A Test Knit for a Sock Pattern for Laine Magazine

 

Way back when – OK that’s an exaggeration but at the end of last year I applied to test knit a new sock pattern. I wanted to participate as I like knitting socks but, more importantly, the designer is a new designer and has a budding yarn dying business.

I couldn't show them off until now as the pattern was for a magazine. The pattern is in Laine Magazine’s latest issue No 23 which will be published on 5 December but as previews are now up I can show off my finished socks. The pattern was designed by Tess of Fluff and Nonsense. An Australian yarn dyer and pattern designer. I have come to know her through weekly Zoom calls with a bunch of other knitters.She dyed the mini Advent set I used in the hat and socks shown in this post.

I chose some tweed yarn from Less Traveled Yarn (who are no longer dying) for the pattern and love how they have come out and even more excited that I can now wear them. There was nothing stopping me from wearing them as soon as they were finished but I decided to wait for the pattern to be published and now I can show them off.

You Call This an Update!

 

The first full month of the WIP along has passed and what have I achieved?

Two frogs.

One planned and one a surprise. In the middle of September I had a cardigan on the needles which I fully intended to finish before the end of the year. The lace part was going surprisingly quickly and after that there was the main body in stocking stitch. What I hadn’t taken into account was that the sleeves wouldn’t fit. I did gauge swatch but the swatch was only in stocking stitch. However, you start the garment with a lace pattern for the sleeves. It became apparent that the sleeves were looking very slim. I had changed the pattern so that the sleeves had gradual decreases rather than being really full with all the decreases at the cuffs. I am not a fan of this blousey style as the sleeves always get in the way. Even after aggressive blocking it was obvious I was kidding myself that the sleeves would fit. So an unplanned frogging. I decided not to cast back on straight away as I want to finish the extra cast ons.

The other item I frogged was planned but it is still a bit sad to have to frog a complete garment as there is thought time and hope put into the planning and execution. The item I frogged was the cardigan shown in this post. I really like the yarn but the cardigan never sit right whenever I wore it. I had considered frogging it this time last year but finished all my WIPs first. My plan was to frog and reknit it this year but the trip changed those plans. In the end I decided to frog and then it can be my January cast on as I hope by that point not to have much on the go.

And that’s it for clearing WIPs. I have been working on all the blankets as I do want those finished by the end of the year so that I can join and edge them next year.

Don’t Be a Yarn Snob

 

I define a snob not as someone who has expensive things but someone who looks down on others for not having the same expensive designer labels as they do.

Unfortunately, I am seeing more and more in the yarn world, crafters looking down on other crafters who use acrylic yarn. To the point where they say I don’t want to wear plastic. This makes me smile because I wonder how much of their clothing is 100% cotton or wool.

I have found this disdain for acrylics to be rude but after a recent trip to England I wonder how much it excludes people from the so-called community? I went into one yarn shop and looked in the window of another; both in small towns and they were both mostly selling manmade fibers. They were obviously catering to what crafters wanted. (Yes, there is the reverse argument that people buy what is available even if they would prefer something else.) And not only what crafters wanted but what the locals wanted. One of the shops did have a very small selection of hand dyed yarn and yarn from local sheep and I’m guessing that this was for the tourist market.

Manmade fibers are reasonably priced, easy to care for and softer than many “natural” yarns. They fit the need for people who want to craft but do not have the budget or wish to work with fancy hand dyed wool.

So next time you show utter contempt for people who use acrylics, consider those who are hearing that statement and how your superiority is telling them they are not welcome in the “community”.

Vacation Knitting

 

When talking about all my WIPs I said I had so many because of extra cast ons for an upcoming trip. We are now home from that trip; so how did I do?

I started three projects specifically to take away with me and I kept it to those three. One project was for the plane journey. I probably could have finished it during the trip but I wanted to make sure I still had an easy project for the return journey so I didn’t pick it up again until near the end. I should add here that the reason I had prepared three projects before leaving is that there was one trip where none of my projects worked out and I ended up not knitting, so I wanted to make sure I wasn’t in that position again.

