Category: knitting

Posted in knitting

Unravelled Wednesday: 3-11-26

Posted on by Laura Kate

Joining As Kat Knits and others to share updates on my reading and knitting efforts for the week.

The project I cast on last week is quite a bit further along.

This interesting vest in a mosaic stitch is knit on big needles with bulky/chunky yarn. You see here the front and, peeking through the front opening, a bit of the back. I am within a few inches of finishing the back. The next step will be I-cord edgings around arms and outer edges. My big decision will be which of the three colors to use for the edgings – light gray, dark gray or gold. Do any of you have a favorite?

I’ve gone through most of the balls of yarns (no yarn chicken game is expected, as I have another ball of each color still in reserve.)

On to reading. For those who are Michael Pollan fans, I can suggest his latest book: A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness. Ever since I read In Defense of Food, I have been a big fan and consume everything he puts out. This topic was a bit unexpected, until I read the preface, in which he explains how he came to write about it. I was dubious from the start. After all, scholars and scientists often can’t even agree on how to describe the state of being conscious, let alone how to study it. Most often, that effort is compared to a fish trying to describe water. There’s no way to get outside of it. It’s impossible to be objective or to apply the scientific method. Anyway, I got through the first two chapters as a sample on my virtual library. As soon as a copy is available, I’ll carry on where I left off.

This post is linked to As Kat Knits Unraveled Wednesday 3-11-26.

Posted in knitting

Unraveled Wednesday 3-04-26

Posted on by Laura Kate

Joining As Kat Knits and the others Ravelers to update my current projects and reading. This week I have cast on a project that has been in my queue for at least a year. It all got started with stashbusting.

At left, take a look at the gold yarn. I have two of these left over from a sweater I made way…… back. Of course I no longer have the label, which tells where I got the yarn and what it’s made of. I do know that it has a large percentage of llama. Like its cousin the alpaca, llama fur is soft to the touch and doesn’t make you itch.

For more than ten years, I have wondered what to do with it. The color is overly rambunctious. It occurred to me that toning it down with neutrals might be the way to go. Hence my choice of Kate Harvie’s pattern, Color Chat – Chunky Version.

© Kate Harvie

It’s an interesting knit. Using a slip-stitch pattern, the yarns are switched every row. This tactic works only when the knitter uses three balls. The neutral companions I chose for my Color Chat vest are Berroco’s Ultra Alpaca Chunky in colorway Light Gray and Wool of the Andes Bulky in colorway Cobblestone Heather. All three yarns are 100% animal fiber, so should play nicely together. Incidentally, Knitpicks now sells Berroco yarns on its site.

As for my reading efforts, I am really all over the map. Nothing currently is under my eyeballs. While on vacation, I picked up Memoirs of a Geisha from the shelf of one of our hosts and got very engrossed. Reluctantly, I left the book with its owner, but delightfully, I found the title at my virtual library so I could finish my read.

This book, written back in the 1990’s, is a novel, but presented as if it were a biography. It’s the tale of a poor Japanese daughter of a fisherman who was sold into servitude to a geisha house in Kyoto. Against all odds, she succeeds in rising through the ranks to become one of the most successful geishas of her time. Keeping within the dramatic romantic narrative, she falls in love with a rich patron who frees her. This book gave me insight into how few options women have in patriarchal societies and what sort of choices must be made just to stay alive.

Linking this post with the March 4 2026 As Kat Knits post.

Posted in knitting

Unravellers Wednesday 2-24-26: Gifted

Posted on by Laura Kate

Making good on my promise to Bill at Christmas, this week I finished knitting this pair of socks for him. The lovely, self-striping yarn is Regia by Schachenmayr, made in Italy for a German company. Once I popped open the yarn strap, I was surprised to learn that the manufacturer offers a 10 Year Guarantee! That includes a free replacement if the yarn does not meet my high standard after washing and wearing!

So far, the pair meets Bill’s high standard for fit and comfort.

I can’t speak quite as highly of the pattern I used, to the point that I’m not going to link you to it. Unfortunately, the Vanilla Socks on 2 Circs pattern that I used for this knit was a bit vague and contained at least one error. Instead, I would direct the would-be sock knitter to a terrific pattern called Hermione’s Everyday Sock, available via Ravelry.com

More than 44,000 knitters have made socks using this pattern, so it must be good. The pair I knit a few years back using this pattern by Erica Lueder, came out very well indeed, if a touch big for my skinny feet. And if you haven’t yet signed up to be a member of Ravelry.com, this free pattern should be a good incentive to do so. Membership is also free.

So that’s what was on my needles most recently. Under my eyeballs during the same time was Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown. This biography of the 1936 Olympic eight-man crew gold medalists is not a typical fit for my reading tastes. It was recommended to me by a friend. By a strange coincidence, I saw the book on a prominent shelf at my local library within a few days of getting the recommendation. I was clearly meant to read it. The author does a masterful job, telling the story about young men growing up in hardship during the Depression, and how they triumphed by learning to trust each other while pursuing their shared goal of Olympic Gold in Hitler’s Berlin.

This post is linked to As Kat Knit’s Unravelers post of Feb 25, 2026.

Posted in knitting, painting

Unraveled Wednesday from Here

Posted on by Laura Kate

Waking up again to new snowfall. The wind blew it all about, and it’s clear that we are in for some of the coldest weather I have ever experienced.

Not to fret, I have my yarn (and blog friends) to keep me warm. Here’s what’s on my needles today.

In December I promised Bill that I would knit him a pair of socks. At Christmas, I formalized the promise with this gift, wrapped up with a swatch of the yarn.

This yarn has been in my stash since last January. It is Regia, by Schachenmayr. I have wanted to try this classic self-striping sock yarn for a long time. It was a bit fiddly getting started. I chose to knit from the cuff down using a 1 by 2 rib pattern. Getting cast-on with four sock needles was hard and the first few round tedious. But now I have my rhythm going.

As far as reading goes, the desire to stay inside and curled up has me almost desperate for new reading material. Succumbing to the stacks of detective novels that Bill has sprinkled throughout the house, I chose StillLife, by Louise Penny. I pretty much raced through it in two days. As murder mysteries go, it was fairly gentle, with more writing about relationships than graphic descriptions of violence and cruelty. It turned out to be just what I needed to get through the long, cold nights of January.

To read about posts by Kat’s other Unravelers, visit her site and link into the party.

Posted in knitting

First Finish of 2026

Posted on by Laura Kate

Hello friends. Despite the fact that I have been silent for more than a month, my needles have been busy. I cast on this shawl pattern by designer Andrea Mowry in early December. I cast off on Friday. The close-up above gives you an idea of the shawl’s textures and colors. In the past, I would have photographed my yarn selections as I bag them up into project bags. This project got all knitted up without any photographs of the yarn. Reviewing my yarn buying history, I found these Knit Pick skeins were purchased in January of 2025. So I’ll just link you to the vendor’s site.

Hawthorn in colorway Goddess

Hawthorn in colorway Sweet Home Tonal

Twill in colorway Lavender

I am particularly fond of the Twill yarn. Because it is a 3-ply yarn in a plump merino wool, it makes very nice stitches that have good definition. I’ve already bought more for a fun cardigan that is planned for later in the year.

Anyway, back to the finish: This shawl is Big:

It stretches beyond the width of my queen-size guest bed. I’m guessing the wingspan is about seven feet. That will make for a good couple of wraps around the neck. Iowa is COLD. I have discovered that the more wool items I have on, the better I feel.

To learn more about Andrea Mowry and her fabulous designs, click here.

What’s on your needles?