A quick wish for the holidays and update on my knitting.
Today is Christmas Eve 2024, and the post is just a quick one. I’ll share what I’ve been doing today (cooking and knitting), and send wishes for Happy Holidays.
First, an update on my latest knitting project. The Birthday61 sweater, is moving along slowly. I knew it would be a long haul, but I am enjoying it. I’ve already begun on my second skein of yarn, and I’m still knitting the yoke. A little bit of knitting is happening today.
Progress on Birthday61
Food is mostly made for tomorrow’s small feast. Christmas Day is spent with my son. It is just the two of us, so we don’t go nuts. He has the day off, so he will make a ham. Probably cooked on one of his grills. I also made potatoes au gratin to be baked tomorrow. The vegetable will be my baked Seminole pumpkin. It’s all cooked and ready to eat. This was the only pumpkin I got from all my garden this summer. It tastes a lot like winter (butternut) squash.
Baking my garden pumpkin
Today at my home in Central Florida the weather is gloomy and cool. My cats have been sleeping indoors, which is unusual for Skittle. She likes to be outside, but she likes it warm!
Sleepy cats – Fontana and Skittle
We have lights up outside, but nothing for decorations inside! I’m just not in the mood to add more stuff to the house. My little fake tree is still in the shed, along with the few other holiday things I still have.
Whatever you are doing today and tomorrow, I hope it is enjoyable and peaceful. I miss the excitement of children, but I’m also happy for the low key way I celebrate.
I don’t write about Christmas these days, but have a few very old posts related to the holidays.
I have the yarn and will soon begin knitting the Birthday61 sweater pattern by Ankestrick. The yarn from Loop has arrived and it very nice. First time using this brand and ordering from this online shop.
I should not be starting a new knitting project. I’ve been in a bit of a knitting funk lately. This has caused me to jump from one project to another without finishing any of them! That is a bad habit to get into.
This new sweater pattern is by a designer I am familiar with – Ankestrick. She wrote the pattern for the Rebel Cardigan, which I have knit and successfully finished. The Birthday61 sweater is a textured pullover. It is knit in all one color using a fingering weight yarn. The pattern is the half-fisherman’s rib. Needle size is very small, between 0-1.5US size, depending on gauge.
Buying Yarn
The designer knit her sweater using Biches & Bûches cashmere and lambswool yarn. I bet it’s gorgeous. The yarn is quite expensive and hard to find in the US. So, I looked at the Biches & Bûches lambswool – no cashmere. It is the same weight and costs less. Also, it is easier to find.
Ravelry has a feature where a yarn page links to shops that sell the yarn. I use it a lot. It does not list every place the yarn is sold, but enough to give me an idea of pricing.
If others have an opinion on the yarn, they can leave comments.
To see what types of yarn have already been used for a project, go to the Birthday61 projects page and click the “yarn ideas” link at the top. When I do that for Birthday61, I see that Biches & Bûches La Petite Lambswool has been used for six of these sweaters already. I ended up ordering seven skeins from Loop Yarn. They offer free shipping for orders over $95. I chose color Beige.
I’ve read that Biches & Bûches is changing their skeins from hanks (that have to be wound) to skeins that don’t. When ordering, it seems you could get either type. On the Loop site they showed hanks on the ordering page. Here is what I got … & YAY – no winding required! I’m so happy.
I’ve already been knitting a sample of the Birthday61 sweater pattern. Mainly, I wanted to see if I could do it. Check out my page here. I’m not convinced that I will not mess this up. A light colored yarn is going to show all the goofs, but it will also be easier to see the stitches as I knit.
The Swatch on Needle Size 1 US (2.25mm)
Initially I had hoped that my sample piece would serve as a swatch, but the new Biches & Bûches yarn is thinner than the Rauma. I needed to knit a swatch. Swatch stitch amounts (for a 4×4 size – before and after blocking) are given but I wasn’t sure how to knit the swatch in the half-fisherman’s rib.
I ended up knitting a flat piece (using size US1 / 2.25mm needle) following directions for this on page 2. The wrong side is knit and the right side is done in the kbl, purl. I left 3 border stitches on each side of each row. I began and ended the swatch with 4 knit rows.
Before I got the swatch finished I could tell it would end up being too tall / long.
My gauge is really off on rounds. Width / stitch number in 4 inches is very close, but I should have 8 more rows. What this means to me is that my sweater will end up very long. I’ll have to watch the length as I knit.
This swatch should be 64 rounds that equal 4 inches. If I knit 64 rounds I get something like 6 inches. Knitters also say that this type of stitch stretches downward with washing.
I began to wonder if I knit the swatch incorrectly. So I asked on the Ankestrick designs forum at Ravelry (this is the place to ask pattern questions). I got a quick reply and found I had knit it correctly. So maybe I need a smaller needle. I ripped out this swatch and began again with the smaller needle.
Front
Back
However, my swatch with size 0 needles did not change much. My plan is to cast on with size 0 and switch to size 1 for the sweater. I am hoping that the cast on edge will look okay.
While cleaning out my yarn storage room, I came across the Fisherman’s Kep. I had finished knitting and had lots of ends left to weave in. I put it aside. It had been a while, so I decided to weave in the ends and give it a washing. I hadn’t been too happy with the fit but decided to I blocked it and see.
The hat construction begins with the brim, which will be folded up over a ribbed area. I think the ribbing was part of the pattern. After that, we begin rows of colorwork (fair isle) in our chosen colors.
Fisherman’s Kep blocked
This pattern was part of a fund-raising event. After taking some photos, I looked up my Ravelry page to add them.
I was thinking it had been maybe a year since I began this project. Lo and behold it had been THREE years!
