From Socktober to Wovember

It’s a busy time of year for Knitting bloggers as we transition seamlessly from Socktober into Wovember. The month-long celebration of all things woolly took a bit of a break for a year or two - let’s face it, there’s been a lot going on. But this year it is back and carrying on the good work.

Wovember was originally set up as an awareness campaign to promote the use of 100% wool and to counter some of the myths and received wisdom surrounding wool - it’s not ‘all scratchy’ for example even though this is often an accusation levelled at it.

This year the Wovember campaign is mainly taking place on Instagram as @WovemberWool and Twitter via a series of daily prompts. You don’t have to do a daily post or anything, you can just dip in and out as you please. or you can just scroll the hashtags #Wovember and #Wovember2022 for lots of wool-based inspiration.

Over on the Everyday Knitter Facebook Group we are having a month long KAL - the only rule is that the yarn you use must be 100% wool. It can be a long standing WIP or a brand new project and it doesn’t matter what size it is - it can be a coaster or a blanket. The main thing is that we celebrate wool in all it’s gloriousness.

If you are looking for a pattern to make the most of your lovely woolly stash I have listed a few of mine which might fit the bill - details below. And if you are looking for a bit of further reading on the Wovember project and some of their older blog posts (still just as relevant today) I have listed a few at the bottom of this post under ‘Further Reading’

Happy Wovember.

Contours Shawl
Contours Shawl
£6.50

Contours is a gradient, crescent shaped shawl knit in cosy DK yarn. It was knitted with three toning natural shades of pure wool with a contrast yarn but could easily be adapted to other weights.

MATERIALS: 300g (654m, 714 yards) Blacker Yarns Shetland DK.
5mm circular needle, at least 80cm (30”) long, 1 stitch marker, tapestry needle.

Finished size: Depth 51 cm (20”), wingspan 178cm (70”).
Blocked gauge: 15 stitches and 30 rows (15 garter ridges) to 10cm (4”) in garter stitch.

Log Cabin-ish blanket
Log Cabin-ish blanket
£6.50

This is a log cabin-style aran weight blanket with a little bit of a difference. Traditional log cabin style blocks are worked but rather than overlapping at the corners and building on the layer below, small mitered squares are used instead to add visual interest.
The sample shown was knit in 2 shades of West Yorkshire Spinners BFL Aran (cream & neutral brown) and the dark grey was Lopi Lettlopi - dark grey heather.

Materials and measurements:

Yarn: Approx 600g aran yarn (3 x 200g in 3 shades)
Yarn A: dark grey
Yarn B: cream
Yarn C: neutral/brown
Needles: 5.0mm

Gauge: 16sts and 30 rows to 10cm (4") in garter stitch
Finished size: Approx 37" (95 cm) square

Hebridean Hap
Hebridean Hap
£6.50

Relaxed and rustic is the theme for this generously-sized shawl. Starting with a traditional hap-style construction, the central triangle uses one full skein of this deliciously sheepy dk weight yarn. The second skein is then used to knit the simple garter and eyelet border, finished with an optional picot cast off. With minimal counting and stress, this shawl allows you to relax and let the natural beauty of the yarn shine through.

As the border only involves simple eyelet lace rows, no chart is provided with the pattern. Instructions are written only.

2 skeins of yarn (200g) will give you a shawl measuring approximately 55” wide by 24” deep.

Yarn: DK - the more rustic the better
Yardage: 400-450m (450-510yds)
Needles: 4.5 mm

You will get a PDF (429KB) file

Fickle Steps: a new sock pattern

Not the most obvious name for a new design, but bear with. I’m about to entertain you with the backstory to these smart looking cuff down socks which I hope will make you smile and will give you some sort of insight into our slightly crazy ‘life with two boys’ world.

As you may know we are keen fans of walking in the Lake District and we introduced our two boys to it at a very early age - backpacking them up to summits and letting them toddle through woodland trails as soon as we could jam wellie boots onto their chubby little legs.

