Jen Arnall-Culliford Knitwear

Dear Intarsia

I am so, so sorry. My most heartfelt of humble apologies.

When we first met, I was a beginner knitter, and I had no idea how difficult my chosen project was. I wanted to make Martin Storey's Allotment Bag (that's the Ravelry page, and there's no photo and no projects...), so I bought all 8 shades of the required yarn (RYC Bamboo Soft), and off I headed. I was working my way through projects, and learning something new with each one. Intarsia, you were my first project in more than one colour, and I couldn't have chosen to make it harder for myself - lots of tiny motifs, a completely non-stretchy, and very slippery yarn. I had no experience of stripes, let alone Fair Isle, so jumping straight in to this intarsia project was (I now realise) a TERRIBLE idea. And it has taken me 10 years to understand that it wasn't your fault. I took grave offence at how impossible it was to make my knitting of that bag look anything approaching tidy. It was one massive uneven mess of yarn, and nothing I did made it better. With my (now well-informed eyes) I can see that even the very-experienced sample knitter struggled to make that bag look reasonable. How was I, with only 4 or 5 knitting projects under my belt, ever going to succeed? I wasn't. But I now realise that wasn't the fault of you, my dear intarsia, and for that I hope you will forgive me. I was young and inexperienced.

So why did things change?

Well, we have this wonderful friend in common, you and I do. She's called Bristol Ivy, and she is something of a knitting designer genius. She created a hap that I NEEDED to make. From the moment I saw the first swatch showing us her idea, I was besotted. I couldn't stop thinking about this clever, and beautiful concept - to use stripes, and a chevron pattern, with a smattering of intarsia to liven things up. I'll admit that when I saw your name, dear intarsia, my heart sank. I feared that my dream of making Bristol's hap would end in tears of frustration and the pieces of my broken heart, as I struggled to create something adequate, let alone as magnificent as Bristol's knitting.

Then everything changed.

I read the pattern, and realised that the work of the intarsia was relatively simple. A few stitches (always the same ones) worked in different colours, with the chevron pattern taking the strain of making interesting shapes. Added to that, my greater understanding of yarn, and I made choices that would help the stitches to behave - wool! It's stretchy, and forgiving! Who knew?? And I took a very deep breath.

Dearest intarsia, you are much-maligned, and I humbly apologise for my part in that. I now understand, that in the right design, and with the right yarn, you can spread the greatest pleasure! You may be slightly less portable than simple stripes or Fair Isle, but you are absolutely totally and utterly worth that small inconvenience. And who doesn't need a project that sits at home, to be enjoyed in front of the TV, or while chatting with friends?

See those stitches on my Harewood Hap? They, are even! And flat! And not a hint of tangling nightmare. Not so much as a rude word was uttered, even once, during the knitting of this beauty. In fact, I didn't want it to end. There's something I NEVER thought I would say. If you are faint of heart, you may wish to turn your head aside for the next photo, as I'm going to show you... gasp... the wrong side of my knitting!

EVEN THAT PART IS PRETTY NEAT! And it's not magic. Or particular talent on my part. It's just that the project, yarn and technique all worked together - pulling in the same direction - rather than being obstacles in each other's paths.

What more can I say? I apologise for all the hurtful things I've ever said about you. And I do hope you'll come and play again soon.

With all good wishes,
Jen (an older, and wiser knitter than when we first met)

P.S. If you would like to have a go at knitting the Harewood Hap from The Book of Haps, then you may find this tutorial video helpful:

 

The state of the WIPs (or how it all got out of hand...)

Ahem. There seems to have been something of a proliferation of projects on the go at Arnall-Culliford Towers. It has nothing at all to do with the season. No, nothing at all.

Without further preamble, here's the first out of the massive bag of half-done-stuff:

A Theme and Variation Hap that I started in August and promptly forgot about. I think it's ready to start the first lot of stripe short rows, but I'd have to look more closely to be sure. The yarn is the same madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light that I used last time round, and it's still lovely!

Next up is this year's Woolly Wormhead Mystery Hat KAL. I'm making the beanie version (I think - the recipient hasn't stood still long enough for me to check with her...). I've chosen a new-to-me yarn: Findley DK from Juniper Moon in the delightful orange, Tiger Lily shade. Right out of my colour comfort zone, but strangely coordinating with my project bags and the season! The mystery hat knitalong is always brilliant and I love seeing how the clues unfold. This year I even did the alternate cable cast-on method, which was new to me. As long as I paid attention to what I'd just done (surprisingly hard when tired!), it was a cinch! Thanks for the great directions Woolly!

