Knitting Blogcast #7 | The Woolly Wordsmith
An exciting finished object, travel knitting, and preparing for cold weather.
Welcome back to the seventh iteration of my knitting Blogcast. Here, I share my knitting makes. Today, I am going to share my most recently finished object, what I knit while travelling, and my knitting plans for the cold Melbourne weather. Thank you for being here with me.
Today’s quote comes from The Lord of The Rings - The Two Towers movie.
"There's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for." - Samwise Gamgee, The Two Towers (2002)
Samwise is my favourite character in The Lord of the Rings, and I don’t think I’m alone in that. In tough times, I come back to this quote and to Sam’s braveness and remind myself that there is, in fact, good in this world. This online fibre arts community is one of those good things, so thank you all for being the light in the dark for me.
Finished Objects (FOs)
Polina pullover by Teti Lutsak (Ravelry: Polina pullover)
I have completed the Polina Pullover by Teti Lutsak! It took me two full months to finish. I used Morris & Sons Empire 4ply 100% Australian merino wool in the colours of charcoal and cream. As I have said about this pattern before, it is quite challenging, with large floats in the colourwork sections. This was my first major colourwork project and I would deter other beginners from it, as it was very hard to maintain consistent tension.
However, it is an absolutely beautiful pattern with a gorgeous backstory. For those with the skillset, this pattern is a must. I won’t harp on here about the Polina Pullover, as I wrote an entire post on the process, but I had a lot of fun despite the challenge and I’m so happy to finally be able to wear the finished garment.
Works in Progress (WIPs)
Friday Slipover by Petite Knit (Ravelry: Friday Slipover)
I am making the Friday Slipover by Petite Knit for my partner. I am using Dooish 100% Irish wool by Spinning Yarn Weaving Tales. It is a rustic yarn that still smells like sheep, but creates a really beautiful looking (despite slightly stiff) fabric. I have completed everything except for the bottom of the body and the bottom ribbing. However, I believe that I will need another skein of yarn to reach the desired length of the body. I feel like I am getting faster at ribbing with the all-over broken ribbed pattern of this slipover. I am really at that part of a pattern that requires some resilience to continue knitting the same thing around and around and around. However, I asked my partner to try it on so far last night and that gave me a lot of motivation to keep going. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that my local yarn store still has the dye lot in stock!
New Cast-Ons
Basic Ribbed Socks by Kate Atherley (Ravelry: Perth Socks)
I recently went on a 5 day trip to Perth, Western Australia. Perth is about a 4 hour flight from Melbourne and I knew we would be doing some driving while we were there, so I was excited to cast on a pair of socks. I had some Schachenmayr Regia Design Line 4-ply yarn that is self-patterning. So, at 11pm the night before my flight (about 5 hours before I had to leave for the airport), I wound the yarn into two equal skeins. I also spur-of-the-moment decided to finally read Custom Socks: Knit to Fit Your Feet by Kate Atherley and measure my foot to find my perfect sock fit. Did it mean that I got basically no sleep that night? Maybe. Was it worth it? Absolutely!
I decided to mostly follow the ribbed sock pattern in the book, with my perfect sock fit stitch counts. I went with the toe-up construction. Initially I was planning to graft the top rib, but I decided to complete a folded top rib instead, so the slight flare of a Jeny’s Super Stretchy Cast Off didn’t matter so much.
The very first sock that I ever made was a heel-flap and gusset knitted top down. I hated picking up the heel stitches and decided that I would forever knit a short row heel. However, I have discovered that a toe-up heel flap and gusset does not require any picked up stitches, looks incredibly clean, and is very sturdy. So I may have a new favourite sock construction!
In the five days, I managed to complete an entire sock and the toe of the second one. I didn’t use an entire 50g ball for the first sock, because I have quite a small foot circumference. I might even be able to make a shorty sock later on (with contrast heels and toes) with the left overs.
I would absolutely recommend Kate Atherley’s book. It not only has excellent explanations of sock construction and sock patterns, as well as ways to find your custom sock fit, but also includes guides with diagrams and clear explanations of cast ons and cast offs, which I found very helpful on the plane when I didn’t have internet to quickly look up videos.
Wearing my Knits
As I mentioned, I completed the Polina Pullover to wear on a five day trip. I wore it on the plane, across a few different temperatures and weather, and overall, I’m very happy with how it is wearing. There was a little bit of initial pilling underneath the arms, but with such a soft merino, that’s to be expected. I absolutely can see the Polina Pullover becoming a weekly part of my wardrobe.
Up Coming
I cannot wait to finish up the Friday Slipover and start on some mittens for the cold winter weather here in Melbourne. I’m planning to use the Hierloom Merino Magic 8ply yarn to make the Expo 67 cowl, mittens, and hat by Jocelyne Malric, beginning with the mittens.
As always, thank you so much for joining me today.
Until next time,
Jane
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