FO: Bloomsbury Sweater

 Hey ho! My Bloomsbury Sweater is finished!

I started this pattern back in September of 2019, took it with me to England the next month (with the hopes of knitting it in Bloomsbury) and have been working on and off for another year! 

The V-shaped neckline with the lace sleeves is so flattering. I would totally create another pattern that has a similar look. 

The beginning of the lace yoke section was quite tricky to get going with the increases due to how the designer wrote up the instructions with the lace charts. I ended up creating a chart photo in my Ravelry notes to keep track of everything. 

I tried out Caron's Pantone Bamboo yarn in the color "Indigo" when they first released it. I have have mixed feelings because although it is soft, it splits and I am sure it will pill quite a bit. 

This project took me about 4.5 skeins of yarn for a size large in US 6 needles.

I can't resist a heathered yarn though.

I used a tubular cast-on method for the neckline, and the sleeves and hem were cast off using "Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Cast Off" method. It doesn't look as clean, but I was driven to knit a garment that stretches!

The first set of sleeves took me the longest. For some reason it took AGES! The second sleeve really only took less than a week, so I don't know what my deal was. I was dealing more with chronic neck and shoulder pain this past year that has stopped me from knitting more than 20 minutes at a time, so that was probably it.

 

I'm convinced that every time you take a picture of this shade of blue, it will never come out the same.

I was so excited when I tried it on for the first time and it fit perfectly. 

This is literally fresh off the needles, so I haven't even blocked it out yet. I expect the sleeves and sweater length to grow a bit. 

It's quite snowy! Stay safe!

FO: Silvestre Mitts

Happy New Year! I hope you find 2021 is filled with laughter, joy, good health and nourishment for the soul after the rough year we had.

Here's another project fresh off the needles, just in the knick of time! These are called the "Silvestre Mitts" by Skeindeer Knits. See my project notes here. I purchased the pattern and recommended yarn at the London Loop yarn shop while on our 10 year wedding anniversary trip in October 2019.

 I love including the WIP photos in the FO post so that you can see the entire (1 year) journey:

 

I purchased these beautiful mitten blockers a year ago from the Etsy seller Mlyn Jedrow who creates them in Poland.

And there she is, all in her Norwegian glory. I think I upped my Norwegian heritage up a bit by knitting these. ;) It just snowed the other day, so these should keep my hands toasy warm!

Have a safe and healthy New Year. May it be everything you hope it will be. <3

FO: Forth of July Socks

Happy Independence Day, America!

What's more festive than holiday socks? 🙌 These socks are red, white and blue...plus have a stranded colorwork motif! Did I do any of that labor? Nope!

When Cascade came out with this Independence "Heritage Prints," I knew they had to be 4th of July socks! I called them "American Socks" on my project page, but they can be French socks too. :)

American Socks

Method: top-down, short-row heel

Cast-on: 72 sts 

Read my project notes HERE.

 

Needles: US 0 and US 1

Yarn: Cascade Yarns ® Heritage Prints

1 skein = 437.0 yards (399.6 meters), 100 grams

Colorway 52 Independence 

Plus some scrap white fingering weight yarn

I hope this post finds you well.  <3

The Roundabout Shawl (KUAS Designs Pattern)

Good afternoon, dear knitters. I am almost ashamed to admit that nearly a year has passed since I last logged on. Between my Facebook group page for this blog and Instagram, I am still keeping up with sharing my makes, but this blog has seriously been neglected, and for that I am sorry.

I just wanted to peek in here to give you this update, as this pattern is fresh off the online press:

"The Roundabout Shawl"

I don't know if you remember the first version, the "Roundabout Shawlette," by this version uses aran weight yarn and has a lot more shaping. I'd like to think of it as a cosier version on those very cold days.

 See how narrow those are? The original is more scarf-like.

This pattern is beautiful in it's simplicity. The I-cord edging and lace panel are all connected, and it is knit up sideways. I have spent hours writing up a pattern with charts, the written out version, progress charts and colored markers to remind the maker of inc's/dec rows, because although there's eyeltes running the lenth of the shawl, some of it is just decorational.

Materials: 
Yarn: 425 yds/170g of aran (8 wpi) wool yarn.
This pattern used Yarn Bee’s Chloe yarn in the “Bisque” color.
Note: The lace panel will not block out properly if your yarn does not have at least 50% or more wool in it.
Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm) straight or circular needles, plus a darning needle.
Notions: 2 st makers, 150+ Blocking pins, a blocking mat, 1-2 oz of no-rinse wool wash & a towel

Gauge and measurements:
22 sts= 4’’and 34 rows= 4’’ in Garter Stitch
Prior to blocking: 58’’ long and 12’’ at widest point in main body; 2’’ lace panel section
After blocking: 68’’ long and 13.5’’ wide at the widest main body section; 2.5’’ lace panel section

Abbreviations: CO= cast on K=knit P=purl St(s)=stitch(es) M=(stitch) marker Sl=slip st k2tog=k 2 sts together Ssk=sl 2 sts each knit-wise, then sl the left needle into the front of those sts and k them together Yo=yarn over BO= bind off RS=right side WS=wrong side S2kp=slip 2 sts knit-wise, k1, pass the 2 sl sts over

Pattern Notes: the largest sized lace pattern chart and helpful progress charts can be found on the last page. The increase/decreasing shaping is always done on the RS of the work after the lace panel st marker. You’ll find yellow boxes marking those shaping rows. However, note that there will always be yarn-over holes on the RS of the work! Some yarn-overs are decorative (“sl m, yo, k2tog/ssk”) and some function as part of the increases/decreases. The 3 sl sts at the end of the RS of the work is your “I-Cord edging.”

 I just love the clean look of that I-Cord edging.

See you soon! I'm off to pick the twins up from the bus (they just turned 8!) and work on some Christmas knits that Sam requested. I hope you are enjoying fall!