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.
This year’s virtual Traveler’s Club: A Knitter’s Journey has moved from Switzerland to Germany. But before leaving the alpine meadows and glacial lakes of my grandparents, I finished two of the three Swiss inspired patterns. (The February knit-along project, Kleine Sweater, is still on my needles.)
Marie Greene developed these new designs after spending time in the Bernese Oberland region of the Swiss Alps.
Happy Knitting! Or, more appropriately, Viel Spaß beim Stricken!
Mail arrived from Switzerland just as Knit Camp’s virtual Traveler’s Club begins its three-month (January – March) exploration of Swiss fiber arts. The beautiful, handcrafted card offered family news, as well as memories from the summer of 2023 and time spent with Kuster cousins. This holiday greeting will serve as inspiration when I stash dive for yarn to knit this month’s themed pattern, the Interlaken Headband which features interlocking two-color mosaic stitches, just like the lakes for which the design is named.
Plus, the hand painted Christmas imagery also qualifies for this month’s geometric squares with BeckyB!
Happy Knitting! Or, more appropriately, Viel Spaß beim Stricken!
Unlike Shel Silverstein’s Mr. Smeds who had twenty-one hats, and none of them were the same, I knit only eight beanies for this year’s Halloween hat drive sponsored by Hawthorne Helps. Momma joined the giving with a donation of two knit scarves. At nearly 101, she may be their oldest donor and HH will feature her picture on their October 29th distribution poster.
Hawthorne Helps is a community partnership between Rochester Public Schools Hawthorne Education Center and the First Unitarian Universalist Church. The program also receives support from local faith, service, and business groups. Twice a month, HH volunteers distribute essential items that are not eligible purchases using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, such as deodorant, dish soap, or toothpaste. Each fall, the selection of items available to the adult learners includes wintery weather gear – hats, mittens, and scarves – which are especially useful for new immigrants arriving from warmer climates.
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.
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.
With winter storm warnings blinking on my computer tool bar and anticipated temperatures hovering below zero all day, it seemed the perfect time to wear my first ever fulled wool mittens.
The timeline from knitting to fulling to wearing spans nearly a decade. These mittens were knit between February – March 2013 during a course at a local fabric store no longer in business. But the class only provided the pattern and a knitting circle on two evenings. I took my new project home and worried about how to actually create the thick mittens without ruining my work. I finally deduced that whether I ruined the mittens during the hot water agitated washing or if they simply continued to sit at the bottom of a wicker yarn basket, they were equally unwearable. A Covid Finishing Fest hosted by Northfield Yarns in May 2020 gave me the impetus to watch several how-to videos and violà mittens! Not needed with springtime temps, I tucked them away to be forgotten, thought lost, then found, and worn today for the first time.
Happy winter solstice!
Note: The distinction between fulling and felting is one of timing. In the textile world, felting is a done with fibers, not with woven cloth while fulling describes the act of wet finishing the woven cloth or knitted item with water, temperature and agitation.
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
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