Advent Knit Along

 

I was so happy with where I was with all my WIPs that I felt confident to participate in an Advent mystery knitalong. I thought that I would even do a little Blogmas/Blogvent and post pictures every day of each day’s clues. But I thought that might not be very interesting so I’ll post periodic progress.

The pattern is for mittens which is very doable over 25 days. You can make fingerless mitts, flip top or full mittens and the nice thing about that is that I don’t have to make a decision until the end as to what sort of mitts I want. I had some yarn left over from a different Advent Knitalong and I am happy to get to use it up. The coloured yarn is leftover from this gnome and the light yarn is from the first socks.

So far there have been between 5 and 9 rows each day with the first and last rows all knit in the main colour so not onerous knitting. Although I was behind before I started as the cuff was knit at the end of November ready for the first patterned clue on the first of December but I didn’t want the mitts to go across two months so I knit the cuff on the 1^st and clues 1 and 2 on the 2^nd. Since then I have worked each clue on the correct day.

Here is a picture up to day six.

 

 

Two Real Finishes

 

In my update at the beginning of this month I wrote that my only achievement in the WIP category was two Frogs. Since then I have completed all the mitred squares and all the strips for one of the year long blankets. Although I have completed as much as I wanted to get done this year, they are not fully finished items as they still need to be sewn together to become blankets.

But I have just finished two items (or four as they come in pairs) within a day of each other, which is why they are appearing in the same post. Both these projects were started so that I could take them on my trip in October. I would still have made them but they would not have been on the needles at the same time.

First is a pair of socks that I started for September’s challenge. I cast them on at the beginning of September so that they would count for September’s challenge, expecting to finish them in October but I hardly picked them up when we were away and I decided not to rush and finish them when we returned. The pattern is My Cup of Tea which I had had downloaded a number of years ago. The yarn is from Round Mountain Fibers and was used in this project. I don’t usually contrast the toes and the socks sat for a week before I grafted them closed as I kept thinking I would redo them in the main colour. Also I don’t usually like socks where the pattern is worked on just half (usually front) of the sock but it works for this pattern.

 

The other project I finished was these fingerless mitts using leftover yarn from last year’s Advent, I used a glove pattern that I knew fit and added the lace pattern that I had used for the socks to the back of the hand. That is the lace pattern I had used for the Advent socks, not the socks featured in this post. 

 

I still have quite a bit of yarn left over so I am thinking of making a cowl to use it all up.

The interesting thing about these two projects is that I worked them two-at-a-time on a circular needle. This is not my favourite way of working a project but as they were both travel projects, I decided this would be an easier way of working them and not worry about dropping needles.

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”.