I found my original post on this blog about the Kep and decided to give readers an update here. I also visited the Facebook page to see recently completed hats and noticed I had forgotten to add a tassel! Maybe I can dig out the pattern and see the suggestions. I’d love to add a fun little tassel to the top.
The hat is long and the knitter can create whatever patterns they like. Five colors total – of wool yarn – are used, which is traditional.
For more information please see my first blog post (link above).
One day, when I am in the mood, I will create and add a cute tassel.
Looking further at the pattern, I realized that it may be too difficult for me to accomplish. I have my doubts, but will probably try it anyway. (See my trial below.)
First of all, the whole sweater is knit in a small size needle. Suggested needle size 0 to 1.5US, depending on gauge. That is tiny! This means lots and lots of stitches, that could take me months to finish. On top of that, it is knit in a “half fisherman’s rib” . The tags for this sweater include “brioche tuck”. Scary. I’ve tried knitting brioche a number of times and failed miserably.
Pattern Help
Fortunately Ankestrick has a full page of links for help. Some links will apply to the Birthday 61 sweater pattern and go to YouTube. I love it when designers give me lots of help to achieve success. She also has a Ravelry forum page for help with this specific project.
She has her own suggested invisible cast on, seamless join, and decreases worked in the half fisherman’s rib stitch. The pattern explains how to incorporate the rib stitch while making German short rows. The pattern lists many special techniques I’m unfamiliar with. But, I should be able to find help to create them while knitting the project. Will I understand and accomplish them? Who knows. I have successfully knit her Rebel cardigan pattern, and am already a fan of this designer.
The Yarn
A sweater knitting project can be quite expensive. Lots of yarn is needed to knit a size 3 or 4 sweater (which is my usual pattern size). This pattern calls for 1800 yards. This is a lot of yarn, and must be because of the stitch used.
*Note to self: knit this using a light color to easily see the stitches!
The second issue for me is the needle size. After looking through my smallest needles, I have the required lengths in size 1US only. Otherwise, I would need to spend money on new needles.
The Swatch, Or Jump Right In?
This leads to the question of how to knit a swatch for the Birthday 61 sweater. I may jump in and try the pattern with some stash yarn just to see how far I get.
Okay, this is what I decided to do. I began the pattern using the smallest sweater size (my actual size will be 4). I dug out some Rauma yarn. I need to know if this pattern is something I can manage, so I’ll try out the special cast on and then down the yoke with increases and short rows.
A New Type of Cast On (for me)
Anke lists her cast-on as “Anke’s Invisible Cast On“. It seems very similar to the Italian Tubular cast on, except with better changes (IMO). She does her videos in Continental style, which can be confusing to those of us who knit English style. She also does not speak, but adds text to her vids.
For the cast-on, (use any length needle to begin, but switch to a 16″ for the join.) I watched the video, but then realized I could simply follow the directions in the pattern – this is easier!
This is not a super easy cast on for me, but with practice it will get better. I used my long 32″ size 1 needle. The first (set up) row is turned, and we work back across the stitches that were just cast on – without having to join in the round – yet. Get out the size 16″ for row 2 as that will be joined to knit in the round.
Cast on edgeRauma
Yoke Markers and Short Rows
I did not knit all the first rows after cast on because this is a trial knit and not something I will wear.
Upcoming are the yoke placement markers for raglan sections and sleeve / body increases. Those are combined with working short rows – and I was thinking that this could get sketchy. BUT… every short row is explicitly described – all 14 of them!
As a bonus, the designer has included a diagram of the neck opening with all the marker placements – 8 of them + BOR – for the four raglan sections, two sleeves, and body front and back. An image to reference is always helpful and this greatly helped me.
* When looking at the image showing marker placement, remember you are knitting counter clockwise from the BOR marker. Also, we are knitting down from the top of the sweater. Flip the page upside down if that helps to visualize.
Also, I suggest using various colored markers for the different sections. It helped me keep track of where I was (green means sleeves, white means front, etc.)
To get through the increases I need to know how to kbYOk. This is a knit below, yarn over, knit stitch. It is a two-stitch increase. See her video here. It is not difficult, but remember to do it because going back to fix a forgotten kbYOk is a bit tricky. And for some reason I kept forgetting to do them.
Below is my trial sample showing how the sweater top will look after all the short rows are complete. See how the very front is the shortest. Between each section of increases (sleeves and body) is a raglan section – four of them. Those do not change width.
Knitting short rows and increases
This sample is full of goofs (and the beginning neck rows have been omitted). I don’t like my cast on edge. I’ll have to practice that, or maybe not use it.
At this point I will be knitting increase rows alternating with purl rows. This continues to widen the sleeves and body. I probably won’t go much further as this is only practice. From this point on, I think I am able to continue and will plan to buy yarn and knit the Birthday 61 pattern.
To keep track of knits and purls, here is what they look like. The purl stitch is “sunken” and the knits stand out.
Knits and purls.
So I have continued knitting on this trial piece and has you can see, I have made some obvious mistakes. I’m not happy with the cast on. I’ve messed up my knits and purls. Also, ripping back to fix something can be very tricky.
Birthday61 trial
A big goof!
More Advice From a Knitter’s Review
After viewing the test knits and other Ravelry knitters, it was brought to my attention that there is an alternate way of knitting the ribbing. On page three of the pattern, at the bottom, you’ll find the information. It replaces the purl row with a k1,p1 row. Apparently they look the same. I’m doing purls only for those rows.
Oh Gosh, More Yarn to Buy
I do not have enough of any fingering yarn to knit this project, so now I will be buying more yarn. The amount required is quite high – 1800 yards for my size 4. Once I begin this pattern for real, I’ll write another page all about it.
