Knitting Is So Fun

2022: Wk of June 26-July 2; MidYear Review & Shawl Update

July 3, 2022 by knittingissofun, posted in Knit, Knitting, Knitting Plan, Shawls, Yarn

1/2 YEAR REVIEW – PROJECTS

I do a calendar year plan but I still like to check at the midpoint to see how I’m going. Always good for a chuckle.

WIPS – Complete the 4 carryover WIPS	😁DONE!!
SOCKS/SHRUGS/COWLS – Complete 1 per month I have 4 socks and 1 shrug done with 2 socks and 1 shrug on needles. I’m betting by the end of July I’ll be ahead of the game with 6 socks and 2 shrugs.	🙂CLOSE – 5/12
SWEATERS/SHAWLS/TEES – Complete 5 Surprise, surprise. I’m a bit behind. I have one tee and one shawl completed. But as discussed below, I will likely finish a shawl this month putting me back on track.	🙂CLOSE – 2/5
BABY KNITTING – 0 I didn’t set a goal for this year but I did knit a baby sweater for my new granddaughter. Helps explain why I’m a bit behind on my sweater goal as the fingering weight baby sweater took a lot of time to knit.	😁AHEAD!!
MISCELLANEOUS – 1 I wanted to do an advent calendar project since I already have minis from 2 advent calendars and I’ve ordered 3 more!! I do have yarn “packaged” up for a striped sweater using advent minis but truthfully there is a Halloween cowl I want to knit that’s a higher priority to me. Hubby’s sweater also has to be finished before starting an “advent” sweater.	😝BEHIND – 0/1

So not bad. I’m okay with where I’m at the year midpoint.

1/2 YEAR REVIEW – GOALS

Average 1800 stitches per day each month Not surprisingly I missed this in May due to gardening and my daughter’s wedding. I barely met the goal in June. I am still averaging 1800 stitches per day for the year.	🙂CLOSE
Make something Brioche Still struggling with this. I will go back and review the online Brioche class I bought from Patty Lyons before starting the Newspaper sweater. This goal will likely move to 2023.	😝NOPE
Knit Continential I continue to work on this. I can do rows of knits and purls but struggle when the knitting has increases and decreases like a lace pattern.	🙂PROGRESSING
Yarn Out > Yarn In 3 advent calendars will do that to you. Plus finding a new LYS. And a 75% off sale.	😵EPIC FAIL!!
Make something colorwork I am planning a Halloween cowl and maybe some advent socks.	😉PLANNED
Review Stash – Queue Was humbled by how long it will take me to knit my stash. I’m fast approaching SABLE. Sadly being aware of how much yarn I already have has not slowed my yarn acquisitions.	😁DONE
Knit “new to me” Designer/SPECIFICALLY JOJI, EMMA, STEPHEN WEST, PETITE KNITS Knit several “new to me” designers so far – Stephen West, shrugs and sock patterns. Joji (Brioche) and Emma (colorwork) sweaters likely to move to 2023 plan.	🙂KINDA DONE
Learn to Crochet Not a priority. Thought it would help make blankets quicker but blanket making is not a priority for me. Someday…	😝NOPE
Learn to Knit without Looking Still a work in progress. Only can do with all knit rows and DK or thicker yarns.	🙂PROGRESSING
Track Days Worked on Project Yes I have added to my knitting plan spreadsheet. I also now track the number of stitches I knit on each project so that I can better estimate how many stitches a project will take and thus estimate how many projects I can get done in a year.	😁DONE!
Sew a project bag with Charlie Harper fabric Sadly this is a low priority project as I already have plenty of project bags. The fabric is so cute but would just be another bag that I have to figure out where to store. I won 3 project bags this year in giveaways. Now I need to giveaway project bags.	😝NOPE
Knit an Animal Toy I still want to do this but probably will wait two or three years to make one for my granddaughter.	😝NOPE

Definitely not doing as well on my goals as I am on my projects. But I don’t mind changing my mind as the year progresses. Actually I expect it. It’s not a big surprise learning to crochet didn’t turn out to be a big desire. Not a big fan of crochet so I don’t want to use my “good” yarn on crochet projects. Also things happen making sewing a project bag not needed – no matter how cute the fabric. It will get done someday….

