FO: Penguono!

A few weeks ago I weaved in the last of many ends on this beauty and since then it’s been worn almost every day of the week! I am in complete and total love over how this knit turns out.

I am slightly ashamed that it took me so long to decided to cast it on! It used to look like an intimidating piece but turned out to be simplistic yet genius in its design and construction. I made one change in that the bottom band I did more than the recommended rows and used a whole skein (the only one I actually purchased for this project) as I wanted the sweater to be a bit longer for my tall frame.

I got around to taking a few photos this morning and they honestly don’t do it justice! There is something about Black that doesn’t photograph so well- at least for an amateur photographer like myself & my old iPhone. I am already looking forward to casting on my next sweater! I wonder what it could be…..

Hmm…

XO,

Christine

P.S- I highly recommend blocking- the difference was HUGE- and overall grew about 4″. I didn’t check my final measurements against what was stated in the pattern but it was a game changer for relaxing all of the garter stitch sections…

WEEKLY ROUNDUP; episode 6

It’s been a while; and I’m late! It’s Saturday night right now and we have had a family full day of brunch and a zoo trip, laughs and non stop running around (baby girl seriously tried to introduce herself to every other kid at the zoo today…🤦🏼‍♀️). In other words… it was a perfectly exhausting day.

In my knitting world I have some very exciting news…. PENGUONO IS FINISHED! I love it, it’s beautiful and strangely I already want to make another even though I have a million other items I also want to make….

Now not a lot of photos as of yet but hope to get a few more to share soon. For now enjoy…

Now some house keeping…. life has picked up for us recently and I’m finding that even though I have time to knit I can’t get that little extra time to do a weekly roundup of my knitting progress…. so I will be moving to MONTHLY roundups. This will allow me the chance to give you a well rounded, well written roundup and then allow for little mini posts throughout the weeks between.

So this weeks post is just for “show”… hoping to give a more proper individual posting for my finished Penguono!

Best,

Christine

WEEKLY ROUNDUP; episode 5

The first few times I have done these weekly roundups I have been adamant about writing THROUGHOUT the week and doing a final check before publishing.  This week however has been messy.  My full time job has kept me on my toes as we are heading into crunch-time; and though with my little family I have been given set working hours the days leave me with so much stress I am completely mentally drained when I leave and don’t want to think about writing.  And after there is baby to put to bed and the constant of keeping up with anything home related.  Top it off that for the last week and a half I have been prepping for her first birthday party.   This momma is EXHAUSTED!  All that being said I have squeezed (literally) as much knitting as possible into this crazy schedule of mine because DEADLINES!  So here I am, less than a day before posting, writing up a nice long and lengthy weekly roundup!  Here we goooo!!

I am happy to announce that I have finished the Popcorn Vest and Bonnet; and at just under a week before I need to have baby girl unwrap for her birthday!  Let me just say I am so crazy happy with the results… honestly my best knitted set yet.  Considering how many times I have actually knit this pair, I have made minor revisions each time which have either made the knitting more seamless, literally and figuratively.

This time around instead of BO then sewing together the shoulder seams, then later picking up the back neck for the rib trim; I chose to keep the stitches live.  This way I was able to kitchener the shoulders then easily use the live back neck stitches to seamlessly join with the rib trim.  For some this may seem like a little more work and maybe it was; however one thing I am still mastering as a knitter is picking up stitches, and picking them up evenly and beautifully.  This change allowed me to up the quality of the vest itself; no more worrying if I picked up enough stitches evenly or consistently- they were already live for my working!

I also slipped all edge stitches, giving me nice clean edges to work with at the front edge and armholes.  While I may not have picked up as many stitches as the pattern states, I know that what I did pick up and cast on will be sufficient enough for my daughter to wear.

