Author: Pam

New England native, Florida resident. Blogging about boating, beach-combing, gardening, camping, and knitting. Work for Zazzle as a designer since 2008.

My Solvi Sweater is Finished and This is My Review

I have finished knitting Jennifer Steingass’s Solvi sweater pattern and here is my review.

Jennifer Steingass is the designer of the Solvi sweater which is a pullover. I began knitting this pattern on October first. Now it is mid-April and I have finished the project.

The delay in finishing was due to many things, but mostly because I doubted a good outcome. Do you ever start knitting a pattern with much excitement only to loose that excitement somewhere along the way? If you have done enough knitting, I suspect you will say “yes”.

I love the yarn. I chose “Peacock” blue in Harrisville Design’s Shetland. What a beautiful fingering weight yarn, and in a great color. For the long colorwork yoke, I dug into my stash of fingering weight wool. I tried to keep a more muted color scheme going with colors that flowed into each other. I’m happy with the colors.

Solvi sweater finished

What caused me to pause this knitting project (many times) was the large look of the yoke. It seemed very wide, and the depth was an inch over the schematic size. I considered ripping it all out, but what a pain in the neck! So I put it aside and worked on other things.

Finally, I picked it up and got to knitting. I would finish and see how it was.

I was right. It ended up large.

The Solvi sweater knitting pattern shown on me.
Wearing the Solvi colorwork sweater

I like an oversized sweater, but this one is too much. I could easily have knit one size smaller and been happy with the fit! (I knit size D – or the 4th size.)

The sweater has a very wide neckline that flows into a wide, colorwork yoke. I like the pattern of feathers that comes down the front, but the whole thing is just too wide. This is my fault for choosing the larger size. There is nothing wrong with the pattern. Just be aware of the width of this sweater. My gauge was good, but I was between sizes and chose larger. It was my mistake.

I used the same size main needle for all the colorwork as well. I was considering going up a needle size because colorwork tends to be a little tighter. I’m so glad I did not do that!

Mods I Made

Because the yoke was getting too long I had to leave out a bit of the feathers pattern. This project has been put aside quite a bit, so I can’t remember exactly what I changed.

If I knit a larger size sweater, I often go down a size for the sleeves. I did that for this one. I followed size 3 (C) stitch counts so the sleeves would be more narrow. I also knit them longer. For the cuffs, I did not do the last row of tightening up, and instead did a tubular bind-off with a sewing needle.

Solvi cuff bind off

For this pattern, I finished the body first. I used a new skein of yarn for each sleeve. I had three little balls of yarn leftover, which you can see in my first photo above.

Solvi sweater in peacock blue wool

I will absolutely be wearing this sweater next winter. It will work best as a layer over a turtleneck on the coldest days.

I usually have good luck knitting Jennifer Steingass patterns. Her Ravelry pattern page is Knit.Love.Wool. and the link goes there. The previous sweaters of hers, that I have knit, have fit me pretty well. Her patterns are well-written and easy to follow. Most are colorwork patterns with stranded work done on yokes and sometimes sleeves.

Meadow Moon sweater Jennifer Steingass pattern
Meadow Moon
Goldenfern sweater pattern
Goldenfern

Now, I am moving away from colorwork yokes. Stranded knitting is my favorite thing, but an all-over Fair Isle is a lot more fun.

I’ve moved on to knitting fun little scarves and just finished up the biggest hat I’ve ever knit!

Please keep reading…

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Yarn Selections From Harrisville Designs For Two Sweaters

More yarn has been added to my stash. I do have patterns in mind for it, but of course buying is quicker than knitting.

After I finished knitting the latest Warm Up sweater, I knew I wanted to have another. The Warm Up is an easy pattern and is perfect for worsted weight yarn. I have a particular affinity for yarn that comes from a place I love.

Peace Fleece yarn now comes pre-washed and it is squishy and soft. I used three colors to knit my Warm Up #2. The red tones were something new for me. Usually I stick to more earthy and neutral colors.

I saw this yarn in person when I visited Harrisville Designs during a trip back to New Hampshire. I knew I wanted to knit more sweaters using it.

