Category Archives: Finished Projects

On shawls and museums

Posted on by
1

Emma came to visit for a few weeks and while she was here, she finished knitting a gorgeous shawl:

This is the Field Shawl, designed by Maxim Cyr. I think it looks smashing, and it is unbelievably cosy and warm. Emma is turning out to be quite a good knitter. Next up: probably a sweater, but which one?

You may remember that, on her last visit, Emma and I went to the Unravel festival in Farnham, where we both purchased yarn for a new shawl. I blogged about it here. We realised, just as Emma was about to leave for the airport to go back to Vancouver, that we have now both finished knitting the shawls with the yarn we purchased at Unravel, and ran outside to take some photos. It was starting to drizzle and Emma put on Doug’s gardening shoes (“Just don’t get my feet in the photos, Dad”.)

We were very busy when she was here. Both Doug and I were working, and we spent every free day running around London with Emma, mostly visiting museums (as one does). Emma’s friend Julianne joined us for an afternoon at the V&A. We saw a cool exhibit on disability and design, and then went to the Marie Antoinette exhibition. It was not the best lighting for photos, of course, but here are Emma and Julianne towards the end of the exhibit which featured Marie Antoinette-inspired fashion. We called these the “wedding cake dresses”:

We also spent an afternoon at the Saatchi gallery, ate at some excellent new (to us) restaurants, went to the last evening of the London Jazz Festival at Cadogan Hall, window shopped, wandered through multiple book shops which led inevitably to buying books, raced through Paddington Station numerous times, and got stuck in massive Black Friday crowds. (Who knew Black Friday was a thing here? Why is it a thing here?) The highlight was probably the Cecil Beaton exhibit at the National Gallery. It was amazing and beautifully curated. The inscriptions next to the photos were worth the price of admission alone.

It was a lovely visit with Emma, which as always feels too short although we packed in a lot of stuff.

Emma is now back in Vancouver and Leah will be arriving in a few days. The girls are sadly in complimentary distribution this holiday season. I’ll sign off with more photos of shawl silliness.

Emma throws the shawl up and it gets tangled in a tree above her head.
Let’s try that again!
Emma dared me to include this photo.

Happy Sunday everyone!

This scarf has travelled wide

Posted on by
6

I finished a project last week.

This beautiful colour-blocked shawl is knitted in stockinette stitch in Ito Sensai, a beautiful laceweight silk mohair yarn. I bought it as a kit from Loop London some time ago, and was charmed by the soft green colourway; outside of my usual bright pops of colour. Depending on the background, these shades can be muted or can shine:

I cast it on on my way to Tucson in July 2024 to visit my mom and stepdad. Since then, it has become my travel shawl – the project I take along on my travels, weighing nothing and fitting easily in a small bag. This scarf went with me to Tucson, Vancouver, Johannesburg (twice), Geneva (twice), Copenhagen, Aarhus, Edinburgh, and Berlin. Here it is in Tucson in the summer desert heat:

Here it is in February in the Johannesburg summer sun:

And here I am knitting it in the midst of a Copenhagen winter, all bundled up and drinking wine while my friend, Erun, cooks dinner:

It is a perfect travel project, fitting into a tiny bag, just slightly larger than my Kindle (and weighing the same).

And now it is done, and I get to wear it. Yay! Isn’t knitting cool?

It creates a lovely, soft, sheer fabric:

I have been enjoying wearing it the last few weeks in the beautiful, autumn weather we are experiencing here in the English countryside.

I suppose I will need to find another travel project now. Any ideas?

Pink is the new brown

Posted on by
1

Literally, in this case. You may remember I knitted a brown Sabai top earlier in the summer (blogged here), and now I have knitted a pink Sabai top:

Pink is the new brown. And it looks completely amazing with red. (What can I say? Bright colours are my jam.) In fact, I am pretty sure that I can pair it with almost everything in my wardrobe. It looks especially good with my A Walk in the Park Shawl (blogged here).

I finished this one the day after returning from Vancouver (just under a month ago) and have already worn it many times, proving it’s versatility.