SPIRALING CABLES SHAWL #2

Made a lot of progress this week on my stepdaughter’s Stephen West shawl. She is happy with the black yarn instead of the tan I used on my shawl. I’m playing a bit of yarn chicken so I’ll be aggressively blocking it to make sure it’s big enough. I’m a little over halfway done as I’ve started the trellis half. The trellis pattern is much more complicated cabling so I have to follow the pattern more closely. It’s too complicated for me to memorize. Fingers crossed I can get it done this week but I’ll probably be finishing it when I get back from Maine.

YARN ACQUSITION

Really??! I’m supposed to resist a 75% sale on yarn. I bought 6 skeins for only $30. That’s 2 tees. Love the spring/summer colors and the shine that the 15% silk adds. I said I wanted to make a second Anne Hanssen Structured Top with a solid color so that’s the plan for the new spring green yarn. Seeing Eyelet to Eyelet is my pattern planned for the orangish sunflower yarn. So my queue is well into 7 years!!

Hope you have a wonderful week of crafting. This is a year of projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts. 🙂 YOP is starting it’s 12th year. I’ve been knitting for five years and I’m starting my third year in the group.

2022: Wk of June 19-25; FO and Schooner WIPS

June 26, 2022 by knittingissofun, posted in Knit, Knitting, Project Bags, Sock Knitting, Yarn

SUMMER SHRUG

I did finish the shrug for my son’s girlfriend. We are both very happy with it. It will be perfect with a black dress she has that has similar color butterflies on the skirt portion. She says my son needs to take her out to dinner so she can wear it! This one really showed the benefit of wet blocking. Amazing how much more even my stitches look after blocking. I tried to only “aggressively” block the 2″ of lace trim so the shrug wouldn’t be too baggy. I suspect it will stretch during wear.

SCHOONER WIPS

I cast on a third WIP for my schooner trip. I wanted something on larger needles and an alternative to knitting socks. So I cast on a shrug for me. I just love this Madelinetosh single ply and this blue teal. It will be a lace pattern, Ladybird Shrug. It’s a free, easy pattern on Ravelry, only an 8 rows pattern (and the even rows are all purls). I think this will look nice with a summer dress I plan to wear to a friend’s daughter’s beach wedding in September. Also it should look nice with a wine color cami I never wear as I don’t like so much exposed skin on me. So hopefully I’ll get more wear out of the cami.

STEPHEN WEST SPIRALING CABLES SHAWL #2

Since my two sock WIPS and my shrug WIP are intended for schooner knitting, I needed to cast-on a project to work on for the next two weeks. Next up was either a Ranunculus for me or knitting a second Stephen West Spiraling Cables shawl that my step-daughter requested. I do want to make sure I have her shawl done by Oct 1 when it will start getting chilly here. Starting the Stephen West shawl won out. It is a fun knit so I’m happy to make a second. This time I’m using a very dark color for the cables. Sadly they don’t show as well. I do have some tan yarn that is closer to what I used for my shawl. But the dark yarn is much nicer alpaca yarn and will be much drapier so I really want to use it.

Having 5 WIPS would normally stress me out but since 3 were specifically cast-on for trip knitting I’m not stressing. I will definitely spend the time after the trip finishing any WIPS that didn’t get done as well as the Stephen West shawl before casting on any new projects.

ACQUISITIONS

I made it through the week without buying yarn!! Everybody seems to be doing summer sales but I am resisting. It helps that my new LYS owner told me she does a big sale starting July 1 with some yarns marked down 75%. I may have new yarn acquisitions in next week’s post. But I did end up buying more reusable project bag tags from Katrinkles. I really like having my bags labeled with what’s inside.

That’s it for this week. I hope you have a wonderful week of crafting.

