So, last night my yarn quantity for the Harlow Sweater V Neck was bothering me. I was knitting along the back of the garment as I should and I love the super soft hand of the Katia Cotton-Merino yarn. BUT I kept thinking that I didn’t have enough yarn because I was already into my second 50g ball and I hadn’t even finished the back yet. Never mind, the garment is supposed to be oversized and it has sleeves! So, I put down my knitting and went back to the original pattern description and took a look at the yarn requirements.
Katia Concept Cotton-Merino “swatch”
I must have been really sick when I decided that this yarn would work! LOL. It won’t work … well, it would work if I had half again as much yarn. The original pattern calls for 450 grams for the XL size (fifth size). And the description on the Ravelry pattern page says:
“Approximately 300, (325), 350, (400), 450, (500), 500, (550), 550 grams of BC Garn “Semilla Pura”, 100 grams = 350 meters / 382 yards, featured in color 03”
In this instance, duh, the yarn is 382 yards to 100 grams. MY yarn is 115 yards to 50 grams or 230 yards to 100 grams. Oops! Too little yarn by 1792-1035= 937 yards. That’s a big difference! So, do I try to order more yarn to use up some stashed yarn or just frog it and find a different yarn to make this sweater in? I chose to frog it and return it to the stash. Today, if I have the energy, I will go through some of my stashed yarn and see if there is something in it that I’d like to use instead. I need a worsted weight or a sport held double with a lace to make a worsted. I like the idea of holding the two yarns together but there’s something that I like about just knitting with one strand of a worsted weight.
Flu brains are not always functioning. I feel like I should know better than this. BUT I will blame it on being sick and move on. I credit knitting for helping me to see that this is not a failure but another learning opportunity. I think my gut kept telling me that it wasn’t going to work but I wasn’t listening to my gut. When I did my “homework” I accepted the pivot, frogged the project and didn’t judge or shame myself. Self-talk is what tells me that I have grown as a human being. I didn’t call myself names this time. That’s progress.
This darned bug! I didn’t sleep well last night and there is finally a new cough medicine at the pharmacy for me this morning. Hubby will be fetching it soon. Meanwhile, I’m trying to get enough energy to vacuum my atelier which is knee-deep in dog hair. Anybody who thinks short haired dogs don’t shed much … our lab sheds like he’s getting paid for it! I may be allergic to him so I wonder if the mountains of dog hair floating around are adding to my coughing problems. I may have to vacuum in a couple of rounds.
I wish I’d bought stock in tissues! I have been going through tissues like crazy … seriously, perhaps a box or two every day! Is that sharing too much?
Yesterday I worked a lot on my Gansey Afghan. I am really enjoying the pattern and it’s a good, low level challenge for my brain right now. It’s not boring because of the different texture patterns but it’s not a huge challenge either. And it’s really pretty. I have been thinking about making another one for me, an orange one perhaps, for my atelier. We shall see. I do have a long list of things to knit already formed.
I have one virtual meeting today and I managed two loads of laundry yesterday. I had run out of clean pajamas! My hubby changed the sheets on our bed so I’m in compliance with my allergy doc’s advice … does anybody wash their bed sheets every week anymore? I’m allergic to dust mites and even with a new mattress, new pillows and no curtains or rugs in our bedroom, that was her recommendation. I think I need to buy another set of sheets!
This is almost the right color green. I’m not sure why it refuses to photograph well but, alas, it does. Anyway, the directions say to knit until it’s 48 inches long. I haven’t measured the length yet but I think that I’ll knit until about 12 rows shy of the end of the fourth repeat of the chart which should use up most of my yarn before the last 11 rows of garter stitch to end the project. AND end having bits and bobs of yarn left over. The last afghan I made, for my bonus daughter and her hubby, used just over two balls leaving me almost an entire 900 yards of yarn “left over”. Ugh! At that rate, I’ll never not have a ton of yarn. LOL
It’s a beautiful sunny day today and the lake out front is empty of ice fishermen but their shacks dot the ice as far as the eye can see. It’s so quiet here. How lucky we are to be able to live here in this special place at this crazy time in our nation’s history. I’m so saddened by the division and hatred at all levels of our government and locally, often between just the average Joe who has to be feeling the financial hurt that we are feeling. Groceries are so much more expensive and healthcare costs are rising as are insurance costs and real estate taxes. My credit card bills have been on the rise exponentially without buying anything “extra”. I feel very fortunate to have a roof over our heads that won’t require any big expenses (likely anyway) because it’s new enough and we are going to try to rent our guest cottage this summer to bring in some money, we hope, to help with the ever-increasing real estate taxes in our town. We are fortunate, indeed, to be able to afford it. For now. Many others our age, in our community can’t and they’re at risk of losing their homes.
