Techniques/Stitches – Yards of Happiness

FO: Big & Bright

Surprise! I knit an entire sweater over a 24 hour period. Yup. I did that – and you can too! Meet the Malmo sweater, one I’ve wanted to make for a while. So how did I end up ditching my plans to finish the body of my Balloon Cardigan and knitting an entire sweater between Friday night and Saturday afternoon?

On Friday I was running errands and while I grabbed lunch I saw Fibre Space posted on Instagram that they were having a winter sale and that Berroco Macro was 50% off. I was down the street from the yarn shop so I drove right on over. I’d had this fun super bulky pattern for the Malmo sweater in my favorites since it came out but couldn’t justify the cost of the yarn but at 50% off I could. I also knew my color choices would be limited to what they had in stock so I went with what they had and I picked purple, yellow and pink for a fun combo.
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I bought more than what I needed (I may make a super bulky brioche scarf with the leftovers) because when I just did two colors for the colorwork I only needed 1 skein for each color and 3 skeins for the body. And I love this pink, it is so vibrant and gorgeous AND I had a hot pink tee in my wardrobe already that was a spot on match.
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I started knitting around 5:30pm on Friday night and got about this far by 10pm. When I picked it back up around 9:30am the next morning I knew it would be smooth sailing since it was just the body left to knit.

Also, I love floats on colorwork almost as much as I love the right side of the pattern. This is knit top down, the colorwork pattern is super simple and I knit it with size 15 needles. Large needles don’t bother my hands like some people have said, it’s the tiny needles that cramp my hands so I’m happy to knit with super bulky yarns.
Malmo Sweater
It was such a super satisfying knit to finish a sweater by 4pm the day after you cast on. Also I love short sleeved knits for layering. I live in Maryland, not Maine, so when something is a really wooly warm wool I don’t want full sleeves. I’ll only get to wear it once or twice. Now I can totally wear this before spring has sprung. This is a super soft blend of wool, alpaca and acrylic.
Malmo Sweater
So I’ve knit a sweater up in under 12 hours, this is definitely a record (remember, I knit this one in 48 hours in December), so have I convinced anyone else to give this pattern a go? You can knit it with any super bulky you like and I highly suggest you give it a go this long weekend coming up!

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

FO: Glass Ceiling Test Knit

I’ve got another finished object for you! I’m on fire lately. This is a test knit I volunteered to do for one of my favorite designers, Heidi Kirrmaier. She just released the pattern this week, Glass Ceiling and here’s my Ravelry page with all the yarny details.
Glass Ceiling Test Knit
I think 2018 has been my year of stranded colorwork. I’ve been all about it this year, haven’t I? I wanted to volunteer for this one because I like how she writes her patterns and I loved the modern look of the colorwork on this one. And when I thought about the color palette I wanted to use, I went back to my rainbow inspiration I shared earlier this year. Remember this leash and harness?
Dog leash
I used it as the color inspiration for this sweater! I don’t typically do a lot of white (I tend to spill) and when I do I don’t like white ribbing because inevitably I’ll get my brown makeup on it. So I prefer to do a contrasting neckline and cuffs, so I went for the black and white and used the other colors to build my rainbow.
Glass Ceiling Test Knit
Now Jellybean and I can totally coordinate on our walks. LOL But I loved the color palette so much in the harness and leash I knew I needed to translate it into something for myself and this was kind of perfect. I used Berroco Vintage DK in Snow White for the main body color and then used a bunch of different Hikoo Simplicity yarns for the color. From top to bottom it goes True red, Gypsy Red (I say red-orange), Hot Pink, Orchid, Purple and a lovely Cobalt Blue.
Glass Ceiling Test Knit
The Berroco Vintage DK is nice and light, not too wooly and all of this mixed together makes such a soft sweater. I have a feeling I’ll wear this one a lot…as long as I don’t spill anything on it.