It's a new year and here's the first of my podcast episodes for the 2023. I'm trying something a little different this year - only a little! - and I'm planning on recording every two weeks instead of once a month. I'd like to bring you shorter, more concise episodes, and my plan is to show you what I've worked on in the previous two weeks, and then what I'm planning on working on in the following couple of weeks. I'll also share any books I've finished / started since last recording and what's happening in my shop.
To kick this new start off, this episode shares everything I finished knitting since my last episode (November) and then the two projects I'm focussing on for the next two weeks. To keep the episode at around half an hour I've paused the first book chat of the year until next time.
If you want to watch the episode you can click on the image below to be taken straight to YouTube, or you'll find below all the useful links to the projects I talked about.
Finished Objects
Tiny Human Knits Socks
I love these socks! The yarn is spectacular. It's from Tiny Human Knits and is a self striping colourway called Denim Overalls. I cast on 60 stitches as I usually do, knit in 1x1 rib for about 15 rounds and then knit a tube of around about 140 stitches. I added a simple wedge toe and then added an afterthought heel (again just a simple wedge duplicate of the toe). The yarn for the heel was a mini from my stash but I can't remember where it was from.
The socks weigh 72g.
Pink Ribbed Socks
You'll not find my wearing pink very often but I'm quite happy to have that colour on my feet. I find that when I buy mini skein sets or do mini swaps there is often a pink (or several) in the bundle, and because I don't use that colour often I had quite a collection building up. So I decided to put them to good use and create a pair of pink socks.
As usual I cast on 60 stitch but this time I went straight into a 5x1 rib all the way down the leg, just for something a little different.
I added a heel flap and gusset and then carried on the rib on the instep down to the toe where I used the same yarn that I'd used for the heel to create a standard wedge toe.
I usually knit my socks concurrently. This totally avoids second sock syndrome. With these I started off in that way and I had intended to be quite uniform about the number of rounds knit in each colour, and to go for matching socks. After adding in a couple of different colours I threw this plan out the window and just went off on my own journey, picking a new yarn when I felt like it, and I'm happy with the finished look. The socks weigh 64g.
I used the clasped weft join method to dealwith the ends (see this tutorial by Louise Tilbrook for more info), which meant I didn't have to weave in any ends apart from the cast on and bind off ends. Brilliant!
I enjoy knitting socks like this with random colours. It's a great way to use up yarn and I have a few like this in my sock drawer. In fact as I type I've got a lovely long pair on my feet keeping me nice and toasty.
Sophie Scarf
This is either my second or third Sophie Scarf. It's a pattern by Petite Knit and this one is knit from Biffsugar Yarns in the Demelza colourway. It's a fingering weight merino singles yarn and is beautiful.
I decided with this project that I wanted to see how much Sophie Scarf I could get from a full 100g skein of fingering weight yarn. The answer is a scarf that will wrap around my neck three times and so will keep me nice and warm. I used 98g of this beautiful yarn and so it's a great project for those special single skeins many of us have.
Yume Sweater
This is a pattern by Isabell Kraemer (link to her Lovecrafts store) and I'd had it on my want to knit list for a long time. I've knit this out of Drops Nord (colourway 04) and it comes in at 298g. I knit size 4.
I really like it. I thought it might be a little small while I was knitting but a good block has helped it into a fit of sweater that I really enjoy wearing (I'd say there's about 2" of positive ease going on here).
The things I really like about this sweater other than the fit (and can I just say that the arm fit is fabulous) are the unfinished neckline and the bind off that I chose.
For the neckline there's no ribbed neckband, you just go straight into the body of the sweater. I'm not a huge fan of knitting a ribbed anything (I know I've just knit ribbed socks!) although I do like the finished look. However with this pattern you don't have to worry about any of that and I love the way it gives the sweater a relaxed feel. The neckline rolls ever so slightly and I think it looks very pretty. I'm going to add that to my knitting toolbox for future projects.
I chose to use the Italian sewn bind off for the finish on the cuffs and the hem; I don't think the pattern specifically gives a bind off to use. This is a labour and yarn intensive way to bind off but it gives a polished finish. I find the bind off quite rhythmic once you get into it, much like doing the Kitchener stitch. You end up with a lovely stretchy edge.
So all in, I'm very happy with this finished sweater.
WIPS for the next two weeks
Marling Festival
I find I wear my Habitation Throw most days at the moment. I fold it into a large triangle and wear it as a shawl over my shoulders as it's been so cold! So I thought I could use a second large triangular shawl. I have also been enjoying the texture of the Bits and Bobs blanket that I've been working on and so I looked for a pattern that used either fishermans rib or brioche. I narrowed the choice down to two patterns - the Marling Festival (pattern by Ani Knits) or the Yalliday Shawl (pattern by Emily Curtis)- and it was the Marling that won out for no real reason other than I had the pattern next to my yarn! I'm sure I'll knit the Yalliday though at some point, maybe next winter.
The yarn I'm using is my gorgeous Sherry Iris advent calendar from 2022 - thanks Sherry! And I'm holding it double with some random pale coloured yarns.
I'm a few repeats of the pattern into the project now and I've got it memorised so it's a very straightforward knit. I'll talk more about it on the next episode but for a spoiler, I'm happy with it and really looking forward to having this as a finished object.
Felix Sweater
I've knit a Felix (pattern by Amy Christoffers - Ravelry link here) before and had always wanted to knit a second. I visited my local yarn store (The Lace Knittery) in the autumn with my friend Sarah and picked up a sweater quantity of Letloppi in a lovely oatmeal colour with the specific intention of knitting another Felix.
Again, I'll talk more about this in the next podcast but highlights so far are the tubular cast on (not specified in pattern), the speed of the knit and the new needles I'm using.
I finished off the episode with a little chat about what else I'll be talking about in future episodes (books) and a bit of an update on what's happening with my shop. As always if you have any questions about anything I shared in the podcast, do drop me a line and I'll look forward to chatting with you again in a couple of weeks.