This year is really flying by – I can’t believe we are only 10 days out from the end of June! I think I’m on track for most of my yearly YOP goals, so let’s talk about what I worked on this week, shall we?
First up, I finished the DK-weight Battenberg blanket I’ve been chipping away at for a baby shower gift. I used Scheepjes River Washed and Stone Washed mini skeins I had in stash, and then used Stone Washed in the Moonstone colorway for the white blocks. I am not 100% sure I did the border right, but it looks pretty so I’m happy with it. Pattern is a freebie from Cherry Heart Designs and I am pretty proud of the way my first fully finished crochet project came out!
Next up this week, I finished the Scribbly Gum Socks I had been working on. These are also a gift for a friend who loves purple and lives in a warmer climate so I opted for some lacy socks. I love how the color and pattern work together (and was sad to pack these up to send away, but she’s a totally worthy gift recipient). Design is by Helen Stewart of Curious Handmade, and the yarn is a very well-aged stash skein from 2014 of Madeline Tosh Sock in colorway Logwood.
I am still working on the Curling Mist socks (also designed by Helen Stewart) for another friend. I’m knitting the size L and a fairly long foot as she’s quite tall, so these are taking a bit more time than my usual sock timeline, but I’m loving the soft sea green and simple twisted ribbed pattern on these. Yarn is Suburban Stitcher Sock in the colorway Lazy River. Sock one is finished and I have started sock #2 so I’ll be focusing on that this week. (Sock #1 looks a little odd on my sock blockers but I just have ones that fit my feet so the toes kind of hang off the end.)
I also started a new pair of socks for Summer Sock Camp 2022 using a set of 5 miniskeins from Spun Right Round on her Classic Sock base (and which were part of the 2021 Advent box I got). I’m using the fade sequence of The Faded Sock pattern but that’s about it. I’m working mine top down (not toe-up) and will be replacing the heel with a Fish Lips Kiss heel rather than the short row one called for in the pattern. These will be an easy, relatively mindless knit for some upcoming appointments and waiting times I’ll have in the next two weeks.
I made some good progress this week on my Meadow Knots cowl too. I have about 3/4s of the fourth of 5 charts knit, so I’m still on track to finish this one up probably early July for a challenge project due on July 17th. Enjoying these bright and cheerful colors of Harrisville Shetland and the ever-changing charts which keep the knitting interesting.
In spinning this week, I spun up the first of the four colors in the mixed BFL gradient packs I have from Greenwood Fiberworks. This skein in bittersweet orange has 196 yards and 1.9 oz in the finished 2-ply. I probably won’t start anything else until the Tour de Fleece which kicks off July 1st, but when that starts, I’ll get back to work on the remaining 3 colors to finish this set up.
Last but not least, I worked the outer border on my Desert Mandala project down to the bottom right corner, and put in the 1 over 1 tiny stitches for the Kokopelli motif there. I’m ready to work the bottom outer border, and the motifs and vignettes that will make up the interior borders, so that’ll be my plan for this week. I may just focus on this through the end of June and switch up to a full coverage project for July. My co-admin in the FB group I host for full coverage cross stitch always hosts a Tour de France event during July, so it’d be a fun reason to put some stitches into one of those projects for a bit of a change.
Hope everyone has had a great week in the YOP group. Looking forward to seeing year-end summaries for those of you who track July through June!
Knit One, Spin Too 
Your colorwork cowl is to die for. Really beautiful. It will be sooo fun to wear. Love both Helen Stewart patterns you knit. I plan to do some lace patterns on my “schooner trip” socks. At least one will be very basic though so I don’t have to look at the pattern. Your Battenberg blanket is truly, truly beautiful. Love that shade of orange for your home spun yarn. I really am drawn to autumn colors.
I can’t wear fall colors very well but I do love them, so fun to spin them to enjoy their rich hues. I like Helen’s patterns since they are interesting but not so difficult you are tied to a chart for the entire sock.
So many glorious makes and finishes this week! Your cowl is really stunning.
Thank you so much!
Two and a half finished projects this week. That’s amazing. I always enjoy seeing your cowl with its beautiful colorwork. I like the colors you have chosen for your new summer camp sock. Your spun yarn is pretty. Reminds me of fall harvest time. Your cross stitch is moving along. How large will this be when completed?
The xstitch will be 21 x 21″ square when it’s done – so a big one! I’m trying to stay focused on even small steps forward so I can get it finally finished to enjoy hanging up. 🙂 Thanks for your kind comments!
These all look great! I love the socks, but completely understand the issue with socks not fitting the blockers. I have 3 pairs of sock blockers as a result, since some family members have bigger feet than mine, and some have smaller feet, and I knit socks (semi) regularly for all of them.
1 over 1 stitching always looks so delicate (and so difficult)! Your Kokopelli motif looks great, as does that whole project. Thanks for the reminder about Tour de Fleece. I might participate this year!
My DH reminded me I actually have large size blockers – I just had to dig them out but the finished sock looks much better on it. If you need a low-key team, my friend, Laura, at The Corner of Knit and Tea on Rav, youtube and IG, is hosting one. No pressure to spin a certain amount or type of fiber – really just fun and lots of eye candy 🙂
LOL, I’m glad you remembered about the large size sock blockers before the FO post at any rate! I’ll have to look into joining your friend’s TdF team! I stopped joining teams because I never felt like I was doing “enough”, but a low-key team sounds perfect!
The Battenburg turned out STUNNING! An heirloom piece, for sure!
And let’s be honest, all this week’s knitting photos are beautiful. I can’t pick a favorite!
Oh thank you so much! I hope the parents love it too 🙂
I once started a 4 ply/fingering weight version of the Battenberg blanket and couldn’t work such fiddly small stitches with such small yarn so I’ve been waiting to see how your DK version looked when finished and I love it. I much prefer it to the 4ply version and will start saving any DK scraps to one day make one myself. May be a few years away though. The socks look great. Very generous knitting socks and baby blankets for other people, makes me wonder if I should knit a pair of socks for my husband or dad for Christmas.
Thank you! Not sure how much yardage you usually save with your 4-ply yarns, but you could always double them to use as DK weight. Maybe speed up the process? I do like to make things for other folks. I actually rarely make much for myself anymore. Most of it goes to charities or as gifts – one can only have so many pairs of handknit socks to wear in a given year.
I have a 4ply habitation throw that will take me years to finish as I don’t have many scraps. I can make 2 pairs of socks for my tiny feet per skein so it doesn’t leave much. My feet are a US5 and I only need to cast on 56 sts my husbands use a whole skein with his big feet and him liking it coming up the leg more…plus they have more stitches per row so it all feels so relentless…I guess I’m just a selfish knitter 😂
Oh you have some lovely projects there. I love the stitching. The socks are gorgeous and the Battenberg is splendid (I still haven’t touched mine!)