I really thought I had a cold or a sinus infection. My hubby had one at Christmas time and I made the assumption that he gave it to me (he has recovered.) Last week I went to the doctor hoping for an antibiotic to kill the infection and speed my recovery. They tested me for Covid, flu and RSV … and you could have knocked me over with a feather when the doctor came back and said I had the flu – B+. Since I had been symptomatic for 6 days, antivirals were out of the question. We just wait. And cough. And blow my poor nose. And cough. Not how I wanted to start the New Year!
So, I’ve been spending a lot of time at home in my atelier. Watching stupid movies and other shows to help pass the time and knitting.
Yesterday I finished my pink Musselburgh. I really think it’s too big. I should probably have made the large rather that the extra-large. But it’s too late now. I like it better when I wear it with the gray side out because I can fold it over more and make the hat sit on my head rather than being slouchy. But if I’m honest, I’m not in love with it. Boo.
I have been working on hubby’s Christmas socks, too. I finished the first one (and he tried it on and it fits perfectly) and I have begun the second one. These socks are a re-knit. It’s a long story and maybe I’ll tell it one day but suffice it to say that I am doing them the right way this time. LOL. The yarn is a heavy worsted/Aran weight sock yarn by Raggi that my LYS has stopped carrying but it’s a wonderful sock yarn for boot socks! I found the pattern, Thompson River Socks, in a magazine ages ago. The socks are knit at a fairly tight gauge so my hands start to get tired after a few repeats of the pattern and I have to move on to knitting something else. BUT the socks are gorgeous and one of my hubby’s favorites. So, they’re coming along albeit slowly.
Thompson River SocksGansey AfghanHarlow Sweater
I’ve also been working on my Gansey Afghan. To be honest, this may be getting most of my attention. It’s not a difficult knit, the blanket in my lap keeps me cozy and warm, and I am really enjoying the yarn and the different textured stitches. I’ve just finished the first ball of yarn and I have one more. I’m knitting this one with Hayfield Aran with Wool which comes in a 900 yard ball leaving very few ends to weave in and it’s going to be washable. The color isn’t coming up well in photographs though. It’s a medium sage-y green and it was on the clearance table at work. I grabbed it up thinking it’d be for my brother and realized he would never use it … he’s always warm. SO, I have re-thought who will get it and I think it’ll go to my daughter who likes earth tones in her house. I don’t think I’ve made her anything other than socks in forever and I think she’ll like it.
I also cast on a new project to keep me happy. I’m knitting the Harlow Sweater V Neck in a yarn that I’ve had in my stash that was planned for a different sweater. I had planned to make a heavily cabled, cropped cardigan but I don’t have the bandwidth right now to pay enough attention to the pattern AND I am fearful that iI don’t have quite enough yarn to make it. I bought all that they had left … and I hope it’s enough for the Harlow. It should be. I am on gauge and am working down the back. It was an interesting cast on from an i-cord and the picking up stitches across the i-cord and knitting down from there. When it’s time to work on the front(s), I’ll, once again, pick up stitches from the i-cord leaving one stitch between and that will make a pretty “line” across the shoulder. I’m still hoping that there’s enough yarn. Not sure why I’m nervous about it but I am. So far, aside from being a different/new to me cast on, it’s an easy knit and the yarn is really pretty and next-to-skin soft. I’m knitting the Harlow with Concept by Katia Cotton-Merino, it’s a cotton tube with merino fluff blown in. I like the heather-y look so far.
I have purchased a couple of different yarns. Both were pre-orders and both were dyed by Lolabean Yarn Company out of Georgia. I’ve loved Adella’s yarns for a long time and this time I couldn’t resist. The first one has arrived. Grinch sock yarn pair! I can hardly wait to cast these bad boys on. The colors are so grinchy and make me so happy. The second pre-order is two skeins of DK weight yarn in the “Good Trouble” colorway. This was a special fundraising colorway and I “had” to buy it. I’m excited to see it when it arrives and it should be here early next week. SO I’m working on getting my blanket done so I can cast on something else that’s new with my new yarn.