I did work on the other two projects but knitting only took place in the evenings and not during the day. I decided I was not going to carry a bag with me when I was out and about. And that turned out to be a good decision as many museums were searching bags. In the future I think I can stuff a small project into a jacket pocket.

What I have learnt from this is that preparing projects before hand is a good idea. A hat on circular needles is just right for a plane journey and three projects is the right amount as this gives choice.

There was one item of souvenir shopping. We spent a few days in the Cotswolds and my sister and I went to a small yarn shop. She purchased some fun yarn and has already crocheted a hat. I purchased some sock yarn that had been had dyed by the shop owner which I thought was an appropriate souvenir.

 

An Extra Cast On

Remember the extra cast ons for an up coming trip and finishing a garment before the WIP Along start? Somehow that wasn’t enough to keep my hands occupied and I added in a crochet hat.

I’ve been crocheting the same hat pattern whenever I’ve been in the car and have ignored the monthly suggestions in the hat group. Until this month. The crochet hat caught my eye and I had yarn that would look great, so on the hook it went. (It is unwieldy to write about crochet in the same terms as knitting as there aren’t good equivalents for on the needles and cast on and cast off.)

The hat is a free pattern, but I did make some changes. Firstly in relation to my gauge I did not complete all the increases. Then the leaf pattern was not distributed evenly around the hat. I guess the designer increased to the number of stitches she thought was necessary and then just had extra stitches between the last and first leaf. I thought this was a bit odd and as I didn’t increase to the full number of stitches it was easy to add one extra stitch before the pattern.

Other crocheters said that the hat was a bit short and added extra rows. I was trying to guess how much length the leaves added so I worked two extra rows before the pattern but then needed just one row after instead of two.

I am happy with the outcome and have enough yarn to make another in the same colours, so this might be my new two-coloured hat.

 

 

Even The Buttons Were From Stash

I am really happy to show off my latest finish. This is yarn I have had in my stash since 2015. Yarn from a subscription box that I purchased extra yarn and still didn’t use. I had a few ideas but nothing was quite right. This year I haven’t been adding to stash and I want to use older yarn first. This is nearly my oldest yarn so a decision had to be made. I don’t know when I first came across this pattern, it was published in 2022, but it was written for the weight of yarn I had and the amount.

I started it before a vacation so that I would have something easy to work on but after the vacation there were many weeks when I didn’t work on it at all. But after my mini finish-all-the projects this was the main project left so it got most of my attention and then with the WIP along coming up I wanted it to be completely finished before that start date.

The garment is knitted bottom up with the sleeves joined at the yoke and the button band built in. So when all the knitting is finished you just have to sew the underarm seams. (And sew in the ends and block of course.) But there was the pesky subject of buttons. I needed seven and I really wasn’t looking forward to searching for the right ones. I checked my button jar just in case and couldn’t believe that I had seven buttons all the same and in a matching colour.

The pattern is from Drops and the yarn is from The Verdant Gryphon who are no longer dying.

 

Why All the WIPs?

 

I know this will sound strange but I am disappointed that I still have so many projects on the go, even if I can justify them all.

At the end of August when I finished the third pair of socks I had just one active project and I really liked the feeling of that being the only project to work on. But active is the operative word as I still had four blankets and a car project. So one active project translates to six projects in total. And it’s not the total number of projects that are the problem but the never ending blanket projects that are skewing the numbers.

I have worked many mysteries but I am not enjoying the year long aspect of the blankets. But at least when they are finished they will not be replaced by new projects. My plan is to work a certain number of rows every day so that I don’t get bored but still get them finished. I also want to complete all the squares for my mitred square blanket so that I have just the borders to work on in the new year.

Then my works in progress will truly be active projects.