Monthly Archives: July 2022

Christm-ish

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So, I went back and forth for a while about what color to get to finish off the kid’s sweater. And, while I was leaning toward the nice light green, or a neutral oatmeal/gray, they were adamant that they wanted RED.

I managed to talk them down from RED red, to this nice shade of “Black Cherry.” Not necessarily what I would have picked, but, hey, it’s not my sweater.

It took a while for the yarn to show up, so I haven’t gotten far, but I’ll be honest, I like it more than I thought I would. I figured the red + green would look so Christmassy, that I wouldn’t like it, but I’ve surprised myself that I don’t hate it.

(Would I have preferred not running out of green yarn to begin with? Yes. Would I have picked another color if it had been up to me? Yes. But, such is life with a preschooler.)

What new color combinations have you tried recently?

New Pattern: Blueberry Buckle

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It’s a new pattern day! And, it’s a cute one.

Look at this cute little baby pullover that I designed for Knit Picks! It’s the Blueberry Buckle!

It’s worked flat in pieces from the bottom up, then seamed, so it’s super easy (it would be a great first sweater for a new knitter). It’s got the cutest sewn-on patch pocket and a collar that’s picked up and knit after assembly is finished.

I love the new self-striping Brava yarn- it makes this sweater beyond easy to work up. But, it would be totally easy to substitute any of your favorite worsted-weight yarn (self-striping or solid).

Oh, and did I mention it’s a free pattern? C’mon. Can’t get better than that.

Choosing

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OK, it’s officially official. I’m out of green yarn. (OK, not 100% out of green yarn, but close enough that I know for a fact I won’t make it to the end of this sweater. Unless I make this into a crop-top with 3/4 sleeves.)

So now, it’s time to buy some more yarn. In a perfect world, I’d love to get more of the same yarn (Douglas Fir), but I can’t imagine that the dye lots will be exactly the same, 10+ years after I bought this yarn.

So, I’ve gone through the Webs and picked out a couple favorite colors to do a series of mock-ups.

(My favorite) Fennel. Fairly low-contrast. I like the green-on- green, and I’d imagine it won’t take too much away from the subtle mistake-rib yoke.

(The kid’s favorite) Black Cherry. Honestly, they wanted red red, but I talked them down to this pretty garnet-y shade. Looks nice, but I can’t help but thinking it looks a little Christmas-y.

Oats. A nice neutral-y cream. Not too white (to hide the dirt that will inevitably build up on the sweater), but still nice.

Aubergine. A pretty dark purple. I’m a sucker for purple and green. Plus, the kid looks great in purple.

Thoughts? Feelings? Have I missed any fantastic color choices?

I’ve Made A Huge Mistake

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OK, not huge. But I’ve definitely underestimated how much yarn I would use for this sweater.

To be fair, I also underestimated how big this sweater was going to be, so it only goes to figure that I’d underestimate the amount of yarn that I’d need. (My kid is 4. I’m pretty sure this will fit them when they’re 12.)

I’ve got maybe a full skein left in total, and I’ve used probably 2-ish skeins already. And, since I’m barely 3 inches into the body and only at elbow-level on the sleeves, I can’t imagine that one skein will be enough to finish up.

To make sure I’m using my yarn as evenly as possible, I had the brilliant idea to work the body from one skein, then work the sleeves from opposite ends of a second skein at the same time. While this might make a lot of sense from a theoretical standpoint, it’s proving to be more trouble than I expected. The amount of time I spend carefully organizing my yarn and untangling it is getting a little out of hand. But, I’ve made my choice, and I don’t feel like going back on my plan.

Anyway, I’m going to have to go get more of this yarn… and I think I’ve got two choices:

  1. Buy the same color, and hope the dye lots are close enough. (I bought the original yarn maybe 10 years ago, so there’s no chance that I will find the same dye lot).
  2. Go for a different color for a two-tone sweater. And, if I go this way, what color should I pick? Play it safe with brown or gray? Go wild with a bright contrasting color? Or monochromatic with a different shade of green?

What would you do?