This is a year of projects (YOP) update. YOP is a Ravelry Group – make a plan for the year ahead for all your fiber activities, then update your blog each week. Plans can be calendar year (like mine) or mid-year start (like many). Following the plan is optional and creates some of the fun of posts. YOP is in it’s 11th year. It’s my second in the group. I’ve been knitting for five years.

2022: Wk of June 12-18; Shrug and Socks Update

June 19, 2022 by knittingissofun, posted in Knit, Knitting, Knitting Plan, Sock Knitting

SUMMER SHRUG

I did end up frogging almost the entire shrug. I ripped it back to just the few lace rows so back to row 10. I like the small stripes much better than the big blocks although all the color changes makes the knit much slower as I have to tie magic knots every 2-3 rows.

SOCK TOES

Here are the toes for 2 pair of socks that are now in “time out” until I go on my trip in 3 weeks. The should make good schooner knitting.

NEW LYS

I did visit the yarn shop this week that is only slightly further away (3 minutes) than the yarn shop I have considered “my LYS” for the past 5 years. I was thrilled with it. While the shop is smaller, since it’s 100% yarn there is more yarn. And most important to me, the shop owner loves fingering weight yarns so there is LOTS. And she holds knit sessions Mondays at dinner, Tuesdays at lunch, and Thursdays in the afternoon. Turns out the owner lives only a few miles from me. Despite my excessive stash, I felt I couldn’t leave without buying something. I picked up some mohair as I want to knit the Love Note tee with some leftover ITO Shimo that I have. She also had a wonderful display of self striping sock yarn so I picked up a skein of bright summer colors. Since you are supposed to knit with yarn purchased at the shop for knit sessions, I’m now prepared should I chose to go. But at current gas prices, it’ll cost me $5 to make the trip so probably not. I’d rather spend the money on yarn.

SWIM SPA

After the disaster of our in ground pool last year, we purchased an above ground swim spa (you swim in place against jets of water). It arrived just a few days after my husband’s birthday so it was perfect timing. We had to hire a huge crane to lift the pool from the driveway down to the concrete pad next to our bedroom (house is built into the hill thus the bedrooms are on the lower floor). All the rain we’ve had allowed us to fill the pool. (We have a cistern so we live off rain water not municipal water.) My husband has already started swimming in it.

FRIENDS and FAMILY

This was a fantastic week for me with lots of reconnecting with friends and family. I had two lunch dates with friends I haven’t seen since last year. My niece was in town from Texas which made a nice excuse to get together with my father and brother. Plus I got to take her sight seeing in Cincinnati for a day.

That’s it for this week. I hope you have a wonderful week of crafting.

2022: Wk of June 5-11; New WIP

June 12, 2022June 12, 2022 by knittingissofun, posted in Knit, Knitting, Patterns, Sock Knitting, Stash, Yarn, Yarn Advent Calendars

Hello from rainy Cincinnati. My wish that June would bring clear skies was not to be. It was grey and drizzly for hubby’s birthday party but all had a good time anyway. I do treasure every time it is dry enough to enjoy our decks.

NEW WIP

I did finish the Quirky socks. So I got to cast-on a new project – my son’s girlfriend’s shawl. I’m knitting Summer Shrug by Dana Young. It’s a very basic pattern; 6 rows of “lace” (3 rows of YO, k2tog with a purl row between the YO rows) at the beginning, followed by 40″ of stockinette, finished with the 6 rows of “lace”. I really want to be complimentary of the pattern but I just can’t. I bought the pattern through Ravelry but if I had looked on her Etsy page I would have seen the criticism that it was pricey ($6) for an extremely basic pattern. On the other hand it’s only $6 so lets not nit pick. It’s knit flat as a long rectangle and then the edges are seamed for a few inches to create a slight sleeve. I’ve modified the pattern by putting I-cord edging for what will become the top and bottom edges of the shrug (thank you Steven West for teaching me this in your Spiraling Cables shawl). The only positive of the pattern as that she does provide mattress stitching instructions although I’ve learned from watching podcasts that I should use Bickford seaming for a more invisible seam.

