Hey all! It’s been a bit, things have happened, but I’m back with some fresh motivation!
At the beginning of the year, I set a few crafting-related goals for myself, one of which was to use up some of my yarn stash by various means, and I’ve been doing my best to at least stick to that. My most ambitious stash-buster to date? Garment knitting.
Jeanette Godreau of New Wave Knitting is hosting a knit-a-long this summer using her Staple Tee pattern and I decided this sounded like the best way possible to a) get over the hurdle of making a sweater and b) use up more of my stash. Fun fact: I have several sweater patterns saved in various places and have yet to work up the nerve to start one. Happily the Staple Tee seems like an excellent way to do this; the pattern is a plug-and-play made-to-measure beast, which means its size inclusive AND you don’t actually have to work out the math yourself because the document does it for you. She’s gone to a lot of trouble to make the pattern as user-friendly as possible.
So this summer I’ll be biting the bullet and working on knitting a tee, which will prove challenging in several ways:
- Gauge Swatching
- Shaping
- Blocking
- Finishing the project within the stated timeframe
The first challenge is down; I actually made a gauge swatch for the first time ever (gauge swatching is kind of controversial in the knitting/crocheting community; it’s a necessary evil) and I’m pretty happy with it!
I had to improvise a bit while blocking since I lack both blocking mats and pins, so I’m making do with a small bolster pillow and some lace tatting needles. I’m using Expression Fiber Arts (of course) Mirage Sport in the Expressive Hues kit since I had two of the kits on hand and wouldn’t need to buy more yarn.
I’m really looking forward to casting on the actual tee this week! Stay tuned for more updates!
The Tangled Clew 