The first I’d ever heard of doing a corn maze in autumn was when I lived in New Hampshire. For a short time I lived near Concord, and often visited Beech Hill Farm. I think this was the first corn maze I ever did.
By googling the “history of corn mazes” I have discovered that it is a fairly new endeavor. In the early 1990’s the first maze appeared in Pennsylvania.
So what is the purpose of a corn maze? To aggravate the heck out of you! Haha.. really, they are fun, until you can’t find your way out. This has not happened to me, but I’ve heard stories of people actually calling for rescue from the maze!
Now, with nearly everyone having access to some sort of GPS on their smartphone, getting lost is unlikely. Traveling the maze means finding some unique and fun “gifts” along the way. Some mazes are like a scavenger hunt. Often maps will be provided so adults can help kids find the fun spots.
For more fun facts about corn mazes, read this insightful article at Cornbelly’s site.
While I don’t really need another project on my knitting needles, I began a new sweater pattern anyway.
This pretty Shetland yarn, by Harrisville Designs, has been calling to me. The color is Peacock, and is so pretty. The contrast colorwork design will be done with a variety of wool colors I already have.
Here, I am using Tukuwool, J&S and Rauma. My plan is to have a low contrast between the main color and contrast color.
Solvi means “sun strength” in Norwegian (info from Jenn’s Ravelry page). The pullover has a colorwork yoke and long sleeves. After the cast-on, choose either a rolled neckline or 1×1 rib. The designer says it is a good pattern for beginners. I assume she means beginner colorwork knitters. If you can follow the chart, you can knit the yoke. Only two colors are used at any one time. One small section of the chart can be omitted to shorten the yoke.
As a beginner knitter, this pattern would have been tough for me. The reason being that I was not a good chart reader at the beginning of my knitting journey. I also had no idea what short rows did for a sweater.
Now, I would only knit sweaters that do include short rows. In the Solvi pattern, short rows are incorporated after the colorwork section. This happens way down by the armpit area, which is odd. Short rows are usually made near the upper back area to lift the back of the neck.
Why I Chose This Pattern
I was hoping to find a pattern that inspired me, and the Fallow sweater was at the top of my list … for a while. Then I discovered Solvi in my knitting folder (an actual folder, not online) which I had purchased a while ago.
The Peacock blue yarn amounts to a little less than 1300 yards, which is not enough for my size. But we’ll see. I’m now knitting the body ribbing and have two full skeins of yarn left. I’m thinking that one for each sleeve should be plenty.
Knitting body ribbing
Fall is a hard time of year for me. While everyone is winding down from summer, and viewing the foliage, and breathing fresh autumn air, I am still sweltering in the Florida heat. Sweater season has arrived, and new patterns are showing up all over the place. Everyone (it seems) is digging out their hand knits and wearing them.
For me, it’s the time of year to keep an eye on the tropical storms and hurricanes (Milton hit my area as a Category 1 in October).
I’ve lost interest in knitting over the past few months, and I’m not sure why. Even so, I have not stopped knitting. My projects are many, because when one begins to bore me, I take up another. You may say, “me too” or “that is normal, we all do that!” but the passion is not there. It is just a life slump. They come, and go, so I’ll wait and it will pass.
I am a bit excited to try some new yarn, which will arrive any day now. I may use it to knit Fallow. We’ll see.
I can only imagine the cool, crisp Fall air swirling about my head and filling my lungs. I miss New England always, but especially at this time of year. Knitting season has arrived, and I know my fellow knitters are excited. I am excited also to see all the new patterns.
Before I get too far along, I want to give credit to the creator of the cute kitten in an orange scarf image at the top of my post. I just love it! The image was created by GrumpyBeere and there are more like it at the free image sharing site, Pixabay.
Prospective Projects On My Fall Knitting List
I’ve been a bit down on knitting lately, and it has nothing to do with the summer season. In Florida, it’s either hot or less hot, so I’m pretty much always knitting during non-sweater weather.
My last few finished knitting projects have not thrilled me. I’m currently knitting a big, over-sized sweater (it’s really big) that has lost my interest. The recently finished Rebel Cardigan is very nice, and I do look forward to being able to wear it.
