Tag: stranded

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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Fisherman’s Kep Fair Isle Project Finally (Nearly) Complete

While cleaning out my yarn storage room, I came across the Fisherman’s Kep. I had finished knitting and had lots of ends left to weave in. I put it aside. It had been a while, so I decided to weave in the ends and give it a washing. I hadn’t been too happy with the fit but decided to I blocked it and see.

The hat construction begins with the brim, which will be folded up over a ribbed area. I think the ribbing was part of the pattern. After that, we begin rows of colorwork (fair isle) in our chosen colors.

Fisherman's Kep blocking boards
Fisherman’s Kep blocked

This pattern was part of a fund-raising event. After taking some photos, I looked up my Ravelry page to add them.

I was thinking it had been maybe a year since I began this project. Lo and behold it had been THREE years!

I found my original post on this blog about the Kep and decided to give readers an update here. I also visited the Facebook page to see recently completed hats and noticed I had forgotten to add a tassel! Maybe I can dig out the pattern and see the suggestions. I’d love to add a fun little tassel to the top.

The hat is long and the knitter can create whatever patterns they like. Five colors total – of wool yarn – are used, which is traditional.

For more information please see my first blog post (link above).

Fishermans kep fair isle hat
Fishermans kep fair isle hat
Fishermans kep fair isle hat
Fishermans kep fair isle hat

One day, when I am in the mood, I will create and add a cute tassel.

More to Read

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Solvi, Another New Sweater in the Works

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, knitting pattern sweater
Cast on Solvi
knitting Solvi sweater
Color changes
Solvi sweater colorwork yoke
Solvi

About the Solvi Pattern

The Solvi sweater pattern is from designer Jennifer Steingass. You can see the pattern page at Ravelry here.

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.

Solvi pullover sweater pattern
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.

More knitting stories

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A Collection of Knitting Books Worth Having

Knitting books you may like to add to your collection.

I have collected a few books about knitting and thought I’d share my knitting book reviews here. (Please know that some links go to the Amazon site, where I am an affiliate. If you end up purchasing through the link, I will get a small royalty which in no way affects the cost to you.)

Do you enjoy knitting Fair Isle, colorwork, and stranded? If so, there is a fun book of charts you must consider buying.

Alice Starmore’s Charts for Color Knitting contains more charts than (I suspect) you could use in a lifetime. I’ve only used a couple of the bigger charts, and a few of the “border” charts. This is a wonderful book for Fair Isle and colorwork knitters who like to choose their own patterns.

Buy the Alice Starmore Book on Amazon (paid link)

The author also goes into depth on how to create your own colorwork sweater. This is over my head at this point in my knitting journey, but would be very helpful for those who would like to design knitwear.

Alice Starmore’s charts for knitting book

I purchased a used copy of the book, in November 2021, and it is in very good condition. Check at Amazon for used books to save money. I’ve had very good luck buying used books of all kinds.

Both colorwork sweater designs below were taken from the book.

Staka colorwork vest in Lopi yarn
Plotulopi Pullover
flower colorwork at bottom of body
V-Neck Cumulus

The Vogue Knitting Book, Revised and Updated Version

The Vogue Knitting book covers all types of thing related to knitting (with some pages about crocheting). From choosing needles and yarn, to finishing projects, and designing your own knitwear. There is a whole section on designing sweaters with knitting design worksheets to copy and use. There are more pages of knitter’s graph paper in the back of the book which can be copied as many times as needed.

I like most things about this book, and bought a used copy to save money. Cons for me are the dark colors used for a few of the sample images in the book. It is more difficult to see the samples. Also the images about how to work stitches can be hard to follow. I’d rather look it up on YouTube. For that reason, I often forget to use this book, but it is full answers to just about every single knitting question you may have.

Vogue Knitting book
My new Vogue Knitting book
Buy the Vogue Knitting book at Amazon (paid link)

The Mosaic Knitting Book

If you have never tried mosaic knitting, you really should. It is very simple to accomplish these colorwork patterns and is done on flat knitting projects.

Here in Florida we had a hurricane hit shortly after I purchased this book. I spent a few days without electricity. I used that down time to knit mosaics from this book!

Just think about a time without access to online things, or electricity to charge the computer and phone. I love to have books around for these reasons. The day may never come in your lifetime, but what if it does?

Mosaic knitting book
Buy the Mosaic Knitting Book at Amazon (paid link)
ball of yarn divider

A Brioche Knitting Book

I admit right off that I can’t knit brioche. Every year or so I give it a try, and fail. The last 1/4 of the book is all patterns! If you already like knitting brioche, this book may be worth purchasing just for the patterns. If, like me, you still need to get the hang of the basics, a video is probably more helpful.

Brioche knitting book.
Buy the Knitting Brioche Book at Amazon (paid link)
balls of yarn graphic

Do you have some favorite knitting books? I’d love to hear about them. I wish I had some of my grandmother’s knitting stuff. I don’t know where it went when she died, but probably to one of her daughters. Do you have patterns, needles or other items that were passed down through the family?

Recent pages about knitting…

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