Having already cast off a Baa-ble Hat (I shall revisit the finished projects in a few days time - there are many to catch up with!), I almost immediately cast on a pair of Baa-ble Mittens. I think that these may well end up being for one of the monkeys as they are fairly small - that may change as the sheep appear and I get too attached to them to give them up. I fully intend to knit the cowl too. In fact I will probably keep making Baa-ble things until there's no more yarn...

Next out of the bag of unfinished stuff, is my Golden Wheat Shawl. Don't laugh. I know I cast this on 5 years ago and it seems like it's never going to get done. But I really have been working on it. I've completed the centre lace. Totally completed it. That's a lot of knitting! And I'm now on the few rounds of garter stitch, before I start the wheat border. There is still a LOT of knitting to do, but if I keep plugging away at it, then one day it might be finished. Perhaps. To celebrate the progress, I've even taken a new photo of it. I'm sure that the progress will blow your minds!

I've done some work on my Puerto Montt shawl from the 2016 Strickmich Club, but not that much, as I managed to leave it at my parents-in-law's house for a few weeks. Still all progress is good, right?

In a fit of impatience, I cast on Alonzo from Rachel Coopey's new book, Socks Yeah Volume 1. These were my favourites from editing the patterns over the summer, and I couldn't wait to get them on my needles. I've gone for an, unusual for me, yellow shade called Sphene, and I'm really enjoying the twisted stitch patterning. I'm working on both socks at the same time, although not on the same needles. I just work one section on the first sock and then do the same on the second. It seems to work well, and although progress seems slow, I shall suddenly be finished and wearing a new pair of socks! (If I don't get too distracted by all these other projects!!)

Thanks to an evening chatting with friends over dinner last week, I got quite a lot of the second of my Dave socks done. I almost always have a plain pair of socks on the go, as they make the best "handbag project" - something that can be whipped out and worked on wherever I am. Although I am feeling rather in need of a project bag that says something like, "NO! I'm not going to knit anything for you." Sigh. I know I knit quite a lot, but I really have limited time to knit, and many more potential recipients than I can possibly knit for, without picking up random re-knitting of much loved jumpers belonging to people I don't know terribly well. Sorry. (I'm sure many of you know what I mean.)

I have a project bag with the yarn wound ready to knit an Extra Warm Men's Scarf by Kyoko Nakayoshi for my brother-in-lawfor that gift-giving opportunity on the horizon that I'm not yet ready to talk about. I've not cast on yet, but it won't be too long. It can't be too long... I'm using some really beautifully soft Juniper Moon Herriot in a deep dark charcoal black colourway. Another new-to-me-yarn that I touched by accident at my local yarn shop, and then couldn't resist!

Finally, at the very bottom of the seemingly-bottomless-bag-of-craft-in-progress is my PINGLEWIN! Which is odd, since this is what I spent most of yesterday working on while I accompanied a kid to a thing. I managed to make legs and join them into body, and it's looking a bit penguin-y, which is pleasing. I am slightly daunted by the many instructions still to come for the wings, beak and tuxedo hoody, but one step at a time, and I'm sure I will get there. It is super-adorable, and is sure to be stolen if I put the project down for too long.

Wow! What a lot of knitting projects! It seems even more now that I've laid them all bare for you to see. Particularly since I'm also committed to making a tree decoration for my knitting group annual swap, as well as an Emma the Bunny which is CROCHET. Yes, me doing crochet, it really is the end of times. I need to get on with that before November is out, as it was one of the things I've always wanted to make. Better get back to making... 

The State of the WIPs/FOs

It feels like a long time since I last updated what I've been making, but I've been busily working away, and the pile of WIPs has diminished significantly. So without further ado, here they are:

My Islay cardigan (pattern by Gudrun Johnston) is complete!

I'm really thrilled with how it has turned out. I added about 2 inches to the body length as I'm fairly tall (5ft 9in), and also continued the garter stitch "seams" down the arms, in the same way as they are worked on the body. Apart from those two small mods, I've knitted exactly as per the pattern. I used just over 10 skeins of gorgeous Buachaille yarn in Between Weathers, and I'm really pleased with how well this yarn works for Islay. It's such a smooth st st fabric, and the lace and ribbing pops really nicely too.