I am using a skein of yarn that is basically a fade through 4 “yarns” that I got in a yarn swap. I cut the yarn into 4 balls since I want to have the second half match the first half. I will use half the mini ball before switching to the next color’s ball. The construction will mean the ‘stripes” will be vertical instead of horizontal. I found a mini that continues the fade if I need more yarn. Turns out I’m not liking the big blocks as stripes. I’m going to show it to my son’s girlfriend later today to get her thoughts both on the colors and the big blocks. It’s likely I’ll rip back to the “lace” and make much smaller stripes. This is a quick knit since it’s just stockinette. It’s a nice change to use a large needle, US 9, instead of the US 0 I use for socks.

WHAT’S UP NEXT??

I have the toes knitted up for one pair of socks to take on the Windjammer cruise I’m taking off the coast of Maine in 4 weeks but I want to take along a second pair as I expect to spend LOTS of time knitting on the boat. So I got the yarn divided in two and wound into balls. I’ll work on getting the toes knit up today. I’m going to use the Simple Spiral pattern as it’s supposed to be easy to memorize while having a slight lace to it.

Plus I really do need to watch the Patty Lyons Fix It video for brioche and work on my swatches. Guess the shrug will be hibernating for a few days.

ADVENT CALENDAR – ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!!

After sharing my 5 year stash plan last week, you would think that I’d be successful in resisting purchasing more yarn. But no. I watched a YouTube video of one of my favorite dyers, AGirlAndHerWool, this week. Wouldn’t you know she is offering a very good price on an advent calendar. Did I mention I’ve already purchased 2, count them 2, advent calendars? Supposedly one of the advent calendars I bought I’m putting away until 2023 so that means I only have one for 2022 right?? She offers 10g mini skeins so I bit and ordered one. I have no self control!! It really is an expensive way to buy yarn but I know I’ll enjoy the little surprises every day in December. 10g will be perfect for the Sea Glass Tee. Downside is I’m going to have to figure out how to store all these new minis.

KNIT IN PUBLIC

Yesterday was “Knit In Public Day”. World Wide Knit in Public Day was started in 2005 by Danielle Landes. It began as a way for knitters to come together and enjoy each other’s company since knitting is often a solitary craft. I’m trying to get a monthly knit session set up with knitters that I met at my LYS so we met yesterday at Panera. We got to “knit in public” and kick-off a monthly knitting group. It was nice to catch up with folks I haven’t seen in a year or more.

That’s it for this week. I hope you have a wonderful week of crafting.

2022: Wk of May 29 – June 4; Stash Review, Sock and May Goal Status

June 5, 2022June 5, 2022 by knittingissofun, posted in Knit, Knitting, Knitting Plan, Sock Knitting, Stash, Yarn

STASH REVIEW

One of my 2022 goals was to review my stash to see how many projects I already had on hand and to establish a 5+ year plan. Well, I’m happy to say I’ve accomplished my goal. Unfortunately I do indeed have 5-6 years worth of project yarn (assumes 10 small/sock and 4 large/sweater per year) already on hand!!!!! Truthfully it’s slightly worse as it doesn’t count a sweater quantity of minis I already have on hand, baby yarn that was given to me in Florida, nor acrylic yarn I still have. Plus I will be receiving 2 plus sweater quantities of minis in December from the advent calendars I’ve already purchased. It’s a good thing I’ll be out of town for the local fiber festival in September this year. So far I’ve resisted purchasing more yarn and hope to maintain this resistance unless yarn is REALLY on sale (like half off). I have laid out a rough 5 year plan of socks, cowls, shrugs, tees, and sweaters although many projects don’t have a pattern picked yet. I crossed out acrylic yarns that I will probably donate rather than use.

QUIRKY SOCKS – Almost FO

I made progress on my self striping socks this week. Not quite an FO yet but will be finished in the next couple of days. One sock is ready for the cuff. The second sock will be ready for the cuff by the end of today so should be done Monday or Tuesday.

