Mud season - Pattern review

After a failed knitting project (too big, too loose) I decided that I needed to build up my self-confidence again by knitting a simple, straight forward and fail proof design. One of my favorite designers is Elizabeth Smith. Her patterns are not only very well written, but she also offers a lot of support in the form of tips and tutorials. I had seen a pattern on her Instagram page that looked interesting and settled on giving it a try.

I felt a little wasteful after I had to give-up on my last project, but not wanting to knit with acrylic I did buy 100% wool yarn, but from a more ‘affordable’ brand. 

 

Arctic Fritidsgarn by Trysil for the Europris was quite nice to work with, no issues with knots or cuts in the yarn, good tension, and as a bonus, Europris members get discounts on wool, so overall a good experience. How it will hold out in the long run is yet to be seen and I will update this blog post once I have worn the sweater for a certain amount of time. 

 

I used less than four months to knit the sweater, but since I don’t knit every day, it is a little hard to say exactly how long it took. The pattern was very easy to follow, and the only thing I did differently was that I used a half size smaller knitting needles then the ones recommended. 5.5 mm for the 6 mm, and 5.00 mm for the 5.5 mm. I knitted the sweater with the waist shaping and despite having bought enough wool for long sleeves, I ended up knitting the short sleeve version.

 

I knitted the sweater in size medium, used about 8 balls of yarn, in the color taupe – 117

All that was left from the 8 balls of yarn

The fit: 

The sweater is compact, warm, and comfortable. The waist shaping is nice, but not mandatory for a successful fit. The short sleeves on such a chunky sweater are an interesting feature, but I think it might make the sweater more practical. I freeze easily in the winter, but I am also very active and long sleeves do get in my way.  The fact that it was easy and affordable to knit means that I can use it with a good conscience both at work (I work in a school) and around the house while doing chores. 

 

 

#mudseasonsweater

#elizabethsmithknits

 

 

Winter smiles knitted hat. Pattern review

 

Super simple pink knitted hat in Peer Gynt wool

One cold winter morning I reached out for my favourite and warmest hat, but it wasn’t on the hat shelf! Someone had taken it, again!

I thereby decided that I would knit a hat that no one in my household would ‘borrow’ on purpose (or by mistake), I also wanted a hat that would be warm and knit up as quickly as possible. I settled on the winter smiles hat by DROPS designs, marched myself to the local yarn shop and bought some very pink 100% wool yarn.

The hat was meant to be knitted in an alpaca mix, but then Peer Gynt is an old favourite so the overall look is slightly different than in the photos on the DROPS website; the hat came out comfortable and warm.

The hat was a quick knit and used almost two whole balls of yarn (100g); the folded piece is quite long so depending on your preference you could make the hat shorter but I would still recommend having 80-100g of wool.

The pattern is straight forward, though the diagram at the end didn’t make much sense and was rather confusing.

It would be simpler to say:

-          - Cast on 108 stiches on round 3.5 mm needles for a medium hat.

-          - Knit in rib until the hat measures 27 cm

-          - Add a marker every 12 stitches.

-         -  Knit 2 together after every marker for a full round, then knit a round without decrease.

-       - Continue with one decrease round, and one regular round until you have 18 stitches left on the needles.

-         - Knit all remaining stitches 2 together. Cut the strand and pull it through the remaining stitches, tighten, fasten off and Voila! Your hat is done!

 

The colour I picked is number 4023, and I must add a disclaimer here: I love Peer Gynt yarn and have knitted several DROPS patterns, but the suggestions, recommendations and observations written here are all my own, I am not sponsored by either company.  

The pattern is availabe for free here: Winter smiles hat

Detail of the crown

Winter smiles hat. Free pattern from DROPS designs

You can follow me on Ravelry here: https://www.ravelry.com/people/virginielykins

Sunday cardigan by Petit Knit. Pattern review

I work part time at a Montessori school and one afternoon in the late summer a mother came to pick up her children and I couldn’t help but notice the beautiful handknit sweater she was wearing. I asked about the pattern and didn’t hesitate very long before ordering both the pattern and necessary yarn.

