December/January knitting

December 2021 was the second annual Fasten Off Yarnalong! I didn’t get as many projects done as I would have liked, but this year I finished Wrapezoid by Shanalines Designs.

I'm showing off a hand-knit sleeveless cardigan in teal, blue, and purple and making a silly face

Hilariously, it’s something I bought during last year’s yarnalong, but didn’t get around to knitting because I couldn’t decide on what yarn to use. This year, despite getting some new patterns, I ended up knitting this simply because I finally decided to crack into a 6-skein jewel-tone set from Sunshine Yarns.

I split up the yardage for my size, intending to work all 6 skeins into the FO, but didn’t quiiiite get to the 6th skein. I don’t begrudge the given estimates being generous (I do that myself, just in case), but I wish I had thought to split up the yarns slightly differently.

Maybe because the colors were in a color gradient, I initially didn’t plan to stripe the colors into each other. Of course, immediately after doing that I realized that it really needed to happen. So, I did a whole thing to cut out a section and redo it, this time with striping. It made a huge difference! One hot tip: if striping in new colors in garter stitch, join the new color on the wrong side! It blends the colors on the RS garter ridges and makes the color transition look even smoother.

I have a hand-knit lace shawl in many colors draped around my shoulders.

My other December knitting was Lamina Wrap by Ambah O’Brien. I’ve had the pattern for ages and always intended to use it with an Advent kit. What luck that this year Ambah officially added it to her Holiday KAL lineup! For this one, I broke into a 2020 Advent kit I got from Love & Speckles. The colors are all based on gemstones, with the 25th color serving as the metal “setting” for the gems.

The lace pattern was easy enough, which is nice because although I can do lace, I don’t always want to hurt my head trying to remember a complicated pattern or stitch.

Unfortunately, I didn’t manage to finish it by the end of the month, mostly because I was redoing the Double-up Hat for like the 5th time trying to get the sizing just right. You’d think a creation of garter and stockinette would have been easier to finalize, but I had to do a few iterations to get the length of the brim and the gauge (which affects the stretchiness) juuust right.

I managed to finish Lamina Wrap early in January, which made Cake very happy as she apparently needed a signed invitation to lounge in front of the fireplace.

I'm wearing a hand-knit striped sweater in reds and yellows and giving a thumbs up

I also finished my THIRD and ultimately imperfect iteration of a raglan sweater I’ve been working on. This is a pattern I want to make with the Sizing With Spreadsheets method. Hilariously, I haven’t even gotten to the spreadsheet troubleshooting (in that I’m still only using my personal measurements and not looking for testers with different shapes and proportions yet). I’m still figuring out nuances like “how much extra to add to my neck circumference to get the huge and luxurious neckline I want” and “where should I have the knitter measure in order to get a raglan line that isn’t ridiculously long.” It’s coming along, but slowly. And every failure makes me want to work on it more, though I feel like I really should take a break instead. Onward!

I’ll save you reading more about the Double-up set by directing you to the entire blog post about the subject!

Double-up Hat and Cowl

The Double-up Cowl, arranged so you can see the right side on inside and out.

I had a gorgeous DK-weight advent set from Emma’s Yarn and really wanted to do something cozy and stripey with it! To showcase all of the colors, naturally I used my favorite pairing of provisional cast-on and 3-needle bind-off.

I wanted something extremely quick and satisfying to knit, but thought garter stitch might be a bit TOO boring. With slipped stitches in the mix, it was more engaging to work on. They of course look great on solid color yarns, but I also like seeing how variegated/speckled yarns change when you have these extra-long stitches.

Look how nicely the cowl stays up around my neck! Peak coziness.

Since the end goal was to fold the cowl in half and get a sturdy fabric, I made the fabric biased in the hopes that the shaping would help support the fabric. And it did! The biasing, when folded, creates a triangle which helps to keep the cowl propped up around your neck. My mom said it’s the first time she’s had a scarf or cowl that actually stayed up below her chin, which is what she wants to keep warm. (I’m sure the double-DK-weight didn’t hurt either)

Because I’m lazy and extra, I wanted to add fringe to the cowl but not have to seam it beforehand. Thus, I used the fringe to tack the two pieces of fabric together! Of course, it’s always an option to seam it and forgo fringe entirely or forgo seaming and add fringe! A could of my testers added fringe to one edge but left the other end loose so they can choose to fold or not.