MAY GOAL UPDATE

As noted above, I did complete a 2022 goal of reviewing my stash and created a rough multiyear knitting plan. May was a rough month for actual knitting. With the wedding and lawn care my daily stitches did not meet my goal of 1800 stitches per day although I’m still averaging more than 1800 per day for the year to date. I’m looking forward to getting back on track in June. I can’t wait to cast on a colorful shawl for my son’s girlfriend once the Quirky socks are finished. Also, I need to get back to working on my Brioche class.

SUMMER KNITTING

I’ve got my deck knitting “nook” set up. I’m looking forward to spending some afternoons enjoying the nice weather assuming it finally stops raining!! We had twice the normal rainfall in May but I think we are supposed to get back to “normal” in June. We finally planted flowers and tomatoes this past weekend.

We have been enjoying dinners on our upper deck. I just love June in Ohio. It’s before the humidity and bugs hit for the summer.

Hope you have a wonderful week of crafting.

2022: Wks of May 15-28; FO and Wedding

May 29, 2022 by knittingissofun, posted in Baby Knitting, Brioche, Knitting, Knitting Plan, Project Bags, Sock Knitting, Yarn

Turns out I got VERY little knitting done over the past two weeks. I even got the toes started on a second pair of socks before we left for the wedding week as I really thought I’d finish the pair I already had on needles and would need the second pair to fill my time. Plus I brought the yarn and needles to start a top. Sadly I did end up doing all of the driving to and from Charleston so that was 2 days of no knitting. I did get the heels done on the socks I already had going. Hopefully I will get them finished this week. I just love Lollipop Yarns self striping yarns so I’m looking forward to wearing them.

BABY BLANKET FO!!!

The baby blanket is now finished. I will be mailing it to my neice.

I do love the bright colors of 100% acrylic but can’t imagine wearing it. I need to find a way to let my daughter-in-law know that I would prefer other types of yarn for Christmas. I already have plenty of acrylic yarn for future baby blankets.

BRIOCHE CLASS

Uh, nothing to see here. Hopefully this week I’ll get back to working on my swatches and seeing if I can fix mistakes. That is definitely a skill I’ll need before starting a brioche sweater.

WEDDING

Instead of knitting, the past two weeks were filled with picking people up and taking them back to the airport, wedding festivities and socializing. I can’t complain. Hubby did a fantastic job with the beach houses he rented for our week stay. We had an amazing view right on the ocean and our 3 bedroom unit was the meeting place for evening dinners for our “kids” and friends. The wedding was perfect. It was outdoor with the reception under a huge white tent. Afternoon thunderstorms had me in a panic. Rain on your wedding day is supposed to be good luck so apparently they are going to have fantastic luck!! But the skies cleared and everything was perfect by the time of the wedding ceremony and reception. It all went off flawlessly and most important my daughter and her husband had a wonderful time at their wedding.

HOME AGAIN

I’m happy to be back home and back to my kitty and knitting. So far I have managed to resist “sales” of yarn but I did acquire 2 more “walking” project bags. These are extremely lightweight nylon bags with a cross body strap that is perfect for carrying a sock project while taking my daily walk in Florida. I only had one bag and could not find any more with my internet searching. I wanted another in case I lost the only one I have. I contacted the yarn store where I orginally bought the bags years ago. Bless it if the owner didn’t find them!! Now I have blue, green and purple bags. They will be perfect for sock projects to take on my schooner trip in July. Lightweight and taking up very little space.

Hope you have a wonderful week of crafting.

2022: Wk of May 8-14; Baby Blanket, Brioche, and Beach Knitting

May 15, 2022 by knittingissofun, posted in Baby Knitting, Brioche, Knitting, Knitting Plan

BABY BLANKET

I’m almost done with the baby blanket. I will definitely finish by the end of the month. This week I was able to add three more colored stripes (with it’s matching white stripe). The blanket is probably big enough already but I plan to add one or two more color strips then bind off. I’ll be glad to have this done so I can start the next big project. I’d like to start a summer tee considering that hot weather seems to be already here. Maybe the Ranunculus.