Fickle Steps is the name given to a river crossing - a set of stepping stones in the Duddon Valley (in the Western lakes). They cross at a broad point in the river and are usually (but not always) free from water. On this particular day we had to cut our planned walk short. I forget why exactly, but walking with young children - by then the boys were aged about 3 and 4 - had already taught us that some days you just have to cut your losses and accept that your ‘nice walk in the Lakes’ isn’t going quite as you planned. I may have forgotten the snacks!

In any case we ended up wanting to cross the river at Fickle Steps, and we hadn’t antcipated that the river would be quite so high, leaving a couple of the steps almost under water. But it was either cross, or add an extra 3 miles to our walk, which none of us were in the mood for.

Always prepared, my husband dug out rope and carabiners (don’t ask) from his rucksack and fashioned makeshift sit harnesses for the boys so that they could clip on to the steel hawser that serves as a handrail across the stones. Whilst not too deep, the river is fairly fast flowing at that point and we didn’t want to lose a child overboard.

I went first with the younger boy, step by step with him copying my moves - the mantra ‘step, balance’ was something we taught them early on when crossing rough ground. We made it to the other side without incident then turned to watch the other pair. Husband was already burdened with the rucksack though and coupled with wild failing from eldest son -always one for the drama - found himself caught off balance on a slippy rock. He ended up thigh deep in icy water whilst eldest son swung, sloth-like from his harness cackling wildly.

Thus, Fickle Steps entered our lexicon of family stories. To be brought out and talked over in the same way as the ‘day of the red ant bite’ - Harter Fell, or ‘the time mum got chased by a cow’ - Grey Friar.

I chose the name for these socks, as they look a little fearsome - with the crossed stitch detail across the cable. But really, with a bit of solid preparation work (the steel hawser across the stones) they are really fun to work, and give a very satisfying result.

BUY PATTERN

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Things I wished I'd known when I started knitting

I remember vividly standing in John Lewis (a large UK department store) with a birthday voucher and a vague hope of taking up knitting again - after not touching the needles for over 15 years. The choice was overwhelming and I had absolutely no idea where to start in selecting something for my first project. In the end I bought a Rowan pattern book and the specified yarn/needles to make a striped sweater.

Overall, the knitting of it was a success. I remembered how to do the basics and I produced a flat, seamed sweater that was fine in all respects - apart from the matter of the too tight bind off at the neck which meant I couldn’t actually get the thing over my head.

And then I accidentally felted it, but that’s another story altogether.

The point being that if I could go back in time and tell my baby-knitter self a few things, it would be these:

  1. Don’t bother buying a lot of straight needles. Interchangeable circular needles are so much more adaptable to a variety of projects and better for travelling and ergnomics. If you do happen to need a pair of straight needles, you can pick them up in charity shops for pennies.

  2. Buy the good yarn. Enough said.

  3. Don’t buy yarn just because it’s on sale. Especially the large 10x50g packs of DK/aran weight yarn unless you are absolutely certain you are going to use it. They take up a lot of space and sales are generally repeated from time to time. There are always bargains to be had.

  4. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking there is only one way to do things. Whether it’s different cast-offs, cast-on’s, cabling with and without a needle etc, there’s always more than one way to do something and it pays to have a few of them up your sleeve.

  5. If you are a Continental knitter, learn to throw the yarn - and vica versa. As with point no. 4 it’s good to have more than one way of doing something at your disposal and changing things up from time to time can be a good way to avoid repetitive injury.

  6. Gauge matters. It really does. In time you might be able to wing it a little based on experience but in the beginning at least, a gauge swatch is absolutely essential if you want something to turn out how the designer intended.

How about you? Is there anything you would go back and tell yourself when you were a beginner? Do let me know in the comments.

The stashless knitter - discuss

I read a blog post a while ago by Staci of VeryPink.com, the post was actually written many years ago now but I came across it during a bit of late night yarny scrolling. In it she talked about how she was a knitter without a stash - a stashless knitter and I freely admit that the concept floored me.

A knitter without a stash? How is such a thing even possible. At first I couldn’t wrap my head around the concept. I don’t have a huge stash by any means but I do have a reasonable amount of sock weight (and some DK) yarn, and if pressed in an emergency I could ‘shop the stash’ to cast on for something at short notice.

