Category: knitting

We’re almost halfway through the year and I’ve finished almost five pairs of socks (or the equivalent thereof)? Not bad!

The big red pair on the left is even a gift for Doc’s pop, since he has worn through the original red pair and there’s barely enough left to darn (which makes sense; they are nine years old?!).

The others are all for me, of course. I think I want a few shorties for the warmer weather but otherwise the sock drawer is going to be in good shape after this year.

I redid the neck on my sweater vest and look! It fits over my head!

I’m so pleased it worked out. It’s exactly like I pictured it, from the fuzzy texture to the grass green color to the fit. Those deep armholes are what drew me to the pattern and make it easy to layer over big shirts:

 

The pattern–the Holiday Slipover by Petite Knit–was a joy to knit from; I can see why her work is so popular. I watched the videos on her site and did my best job yet picking up stitches for the neck and arms, plus my first Italian bind-off on all the edges. (Twice, on the neck edge.)

The yarn is a thicker cotton/alpaca/merino held with a silk/mohair strand. That mohair fuzz is a Petite Knit signature; I’d always avoided mohair because it seemed itchy/tickly but on a vest, it didn’t matter. I’m glad I added it because the finished fabric is so light but super warm and also delightfully fuzzy.

This is the first non-sock/big needle knitting I’ve done since the year my mom died. Part of the avoidance was four years of tendonitis and part of it was remembering waiting at my parents in the days before she died, working on another chunky sweater on those same needles.

I’m glad the next project on those needles turned out so well. Green for a new start.

Did I finish this vest last night and get so excited to wear it? Yes!

Does it look exactly like I wanted it to? Yes!

Was I able to knit on big needles without pain for the first time in five years? Yes!!

 

… Does the neck fit over my head?

NO

 

Yeah, that was a surprise. The pattern said to “bind off tightly, for a neat look” and I thought, Maybe that’s too tight? but kept going, so … trust your gut is the lesson here. In the end it’s not a huge fix–the neck is picked up last so I can take it all out and try again without endangering the body–but it’s definitely humbling.

Well that didn’t take long: I finished the hot water bottle cover in the self-striping yarn and just look at those COLORS:

The details are all linked on the progress post. That free pattern was excellent (it includes two different weights and a calculator for anything else) and the provisional-cast-on-to-kitchener-stitch finishing worked fine.

I love the colors so much I’m currently just leaving it out like another throw pillow.

Maybe I need to get another colorway and knit an actual throw pillow? Those happy stripes are hard to quit.

How do you combat the gray lingering days of January? Order a bunch of sock yarn from Germany and start that hot water bottle cover:

I ended up ordering from a place called Sockenwolle-Paradies in Germany. A true sock yarn paradise, they had the thick Lang yarn and so many other brands that are hard to find in the US (hey, if you’re already paying for shipping… ).

I’m using a free pattern for the hot water bottle cover but did a provisional cast on at the bottom to sew up later vs. trying to learn a new seamless cast on. The needles are twice as big as sock needles so it’s going fast!

I finally finished half of the socks I’ve had on the needles for six months. Honestly, that’s not a bad pace for me, plus my elbow tendonitis didn’t flare up during knitting at all. And now I have socks to wear!

The top socks are a Lana Grossa “Cashmere Brick” yarn on regular sock needles and the neon pair is 2 yarns held together (Lang Jawoll and The Wandering Flock) on size 4s. That cashmere blend is nice; I wish I could find more colorways… because there’s always another pair of socks to knit.