Adventures with sticks and string.
Here’s where I was this morning on my Sundew Cardi:
I’ve got the body done and one sleeve close to the armhole. I’ve set aside the sleeve for now to join the shoulders and pick up and knit the neckband.
So I’ll have the neckband all nicely done when I finish the sleeves.
Loki is, of course, helping.
First things first, the winner n last week’s giveaway of Jen and Jim Arnall-Culliford’s “A Year of Techniques” is Ruth Hibberson, who has been emailed. Thanks to everyone else for leaving a comment!
Onward . . . here is my current project:
This is the back of Sundew, a cardigan designed by Martin Storey for Rowan. I am knitting mine from Rowan Softyak DK although the pattern calls for Rowan Moordale. I have the back and the left side front done.
This pattern has sone oddities. If you go look at the pattern photo on Ravelry, you will see that the side fronts are not mirror image of each other. There are no photos of the back, but it is equally un-symmetrical . To me, that looks weird. I can’t help but think that this was an obvious choice on the part of the designer, but I do not like the way it looks. So I reworked the charts so that I get the symmetrical look that makes me happy. Perhaps this makes me rigid or traditional, but seriously, the pattern as written looks like an error to me.
Speaking of pattern errors, I note that the directions for the right side front just sort of stop as soon as they tell you to start shaping the neck. There’s two more paragraphs of instruction for the left front. The intent may have been for the directions to say to work as for the left front reversing all shaping (which I personally think is sort of lazy pattern-writing), but it doesn’t even say that, so I have to think this is an editorial glitch.
So say I.
Loki is too busy napping to say anything.
Note: This past week my site got upgraded to the latest version of WordPress, and the text editor has a totally different interface. Fun times! So please excuse any unintended weirdness in formatting here!
I have a fun announcement for you all!
You may know Jen and Jim Arnall-Culliford — the creators of A Year of Techniques.
Well, they have developed a brand-new program, Boost Your Knitting: Another Year of Techniques.
Boost Your Knitting is a program to teach you new skills in your knitting. It covers twelve new techniques, with twelve patterns from twelve fabulous designers (guess who is one of them?), twelve sets of photo and video tutorials, and most importantly, twelve opportunities for knitters to experience the joy of learning something new!
Each project is small enough to be completed within a month, but also makes a beautiful item (think hats, socks, shawls and so on). Every month there will be a knitalong for that technique over in the Arnall-Culliford Knitwear Ravelry group. Boost Your Knitting includes the digital patterns and photo tutorials delivered monthly as well as a print copy of the book shipped worldwide in September 2019. It costs £30.00 and this includes worldwide shipping.
They also have a Spring Kit available that includes all the yarn for the first three months’ worth of patterns. Kits for Summer, Autumn and Winter will become available later in the year. And there’s an Ultimate package that gives you the digital patterns and tutorials, print book and all four seasonal kits. Full details and pricing can be found on the
Arnall-Culliford Knitwear website or via Jen’s profile on Instagram (@JenACKnitwear).
I mentioned twelve fabulous designers:
Left to right and top to bottom: Anna Maltz (@sweaterspotter), Carol Feller (@feller.carol Photo by Kate O’Sullivan), Ella Austin (@bombellaella Photo by Emma Solley), Felicity Ford (@knitsonik), Joji Locatelli (@jojilocat), Jen And Jim Arnall-Culliford (@JenACKnitwear and @veuftricot Photo by Jesse Wild), Julia Farwell-Clay (@farwellclay), Nathan Taylor (@sockmatician), Nancy Marchant (@nancymarchantbrioche Photo by Alexandra Feo), Sarah Hatton (@hattonknits Photo by I Hobson), Thea Colman (@theacolman), Tori Seierstad (@torirotdesign), Wendy D. Johnson (@wendy_knits)
I am very proud to be in such exalted company!
If you are unfamiliar with Jen & Jim’s work, here is an opportunity to win a copy their previous book: A Year of Techniques. Jen has kindly offered a copy of the print version plus the ebook to one of my readers. To be entered in the drawing, please leave a comment on this post by Sunday, February 17 at 11:00 am Eastern Time. A winner will be randomly selected at that time.
January was an inauspicious month for me, knitting-wise. I started three good-sized projects, got at least one-third of the way through each one, and abandoned each one. Real-life nonsense has been interfering with knitting on a regular basis, and that is my excuse.
But look — I managed to crank out an FO before the end of the month!
This is a free pattern, January Hat by Courtney Kelley of Kelbourne Woolens. You may or may not know that Kelbourne Woolens last autumn resurrected Germantown worsted wool (you can read about it on their website here). Anyway, Kelbourne Woolens is releasing a new free hat pattern every month this year in celebration of this yarn.
I knit my January Hat with Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok Worsted because I had some left over after knitting my Throwback Cardi last year. It knit perfectly to gauge with the suggested needle size and I finished it just in time for the Polar Vortex.
Meanwhile, Loki has Super Bowl fever.
Can you feel the excitement?
