A Finish, a Newbie and a Save.

Hello there! Time for a little catch up and a knit and natter. My latest make is a tank top from The Knitter issue 166. It is a cabled top called Demeter by Emma Vining

I am loving tank tops at the moment. Our house is too warm for my old chunky knits of the past but sleeveless tops are perfect. This has a complex interlocked rectangle design which was tricky. Using stitch markers every 15 stitches helped me to keep the pattern accurate. 

The top is made from Stylecraft organic cotton which is double knit, it is worth noting that, for a cotton yarn, it did not spilt. I used seven skeins so it was a very economical make. I always joke with my girls that they are allowed to disown me when I start wearing beige. Heidi reminded me of this when I finished the top to which I replied "It is an "Antique Rose!" The colour is actually 7188 wood.

I always have my next knitting project in my mind while finishing the previous one. So let me introduce Jory by Outi Kater, a fairisle kids knit that goes up to age 13-14 years. Bingo! A sweater knit for Heidi that looks grown up but to which I can make the arms longer for my gibbon girl.

Heidi does not wear pure wool well so I plumped for Sirdar Country Style which is 50% wool and 50% acrylic. The only draw back of the pattern is that it is in 4ply. I ploughed my way through some catch up TV and the grey body in anticipation of the patterned yoke.

I am really enjoying the colourwork, each row takes about 30 - 40 minutes but I like to ensure the floats are correct so that yoke still has stretch. The yarn bloomed just enough for stranded work without being pure wool. This sweater will take me to the end of November before I start knitting for Christmas.

My final knitting project to show is a save. I desperately wanted to save my joyride jumper. It had an old issue and a new issue to solve. The old issue was that I had cast on too tight so the rib constantly flipped up...so irritating. Since making this jumper I know now that if I cast on with needles it is better for me than the thumb method and stops the issue.

The newest issue is that I washed it after a bonfire party and it grew! It was already a touch long and with the added length it was really unflattering. You would think only the brave would decide to shorten a sweater from the bottom but it was actually quite easy.

With a double length of contrast yarn you pick up the stitches all the way round a little shorter than you would like to allow for an added rib. Do this in good light so that you don't drift onto another row above or below.

You will know you have kept to the one row when you return to the beginning and you are one row below where you started. Snip the yarn above the contrast yarn. Leave a couple of rows if you are not feeling too brave!

Pull back the un needed yarn and roll up to use as your rib. Ensure you are using the correct needle size for the yarn. 

Luckily, I keep a knitting journal so I looked up the needle size from 2019. Geeky or what!

Pick up the stitches from the spare yarn trying not to split any yarn. Pull out any spare rows carefully. All you have to do now is knit on a rib using the yarn you have taken off.

Ta dah! A fantastic save: a better length, no flipping rib and the bonfire smell has gone. It is a bit big in the arms but I kind of like nice long arms to fill my coat sleeves for dog walking.

Any seasonal knitting happening at your end?

Jo xxx