BRIOCHE

Sadly, I did not make as much progress as I had hoped on brioche classes and swatching. Happily we had friends over for dinner twice this week but it did reduce my knitting time. I’m finding that figuring out how to read a brioche pattern is taking quite a bit of concentration so I can only work on brioche when I’m not going to be interrupted by hubby. I’ve already made a mistake in my swatch so I’ll be getting to practice how to fix it. Fingers crossed. I will certainly be using lifelines when I knit my sweater. Probably every 5 rows!!!

Guess I’m showing my age. The class posted a “live” on May 13 and May 27. I thought this meant Patty Lyons would have a Zoom session on those nights. Turns out “live” simply meant the videos would be available at 8PM on those days. Snooze.

BEACH KNITTING

Time to pack my knitting for my week in Charleston for my daughter’s wedding. I’m thinking positive and hoping to get in a fair amount of knitting done. Hopefully my hubby will have a “good” day so that I don’t have to do all the driving. I hope to finish the socks I already have on needles. I plan to get another pair on needles Monday so that I have a second pair to work on. Maybe I’ll start the Ranunculus too.

RECONNECT/DISCONNECT

I was happy to reconnect with some of my local knitting friends back at the coffee shop we used to meet at weekly. It’s sad that the group has fallen apart but it was wonderful to catch up with two of my knitting friends.

I also visited my LYS as I had a 25% off birthday coupon. Sadly I left the store empty handed!!! The owner is a sewist not a knitter. I appreciate that she is a fiber craft shop rather than a yarn shop. I only knit so I have no interest in the fabrics she sells. She has cut back on the yarns she offers as she has expanded to offer needlepoint and weaving items. Fortunately for me there is a yarn store I haven’t visited about the same distance from my house that I will now be checking out. I’m hoping to join some in-person knit nights in the hopes of meeting more knitters.

I’m off to go fishing again with my son. We did have a lovely Mother’s Day dinner of fried fish last Sunday. Hoping we have another successful fishing trip today. Wishing everyone a wonderful week of crafting.

2022: Wk 0f May 1 – 7; Tank Repair and WIP Updates

May 8, 2022May 8, 2022 by knittingissofun, posted in Baby Knitting, Brioche, Knitting, Knitting Plan, Sock Knitting, Sweater Knitting

IT’S A NEW MONTH

One of the things I love about this Ravelry blogger group is all the new things I learn. Again I’m adding tracking ideas from BackstageKatKnits. I like her idea of tracking what WIPs start the month and how the month looks at the end. I’m starting off the month of MAY with 4 WIPs. One is the repair of what I thought back in January was an FO but it turned out not to fit properly. Another WIP is my husband’s sweater which is hybernating indefinitely (does this count as a WIP since I never should have cast-on the collar??) While he wears sweaters now, he is not upset that it constantly falls to the bottom of the list as I want to make other items. I do hope to finish the other 2 WIPs this month so that I can a) maintain my goal of a pair of socks per month, and b) get that baby blanket DONE!!! Here’s a screenshot of the excel sheet I use to track what project(s) I knit on each day and how many stitches I knit.

PATTY LYONS BRIOCHE CLASS

I have watched all the intro videos. The swatch videos launched Friday night and I will start working on my swatches tomorrow. The class has 4 patterns; hat, fingerless mitts, and two scarfs, but I don’t plan to complete any of them. Hence I will not add them to my “WIPs”. The patterns are simply additional “swatches” to work on skills. The brioche swatch making will certainly slow down my ability to finish WIPS this month but I want to be ready for my next sweater, Newspaper by Joji Locatelli, which will be brioche.

WIP Update

So I’ve finished lengthening my daughter-in-laws Heldig tank. I’m hoping blocking will help blend the lengthened yoke with the rest of the body. I will be seeing her in a few weeks at my daughter’s wedding so I’ll be able to return it to her. It will be perfect to wear at the beach as we all are taking a week to enjoy Charleston, SC.

I’ve made a little progress on the baby blanket. I really don’t enjoy blankets as they simply take too long to knit. I saw my neice, and her baby, this weekend due attending the funeral of her grandfather, so it’s a shame I still don’t have it done. Fingers crossed I’ll be able to mail it to her by the end of the month.