I had a dilema over which buttons to use for this cardi, and my cheeky side really fancied some red octopus buttons that I've had in my stash for a while. In the end though, they didn't sit nicely on the i-cord edging, so I went for these elegant fretwork buttons instead, and I'm delighted with how they look! I shall just have to knit another cardi for the octopi!

I have also finished my Pawkie mitts (designed by Kate Davies) from the Seven Skeins Club that ran before Christmas last year. I finished one mitt back then, but the bag languished waiting for its partner.

These are also knitted in Buachaille Between Weathers, this time with a Ptarmigan contrast. I'm really pleased with them, and I'm sure they will get plenty of wear in the office on chilly days this winter.

And last but not least in the FO parade is my Fractal Danger shawl (designed by Martina Behm).

I so enjoyed making this! I completed it as part of the Summer Strickmich Showdown in Martina's Ravelry group (though as a moderator I'm sadly not eligible for the wonderful prizes!). If you have a pattern by Martina on your needles, or fancy making one during August, then do head over to her group and join the fun!

I used a sushi sock roll from Easy Knits that I've had sitting around for far too long! And I'm really happy with how well it showcases the lovely construction of this shawl/scarf. This is another accessory that will get a lot of wear once the weather turns colder.

That's it for FOs, and I'm down to just two WIPs... My Golden Wheat shawl (yes, I know, yawn... one day I'll pick it up again!), and my Alfrick socks. Looking over at the project page for the Humungous shawl, I last worked on it on a car drive to Chester, and funnily enough we are off to Chester at the end of next week. So who knows? Perhaps I'll dust it off and work a repeat of two. My socks are coming along well too. I've finished the colourwork on the leg of the second sock and I'm ready to start the heel, so look out for finished socks before too long as well.

Whilst I love having a nice choice of projects to work on (and it's always good to have a portable, easy project alongside something larger or more tricky...) I also reach a point where I need to clear the decks. And that's the place I've been for the last few weeks. It's possibly the end of the school year that does it. I need to sort out my spaces and declutter. The same goes for my knitting projects and I'm eagerly anticipating my next few projects - a Harewood Hap and possibly Knitter's DNA. Both gorgeous designs and I've got the perfect yarn just waiting...

What are you working on over the summer?

The state of the WIPs

My period of monogamous knitting appears to have ended. I blame the lure of the knitalong! I thought I would lay out the situation, and hope that in doing so, I'm inspired to work down a few of these projects. The fact is that I am looking forward to the finished product of each and every one of them, and when I work a few rows on this and a few rows on that across too many, it ends up feeling as if I will never finish any of them. So with this in mind, I set off on the half term holidays with 6 works in progress (WIPs) in my bag. And after a week of quite good knitting time, I finished one of them. Not terribly impressive! But I did go on to finish another shortly after my return home, and another isn't far off. So here is The State of the WIPS:

A pair of Dave socks (by Rachel Coopey), knitted in West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4ply Country Birds in the Bullfinch colourway (although to my eye it is far more Greater Spotted Woodpecker-like). These are FINISHED! They've been my handbag knitting project since the start of the year, and eluded discovery when Jim did a project round up a few weeks back, but some concentrated effort in the car resulted in a finished pair. They are a little shorter than they should have been, but I think that Jim's loss will be someone else's gain! More on my Ravelry page here: Woodpecker Daves

I FINISHED my Breezy cardigan (by Hannah Fettig)! This is a project which went much faster than I anticipated. I wasn't sure that I had the knitting time for a drape-front 4ply cardigan at the moment, but here I am wearing it. (And it's lovely and cosy today too - our office gets chilly as it faces north.)

