Category: Knitting

Knitting

My Duet is a Trio

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pale pink and light brown handknit scarf with stripes and lace

When I began my version of the Duet Triangular Scarf, I fully intended to color inside the lines and follow the pattern instructions. However, while my swatch met stitch gauge, I neglected to check row gauge.  As a result, the first segment revealed a delicate lace design with the correct width, but it did not match the intended length.  Guessing the same would be true for the opposite triangle and wanting a slightly longer scarf, I modified Marie Greene’s recently released pattern by adding a rectangular middle section.  This change eliminated the distinct seam between the two colors and created a gentle transition of skinny stripes alternating between pale pink and the natural, undyed light brown of this Peruvian highland wool.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

Fritillary Socks MKAL

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logo for fritillary sock mystery knit along with bright pink blossoms nestled in a dewy field

With only a trio of socks to my credit and having sworn off this particular article of clothing 1,258 days ago, a new mystery knit-along (MKAL) has piqued my interest.  The five clues that will evolve into the first sock will be released April 1 (no fooling) through April 13.  Then I get to do all the work again to make the pair, hopefully, finishing in time for the second sock party just days into May.

Fritillaries, a flowering herbaceous perennial with bell-shaped blossoms, inspired this new knitting pattern.  Whether the design will capture the delicate checked petals is yet to be discovered but the pre-clue notes promise cables – my favorite stitch.

Happy knitting!

Graphic credit:  © Marie Greene

Knitting

Knit for Food Knit-a-Thon Today

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graphic for knit for food marathon with a banana, steam rising from a bowl, a peanut butter jar, bread, apple and a ball of yarn with knitting needles

The beauty of retirement is the flexibility to decide whether to knit or swiffer the living room floor; to knit or reorganize the kitchen utensil drawer.  I framed my task list weeks ago when I registered for today’s Knit for Food Knit-a-Thon.  As part of Marie Greene’s team, I will join her and 6,000 others knitting through the day.  There are Zoom links connecting knitters, crocheters, and crafters for this 12-hour marathon that will raise funds and awareness for food insecurity.  The money will be equally divided among Feeding America, World Central Kitchen, No Kid Hungry, and Meals on Wheels.

Graphic credit:  © Marie Greene

Knitting

Knit for Food Knit-a-thon

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background teal fades to gold with bold white letters stating knit for food 03-23-24 with knitting ball and needles

I know what I will be doing a month from today on March 23 – KNITTING!

Inspired by Knit Camp leader, Marie Greene, I will join thousands of knitters and crafters in the Knit for Food Knit-a-thon 2024.  A day, that Marie describes, when “we can turn skeins of yarn into meals on tables, hope in hearts, and smiles on faces.”

This knit-a-thon is a 12-hour marathon to raise funds and awareness for food insecurity.  The event planners promise “100% of funds raised will be equally divided between Feeding America, World Central Kitchen, No Kid Hungry, and Meals on Wheels” and they have a track record validating their claim.  The previous three knit-a-thons, 2021-2023, raised $877,571!

Even if you are not a knitter, every craft-lover can participate because what is not to love about a day spent working with your favorite medium AND raising money for such a meaningful cause.  So join me in participating and donating to Knit for Food Knit-a-thon.

More information about the knit-a-thon recipients:

Knitting

Variations on a theme

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hand knit peach colored shawl with lace edges on a wooden hanger
hand knit fuchsia colored shawl with lace edges and crystal beads on a wooden hanger

At the pattern designer’s recommendation, I knit my first version of this shawl in a multicolored self-striping yarn. The lacy border took a back seat to the fabric’s vibrancy and I wondered what would result if I knit this same design with a solid or subtle tonal yarn. I quelled my curiosity first with the peachy project and then knit a second shawl in deep fuchsia. Both skeins had arrived in yarn club surprise packages and, utilizing good stash management practices, each just needed the right design.

The combination of fingering weight yarn and a slightly larger needle results in an airy body of garter stitches. An unusual double yarnover (yo2) at the beginning of the lace row creates an elongated fiber filigree. And, I added a little glitter by incorporating a pearlized pink Miyuki seed bead on each lacy tip. Now, wrapped in tissue paper, each shawl is safely tucked away awaiting a giving opportunity as a silent auction donation.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

Red Gems

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small handknit red blanket on a blue tweed chair

Just in time for Valentine’s Day!  Although these diamonds are not of the shimmery carbon variety but a well-planned placement of textured knit and purl stitches that create the illusion of repeating geometric shapes.  The designer offered three graduated sizes: baby blanket, lapghan, and full-sized afghan.  My version of the Little Gem Blanket is baby-sized, 32-inches square; just right to provide a bit of warmth on a sedentary evening of streaming videos. 

What we designate as our TV room can be chilly on a frigid winter evening depending on wind direction.  This room has only had cosmetic improvements – new windows and the refinishing of the original maple flooring.  We have no idea as to the energy efficiency of the insulation.  Slumped vermiculite? Or, it may even be the stitched newspaper–tarpaper variety we discovered when we remodeled the 1940s bump-out bathroom addition.  Hence the need for wool warmth.