MOTHERS DAY

It’s Mothers Day here in America. What a wonderful Mothers Weekend I’m having. Friday my son’s girlfriend gave me the potted plant (it was the craft for the preschool class she was helping in). Friday night a surprise delivery turned out to be flowers from my son and his wife in Florida with some yummy champaigne flavored gummies. Saturday brought another flower delivery from my stepdaughter. This afternoon I’m going fishing with my youngest son and his girlfriend. I haven’t been fishing in 50+ years. (My hubby has steaks thawing in case we don’t catch any/enough fish for dinner).

This week it should finally feel like spring finally or in more classic Cincinnati weather – skipping straight to summer. The cold April weather has been brutal for my husband. I’m looking forward to finally getting to start putting out deck pots of flowers and herbs. I hope all the mothers in the group had a wonderful Mothers Day. Wishing everyone a wonderful week of crafting.

2022: Wk of Apr 17 – 23; Lessons Learned From Test Knitting and Yarn Advent Calendar

May 1, 2022 by knittingissofun, posted in Brioche, Christmas Knitting, Knitting, Knitting Plan, Sweater Knitting, Yarn Advent Calendars

ANNE HANSSEN TEST KNIT LESSONS

I enjoyed knitting Anne Hanssen’s new tee that launched yesterday. But I certainly learned some lessons in the process.

No more test knitting. I just don’t knit fast enough if the project has to be completed in one month, especially if it’s fingering weight yarn. This was my second test knit. I barely got a baby sweater finished in one month. Yes this was a somewhat cropped tee but I still barely got it done and had to abandon all other projects for the month. For me, it would be better to wait until the pattern is for sale and I can knit it on my own time schedule.
Use those numbered stitch counters I bought!!! I apparently miscounted my stitches leading into separating for sleeves, etc. What an unpleasant surprise when I found out this week that I had 20 too many stitches in each row of the body. Turns out I ended up knitting a size larger than I intended. Fortunately it fits okay, just a little more ease than the pattern intended.
Take the time to make a stitch count chart. I usually do this for sweaters/tee but skipped it since I was behind on getting the tee started. Making a stitch count chart has multiple benefits. It forces me to read through the pattern as I determine how many stiches each row should have. I think it would have helped me (coupled with using numbered stitch markers) to make sure I was making the raglan increases correctly. It also would have helped me know how many stitches per day I needed to knit in order to complete the tee in the required time.
Either learn how to pick up stitches (!!!!) or take the time to do a provisional cast-on (as the pattern advised!!!) I’m okay with how the neckband turned out but I didn’t pick up stitches a) correctly or b) quickly. Can’t believe how long it took me to pick up stitches!! Then as I was nearly done I realized I hadn’t done it right.

All in all, I’m glad I got to knit this beautiful tee. I will definitely knit another one with less ease and a less tonal colorway to show off the textured sections better. I will use a provisional cast-on but I will also need to learn how to pick up stitches for the front neckband stitches.

I’m looking forward to someday knitting her Hope Cardigan which Anne gave me for doing the test knit. I will make it short sleeve and keep the sleeve in the lace pattern.

ADVENT CALENDARS

Just in case you might be looking for an advent calender…. based on my research the two “best prices” are Vicki Brown Designs in the UK and Wool Interrupted in Canada. Wool Interrupted is BY FAR the best price based on how much yarn you get. I am seriously considering buying a second advent calendar and saving it for December 2023. One of her choices looks to be lots of different bright colors (lower right photo) which is what I prefer over concentrated in one or two colors. She is using a bamboo/wool mix which should add sheen to the yarn. I’m concerned that she might not have the diverse set of colors as an option or the bamboo yarn if I wait till next year to order one. (That’s my excuse and I’m sticking with it 😉).

She has really upped her game since I bought her 12 day calendar 2 years ago. She now offers multiple choices of color inspiration, better colors, and offers 8 days, 12 days, and 25 days calendars. All calendars include a full skein for the last day.