Pattern:Popcorn Vest & Bonnet by Studio Misha & Puff

Yarn:Sawkill Farms Worsted; Undyed Wool (Romney, Icelandic, Finn, Texel mix) from 2015 knit with Alchemy Yarns of Transformation Haiku in Fieldstone + rib trim in Sawkill Farms Worsted; Undyed Wool from 2016 ***

Last weekend I allowed myself the luxury of finishing up the underarms on my Penguono and ohhh I have a knitted thing that looks like a sweater!  It is so exciting!  I still have the neck and bottom bands to do which I keep changing my mind on what yarn I would like to use…I have been determined to not buy any yarns to complete this but am contemplating getting a single skein of Purl Soho Flax Down. This is the yarn I chose to use for the main back panel and something tells me it would be nice to have it repeat but I think I will still try to use what I have.

Project/ Designer:Penguono by Steven West

Yarn:  Purl Soho Flax Down in Kettle Black + The Fibre Co Cumbria Fingering in Scafell Pike & Dodd Wood + Lake yarns Alturas in Shell Seeker + OWool Local in Gray Birch + Skeinny Dipping Fingering and Skeinny Dipping DK in Cease and Desist + Baa Ram Ewe Titus in Coal

Until next time….

XO.

WEEKLY ROUNDUP; episode 4

So this week I have been focused very closely on making sure I finish my baby girls popcorn vest and bonnet in time for her birthday.  That is fast approaching so I don’t have the luxury of taking my time!  It was a bit of a last-minute decision as I am starting these pieces with a little over 3 weeks before her birthday…. yikes!  To see my initial post on these pieces take a look at A little detour….  Progress is going well and the vest (minus ribbing) will be done by the time this post is up.  The bonnet is a very quick knit and I should have it done in under a week.  The ribbing for the vest (and the little bit on the bonnet) won’t take long either but picking up the appropriate amount of stitches is the bit that takes the longest and is the most frustrating part of the process for me.

Pattern:Popcorn Vest & Bonnet by Studio Misha & Puff

Yarn:Sawkill Farms Worsted; Undyed Wool (Romney, Icelandic, Finn, Texel mix) from 2015 knit with Alchemy Yarns of Transformation Haiku in Fieldstone + rib trim in Sawkill Farms Worsted; Undyed Wool from 2016 ***

When I am not working on my popcorn pieces (baby girl is SMART so I work on something else when shes awake and around) I’ve continued progress on my Penguono.  I am now complete with BOTH sleeves and need to finish up  the underarms, collar and bottom band.  Somewhere in the back of my mind the hope is to also have this finished in time for baby girls birthday (or at least her party) for me to wear.  That however is wishful thinking but I will still try!

Project/ Designer:Penguono by Steven West

Yarn:  Purl Soho Flax Down in Kettle Black + The Fibre Co Cumbria Fingering in Scafell Pike & Dodd Wood + Lake yarns Alturas in Shell Seeker + OWool Local in Gray Birch + Skeinny Dipping Fingering and Skeinny Dipping DK in Cease and Desist + Baa Ram Ewe Titus in Coal

Beyond these two knits I am anxious to get back to work on my two other projects, the Masala Shawl and baby test knit.  But one stitch as a time…..

XO,

Christine

stitching itching

Its been a bit of a slow time for me at my full-time job, and while I embrace the 1-2 weeks where my work load is practically non-existent I tend to get very impatient for something to do.  Naturally right now my thoughts turn to knitting and all the things I wish to have on my needles.

And the knitting I’m craving right now is to start a Penguono.  Have you seen this?!- I have been dreaming of knitting one of these for some time now and right now all I want to do is cast this baby on!  This of course is a Steven West beauty and his creativity is just, so through the roof- it’s truly incredible.

The knitting itself on this has not held me back from making it; it has actually been my yarn stash!  What I find so genius about this sweater (one thing; once I actually fully read through the pattern and start knitting I’m SURE I’ll have more “genius” comments to make…) is the pattern note that states there is no guide to striping/ color blocking and it is all to knitters preference.  And because of this little detail I have refrained from casting on as I have never had a stash that I felt is compatible with each other (that’s the fashion-colorist day job bleeding into my knitting).  But now I really need to stash bust and this seems like a good way for me to do so and in a worsted wt at that.

So here’s to checking out that yarn stash basket of mine (maybe tonight?!) and plotting out using all that extra yarn…..

XO.

P.S- as I do not have any personal photos or the rights to post any existing photos of the piece discussed above, no photos are included in this post.