I made this one to be ever-so-slightly looser than the brown one. I added a few more rows before increasing at the sides, thus lowering the armholes a bit. (Note that many people found the armholes too low and did the opposite; check your row gauge before starting the increases.) I also added one extra set of increases, giving me an extra 4 stitches once joined in the round. And I made it 2″/5cm longer.

The pattern, by Susanne Müller, is super easy to follow and results in a nice top for the summer, which also looks great as a base layer under a jacket. This may be why there are thousands of Sabai tops in knitter’s wardrobes (over 5000 today on Ravelry alone). It has really nice features, which feel both elegant and casual.

I used Knitting for Olive Pure Silk held double, the same yarn that I used for the brown one. I love this yarn. It comes in fantastic brights, and also great neutrals. The only real trick is knitting it double. I wound two balls together before knitting to try to avoid knots. I still managed to tie it all into an inexplicable knot; as you can see, I had many hands to help me with the untangling.

Now I just have to keep Doug from “borrowing” my shawl. I suppose I will have to knit something for him.

Happy Thanksgiving to all you Canadians out there!

What the best dressed baby is wearing: the Pacific Northwest edition

Posted on by
3

I haven’t been writing here much lately, as life has been very busy (in mostly good ways). I promise to report more soon, but for now, I bring you a finished project:

I knitted this sweet little baby cardigan for my niece’s baby, who was born a few weeks ago. It is the gramps pattern, by tincan knits, which I have knitted once before for another wee babe. It’s such a classy sweater for a little one, complete with shawl collar and pockets. I used Big Bad Wool Weepaca, a worsted weight yarn in 50% alpaca and 50% wool, which is super soft and washable, so good for a baby knit. The main colour is Olive Ewe, which gets a lovely pop from the rich purple shade, Prince. The buttons were serendipitously in my button box, purchased some time ago for a vest for Doug and never used. I knitted this in the 6-12 month size and used 2 skeins of the green and one of the purple. I am super happy with it.

As you might have guessed from the title of this post, said baby lives in the Pacific Northwest, in Vancouver to be exact, and we are also here, to celebrate many things, including his birth, multiple birthdays, an anniversary, and a wedding. Last week, Doug and I and both girls took a road trip to the Okanagan, reviving many memories of road trips over the last 3 decades (yikes! where do the years go?).

Emma and her partner, Justin, have enjoyed quite a few wine-tasting holidays there, and Emma was happy to take us on a wine tour of their favourite vineyards.

It is a beautiful drive from Vancouver to Kelowna, with mountains and lakes and sunshine and great views. We visited 5 wineries and bought some lovely wine, we visited with family, and we went swimming in the lake. On Doug’s birthday, he even tried paddle boarding for the first time, thus disproving the old adage; it turns out that you can teach an old Doug new tricks!

With the baby sweater out of the way, I have picked up my second Sabai top, which is almost done. I hope to finish it soon, even in the midst of the whirlwind.

Summer tank, summer weather

Posted on by
6

Deciding to knit a Sabai top, designed by Susanne Müller, was the easy part. Deciding to use Knitting for Olive Pure Silk (held double) was easy too. Even knitting it was easy. Choosing the colour was hard. First, though, the finished project:

I looked through my knitting projects from the past 15 years or so, and the only other thing I knitted in brown was a cowl for Doug. This colour is not in my normal colour wheelhouse. I started with a text sending Emma links to the pattern and the yarn. We texted back and forth for a while and couldn’t decide. This was followed up by numerous discussions with Emma, and again no decision. A few days later, I checked the yarn shop and they had re-stocked and had more colours in stock. Thus started a new round of texts of which the below is a small sample:

I still couldn’t decide. Then, one day out in the garden, with the sun shining down so that my screen was barely visible, I handed the phone to Doug, said “Pick a colour now!” He picked Dark Cognac, I hit the order button and that was that. Until I opened up the package and discovered that Dark Cognac was not the lovely deep bronze shade I was expecting but a pretty mid-range brown. I consoled myself with the idea that it would look good with my checked suit. And it does:

I still don’t love the shade on me, but I am starting to appreciate it. I can use it to tone down my wild African print palazzo trousers (top photo), create a classic look with a suit jacket, or even pair it with more brown-y tones to look casually beige (which is apparently chic, if sort of boring).