The cardigan is from the Danish designer Mette and available in several languages:  Sunday cardigan Mohair edition

Unfortunately, the recommended yarn was a little pricey so I opted for the alternative by Drops: 

Kid-silk colour 04 – Old pink

This is honestly the first time I knit with such delicate and fluffy yarn and found it both pleasant and a little tricky too. The pattern uses three threads at the same time and they get easily tangled/attached to each other so I kept them in a plastic bag while I knitted.

And the fluff, oh the fluff! It gets everywhere!

The pattern is clear, well written and easy to follow. It’s not a particularly difficult pattern and apart for the small increase in the yoke it’s actually very basic and even beginners could easily follow it.

My only little issue with the design is that the sweater is absolute huge! I understand it is the way it was meant to be, but from the photos you don’t actually see how big it really is, beside the designer is pregnant in some of the shots so you don’t quite get the feeling of how it will actually fit.

I’m a typical size M (38 Scandinavian/40 European) with slightly slanted shoulders so if I would knit it again I might do it in a size S for a slightly better fit.

I think this cardigan knitted in white or cream would be lovely for a bride, or all the bridesmaids if you have enough time or a helper. It’s soft, light and fluffy and since you wouldn’t want to damage it by wearing it under a winter coat, I would presume it is best used over a summer or autumn dress/top. 

A word of warning, beware of the fluff! So avoid a solid black top or t-shirt, as the fluff will stick to it.

 

 

Petit knit website:  https://www.petiteknit.com/

Drops kid-silk:  https://www.garnstudio.com/yarn.php?show=drops-kid-silk&cid=19

Kid-silk by Drops

Lovely colour and lovely yarn

Sunday cardigan all done and ready to use

PS: All recommendations are my own preference; I am not sponsored by the designer, websites, manufacturers.

Find me on Ravelry  here: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/virginielykins

Sibyl summer top by Alexandra G

Here is a little review of my latest knitting project. 

I had wavered between starting on a more ‘winter’ type sweater, or cardigan, or a summer top. I’m a slow knitter, so I knew that if I wanted to knit a summer piece I would have to choose one that would knit up pretty quickly and wouldn’t be too fussy.

The design I settled on ( Sibyl ) was actually a suggestion that had come up on a knitting facebook group I follow. I purchased the pattern on Ravelry, and ordered the yarn - A cotton/linen mix by drops. Colour 11 – Beige.

Now, a little about the yarn – Drops Bomull-lin is a slightly dry, thick-ish type of yarn and the different fibers sort of separate easily – I rarely knit with anything other than wool, so I’m not an expert but I can imagine there are better quality linen/cotton mixes that are softer and more pliable, though you will never be able to beat the price of Drops yarn. 

The pattern says to knit two pieces, a front and back which you then sew together. I hate thick seams, so I opted for knitting in the round and then working each lace panel on its own.  I think this was actually a very good idea as the top is close fitting and a thick seam on the side would have been unseemly, bulky and uncomfortable.

Weaving in the loose ends was again a bit of a challenge, as unlike wool, cotton and linen does not eventually felt itself into the knitting – It sticks out, and can easily come apart. When the whole top had been knitted I carefully undid the regular knots, changed to a granny knot  and weaved in  the ends  using this method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p05xKbQ0-R0

About the patterns – Pretty straight forward, I knitted it in medium as I am a typical medium size (M or Scandinavian 38/EU 40), but though the top is nice and snug I would have preferred it a little looser – so think about that when knitting it is you are full at the bosoms, tall, want some wiggle room, or are a tight knitter, I would then suggest going a size higher.

Knitting in the round was great, and the lace part was not too difficult as long as you pay attention to the little box on the right hand side of the pattern which gives a good tip for matching up the lace strips. But, I would have wished for more detailed instructions for the lace bit as it came out slightly different on each side and was a little fiddly.

The pattern is available here on Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sibyl-4

Yarn bought here: www.garnbørsen.no

Drops cotton/linen mix and the project on my round needles

All done, and lot's of ends to weave in...

Regular knot

Take it apart carefully

Make a granny knot

Make sure it lays nice and flat against the knitting

Weave in following the knitting path

"Hmmmm ! Could have been a little longer, and the bottom rolls up a bit ". But you can get that fixed by wetting the top and ironing it, or blocking.

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PS: All recommendations are my own preference; I am not sponsored by the designer, websites, manufacturers.