Friday, November 20, 2020, Issue 175: It is five weeks until Christmas!

Stripes! by Andrea Mowry is the perfect blank canvas pullover!

A round yoke sweater worked from the top down, this pullover is the perfect blank canvas. Think of it as a template to mix up colors, yarn bases and your creativity! You could even knit it up in a solid color for a classic wardrobe staple. Be playful and have fun! This sweater is worked seamlessly. The sleeve sts are put on hold while the body is finished and then returned to the needle. This sweater includes instructions for a cropped or full length fit and different collar options.

Recommended ease is + 2 - 6”/5 - 15 cm; sample is shown in Size 3 on a 34”/86.5 cm bust with 6”/15 cm of positive ease. The yarn requirements shown on the pattern are approximations. Total yarn usage will depend on the yarn you use (fiber content, ply, etc.), your personal gauge, and any modifications you may make.

Andrea: For this sweater I used primarily a sport weight wool yarn in colors I loved together! To add interest and texture I also grabbed some lace weight suri alpaca/silk blend yarn that I held double. Below is just the skeins you would need if choosing to use only the sport weight yarn, but the pattern includes a break down of the yarn for both sweaters including the suri alpaca. My hope is that you will feel excited to dig into your stash or try out some new yarns and play with single or double strands to achieve the desired gauge!

Andrea Mowry’s monochromatic version of her new Stripes! pattern is just as wonderful as her colourful version! Knit it using Lichen and Lace Rustic Heather Sport, Kelbourne Woolens Andorra or add in some Malabrigo Baby Silkpaca Lace for some extra luxuriousness!

The Frolic Pullover by Andrea Cull is one of her self-published Ravelry patterns where 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Fruity Knitting to support their wonderful podcast and allow them to focus on Andrew’s health.You can read more about what they are going through here. Use the Code FruityLove for 15% off this & any of my patterns.

The Frolic Pullover features a elegant lace yoke paired with playful ruched sleeves and a simple neckline. It can easily be dressed up or worn with your favorite jeans. Additionally the lightweight fabric is offers versatility so it can be worn indoors or layered for wear in many seasons and climates.

Pullover shown measures 40” (101.5 cm); modeled with 2” (5 cm) of ease. This sweater is meant to be worn with several inches of ease for a relaxed fit. The unique sleeves are wide and loose, but the the ruching keeps them from bothersome swinging and comfortable to wear.

This pullover is worked from the bottom up in the round to the underarm. The sleeves are worked separately in the round, then the sleeves and body are joined to work the yoke. The neckline is shaped with short rows and stabilized by binding off and then picking up stitches for a perfect Stockinette stitch finish. The lace is charted only.

The Mount Lorne Pullover by Andrea Cull is another one of her self-published Ravelry patterns where 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Fruity Knitting to support their wonderful podcast and allow them to focus on Andrew’s health. These two are not new but beautiful nonetheless!

Always there are sweater patterns that catch my eye but smaller projects are better suited to be gift knitting projects!

Painting Waves Shawl by Stephen West is knit sideways starting at the little edge and increasing toward the side edge. The size is customizable by stopping earlier or knitting more pattern repeats! One main color is featured throughout all the garter stitch stripes. Eight contrast colors are used for painting the waves in stockinette stitch. The stitches are very easy to knit with I-cord edges framing the wavy triangular shape. This design is perfect for using mini skeins, leftover bits of fingering weight yarn, or self-striping yarns.

How about knitting this using a full skein of SweetGeorgia Tough Love Sock and a Party of Five set of mini skeins or a full skein of Manos Fino and a set or two of Fino Mini Skein Kits!

Espace Tricot’s Happy Hipster is an easy to knit beanie that can be worn indoors for a casual, relaxed look or outdoors to take the edge off a cool day in hipster style. Choose a colourful self-striping sock yarn such as Stray Cat Socks, West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4 Ply, Timber Yarns Twin Socks or any of the other socks yarns self-striping or solid!

For a standard fit, note that the finished circumference of the hat should be approximately 20% smaller than the circumference of the head that it is meant to fit.

The hat takes 197 - 281 yards of yarn and 3.25 mm (US 3) needles or as required to get a gauge of 31 stitches and 38 rows = 4 inches in stockinette, after blocking.

