Knitting

So maybe I was a little Hasty

| Sonia Knits

I’ve had a bit more time for contemplation. I’ve had a week to sulk, and a week to consider what to cast-on next. Then this morning, I measured the gauge on my yet to be frogged Calm Down Sweater. Are you all giggling?

My row gauge is in fact correct and it matches the specified gauge of 30 rows. My stitch gauge is on the tighter side of 24 sts rather than 22 (but that part doesn’t matter). I’ve gone back to the pattern page on Ravelry and checked out more of the finished projects, and it appears… my cardigan is on track.

The sleeves are deep. I’ve read a few more people’s project pages, and they say the same.

See how Lily Kate the designer (and also model in real life) has her hands up above her head. The sleeve depth is a bit deceiving, not intentionally I’m sure.

Thanks to ‘Knitting is so fun’, (sorry I don’t know your real name), for your comment about altering the sleeve depth. I have found that, whenever I try to alter a pattern, it never works out for me. And maybe I’m not prepared to rip things out a million times to make it perfect, I’m not that kind of knitter. For me knitting is supposed to be somewhat relaxing, I want it to be right to start with, if not the first, then definitely the second time.

So maybe… I’m thinking about continuing. I’ll probably decrease the sleeves at a faster rate, so that I don’t get total batwings, but they’re still going to be huge, and I have to be okay with that. The body will be better fitted, so it shouldn’t end up being a sack on me, hopefully.

You see, in this week of contemplation, I wasn’t so upset about putting the cardigan aside. I was bummed because I still really wanted this cardigan. I’ve been looking at what to knit next and I can’t move past this, I really want some plain wardrobe staples. So let’s see.

The Un-Calm Down Cardigan

| Sonia Knits

So I haven’t told you, but I’d already restarted knitting The Calm Down DK cardigan once. It happened after Knit Night one week a few weeks ago, when something Karen said about row gauge triggered me. Long story short – my row gauge didn’t match the front left piece I was knitting, and I restarted the cardigan on smaller needles.

The new row gauge on 3.5mm needles still didn’t match the gauge of 22 sts on 32 rows (it had hardly changed), it was still in fact close to the gauge I acheived with 4mm needles which was about 28 rows, but the fabric was denser and I thought that it would be okay. Surely I couldn’t knit this on smaller needles?!

Fast forward to this weekend when I joined the fronts to the back after the armholes, I laid my knitting down over some of my knits from my wardrobe to compare.

The sleeves were going to be larger than my Pressed Flowers Sweater… yes that is a bad thing

Rather than investing anymore knitting time into this cardigan. I’m calling it… it’s being ripped out. I may never attempt to knit this cardigan again. I don’t think I’ve ever given up on a garment, but I’m glad I’ve made this decision at this point rather than thinking it was still going to work out, it’s not.

Good news is, I’m ready for a new cast-on for October 🙂 the next cast on has to be a winner.

Crochet Mojo

| Sonia Knits

My crochet mojo is back baby!

I’ve recently picked up my Nimue blanket (designed by Shelley Husband) once again. Completing the centre square ‘Avalon’ and getting back to the 24 Caltha squares that lay around it’s perimeter.

This Saturday, I took a class with the designer of this blanket at Sunspun. I took along my Avalon block to the ‘Sit and Crochet’ which was held in the morning to show Shelley. It was great to spend some time with Shelley, chatting and laughing along until we got to the serious stuff in the afternoon. Sunspun is my local yarn store, but I don’t get there very often. It is such a nice welcoming space, the owner Virginia is lovely and some of my friends also work there.

The class I took was ‘Granny Square Academy 2’. Having made all of the squares in Granny Square Academy 1, I thought this class would be fun. I was not wrong. It did take a little brain power, but there were lots of laughs along the way!

I really enjoyed making the 2 squares Shelley selected for us to undertake. ‘Invisible Jesse’ is really cool and 3D, one of my favourite squares ever. I’m now all inspired to finish my Nimue blanket, but there’s still loads to go.

Meanwhile, I’ve knit my brother a beanie. I’ve never knit him one before, I don’t think it will be the last one either. I’ve also cast-on a DK weight pair of socks for Damian, which are working up super fast. I think I’ve finally gotten to the bottom of the fit issues for Damian’s socks, with a 3 inch heel flap, the first sock fits him like a glove.

