fiber

Finished Knit–“Scottish Ale”

Pattern: “Scottish Ale” available for purchase on Ravelry (I got it for free back in early release, I believe).

Yarn: Cascade Eco+ in the Lichen colorway

Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm)

Notes, Mods, and Commentary:

Well, I finally did it. I dug this damn sweater out of my UFO bin, where it has been hanging out since *gulp* 2018. One of my 2023 goals I talked about earlier this year is to knit from my stash while also clearing out some of the abandoned projects that are scattered throughout the house. So, I buckled down, promptly remembered why I hated knitting this project, and finally just slogged through it cursing and bitching the entire time. I’m not one to stick with a project I am not enjoying. Life is too short for those shenanigans. However, I promised G-Man this sweater, and it’s not his fault that I ended up hating the process.

I am not a fan of the construction of this sweater and it cured me of any desire to knit a seamed pullover ever again. The sleeve construction was such that the sleeve increases created excessive bulk in the upper underarm area (a problem noted by other knitters), and I was far too apathetic to re-math it. The center cables had a lot of tension between them (creating small holes), and the gauge was such that my hands felt fatigued frequently. As for the yarn, however, it was a good match for this project, because it held stitch definition like a dream. I believe I used about 3.5 skeins for it, but I can’t be sure.

Overall, he likes it, I have some needles free from the Island of Misfit Knits, and I can finally close the book on this project. While I make no promises on how many UFOs will get the same treatment, I confess it did feel pretty good finally finishing it.

Finished Knit: Leafy Baby Blanket

I took a break from my gigantic Slipstravaganza blanket, well, because I just need one. It’s up to about 900 stitches per round (true story) so it needed a timeout, or rather, I needed a break from the endless slog. I have cast-on-itis, but I have so many projects on the needles in various stages that I have to exercise some self-control.

Meanwhile, my cousin announced an impending new arrival, which, of course, means baby knitting. I broke my self-imposed project limit, because babies knitting doesn’t count. There’s a finite timeline for that kind of project, ya know? So, I narrowed down some patterns on Ravelry with similar attributes and let G-Man pick amongst the final contenders. Here’s what we got:

Pattern: Leafy Baby Blanket available for free on Ravelry.

Yarn: Yarn Bee Soft & Sleek Solids in the Viridecent colorway (I used about 2.75 skeins).

Needles: US 10/5.0mm

Notes and Mods: I totally forgot to start my project page in Ravelry, but I know I CO more stitches because the pattern, as is, comes out narrower than I would like, per other knitters’ project notes. I looked through other projects, and I’m pretty sure I CO at least 130 stitches. As for length, I just kept knitting until I thought I was getting close to the size I wanted, then continued out the current pattern repeat before moving to the final steps. This pattern is both written and charted, fyi. Overall, beautiful, easy pattern, especially for a freebie. I pinned the completed blanket out with my Knit Blockers and aggressively steam blocked it to “kill” the acrylic. Sending this off to my cousin, then it’s back to the blanket of doom.

Le sigh.