Veronica (xovee.knits)’s Red Brie Beanie is available on Ravelry! Knit yourself an eye-catching cold weather accessory, or elevate your holiday gift giving by surprising your family and friends with a practical fashion item handmade by you!

This hat uses a unique cable design that creates an interesting texture. This hat is designed with a folded brim in mind, but instructions included for single brim. Photo tutorials with large fonts in pattern, but also a video link to assist in understanding the stitches is included.

Currently only available in heavy worsted/aran OR light/chunky yarn weights. Consider going up or down a needle size OR changing yarns to obtain gauge.

WIP's and FO's

Both pieces of my Ashes by Joji Locatelli for the #jojifallkal2020 are finished but I haven't made myself sit down and graft it together yet!!

I did decide to cast on some Christmas balls for my tree though...

I have a bunch of patterns for Christmas balls! These are from Christmas Balls by Mary Ann Stephens. in her free patterns website. You need to scroll through but this is the pattern that I used HERE. I knit the Marius and the Kilim but note that the charts and the photos are not labelled correctly. I used Bergere de France Ideal and 2.75 mm (US 2) to knit these with lots of yarn left to make more!

KNIT GROUP AND GALLERY

The current Knit-Alongs are the Any Sweater / Shawl KAL and the Knit Your Project: the everlasting knit-along to encourage and support you to knit is running from October 1 to December 31, 2020.

Don’t forget to post a pic to the finished object (FO) thread whenever you finish a project during the Knit-Along so that you will be included in the next draw! We will also add the option of posting your finished project to Instagram using the #sue2knitskal so that I can find them!

Katherine sent me this photo of her Community Tunic by Joji Locatelli wip! She is using Noro Ito (ask what is in stock - they are tied to the Nightshift Kits which can be broken apart) and Alafosslopi!

How awesome is Connie (knitnut246)’s collection of hand knit socks!

Paulette finished this pair of Composed Mitts by Michele Rose Orme from Interweave Knits 2007 that may or may not be gifted!

Paulette finished a pair of Mitten Day Mittens by Sue Flanders and Janine Kosel’s Norwegian Handknits: Heirloom Designs from Vesterheim Museum book.

Heidi’s mom Lynda zipped through and finished this pair of socks in less that 2 weeks! Yarn is wool-free Regia 4 Ply Tutti Frutti in Dragonfruit.

Heidi finished her My Everything by Joji Locatelli at the beginning of the month for the jojifallkal2020!

Carola has already gifted the Local Yarn Shawl by Casapinka. Knit using Koigu KPM and Rhichard Devrieze.

Connie (knitnut246) finished her Spring Thing by Espace Tricot using yarn leftover from her Soldotna!

Sonia (@soniabknits) has finished another lovely Oslo Hat by PetiteKnit!

Anna (@kollar.annie) finished Tweedy Mountains by Twin Stitches Designs!

Veronica (@xovee.knits) is getting close to her due date but has finished another jumpsuit for baby!

Lise (Mattedcat) finished another Pixie Dust by Dani Sunshine for Saoirse! This is a favourite little shrug pattern!

Marie (thecatsmom) knit this sweet Southwest Poncho by Mel Clark from the book Knitting Gifts for Baby.

Shop Update

A shipment of Ancient Arts Yarns Passion 8 and the extra two Gnome Kits that I ordered! Let me know if you want one of these two...otherwise they are mine lol!

A box of Schoppel Wolle and Zitron yarns arrived too!!

There are some new Zitron Trekking XXL colours, and a small restock of Zitron Trekking 6 Ply Tweed, Schoppel Wolle Edition 3, Starke 6 and Gradient.

The Knitter’s Pride Knocker Blockers that should have arrived before October for Breast Cancer Awareness month finally arrived!

The Lopi Wool Blankets 2020 Pre-Orders arrived this week! You can come pick up at your convenience - just let me know when!

VIRTUAL SOCIAL KNITTING

Virtual social knitting using the Zoom app! It has been a great way to knit together through social distancing! Join in with us either Tuesday afternoon from 2 - 4 pm or Thursday nights from 7 - 9 pm. We are continuing to hold our Zoom meetings each week until we can meet again in person. Clicking on the link will take you to our Zoom meeting.

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting
 
Meeting ID: 407820804

Happy Friday. Happy Knitting, Crocheting and Crafting! Keep calm and keep on knitting and making!