Piosa Complete

I am so pleased with myself. I’ll be honest this isn’t the best photograph to be showing it off. However, I have finished the Piosa cardigan by East London Knit. It’s also my first cardigan. I have to admit that the tutorials that came along with the pattern gave me the confidence to bite the bullet and knit my first garment. I think I would have put off my challenge to myself had it not been for this. The tutorials kept me right and I do appreciate the extra work that went into the design of this pattern as a result. I also enjoyed it. It’s a lot of knitting (compared to socks) but I was never bored. Instead I was eager to keep going and see there result of each stage of the pattern. Even without the tutorials the pattern is very easy to follow thanks to its clear instructions. If you break down the sections there wasn’t really much in it that I hadn’t done before just not together for a large garment. If anyone else wants to try something like this go ahead. I can highly recommend it.

I did make some changes and felt confident to do so. First of all I added length. The cardigan is a more cropped length than I like. So I added 20 extra rows to it. The good thing with it was that I could try it on as I went to see how happy I was with the length. I also held off on the pockets to the end to ensure that I had enough yarn (although I really wanted those pockets). Thankfully I did have enough. I also didn’t add buttons. I love buttons and I’m not afraid of button holes. I just tend not to use them on my cardigans and so I decided against adding them. I am so happy with the end result and I am proud of myself. I think my mum would have been too.

The yarn is Nua Worsted by Carol Feller of Stolen Stitches. It’s beautiful to knit with and the colour choices made it difficult to choose. In the end I went with Unexpected Macaw because it’s a blue that goes with most things and one that I wouldn’t normally pick first. I am so happy with my choice.

Now that I have finished may first cardigan I am now about to start my first top. I bought this pattern from The Loveliest Yarn Company a while ago. I love the lace design and the 3/4 sleeve. I thought it would be perfect to wear on management days in work (before current times when it’s best not to wear your own clothing in work). Let’s be honest here. If there was anything that initially attracted me to the pattern it’s the colour. My sister made that comment the other day. “You bought that because of the colour didn’t you? It’s a Karen colour.” Yep, I did indeed. As I really wanted to knit it in the colour in the photograph I was sadly unable to order my yarn from the same place (which is a shame as Michelle had the deep pink in her recent sale). It is a lace weight yarn and therefore there is a huge difference between this and the worsted that I was knitting with. Both the pattern and the yarn is by West Yorkshire Spinners.

So tonight, I plan to wind the yarn and knit up my swatch. Wish me luck and watch this space.

East London Knits Knit-A-Long

I promised a post about the knit a-long I was participating in and here it is. It’s a cardigan and the design is called Piosa by Renee Callahan of East London Knits. I love her designs and I thought taking part in something like this would be a good way to knit my first garment. I haven’t shown you a full image of it because it’s not mine to share. These images are from the pattern itself so I have zoomed in to small parts of it. I can tell you it is pretty and has pockets! I think I will definitely be challenged here. It’s not a mystery knit. You know what the final product will look like. However, the pattern is being released in four parts (I think four parts). Plus it has tutorial videos which I think will be helpful for me. I have knit my swatch but I’ve still to block it so no photo’s from me yet. I also haven’t started the cardigan itself yet as I had to order some needles. I made the stupid assumption that I had them all. I do not. They have now been ordered so by then I will have my swatch blocked and will have watched the next tutorial.

The suggested yarn is Nua worsted by Carol Feller of Stolen Stitches. I decided not to make life difficult for myself by choosing a different yarn. The colour I’ve chosen is called Unexpected Macaw. It is such a beautiful yarn. So soft and I loved knitting with it on that small swatch. I can only imagine wearing a full cardigan in this. Some of you will see this and think that is a Karen colour. Believe it or not there was another colour which was more of a signature Karen. My sister was able to point it out straight away. I wanted to go for something slightly different but one that would go with most of my clothes. I think I picked right even if it’s not completely out of my colour comfort zone.

I hope that you are still all managing to stay sane while shut away and safe if you are having to leave for work. I’ve been fairly tired and my sock knitting has slowed down a little. I am on my last pair for my nurse friends and I am going to move on to a pair for my sister. Next post I hope to show you some of the yarn I have purchased for this months small business support. For now though I am off for some family zoom chat. Stay safe everyone.

January Haul

There won’t be a haul blog post every month. I hope. Don’t think I could afford it every month. This month I had some Christmas money to spend and I went to town. I bought this months edition of The Knitter. Like last month there are a lot of fantastic patterns in there. Many of which I would quite like to knit. There was even a men’s zipped cardigan which I can see myself knitting for my dad for Christmas.

One of my goals was to learn new techniques this year. Brioche was high on the list and I even planned to do something this month. I then watched Fruity Knitting’s first podcast after Christmas. Nancy Marchant (the Queen of Brioche) returned for an interview and she talks about her book Knitting Brioche Lace. Fruity Knitting are holding a knit along with brioche lace or tuck stitches. I think that I was a bit optimistic that I would be able to join in but I have been wanting this book since it came out. Lots of beautiful patterns in there. It is self published so if you are looking for your own copy Stephen & Penelope are the official stockist in Europe. I got my copy the day after I ordered it.

