Knitting Blogcast #15 | The Woolly Wordsmith
A hot water bottle cover and some puppy love.
Welcome back to the fifteenth iteration of my knitting blogcast. Here, I share my knitting makes. Today, I am going to show you what I made in April 2025. Thank you for being here with me.
The quote I want to share with you today comes from a memoir that I am currently reading by German philosopher Goethe. It is a collection of writings from his trip to Italy.
“It is the same in art as in life. The deeper one penetrates, the broader grows the view.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, An Italian Journey (1816)
I live by the idea that the more you immerse yourself in something, the more you begin to enjoy and understand it. I hope that everyone can do that with their creative endeavors.
Finished Objects (FOs)
OLE Mittens by Susanne Müller (Ravelry: OLE Mittens)
I have now finished the second OLE mitten. The OLE Mittens by Susanne Muller were incredibly quick and fun to knit up. The brioche fabric is super squishy and I adore the clean look of the thumb gusset lines. The pattern was very easy to follow and provided clear instructions for the half-brioche stitch and increases.
I used the Heirloom Merino Magic Medley 8ply (100% Australian merino) for this project. I used the same yarn to make the Expo 67 mittens last year and those mittens kept my hands very warm in both snowy and wet weather. The yarn is absolutely perfect for a cosy pair of mittens and I would highly recommend it if you live in Australia, because the price is very affordable for the quality.
For the first mitten, I blocked the hand before knitting the thumb. While this worked perfectly to get the exact right length for my thumb, I did discover an issue. Since I hadn’t counted my rows, and this yarn does block out to be a bit larger, I wasn’t able to properly compare the length of my second mitten to the first. After blocking the second mitten, I had to rip back the top of it. I had made it a bit too long for my hand and it felt quite uneven wearing them. However, I fixed my error and these mittens are now sitting and waiting for the weather to get ever so slightly cooler in a week or two!
Hot Water Bottle Cover by Jane Carr (Ravelry: Hot Water Bottle Cover)
I have had a skein of Blackwattle Yarn and Fibre Blue Gum 8ply laying around for almost a year. It is a beautiful blend of 55% Bluefaced Leicester wool and 45% silk. I purchased it with the intention of knitting a hot water bottle cover and I finally got around to this project.
I initially thought that I would just knit a plain stockinette cover, but I decided that I wanted to challenge myself and create my own design. It took a while to decide on the exact design because I knew that I wanted it to feel like horizontal bands instead of vertical “climbing” cables like I see on most cabled hot water bottle covers.
I did some research and decided that the Latvian braid had to make an appearance. Once that was decided, I searched through all of the diamond and cable patterns on Knitting Fool’s stitch dictionary, which is a free online resource that I have raved about before. I searched for diamond and/or cable stitches that could be repeated length-ways. I decided on a plaid stitch and I modified it ever so slightly so that the single stitch crosses were only inside the larger diamonds for each strip. To make things a bit easier for myself with the shaping of the top and bottom, I decided to just use a simple seed stitch for those sections (and a few rows in the middle to break things up).
I had so much fun seeing this pattern come together. Each time I put it on my hot water bottle and saw the progress, I got more and more excited. I absolutely love the finished result - it feels like the hot water bottle cover of my dreams. Especially after blocking, the yarn is super soft, and my hot water bottle fits in perfectly! I love the clean lines of the Latvian braids and the way everything has come together. For anyone who is yet to build up the courage to self-edit or self-draft a pattern, I would highly recommend a hot water bottle cover! The stitch count basically remains the same throughout, so you can play around with stitch types and learn how to ensure your stitch types are centred pretty easily. I think that a hot water bottle cover would also be a great project to play around with colourwork, which is something that I might do in the future.
Even with the cables and a folded neck, I still had about 30g of a 100g skein left over, so this is a great way to use up odd 100g skeins. I’m seriously considering making more for all of my family and friends.
Works in Progress (WIPs)
Sea Haven by Jennifer Shiels Toland (Ravelry: Mum's Jumper)
My mother requested a knitted pullover for mother’s day (which is May 11 in Australia). After discussing the pattern and yarn options with her, I chose the Sea Haven pullover by Jennifer Shiels Toland in Heirloom Australia’s Cosy Comfort 8 ply yarn (70% Wool, 17% Silk, 13% Alpaca).