Peace Fleece wool yarn tag
Peace Fleece yarn label
Daylights wool yarn label by Harrisville Designs.
Daylights yarn label
Peace Fleece worsted in black Siberian Midnight color
Siberian Midnight colorway

Harrisville Designs is a yarn company located in an old mill in Harrisville, New Hampshire. I lived near enough to shop there, but at the time I knew nothing about this place. I wasn’t much of a knitter back then. I couldn’t wait to stop in when I was back in the area for a visit. But I need to buy the yarn online so I don’t get to see the colors in person.

Read MORe about Peace Fleece yarn here.

I don’t remember what happened, but as soon as I saw the Siberian Midnight colorway, I wanted it. The yarn is black with white specks throughout. I believed it would knit up into a pretty pullover.

Of course the yarn, in the Siberian Midnight colorway, was hard to find. It seemed to be sold out everywhere. Then I found it for sale at Firefly Fibers and bought enough for a new sweater project. They also had some Daylights yarn for sale, and I bought enough of that for a different sweater. I chose the colorway Chirp. I’m thinking I will try to knit a cable sweater with the lighter color.

Peace Fleece and Daylights yarn
Peace Fleece – worsted and Daylights -DK

I now have two new sweater patterns in my queue. I just need to find a cable pattern I think I can handle.

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How to Add the Tassel to The Doublemassa Hat

How to make a tassel for a knitted hat. Finding a way to attach the tassel to a lined hat with no underside access.

Making a tassel is not difficult, and I was looking forward to making the one for my Doublemassa. But there was a problem. How is a tassel added to this type of knitting project?

I have now assembled the tassel (and it’s far from perfect looking). But, my big problem is how to add it to this hat. Ordinarily, when finishing up a hat, you have an underneath, or wrong side, where the yarns are pulled through and tied off under the crown. The Doublemassa is knit in a way that the underneath can’t be accessed. It is completely closed up. The pattern is no help.

Tassel Making Video

It was hard to envision tassel making in the Hat’s On book where the Doublemassa pattern is found. This video on YouTube was very helpful. However, I still must figure out how to add the tassel to my finished hat.

One of the Doublemassa knitters mentioned opening up the top of the hat and making a big knot to tuck through. Then, she closed up the top again. I ended up doing this, but a little differently.

My Tassel

I wrapped both yarn colors 60 times around a six inch cardboard. I tied two strands of yarn around the top and then braided the 4 strands. I wish I’d used more strands for this.

Next I wrapped the blue yarn around the tassel.

wrapping blue and white yarn for making a tassel
Wrapping yarn
Braided cord for tassel
Making braid
making tassel
tassel making
Wrapping the tassel
Tassel made and trimmed
Tassel finished

I do not have a bodkin (Amazon paid link), which is a special flat “needle” which is used by the woman in the video. My larger sized embroidery needle worked fine. This is used to wrap the tassel and tuck the yarn down inside.

After my washed hat was dried, I noticed that two stitches at the very top were loose and not bound off! Somehow they did not unravel (wool is so awesome). It left a small opening.

attaching a tassel
Two loose stitches!
hat tassel attached to Doublemassa
Attached

Adding the tassel was a challenge, but I simply did as one of the other knitters mentioned. I made a big knot and pushed it through the top. My dropped stitches mistake turned out to be the thing that saved me. Then I used the two yarns, one blue and one off-white, to close up the top tightly. I wove the ends down through the hat and cut the yarn.

A Better Way to Attach The Tassel

Now that I have done it, I feel lucky that it worked out. And I know that there is a better way to achieve this. The pattern simply says make a tassel and attach it – which is very unhelpful.

My advice is this: When knitting the last rounds of the crown, do NOT close up the top of the hat. Leave a tail and tuck one tail down inside the hat. Put the open stitches onto plastic holders, or waste yarn, for washing.

Make the tassel and wash the hat.

Once the hat is washed and dried, open the top and tuck the knotted end of the tassel braid down into the hat. Use the remaining yarn tail to close up the top.

Alternatives

A few of the Doublemassa hat knitters decided to begin knitting the hat with the colorwork. By using a provisional cast on, the lining of the hat could be knit last. This would do away with the need to begin the hat with a tiny disappearing loop cast on, and magic loop knitting.

It also makes adding the tassel easier. Then, the tassel would be washed along with the hat. I’m not sure how that would work. It could take a while for a tassel to dry.