I now have more ‘orders’ for more beanies from other friends (I’m also inclined to make the Oslo hat for Damian). Damian has selected the yarn for his 2nd pair of DK socks, surprisingly pink and green! And I’m thinking about picking up that cardigan I started a few months ago. And I’m thinking about my next sweater cast-on… so many things 🙂

A cast-on pause in May

| Sonia Knits

Last week I made the decision to not cast on a new sweater in May. The excitement of casting on with reckless abandon, has taken a pause… but only for May! I currently have 3 sweater/cardigan WIPs, and I feel as though that is the most I can cope with at one time.

I’ve been working solidly on my March Sweater, the Pressed Flowers pullover, and I hope to finish it up this month as well as make some good progress on my other 2 WIPs.

I’m now on the rib of the body of my sweater and I’ve divvied up the gradient yarn in 2 for my sleeves; I really hope I have enough, eek…

I’ve also cast-on for some Stephen West socks, Painting Honeycombs, which I’ve been wanting to knit since they were released last year. Using some stash yarn in Patons Patonyle fluro orange, and some mini skeins from advent calendars and left-overs. My friend Jade gifted me this gorgeous honey bee stitch marker, how perfect.

Whilst I was away in Daylesford, a sneaky purchase was made from my favourite self-striping hand dyer Danni of Half-baked hand dyed.

Isn’t it gorgeous… it was sitting by my Painting Bricks sweater WIP when it arrived, and I think it’s a perfect match.

I’m looking forward to getting lots done this month, so the excitement of a new cast-on returns for June.

Paul Klee Sweater

| Sonia Knits

Yippee my Paul Klee Sweater by Midori Hirose is all finished! I’m very happy with how it has turned out. The yarn is from Kate Davies’ Advent calendar of 2023 which included all the colours from her Milarrochy Tweed yarns, plus all of her new colours released in the club. It was a very happy happenstance. Whilst you can choose to limit the number of colours used in the yoke, I decided to use 22 of the possible 24 colours from the Milarrochy Tweed range, and the additional charcoal colour for the body and sleeves.

I have been busily knitting on my March Sweater, Pressed Flowers by Amy Christophers. I’ve just divided for the body and sleeves. Originally I thought I would be knitting to the second size of instructions (the pattern has a crazy amount of ease), but I found that my row gauge (or my gauge overall) was smaller than expected, it’s hard to tell with mosaic knitting. But when I placed my yoke up against another yoke I’ve knitted, I could tell there was not going to be any ease, if I’d divided at that point. So I needed to knit another repeat of flowers before dividing for the body and sleeves. I think that was the correct decision, no one has time for sweaters that are too tight to wear.

My lovely basic stripey Christmas socks are also off the needles. The yarn is by my friend Danni from Halfbaked Hand dyed. Now that I don’t have any socks on the needles, I’m feeling a little lost.

I’m casting on for my April Sweater today… or maybe just a swatch, more on this month’s Cardigan… after I get back from a Spinning retreat next weekend. So much to do, so little time.

Another Month, another jumper cast-on

| Sonia Knits

We have begun the third month of the year, which means I’ve cast-on for yet another jumper! Both January and February jumpers are still incomplete, but I’m enjoying them both thoroughly.

I have reached the point in my painting bricks sweater (February), where I actually love it! I was having serious doubts about this one, up until this point. I’ve begun thinking about what I’ll wear it with, and what new additions to my wardrobe I’ll need to make this a super fun outfit.

My January sweater the Paul Klee sweater by Midori Hirose, is still needing the second sleeve, but with the long-weeknd here in Victoria, I’m hoping to find some time to finish it up. For those not in Victoria, the forecast for the next 3 days is going to be 37/38 degrees celsius. Which is terribly disappointing to me, I’m not sure how I’ll cope except to stay inside.

This is the yarn I’m using for my March cast-on, for the Pressed Flowers pullover by Amy Christophers. The Pressed Flowers series of patterns has been selected by my knitting group for our Bendigo Sheep Show sweater this year. I figured beginning it in March was probably wise, so that I didn’t leave it to the last minute and not finish it in time. The main coloured yarn is by Miss Click Clack, purchased a few years ago and it is absolutely gorgeous. The contrast gradient of colours is by My Creative Garage. I purchased the minis set at the Sheep Show last year, and I’ve added a couple extra minis from her advent 2 years ago, to ensure I have enough yardage.

