Cascade – Yards of Happiness

FO: Rye Tie for Ayo

A good friend our mine has always been impressed with my knitting but the first time he saw me post about knitting a tie he immediately responded that he wanted one. Every time he’s seen me knit one he asks, ‘When can I get one? What do I have to do?’ So when he told me his family was coming up for the Easter holiday/spring break I decided it was time to knit him his own Rye tie.
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The Rye tie is a simple (and free) pattern, you can knit with a worsted weight yarn. I’ve always used one that has a bit of silk in it, Cascade Venezia Worsted. I like the drape the tie has after you finish it and the colors are very saturated. You can knit this over a weekend. And since Ayo is a tall guy he asked if I could make it a little longer than the average tie and that’s easy to do. When I made a Rye tie for my friend Steven he suggested I add a keeper loop to the back to hold the tie in place.
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Since then whenever I knit one I either pick up stitches on the edge and knit a slim bar or like with this one I just knit a garter stitch bar and attached it to the back. An easy solution so that you ensure they want to wear your knitted gift.

Cher was extremely helpful while I was trying to block his tie. And by helpful I mean she kept standing directly on the tie while I was trying to pin it to my blocking boards. Sigh…gotta love knitting with dogs.
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But I knew the tie was a hit because I gave it to Ayo on Friday and he wore it to church on Sunday for Easter. It’s always good to know your hand knits will get a good home.

Stitching Status: Smaller Things

First thanks everyone for great stranded knitting/colorwork tips! I really appreciate your help and suggestions. I’m excited to dive in even deeper and really see where I can take my love of color.

I told you guys I put aside my bigger sweater and have been working on hats lately. I’m going to pick my Kangarullover back up in February but I’m just not in the mood for it right now and I’m plotting out a lovely cardigan for my Mom too but right now hats and maybe a cowl or two in the future will be on my needles.
sparkly brioche
Right now I’ve been working on the Beezee hat to really get my brioche skills better. I think I’m loving brioche because the color possibilities are endless. This is a dk weight hat knit on size 4 needles (I never swatch hats, I’m too lazy). So I dug into my stash and pulled out a very old skein of Neighborhood Fiber Co. Studio Sport (they don’t make this base anymore) in a lovely teal color called Rock Creek Park and paired it with the leftover Blue Heron Rayon Metallic yarn I had leftover from my very first the Rain Outside shawl. I loved the metallic sparkle (I enhanced it a bit with an app to show off the sparkliness) and had hoped to use it again at some point. I was initially thinking I was going to give it to a friend when I was finished and then I thought…nah, this is going to be too good so I’m keeping it for myself. LOL Isn’t that the beauty of knitting?

The other hat I’m about to start is for one of my closest girlfriends who will be in town this week. I am going to give a new hat a go and try Tread from Within Knits. I bought my girlfriend EJ one of the leopard pom poms like on my hat I knit at the end of December becase she reminded me she’s a Jersey girl who loves all things leopard. So I’m digging out some camel colored Cascade 220 Superwash out of my stash from my yet to be unravelved Flaum cardigan to knit her a hat meant for a fur pom. I’m also thinking about cowls. I like them a lot for the windy times of year and spring when you’re wearing a light jacket but want to keep the chill away. My sister Helen loves her Bandana Cowl and I saw that there’s a brioche version by Lavanya Patricella.

Worsted Brioche Bandana Cowl by Lavanya Patricella via Ravelry

So I may buy this pattern and make one for myself and both of my sisters just so I can keep up the cool color combinations of brioche knitting. And I’m also looking at stranded knitting cowls too to work on those skills. I’ll also take suggestions too.

So what are you working on currently? Share!

January 31, 2018 by IamDWJ Categories: Blue Heron, Cascade, Color, Knitting, metallic, Neighborhood Fiber Co., Stitching Status, YarnTags: #yardsofhappiness, brioche knitting, knitting, Yarn 11 Comments

FO: For the Birthday Lady

My Mom isn’t subtle about what she wants me to knit for her. If she sees something I’ve made and she likes it she’ll tell me she wants it and I prefer it that way. I don’t have to guess or worry if she’ll like a piece that I’ve made because I know she wants it! Two sweaters I knew were on her list were my Louise Top Down and my Cala Luna. Since it was her birthday I decided to try to whip up a Louise Top Down for her birthday on the 9th. I finished this on the 8th just in time.
Tri-color cardigan for Mom
I had some Cascade 220 Superwash in my stash, one from my failed Flaum cardigan (still haven’t frogged it) and leftovers from my husband’s Sawyer sweater. My mom loves blue, so I thought well the body will be the camel neutral like my version and I can use the teal for the button band and bottom ribbing but what about the pop color for the cuffs?
Tri-color cardigan for Mom
I ordered a single skein of Cascade 220 Superwash in Coral and knew that would be the perfect compliment to the blue and the camel. I was right. I also forgot I had see through coral buttons that would be perfect for this one (I originally picked them up to go with my Cracked Pepper sweater but found those crazy big buttons instead). They aren’t too bold but compliment the sweater and the cuffs perfectly. It all kind of just came together and helped me whittle down my stash a bit! And the fit of the sweater?
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I got it spot on. I told my Mom last week I was making her a sweater and when she came by my house I had her try it on just to make sure it was the right size since I had just separated for sleeves. Once I knew it was the right fit, I was happy to plug away and made it just in time for dinner with her on her birthday. She’s happy and looks super cute and that makes me happy!