Knitting Blogcast #13 | The Woolly Wordsmith

A failing project, a quick cast-on, and future plans

Mar 11, 2025

Welcome back to the thirteenth iteration of my knitting Blogcast. Here, I share my knitting makes. Today, I am going to show you what I made in February 2025. Thank you for being here with me.

Today’s quote comes from a book that I fell in love with in February - A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood.

“Fear, after all, is our real enemy. Fear is taking over our world. Fear is being used as a tool of manipulation in our society.”
― Christopher Isherwood, A Single Man (1964)

The entire world feels very fearful at the moment. I truly believe that it is that fear which holds us back as humans, both as our personal and public selves. I have been finding it helpful to slowly push these fears, just a little bit each day. The fear is not protecting me, but preventing me from living my life.

Works in Progress (WIPs)

Sunshine Tee by Andrea Gaughan (Ravelry: Sunshine Tee)

Sigh

Let’s start by talking about the Sunshine Tee. There have been so many issues with this one since the very beginning and I think I need to put this pattern away for a while.

In fact, the problems began before I even began knitting. While I was winding my yarn, it became very tangled and I am still trying to untangle a part of the white colourway. However, when I did begin knitting, I incorrectly read the pattern for part of the back panel and had to frog back about 20 rows, which was really frustrating at such an early point in the project. Now that I have joined in the round, it has become very clear that the holes for the sleeves are almost double what they should be.

I want to explain that all of these issues are entirely my fault.

The yarn I am using is the Great Ocean Road Woollen Mills Summer Fiesta, which is a 70% merino and 30% linen blend yarn in the Ocean Blue #2 and Oatmeal colourways. It is not the yarn’s fault that it got tangled during the winding process. I didn’t have a swift at the time and I wasn’t paying enough attention while winding. I do really love this yarn and I want to use it for a project that I will love and wear a lot.

The pattern that I am using is the Sunshine Tee by Andrea Gaughan. My initial mistake of reading the back increases wrong was entirely my fault. I skimmed the pattern a bit too quickly and didn’t count my stitches often enough to realise the mistake until I was further through than I would have liked to be. I also didn’t do a gauge swatch, which is how I ended up with the large sleeve hole issue.

I really don’t know what I should do with this project at the moment. Whatever I do, I am going to have to frog most, if not all, of what I have already done. What would you do in this situation?

New Cast-on

© Jane Carr | Knitting the Sea Haven at a cafe

Sea Haven by Jennifer Shiels Toland (Ravelry: Sunshine Tee)

Casting on new projects is so exciting, especially when your current WIPs aren’t going to plan. My mother requested a pullover for Mother’s Day, so I’m getting started with plenty of time to spare.

I decided to use Heirloom Australia’s Cosy Comfort 8 ply yarn. It is a blend of 70% Wool, 17% Silk, and13% Alpaca. I am using the colourway Tamarind because my mum wanted something with orange and rustic tones. I chose this yarn over a wool and mohair combination because it is easier to take care of and more economical. I wanted to find something that felt luxurious, but was also easy to clean and well-wearing.

I chose Sea Haven by Jennifer Shiels Toland as the pattern because it was simple, with some texture, and I knew it would work up quite quickly and be forgiving in terms of sizing. My mum lives a 2 hour flight away, so I won’t have the chance to see how it fits her until I have finished it.

I had to do two swatches because the first one came out a bit too small, so I am using 0.5mm up from the recommended needle size. Even though the pattern didn’t recommend it, I used a 3.5mm needle for the ribbed collar and I did a 1x2 half-twisted rib to add a bit of additional interest and tie it in with all of the purl bumps in the yoke. I think it turned out really really well and I find that it flows slightly better than a 1x1 rib. I’ll probably do it for the sleeves and body ribbing as well. The entire yoke is just a combination of purl and knit stitches, so this pattern is very beginner friendly and very easy to work up. I also really like that there is a lot of texture without having the holes of a lace, so you don’t necessarily need to wear something underneath that matches the colour and style of the pullover.

I cast this on just over a week ago and I have already finished the yoke and split for the sleeves. My plan is to finish the current ball of yarn before swapping to the sleeves, blocking the whole garment, and then coming back to finish off the body.

Overall, I am really enjoying this knitting experience, despite the very hot Australian weather not inspiring warm winter knits.

Wearing my Knits

I wore my recently finished Jarvis socks for the first time last week. I was worried about these socks because the yarn had quite a high alpaca percentage and, as expected, the shedding was pretty bad. It doesn’t look like there has been too much felting thus far, but a lot of fluff was left in my shoes. I wanted to experiment with the alpaca, but I just don’t think that it is strong enough for socks, unfortunately.

I also recently wore the Audrey Top by PetiteKnit for the first time a couple of days ago. I knit it in May last year and the weather has been incredibly warm in Melbourne, so it was finally time to wear it. The yarn shed a lot, but for a cheap cotton yarn that is worn for the first time, that wasn’t surprising. I did find that it was rolling up a lot at the bottom, so if anyone has any tips for blocking out cotton, please let me know!

Up Coming

OLE Mittens by Susanne Müller

I have completed a swatch for the OLE Mittens and I’m planning to cast them on soon. I am going to use the same yarn that I have previously used for mittens, Heirloom Australia’s 8ply merino, because I know that it is warm and holds its shape well. The swatch was my first time knitting in brioche and I really enjoy the squishy texture that it creates. I can’t wait to cast these on.

Socks

If you read my previous Blogcast, you would know that I was disappointed with the outcome of my first Musselburgh hat. In the end, I decided to frog the hat and use that yarn to make some socks. I’m still deciding exactly which socks I will be making, but I’m thinking of doing some colourwork. If you have any patterns that you think I should try out, let me know!

As always, thank you so much for joining me today.

Until next time,

Jane

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