Whilst I do my best to buy yarn only for specific projects I often find myself drawn into a bit of spontaneous purchasing - one of a kind (OOAK) colourways being my particular weakness. And even if I do buy yarn for a particular project, sometimes it ends up not working out quite right and I have to try something else - the original yarn going back into my stash for a rainy day.

If you’d asked me a few years ago I’d have said the more the merrier, with regards to yarn. But since Covid hit and we had to re-evaluate our home/living space I have definitely become a ‘less is more’ knitter. Whilst I do still have a stash I have downsized it considerably. It’s a sad fact that the yarn I bought at the beginning of my knitting journey is in many cases not what I want to knit with now. Tastes change - I know mine certainly have - as have the kinds of projects that I like to knit.

Over the course of six months or so I’d say I reduced the size of my stash by half (some was sold and some was donated) and then over the next year I halved it again.

In fact, writing this I’m thinking that I might be overdue for a bit of a clearout again. I now keep all my yarn in two large plastic tubs - and that’s it. Once it spills out into other areas of temporary storage it’s generally time to pare things back a bit. Going through my storage is also a useful way to remind myself of what I actually have already - it’s all too easy to forget and be attracted to the lure of new, shiny yarn when you already have something very similar at home.

How about you - would you ever see the appeal of being a stashless knitter or do you love to curate your extensive yarn collection?

Blankets: the joys of doubling up

Yesterday I shared a post on 10 things to make with leftover sock yarn (that isn’t a sock yarn blanket). Because, let’s face it, sometimes you just need something gratifyingly quick to make. And with all the will in the world, and for all it’s many virtues, a sock yarn blanket is anything but quick to make.

I would however, add the addendum that sock yarn blankets can be speeded up quite considerably by the simple act of doubling up. Holding your sock yarn leftovers double or even treble can result in a very pleasing, squishy fabric that knits up quickly. It also eats through your stash with amazing rapidity - perfect for when you want to make a substantial dent in the leftover pile.

In this blog post here I talk about my Mahoosive Mitered Square project - which still isn’t finished, but that’s by the by. Holding the yarn doubled results in some really pleasing marled effects and makes the large squares knit up surprisingly quickly.

For a project with the yarn held trebled, please check out this post on my Garter Ripple Squish baby blanket. I originally knit this as a traditional DK baby blanket, but then being slightly overwhelmed by the size of my leftover pile I decided to knit with 3 strands at once. Yarn management was a bit more of an issue here but I solved it with the nifty use of a colander to hold the strands separate.

If I did this again, and I have to admit that I’m tempted I might consider winding the yarn into a magic ball - or 3 before I started - if only for ease of portability. I did find, as I moved around the house that my 3 yarn strands tended to get a bit tangled, no matter what I did to try to contain them.

For my next doubling up project I’m considering trying crochet granny squares. But with my notoriously awful crochet tension that could prove to be a bit tricksy. Still, I’ll give it a go and see what happens - watch this space.

Have you ever tried a project with the yarn held double/treble? And if so, did you find it helpful to pre-wind your strands to save on tangling. I’m curious about the different approaches we all take on this.

The joys of sideways shawls

If you are a keen shawl knitter, it’s a good bet that you have knit shawls in a number of different ways - top down, asymmetric, maybe a Pi shawl or two. But the humble sideways knit shawl is often overlooked - unfairly in my opinion as it’s really one of my favourite ways to knit a shawl.

If you like to finish a shawl with minimal leftovers - maximising a lovely skein of sock yarn - and you don’t mind a bit of yarn weighing along the way then a sideways shawl might be just the thing.

Typically a shawl knit sideways starts with just a few stitches and increases on every right side row to form a triangular shape. By marking off a few edge stitches with a stitch marker it is possible to work a decorative border as you go - the stitch count in this portion remaining the same, and with the increases happening in the body of the shawl.

To achieve a basic triangular shape you simply work until you’ve used approximately half your yarn, then you start to decrease rather than increase.

