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Original Pattern: Ten of Hearts Cardigan  Knitter Extraordinaire:  Jenn (Ravelry ID) Mods: Modified the original vintage pattern to be as seamless as possible, and adjust the main ribbing. Details with great notes on the modifications can be found on her project page, here. What Makes This Awesome: Vintage knitting patterns are notoriously tricky for being

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Let me tell you, I started this pattern three years ago. Three! I have always had this love for Missoni. That chevron and all the colors. Like many other knitters, I thought that I could select a bunch of colors... Wendy

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My Favourite Articles and Links This Week Chronically tardy people  have these traits in common. Many of us are losing the ability to deep read, and are just skimming– and it’s changing capacity for empathy and critical thinking. Movie and tv show ideas for when you are having a bad day/week/year. This poem. I’m excited

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I finished my Remix cardigan in the summer, and then proceed to wear it all the time. Ravelry project page is here.  Pattern: Mama Vertebrae Yarn: Berroco Remix Light in ‘Smoke’ This pattern has been in my queue for ages. I love that it is written for all sorts of yarn weights, but this was

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Hi guys! Are you falling for all the Fall knits right now? There are SO MANY sweaters that I want to start and it’s making me kinda paralyzed with indecision. So I decided to play it safe and pick a project that has been on my wishlist for a few years now: Edith, a cozy oversized wooly cardigan by Pam Allen. This is pretty much a product knit since the actual knitting is very simple. Lots of stockinette. In boring beige. Makes for good movie night knitting though (side note: I recently watched To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before and thoroughly enjoyed it! The series is one of my YA faves so I was gearing myself up for disappointment. Happy to say that it exceeded all of my expectations. The actors that played Lara Jean and Peter Kavinsky had the best on-screen chemistry. And I loved all the scenes with the sisters together). Ok, back to the knitting. It’s the start of Soctober and I am looking forward to lots and lots of sock knitting. Finally finished my Mind The Gap socks which the hubby is wishing was his, poor chap. So I ordered more yarn from Trailing Clouds to knit him his very own. I also have two new socks on the needles: a plain ol’ one out of a new-to-me commercial sock yarn from Germany called Comfort Sockenwolle. Plus my first Must Stash Yarn socks in the Pumpkin Spice Latte colorway. Both are fulfilling all of my autumn knit cravings for the moment. Speaking of cravings, I recently raided Trader Joe’s of all of their seasonal Fall goodies. What are your current Fall cravings? Watched anything good lately? Have a fun knitty week!

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The winner for the Jimmy Beans Wool Smartstix giveaway is….. Melissa!! Melissa, you should have an email from me in your inbox right now… congrats! On winning, not on getting an email from me. that would be a weird thing to congratulate someone on. I send emails all the time. Original Pattern: Mon Petit Gilet

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Hello, loves! How have you been? Did you have a good week? Thank you for all the well wishes on my move. While moving is not my favorite, there is so many new things to look forward to so it is exciting. Since I have been packing and cleaning, there... Andi

With two afghans in the finishing stages, several patterns in development, and even more designs in the want-it-now lineup, I have lots of knitting either in process or the planning pipeline. This makes it especially difficult to explain why out of the blue, I decided I simply had to redo my Colsie mirror gradient cowl, which has officially been finished since last December.


This long and skinny neck piece can be wrapped twice and buttoned for a cowl-like effect or left open and worn as a scarf. The goal was to create a versatile accessory to coordinate with my Colsie mirror gradient mitts. The yarn (Grignasco Champagne) is so soft and delectable, it's a true pleasure to knit and wear. 

The differences are subtle. The mitts featured two colors (teal and cloud), while the cowl incorporated three (teal, cloud and lake). The unblocked shot below does the best job of showing the difference between the teal blue (lower left) and lake green (upper right).
Generally, I avoid matchy-matchy accessories, but as time passed, I realized this was one instance where a matching set might actually be the best option. Two weeks ago, I stiffened my spine, carefully unpicked the bindoff and woven ends, frogged back to the solid center section (cloud), then began the task of reworking the final two sections to match the first two.
If you've ever been in this situation, you know how frustrating it can be to decide after the fact a project needs additional work, but I found myself enjoying the process. 


 

It's still unblocked, but the knitting is finished and the ends are woven. I'll try to get some better pictures soon. Meanwhile, I'm much happier with this cowl in its new configuration, which means every now and then, a do-over is the right choice.

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Colsie Mirror Gradient Mitts

Once again, things have not gone to plan, and the blanket is not done. I was pretty sure I would be finished it while I was at Knit City – sure enough that I brought Soak to wash it with, and pins to block it in my hotel room. I even brought another big project that needs starting (and finishing, technically, but let’s not get too defeatist) and I am positive now that the only thing that went wrong with that plan was that there remain a meagre 24 hours in a day.

