Can you believe I have let a whole year (plus!) pass by without a single post?!
Admittedly, the last two years have been an up and down experience for us all and many routines have been disrupted and replaced with new habits and routines.
My knitting definitely suffered during the rounds of lockdown - with everyone at home all the time, it just seemed to be more difficult to carve out those pockets of quiet time for crafting.
Looking at my knitting journal, I managed to do a little bit of knitting until July 2021 - and then, nothing! No knitting at all until I finally picked my needles back up in February 2022.
Do you ever find that you stop doing something that you love and you end up forgetting for a while just how much you love and rely on it? Until you pick it up again and are astounded as to why you stopped in the first place!
So during the second week of February, I suddenly picked up my needles again (I cannot even remember why) and quickly knitted up four dishcloths to get me back in the zone.
Dishcloths are the perfect project for when you need to feel accomplished, as you get the feeling of accomplishment that comes with casting off, sewing in the ends and finishing. I tend to knit at least half a dozen a year to add to my drawer so I will always have new dishcloths at the ready.
My go to pattern is the Waffle Knit Dishcloth by Debbie Andriulli. I have been knitting this pattern for years! It has the perfect texture for cleaning. Much as I love the picture dishcloths, they just are not as practical for actual use as the Waffle Knit Dishcloth.
The diamond jumper from the November 1932 issue of Stitchcraft is finally finished. Again, why do I get SO CLOSE to finishing projects and then leave them languishing for months? I had finished the neckband and sewn up half the seams and then put it aside. I can only think it is a psychological blockage whereby I am worried that the finished object will not work out as expected or fit properly. So I would rather leave them unfinished than face issues such as these!
Anyway, here it is! My Diamonds Are Trumps jumper (the scarlet and white jumper from the second ever issue of Stitchcraft - November 1932).
I knitted this with Bendigo Classic 3 ply in colours Cranberry and Pussy Willow, which come on 500 gram cones.
The yarn cost $15.88 (209 grams) of Cranberry and $13.15 (173 grams) of Pussy Willow, for a total of $29.03 (382 grams). No buttons or other notions were required, so quite a good value knit.
This was a LOT of colourwork knitted flat, so I think it will be a while before I want to do that again. But I love the look of this jumper and the two colours are great together.
Roxanne Richardson on Youtube featured Finish It February, and I did try to get some of my WIPS out the door. Technically I only finished the one WIP, but better than nothing! Finishing WIPs also serves the purpose of helping to increase my grams/metres knitted total as I am refocusing on my project of earning dollars to spend on yarn based on how much I have knitted. I have not purchased any yarn for a long time, so it will be exciting to make some new purchases.
And just because I have not met a spreadsheet / tracking planner that I do not love, I will also be keeping track of stitches knit per day. I wonder what would be a good number of stitches per day to aim for?!
18th February was cast on day for The Woolly Thistle's Colorwork KAL 2022. This year you need to knit an allover colourwork accessory - so socks, hats, cowls, scarves, mittens, gloves, leg warmers, whatever else you can think of as an accessory. The only real requirement is that it must contain an allover colourwork pattern, not just a colourwork band or small amount of colourwork.
I decided to knit a mitten pattern in worsted weight for quick knitting.
These are the Maine Woods and River Mittens by Pat Higgins, a free pattern on Ravelry. I used non-superwash Wool of the Andes, so felted them a little, as they were definitely too big. The pattern is for men, so I have gone down to 3.25mm needles. Even after going down a needle size and felting, they are still slightly roomy. I also did not make the inner cuff; it just does not get cold enough here!
My current WIP (well, one of!) is the Pray for Ukraine mittens by knitting lotta, also a free pattern on Ravelry. I love her designs but even when I go down to 2mm needles, I still find them too sloppy a fit. I do have tiny hands!
Hopefully blocking will improve the fit somewhat.
More knitting and vintage content will be coming as I plan for my next Stitchcraft project from the January 1933 issue (I have had no luck at all finding a copy or any patterns from the December 1932 issue - if anyone has one, I'd love to see it, please!)
See you soon!
Your projects are marvelous (love the mittens, both sets), and I'm thrilled that you're posting again. I have missed your posts. :)
ReplyDeleteI've tried colourwork before, but not enough to get really good at it. I suspect I just need to practice more. Like you, I haven't done much knitting in at least a year. Which is sad, but very, very true. Lack of motivation seems to be the main reason what with one thing and another. I do have a project I promised to finish for my sister, though, so I should probably work on that.
It's lovely having you back.