Catching Up: The First Half of 2022

Knitting

All of the Lights

I LOVE this cardigan. It was fairly complex knit and had a lot of pieces I hadn’t done before (mostly pockets!), but I wore this very often after I finished it and now that it’s getting colder, I’m excited to start wearing it again.

 
I am standing on my porch wearing a speckled, cabled cardigan that hits at my hips.
 

Epernay

Another “I LOVE THIS” make — I snagged some Corrie Confetti from La Bien Aimée (grey + rainbow = everything I ever wanted), saw this sweater when it launched, and immediately knew that the two needed to go together. I didn’t get to wear this one as often before it got too warm, but again, I’m glad we’re getting closer to sweater weather.

 
I am standing on my porch wearing a grey cabled sweater that has neon tweed accents.
 

The Pandemic Shawl

Back in March 2020, I started this shawl using lace weight yarn on teeny tiny needles because I tried tons of variations and this was my favorite. Well, two years later, I finally finished it! It came out exactly the way I wanted it to, and is absolutely worth the time spent — but boy am I never going to knit something this big on needles this small ever again.

I am holding a striped rainbow shawl up to show off the size and the stripes.
I am standing on my porch wearing a shawl that has rainbow and greyscale stripes.

Yet Another Musselburgh

…this time in Valkyrie Fibers’ self-striping in Imladris, which is just the best combination of colors.

 
A stockinette hat in purple, green, brown, yellow, and grey stripes.
 

Larinda

This yarn+project combo had been on my mind for a while, and I finally got around to making it. I loved the original color of Larinda when Jen at Webster Street Knittery launched the pattern, and I may have one or two two-skein sets of toffee-colored yarn, so the hardest decision was choosing which toffee-colored yarn I should use. This perfect gingerbread color from Little Skein won, and like I already said, it’s perfect.

 
I am standing in my hallway wearing a gingerbread/toffee colored textured scarf.
 

Brioche Tiles

Continuing my “Let’s knit with Little Skein yarn that I already have a project in mind for”, I pulled out another yarn combo I’d been saving and knit this brioche beauty. It’s exactly the low-contrast that I wanted.

I'm standing on my porch wearing a dark blue and dark grey brioche triangular shawl.
I am standing on my porch holding up a dark blue and dark grey striped brioche shawl.

My Brother’s Forth

Ysolda’s swatchless hats are pretty much my go-to when I need a hat, and I finally branched out with a not-Musselburgh for my brother, out of handspun from fiber he bought me with a note that said “make me something out of this”.

 
A purple hat knit with handspun sitting on a table.
 

Spinning

I spun a LOT the first six months of the year, folks, so these will probably be a bit brief.

Iris

As discussed above, this was a request from my brother — some Polwarth from Created by Elsie B.

 
A skein of purple handspun yarn.
 

Koomasee OOAK Falkland

Every time I start a spin with fiber from Koomasee, I think “I will like this an ordinary amount” and every single time, I am enamored with it the entire time.

 
A skein of colorful handspun yarn.
 

Koomasee Dusty Rose

Another Koomasee, also Falkland, also a joy to spin.

 
A skein of dusty pink handspun yarn.
 

Moody Three-Ply

Something different! This is fiber from Caroline Dick Designs, and it was my first attempt at a three-ply, which I think succeeded admirably. The third ply makes it even moodier than I think a two-ply would have, which I really like.

 
A skein of pink, brown, and green handspun yarn.
 

A Frabjous Spin

This is an older braid I had, some BFL from Frabjous Fibers.

 
A skein of colorful handspun yarn.
 

Lavanda

Merino from Malabrigo, that I spun up to eventually pair with the leftover Iris to make a shawl…someday.

 
A skein of purple handspun yarn.
 

Green-Grey Masham

Another braid from Caroline Dick, although I’m not sure I like spinning with Masham that much.

 
A skein of green handspun yarn.
 

Blue Polwarth/Silk

This was a braid I got about a year ago when a friend and I took a trip to Port Gamble and I stopped by the Artful Ewe. As always, Polwarth is one of my favorite fibers to spin.

 
A skein of blue handspun yarn.
 

Alpaca/Silk

The first of a batch I got from Fiber Fusion NW - this is from Alexandra the Art of Yarn and turned out soooo soft. Definitely making something that sits close to the skin with this.

 
A skein of grey handspun yarn.
 

Mixed BFL

Another from Fiber Fusion NW, but this time from Island Fibers. I love the way the singles spun up marled and the extra-marled they got when plying.

 
A skein of brown and white handspun yarn.
 

Stitching

Summer Birb

I’ve got all four of these kits from Junebug and Darlin and stitched up this Summer Birb at the beginning of summer (which reminds me I should stitch up the fall version now that it’s officially Fall!)

 
A small cross stitch with a brightly colored spring bird sitting in a wreath.
 

Rainbow Linen Outfit

I haven’t sewn in a while, but I did make this matching outfit out of rainbow linen that I bought at JoAnn two years ago. The top is a Wiksten Shift Top, and the skirt is the Gypsum skirt, both patterns I’ve made before. I love how this turned out and I love wearing them both together and separately.

 
I am standing outside wearing a striped linen shirt skirt. The shirt is striped horizontally and the skirt is striped vertically. I am laughing at someone off-camera.