That’s it. I did not (for once) underestimate how much I would be able to knit in a day – somehow imagining that I would be able to teach knitting all day while knitting. (Doesn’t work.) I did not imagine that I’d be able to knit all the way somewhere on a plane and then fall asleep, wasting all that time. Nope. Not this knitter. This time, I knit in all my spare time, I knit on the plane, I knit for an hour each morning while I drank coffee and planned my day. I knit in the evenings at events, and I didn’t ditch the project for something more fun the minute new yarn waggle it’s little label at me. I knit at lunch,  on the bus, at dinner, in between classes, while I was walking…. I was on it, and it’s still. Not. Done.

I think I know the exact moment it went sideways too. I was finished the first border I’d picked, and I was at a crossroads. I could have started the edging, right then and there, but instead I decided to do another border. I sat there, holding this thing and thinking about my brand new great-niece (yup, she’s born and here, healthy and hale) and then I realized that it was no time to shirk. She’ll have this blanket her whole life, she barely weighs seven pounds and can’t possibly care whether she gets it this week or next, and I realized that having it just how I wanted it was more important than having it just when I wanted it, and so I decided to do one more little bit before going on. (I admit, the fact that this baby’s mum, auntie and grandmother all knit inspired me to greater heights. Only other knitters can really love this stuff.)

Unfortunately, that little bit… isn’t. It’s a lot more, and despite diligent knitting, I am only today starting the edging.  Each repeat consumes 17 stitches of the border, and there are… You know what? I don’t know how many stitches there are.  I’m feeling like it’s around 800 (likely a little more) and that means I’ve got to settle in for about 47 repeats, plus a few more to get around the corners, and….

And I’m stopping just shy of doing the math on how long that means I’ll be at this. It’s going to be lovely though, and I just keep telling myself that it will be enjoyed for far longer than I spend knitting it, and that’s what matters, no matter how crazy I am by the end of it.  It also means that I was nuts when I thought I’d finish even without the edging, another episode of knitterly delusion, and I’ve taken the pins back out of my suitcase, and put them back on the shelf.  It’s really nowhere near pin time.

I’ll pound out a bunch of it this weekend – though it’s Thanksgiving here in Canada, so there will be time lost to cooking, eating and cleaning up from cooking and eating, but let’s see what Monday brings.

PS. Thanks to a few cancellations, there are a few spots open for the Strung Along November Retreat. We’re reprising our Silk retreat (oh, so much fun) and  this is a retreat for Knitters and Spinners. (You don’t need to be very good at either.) There’s a few more details here, let us know if you’d like to join us. (Info@Strungalong.ca)

(PPS I am really thinking about turning on the heat.)

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My Favourite Articles and Links This Week If you haven’t already entered the Jimmy Beans Wool Smartstix Needle giveaway, head on over and enter! Four ways to make your space feel clean inside of 15 minutes. This was thought-provoking: If you figure out a way to satisfactorily complete 8 hours’ worth of tasks in 10

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When it comes to knitting or crochet, it’s easy to get all caught up in the yarn and not spend much time thinking about our needles. other than my general preference for metal needles, I haven’t bought new knitting needles in ages- I felt like I had everything I needed. When Jimmy Beans Wool first

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  Original Pattern: Igawa Knitter Extraordinaire: Kaetze (Ravelry ID) Mods: Instead of following the directions for the asymmetrical design, she used the same directions for both sides for a more even design, and reduced some of the fabric in the oversized fit. Great details can be found on her project page, here. What Makes This

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Happy Sunday! The last couple of weeks have felt like a whirlwind some good some bad, but the best thing is that I woke this morning. Changes are coming my way as in a few weeks I will be moving from my home, not far but still moving. While I... Andi

Last week to ease our way into the fall season, we took a look at nine nifty neutral color combos. As a result of that post, I began browsing through completed projects to see where and how neutrals have surfaced in the past, so this week, I thought it might be helpful to share some neutral combinations in action.

Drumlin Almost Neutral: Black, slate and cream with a pop of red



Tikkyn Flagstone: Light, medium and dark greys with burgundy



Kintra Nearly Neutral Cowl: Black, grey and cream gradient with red


Kintra Nearly Neutral Mitts: Black, grey and cream gradient with red

Kintra Greyridge: Dark, medium and light grey ombre


Grey Daze Mitts & Shawl: Cool grey and cream with burgundy


Wyndfael Mitts: Charcoal and cream with red

Pewter and charcoal with red

Twegen Coffee: Black, grey, brown, toffee and cream


Owl Family: Chocolate, toffee and brown speckled yarn accented with gold

Hopefully, if you're one of the many knitters who have difficulty visualizing how colors will interact in a finished project, these examples will serve as a starting point for one of your own projects. Looking through them has certainly prompted some insights for me.

