sweater

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.

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?