My first package from the wonderful Woolens & Nosh yarn club was from October, 2023, and since it was my first, I wanted to make something special with it. So I decided to knit a pair of socks using all of my favorite components. The yarn base is great. It’s 90% superwash Targhee and 10% Nylon, and it is a delight to knit with. The colorway is described as Our Seasonal Offering: House made butternut squash ravioli with a brown butter and sage cream sauce. ...

Yes, you can do a Turkish cast-on with dpns. I know dpns aren’t popular at the moment. All the cool kids are knitting on either small circs (have tried them…didn’t work for me), or magic loop (Have done several pairs with magic loop…but don’t really enjoy the experience). For me, dpns are the way to go. Finally knitting the Our Solar System yarn from Gauge Dye Works. I’ve put this project off for a long time because I don’t care for toe-up sock knitting, but I needed a house-sitting project and figured it was time to get over it. :-) ...

I finally got around to sewing a knitting needle holder. Before, all the needles were either in a drawer or all on the same hook, so finding the right-sized needle was grabbing them all, then guessing and measuring till I found the needle I needed. And it gave me an excuse to use some of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine. The hook is from the fantastic metal smith @cerberus_forge. It is a great privilege at times to have a friend who is a blacksmith. ...

I finished two pairs of the Funfetti Socks by Andrea Alison Yates. I love the yarn! This was my first chance to try @woolensandnosh Targhee sock yarn, which is terrific! And this was my motivation to knit the socks. The gift recipients picked the yarn and pattern. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize you can’t buy the pattern. You can only get the pattern through a proprietary iOS app called Knitrino. This may work great for some folks, but I wouldn’t say I liked the experience and will not knit these again. However, it is a simple toe-up sock and slip-stitch pattern, so it is easy to replicate outside the proprietary app. ...

I knit the Andrea Mowry, “Find Your Fade” shawl pattern using a color scheme roughly based on the colors on the pride flag. I did the knit as part of a knit-along. It is a nice looking pattern, and I love how the shawl turned out.

Bit of a story here - I found this interesting book at the Bookmine on Monday (needed a break from work). At first glance, I thought - cool, a book of Scottish bagpipe tunes. Then I noticed the French author, the reference to Breton traditional tunes, and the fact that the text is in French. What the hell? And the map in the middle of the book is western France (Brittany). Turns out it’s Celtic folk tunes from France! I had no idea there was a Celtic history in France. So, the rabbit hole begins! ...

The pattern is by Brooklyn Tweed and is called Hatch. I used a new yarn to me by an indie dyer that I bought at the Warm ’n Fuzzy yarn store in Cary, NC. The yarn is Mama Bear DK by Fuzz Family for Kraeo, and the color is called Terra Cotta. It is 45% Baby Alpaca, 45% Merino Wool, and 10% Mulberry Silk. It is really soft! ...

I made a lace shawl using a pattern by Patricia Anne Fortune called Sunshine on the Path using Rauma Finullgarn yarn in an interesting fall orange color. The colorway is called Okergul Melert. I only had to rip the pattern back once after loosing my place. I’m learning that I have to track my place in the chart differently than I’ve done before. And I have to think about tension differently. The ‘yarn-overs’ and decreases that create the eyelets in the lace pattern distribute the tension from the rows above and below differently than typical stockinette fabric. Really interesting! The simple pattern used here is called a Trondheim Rose. Great learning experience so far. ...

I finished the first prototype of my new Double Basket Beanie. Based on Barbara Walker’s Double Basket Pattern this beanie is comfortable and squishy. Also an easy knit. The stitch pattern is just knits and purls. Like my Basket Weave Beanie I’m writing the pattern to be easily sized by adjusting the number of stitch patterns knit. Next, I’m going to start knitting a medium version in a fun color. Once I have a small version done and the pattern cleaned up, I hope to get some test knitters to try out the new pattern. ...

I’ve started putting together the Bulky Swatch Blanket. I plan to tile the swatches together somewhat randomly and use different colors for the connecting knitting bands. The swatches are various sizes, so I will keep it random and shoot for a Mondrian-style look. We’ll see how it goes 🙂