The result? A bucket-load of motivation as you progressively have fewer and fewer stitches to work on, and a satisfyingly small amount of yarn leftover.

Depending on the yarn involved I’ve found that garter stitch tends to work best for the body of the shawl. It won’t curl no matter what you do to it and it tends to stretch a lot when blocking - giving you that all important length. No one likes a skimpy shawl after all.

In case I’ve tempted you to give a sideways shawl a whirl - a few of my sideways-knit shawls include:

Autumnity Shawl
Autumnity Shawl
£6.50

This is an elongated triangular shaped shawl knit end to end, starting and finishing with just a few stitches.

The body is knit in simple garter stitch, the lace border is knit as you go.

The shawl is knit in thirds - you increase until you have knit a third of your yarn, work straight for a third and then decrease for a final third.

You will need access to reasonably accurate weighing scales for this.

Materials:
Needles: 4.0 mm (US size 6).
Yarn: 1 x 100g Banshee Yarns Yak Sock (fingering)
400m/437 yds. 70% superwash merino, 20% yak, 10% nylon.
Notions: Stitch marker, tapestry needle for weaving in ends.
Gauge: 17 stitches and 32 rows to 10cm (4") in garter stitch.
Size: Width 145 cm (57"), depth 48 cm (19").

You will get a PDF (1MB) file

Inner Zen
Inner Zen
£6.50

Say hello to your Inner Zen - a sideways shawl designed to restore your peace and harmony.

Knit during the Covid-19 outbreak and the resulting turbulence I needed something calming to knit that wasn’t just acres of garter stitch.

This side to side shawl proved to be unexpectedly therapeutic. Starting from just a few stitches it is worked in sections - weigh your yarn first - with an increase section, a long straight section and then a final short decrease section.

The end result is a reversible, elongated crescent-ish shawl. Easy to wear and with negligible leftovers - always a bonus.

Yarn: Sockweight/fingering/4ply
Yardage: 360 - 400m (400-440yds)
Needles: 4.0 mm
Finished size: 142cm (56") wide x 30.5cm (12") deep

You will get a PDF (2MB) file

KISS Shawl
KISS Shawl
£6.50

This is a shawl that is designed to make the most of that perfect skein of sockweight yarn that’s just too good to be hidden inside your shoes.

Knit from end to end this shawl starts and ends with just 2 stitches -
no tedious, never ending bind offs here.

You work the increase section until you have 50% of your yarn remaining and then it’s the downhill decreases all the way to the end.

K.I.S.S is a fabulous abbreviation for Keep It Simple Stupid and I have appropriated it here for the Keep It Simple Shawl.

The lace border adds a bit of fun and interest and as knit as you go, so once you have cast off the final two stitches you can fling it on with minimal finishing.

Two files are included in this download. One is the original stocking stitch version and the second is exactly the same but in garter stitch.

Yarn: Sockweight/fingering/4ply
Yardage: 360 - 400m (400-440yds)
Needles: 4.0 mm
Approx wingspan 60", depth 17"

Do Not Disturb shawl
Do Not Disturb shawl
£6.50

Sometimes you just need to press pause, grab a coffee and sit down with a relaxing garter stitch shawl. The Do Not Disturb shawl is knit in garter stitch from side to side, creating an elongated triangular shawl which maximises the yardage you have available.

The decorative edge is knitted as you go, and the top edge of the shawl is finished with a neat integral i-cord edging - again this is knit as you go.

So once you reach the final few decreases of the shawl, all that remains is to cast off, weave in your two ends and you are done!

Yarn: 1 x 100g The Little Grey Girl Bio Sock, (100g/430m/470yds) Colourway Disturbia

Needles: 3.5mm needles 

Gauge: 20sts and 36 rows to 10cm (4") in garter stitch (after blocking)

Finished measurements: 64" (162cm) length, 12.5" (32cm) width/depth

Errata: the original version had an error on row 3 of the increase section, this has been corrected in v1.1 It should read: Sl 1 wyif, kfb, K to m, sm, yo, K to m, Sl 3 wyif

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