In the last blogcast, I mentioned that I thought the first sleeve was going to be a bit too long, so I took two repeats out of the second sleeve. I then finished off the next ball of yarn on the body and blocked everything. It turns out that the shorter sleeve is a far better length and the body might actually be a bit too long. The fabric is beautiful and flowy after blocking. The neckline is wide, which is what my mum wanted, and the drape of the body is really nice. I am going to send my mum some black and white photos of the bottom of the garment (where it lands on my body) to see if she wants it to be a bit shorter (as I still need to add the ribbing along the bottom).
While I wait for her to decide on the body length, I’m going to rip back the longer arm and finish it. Then, all I need to do is finish the bottom rib, weave in all of the ends, and gift it to her. I think I will have a bit of yarn left over so if I have time, I’ll make her a hair accessory to match.
I cannot recommend this yarn and pattern enough. This has been a pleasure to knit.
Avocado Socks by Jane Carr (Ravelry: Avocado Socks)
I’m making a pair of vanilla-construction socks that I’m calling the “avocado socks”. I am mostly using Regia 4-ply sock yarn with a 100% merino wool for the avocado colour.
I have completed knitting one sock. I decided to do an eye of partridge reinforcement on the sole. Unfortunately, it has ended up curling in a bit because of this reinforcement. I’m going to block the sock to see if it flattens out or if I need to frog the sole and just do the reinforcement on the ball of my foot, where I commonly wear through socks.
After blocking, I can also start the duplicate stitch that I have planned - words above the avocados and the pit of the avocados.
New Cast-Ons
Hunter's Urban Dog Sweater by Lisa M. Barnes (Ravelry: Dog Coat)
My dog needed a new winter coat, so it was time to make him one. I am using an acrylic yarn that I purchased very cheaply. I know that it’s not great for the environment, but I needed something quite sturdy that would hold up to all the adventures my dog gets into (and washing it afterwards). Depending on the success of this one, I would consider using a Regia sock yarn to make another, as I find that yarn to be very sturdy.
I chose the Hunter dog coat pattern by Lisa M. Barnes. The pattern is worked flat from the bottom up, but I modified it to work in the round from the top down. I find it easier to try on my dog to get the right fit this way. I also added a diamond brocade to the top, just to make it a bit more interesting.
I was drawn to the Urban Dog Sweater because it doesn’t require me to squeeze my dog’s legs through holes. He hates his feet being touched and this was basically the only pattern I could find on Ravelry that allowed it to be buttoned around the belly.
The pattern recommends a 12-ply yarn with 5.50mm needles. I’m using an 8-ply yarn with 5.00mm needles and I still managed to meet the gauge when I did a swatch. This is confusing to me, but I’m just calling it a happy accident!
I have basically finished the back panel and I’m about to move on to the front panel. I will have a lot of yarn left over, so I might end up making a second one.
Wearing my Knits
Now that the weather has been getting colder in Melbourne, I have been wearing my knitted socks a lot more. I’m finding that any sock yarn other than Regia is really not holding up. Has anyone else had this problem? I usually use a 2.50mm needle to knit socks and I’m wondering if I should be going down a needle size to make my socks more durable, or if I’m using the wrong yarn? Any advice would be appreciated here!
Up Coming
Previously, I mentioned that I was considering knitting a hood for the winter weather. Instead, I have decided to knit the Ryegate Hat by Claire Borchardt. I think it will be a little bit more versatile. I am going to use the Heirloom Australia Merino Fleck 8ply 100% merino. I know that this yarn is really warm (it’s basically the same as the yarn I used for the OLE mittens), and I have enough to knit a beanie and possible still have some left over for a pom pom on the top.
De-Stash
Recently, I spent some time decluttering my stash cupboard and taking a long look at what I had. I currently have 4010g of stashed yarn. My goal is to only knit from stashed yarn until I am able to halve that number. I am only counting yarn as gone from stash once the project has been completed. Once I reach my goal, I am going to treat myself to some yarn purchases while on an overseas holiday in Europe!
I’ll add a short update each blogcast to let you know how the de-stash is going.
As always, thank you so much for joining me today.
Until next time,
Jane
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Thanks for the hat pattern link, I've been looking for something like this for a while.