knit – Six Feet Crazy

I have been knitting since my mother-in-law taught me how almost 15 years ago. I love all the different stitches that you can do. I had always wanted to make a sweater but the idea of making one was, well let’s say I didn’t want to screw it up, and I wasn’t confident enough in my skills to not screw it up. I had looked at various patterns to find the no-fail-anyone-can-do-it-yes-even-you patterns and just never made the leap. Then, Purl Soho had a knit-along for their Lightweight Raglan Pullover Sweater and I thought, well if they’re doing a knit-along it’s sure to be no-fail!

Lightweight Raglan Pullover by Purl Soho

My sweater even (mostly) turned out exactly the way it was suppose to! So, kudos to them for creating a pattern that even a Nervous Nelly like me could knit up! I’m pretty sure the only mistake I made was that I missed a decrease in the yoke, so the neck is a little wider than it’s supposed to be. With the off the shoulder tops being trendy for the time being, I’m okay with it, though.

I used Juniper Moon’s Moonshine yarn in Twilight to make this sweater. It’s incredibly soft, holds its shape with a little bit of drape, and is just all around beautiful. I made this sweater for my oldest daughter. I also bought enough skeins in their color Dew to make myself a sweater. Have I completed that sweater? No, not yet, but, I’m so close to being done!

After making the first sweater I knew I was going to make another sweater, but not yet because good grief knitting those sleeves is enough to make you dizzy! I’ve never been a huge fan of knitting on double pointed needles. I usually get just a little extra smidgeon of space in between each of these needles no mater how tight I make the stitches. Using the magic loop is definitely magical, but not for sleeves that are miles long! So I knew I wanted to make something flat before I made the next sweater.

Waiting was definitely worth the wait! I saw this beautiful Slavyanka Sweater created by the ever talented Lyudmila Aksenik. I had most of a skein left from making the purple sweater, and I knew this was the sweater I had to make. The pattern is super easy to follow, complete with various manipulations if you so desire. So with the confidence I had gained from making the first sweater, I set about making this sweater.

It has taken me significantly longer to make this second sweater, and I’m okay with that. I’ve been using it as my swimming sweater. Let me explain – I’ve only been working on the sweater while I’m at a swim practice or competition. Needless to say this sweater has been all over Colorado! Because I’ve been consistently working on it (we have a swimming something almost every day) I am super close to being done. Taking it to a swim meet really helps the progress. I have about 80 more rows of the last sleeve to go. It might be the middle of summer when I finish it, but by golly I’m going to wear it!

It has been really interesting to make these sweaters. It was extremely tempting to give up on the sleeves and just make them short sleeve sweaters, but I also knew I would always associate the sleeves with quitting, and I hate quitting. Now that I can’t go back and make the sleeves shorter, I’m super tempted to make yet another sweater with shorter sleeves. We have nice spring and fall seasons here, and wearing a short sleeve sweater is pretty normal. And I have plenty of yarn in my stash to make another sweater. So many ideas!

I have been knitting for years. My mother-in-law taught me and I’ve been going strong ever since. I love the different things I can do, and between knitting and crocheting I am pretty confident I could make anything I put my mind to. In the last two years I was given two large stashes from a friend, and my great-grandmother. I made a promise this year that I would go through my now gigantic stash before I would buy any more yarn. It’s worked…mostly. I did buy some yarn to make my sister a scarf, but it was only two skeins. With three kiddos I have a lot of “down” time while I sit at various practices, so I was able to do quite a bit of yarning in January.

Here are the things I made in January to get through my stash:

Crocheted blankets for identical twin girls

The first project I made in January were blankets for a friend’s identical twin girls. I crocheted these blankets using the Purl Soho Crochet Four Points Baby Blanket pattern. However, instead of making 4 corners I only made two per blanket and sewed them together along the diagonal. I used the remaining yarn from one blanket to sew together the other blanket. This helped with the idea that although they were different, they were still a part of each other.

A poncho – color change every two rows knit in stockinette.

The next project I made was a poncho for my nephew. This is stockinette stitch, with a color change every two rows. Instead of making two rectangles and sewing them together, I made one really long rectangle, and then sewed end to the side to make the wrap. The reason I didn’t make two pieces to sew together was because I didn’t think I had enough red to finish the project. It still worked for what I wanted, but I think next time I will make the two pieces like you’re “suppose to.”

My next project I used up some yarn I had given my oldest as a project to work on while she recovered from having her tonsils removed. Needless to say she got about 20 rows into her scarf before finding something else to work on. I tore out what she had done (with her permission, of course), and got started on my first real cable project. The yarn is one skein of Caron Cake Bumbleberry

I had done cables once before but it was one big cable, and I wasn’t very impressed with it. I knew I needed to practice cables to do a Celtic cabled scarf I’d been eyeing some yarn for, so this was my chance. I was inspired by Hana Paimen’s Cable Braids Headband since there wasn’t an edge, which is what I haven’t liked in other cabled patterns.

When I bought the Caron Cake yarn for the cowl, I found a bunch of Caron X Pantone kits on clearance, and decided hats would be fun to make for all the kids. After making this first one, I will not be making hats for all the kids, but I will probably make a multi-skein something or the other in the months to come. But this one did go to my niece, and it matches her personality really well. This pattern is called Sunset Hat by Emily Dormier. I added the pompom from the leftover yarn I had from making the hat. It was a fun pattern to follow and I will make the hat again, just with different yarn.

We get more than a few super chilly days here in CO and my oldest was concerned that the gentleman holding the door open for the kids coming into the school needed a scarf, or something to keep him warm. This was a very fast project – it took two days from start to finish. I used unlabeled yarn but followed the Seaman’s Cowl pattern published in the Seaman’s Church Institute’s Christmas at Sea Program.

I got one more project cast on in January, but am still working on finishing it. Here is a sneak peak at what’s on my needles:

Tag: knit

I made a sweater!

January Knitting