I used some Merino Cashmere Nylon that Jeni at Fyberspates dyed for me many moons ago. It's a lovely variegated blue and green - right up my colour palette street! The pattern is really straightforward, and as a result I worked on it a lot on car journeys and in front of the TV. Even the final rib around the neckband didn't take nearly as long as I had feared. In fact it was the fear of how long it would take that stopped me from working on it over half term. I AM DAFT! More details can be found over on my Ravelry page: Breezy for Me

My Theme and Variation hap (by Veera Välimäki) is coming along nicely (still a WIP though). The final edging is slow going as the number of stitches increases dramatically, and there are two slipped stitch rows (for the secret stripes) that don't contribute to the depth of the hap. So it feels like it's not much bigger than when I last photographed it. But that's an illusion, and I mustn't lose momentum! I'm well on track to finish this before the end of term, which is great as it's a present for a very special teacher who deserves each and every stitch of this. I'm using Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in the Raspberry Cordial and Logwood colourways. Anj at Meadow Yarn was particularly helpful when I was choosing shades, and I've really enjoyed knitting it up. I'm coming to the end of the first skein of Raspberry Cordial, but won't need very much of the second to complete the edging. More details on my Ravelry page here: Whoops I cast on a hap!

I've made more progress than I anticipated on my Islay cardigan (by Gudrun Johnston - last time it was on the blog I had only done the ribbing). Hurrah! I'm about to start work on the charts, which should help me to plough through the rest of the body. The KAL for this ends on the 1st July, so I'm not sure that I will be finished by then, but my attempt won't be too bad. I should be onto sleeves I would imagine (well, that's unless I get distracted by other things...). I'm using some beautiful Buachaille in Between Weathers that Kate generously gave me for my birthday, and it is such a joy to work with - all the best bits about proper wool (bounce! spring!) and soft too. I'm knitting this to go with the summer dress I sewed earlier in the year, and I'm so looking forward to wearing them together. Full details on my Ravelry page: Islay

I've made no progress at all on my Alfrick socks, Pawkie (it needs a pair!) or my Golden Wheat shawl (ahem!). But that's actually probably a good thing. If I'm going to finish things, I need to focus and make progress on one or two projects, rather than trying to do all of them at the same time.

Having cast off two projects, it seemed perfectly reasonable to cast on a new one! I recently started to help Martina Behm as a moderator in her new International Strickmich group on Ravelry, so it seemed only right that I should cast on one of her designs to celebrate this! I'm making Fractal Danger out of a deep-stash Sushi Roll from EasyKnits. The colours are gorgeous, and I'm going to work from light to dark, and back out to light again. This is one of those brilliant designs where it's simple enough to memorise, and I can (more or less) work safely on it while chatting at knitting group, without fear of having to unknit everything when I get home again. This is what I'm working on when I'm too tired to do anything else - it's the ideal soothing project. More information here: Fractal Danger

So that is The State of the WIPs! I don't think I have anything else lurking in a project bag anywhere... I know that by many people's standards, I've not got that much on the go, but I do like to take stock and simplify from time to time. Hopefully I'll be back in a few weeks to report that I've finished my Theme and Variation hap and my Islay cardigan. Then perhaps I can cast on another project from The Book of Haps...

Do you have lots of projects on the go? Or do you prefer monogamy in your knitting?

Keep up to date with all we're doing:
Arnall-Culliford Knitwear on Facebook | Arnall-Culliford Knitwear on YouTube | Arnall-Culliford Knitwear on Ravelry | JenACKnitwear and VeufTricot on Twitter | JenACKnitwear and VeufTricot on Instagram | And sign up in the sidebar to get our blog posts delivered to you by email.

Images © Jen Arnall-Culliford

Pattern talk: Theme and Variation

I've taken a step into the unknown, and tried my hand at video! We've been working with Jesse Wild for some time. I first met him when I worked on The Knitter, and he's been doing my pattern photography for a while. Jim and I have been discussing making some techniques tutorials for a while, so we decided to call in Jesse to do some filming with us. We've made a couple of techniques videos that I'll post over the coming weeks, but to start us off, we've done something more informal. It's basically me sitting in my studio chatting to you about my knitting. Do let us know what you think!

 

We filmed this video a few weeks back, and as an update, I can confirm that this pattern is EXTREMELY addictive. I've really struggled to put it down over the holidays, and I'm now on to the edging, so the end is absolutely in sight! Despite my early thoughts, the KnitPro Symfonie circulars have actually been absolutely fine with the yarn. I haven't had any difficulty with the yarn snagging at the join, or splitting with the sharp tips. It's been a great combination!

I'm so looking forward to giving this to the VERY special teacher I'm making it for. We will miss her so much next year.

