Sock Stories – The Weasley Homestead

Erica Lueder designs some simple, yet lovely, socks. You might know her most popular pattern, Hermoine’s Everyday Sock. Also by her, I’ve made Petunia Dursley’s Double Eyelet Socks, Dumbledore’s Christmas Stockings (RAV LINK), Socks for the Deputy Headmistress, Devil’s Snare Socks, and the Weasley Rib. Yeah, safe to say I like her patterns. They usually feature a simple repeating stitch to give the sock itself some texture and the knitter some interest while making it. With many of the pattern repeats often happening over a small amount of stitches, it makes the socks fairly adaptable as well.

I just finished The Weasley Homestead for a pair for my dad. It’s a 2×2 ribbing pattern along the leg and instep.

If I have to rib, 2×2 is my preferred way to go. In my mind, it feels less tedious than 1×1, but, getting towards the end of a 80 row sock, the ribbing was starting to lose its appeal altogether! That said, the sock yarn and its fading and colour changes kept me interested.

Feel the Bern Sweater

If you’re looking for a quick knit that will use up a decent amount of stashed worsted/Aran weight yarn, look no further than Feel the Bern (RAV LINK) by Caitlin Hunter. In a month of passive knitting, I went from playing with colour combinations to a finished, blocked and worn sweater.

I was drawn to this pattern because it used four different colours, and I had enough yardage in similar yarns to make it. This is part of my 2022 endeavour to try to knit more from my stash. All yarn is Cascade 220 Heathers, except for the light grey, which is Briggs & Little Heritage. All together, Ravelry is telling me I used 635 metres to make this sweater, and I made the Size 4 (44″ bust). That said, I don’t think I ended up with the ease that this size was supposed to have. That is very likely a knitter’s error and not a pattern error. I did the thing that a knitter is not supposed to do: I knit without doing a gauge swatch (Gasp! Shock! Horror!). I also know that my tensions varied GREATLY between the single colour knitting and the colourwork – I was MUCH tenser knitting the colourwork, and it shows. I’m sure more practice will eventually help me with this.

I also could have knit the body longer, if I wanted to, because I didn’t use nearly as much yarn as the pattern called for and I had enough yarn to do so, but I like the length of the crop. It looks good when worn with my high rise jeans or with a skirt/dress.

All in all, a lovely, FREE pattern and a great way to use up some left over yarn in your stash!

The little things that spark knitting joy

I have no explanation. Perhaps, things like this don’t need explanations. All I know is that I get an extreme amount of joy from a new ball of crunchy, cotton dishcloth yarn.

It makes no sense. It is the strangest thing to spark a little joy, and yet it does.

There’s also nothing quite like getting the stripes to match on a pair of socks, or when you’re able to join two balls of wool by felting two plies together (commonly known as the spit splicing method, but the spit idea grosses me out, so I just use hot water). When you’re able to get the centre pull of a ball of yarn started without the almost inevitable ‘yarn barf,’ you can’t help but feel like some kind of knitting magician, or the magic that MUST be involved when you are casting on using the long tail method, and you’ve chosen the length of your tail just right.

It’s the little things, really…

New Year’s Goals?

I’m not one for resolutions. Maybe I don’t like how arbitrary a date like January 1st feels? Maybe I don’t like setting myself up for failure? Yeah, it’s definitely the latter… Perhaps I take issue with the word ‘Resolution.’ A resolution seems very definite. A goal, however, feels attainable. So, let’s say I’ve got a few goals for my yarn this year.

For January, for the betterment of my storage and my bank account, I’m going to do my best not to buy yarn. I have lots. I really, really do. I have a few skeins that I bought WITH PROJECTS IN MIND. PATTERNS THAT I’VE PURCHASED. So, for January, it’s that simple. I’m knitting from stash and stash alone. Do I continue with the Icefall sweater that I already have a good start on? Do I work the rounds of wonderful stockinette for my Bright Axis sweater? Do I work on a sock or two? Do I cast on for a project that I have yarn and the pattern for? The options are seemingly endless.

Going along with this goal, I think I need to sit myself down and make sure my Ravelry stash is up to date. Personally, I find it super helpful to have it up-to-date in my Rav profile, because there I have amounts tracked, meterage noted, and yarn weight clear as day.

For example, it’s all well and good that I have two skeins of yellow DK weight yarn in my stash. BUT, if it’s up to date in Rav, I’d know exactly how much yarn that is, and I could use the yarn function to search for pattern ideas and see other projects people have made with their yarn. I could use the advanced search and really filter down to patterns that fit what I’m looking for.

So, my goal for (at least) January is to knit from stash and stash alone and not spend any money on more yarn. May the odds be ever in my favour.

Another pair of thrum mitts

I don’t know if there’s a paid pattern I’ve gotten more use out of than my Thrummed Mitten Pattern from Briggs and Little. I’ve previously written about these uniquely Canadian (Newfoundlander, specifically) mittens, how warm they are, and how simply joyful it is to see them inside out and all the fluffs that make them so very warm.

My sister recently asked for a pair for herself, and I thought it would be an excellent addition to her birthday present. A visit to Toronto with a friend brought us to Knit-o-matic, and they were selling thrum kits from Fleece Artist. I chose a lovely soft blue for her mitts, pleased with my choice. When I got home and really got into the mitten, I was even more delighted to see that the roving was nearly identical in colour to the yarn. My previous mittens have had a stark contrast between thrum and yarn, resulting in ‘polka dotting’ on the mitten:

But when the yarn and fleece are nearly identical, the mitten appears more solid, more uniform:

As I said, this simply delighted me. Now, it did make it a challenge when the gusset increases messed with the stitch count, and seeing the previous row of thrums is helpful in trying to maintain the thrum pattern. A challenge, but not impossible.

If anything, I’d say the matching yarn/thrum makes for a very mature looking mitten.

And they are still very, very warm.