What have I knitted this past quarter? In total I’ve finished 3 projects. They were all sweaters. One for a good friend, one for my husband and one for me. What were your projects these first few months of the year?
Project 1: Confetti sweater orange
This first project of the year is for one of my good friends. She started knitting herself, but asked me if I wanted to make this project for here. And because I’m not afraid anymore to knit for other people than myself, I’ve said yes. The same sweater I’ve knitted before for myself in purple.
It’s the confetti sweater from Lana Grossa (pattern in the lookbook of LANA GROSSA Fileta no. 68 (winter 2024). The yarn is the super bulky confetti 1 ply merino, also by LANA GROSSA.
About the yarn: I think it’s the most bulky yarn I’ve ever worked with (also with large 9mm needles. The end result is absolutely beautiful. You have to be careful not to ‘stab’ the yarn and split it by accident, that’s easily done with this yarn. Once you’re familiar with the yarn, it is perfect. And the colors: WOW. They are truly amazing. Very bright and many options.
I have some comments on the pattern on the other hand. When making the gauge I’ve already downsized the needles from a 10mm to a 9mm and then my gauge was spot on. But eventually the sweater was WAY too big. Like 1/3 too big. This was super frustrating. So I altered the pattern to make it a bit smaller. I know it’s an oversized sweater, but this was too much. I’ve also changed the pattern from knitting flat to knitting in the round because that’s my personal preference.
But look at the results! My friend has been wearing the sweater a lot already. I think with temperatures rising, it will soon be laying in the closet for a while, because it’s a pretty hot sweater.
Project 2: Finsbury Park Sweater
The second project I’ve knitted for my husband. This is already the 3rd project I’ve knitted for him and I must say they improve every time. My husband is quite tall so he always has trouble finding sweaters that are long enough. That’s another benefit of knitting your own clothes: you can make them any size.
I find the menswear knitting patterns to be far less available than women’s or children’s wear. So there is a huge potential for menswear knit designers out there.
The pattern I’ve found for this project is the Finsbury Park Sweater by Jane Howorth. The pattern itself is easily written and good for beginners. The only alteration I did was make it in the round instead of flat. Anyone else not liking to put together a project in the end?
My yarn choice was the LANA GROSSA merino uno in gentian bleu. I love this vibrant color. Also love that my husband also likes these kinds of bright colors and is not afraid of showing.
Does this sound familiar? When knitting for menswear it usually is such bigger than knitting for myself (my husband is 1,97 meters and I’m 1,60 meters, so there’s a big difference). That results in much larger projects. Sometimes knitting the body and sleeves in these larger projects feel for me like they take forever.
Project 3: Lawreson Sweater
The Lawreson Sweater is a pattern of one of my favorite knitwear designers (keep in touch to find out my new blogs on my favorite knitwear designers. This is from Lily Kate France.
Her patterns are written absolutely perfect. When gauging the sizing is always spot on. So please check out her patterns.
This is already the third sweater I’ve made from this pattern. And because of changing the yarn everytime, they all look very different.
This time I’ve knitted 2 strand held together: the Drops merino and the Drops Silk. The merino was a a leftover from an earlier project I’ve made and there was so many left, that I’ve easily had enough for a new sweater (bit of misjudgment on my side regarding the amount of yarn for this earlier project). Because of holding the yarn together, it has this beautiful effect on the sweater.
Your projects this Q1 of 2025
What were your projects for this first quarter of the year? What are you most proud of? Please let me know in the comments, I’m very curious.
