Knitting

Simply Red

July 1, 2025July 1, 2025 annbh3566 Comments

handknit red sweater with front cable design hanging from a purple ribbon

A swift scroll through years of digital photos revealed a varied selection of pictures suitable for this month’s square challenge #SimplyRed! (Not to be confused with the former English soul and pop band of the same name.)

Becky B. hosts this quarterly themed challenge. While participants are encouraged to post daily, the only real requirement for this fun blogging exercise is that the themed photo must be square. Her previous themes ranged from BrightSquares to GeometricJanuary to TreeSquares. With five Tuesdays, I have set a weekly goal for #SimplyRed! and, as this is mostly a knitting journal, I will start by highlighting a sweater knit for a new great-great nephew.

Featuring my favorite design element – cables, the Waterfall pattern by Marie Greene, offers assorted sizes from newborn (0-6 months) to seven years. Knowing little ones grow quickly, I hope this size 2-4 might keep our new great-great nephew warm on future chilly Indiana days. Knit in his older brother’s favorite color, red, the yarn is a blend of cotton, bamboo, and silk which knits up nicely with the advantage of being machine washable for busy parents.

#SimplyRed!

Knitting

For a new great-great

August 9, 2024 annbh3562 Comments

handknit green sweater on white background with a central cable design on the body and the sleeve hanging on a wooden hanger suspended by an orange ribbon — Babbling Brook in Forestry

details of a handknit green sweater on white background with a central cable design on the body and the sleeve — Babbling Brook in Forestry

Amidst those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, Knit Campers add yarn[y] to the list of rhyming words as 100s plunge into a four-day sweater knitting adventure. While I did not follow the crowd’s choice of patterns, I did create a sweater for an expected great-great niece or nephew. (We must wait until October to know which.)

Green is the new momma’s favorite color, thus the choice of this gender-neutral forestry colorway. The blend of cotton, bamboo, and silk always knits up nicely with the advantage of being machine washable. Marie Greene’s Babbling Brook pattern offers assorted sizes from newborn (0-6 months) to seven years; and includes my favorite design element – cables. Knowing little ones grow quickly, I hope this size 2-4 might keep our new great-great warm through one or two Oregon rainy seasons.

Congratulations Katie and Cam!

2022 Highlighted in Knitting & Books

January 2, 2023January 17, 2025 annbh3564 Comments

Taking an inventory of the old year is by no means a unique task. It is, however, not something I have done previously in this blog. So here are a few highlights of my 22 knitting projects (some of which you will have already seen) and my titles read – 82 – although to be honest, I indulged in a number of quick read YA fantasies and enjoyed a variety of easy-listening titles while driving to-and-from Eau Claire and hours spent gardening last summer in order to reach this quantity.

handknit blue silk scarf with beaded zigzag edge — Hitchhiker Shawl

gray knit afgan on blue leather chair — Hitchhiker Shawl

handknit shawl using rustic silk in muted creams and lavenders — Buds & Bumbles Shawl

blue green sweater with cable stitched yoke — Buds & Bumbles Shawl

handknit cardigan in light sage with navy blue accents — Coastal Grandma Sweater

bronze medallion marking Boston Freedom Trail set in sidewalk with the tips of two black leather shoes on bottom edge — Coastal Grandma Sweater

handknit blue shawl with contracting cream colored bands and lace edge — Apple Cart Shawl

Knitting

Sailaway Starts Today

June 30, 2022August 3, 2022 annbh3563 Comments

The color combos and at-gauge swatches knit in beautiful yarns as shared by my fellow Knit Campers proved too tempting. With today’s cast-on (after wavering earlier this month) I joined Marie Greene’s sixth annual 4-Day knit-along (KAL). Free patterns (always well designed and precisely written) and advance access prior to the actual pattern drop are among the many Knit Camp membership benefits. So while this KAL officially begins tomorrow, I already have Comfy worsted cotton in a lovely mix of silver sage and planetarium blue on my needles.