I knitted this is the 4th size (Large) with two strands of Knitting for Olive Pure Silk held together and US6/4mm needles. I followed the pattern exactly. It is a very easy, well-written pattern. I found that in order to knit with two strands of the silk, I had to first wind two balls together on my ball winder; otherwise, the yarn quickly evolved into a knotted mess. If you look at the comments on some of the thousands (literally) of projects on Ravelry, you will find that many knitters found that there was too much space under the arm and therefore started the underarm increases early (it is knitted in one piece top down). I had the opposite problem as my row gauge was tight, so I added rows before starting the increases. I think it fits fairly well.

It took me three weeks start to finish to make this. It would have been two weeks except that when I packed to go to Potsdam, I tucked the last ball of yarn away somewhere in my house, and then couldn’t find it when I got back home. It took me a week to find it!

I knitted almost the entire top while watching the French Open. Hmm. Wimbledon starts tomorrow. Maybe I should make another one? But which colour? Never fear: I took Emma’s advice and pre-ordered the yarn in Pink Daisies.

A smash hit

Posted on by
4

I finished knitting my Hør no 19 tee and it is a smash hit.

I really like this one. It fits great, it drapes beautifully, and it looks smart. It is a really lovely design from Lone Kjeldsen.

I used Karin Oberg Kalinka yarn, a 100% linen, purchased from Ginger Twist Studio in Edinburgh. The yarn has an amazing sheen and is truly lovely. This blue was a bit outside my normal colour palette, but I think it paid off fantastically. It has great stitch definition.

I bought 4 skeins of yearn, but only used three. I knit the size Large, with a US3/3.25mm needle, and followed the instructions exactly.

It is a very straightforward project to knit, the textured pattern is easy to memorise, and it is pretty quick. I say that somewhat facetiously since I cast on the project on June 15, 2024, and just finished it two weeks ago. But the fact is that I put it aside last September when I was trying to finish a shawl for Emma on a deadline, and then I didn’t pick it up again until recently.

There are very nice details to this top, including the shaping at the shoulders, which are then joined off with a 3-needle bind-off which shows on the right side, and gives a great finishing touch.

I am wearing it here at Grey’s Court, a lovely National Trust property a few miles from my home which has frequently provided a backdrop to my projects on this blog. We were lucky to catch the wisteria just in time.

We were there with Leah’s housemate, and honorary 3rd daughter, Amy, who stayed with us at the beginning of a rail tour through Europe. Amy wanted to see a traditional English garden, and Grey’s Court was at it’s best for us on a beautiful spring day.

It’s nice to finish something and doubly nice when it turns out so well. I have a feeling I will be wearing this often.

A Walk in the Park

Posted on by
5

I finished my version of the A Walk in the Park shawl:

The shawl is part of The Signature Collection designed by Erika Knight in collaboration with A Yarn Story, the Bath yarn store run by Carmen Schmidt. I knit it as part of the KAL with A Yarn Story. The design is actually for a triangular shaped shawl, as below:

I have never been a huge fan of triangular shaped shawls, and no matter what I do, I can’t seem to style them properly. However, I really liked the contrasts in this shawl between the deep brown and white graphic stitchwork and the bright pops of colour. I decided to knit the shawl as a rectangle instead. It was a bit of a gamble, but I think it paid off.

I bought the kit in the original colours of Walcot yarns Origin, a lovely, bouncy worsted weight wool. Emma and I had a chance to see the shawl in person at the Unravel Festival and decided to substitute the soft purple-y pink yarn for a brighter pink (which I blogged about here).

I then had to decide whether to knit it back and forth width-wise or lengthwise. In the former case, I could fit in all of the different pieces of the original pattern (and then some) but the stripes of colours and textures would run across the shawl from side to side; in the latter case, the stripes of colour and texture would be very long, running from end to end, but I would have to select which bits of the pattern repeats to include and which not to include (because the width of my rectangle would be less than the long edge of the triangle shape). I chose the lengthwise option, in part because I like knitting shawls that way, and in part because it gave me the look I was after. You can see below how nicely those long stripes of pattern look.

I did some calculations and decided to cast on 360 stitches, using a US8/5mm needle. I then basically knitted the beginning sections of the pattern, but without any shapings (no decreases), and with some variations in how many repeats of each pattern to knit, so that the combinations of stripes of various widths and textures and colours would look pleasing to me. I started and ended it with 1×1 ribbing in the bright pink.