For the sake of having something to do while I watch TV, I’m doing some colorwork on a tube scarf. I’m making the designs up as I go, which is fun.
Mittens can be fun to knit but they need to be gifts in my case, because no one wears mittens where I live. Fingerless mitts, or fingerless gloves, are more likely to be on hands here. I would wear them early in the day, before the temps creep up. I’ve already knit some of these patterns, and others look interesting.
Mittens and Fingerless Mitts
If you know how to finish off mittens – any mitts pattern could become mittens.
Fair Isle Mitts – FREE colorwork pattern, using Fingering weight yarn. I have knit these – see my page (and photo below)- and love them.
Hiedra Mitts – Solid color, using DK weight yarn. These are in my Ravelry favorites, and would make a nice gift.
Bee Creative Mittens – or fingerless mitts done in colorwork. Who doesn’t love bees? As a gardener, I am drawn to this pattern.
Simple Fingerless Mitts – FREE pattern! Has some optional colorwork for a beginner, which could be skipped. Very simple knitting project.
Just a word of advice here about knitting with wool. Mittens and mitts should be knit in wool, IMO, because of the warmth factor. Choose a good wool too – like Jamieson, Shetland, or Rauma come to mind. These brands have nice, consistent yarn, basically without knots. The wool creates a lovely project.
Shawlettes
A simple little “shawlette” works perfectly for keeping a neck warm. Knit it in warm wool, and keep it handy for the southern winter season. A small shawl will work up quickly and may use only one skein of yarn.
Interisland Shawl – this one is on my needles, but has been neglected. It begins with the lace edging and I’m not a big lace knitter. I do plan to finish it!
Lace edging of Interisland Shawl.
Bigger Projects: Namely Sweaters
Fallow – Yoke colorwork with deer / woodland design. This one is at the top of my sweater knitting list because it is so cute.
Schneeflocken – lots of pretty colorwork on this pullover.
Low Tide – a new pattern by Rachel Illsley is absolutely stunning! It’s on my list, but I’m not sure I can handle all the lace knitting.
That’s about it for my list, and it changes all the time! There is a new yarn (new to me) that I’d love to try. It can be machine washed on a delicate cycle. This would be a game changer for gift giving. Schachenmayr Regia Premium Merino Yak (link goest to the Ravelry yarn page) is the name of the yarn, and it is not cheap. People don’t like it for knitting socks apparently because it pills. But, I read a review by a test knitter who uses it often and recommends it. I plan to buy it at some point and see for myself.
What do you have on your knitting roster for this Fall and coming year?
Whenever I get bored with a knitting project, and crave some two-stranded knitting, I pick up my DIY scarf. The colorwork patterns I’m using are random, and come from some books I have.
I began this tubular scarf with a provisional cast on. When it is long enough, I will connect the ends, using the Kitchener stitch, and create one long tube to wrap around my neck, twice.
I began this scarf project out of boredom. It is my love for knitting colorwork that I needed a project like this. My stitch count is 100 and the repeating patterns must fit into that count. Patterns must evenly divide into 100.
Or, I can create an extra stitch. For instance, on the “people” pattern I had to add one more space (extra gray stitch) between them to make the stitch count work. I believe it was 19, and I made the repeat 20.
I’ve had fun choosing patterns and making some up myself (very simple ones). I think this type of knitting, with blocks of different patterns and colors, has a name.
All of this scarf is Fair Isle, meaning I use only two colors per row. Some rows are one color only, but I never use more than two at a time. I hold the dominant yarn in my left hand and knit it continental style, while knitting with the other color English style.
I found this fun blog post at Talvi Knits that talks about knitting in two passes when using more than two colors in a row. It sounds like mosaic knitting, but using more yarn colors. It sounds pretty confusing!
All I needed to do was to find repeating patterns with numbers that divided evenly into 100. There weren’t that many. You’d be surprised at how many repeats are4, 6, 8 and 12!
Occasionally, I don’t like the design once it’s knit. I’m not very good with selecting colors to combine. Because I am using only stash yarn, I have a limited amount of color variety to use.
It doesn’t matter on this project. I may never have a chance to wear this scarf anyway. I live in Florida where no one ever wears a scarf.
