Category: Knitting

All things related to knitting including yarn purchases, needles, free patterns and pattern reviews as I knit, and how to information.

How Do You Know When to Just Give Up?

My first instinct is to rip the whole thing out. I’m talking knitting here, and looking at a big mistake, or a very tough and time-consuming mistake to fix. Are you calm, cool and collected and simply get on with the fix? Or, like me do you see lots of unraveling ahead – like the entire thing? How about tossing the project (and all at the yarn to go along with it) into a container, covering it up and hiding it so you can forget about the blunder.

All these things crossed my mind as I looked at the mess that was supposed to be a buttonhole on the Cobblestone #2. Eventually, I did use an embroidery needle with light blue yarn and attempt a row pick up. I was not sure any of this would work, but I made the effort. It took a lot of time, which negated all the time it took me to knit about 4 rows that were then removed.

Big note here: The problem was all me, and not with the pattern. I’m doing a completely different type of buttonhole, rather than the super simple one in the pattern. I’ve knit this sweater before, and had no problems at all. It’s a great pattern.

Even the video for doing this buttonhole is excellent. (I decided to change the buttonhole from the one in the pattern to make it stronger.) The Horizontal Buttonhole video is by Suzanne Bryan, and can be found here. What I did was try to follow my notes instead of watching her video again. (I’d already successfully made one buttonhole by watching and knitting along). Live and learn. I can’t trust my notes.

fixing knitting mistakes by the row
Lifeline and ripping back in knitting

What really upset me the most is that I’d already had trouble counting my stitches. YES… I have learned that I CAN’T COUNT.

Is this sweater cursed? I’m wondering that too. The increase rows call for a lot of increases at once. It is easy to lose count. Also, I have changed the pattern and am doing stockinette and not garter. For that reason, I am making my increases differently. I did it all correctly (I realize that the RRI includes a knit stitch), but when it came to counting the 200+ stitches, I simply screwed up. Then I thought I needed more stitches, added them on the next row, and counted again… wait, now I have too many stitches! So, backwards I go, unknitting my unneeded fix.

My exasperated conclusion: Quit counting stitches. Assume I am knitting it correctly and just keep going. This is not really a good idea, and I know it, but at this point I am quite mad at myself and have lost all confidence in my counting abilities. It was not a good day.

This sweater could take a year to finish because every time I knit, I end up “tinking” my work! Deep breath. Glass-es of wine, and try again tomorrow.

What Does it Take to Completely Frog a Project?

I’ve only once become so frustrated with a sweater project that I completely gave up. I don’t regret it to this day. When the knitting becomes a dreaded chore, it’s time to quit.

I was not at that point with Cobblestone. I know it’s a great pattern because I’ve already knit it once without a problem! Also, I did successfully rip back those three rows. Yay me!

I did give up when knitting the Oxbow Cardigan by Andrea Mowry. I’d gotten a long way with both sleeves finished, and much of the body – see my photo. I’d had trouble with the patterning on the sleeves, but managed to figure that out. It was the body that did me in. Whenever I thought about knitting Oxbow, I would begin to stress. Maybe the thing was too advanced for me, but I hated the pattern. To this day, I have not been inclined to attempt a textured pattern cardigan.

Knitting the Oxbow cardigan sweater
Knitting progress on the Oxbow

The following day I was back knitting my blue, Cobblestone #2. All went well and there was no “tinking”. I even managed to make my second buttonhole without a problem (knit along with Suzanne’s video). Lessons learned.

Here is a link to the Cobblestone Cardigan by Jarod Flood (link goes to Ravelry).

knitting divider cat with needles

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Lots of Changes This Year

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Knitters and Our Many Projects

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Round Blanket Knitting Project for Skittle the Cat

After I saw how much my cat Skittle loved sleeping on my son’s new Lopi wool sweater, I decided to knit something for her. I have plenty of bulky wool yarn, which she seems to prefer. To make it interesting, I decided to try knitting a round blanket.

The Vogue knitting book has all kinds of useful information and I recall seeing how to knit shawls of various shapes. One is knit into a circle shape.

If you decide to make a round project like this, be sure you have lots of various lengths and types of needles! As that circle progresses, you’ll need to go from DPNs, to 16”, to 32”, and so on.

Casting On and Using DPNs

I’m using size 10 double-pointed needles because my yarn is bulky weight (Quarry to begin with, and then Alafosslopi).

Cast on 8 stitches. I used the Old Norwegian cast-on, out of habit, but maybe a simple cast on would have been better. Move those stitches onto three needles – 3,3 & 2. Join to create circular knitting. I do this by swapping out the first and last stitches that were just cast on.