One of the difficulties I found while knitting it is that the gauges for the different textured patterns was not the same. For me, the unblocked gauge of the slipped stitch stripes was 26st/10cm, while the gauge of the slipped stich squares was 24st/10cm, and the gauge of the moss stitch was 22st/10cm. I became convinced that this would end up in a disaster as the fabric was incredibly wonky given the wildly different gauges of the varying stripes. I was also worried about the ribbing, especially on the cast-off edge, which tended to roll backwards. You can see both of these problems in the below photo of the edge of the unblocked shawl:

I kept knitting, however, even in the growing evidence of disaster because (1) I couldn’t bring myself to stop, and (2) I have tremendous faith in the power of blocking. And, if I do say so myself, it turned out pretty good.

Today is the final day of a long holiday weekend. Life has been pretty crazy lately, so I hope that you have been able to find some peaceful moments to enjoy the start of spring; perhaps with a walk in the park?

Mixed results

Posted on by
14

It’s been a while since my last post, and in the meantime I started and finished a jumper:

That is pretty fast knitting, by my standards. From cast-on to cast-off was exactly six weeks. The design is Bella Blocking by Anne Ventzel. I knitted it as part of a KAL (knit-a-long) organised by Carmen Schmidt of A Yarn Story. The KAL was for any pattern by Anne Ventzel and we were a really nice bunch, about 30 knitters who met on-line once a week to knit and chat, while learning new techniques (for some of us), comparing yarns and colours, giving encouragement and advice, and just hanging out. I’ve had mixed results with KALs but this one was nice, very low-key and not too big.

Carmen had brought her Bella Blocking to the retreat, which she knitted with her own yarn, Fluff by Walcot Yarn and Les Garcons. I tried it on and was impressed with the fact that it wasn’t itchy (it isn’t mohair), and weighed next to nothing. She had brought along bags full of Fluff in every colour, so I grabbed some in Cinema and Shadow, and signed up for the KAL.

I have mixed feelings about the resulting jumper, however. There is a lot to like and also things I don’t like about it. To start with the good things, I am crazy about these two colours in combination. They are really my colours, and they look great with this pattern. The yarn doesn’t itch (I already said that, but it bears repeating). The sweater is amazingly light (it weighs 220 grams) and is also very warm. It is comfortable.

The fact remains, however, that the jumper is pretty shapeless. I am unhappy with the dropped shoulders, the extra bunching under the arms, and especially with the sleeves, which just don’t sit right. I have tried to use artfully curated photos here so that I show off its best features, but you can see what I mean with the photo below.

I actually re-knit the sleeves multiple times trying to fix them, but I never got them to a point where I really like them. I also tried very hard to knit this with the 2 skeins of each colour I had purchased, but in the end needed more of the Shadow. I could totally have made it with only four skeins if I had made it an inch shorter and made the sleeves shorter, but after trying it on and ripping, and re-knitting umpteen times, I ended up with this. I think the root of the problem is the drop shoulder. The pattern calls for significantly more ease, which would have had a much greater dropped shoulder. I didn’t want all that ease around the chest, so I knitted a size 5, which with my slightly tighter gauge, gave me about 4 inches of ease. I ended up with a shoulder that was dropped enough to look sloppy and totally un-shapely, but not enough of a dropped shoulder to look intentional.

Doug’s comment on this jumper was: “I think the fact that it’s shapeless is kind of a feature.” Hmm. Enough said.

The result is a lightweight, easy, slouchy sweater in beautiful colours that looks and wears like a sweatshirt. Not a bad choice for lounging around the house, or going for a walk in the woods. It’s not something I would wear to work, though, or when I was trying to look put-together. Cosy is not a bad thing, so I am going to enjoy slouching around in this, while trying to pick patterns which suit my shape and style better.

Go green!

Posted on by
3

For the past 18 months or so, one shawl has been at the top of my wear pile; the one I nearly always grab to keep myself warm and colourful. This is the simple striped shawl I knitted in seven shades of Garthenor Preseli (and blogged here). When Emma came home to visit last October, she was taken with it and asked me to knit one for her, using green shades rather than the red and orange tones I had used. We ordered a bunch of greens and mixed in a grey, a cream, and a yellow, and then sent each other many, many photos with different layouts of the possible combinations. In August, I realised that with Emma due to return home for another October visit, I had just enough time to knit it and send it home with her.

