Swatching: The Art of Picking a Pattern

A couple of weeks ago I was able to quickly decide what I wanted to knit with my Brooklyn Tweed Shelter yarn.  Everything just clicked together without any effort at all on my part - it took under five minutes to make a decision.  I chose to make the Farmhouse Shawl by cabinfour and I ended up with a shawl that I love and will be worn frequently.

Swatching for a sweater

Now I am looking for my next project.  I know I want to knit a cardigan or sweater but it is taking me so long to decide.  There are just so many options on Ravelry that it can be overwhelming. Plus, knitting a sweater is a huge investment of my time and I don't want to put all that effort in and not be happy with the result. It seems that the more I know about knitting, the more particular I am about which pattern I will knit. 

Madelinetosh Pashmina:  Baroque Violet

 I knew I needed a strategic plan to figure it out. I decided to focus on four different yarns that I was interested in knitting with.  I then went through my Ravelry queue and Favourites list.  I wrote down the names, kind of yarn, gauge, and needle size that would work with those yarns.  I then knit some swatches, and from there I am going to see if any of the swatches will work with any of the patterns.  This way, I will have figured out not only the next sweater I will knit but hopefully the next two or three.

Tanis Fiber Arts Blue Label:  Painted Jeans

v

West Yorkshire Spinners DK

Madelinetosh 80/10/10 Sport:  Tannenbaum

So what's a girl to do while figuring this all out?  Knit socks is what I highly recommend!  I've had this beauty waiting it's turn for some time.  Julie Asselin's Piccolo, a 80% merino, 20% nylon yarn.  It is incredibly squishy yarn, so I can imagine how lovely the socks will be to wear.  A recent convert to sock knitting, I have to admit that I choose handknit socks to wear everyday over all my commercially made ones.  They are so comfortable and breathable. I never used to see what the big deal was about sock knitting, but now I totally do.

Julie Asselin Piccolo: Plume

The pattern I chose was Business Casual by Tanis Fiber Arts.  It is a cuff down construction with a simple cable running through.  As I knit through these socks, I will continue to swatch and look through my sweater pattern options.   I find sock patterns so much easier to choose than sweater patterns despite there being so many to chose from.  

Hopefully no more new and amazing patterns will be published that will divert my attention from my final decision.  That won't happen, will it?

Toronto Knitter's Frolic 2015

I made my annual venture to the Toronto Knitter's Frolic on Saturday.  My friend and I got there early enough that we were near the front of the line.  When they opened the doors at 9a.m. there was a big cheer from the waiting crowd.  Talk about passionate knitters! This annual event is a favourite of mine as all knitters know that it is so much fun to actually see and touch the yarn that you only have access to from the internet.  Here are a few things I enjoyed:

There was so many beautiful yarns to look at.  The yarn pictured above was all from the Sweet Fiber Yarn booth.  The colours were even more beautiful in person than on the internet.  Melissa Thomson brought a variety of her yarn, Super Sweet Sock, Cashmerino 20 and Coastal, a beautiful silk/merino blend.  I also enjoyed looking at the knitted samples that different vendors brought.  The Warrior Shawl caught my eye in The Needle Emporium's booth. It was a really interesting shawl pattern. Eweknit, my favourite Toronto based yarn store, brought a Madelinetosh Pashmina version of Brooklyn Tweed's Statis Pullover. It would be so amazingly luxurious to wear.

Super Sweet Sock

As for my purchases I tried to show restraint!  The night before the Frolic a new Spring Forward collection from Amy Miller for the Plucky Knitter yarn line was published.  The pattern Lake Effect caught my attention immediately and I knew exactly what yarn would look perfect with it, the chartreuse Sweet Fiber colourway I used for my Cladonia recently.  Thankfully Melissa brought some of that colourway with her.  Both my friend and I snapped up enough to make this lovely lace sweater.  If you haven't looked at this new collection of patterns yet you really should!  There are some beautiful patterns in it that you are going to want to knit.

This colour just glows in the sun

And I don't know if I mentioned it but I love buying interesting stitch markers.  I just could resist these pretty ChiaGoo ones.  Look how pretty they are!

I think my favourite part of an event like this is being surrounded by other knitters/crocheters who are as passionate as me about their craft.  I am not alone in the world!

Congratulations to Monica who was the winner of my contest and won a copy of the Hyperballad Cowl by Julie Crawford.  Yeah Monica!

Capall Dubh: Carol Feller

Setting goals is a tricky thing.  I am all about setting goals for myself but as I have become older I am trying to be kinder to myself when I don't reach my goals. I am trying hard to go with the flow and accept that some things happen that can alter what I want to achieve.

I joined Carol Feller's KAL in the fall with the intention of knitting this lovely sweater, named Capall Dubh, by mid December.  However, I did not complete it until the beginning of January due to work obligations and Christmas preparations.  In the past this would have bothered me but I decided to let it go and not worry about it.  Life happens.

This is the first Carol Feller pattern I have ever knit and I think it is very well written.  I used Madelinetosh Pashmina in the Alabaster colourway.  It is a sport weight yarn in a lovely merino, silk, and cashmere blend.  The colour is hard to photograph but I would describe it as the colour of honey with darker undertones.  This was the first time I knit with Pashmina and it is going to be so luxurious to wear.  

Madelinetosh Pashmina

The cardigan was knit from the top down and the sleeves were knit in the round.

 The lace pattern was easy to follow and the resulting cardigan fits very well.

I had to reknit the first sleeve as it came out way too tight.  Knitting two sleeves is hard enough but knitting three sleeves was torture!  Well I might not have met my deadline but I am starting the New Year with a new sweater.  As for other New Year resolutions I am going to try to enjoy the moment more and not always look immediately to setting the next goal.

Happy New Year to everyone!  I wish you all the best in 2015.