at using cabling techniques. Both of these projects were knitted off designs by Sophia White, from her Knitting Under the Greenwood Tree series. I was first drawn to the designs because I am, in fact, a giant nerd, and knitting patterns named after characters from J.R. R. Tolkien’s works fills me with fantastical glee. So far, I’ve knitted up the Arwen and Samwise patterns, and I’ll keep going through the list as I have time and inclination for tiny fiddly projects. The Arwen bag is the first one I finished. I chose a...
My work in progress of the week is much smaller than a sweater! These fingerless mitts have a lovely triquetra knot on the back of each hand (or they will, once I’ve knit them both). This protective symbol in the softness of sage-green Woolike yarn should guard well against the chill of early fall. Unlike the Resonators‘ network of cables, Becky Herrick‘s Queen City fingerless mitts pattern features a cable motif on a plain stockinette background. The overall look is simpler, as well as shorter than the gauntlet-length Resonators. Also, this pattern involves some interesting construction techniques that are new to me. The cable at the wrist is done in a flat strip, then joined and picked up to knit the hand sideways relative to the...
We’re back, with yet another work in progress – this week, showing off the sweater that I’m making. It’s quite a bit different from Em’s impressively cabled cardigan. For one, it’s a much more modern, minimalistic, and low-fuss design. For another… …it’s adorably tiny. I’m knitting up my first sweater based on the Flax pattern by Tin Can Knits. I decided to start with a baby sweater for three reasons. First, it will be a much quicker knit, enabling me to learn the basics of this style of sweater construction in a more reasonable timeframe. Second, I do happen to know a one-year-old who’s going to need a sweater coming up this fall; my best friend’s first son may have lots of clothes,...