Links for the video
Theme and Variation by Veera Välimäki - purchase The Book of Haps in Kate's shop: The Book of Haps - my project page on Ravelry: JenACKnitwear's Theme and Variation
Meadow Yarn
Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light
KnitPro circular needles
Fripperies and Bibelots stitch markers

Keep up to date with all we're doing:
Arnall-Culliford Knitwear on Facebook | Arnall-Culliford Knitwear on YouTube | Arnall-Culliford Knitwear on Ravelry | JenACKnitwear and VeufTricot on Twitter | JenACKnitwear and VeufTricot on Instagram | And sign up in the sidebar to get our blog posts delivered to you by email.

What we're working on now

The title is probably a bit misleading  since this is not about what we're doing business-wise, but what we've got on our needles.

I've stalled recently with my knitting - I just don't seem to be motivated to get anything out. So here's my sleeve and a bit of Jon from Lopi 31. It will keep me warm next winter, or maybe the one after that if I don't get a move on.

In stark contrast, and despite the fact that we've been deep in editing (for what seems like months) of The Book of Haps, Jen has been madly casting on projects. 

Jen's Breezy Cardigan by Hannah Fettig, from Knitbot Essentials looks nearly finished. The neckband will take some time as it is so long. I'm sure it won't be long though. This is a project that's used some rather old Fyberspates Merino/Cashmere/Nylon in Jen's usual blue/green palette.

Before she's finished one cardigan, she's cast on another. This is Gudrun Johnston's Islay cardigan in Buachaille. If you look back to the last post, you'll find out a little more.

While picking through the mound of project bags, I found this lone Pawkie from Kate Davies' Seven Skeins club. There's plenty of yarn left for the other and I'm sure this will come with us on holiday as it's a compact project.

There is of course the inevitable sock project. This is one-and-a-bit Alfrick socks by Rachel Coopey in Lang Jawoll. These have steadily grown over the last few months and I'm sure will be ready well in advance of next autumn - particularly since Jen has fished them out for the Mason-Dixon One Sock Knitalong. Do you have a single sock lurking somewhere? Dig it out and join in.

Finally, there's a super secret project that I can't show you. Yet. It's one of the haps from The Book of Haps that Jen couldn't help but cast on in Tosh Merino Light. Have a look at Jen's project pages once the book is published to see her progress.

This won't be the last project from The Book of Haps that Jen wants to make. Join our Ravelry group to find out how she's getting on and to join the conversation about what's new and exciting in the knitting world.

Jim

FO: Crofthoose Hat

I came back from Edinburgh Yarn Festival with a pile of goodies and lots of enthusiasm for new projects. I was so enthusiastic that I immediately went diving into my stash, hunting for yarn to knit up a Crofthoose Hat. This is Ella Gordon's new Shetland Wool Week design, and is available for free if you register on the Shetland Wool Week website.

I was faced with a yarn choice dilemma... Although I had a good range of suitable colours in my stash, I didn't have a full set of 5 suitable shades in the same yarn. Instead I needed to mix and match a bit. My choices included Jamieson & Smith 2ply Jumperweight, Excelana Luxury 4ply, Lang Yarns Jawoll and Kate Davies Designs Buachaille. An interesting mix of yarns, each with their own properties and qualities to bring to this lovely hat pattern.

I eventually ruled out using Buachaille, since I wasn't sure I had enough Yaffle (green), and it's a thicker yarn than the others at a sport weight. I notice that another Raveller has made a lovely version entirely in Buachaille, so perhaps there's another Crofthoose in my future. Instead I went for two natural shades of J&S jumperweight, Saharan Sand and Cornflower Blue in Excelana and perhaps controversially (more on that in a bit) some green Lang Jawoll.

The knitting of this hat was a heap of fun. As ever with small motifs, there's a real drive to finish the next couple of rows, so that the line of houses appears. It's really hard to stop knitting designs like this! So much so, that I finished the hat after only 4 days of work. In my busy life that felt like some kind of small miracle!

I'm so happy with how it has turned out! The little rows of houses are really appealing! Luckily (or not so luckily) it's still chilly and wet enough here that I can get some wear out of it before spring/summer fully kicks in.

I love how the colours and patterning work together in the crown. Although if you're really eagle-eyed you will notice that I didn't do the final couple of shade changes as the rounds were so short I could face it. I don't think it damages the integrity of Ella's design too much! (Sorry Ella! I'll be less lazy next time... or maybe not...) The other small modification that I made was to move the start of the round for the second set of houses, so that the jog for the end of the round would happen between, rather than in the middle of a croft. Just a minor tweak.

