A quick review of my closet reveals very little red but an absolute favorite item of clothing, both to have knit and to wear, is this Danish styled, boxy pull-over featuring cabled stars. Initially described in March 2022 after participating in a winter sweater workshop with Marie Greene, this comfy, cozy sweater is worthy of showcasing for #SimplyRed Squares with BeckyB.
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!
After hosting a Kuster cousin in July and Müller cousins in October, my knitting will vicariously take me to the land of my Swiss grandparents. In 2025, knitting maven Marie Greene will guide knitters on virtual travel tours to Switzerland, Germany, France, and British Columbia. Each quarter, she will share culturally specific patterns, history lessons, and recipes. As with her other workshops, there will be instructional videos to help participants learn new techniques, suggested books to read, and a music list, as well as random prizes, possible even in situ knitting notions. In January, along with my fellow travelers, I will begin this knitting journey at Kleine Scheidegg in the Canton of Bern. It is a magical place which I visited in 1982 and 1991 as the Jungfrau was my grandmother’s favorite mountain. While the sweater that will be the focus of the coming year’s annual Knit Camp sweater knit-a-long (KAL) is still being designed, a sneak peek at the top-down cardigan reveals slipped stitches in red and white, just like the Swiss flag.
Happy Knitting! Or, more appropriately, Viel Spaß beim Stricken!
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!
Step back to a May (nearly June) day one year ago, or two, or three, or four years and you would find me studying pattern release notes and making yarn and color choices for Marie Greene’s annual 4-day sweater knit-along (KAL) but not this summer. Instead, with July’s arrival, I will observe rather than participate in this summer’s KAL since I have a full task list as the co-lead of the church building team.
After spending several years in discernment, in what now feels like it was a leisurely drive on a blue-line road, it is like we are in the F1 pit lane prepping for 78 fast laps on the streets of Monaco. As May began, we purchased 40 wooded acres of urban wilderness, engaged the architects, performed soil borings and tested for Decorah Edge. In just weeks, we will begin listening sessions when we will dream of all this building might represent and then move into conceptual and schematic designs before breaking ground in September 2024 and dedicating a new building in September 2025.
With weekly planning meetings, frequent discussions with the architects, and writing regular eNews updates intended to keep member congregants and friends informed and engaged, the 4-day sweater KAL, just doesn’t gel with my mindset. But my needles will not be still as yarn for a summer silk shawl and two scarves are tucked in the rattan basket by my TV room chair.
Happy knitting!
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.
Since my knitted contributions to this year’s church auction (the Mallory Shawl and the French Oak Scarf) were successful in raising funds and as Brezel, Marie Greene’s new design for her 2023 January Sweater Workshop, is waiting in the wings, I just completed several smaller projects. Using worsted weight tweed yarn in vibrant magenta, the matching beanie and scarf combo with reversible cables was a quick project. Plus, this set gives me a head start on next year’s auction donations.
And for a sneak peak at Brezel details — With a release date of December 30 for Knit Campers like me, Bretzel incorporates Bavarian twisted stitches and German short rows to create an overall design resembling a platter of carefully crafted pretzels. And, yes, the name of the sweater is the German translation of this symmetrically twisted, salty snack. In the weeks ahead, in addition to the knitting lessons shared during this sweater workshop, there is a promise of pretzel baking lessons. Yumm!
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
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.
Graphic: © Marie Greene
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.
Knit+ Librarian 