blue – Yards of Happiness

FO: Party Top Sweater

First, there was TONS of great advice in the comments on my post about frogging. I’m going to try to pull it all together into one blog post. Now remember in that same post I was talking about a sweater I had to frog back and now I’m sharing the finished piece! This is the Party Top sweater.

I think I’m falling in love with cropped sweaters. Instead of the fuller cropped silhouette like my Boxed Pullover, this one has a more fitted shape. I decided to knit this one with a strand of Neighborhood Fiber Company Loft yarn, a lace weight mohair yarn and a strand of Berroco Vintage DK in Breezeway from my stash. I’ve heard that mohair can be itchy and make a sweater overwhelmingly hot. I don’t feel like this is itchy at all, it’s super soft. I think because it’s cropped and has shorter sleeves it isn’t an overwhelmingly hot sweater either. Maybe it’s a perfect type of sweater to knit with mohair.

I will admit, if I had more yarn I probably would’ve made it an inch longer but I only had enough to get it to the specified length which is fine with me. I was able to pair it with a couple of of different tops and skirts/pants combos in my wardrobe, so it will work. And I really love the texture the mohair gives and then the added bits of color it gave to what would’ve been just a solid colored sweater make this a little special. Now I’m going to want to add a strand of mohair to everything. LOL
Party Top Sweater
I’ve really been looking at my stash and what I want to make and what gaps I have in my wardrobe. I have four works in progress that I’ve been letting hang out for a bit (and may for a little longer) and I cast on a lovely Balloon Cardigan on Saturday in a gorgeous deep red orange. I’ve been wanting something with a dramatic sleeve and this is definitely it. I’ve also been thinking about things my sisters have wanted me to make them so I’ve been going over the perfect patterns to make them something special this year. I’m excited about knitting and clearly all my productivity is showing my excitement. What are you excited to be making right now?

Stitching Status: It’s Okay to Frog It

Although I am fast, I am not a perfect knitter. And almost every project I work on teaches me something new. I think that’s one of the things I love about knitting, there’s always something to learn. A new cast-on, a new stitch pattern, a new construction method, a new fiber…the list could go on forever. My latest works in progress is the Party Top sweater (I told you I’m trying to clear out my stash and this is a perfect stash buster for some of my leftover dk weight). I decided since it was a simple dk weight sweater that I could try something new, adding in a strand of mohair!
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I’ve been seeing mohair a lot lately, I’ve been curious so I took my Fibre Space gift card my Mom gave me for Christmas and picked up two skeins of Neighborhood Fiber Co. Loft a silk and mohair lace weight yarn to add to the sweater. I initially thought I was going to add this mohair to a white speckled yarn but when I pulled out a skein of Berroco Vintage DK in Breezeway from my stash it seemed like it was a better way to let the mohair yarn really shine and I was right. If you want to see a bit of what the blue green yarn looked like on its own check out my Pippi Sweater. So what did I learn with this project?
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That frogging back is sometimes very necessary and that mohair isn’t easy to rip back. It’s delicate and can get tangled but if you have a little patience you can make it work. The top picture is when I was close to what I thought would be the end of my raglan increases but the initial instructions and chart threw me for a loop…so I ended up ripping back to the neckline and starting over. And now, it’s smooth sailing. And I have to say I’m proud of myself because I ripped all the way back to the neckline ribbing and was able to get it all back on my needles. Years ago I would have just started all over again. With time and patience you learn how to do better.

What have you learned from a knitting project? Maybe something you learned can help someone else too!

January 23, 2019January 22, 2019 by IamDWJ Categories: Berroco, blue, Color, Knitting, multi, Neighborhood Fiber Co., red, Sweaters, YarnTags: #yardsofhappiness, frogging knits, Knitting, knitting with mohair, Yarn 28 Comments

FO: Wonder Woman Hat & Goals for 2019

It’s only the second week of the year and I’m two finished objects down! Woohoo! And for my first finished object of the year I decided to finish a gift for a friend who just turned 40, the Wonder Woman Hat.
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I wanted to do a little brioche knitting, it’s the same way I started off 2018. Brioche is so soothing to me, I don’t know why. So I dove into my stash (a goal of mine for 2019, use my stash) and pulled out this awesome combination based on a coat my friend Susan has that I wanted to coordinate. The yarns are more of my leftover Tempting Ewe Yarns Ewe So DK and Sparkly (I bought sweater quantity at Sheep and Wool two years ago and have made a lot of things with it) and Madelinetosh Tosh Merino DK in a Game of Thrones color, Daenerys. Her coat was black, white, blue and red and the Daenerys color had all of those and more and instead of white, I used the metallic grey to add a softer contrast. And I had a perfectly colored pom pom to add on top. It was a combination that was meant to be.
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I did have to frog this one when I got halfway through because brioche knitting and wine really don’t mix. I put in a lifeline on my second go round but didn’t need it and was able to finish it even faster. And the hat fits Susan perfectly and goes with a bunch of her coats!

Now about my 2019 goals. I always have goals and plans and then never follow them. I always want to knit all the things but this year I really want to just knit with what’s in my stash as much as I possibly can. My stash is out of control and my Mom gave me yarn money for Christmas so I know there will be more yarn in my future, but really my stash is awesome and I need to stop hoarding it and start knitting with it! Too often I think ‘this skein is too pretty to use,’ but I need to just use it and make really pretty things. I also want to keep pushing myself to try new things. And I want to make an enamel pin this year! I’ve had an idea for a long time in my head for a Yards of Happiness logo and I think it would make a really fun pin for a project bag or jacket, so I want to make that happen this year.

What are your knitting related goals for 2019?

January 9, 2019January 9, 2019 by IamDWJ Categories: blue, Brioche, Color, FO: Finished Object, Hats, Knitting, Madelinetosh, metallic, multi, neutral (black/grey/white), red, Techniques/Stitches, Tempting Ewe, YarnTags: #yardsofhappiness, brioche knitting, Knitting, wonder woman hat 13 Comments