I also have a knitting fail to report. (Not sure if I’m considering my Musselburgh as a knitting fail yet, too.) I knitted a Stockholm Slipover recently and was really excited about it. I loved the look of the vest and I loved the yarn I used to knit it. The color is great and it was in my stash so it was a stash reduction, too. I decided to wear it yesterday and it’s too big. I had hoped it’d be a little bit boxy because I’m not a twig but it’s way too boxy and the underarms are the problem. I have read, since finishing the slipover, that others didn’t add stitches to the underarms and I think that’s the problem. There are too many stitches under the arms which make the arm holes too big and the whole garment looks huge … well, it does if I lift my arms or move. Phooey. I think I am going to endeavor to use my sewing machine to take in a couple of inches on each side. If I sew a seam and zig zag it, I should be able to cut off the extra fabric and wear the garment. If I don’t do something it’ll just sit in my closet.
You can see how the arm pit pops out in this horrible photograph. Sorry, best I can do on my own. So, stay tuned for the results later in the month.
So, there you have it. My new year update so far. I haven’t “done” much around our house, I’ve called in sick last week for work and I hope I don’t have to again this week but I have to say it’s not looking good. We also have a trip planned to visit my aunt and uncle in Reno, NV and then head to Denver to see my hubby’s youngest and her family (and our grandson). We are supposed to travel at the end of the week. I’ve got an email into our travel agent to see if we can reschedule the trip … I’m unsure about what the rules are because I am never sick! It never occurred to me that we’d have to change plans. AND of course we have hotels, car rentals, dog kennel, etc. all lined up in multiple places and of course we were/are looking so forward to seeing the family. I guess if we do have to change our plans, we’ll see them but it’ll be later than we had hoped. Time will tell.
This is the first time I’ve “written” 2026! Happy New Year! I’ve ushered the New Year in with a cold kindly gifted to me by my hubby. I’ve been feeling pretty zapped energetically and haven’t done much other than knit. (Is that a good thing or a bad thing?)
I’ve been working on three WIPs and specifically wanted to write about my Musselburgh which has been a yarn challenge. I started off with a pink yarn, Hu Made Twist fingering weight in the Sakura Petals colorway that I bought in New York City last winter. I matched it with a strand of Berroco Aerial silk mohair in the Strawberry colorway. It’s a wonderful blend. BUT despite thinking I’d make the entire hat in the pink, I ran a bit short and had to figure out a second color to finish the hat. I went to my stash and chose a charcoal gray alpaca blend and started to knit. About an inch or two in, I thought I should have added a strand of mohair to this as well … but I didn’t have any dark gray or black … at least I didn’t find any for a bit. So I worked on my Gansey Afghan.
Gansey Afghan in Hayfield Bonus Aran
AND then I found some black mohair when I was cleaning up a little bit. It was left over from my sparkly City Lights Hat and hidden away under my needles. So, I added the mohair in and started knitting again. I had about two inches of charcoal alone and a line where the black mohair began but I was ok with that. The hat is for me AND the brim of the hat will be folded over hiding the gray. But last night I ran out of black mohair. Now I have some choices to make. I either buy a new ball of black mohair and continue knitting OR I knit a bit with what’s left of the pink and then finish with gray alone (or buy mohair and knit with 2 strands at the end.) I’m bummed because I really wanted to get this hat finished this weekend and should be able to if I had the right yarns in my stash. This is where knitters get in trouble.
My other choice is to frog back and take the black mohair OUT of the hat and reknit in the gray only. I’m thinking this is what I am leaning toward. One of my goals is to move yarn OUT of my stash and not add to it this year. Little bits and bobs are not what I want hanging around in my atelier. The lazy me wants to just keep knitting but the knitter me is not happy with the piecemeal method of making this hat work. And, frankly, it’s not really working. And, more honesty, I am also not happy with the gray at all. I’d rather be working with a brown or rusty brown yarn because that’s what the flecks in the pink yarn are. So, I think my first job today will be to frog the gray – at least back to the beginning of the black mohair – and see what happens.
I put all of my stitches on a barber cord and used my needle to pick up the right leg of every stitch all the way around just a row or two above the “line” where the black mohair meets the gray alpaca and then frog all the stitches back. and Ta! Da! I’m back at the spot that I THINK I want to knit from again … that is if I decide to keep knitting in gray.
And just so you know, I’ve finished the first of my hubby’s Christmas socks and it fits! That’s always a very good thing. Today the plan is to cast on the second sock today. So, for now I’m going. to set the hat aside and work on the sock … or the afghan. I’m trying really really hard NOT to cast on something new until I finish just one thing. I need a first FO for 2026!
Queen Bee Knits 