Tag Archives: new on the needles

Stockholm Slipover Report

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Sunday, February 15, 2026

It’s another beautiful sunny day on the lake. We have lots of tracks on the far side of the boathouse and if we’d gone out the day we noticed them, we’d maybe know what they’re from. But we didn’t so the mystery remains. It’s kind of fun to wonder what it is.

I thought I’d report on my Stockholm Slipover end result. I can wear it but I’m not sure I’ll knit it again and I’m not sure why it ended up SOOOO big/wide. I quite literally could have made it without any underarm increases and it would have been a better fit (and a lot less knitting.)

When I blocked the slipover (wow! This photo looks crazy!) I thought it looked pretty good but when I tried it on the underarm stitches, almost four inches of them, were sticking out and made the vest look way too big. I pondered the situation for a bit, wore the vest for a day, and then decided that I wasn’t going to wear it if it didn’t fit better. So I pulled out my trusty needle and yarn and zipped up a seam using the blanket stitch method. The seam is invisible but now there is a tube of fabric inside the armpit. It’s not awful but I’m considering taking it one step further and sewing the seam once more on my sewing machine with a straight stitch and then a zigzag stitch to hold all the ends together and then cutting the extra fabric away. It may take me another month to decide what I want to do … meanwhile, I’m wearing it.

Yesterday was a warmer day than we’ve had in a while and we took a roadtrip (I posted about the trip yesterday). What I didn’t write about is that I wore a sweater that I’d kind of decided that I didn’t love and was ready to give away. In wearing it I decided that I’m going to put it into rotation again. It’s a bit itchy because it’s Icelandic wool but it should soften up with wear and washing. And it fits like a dream. And I really like the colors.

The pattern is Daytripper by MaryJane Mucklestone and I knit it in Lettlopi. I had originally said that I’d knit it differently next time (if there is a next time) but I’m not sure about that now. I like the length and I like the sleeve length, too. I just wish it was a little bit less itchy.

I wore it with my down vest and I was plenty warm … I could probably just have worn the sweater, frankly. I guess this one is staying and there are others I need to try again now to decide whether they stay or go. The ones that are going will be given to my students or to the homeless shelter. There’s nothing wrong with them other than I don’t love them and I want to keep making sweaters. So, some have to go – especially if I’m not wearing them! Someone else might love to wear them. Right?

My sweet hubby made us Eggs Benedict this morning for brunch. He made the hollandaise from scratch without so much as one curse word. It was delicious and I’d have liked to lick the plate. We don’t have this often but when we do … yum!

Thistle on the Moor Vest in Berroco Lanas Light

I cast on the Thistle on the Moor vest yesterday in the car. I got as far as starting the left shoulder last night. I have messaged the designer today asking for a schematic … I love a good schematic when starting a new project and as I go. I am concerned that the vest is going to be too narrow in the shoulders and across the back. I have wide shoulders (17″ is my shoulder to shoulder back measurement) and this is only measuring 14″. I know I need to add ribbing and it may block a bit wider but it would really be nice to know what the measurement is supposed to be – and I’ve measured my gauge and I’m good. The Lanas Light yarn is wonderful to work with and feels super soft in my hands. I hope I’ll hear from her soon.

Meanwhile, I’ll swatch for my daughter’s sweater, the Levitate Wrap by My Favorite Things in Patagonia and a lace weight mohair, Aerial. If I get gauge, I’ll have to wait for my mohair to arrive as we only had 3 balls in the store and I think I need six (150 grams). I can work on the second Rose City Roller, too.

Gone knitting.

A Wonderful Mother’s Day

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Our First Visit from Mr. Oriole

This year Mother’s Day was a happier experience for me. I’m not sure how or why it changes from year to year but this year it was a good day! We woke to a beautiful sunny morning (a bit early with a little white senior citizen 4-legged “child” who piddled on the bedroom floor) but it turned out to be ok because we were able to spend some time on the porch with our coffee and some apple pie scones that I had made the day before.

I put aside my WIPs and picked up some new yarn and a new pattern that I wanted to knit on Mother’s Day. I purchased four skeins of fingering weight yarn from Emma’s Yarn for a shawl for my daughter, Libet, at her request. I’ll be knitting her a Gallbladder Shawl by her friend Becky Sorensen in two shades of gray – a light silvery gray and a darker gray with speckles. I really like working with Emma’s Yarn and this is a big shawl. So far, I like the i-cord edge and I LOVE stripes! (These are the best kind of knitted stripes because I don’t have a hundredty-million ends to weave in later!

Galbladder by Becky Sorensen in Emma’s Yarn Practically Perfect Sock

My sweet husband prepared a special brunch for me. He knows mother’s day is a mixed blessing and he really stepped up to make mine special this year. He bought a gorgeous lilac bush for our yard, too. I hope we will see it live and grow (our record in the yard is about 50% chance of success) … the tag says it’ll get to be up to ten feet tall and almost as wide. Imagine the scent! I love the smell of lilacs! Anyway, the eggs benedict were especially good and the hollandaise completely from scratch!

Eggs Benedict for breakfast … yummy!

We spent a good chunk of the day relaxing. I needed to get some laundry done and we needed to spend some time in our yard. We have a plethora of weeds that required a dose of weed killer – we use a combination of extra strength white vinegar, dawn dish detergent and epsom salts as was suggested by the man who designed and planted our gardens. Since we live in a shoreline zone, we don’t want to put anything chemical on our yard. Ever. But this works! We also dug up a bunch of errant daylilies and hostas that have spread into the center of the garden that we call “Helen’s Garden”. This is the garden in front of our bedroom window and it used to be just daylilies and weeds, a groundcover and a few lilies of the valley. After we built the house and before our wedding we hired someone who knew what they were doing to design a few gardens that were bird and bee friendly. Now we have to maintain them and it can be back breaking work but we got it done. Four of our five kids called which was wonderful. We are so grateful that they’re well and healthy. And to top if off, we spent time sitting in the afternoon sunshine watching the birds and had our first visit with Mr. Oriole. What a gorgeous bird he is! I even got a little bit of sun on my face!

It was a good day. Now onward through the week!

Gone knitting.