knitting – Page 3 – Daily Fiber

Travel Shawl Finished

Posted on April 2, 2025 by Laura Kate

This week I cast off this shawl, the last stashbuster of 2024. This shawl started life as a hurry-up project to accompany me on our trip to the Canadian Rocky Mountain coach tour in July of 2024. I found the easiest pattern I could lay my hands on quickly, gathered up a bunch of fingering weight leftovers and hit the road.

She was cast on in the Calgary hotel lobby.

Progress happened throughout the trip. I improvised the color and stitch changes.

In late July, the shawl and I were in Northern Wisconsin for a week at the lake.

With the passing of my father in August, we drove to Ohio, the shawl serving as a comforting activity on the long trip to and from.

In December, I sat with my friend who was dying, slowly knitting and listening as she told me what was in her heart.

In January, the shawl came to Iowa, where we signed the papers to purchase our new home. In March we were back in Iowa to visit with family – a joyous occasion.

I haven’t even worn it, but it is embedded with many memories. Memories of all the places where I have knit it, the people who were present and the emotions I felt. Each color change reminds me of the projects that I have made with that specific yarn, and who received the finished project.

This simple little shawl carries a lot of stuff for me. I guess I will keep it.

Linking up with The Unravelers, courtesy of As Kat Knits.

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Unraveled Wednesday: Autumn Bloom

Posted on March 26, 2025July 23, 2025 by Laura Kate

Dear friends

Thanks for letting me join your monthly Wednesday knitting show and tell. Today I have photos of the pullover finished recently for my daughter. Her friend Krystal kindly snapped some photos.

I was gratified to find that it fit her perfectly. This is a version of Autumn Bloom by Olga Putano Designs available on Ravelry.com. My modification is in the sleeve. Daughter did not want the stranded panel included in the pattern, which mimics the yoke design. Instead I worked the contrasting yarns into the very deep cuffs by knitting them with a corrugated rib stitch.

Using the gold Malabrigo yarn was a little tricky. I had skeins from multiple dye lots, so they didn’t really go together. I blended two different toned skeins by alternating each round. The two strands are twisted together at the center back.

The multi colored yarn in the yoke is Knit Picks Hawthorne dk in colorway Foster Powell. I also used a skein of Swish in colorway moss.

And that will satisfy my desire to knit sweaters for awhile. Projects planned for 2025 completion are mostly accessories and socks. But don’t quote me on this. When I come across an amazing yarn or pattern, I’m not shy about changing my plans.

To see the work of other Ravelers, click here.

knitting

Wednesday WIP and 2025 Knitting projects in the Queue

Posted on January 29, 2025 by Laura Kate

For all my blogging knitters, this is an update. While I haven’t posted about knitting in some time, my needles have been clicking away, and my project queue is longer than ever. Let’s start with this pull-over/jumper.

I am knitting it for dear daughter, and this week I finished the body. Since she and I are roughly the same size, I knew that if it fit my body, it would fit hers. Ta da! It fits. Those interested, the gold yarn is Malabrigo Rios in colorway Frank Ochre The contrasting yarn in the yoke is from KnitPicks – Hawthorne dk in Foster Powell multi and Swish in Moss. She chose the pattern from a selection of patterns in Ravelry. It’s called Autumn Bloom , designed by Olga Putana.

So last week, I went through my project bags and my yarn closet and discovered that I have Four WIP’s and Five New Projects lined up with pattern and yarn secured. That’s way more than I thought. And yes, I am guilty of buying yarn lately. In my defense, it was All On Sale.

I won’t bore you with the WIPs today (pretty sure that I’ve written about each of them in 2024.) But here is what I am planning to knit this year, once I get WIPs done:

Rivers and Ravens Cowl, by Nat Raedwulf in two natural colors of alpaca yarn.
Paper Dolls cap-sleeved vest, by Kate Davies. I have some blue-violet Ultra Alpaca from Berroco for the main color.
Wildwood Crescent Shawl, by Andrea Mowry, in three shades of purple
A pair of socks for Bill, in a self-striping Schachenmayr Regia yarns, purchased from Jimmy Beans Wool.
Felted mittens, using the brown Icelandic wool Mandy gave me Christmas.

I know this post is light on photographs, sorry friends. It’s late and I am tired. I promise to do a charming photo shoot of all the new yarns in my stash, once the weather improves. In the meantime, remember to stay calm and keep knitting.

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Last Finish for 2024

Posted on December 31, 2024 by Laura Kate

Hello, it’s been a busy month for me. I couldn’t let the year pass into history without sharing one final fiber object completed. I choose knitting.

The pattern is Velvet Mirror, a cowl designed by Andrea Mowry. In this image, it is laid out to dry after washing. You can see that the colors used in the stranded design are reversed at the mid-way point.

I enjoyed knitting two colors in the round, which allows continuous stockinette stitch – no purling back. It’s a very clever design.

Once the cowl is dry, the two ends of the tube are sewn together using Kitchener stitch, after adding a half twist.

The twist allows a lovely drape, which can be worn in the front or the back.

Both yarns are from Knit Picks. The white is a luxury blend called Paragon made from merino, alpaca and mulberry silk. The color changing yarn is from a now-discontinued line called Impressionist in colorway Rembrandt. I wish that you could reach through the internet and feel how soft this garment is.

I highly recommend the design, and plan to try other patterns by Andrea Mowry.

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Friday Follow up

Posted on November 15, 2024November 15, 2024 by Laura Kate

Last week I said that I would write more about my latest knitting project.

…..so here I am to do just that.

It started with some discount yarn I had purchased on Knitpicks from a product line called Impressionist. I got the “impression” that the line would be discontinued soon because the price was deeply slashed.

It’s a sport weight yarn with fibers of extra-fine merino wool and nylon. The yarn is really stretchy, light weight and very fuzzy. I purchased 2 – 25 gram balls, giving me about 330 yards. I thought it might work well in a stranded design, paired with a sturdier yarn in a neutral color.

Here’s better photo showing the multitude of shades. The color is called Renoir.

The neutral creamy white that will be Renoir’s partner is Paragon, again from Knitpicks. This is a luxury yarn blended of fine merino wool, baby alpaca and mulberry silk. It was NOT on sale (but I only needed one skein.) It’s also a sport-weight, but heavier than the multi-hued yarn, and just as soft.

The amount of yardage I purchased led me to search for cowl patterns. My criteria was tube construction. This means the cowl would be knit in the round, always a plus when working stranded patterns. It will keep the wrong side of the knitting on the inside of the tube and out of view.

Velvet Mirror, by Andrea Mowry matched my criteria and called for sport weight yarns.

This pattern has been knit by more than 500 ravelers and has a 4.9 out of 5 star rating. The pattern is charted, not difficult once you get going. I’m having a very good time working it.

Each chart is worked twice. When the knitting is complete, the two edges will be connected using Kitchener stitch, that clever and invisible stitch most frequently used to close up the toes of knitted socks.

What are you working on these days, and how is it going for you?