I am enjoying knitting the pattern now that I’ve moved past the short rows, gosh they were a bit tricksy, I had to pay a lot of attention there. But I think it will be smooth sailing from here on in.

A Race to the Finish

| Sonia Knits

With just two days to the New Year, my Amina sweater is FINALLY finished. This would have to be the longest time it’s taken me to knit a single jumper, having cast on for it in June. So for someone who likes completing things on a regular basis, this was torture. Am I happy with it? Why yes, yes I am. Did I learn a lot? Yes, yes I did, would I knit it again? Definitely not!

Every single end has been woven in

Earlier this week, we celebrated Christmas in our usual way; both families on the one day, lots of fun with the kids and lots of food. On Christmas eve, we had a pre-Christmas celebration with some friends, and we had a Kit-Kat constructing competition (not my idea of fun!). Whilst I am a designer, I’ve never been great at constructing things, and one of the competing adult kids is studying architecture! Somehow, the train, Tim and I had built scored first place.

The yarn advents are over and I can’t wait to cast-on some new colour work projects in the new year. First of all I’ll be casting-on for the Paul Klee sweater with Kate Davies’ advent yarns. I spent a delightful morning on Boxing day arrranging and re-arranging colours for this. If all goes to plan, I’ll be casting on for another sweater in February with the My Creative Garage advent, but more on that another time.

My little/big hedgehog decoration is almost complete, I’m just waiting on a delivery of 6mm black beads for it’s eyes, then just a few facial embroidery details and it’s done. I’m pretty novice when it comes to Amigurumi, the arms and feet are different sizes, so don’t look too closely. It will have just a few days on the tree, before it all gets boxed up again for next year. Christmas is over too quickly.

Taking stock

| Sonia Knits

It’s been a busy time since we’ve gotten back from our trip to Japan. I’m really looking forward to taking pause over the Christmas and New Year break, catching up with life and reseting for the new year.

Last weekend, the Richmond Knitters had their Christmas Dinner Party. One of the highlights of the evening is the ornament exchange. I set out to make an amigurumi hedgehog, the pattern is super cute! It claims to only take 4 hours to make, but by the 6 hour mark and not being half done, I decided to cast on for my second ornament option: The Furry Fairies pattern by Alan Dart. It was fiddly, but well worth the effort. I appreciated other knitters’ comments on Ravelry about converting the pattern into knitting in the round, rather than flat, and knitting i-cord for the mouse’s limbs. It’s very sweet 🙂 Damian is still hoping I’ll finish the hedgehog for our tree.

It is the season for advents. After last year’s advent calendar extravaganza, I swore I would give this year a miss… but as time went on, I succumbed to temptation and ordered 2 yarny advent calendars. I’m so glad I did, both the My Creative Garage and Kate Davies’ calendars are just beautiful. The Kate Davies calendar features her Milarrochy Tweed with 6 exclusive colours (and patterns to arrive on Dec 24th!) I’ve earmarked this yarn to become a Paul Klee Sweater, and I’m hoping to cast on for this on January 1. Which brings me to my knitting goals for 2024…

I want to cast on for a new jumper every month in 2024… or at least until I become overwhelmed! I did this in 2020 and I completed 5 sweaters that year, and a further 3 were finished off in 2021. I really enjoyed casting on for something new each month, it gave me a clear goal for what I wanted to achieve and rather than my knitting plans languishing in my queue it was a thrill to bring each sweater to life.

For the remainder of this year, I’m focussing on getting all of my WIPs completed, including the Amina Sweater. All the pieces have been knit, now it’s just a case of sewing in all of the ends, blocking, sewing-up, and knitting the neck band. I also want to get cracking/finish my Shelley Husband, Nimue crochet blanket. That’s all achievable right?

Crafternoon

| Sonia Knits

I was able to gather up some Richmond Knitters at the last minute for a bit of a Crafternoon at my place yesterday.

The crafternoon had all the ingredients for a successful afternoon:

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There was cake. I made this, despite it’s disastrous appearance, by all accounts it was delicious. It’s the first cake I’ve made in a really long time. Damian helped me separate the eggs, I had a bit of trouble with that…

There were babies:

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There was a yarn shelf, some excellent knitters, a spinner, a destash (mine, yippee!) and some funny conversation.

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I can’t wait to do it all again.