Knitting Blogcast #14 | The Woolly Wordsmith

Mittens, socks, pullovers, oh my!

Apr 09, 2025

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

Today’s quote comes from Ali Smith’s Autumn (2016). It’s a long one, but a relevant one.

“I'm tired of the news. I'm tired of the way it makes things spectacular that aren't, and deals so simplistically with what's truly appalling. I'm tired of the vitriol. I'm tired of anger. I'm tired of the meanness. I'm tired of selfishness. I'm tired of how we're doing nothing to stop it. I'm tired of how we're encouraging it. I'm tired of the violence that's on it's way, that's coming, that hasn't happened yet. I'm tired of liars. I'm tired of sanctified liars. I'm tired of how those liars have let this happen. I'm tired of having to wonder whether they did it out of stupidity or did it on purpose. I'm tired of lying governments. I'm tired of people not caring whether they're being lied to anymore. I'm tired of being made to feel this fearful.”
― Ali Smith, Autumn (2016)

While Ali Smith wrote this about Brexit, it could ring more true recently. I feel as though I can either turn on the news and feel confused, conflicted, scared, and hopeless, or turn off the news and feel disconnected from the rest of the world. It’s a hard balance to find. However, making something with my hands gives me grounding in the fear and provides me with tangible evidence of my place in the world.

Works in Progress (WIPs)

Sea Haven by Jennifer Shiels Toland (Ravelry: Mum's Jumper)

I am knitting the Sea Haven pullover by Jennifer Shiels Toland in Heirloom Australia’s Cosy Comfort 8 ply yarn (70% Wool, 17% Silk, 13% Alpaca) for my mum for mother’s day. I have a bit over five weeks to complete the project and for the first time ever, I think I’m going to finish in time.

I have been speeding through this project because it has been so enjoyable to work on. While I did get stuck on sleeve island towards the cuff of the first sleeve, I have since realised that it’s a bit too long. Therefore, the next sleeve will feel like a very quick knit in comparison.

To help with yarn usage, I’m going to use the next skein of yarn on the body before moving on to the second sleeve. That way, I can see how much shorter I want the sleeves compared to the body length for optimal yarn consumption. My mum said that she would prefer a longer body and shorter sleeves, so that’s what I’m aiming for.

Sunshine Tee by Andrea Gaughan (Ravelry: Sunshine Tee)

In my last blogcast, I explained all of the problems that I was having with the Sunshine Tee. Thank you to everyone who cast their poll votes and left me comments, I really appreciated your advice and input. I have decided to put the Sunshine Tee in a cupboard for a few months and come back with a clear head.

New Cast-ons

OLE Mittens by Susanne Müller (Ravelry: OLE Mittens)

With the weather turning colder here in Melbourne, I knew it was time to start a pair of mittens for my morning commutes (I have a relatively decent walk to and from the train station where my hands get quite cold). I decided to go with the OLE Mittens by Susanne Muller. I love the look of the thumb gusset and the clean lines of the half brioche stitch.

I am using the Heirloom Merino Magic Medley 8ply (100% Australian merino) that I also used to make the Expo 67 mittens last year. I know that this yarn creates a really warm fabric that holds up surprisingly well in snow and wet weather.

After finishing the hand of one mitten and I decided to block it to make sure that the length of the thumb was perfect. These have been a very quick and satisfying knit. The brioche fabric is very squishy and I love the look on my hands.

© Jane Carr | Finished leg of an “avocado sock”

Avocado Socks by Jane Carr (Ravelry: Avocado Socks)

I have recently cast on what will be called my “avocado socks”. They are a basic vanilla sock pattern with some colourwork. The colourwork will be a phrase with some avocados underneath it (it’s an inside joke within my family).

I am using Regia sock yarn for the blue and brown and Morris and Sons 100% merino for the green avocados. I couldn’t find a sock yarn in the perfect avocado colour and it will only be on the leg of the socks anyway, so hopefully 100% merino will be fine.

Initially, I thought about doing intarsia for the writing (only on the outer half of the sock). I have never done intarsia before and I quickly realised that it can only be done when working flat and I am working in the round. So, I have decided to duplicate stitch on the words and avocado pits at the end of the sock. I have put a lightbulb stitch marker where the writing will begin so that I don’t have to count rows later. Once I decided to use a duplicate stitch, I realised that it actually will serve a few purposes for this project:

No long floats across half of the sock
The avocado pits will stick out a bit and seem almost 3D
I know that words often need to be elongated due to the stretch of socks over the calf. Using duplicate stitch will make it easy to test out the elongation without needing to rip back a lot of knitting to fix it

I decided to do an eye of partridge heel flap to help with reinforcement. I am also continuing the eye of partridge reinforcement for the entirety of the foot because that is where I tend to wear through socks quickly.

This is a bit of a silly project, but I am very excited for the inside joke to come to life on a pair of knitted socks.

Wearing my Knits

Due to the cold weather, I have been pulling out my Polina Pullover more and more. I wore it while I was buying the yarn for my avocado socks and got a complement at the yarn store. The person who gave me that complement will never know how much it meant in that moment (let’s just say that I was buying yarn as a way of coping with negative emotions at the time). The Polina Pullover is knit with Morris and Sons 100% merino wool and it is holding up quite well despite how soft it is. There is definitely some pilling and it’s probably time for it’s first shave, but mostly it has only become cozier as I have worn it more.

Up Coming

I am hoping to knit a hood for winter. I haven’t decided which pattern yet, so if you have any recommendations, please let me know. I would like it to have draw strings and be just a hood (ie no scarf attachment). I’m considering the Harris Hood by Cheryl Mokhtari with an added drawstring.