Have you knit this hat, or one like it? Do you have ideas about adding the tassel?

More knitting stories…

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A Collection of Summer Knitting Patterns

Sharing some favorited patterns from a summer knitting collection.

Spring is here and much of the country is ready for it – more than ready. And summer is close behind. Knitters may be thinking about starting new knitting projects with summer in mind. This page lists some of my favorite, saved patterns, and a few yarn ideas for summer knitting.

I live in central Florida and I love to knit. This was a challenge for me in the beginning of my knitting journey. I tried all kinds of yarn. Sock yarn comes in such pretty colors. Superwash yarn sounded perfect, but in the end, it droops horribly. I just didn’t like the looks of my knitting projects. They didn’t have that cozy feel. I like wool.

So what can I knit that I might possibly wear during the six months plus of heat? More importantly, do I want to bother with that type of knitting? Each year it seems that I continue to debate this issue with myself!

Summer Tops to Knit, Patterns From My Favorites

These patterns are saved in my Ravelry “favorites”.

  • Camisole No. 11, by My Favorite Things Knitwear. This is a cute, sleeveless, eyelet pattern top. It is also a new pattern (as of this writing). Yarn is DK weight.
  • Lima Top, by Pernille Larson. Sleeveless tank with colorwork. This one is knit bottom up. I’m not really sure how the colorwork is done at the top? (Fingering weight yarn)
  • Diamond Breeze cardigan, by Pascuali Designs. A lightweight, no-buttons cardigan.
  • Uptown Tee, by Tori Yu. A simple short sleeve tee with interesting little sleeve caps. (Fingering weight)
  • Ombre Tank Redux, by Espace Tricot. Wide stripes, ombre coloring, long sleeveless tank pattern.
  • Caesura Tuck, by Asa Tricosa. All one color tank, with a tuck in the back, and tiny, inset pocket.
girl on a float, illustrated image
Image by André Santana Design André Santana from Pixabay

No Plans to a Knit Summer Project

After perusing these patterns, here are my thoughts. Yes, a few of these tops could work for me. They take less yarn (cheaper maybe) and less time to knit (depending on the yarn) than something with long sleeves. But no, I don’t want to do it. It simply seems, for me, like a waste of time.

There are so many sweater patterns in my queue, just waiting for the chance to be knit. I have two collections of wool recently purchased for chosen patterns. There are four or five works in progress (WIPS) in my knitting bags. I’ll never get to them all as it is. Why would I want to throw in a summer top?

But maybe my readers need a starting point, and maybe they are looking for a cute summer top to knit. I sit in air-conditioning coolness all summer long. Many people do not, and they need a cooler project in their laps.

Summer Knitting Yarn Ideas

The second problem with summer knitting is selecting a yarn. Which yarn should be used to knit a summer top? Summer tops tend to need washing a lot more than a winter sweater. Hand knits should be hand-washed, but is there a nice yarn that would hold up to machine washing?

Well, I don’t know the answer to that question, but I will list some yarn brands that the summer knitters have been using. And yes, if you live anywhere but Florida and the Deep South, maybe you would use some kind of wool.

  • Silk, or silk mix: Knitting For Olive Pure Silk, Kinu by Ito – is a 465 yard cone.
  • Linen, or mix: Sandnes Garn Tynn Line (at Wool & Company, this yarn is listed as machine wash, lay flat to dry). Isager Trio 2 – a mix of Linen, Cotton, and Lyocell.
  • Cotton, or mix: Search – lots out there. Be careful of shrinkage and color fading. Knitting for Olive Cotton Merino – a mix of cotton and Merino wool. Hempathy – mix of cotton, cellulose, and manufactured fibers.

While I do live in a sub-tropical climate, I prefer knitting with wool. I love wearing hats and sweaters. They are worn only on the coldest of mornings and in my own yard, or for early morning walks. Floridians don’t want to be reminded of anything to do with actual winters. They came here to escape the cold. Dressing in wool here will get stares and glares.

girls by the sea AI illustration
Image by Seidenperle from Pixabay

If you have knit, or will knit any of these projects (or other summer projects) I’d love to hear how it goes. For now, I’m going to keep knitting my sweaters.

All Knitters Welcome

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