Here Comes the New Year, And Oh The WIPs

The end of 2022 has arrived. I have a few knitting works in progress (wips) to share, as well as a good-bye to a year that was not all that great.

Personally, I am happy to say good-bye to 2022. Overall it was a horrible year, but some good things happened. I can’t berate myself too much for all these WIPs hanging about. Usually I don’t let them get so out of control.

I’m finishing up the year with more WIPs (Work in Progress) knits than ever. I chalk it up to Fall being extremely busy here, with 2 hurricanes to deal with, and a surprise visit from my daughter – she came in between the hurricanes. We also had a 40th birthday party for my son in December, which was a ton of work. Then, of course Christmas. I just mailed out gifts today – December 30th! So, yes… I am behind.

My Current WIPs

The knitting projects in my baskets are the Brodgar Poncho, a Playdate sweater, the Goldenfern pullover, and two Easy V sweaters. I do have other projects that have been sitting for a while, like the thrummed mittens and spiral scarves, but I’m not counting them here.

How many WIPs in your knitting baskets?

When I look around Ravelry, sometimes I see knitters with pages full of WIPs! Then, I don’t feel so badly about having the five I have.

Good Riddance 2022

The worst part of 2022 was being sick for over a month with Covid. We had just purchased a camping trailer, that we wanted to use, but that got put off until the end of August. It took me a while to get better, probably because I am in my 60s. Then the hurricanes hit. Ian brought flooding and Nicole brought damage to the beaches. Our beaches are still recovering, as are the people whose homes were flooded. We got off pretty lucky, but need a new roof and are working on making that happen.

We just had a few nights of below freezing temps here in Florida and I covered the plants, but lost a few to the extreme cold. It appears the winter will tend to be a cold one for us in the south. Some years we get off lucky and temps stay decent. It is the end to a year that I chalk up to not so great. And then there is the state of our country, and the world in general.

New Year’s Day Cast On?

I would love to CAST ON a new project on New Year’s Day, but we’ll see. I have some yarn coming from Miss Babs end of year sale, and recently spent my birthday present gift certificate on come soft Donegal yarn. Both yarns will be used to knit sweaters when I find the right patterns.

This year I cast on for the Solstice Glow chicken hat on January first. I finished it eight days later and it was a fun hat to knit. This year I think I will continue to finish up what’s been started before I do any more casting on.

Happy New Year, We Can Hope

Read About More of My Knitting Adventures

Brioche Knitting For Beginners With Video Tutorials

When beginning to knit brioche, choose a simple pattern and get some practice. This post has video tutorials and easy pattern links for knitters who want to learn something new.

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Beautiful Cotton Suave Yarn For a Summer Top

Knitting a summer top pattern using some unique cotton yarn called Pascuali Suave. It is surprisingly lovely for cotton, which you would never guess it is.

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Six Inspiring Shawlettes to Knit For Warmth or Cuteness

If you are looking for something small and useful to knit, check out these six shawlette knitting patterns. They make nice little accessories for warmth and are sweet gifts for friends.

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Brooklyn Tweed’s Woolen Spun “Shelter” and “Quarry”

Brooklyn Tweed’s Quarry and Shelter yarn reviews and what to know when knitting with woolen spun yarn.

This was my first purchase of Brooklyn Tweed’s “Shelter” yarn. It’s a worsted weight with 140 yard per skein. It feels a lot like the Quarry yarn, which I have knit with before, but that one is a bulky weight.

Reviews I’ve read at Ravelry, of Shelter yarn, are also similar to Quarry, in that knitters have sometimes had trouble with the yarn pulling apart as they knit. I know what they are saying is true, because I had this problem when I first began knitting with Quarry. I almost decided to NEVER buy it again – I was so mad. I thought it was the dumbest yarn ever. Glad I got over that.

Now, I want to try knitting with the worsted weight version. Shelter yarn comes in some really beautiful earthy colors. I don’t have any specific patterns picked out yet, but these skeins will probably become hats.

Brooklyn Tweed shelter yarn skeins — Shelter yarn skeins come in a variety of pretty colors.

In Defense of Shelter and Quarry Yarn

A few years ago I bought a couple skeins of Brooklyn Tweed’s Quarry yarn. It felt very weird, and when I began knitting a hat, I couldn’t even get it joined in the round. The yarn kept breaking apart. Later I learned that because this yarn is woolen-spun it will tend to come apart easier than regular yarn. The Brooklyn Tweed site has a whole page pointing out the difference between woolen-spun and worsted-spun yarn.

The unique quality of Quarry yarn means it may pull apart easily. — The yarn will sometimes simply pull apart

If you don’t feel like reading that whole page, then here is what you need to know: If you get a skein of woolen-spun yarn that seems to be breaking easily, twist the yarn a bit before putting pressure on it, such as when joining in the round. I think maybe certain skeins may just be weaker than others, or maybe the company changed something. The dark yarn above pulled apart very easily, but when I knit with Quarry again, I didn’t have the problem of breaking.

Here is the Oxbow sweater I began knitting in Quarry yarn (color Geode). I had no trouble at all with the yarn splitting apart as I knit. I did however have lots of trouble with the pattern, so this garment has been frogged.

Knitting the Oxbow cardigan sweater — Oxbow sweater was eventually frogged!

This type of yarn does feel funny. It has a dry, lightweight feel, but not scratchy. The yarn knits up into a very lightweight garment that ends up being surprisingly warm. This makes the yarn perfect for sweaters, which could otherwise end up bulky and heavy. Any project knit with this yarn dries super fast as well.

This yarn will bloom, which means when it’s washed the fibers fill in the spaces between the stitches. That helps the knitting look more uniform and perfect.