It's clear, for instance, that when a neutral project needs a spark of bright color, reds and burgundies are my go-to choice. At one time, browns and earth tones would have featured more prominently in any neutral roundup, but most of those projects were completed not just pre-blog but also pre-Ravelry, so no pictures exist. Many were sweaters, including a taupe tunic, a tweedy pullover accented with warm peach, and a lovely cardigan for my sister in shades of dark chocolate, mocha and caramel.

I have a small project on the needles right now, but as soon as it's finished, I plan to rummage through the stash, choose a few select skeins, and start swatching something subtle and understated in an interesting mix of neutrals.


The project links above take you to the FO post. If you're interested, you can find the patterns here.

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My Favourite Articles and Links This Week Why the buttons are on different sides for men’s and women’s shirts. How to come out stronger after a season of change. Against chill – why being chill about everything leads to people walking all over you.  This is the most Toronto news story I’ve read in a

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Somewhere – there are some knitters who have wondered how interesting this baby blanket drama is going to get. There have been some doozies over the years, so I can see how at this point, the news that a baby blanket was underway would be chum in the knitterly waters for you lot, but here it is – other than not being as far along as I’d like, everything is just fine. The pattern I figured for myself is working well, I’ve made no major mistakes,  I miscalculated on the yarn but I found more, and – get this, those of you who were wondering in which way this thing would get interesting…. that yarn was shipped to me from the US, and in a remarkably efficient display by both the American and Canadian Postal services,  it spent forty-six seconds at customs, and arrived yesterday – well in time for me to wind and put it in my suitcase so that I could take it with me to Vancouver this weekend.  In fact, here I sit, in the airport lounge, headed for Knit City, working away on the thing, and it looks to me like it’s going to come down to a good old fashioned sprint.

The deadline for this thing is Tuesday – and honestly, I’m not sure I can make it, and for a while there, I wondered how I’d miscalculated so badly.  It is unlike me to a) have a drama-free baby blanket, or b) not start one of these things in enough time to finish, and then I remembered.  I broke my wrist! I was in a cast! There was drama – heaps of it.  It was just quiet, horrible drama rather than entertaining, exciting drama.  It explained everything. It’s not that this hasn’t had it’s problems – they were just on the front end.  Refreshing, really. Now it’s down to a push to the end – today’s a travel day, and I’m hoping to get through the border, because the edging is enormous. With a little luck, if I apply myself and stay on it, I might maybe, possibly be able to block this thing in my hotel room.

I packed pins.

(PS. Deadline knitting can still be dramatic. Don’t lose hope. Something terrible could happen at any moment. )

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My mother is the sort of person who starts asking what I want for Christmas on September 1st, so it wasn’t that surprising that 6 months ago she told me that she wanted to do something special for my birthday and why don’t the two of us take a trip to New York City? My

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Original Pattern: Chrysocolla Knitter Extraordinaire: Karen (Ravelry ID) Mods: Changed the crew neck sweater to a v-neck, reduced the amount of bobbles, completely redid the sleeves. Great details and lots of notes can be found on her project page, here. What Makes This Awesome:  Knitters, you know how bobble knitting can be a love or

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Happy Sunday! Fall is here. I know there are many of the secretly and not so secretly believe that Fall begins on September 1st. While I am not a fan of Christmas decorations being put out before Thanksgiving, I wholeheartedly support celebrating Fall when the calendar changes to September. :)... Andi

Fall has officially arrived and with it we've experienced a tiny hint of cool-ish weather. I suppose it's natural, therefore, my thoughts have turned from the saturated colors of summer to the terrific tones of fall and soft, subtle shades of winter.



In other words, I've been obsessed with neutrals and the potential they offer from color-blocking and textures to ombres, gradients and fades. It's also interesting to see how, after a decade of grey hues dominating the neutral landscape, earthy tints are enjoying a resurgence in design, decor and fashion.


So, whether you're seeking colors for a specific project or just in the mood for some yarn play, here are nine nifty neutral color combos to consider.


Cool DeepObsidian, basalt, slate


Cool MediumSoapstone, bluestone, gravel


Cool Light
Shale, marble, quartzite




Cool WhisperConcrete, mortar, quartz


TransitionGranite, travertine, cobblestone


Warm DeepGranito, porphyry, twig


Warm MediumMascavo, dorado, fieldstone


Warm LightPetra, dolomite, sand



Warm WhisperSandstone, limestone, cream onyx 



At one time, my entire wardrobe was built on shades of wheat, taupe, cream, grey and black, with only an occasional spark of color for interest. Today, black and deep coal are my neutrals of choice, coupled with bold flashes of color or softer neutrals in layered shades. Meanwhile, neutrals are especially useful if you knit for the men in your life, since based on my experience, they're a perennial favorite with guys of all ages. 

All this talk of neutrals and their classic versatility has struck a chord. With two afghans in the near-FO stage and several potential projects competing for time and attention, I should follow my own advice and stay focused. Instead, I think I may break out a skein or three and work up some swatches in oatmeal, platinum or silver.




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