So how did my unconventional choice of sock yarn for the green work out?

Not too badly over all I think. It would definitely work better if the green were either J&S or Excelana, but in the absence of something more suitable and given I wanted to cast on immediately, I'm perfectly happy with it.

To explain the difference I've taken a close up shot of the 5 shades. My apologies that the palest J&S is out of focus, but this was my first play with a tripod and macro lens on my iPhone. It didn't turn out too badly really. :)

From left to right the yarns are:
Jamieson & Smith Shetland Supreme 2ply Jumperweight in Black - 100% wool, yarn's construction is 2ply and it's woollen spun.
Excelana Luxury 4ply in Cornflower Blue - 100% wool, yarn's construction is 3ply and it's worsted spun.
Lang Jawoll in Grass Green - 75% wool, 25% nylon, yarn's construction is 4ply and it's worsted spun.
Excelana Luxury 4ply in Saharan Sand - 100% wool, yarn's construction is 3ply and it's worsted spun.
Jamieson & Smith Shetland Supreme 2ply Jumperweight in Gaulmogot - 100% wool, yarn's construction is 2ply and it's woollen spun.

There are 3 main factors at play in the suitability of these yarns for stranded colourwork.

• Firstly the fibre content - wool is really well suited to colourwork as it has bounce and the stretchiness allows the yarns to work to a nice even tension. This is particularly evident after blocking, where the woollen stitches settle and lie beautifully flat and even. The nylon content of the Lang Jawoll is brilliant for making socks hardwearing, but it does remove some of the natural stretch of the wool. So you can perhaps see that the green stitches in the crofthoose above haven't evened out as much as their more woolly neighbours.
• Secondly the yarn's construction - with increasing numbers of plies, the profile of the strand of yarn becomes more rounded and can be denser. This means that light reflects differently, and the general appearance of the stitches differs. For a more consistent look to the finished fabric, I should definitely have stuck with a single style of construction!
• And thirdly, the spinning process used to create the yarn - a worsted spun yarn has all the fibres combed to lie parallel prior to spinning, which makes for a softer feel to the finished wool. It also means that fewer fibre ends poke out from the strand of yarn, and the yarn is denser. Woollen spun yarns are carded so that the fibres lie in a web, all pointing in different directions. This creates a more rustic but very light and airy yarn. The benefit of this to colourwork is that when a woollen spun yarn is blocked it will bloom and the fibres relax out further, almost hazing into each other. You can see fairly clearly in my photo above that the black J&S on the far left is hairier than its worsted spun Excelana neighbour.

I would definitely happily combine Excelana 4ply and J&S jumperweight in a project in future. Despite the difference in construction and spinning process, I found that they worked sympathetically together. In an ideal world I wouldn't mix in a sock yarn. Though who knows, if I'm bitten by that much of a knitting desire again, I may need to!

Many thanks again to Ella for the beautiful design. There are lots of lovely colourways appearing over on Ravelry so do be sure to check them out, and register with Shetland Wool Week to download your own copy of this lovely pattern. You can see all the technical details of my project over on my Ravelry page: JenACKnitwear's Crofthoose Hat.

Have you ever had a yarn combination disaster? Or have you winged it like me and gotten lucky? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

FO: Stopover sweater

Whoosh! And it was done!

In a shade over 2 weeks I have officially banged out this sweater. And now I'm not taking it off. No, really, I'm not! It is light and snuggly and warm, and it is giving me that warm glow of satisfaction in the creation of something beautiful and useful. I'm trying hard not to immediately cast on another one...

Just in case you've missed any of my excitement over the last fortnight, this is a Stopover, designed by the delightful Mary Jane Mucklestone. Jim and I edited up some extra sizes for the pattern, to help with the excitement that Kay and Ann have generated with their Bang Out A Sweater KAL. They are world class enablers. Resistance truly is FUTILE! You can browse the beautiful finished sweaters on Instagram with the bangfinisher hashtag.