NEXT……

I am so looking forward to knitting new things. I need to fix the Heldig Tank I knit back in January for my daughter-in-law. It is too tight in the underarms so I ripped out the collar and will add length to the yoke.

Once I get that done I look forward to working on my socks and my neice’s baby blanket. Good knits for the drive to Charleston, SC in mid-May for my daughter’s wedding. I also plan to sign up for Patty Lyons online Brioche class as my next big project will be the Joji’s Newspaper sweater. I’ll be working on mini projects for the brioche class.

Hope you have a wonderful week.

2022: Wk of Apr 10 – 16; Chaio Goo Needle Tip Set, Test Knit Update

April 17, 2022 by knittingissofun, posted in Knitting, Knitting tools, Yarn Advent Calendars

Chaio Goo Twist Needle Tip Set

I have wanted to get the Chaio Goo Shorties interchangeable needle set Size 0 – 3 for years. But I always felt they were too expensive. Sadly, they are even more expensive now. Well, despite my insisting not to be paid for walking my elderly friend’s dog in Florida, he gave me a going away card. He included cash knowing that if he used a check I wouldn’t cash it. So I figured the best way to meet his wishes was to buy something for myself that I wouldn’t normally splurge on. Since I knit almost exclusively fingering weight projects, these tips will get a lot of use. I plan to also purchase some longer cords. They came with only very short cords for socks and sleeves.

Tee Test Knit

The test knit tee is getting all my attention. As much as I say I don’t care if I don’t get it done by the end of the month, I still am trying to do my besting by focusing all my knitting time on it. That way I can say I did my best, I just can’t knit that many stitches in one month. When I started it, I didn’t count on how much my son and his girlfriend would want to play card games in the evenings once we got back to Ohio. Usually we only did this on Friday night but they have wanted to play an hour or two every evening. Sorry, but knitting will ALWAYS lose to spending time with humans, especially my kids.

One lesson I’ve learned is the value of creating a stitch count chart. Since I was already late starting the project I didn’t take the time to calculate the stitch count per row as I made the raglan increases. Big mistake. Sadly I can see that I have not always remembered to make the yo at the raglan increases. I’m not willing to frog back but will “wing it”. If the errors truly bother me, I’ll end up frogging the top.

Adding to the lack of time is now we are making a 11 hr trip (each way) to Minneapolis next weekend to attend a memorial service for my husband’s cousin. She was younger than me. She died from ALS or in America known as Lou Gehrig’s disease (showing my age that I know who he was). Since I have to do most of the driving, I won’t get much knitting done. The only positive is that we will stop and visit my step-daughter and our new granddaughter on our way back home from the memorial service. It’s the first time we will see the baby and she will be six months old.

ADVENT CALENDAR

I have been looking at yarn advent calendar’s for 2 years. I did buy a 12 day one in 2020 but wasn’t real happy with the colors of the mini (shades of grey mostly). A local knitting friend and I created a google spreadsheet of all the calendars we could find last year but I resisted buying one. I’m always afraid that I won’t like the colors the dyer comes up with and some of the prices are outrageous. Including “extras” that I don’t want doesn’t make the calendar more valuable to me. I’ve updated the spreadsheet for 2022 (who would believe you have to order them in April!!). My friend shared with me a yarn store in Indianapolis that is offering an advent calendar using minis of Emma’s yarn. That’s the yarn stocked in the yarn store I visited with my Florida knitting friends so I know I love her yarn and her colors. So I bought myself the advent calendar!!!! My plan is to knit the Sea Glass Tee as my New’s Year’s Day 2023 cast-on with the advent minis. I can’t wait!

Specking of holidays, I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend if you celebrate it. My 22 year old still likes me to make and hide an Easter basket for him, and one for his girlfriend. It’s a once a year treat of high quality chocolate cream eggs from Cincinnati’s best chocolate candy company. I make a basket for hubby and I to share as well. It’s a beautiful sunny day and we will enjoy a small family gathering with our 3 boys that live in Cincinnati.