When I say ‘just enough time’ I mean it, and once again, I finished it literally in the nick of time. I cast off the last stitch just before midnight on Saturday night (week before last), and stayed up late to wash and block it. On Sunday evening, just as we were losing the last of the light, and as it was starting to rain (but of course!), I unpinned it so I could take a few photos. The next morning, she was wearing it as she left to fly back to Vancouver.

The shawl is knitted sideways. I cast on 386 stitches and, knitting a 3-stitch i-cord at each end, knit 10, purl 10 across. It is very simple, intuitive, mindless knitting. I knitted the first one when I was in the throes of post-covid brain fog, and if your brain is feeling tired, this is a good project to pick up.

I am totally enamoured of the Preseli wool; it is so cushiony and soft, and I find myself always squishing the shawl when I wear it. It is comforting. (Still wooly, however; it’s not a superwash merino). I’ve been wearing the heck out of mine and it hasn’t pilled. The colour sequence used is: Holly, Wild Olive, Slate, Kettle, Gorse, Marble, and Willow.

My notes from the first one say I used a US6/4mm needle. I did exactly the same with this one: same yarn, same number of stitches, same number of rows (26) of each colour. In a completely bizarre and inexplicable fashion, the green one came out wider but they both came out to the same length. Here you can see the green one as it is blocked and pinned out on the right, with the red one next to it for a size comparison.

The finished, blocked size is 19″x76″ for the red and 23″x76″ for the green. How can they be the same length but not the same width, given each stripe is 26 rows on the same size needle? It is a mystery for the ages.

I am so happy my family tolerates my need to take knitwear photos with good grace. Even when there are suitcases to pack. And it’s raining.

Diligent readers will have noticed that this means that Emma flew home with two shawls, since she also managed to finally finagle me into giving her my Soumak shawl (see my last post). I think I will need to cast on a shawl or two this winter to replenish my stock.

If you can vote in the US elections, please do so. Vote early (like I did this week)!

‘Piping hot’ is piping hot

Posted on by
15

The moment I saw the Piping Hot design by Lily Kate, I knew I had to make it. The colours are amazing and the piping is such a great feature. It’s classic, but fun. I saw the pattern and purchased the yarn instantly – not my usual MO. And now it’s done!

I started this way back in October. It’s kind of been a long haul. The start of the sweater is fiddly; it takes some concentration to get the shoulders right and to get used to managing the bobbins. There are a lot of things to pay attention to right at the start. But the results are worth it. I love the way the piping looks.

Lily Kate suggests sizing down if you are between sizes, and I am happy that I followed her advice, as the fit at the shoulder is really important to getting it to drape properly. You can see from the back that the fit is good.

I often moan here about bad timing with finishing sweaters in the wrong season. Here it is, June, and I am just finishing a long-sleeved DK sweater. However, this year, it is a masterstroke in timing, as the weather has been total crap! See, a knitter can always find a silver lining to cold, grey skies.

I followed the instructions pretty much exactly. I added about 2 inches/5cm to the sleeves, and I also spaced out the sleeve decreases a bit (decreasing once every 5 rows, instead of once every 4 rows as instructed). Once you join in the round at the underarms, all of the fiddly bits are done, and then it is an easy knit.

This is my first time using this yarn, and it is lovely. It is so soft, and it blooms beautifully once it is washed. I am really hoping that it keeps its shape and doesn’t pill, because I want to use this yarn again and again. It comes in such great, bright colours too; right in my wheelhouse.

You may not be surprised to find out that this bright red and pink sweater matches most of my wardrobe! Fancy that!

This really feels like a sweatshirt; soft, comfortable, warm, roomy. But it has so much more style than a sweatshirt.

It took eight months to knit this sweater. Eight months is a long time. But, during that time, I wrote a book (!) and had a second bout of covid, so I have no complaints about the timeline. I imagine that if you want to knit this one, it will fly off your needles.

Happy Sunday, everyone!