There's been a bit of chatter over on Ravelry about adding short rows to the back neck, in order to raise the back/drop the front neck. So I thought I'd share my blocking photo here... This is how I shaped my neckline while it was damp, and then left it to dry. I've not added any short rows. It's entirely shaped as per the original instructions in the pattern. I followed Mary Jane's excellent advice to block it firmly to the shape I wanted, and then I marked the back neck by weaving in some of the orange contrast, to remind myself which side was which. I'm not sure that adding short rows would have improved on this particularly! So trust in Mary Jane, and just shape it while damp. :)

I will do almost anything to avoid knitting with 3 colours in a round, so the contrast pops of orange and teal at the neck were added by duplicate stitch (Swiss darning) at the very end. I then went round and patted and prodded the stitches in the colourwork and darning while it was damp, to ensure that everything was looking its absolute best. I'm constantly amazed by the power of a bit of poking at this stage in a garment. It's transformative!

If you're inspired to make your own Stopover, I'm de-stashing my leftovers... You can find all the details on my Ravelry trade or sell pages: Leftover Lopi

There is still plenty of time to knock one out before the weather warms up!

Pounding out a sweater

I can't put it down. Since I cast on last week, I've knitted the body and 1.5 sleeves. This jersey is everything Kay and Ann promised. Satisfying and most of all QUICK! My plan is this: Continue to knit monogamously on my Stopover, and then enjoy being snuggly warm wearing it, while I knit the remainder of my Alfrick socks for the BomBella Colourwork KAL.

I thought I'd be able to balance work on each of these projects, but in reality, I am overtaken by the fact that I just want to be wearing the sweater! And I want to be wearing it right now. I am hoping to finish the second sleeve tonight, and it should then be a sprint through the yoke. Once I join the pieces in a design like this I feel like it gets faster and faster until the final stitches are cast off and it's done. No doubt it's the decreasing number of stitches in the rounds, but I'm sure I just knit more quickly too. At times in my past knitting life I've knitted on many projects at once, but more and more I'm finding that monogamous attention to one project is what works best for me. It feels like I finish things more quickly if I focus on them. It doesn't stop me daydreaming about the next project though, and I have a few ideas up my sleeve...

A Tale of Two Knitalongs

I am so easily enabled. It's ridiculous! I have a number of great projects in my queue on Ravelry, all waiting patiently with yarn and pattern in a bag and ready to grab at a moments notice. But all it takes is the feeling of excitement emanating from scores of knitters online, and I'm diverted - printing off a new pattern, and searching for the right yarn. Exactly this has happened to me, not once but twice in the last fortnight!

First up was Bombella's Colourwork KAL. I've been talking about making colourwork socks for some time. And up until now, I've not taken that leap. I wouldn't say that I was exactly scared of them, but something deep in my psyche has definitely pressed my pause button. I love colourwork, and have made a good number of colourwork accessories and garments, but never socks. So Ella's KAL with the promise of support, and plenty of fun chatter around techniques and tips, was the perfect opportunity to jump in the deep end! I'm casting on a pair of Alfrick socks. It's a beautiful design by Rachel Coopey - and I've had the yarn waiting in my stash since I first edited the pattern last year. I'm using Lang Jawoll which has the added bonus of coming in 50g balls, so I only needed to purchase 100g of yarn (rather than 200g for sock yarns with the more common 100g put-up). I also plan to use the little bobbins of reinforcing thread for the heels and toes, since that's where I wear through my socks most frequently.

Image © Rachel Coopey

Then as if one KAL wasn't enough... I've been following the Mason-Dixon blog for a good while now. It's been a joy to see Kay and Ann return to regular blogging. They really make me laugh and I love the feeling of community that their blog has created. They started to post about wanting to Bang Out A Sweater in a few weeks... A sweater you could wear before the weather improves... Tempting. Their chosen pattern was Stopover by Mary Jane Mucklestone.

Image © Kathy Cadigan; Design © Mary Jane Mucklestone

It's a design in létt lopi, knitted at a loose gauge to give a light airy fabric. Sounds lovely! But I got tipped over the edge when Mary Jane emailed to ask if Jim and I could add some extra sizes to the pattern, ready for the KAL. I'm a sucker for being made to sit and look at pretty sweater pictures all day! I just couldn't resist! So I made a swift yarn order, and I'm ready to go. If you want to see a heap of pretty lopi sweater pictures, I recommend checking out the #BangOutASweater hashtag on Ravelry and on Instagram in the following weeks. There are some lovely colourways in progress. Who knows? One sweater may not be enough...

Given how easily lead I am, can anyone else be tempted into joining me? Gwaaan, you know you want to!