Tag Archives: soldotna crop

Done!

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I’ve gotta admit- it’s been a while since I enjoyed a pattern this much.  Part of it might be the speed of the knit; a sweater without (much of) a body or sleeves isn’t going to take long.  It might be the simple, yet super effective colorwork.  I’ve yet to see a version of Soldotna that doesn’t work.  And it might be that it’s one of the most flattering sweaters I’ve finished in a long time.

I actually bound off several weeks ago, while we were on vacation up on the Sound.  I even blocked it in the sun, overlooking the water. (Blocking with a view makes the finished project better, right?)IMG_20190814_184940357_HDRI think my favorite part of this sweater is how wearable it is.  Who would have thought? A short-sleeved, cropped sweater? Really?  Past Allison would have laughed at the idea that I would wear something like this.

But, look at it!  It’s great!  (Ollie seems less than impressed, but that might be because I’m not feeding him treats.)IMG_2054I’ve been wearing it over dresses, tank-tops and jeans.  And once it cools down (fall’s right around the corner), I think it’ll be cute over long-sleeved tanks or a nice buttondown.IMG_2000The kid seems like he likes it too. (How cute would a baby one be?!)

Have you finished anything fun recently?

Cruising Along

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I’m making headway with my Soldotna Crop, and I have to say, I’m really pleased with how it’s turning out.

I was concerned about the pinkness of the pink and the purpleness of the purple in the yoke.  (It’s really a crazy amount of super bold color-work, and I admit that by the end of it, I was starting to get nervous.)  But, now that I’m chugging along with the body, I really like the contrast between the bold, colorful top and the understated body.  Though, if I’m being honest, I kind of never want to do a “field of dots” sweater ever again. It’s just enough color-work to be a pain, but not enough to be exciting. (It does look nice, though…)

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I took a break from the body last night, and worked up the “sleeves.” I don’t think I’ve ever finished both sleeves on a sweater in one sitting (even a baby sweater).  This was really just an inch or so of ribbing- super simple and satisfying.  Now I think that all sweaters should have short sleeves!

I can’t wait for this thing to be finished and blocked (and those ends to be woven in… ugh).

But then I’ll have to figure out what to wear with it… That’ll be the tricky part.

Knitting Along

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Ya’ll, this pattern is fun!  It’s been a minute since I did anything with this much color-work and I’m enjoying it thoroughly.

While last time I made a big deal about following someone else’s pattern and not doing any of my own math, I must admit I cheated a little bit.  I’d heard people complaining about the neck/short row situation on this sweater, so I changed it up a little.  Instead of working 7 rows of ribbing for the collar, I did 5. And instead of doing 5 sets of short rows, I did 3.  I think it’ll do nicely.  No turtleneck here!IMG_1943.JPGAnd I think I’m liking how these colors are playing together for the most part.  There’s still a part of me that’s a little skeptical of the pink-yellow variegated, but I think that’s because it’s just so far outside of the colors I usually pick.  And, I am a little concerned about the contrast between the pink and the gray in the big “arrow” section of the yoke.  (Though, honestly this picture makes it look pretty nice.  It’s a little less clear in real life.)IMG_1936.JPGI’m almost to the end of the yoke, which is both exciting (yay! I’m that much closer to finishing), and a little sad (boo! I’m that much closer to finishing).  It’s a fun little project, and with no sleeves and not much body to knit, it’ll be done before I know it.

What do you think of the colors?  I think I like them, but I’m still on the fence a bit.

 

Starting Something New!

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I’m really excited about this one, folks!  I’m starting a new project, which is always fun, but this time there are a few reasons I’m especially pumped:

  1. It’s for me!
  2. It’s not for work!
  3. It’s a pre-existing pattern (no math!).
  4. It’s going to be made from yarn that I bought explicitly for this project.  No stashbusting!
  5. It’s going to be super cute!

That’s right, I’m jumping on the bandwagon and making myself a Soldotna Crop (though I think mine won’t be quite as cropped as the pattern suggests; I’m pretty tall and don’t own any high-waisted jeans).

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I’m using Tosh DK in four colors that I spent wayyy too much time picking out.  madelinetosh is one of my absolute favorite dyers.  I love the subtle variation they get in their semi-solids and the saturated colors in their variegated yarns.  I haven’t actually worked with her DK weight before, but I’m looking forward to it.  It’s a nice dense yarn, and super soft, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be too prone to pilling (or at least that’s what it feels like).IMG_1919

The colors I picked were Undergrowth (a dreamy blue-green for the main color), Raspberry Cordial (a jammy purple with hints of fuchsia), Tern (a soft purple-y gray), and Texas Tulips (an insane (for me) pink/yellow/green variegated that is something that I would never normally have picked, but it felt like the right thing to do at the time… we’ll see how it looks).

It feels kind of decadent to be making a whole sweater for myself, just because I want to, in fancy new yarn that I picked out specifically for this project.  I kind of love it.

(I really hope that pink color ends up working…. it’s very un-me.)

I’m going to go get this yarn wound up right away and start knitting.  Whoo!

When’s the last time you did some selfish knitting?