Sailaway is a top-down cardigan which takes its inspiration from the current popular Coastal Grandmother Aesthetic fashion style – classic, loose fitting designs, often in natural fibers, and perfect for a summer in the Hamptons. (Imagine Diane Keaton or other older women living in luxurious oceanfront properties.) Having just celebrated 70, with a swatch of purple contrasting against my more salty coiffure, I definitely fall into that demographic group sans the beach house.

Happy Knitting!

Graphic: © Marie Greene

Knitting

Decisions, Decisions

June 9, 2022August 3, 2022 annbh3564 Comments

I am vacillating as to whether or not to join Marie Greene’s six annual 4-Day sweater knit-a-long (KAL). While I do not aspire to knit a sweater in just four days, I can satisfactorily attest to the success of my previous 4-Day KAL participation. Each of my three projects, Foxtrot in 2019, Soundtrack during the summer months of our 2020 Covid quarantine and last summer’s Fireworks, resulted in sweaters that are worn regularly and (quite pleasantly) receive lots of compliments. All points in the pro column. Add to the positive list that this summer’s 4-Day pattern, Sailaway, was designed to accommodate different yarn weights and even different fibers. So while I don’t really need another wool sweater (lovely as they are), it is quite tempting to consider knitting one using a plant-based blended yarn. My previous cotton projects have been dishcloth gifts so definitely a more challenging endeavor.

While Marie’s summer designs always integrate a new stitch to hold KAL participants’ interest, the 4-Day pattern strives for simple lines should anyone actually feel the need for speed. This summer’s top-down, seamless cardigan fits that prerequisite. The knitter (that might be me) can opt for two contrasting colors on a slip-stitched yoke or a pattern with a little less fuss where the featured mini sails are revealed in just one complementary color. This version also sports a slightly taller collar and pinstripes.

Decisions, decisions – just like Hamlet, to KAL or not to KAL that is the question and then to decide, with or without buttons.

Knitting

FOF – Finished Object Friday

May 6, 2022June 22, 2022 annbh3561 Comment

Just in time for FOF, a second Little Gansey designed by Marie Greene is off my needles. This version in a deep blue green is for a new great-great niece born in December. The color gives a blended nod to my favorite color – blue and the second time parents who both love the color green. Knit in size 2-4, to let the little one grow a bit before donning this cotton, silk, bamboo, blend.

Knitting

Boost the FOF Tally

March 18, 2022June 22, 2022 annbh3564 Comments

handknit scarf with cable stitches using blue yarn on a wooden hanger — French Oak Scarf – Marie Greene

yellow sweater with cable stitched yoke on wooden hanger — French Oak Scarf – Marie Greene

Just in time to tackle a spring mystery knit-along (MKAL) with Marie Greene and to learn brioche with members of the Zumbro River Fiber Artists Guild’s Knitting Group, my WIP (Work-in-Progress) count has been reduced by three on this Finished Object Friday (FOF). The deep heather blue scarf and muted lavender shawelette have yet to find homes but the vibrant yellow sweater will be gifted to a great niece or nephew arriving in May. (Shhhh! It is still a secret for the mom and dad-to-be.)

The small Gansey sweater, designed by Marie Greene, incorporates a cabled yoke for bit of decoration on the practical pullover knit using an easy to care for cotton, nylon, rayon, and silk blend. Knit in a size 2-4, my new great-great niece or nephew will have something to grow into and, hopefully, will have many days of warm wear.

The blue wool scarf is another of Marie’s designs. Reminiscent of barrel staves and trellised grape plants, the French Oak pattern reveals off-center cables traveling the length of the scarf like grape vines. And, I am starting out a new year with another Hitchhiker, perfect for a special person knit in 100% rustic silk with Czech glass beads decorating each tip. This is Hitchhiker #23 in my collection of hand-knit gifts.