I also ordered myself some sock blockers. I have had acrylic ones where you can change the size to suit the sock. I hated them. They just didn’t work for me although I know there are people out there who prefer them. I have read that some people find that the wooden ones can catch on the yarn if they aren’t finished perfectly. I haven’t found that with these. They finish is fantastic. I got mine via SmirnOFF Designs on Etsy UK. I’ll be honest, I don’t normally block my socks. I decided to invest in these because I thought my socks would photograph better for my sock patterns. If you follow me on Instagram you will see the difference in one of my latest photograph collections with my new sock pattern. So maybe blocking is worthwhile in socks after all.

I also got myself some Knit Pro DPN’s as a pattern I am planning on working on soon requires a size that I didn’t have. Unawares I picked up cubies. Have any of you tried these yet? As the name suggest the needle is cube shaped rather than round. I have always found Knit Pro to be very comfortable to work with but the cubies provide even more comfort. Might be good for people who have problems with their hands.

A lot of yarn this month but none for stash. All project specific. The first is a Rowan yarn which is for a scarf by Martin Storey. Stupidly I haven’t bought enough. I suppose it would be fine if I wanted a shorter scarf but I picked this pattern because  it’s a windy scarf. Funnily enough that is also the name of the pattern. The middle yarn is for a brioche hat in order to expand my knowledge of brioche stitches. Finally the last is by cascade yarns and it’s for a pair of slippers. The first and the last are part of my garment challenge. The project after those will be a jumper (which will be really out of my comfort zone).

Not haul but I am really into my podcasts just now. I prefer visual rather than audio and so I have three that I have begun watching religiously. Fruity Knitting is one I have mentioned before. I have gotten so many pattern ideas from them and learnt about lots of designers. It was from watching Fruity Knitting that I decided that it was about time that I moved past the socks. East London knits is another. Her podcasts are shorter but I like them because she designs her own patterns and I have even bought a few of them. Finally, I recently came across the Grocery Girls which is by two Canadian sisters. It reminds me of the knitting group back in the day. Just full of chat and excitement over new patterns and yarn. I have added a few patterns to my ravelry library thanks to them. I am sure there are many more podcasts but these three are a firm favourite. I should warn you that Grocery Girls tends to run over the two hour mark. However, I make myself a coffee and get out my knitting and get comfy. I haven’t linked any of these but you will find them all on YouTube. I might actually link them to my blogs page. Podcasts are just like blogs right? Does anyone else have any favourites?

2020 Challenges

Last year I discovered podcasts. Or rather, I decided that it was about time that I tried a few. Specifically knitting podcasts. I can’t remember how it came about. I think I might have seen an article but I did a search and came across a list of them. My favourites are East London Knits and Fruity Knitting. East London Knits is a shorter podcast by knitwear designer Renee Callahan. I love her knitwear and so I am not hooked to her podcast and love seeing her knew designs. The second, Fruity Knitting is by a knitting Australian family who live in Germany. Their podcast is filled with their own projects and interviews. As you can see, I enjoy knitting while watching and having a cup of tea (occasionally a red wine).

Watching both has inspired me. I have been knitting for years now and I very rarely stray beyond socks. A few years back I did knit some baby jumpers for the first time but I haven’t tried again since then. I have a drawer overflowing with knitted socks and I think my family probably do too. I have found a few new sock recipients but I now need to challenge myself. So thanks to watching these podcasts and seeing that there are a lot of designs out there that I love I have decided to knit my own wardrobe.

I don’t imagine that this will be a one year challenge only. I will need to build up to larger garments and the kind of patterns that I have been admiring. I need to learn techniques. So I have been taking notes in my bullet journal. I have been writing a list of the books on techniques that these podcasts have been recommending and I have been writing a list of designers and patterns I have admired.

From this I have been collecting patterns that I think that I can manage now and that I can build up to next. A whole host of patterns which include hats, scarves, easy jumpers, cardigans, tops and even a few dresses and a jacket. Oh and slippers. The hat, scarf and slippers will be my first three projects and I then will try my first larger garment. A simple but cosy jumper. The hat is already on the pins. A lovely lace item designed by someone I came across thanks to an interview in Fruity Knitting. I also have a list of techniques that I want to learn along the way. I’m really looking forward to this.

Lastly, as I have said previously, I am hoping to publish some sock patterns this year. I have a few designs that I have done already but just not written them out for public use. I also have a few ideas written down in my bullet journal for future designs. I’m excited about them and I see them as a challenge too. I am hoping to use some of the techniques I am learning in the designs.

I am hoping that this will turn me into a project knitter. What I mean when I say that is that I buy yarn for each project rather than because it is pretty. It’s why my stash is so out of control. Last year I was actually good at this. I bought very little yarn apart from that which I needed for specific projects. Also as a result though my stash is not going down as fast as I would hope but it will get there.

Does anyone else have fun plans for the new year? Would love to hear about them.