Reviews
Pattern, needle and yarn reviews.
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A Love Letter to the Bennet Sister Shawl
Somehow, even though this knit was one of my all-time favourites in terms of the process of knitting, it didn’t rate highly in my priority list to write a blog post for. Considering just how much time has passed since I finished knitting my Bennet Sister Shawl, you would think there would be no point in writing this, but the joy that knitting this shawl, my first, brought me is still pretty vivid, and on this, the anniversary of the publication of Pride and Prejudice, I thought this pattern deserved a little love letter. Why is this pattern so great? As I mentioned above, I had never knit a shawl before.…
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Pattern Review: Clubhouse Raglan Hoodie
After so thoroughly enjoying knitting the Autumn League Pullover from Two of Wands I was very much looking forward to knitting the Clubhouse Raglan Hoodie. I had asked for the kit from Lion Brand for Christmas a couple years ago, back when you could only choose from a few yarn colours in their kits. It did take me over a year to actually get to, but in some ways I was saving it because I was pretty sure I would enjoy making this one too. Why was I looking forward to this knit? A new (to me) yarn, and one that has some wool in it but is apparently fairly…
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A Bucket List Knit: Zweig Sweater Pattern Review
This is your reminder that we learn and progress. What was once difficult and seemed unachievable, can become something you are comfortable with. This was the general lesson for me when knitting the Zweig Sweater by Boyland Knitworks. A number of years ago Nicole of Woolfield Studio made herself a Zweig Sweater (yes another mention of Nicole, she probably won’t be in ALL my blog posts this year). I watched in awe as she made it, as it was my first encounter with both a yoke sweater and with knit lace. The first time I knit any real lace was for the Fairy Dust Socks (from Nicole of course). The…
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An Easy, Cozy Raglan: Cinnabar Sweater Pattern Review
The Cinnabar sweater is such a great pattern, has lots of options, and I found it easy to modify to my own tastes as well. A knit garment that should definitely be in your handmade wardrobe!
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Quick, Cozy Socks: Velveteen Slipper Socks Pattern Review
When Nicole of Woolfield Studio released these socks on her day for the Season of Socks 2020, I knew they would be my first project in 2021. These are a sister pattern to her Shag Carpet Shorties which I tested a couple years ago. I almost never knit the same pattern twice, but I did knit those twice, the second time as a sample for a dyer! Because my feet are almost always cold at home (my best friend once accused me of secretly strapping ice packs to my feet to make my toes as cold as they are, LOL), I really like DK socks. Aside from the extra warmth,…
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A Festive, Cozy Sock – Humbug Socks Review
After my province announced new Covid restrictions a week into December that would last through Christmas, I was pretty grumpy. Since knitting is often an emotion-management tool for me one of my reactions was that I needed to cast on a new project. And since it had been over a month since I finished my Roadtrip Socks, plus Season of Socks was about to begin, I felt like the new cast on should be socks. I was scrolling through my Ravelry library for socks I wanted to make, and had the perfect yarn for in my stash. I got to the section that had been purchased about a year ago,…
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So Faded Sweater Pattern Review
I spent A LOT of time choosing yarn for this sweater. I’ve been wanting to make it for years, but I also didn’t want to buy a fade kit to make it – I felt like that was cheating. So making this sweater wasn’t going to be just a demonstration of knitting, but of my ability to put together yarns. And even though the colours in Andrea Mowry’s sample of the So Faded were quite different, I really wanted to get more of a gradient effect in my sweater. My first attempt was ordering from the now non-existent We Love Knitting. But it turned out 1 of the 3 was…
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How to Knit Your Best Breeze Racerback
For a long time this was probably my favourite of Jessie Mae’s patterns. To actually make it, I needed the perfect yarn, and all my favourite Breeze Racerbacks I’ve seen were faded, with a darker colourway on the bottom, so I needed 2 of the perfect yarns, a darker, and a lighter. At a Yarn Ink pop-up at Stash I finally decided to get a skein of Malibu, which I’d been admiring for awhile, so then I just needed a lighter skein to coordinate. I settled on a colourway called Ghostly, which I’ve also admired for awhile, from The Fawn and The Fox. I have so much yarn from these…
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Pattern Review of the First Star Socks
Long ago, during Nicole of Woolfield Studio’s first Sockvent in 2018, I bought the First Star Socks pattern from Jessica of The Sweater Collective. I had first seen these socks because Nicole had tested them. I think the design is so unique! And it looks different once you stretch it out on your foot! As often happens with my projects, I was strongly influenced in my yarn choice by the designer’s sample, and as it happens, by Nicole’s test as well. I really did consider a bunch of other yarns, but the pale ballet pink (or bubblegum pink, since it’s called Double Bubble), just couldn’t be beat, even though it’s…
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Pattern Review: Ripple Buttshorts
I think I’ve mentioned before that one of the ways I choose patterns to make, is because I have seen the pattern made a lot, and generally like how it looks almost every time a see a picture of it. This was the case for Jessie Maed Designs’ Ripple Buttshorts. When she first announced she was doing a shorts pattern I felt “meh” about it. Some of the first I saw though I did really like. And as the pattern actually came out and more and more people made it I thought I’d give it a try. Only because I had yarn in my stash (Knit Crate from OML 2019…