The Double-up Hat (and headband!) on the snow

With the headband and hat, I stuck to garter only. A big part of that is because I needed the extra stretch to accommodate multiple sizes, but also because I wanted to rush through the stripe knitting to get to the crown of the hat! The headband/hat brim is also worked on the bias, though, so I think the pieces maintain continuity. And you should be able to knit both from your 20g advent set - I made a cowl, a hat, a slightly larger headband, and I still have leftovers I think I’ll use for socks!

I admit that my original drive to create the headband was so I’d have something to keep my ears warm when I go to the gym on cold days and have my hair up, but after I made the hat…I fell in love with that version! I do still grab the headband when I’m heading out with my hair up, and it is delicious to not have my ponytail squashed or loosened by a hat.

2021 Designs

Totally forgot to make this round-up earlier, but I think it’s appropriate to look back on what I achieved in 2021 and appreciate it, especially if I feel down about any designs in progress this year! It’s never a bad idea to hype yourself up :)

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Two feet modeling hand-knit socks in lavender yarn. A lacy pattern adorns the instep, and there is a lacy ruffled cuff at the top.

Rogelio

Hilariously, this sock is so not my style. But I really wanted to keep the Jane the Virgin series going (not to worry, I do still have further plans for this, though I’ve slowed down slightly) and had to get Rogelio just right. For me, that meant the lacy ruffle cuff was a must - even though my test knitters all opted to skip it! This might have been one case of focusing too much on my artistic vision over what knitters actually wanted.

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Two hats in gray, with textured stripes in red and yellow, respectively. The texture pattern is the same, but the hats are knit in 2 different weights of yarn.

Little Bits Beanie (free size)

This is a pattern I really enjoyed from 2020, remade with a calculator customized to your yarn weight, gauge, and head size. It was basically a test drive of the Sizing With Spreadsheets method, and it worked great!

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Two feet modeling colorwork socks in red and black. The cuff fades down the leg from black to red at the heel, then back to black by the toes. There’s a spooky hand motif in black on the instep.

Fear Street

Another offering for the Scarefest! Inspired by the Netflix series of the same name (which was in turn inspired by a book series). The series was pretty gory, but somehow I managed to get through all three movies. Compared to Black Flame Candle, I feel like this particular design doesn’t take my breath away, but I still love it as a solid colorwork pattern.

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Light Breaks

My first, but not last, pattern with KnitCircus yarns. This one was rough, mostly because it took me a few tries to get the shawl math right. Then, I had to mess with the striping sequence to ensure that enough MC and CC were used up evenly and it turned out large enough. This was really a lesson in patience and perseverance. I was so frustrated during the ripping/reknitting, but ultimately I’m thrilled with the final product.

I’m holding up a large half-pi shawl worked in a peach-pink-purple gradient striped with white. Slipped stitches create colored rays on the right side.

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I’m wearing a thick, textured cowl knit in multicolored stripes. Matching fringe hangs off the bottom.

Double-up Cowl

This was a long time coming - I had been hoarding the DK weight advent kit for a year waiting for the perfect inspiration to strike. And I think it did! Obviously, it features my all-time favorite provisional cast-on + 3-needle bind-off methods, and has an easy knit/slip-stitch texture to keep you engaged while knitting. Ultimately, whether the texture is visible in the finished project, depending on the yarn used, is irrelevant - the point is to entertain me while knitting!

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Looking at how many patterns I put out last year compared to 2020 is surprising, in that it was way fewer! Ultimately, I’m not sad about it, partially because my productivity was directly related to my mental health, which was not in the best place last year thanks to the big C, and also because the neverending rat race of constant-publishing isn’t how I want my business to be!