#feyknits

[fyresnow]

Started knitting another one of these. The pattern is just so well made and so pretty. I can't decide if I like the beige or not though ugh I didn't want white so that the speckle yarn stood out, but I'm worried the beige is too... strong? Does the blue stand out enough against it? Does it mismatch too strongly against the white in the speckle yarn?

The only thing about this pattern is that it is most definitely made for women. The neckline and the arm width are too small for me so I have to make adjustments. I'm knitting this one size up from last time and also changing the distribution of stitches moved to scrap for the arms.

Pattern: Annabelle Crop by Olga Putano Designs

Yarn: KnitPicks Palette in Wonderland Heather and Oyster Heather + Knitpicks Muse in Delight Speckle

I accidentally left the Muse wound in a cake for a few years so I'm worried it's all stretched out ): It also arrived with bits of yellow in it!! unlike the listing image!! I was really upset about that. Aaaaand I bought all the yarn before I realized that the Muse is superwash and the Palette is not... so here's hoping it's all fine and doesn't grow weirdly when blocking...

I made a sketch before I got started:

[fyresnow]

Nooooooooo my sleeves are different lengths *crying screaming banging my fist on the wall*. I have to frog it and redo the one ): Woe is me! I hate sleeves. I was almost done too! and it came out exactly like I was envisioning! Despair ):

Pattern: Rattlesnake by Jamie Hoffman

Yarn: Knitpicks swish (amethyst heather) and wool of the andes (caution and paloma) and Knitpicks Hawthorne (jupiter speckle)

Other progress pics:

[fyresnow]

I saw this pattern and insta-bought it (which I never ever do). It is my ✨favorite✨ shoulder construction, the lace is pretty, and I had the exact amount of yarn for my size already :3 it seemed fated.

The v-neck is pretty deep for me (as a guy) so I edited the decreases on the neckline (I charted it out and can post that if anyone wants to see it?). Also, the arm circumference is too small for me so I had to rearrange the number of stitches moved to scrap for the sleeves and cast on more under the arm (as usual).

The one thing I will say, is that it’s very unpleasant and finicky to have to switch back and forth between needle sizes and I would have liked to have known that before buying the pattern (it should perhaps be mentioned on the pattern page, esp if you want to knit a gauge swatch before buying the pattern). I'm using size 2.5 and size 6 needles. I'm just lucky I have a (cheap) interchangeable set now so that I'm actually able to knit this. Trying to switch back and forth needle sizes on DPNs would be a nightmare...

But it's knitting up rather quickly and it's fun to switch between the different textures/laces.

Pattern: Knot To Be Missed by Rachel Illsley

Yarn: Linen/Cotton/Bamboo from Lion Brand

[fyresnow]

Started this while I was sad about the dye lots for my current sweater lying to me. I like it!!! the yarn is super luxurious, it’ll be perfect for summer. I messed up the neck I know that. Following the pattern it ended up WAY small like 12”… I prefer my necklines at least 18” but more like 22”. I’m worried about this honestly, that I needed to be knitting a size up. I suppose I should try it on at some point. But if I have to redo all of this colorwork, I might just die instead. I also could NOT do the cast on the pattern suggested. I kept messing it up and working it hurt my hand joints. It was… not a great start at all.

Pattern: Annabelle Crop

Yarn: KnitPicks Samia in Moonflower, Abalone, and Taro (silk/cupro blend)

[fyresnow]

Made good progress with the sweater and moved onto the sleeve. But my smallest circular is just a bit too big and I had to do the colorwork on DPNs! 😱 it's a nightmare please save me

Pattern: Tata Matilda by marziasknit

Yarn: Wool-paca from Eddie Bauer

previous post here

still worried there's not enough contrast, but I do like it. It's like.. if one of the colors was just a tad lighter/darker it would work. But the pink and the blue flowers are so pretty.

[fyresnow]

I made socks :3 I got a skein of sock yarn in a mystery box and decided I needed some socks. I was hoping it would be a quick knit, but it took me like a month. Also, one leg is tighter than the other? I don't know what happened and it makes it hard to get the socks on and off ): But they're so nice looking! I love the design so much. The heel is super nice too (no holes!).

The pattern is one of the most accessible patterns I've ever read. They had multiple versions- one for printing, one with a medium contrast background, and one that's "print disability and screen reader friendly". It was my first time reading a knitting pattern that didn't cause any eye strain! Wild to not notice how much it hurt my eyes until the absence of that pain. The pattern was also organized very well with cute medieval marginalia (in the color version).

Pattern: Sunken Cathedral Socks by Cnyttan Cnottan (I used just about 300 yards but my gauge was slightly off- I knit one size smaller to get the correct measurements)

Yarn: BFL Sock from Hipstrings in I think the color "Admiral"

[fyresnow]

Sweater I've been working on. I've started this over nearly half a dozen times because I couldn't get the right combination of needles. My gauge was off, the circular was too small, it was a mess. I still don't think I'm satisfied but I think perhaps some of that is I simply don't like where the pattern author placed the increases in the yoke. And maybe this yarn shows it off more than most because I never have trouble with tension in colorwork. Never like this. The first dozen rows of the yoke look so messy and bunchy and ugh. The gauge looks fine when there are no increases.

I'm also worried maybe there's not enough contrast between the pink and the blue? You can't see the flowers at all when you turn it to black and white.

oh AND my row gauge is so completely off that I had to break the yoke for the sleeves before the colorwork was done! I had to chart an extra bit for under the sleeve to make it look continuous which was an entire nightmare.

I like the design and the pattern is written clearly so I'm going to keep pushing. sigh.

Pattern: Tata Matilda by marziasknit

Yarn: Eddie Bauer Wool-paca (acquired during the Joann's closing, RIP) (it's very very soft but I'm finding a ton of guard hairs or kemp in it that I keep pulling out?)

[fyresnow]

I ran out of yarn for my other one, until I acquire a new ball winder, so new project!! This is my ✨first✨ time knitting with my own handspun!! I'm so excited!!! It's been super fun so far, even if the colors are uhh... they sure are something else. It's so soft and cozy though.

Pattern: Spring Sorrel, with modifications since this is worsted and the pattern calls for sport? I think? I"m also making it with positive ease bc I dislike negative ease sweaters.

I had to redo all the math for dividing the sleeves and body because I skipped the last increase or two on the yoke because it was already too big. Turns out! My gauge for the yoke part was much looser than my gauge for the body (just stockinette).

Also added short rows which was... not fun. The pattern didn't tell you how to or even where the center back is. So I had no idea where to center the short rows and had to do a bunch of math to figure that out as well. I was not happy about that. But I need short rows for things to fit ok.

I did a lot of sketching and math also to figure out how to fade in the two colors. I didn't want to just alternate rows, I wanted it to be fibonacci type blending. But.. I also had to make sure I was using the right color for the dip stitches. So it's not perfect and I hope it looks alright.

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Oyster Heather and my own handspun (the colorway Sugar Coated from YarnHero in polwarth) (see my posts about it here on the niddy noddy and hank and here for the single + the braid.)