Monthly Makes - June: what's on my needles?

The last month or so, I've been caught in somewhat of a whirlwind. Since my last post, I have finished my teacher training course and become a fully qualified teacher, I have (finally) found a job for the next academic year at a wonderful school and, most importantly, I have found an endless amount of crafting inspiration. Despite being busier than ever, the last few weeks have been full of creative opportunities and knitting inspiration. Perhaps it's the return to pre-covid life that has brought along this abundance of ideas. I have, after all, been able to attend yarn festivals and travel to local yarn shops, something that I have not been able to do for a long time. Fear not, for I shall tell you all about the exciting places I have been and the things I've made this month (including my first original design)!

Places I've been

Lately, I've been making the most of the relative freedom that we now have in the UK. Covid restrictions are slowly being lifted and I finally feel comfortable travelling to different places. One of the most exciting places I went to this month was Unravel Festival, a local yarn festival that takes place every year. I didn't get a massive haul, but I got a few mini skeins of hand-dyed yarn, the adorable Sinister Catdigan pattern and a gauge square. My mum also ordered a jumper knitting kit for me to make her - she's lucky I'm not charging for the labour. As part of the festival, I attended a virtual workshop on knitting the landscape around you. It was a brilliant workshop that focused on finding inspiration from the places you cherish and relaying that in your knitting. It's certainly a creative process that I'd like to get better at.

Despite not getting much at Unravel Fesitval, I've managed to find a great number of knitting resources in charity shops and thrift stores. On a day trip down to Portsmouth, my nearest coastal town, I managed to find two books on knitting for plus sizes (useful for designing), a book of top-down knitting patterns, 3 balls of a beautiful discontinued pink ribbon yarn and some lovely buttons. I've been feeding my addiction even more lately by purchasing 1940s Odhams knitting books from Ebay. My greatest achievement was getting the winning bid on one of the few remaining physical copies of A Stitch in Time Vol. 1. I've been looking for that book for ages, and it was worth every penny!

Anyway, that's enough about what I've been up to this month. On to what I've been knitting...

Victoria's Rose Garden Top

After a good few months of calculations and constant knitting, I have finally finished my first original design. Although I don't necessarily plan on publishing the pattern, it was a great learning experience that has taught me many things. For example, although I love the top, I would choose a lighter yarn next time as the weight of the gathered sleeves can cause the shoulders to stretch and the neckline to widen slightly. I also included short rows to make an angled sleeve, but it looks much better on a shorter cap sleeve - I'll admit, the sleeves came out longer than I expected. I also came to discover that a 'square' neckline never really stays square. Naturally, there will always be teething issues for a first design, but the  important thing is that I designed something myself and I learned a bit more about the design process along the way. I'm looking forward to experimenting more with future yarny creations. Maybe I'll recreate this top one day in a lighter yarn, without the angled sleeves. It's tempting, but the thought of reknitting that much lace makes me feel queasy.

 

Peggy Sue Cardigan

I've had a few balls of Patons Smoothie DK lying around for a while. Given my latest obsession for vintage knitwear, I decided to cast on the Peggy Sue cardigan by Linda Wilgus. It's a 1950s inspired raglan cardigan with short sleeves and a cropped cabled waist. I've made a few modifications to the pattern as I've gone along, some accidental and some on purpose. The first modification I made was more of a careless mistake - attention to detail has never been my strong suit. The pattern called for 8.3cm of stockinette stitch before switching to cabling, but I had assumed that this measurement would be in inches - 8.3cm is an oddly specific measurement, after all. It was only after knitting an extra 8.3" that I discovered my mistake. Instead of frogging the entire work, I decided to do a smaller band of cabling at the bottom to give the cardigan a slightly different aesthetic. I also decided to knit long sleeves, which I will finish with a cabled cuff. The Patons Smoothie DK has been such a lovely yarn to knit with, and I'm tempted to buy more to make another Peggy Sue cardigan in a different colour (only this time, I'll actually pay attention to the pattern).

Rico superwash bamboo socks 

The last item on my needles this month is a pair of socks in Rico Superba Superwash Bamboo. It's been a little while since I last knitted a pair of socks, so I decided to pick up a nice colour-changing yarn from my local yarn store. My sudden eagerness to make socks is probably because I joined a few sock knitting Facebook groups recently. I'm not the biggest fan of Facebook, but it's an excellent place to find various niche knitting communities. I've already joined a sock knitting, shawl knitting and vintage knitting group! I also bought some MillaMia sock yarn this month to make a pair of Cattyfeet socks. I've never done colourwork in socks before but it'll be a fun experiment. I'm planning on making one pair in shades of purple and white, and another in pink, white and another deeper cherry yarn that I already have in my stash.

That's everything on my needles for now. I'd love to hear what you're knitting or crocheting this month. Feel free to let me know in the comments!