Knit a round on those 8 stitches. Now make increases in each stitch. Either do a backwards loop, or knit front and back. I did kf&b for my increases – mostly. I did use the backwards loop occasionally to try it out, but sticking to one or the other will probably look better.

Now you have 16 stitches on 3 needles. I used a clip on marker to mark the beginning of the round. (BOR)

cast on for round blanket
Cast on 8 stitches

My blanket will have eight sections and each section will be increased just before the marker for that section.

With 16 stitches on the needles, knit 2 and PM (place marker). Divide the stitches so that a ring marker will stay on the needle to remind you of each section. Each needle does not need the same amount of stitches. Count the BOR (yellow) as one of the section markers and you will increase just before it.

After the 8 section markers are in place, do an increase round. Make one extra stitch (kf&b or backwards loop, or your preferred method) in the stitch just before each marker.

Alternate a plain knitting round with the increase round and just keep going.

As the stitches expanded, I added a 4th DPN, and then switched to a 16 inch circular, ten a 32 inch.

knitting a round blanket
four double-pointed needles for knitting
Separate stitches onto four DPNs.
expanding round blanket
I’ve added a new color
round cat blanket knitting
New needle length needed

Currently I am using a size 10.5 US needle that is 40 inches long and that will have to finish up this blanket. I don’t have any longer needles in this 10 – 10.5 size.

I’ll probably do a few more rounds and then bind off. The blanket is for a cat so I intended it to be small. The project was fun, and I learned something new.

The yarn used is a combination of Brooklyn Tweed Quarry (the grays) and Alafosslopi (white and black).

knitting cat blanket
Using up bulky wool to knit this round cat blanket.

Skittle’s blanket is washed and blocked to dry. I have the dehumidifier on in the bedroom so it won’t take four days to dry like the sweater did! The finished diameter is approximately 22 inches.

round cat blanket blocked and drying
Wool Cat Blanket

Now all I need is to get a photo of Skittle enjoying her blanket. Photo coming soon.

This blog is full of knitting stories, please keep reading!

Knitting a Man’s Sweater in Bulky Yarn

This bulky wool yarn sweater was knit loosely from the Joker pattern in the Lopi 41 book. It is made in a size XL for a man.

The warmest sweaters are knit with wool but caring for wool is not so simple. My son lives in a cold climate and I’ve wanted to make him something warm. I know he will never hand wash anything in a sink. So, finally I told him that he will never have to wash the sweater. If it gets a spill, rinse the spot and let it dry.

If he always wears the sweater over other clothing, it should be fine.

I’ve been looking for some simple sweater patterns that men would wear.

I’ve settled on the Joker pattern in the Lopi 40 pattern book – Ravelry page here. The pattern uses bulky Alafosslopi yarn which creates a nice thick sweater that will knit up quickly. I don’t plant to do all that colorwork on the yoke because my kids like subtle, dark colors. I’ve used Alafosslopi to knit the Carbeth Cardigan, which had no colorwork. And honestly I found that knitting stranded with two hands was a bit tough to do with this yarn.

Gauge Swatch and Casting On

My gauge is goo with needle recommended. I knit with a couple of black stripes with the main color green to see how well that worked. When there is a long cast-on like the beginning of the body, I do a two-stranded cast on using yarn from two skeins. That way I won’t have to worry about running our of yarn for the Old Norwegian cast on.

Alafosslopi yarn skeins
Alafosslopi in olive green and black heather.
Joker sweater gauge swatch

Yarn Amounts Used

In the end, this is approximately how much yarn was used. Eight skeins total needed to knit size XL if done in one color.

  • Alafosslopi Green – 6 + a little
  • Alafosslopi Black – 1 + a little

The Joker pullover is knit from the bottom up. Then the sleeves and body are attached and a colorwork yoke is knit. I was not looking for a colorwork pattern, and ended up not doing much of it.

The Joker pattern is pretty straightforward for anyone who is used to knitting a sweater, but does not go into detail. Directions are in cm which I had to convert. Under the sleeves, the armpits have Kitchener stitch to close up the hole.

One note that I hope will be helpful to others, and to myself for next time, is to do a very stretchy bind-off around the neck. I had to rip back and re-do the neck. Binding off loosely is not enough. The neckline curls under so the bind-off is hidden.

How I did the stretchy bind-off: Like this video by Andrea Mowry, EXCEPT I only did 2 stretchy style, then did 2 regular style. I’ve found that doing the stretchy bind-off all the way around will often make that last row way too loose. So I alternated and it turned out great.

