in progress – New England's Narrow Road

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 — Sophie Scarf

Saying Good-bye to 2025 and Another Year of Knitting in the Books

A look back at all the knitting projects I’ve completed over the year. Also, what is already in the plans for 2026.

12/19/202512/08/2025

Year-Round Camping in Florida; Enjoying Nature While I Knit

The peaceful days of camping in the wilderness go perfectly with knitting. What could be better than having coffee outside, with knitting on my lap? We camped twice in the last month and here is a…

12/16/2025

Knitting Project Review: Magnolia Chunky Cardigan

This sweater knitting project was a fun one. Although there were a few things to figure out, I recommend the pattern to any fairly experienced knitters out there.

11/12/202511/28/2025

Camel Yarn Weekend Hat Project

A simple ribbed hat pattern with enough brim folds to keep ears warm. The Weekend Hat is a pattern by designer PetiteKnit.

11/04/2025

Pattern Review: Beginning the Magnolia Chunky Cardigan

I’m knitting a beautiful cardigan pattern by Camilla Vad. The Magnolia Chunky Cardigan is knit top-down with lace and bobbles on the body and sleeves. On this page I cover some issues I had in the…

10/16/202510/29/2025

Three Knitting Projects On My Needles in September

Three knitting projects recently begun by me. It is nice to have a variety, but three tops at one time is something I do not usually do.

09/17/202510/04/2025

I have to keep track of what I am knitting so what better place than here on my blog. It may not be of much help to any readers, but maybe it will inspire someone to knit something. I’m listing them in June, and certainly won’t be done with them in June!

No matter how hard I try, I can’t finish a project before I begin at least one, two or three more. I get bored easily so picking up the same knitting every time I get the urge to knit, won’t work. So I end up with a number of things going on at once. Most knitters are this way I imagine.

But, I tend to forget what pattern I am working on. When I pick up something to work on, I have to scrounge around for the pattern to remind myself what I’m doing. (The Ravelry site is a good place to do that too, if you don’t have a blog.)

Now I will be keeping my current projects listed here, and will update to show the finished products with notes, advice and whatever I’ve learned along the way.

I won’t begin any more projects until July (Says Who?)

Project 1: Estrellita Blue Hat with sparkle yarn from Miss Babs -estrellita. I am making up this pattern as I go. The yarn is pretty, but a bit stiff feeling- not as soft as I’d hoped. It’s because of the sparkle I suppose.

knitting a blue hat — Ribbed hat in Estrellita sparkle yarn

Fingering yarn.
CO 120+1 = 120 total (use extra stitch to join only)
K2,P2 around and around for a fold up brim. It seems small. Might have to be for a young girl.
Next? Not sure what to do now. I may add stitches to make a slouch hat, or use bigger needles and add another yarn to blend with this one. I’ve never done either of those things, but I may try something new. This could get me into trouble.

Project 2: Spring Green Shawl in fingering yarn from Miss Babs – Katahdin, light fingering. This is a huge ball of yarn with 1750 yards! I paid $3 for them to wind it for me. Totally worth it!

I keep messing up the diamond pattern design, but I don’t want to frog this item. I have already ripped back to a lifeline, and that wasn’t pretty either. Read My experience using a lifeline to see what happened.

I’m also using the i-cord edging to make neat edges. This shawl will take a while to finish.

I’ve decided to just keep going even though the pattern is messed up in places. The shawl will either be for me or my daughter, and neither of us will inspect it too closely. She may never even notice the mistakes.

Project 3: African Gray rectangular shawl using the Terrace Wrap free pattern at Purl Soho. Using the Dutch Knitting Stitch, which is simple, but this long, rectangular wrap will take a while to finish. At first I wasn’t happy with the way it curled, but I will continue and hope it flattens when I block it.

Also, I will not have enough yarn of this color to finish, so will have to incorporate another color at some point.

Terrace wrap shawl in african gray — Terrace Wrap shawl in African Gray

Project 4: White Hat & Scarf in “natural” Rasta yarn – which will be a gift. This will probably be what I work on most. Will be similar to the previous hat and scarf pattern in Arco Iris Rasta yarn. I’ll be following the Churchmouse Fisherman’s Rib scarf free pattern, and making the hat similar to the one done in “Arco Iris” color. This yarn is a already a favorite of mine. It knits up quickly, and is so soft!