Another plus for me is that it is completely made in the USA. In fact Brooklyn Tweed yarn is spun in Harrisville, New Hampshire – a location I am very familiar with. I often drove past signs for Harrisville on my way to Keene, and ended up visiting the Harrisville Designs Mill Store during a NH visit.

In closing, I am certainly no expert on yarn, but I’m coming to love the wools for their beautiful properties.

Oulu mitts knitting colorwork Fair Isle — Oulu Mitts in Shelter

Turtle Dove hand-knit sweater in Quarry — Oulu Mitts in Shelter

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Knitting I’ve Done in 2022

Knitting projects finished in 2022 and my thoughts on each one.

This year, 2022, has not been an especially good one. Knitting has been a great way to escape and be at peace for a while. Looking at my list here, I’ve done a lot of that! I have not checked off “learning brioche”, but I bought a book. I have not steeked anything, but maybe next year.

In the order in which they were finished knitting, here are all the patterns (two were mostly my own) I used this year. My thoughts and info on each come after the title. Each link goes either to my blog post where I review the pattern, or is a direct link to the pattern download / purchase. I will have a link to the actual pattern (if one exists) on the post pages.

Solstice Glow Hat, by Bunnymuff (January) – Love the colorwork hat even though this type of hat doesn’t look good on me. End product is so cute.
Two by Two ribbed hat (January) – Quick and FREE. Didn’t like the yarn I used, but the pattern is easy to follow.
Wrist Warmers (February) A fun & FREE project to play with colorwork.
Meadow Moon, by Jennifer Steingass (February) Excellent designer, fun pattern, great sweater.
Slouchy Watchcap in Blue (March), by Churchmouse Yarns – Great hat! Long project that was quite boring to knit, but end product is worth it.
Lopi Wool Pullover (May) I created this pullover to use up my wool yarn and use some unique colorwork designs.
Hidden Gems shawl (June) A fun & FREE shawl to knit.
Bonnie Isle Hat (June) The recent, yearly Shetland hat. Mine is horrible and I don’t look good in this type of hat. Last one for me.
Warm Up Sweater, by Espace Tricot (June) Free pattern and worth it – great directions. I used up some Lettlopi yarn.
Honey Cowl 3 (July) Knit this simply to use up some yarn. Very easy pattern.
Kate’s Poncho (August) Fabulous pattern, loved the yarn. Made as a gift.
Cumulus Sweater, (September) Nice pattern, I changed the yarn weight to use up yarn. End product is okay and is probably better using suggested yarn.
Bulky Turtleneck (September) – my own creation to use up Alafosslopi.
Venlig pullover (October) Beautiful end product pullover, and awesome yarn, but pattern is a bear…!
Slouchy Watchcap 2 in Orange (October) Wonderful and versatile hat. Same as blue one above. Wearable for sure.
Playdate in Blue (December) Knit for a friend’s grandchild. Second time knitting this fun little baby cardigan – pattern by Tin Can Knits – you can’t go wrong.

So how did I remember all this? Of course I didn’t. I went to my Ravelry page that shows my projects in order! I found this info in my “projects” section under “challenge”.

I’m finally getting around to posting this on December 25th. It is very cold here in Florida, and I know it doesn’t compare to many places that are suffering with snow and REAL cold, but for us it’s extreme. The banana trees and other tropical plants can’t easily survive teens and twenties. By next week we will be back to normal with temps in the 60s and 70s. Happy knitting all my fiber loving readers.

Merry Christmas!

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Blue Playdate Cardigan for Baby Boy

Knitting a little Playdate cardigan for a new baby boy. Blue “Putnam” yarn from Miss Babs is perfect for this little gift knit.

I’m so happy to have a reason to knit the Playdate Cardigan again! This is such an awesome pattern, with very good instructions from Tin Can Knits. The first Playdate I knit taught me about pockets and button bands. I think it was also one of the first times I did the Kitchener stitch.

Now, I am knitting this cute pattern again for a baby boy. The first Playdate (pattern linked down the page) was not for any particular child and I still have the little sweater. This time a good friend’s little boy grand-baby is arriving in December and he will be the recipeint.

The Yarn

I chose blue Putnam yarn, in color “Coos Bay”, from Miss Babs. The yarn is made up of 75% merino wool and 25% nylon, and is machine washable. Skein yardage is 400 and this size (3-6 months) sweater uses 350. (If you want to knit with some nice yarn, check out Miss Babs.)

October 21st, I began the project using the Old Norwegian cast-on. First, I had to knit the two pocket liners and then I began the body.

baby sweater knitting Playdate cardigan — Pockets are knit first

Little pocket liners are knit first. — Pockets are knit first

When I knit this sweater before, I used some merino wool with silk in it and the yarn was very slippery. This yarn is more suitable for a sweater. Playdate #1 page.

The more I knit with this yarn, the more I really like it! The shoulders of the Playdate sweater have been grafted using the Kitchener stitch. One sleeve is nearly complete.

I dislike using DPNs and began the sleeve with a 9-inch circular. Eventually I had to switch to wood DPNs but it is not a problem as there is plenty of room on each needle for the stitches.

Sleeve #1
Back and shoulders being worked
Cute little pockets
The inside of pocket which will be stitched down later.

Button Selection

Because of the small sweater size, I plan to do only four buttons. My choices are nautical designs, little tractors, or cute animals. I’m leaning toward the animals.

Once the pockets are sewn up and the buttons are added this little sweater will be ready to go. I have already washed and blocked it. Quite a bit of yarn is left which means a little hat or baby socks could be knit to match.