This small blanket project also channeled the best ideals of stash management.  The 650-yards of superwash wool were remnant skeins remaining after the completion of the 2022 Vivi workshop sweater. That pattern was designed in the style of boxy Danish “night” sweaters which, coincidently, displayed an elegant collection of cabled diamonds.

Knitting

Knit Camp celebrating 5!

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two straw baskets holding balls of aqua and cream yarn

Not only is five Marie Greene’s favorite number (Who knew people had favorite numbers? Do you?) but this year marks the fifth anniversary of Knit Camp and I have been a member for nearly every month. 

There is both joy and practicality in this small online knitting community.  There is a custom app without all the noise and political rhetoric of the big social media platforms.  I receive 12-15 free patterns each year, as well as easy-to-follow stitchery tutorials.  There are knit-alongs (KAL) that include both a Winter Sweater Workshop and the 4-day sweater marathon in July; an exclusive Fall Mystery Shawl event in October; and, not to be forgotten, the annual Knit Camp at the Coast 3-day virtual retreat. 

This winter’s “sweater” is the newly designed Taos Valley Poncho which I am not knitting but I am thoroughly enjoying the weekly online courses that range from an intro to New Mexico textiles, to how to steep white pine coffee, to learning the tuck-stitch.  While a multi-toned poncho may not grace my wardrobe, I ordered yarn for the Knit Camp Anniversary Afghan.  This is dubbed a 12-month celebration in stitches and will consist of a series of blocks – one design per month; each knit twice (for double the fun) in alternating colors.  However, the yarn is simply taking too long to arrive, so my patience is thin as I check the front porch every day.

So much fun and friendship too.  Happy knitting!

Graphic credit:  © Marie Greene

Knitting

Pathways to Peace KAL

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A hand knit lace shawl in multi colored pinks and greens on a wooden hanger

A first of the year reporting on an end of the year project.

Earlier Project Peace knit-alongs (KAL) featured an original new pattern custom designed specifically to reflect that year’s theme but simplicity framed this 2.0 KAL.  In preparation, Healthy Knitter Christina Campbell suggested choosing from among one of her earlier designs or the Anica Shawl. I chose the latter and paired her recommendation with a wonderful single skein of merino blended fingering from South Africa that was hand dyed exclusively for the 2022 Strickmich yarn club. Yard by yard, the bold Happy Crowd colorway revealed a self-striping vibrancy well outside my normal, often monotone, palette.

The Anica Shawl pattern incorporated a well-tuned balance of restful repetition perfect for Project Peace reflections. Yet, the artful lacework held my attention and produced a comfortable wrap featuring airy eyelets along one side and a picot border on the opposite. The result was so charming that I claimed this shawlette as my own.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

Project Peace 2.0 – Pathways to Peace

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Green knit shawl with multicolored pink border on hanger
Peace In Place Shawl – a 2020 Project Peace Knitalong with Christina Campbell

A little bit of joy arrived in my in-box this afternoon with an email from Christina Campbell.  Her knitting patterns always offered that perfect blend of artistic interest and gentle repetition that encouraged self-care, meditation and, yes, peace.  Between 2016-2020, I participated in four Project Peace knitalongs (KAL).  Then life intervened and her blog was silent.  But she has returned letting her readers and fellow knitters know that “… after two years of reading, writing, time in Shetland, walks in the woods, and releasing a lot into the compost pile, it is time to emerge.” 

Her 2023 Project Peace theme will be Pathways to Peace.  While she will not be releasing a new pattern, she has promised a daily blog post to help guide our steps on that path.  She is encouraging knitters to choose their own pattern, possibly one of her earlier designs, like my Project Peace shawl from 2020.  Back then we were slogging through yet more days of pandemic distancing and the theme Peace in Place created a textured triangular wrap with a lacy contrasting border.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

The Tuesday Night Wrap

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handknit lace scarf in two-toned gold yarn draped on a wooden hanger

A mystery knit-along (MKAL) requires confidence in the designer that your time and (more importantly) your precious yarn will not be wasted.  As I was very pleased with my version of The Aquarelle Shawl (an April 2022 MKAL), I cast on The Tuesday Night Wrap the very afternoon the first clue dropped. 

The early details alerted the 100s knitting along that the pattern would be released in four parts, create a rectangular wrap in two sizes (either scarf or larger shawl), and require two different yarns (one fingering and the other a lace weight mohair) best if undertaken in complimentary colors.  With Miss Marple serving as the pattern inspiration, lace work was a must as her character is always adorned in lace – lace collars, lace gloves, even lace wound in her hair.

With finished dimensions of 16 inches by 67 inches, this scarf is wider than I would normally feature.  Although the softness of this lovely merino fingering yarn, hand-dyed by Heather Best at Sew Happy Jane, will wrap nicely for squishy, cuddly warmth.

Librarian’s bibliographic note:  Miss Marple, Agatha Christie’s popular knitting sleuth, was introduced to readers in a short story published in 1927 and entitled:  The Tuesday Night Club.