Stretchy bind off alternating: Knit one, bring yarn over needle to add another stitch. Knit one – 3 stitches on the right needle. Pass the first two over the last stitch to leave one on the right needle. Do this twice, then do a regular knit one, pass the first stitch over (twice).

Joker sweater rolled collar

We went camping for a couple of days at Long Point Campground, and the sweater was still damp when we returned home! It had been drying for 4 days! So I put the dehumidifier on which helped.

Joker Alafosslopi sweater
Done knitting, before the wash
Joker being washed in sink
Into the wash
Washed and blocked sweater to dry
Drying Joker

Sweater is finished – March 27, 2023, just in time for my son’s visit. He can take it back home with him! But first, Skittle needed to make sure it was good and comfy.

Joker sweater knitting
black cat curled up on hand knit sweater
Closer to the true colors
Joker sweater knitting
black cat sleeping on hand knit sweater
A cozy sleeping spot for Skittle
Joker sweater knitting
Joker sweater knitting

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Alternatives to the Hidden Gems Shawl Pattern

Hidden Gems was a popular free shawl knitting pattern. Since it is no longer available, I have found some similar patterns for knitters. Check out the list and let me know if you choose one.

What’s In My Knitting Queue?

Sharing some of my knitting projects in the works.

After knitting a couple of sweaters that ended up not so great, I’m wondering where my attention should be when it comes to knitting.

I wrote a couple of pages on knitting a beginner scarf. I did this mainly because I have a friend who lives in the north who wants me to teach her to knit.

garter stitch section of scarf
Garter stitch section

For myself, I have some very pretty, Soft Donegal, blue yarn my daughter bought me for my birthday and I need to use it. I’m keeping an eye out for a cardigan pattern. I love to knit pullovers, but I prefer wearing a cardigan. I don’t have a favorite pattern chosen yet.

I do have a short list of favorite cardigans to consider, which include the Traveler’s Cardigan by Ozetta, or Pocket Edition by Hinterm Stein (although it calls for DK yarn). I’m still searching.

Soft Donegal yarn in blue
Soft Donegal yarn

Bulky Wool Men’s Sweater

My youngest son lives in the north and his apartment is in a basement where it is perpetually cold. I’ve wanted to knit him a warm sweater, but I know he will not care for a wool sweater correctly. Now I am considering knitting him a hefty pullover anyway. He does not have to wash it. In fact, I will tell him not to wash it! How dirty will a sweater worn at home get anyway?

I’m knitting a bulky wool sweater made with Alafosslopi yarn and loosely following the Joker pattern.

Alafosslopi yarn skeins and cast on for the Joker sweater knit in bulky yarn.
Alafosslopi in olive green and black heather.

Trove Sweater

The Trove Sweater pattern has a unique design and I’m thinking of doing it to use up my pink stash of Jamieson and Smith as the main color. All I’ve done so far is the gauge swatch. This will be a very involved project, so I will have to be in the mood to knit it.

gauge swatch for Trove
Trove sweater gauge swatch

Colorwork Hat

Hat knitting has fallen to the wayside as I’ve had these larger sweaters to complete. But hats are perfect projects for having fun with colorwork, which I’ve missed.

One of my favorite hat patterns is the Triple-patterned Watchcap. It has a hefty brim decorated with a Latvian braid. I’m considering knitting it again (number 4) but using different colorwork graphs. The style is perfect for keeping ears warm.

Triple Patterned Watchcap hats in three colors
Knit in sizes, XL (red), L (green) and S (pink)

Found a New Designer & a New Yarn

Instagram is a great place to find knitwear designers, patterns and yarn. It is where I recently discovered Unwind Knitwear designs by Rachel Illsley (link goes to her Ravelry pattern page). She designs a lot of colorwork sweaters and one in particular has caught my eye. More on that soon, but my hope is to use some Appledore yarn for this project.

Knitting Projects in Progress

Like many knitters, I do have some unfinished projects lying around. The Easy V pullover is nearly finished (actually, now it is done), with only the remainder of the second sleeve to go. I changed the sleeve colorwork, so what is shown below is NOT part of the pattern.

Easy V pullover sleeve colorwork knitting.

The Brodgar poncho is still in the works, as is the little Sophie Scarf. These are great TV knits for the evening because they are simple knits and purls.

Knitting the little Sophie Scarf
Sophie Scarf
Knitting the Brodgar Poncho
Brodgar Poncho

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