Friday, April 2, 2021, Issue 192: Happy Easter!

• Posted on 2 April 2021
• By Susan Wong-Tsang
• Posted in April 2021, Easter, spring knitting
• 0

It is Easter weekend...Who would have thought when we started this business as usual with curb side pick-up and shipping that over a year later, it is still going to be the norm? Easter dinner with our loved ones this year should again be memorable and shared virtually! Happy Easter!

Spring Thing by Espace Tricot is a simple asymmetrical shawlette that will add a pop of colour to your wardrobe and a spring to you step! Knit it using a single skein of approximately 366m/400yds of fingering weight yarn. The lovely border accent and the whimsical mini tassels increase the fun factor needs approximately 80m/87y of a fingering weight yarn.

The recommended main needles are 4 mm (US 6) 24” circular needles or size needed to obtain the gauge of 26 stitches and 34 rows = 4 inches in Garter Stitch. 5 mm (US 8) 32” circular needles or two sizes larger than main needle size is used for the border. If you bind off tightly, 6 mm (US 10) or two sizes larger than your border needle is recommended for binding off.

Connie (knitnut246) finished her Spring Thing by Espace Tricot using Malabrigo Sock leftover from her Soldotna! Other suggested yarns include Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light with stash leftover yarn for the border or a couple of Unicorn Tails!

Espace Tricot also knit a Spring Thing - supersized larger version. They used 3.5mm needles for the shawl and 4.5mm needles for the icord. Their modification is as follows:

Espace Tricot's Modifications for larger size:

We knit section one until there were 106 stitches on the needles, and then followed the instructions for section two to decrease and bind off. We had 95.7g left of the second skein before picking up the icord and knitting it. The icord used approximately 16 grams total, with the yarn held double.

We had 69g left over after the tassels. Two skeins is plenty for this shawl and tassels.

I can’t believe it but I still haven’t knit myself a Tegna by Caitlin Hunter! Tegna is knitted seamlessly from the bottom up, starting with the slightly flared lace hem, then working up to the armholes, where you separate your work and work the front and back flat. Knit in fingering weight yarn, this design works equally well in wool, a wool/mohair blend or linen. Instructions are given to customize the body and sleeve lengths to your preference.

The needle size required to meet gauge varied quite widely depending on yarn used and knitter’s personal style. The range used by testers was US 3 (3.25mm) through US 7 (4.5mm) for the main body, so knitting a gauge swatch is absolutely critical to determine needle size and ensure proper fit of the garment! Gauge is 22 sts and 26-28 rows over 4” in stockinette after washing and blocking on larger needles.

This sweater is designed to be slightly oversized, with approximately 5-10” of positive ease around the bust. The sleeves are fitted, so make sure you pay attention to the sleeve circumference when choosing your size. (Schematic is provided in the pattern) Sample shown is worn with 8” of positive ease.

Many of the @Sue2KnitKALers have knit the Tegna! Here is Nik looking fabulous in her Tegna by Caitlin Hunter that she knit using Bergere de France Bigarelle.

Today (April 2) is World Autism Awareness Day, the day also kicks off a month-long campaign toward greater acceptance and appreciation of autism. I am the proud grandmother of an autistic 4 year old who has been proudly making his first short words! Much love to my amazing son and daughter-in-law for being so loving and patient with booth of their kids.

While this Puzzle Play by Melissa Leapman was not designed for Autism Awareness, it should be used for it. The pattern can be found in her Stashbuster Knits book.

WIPs and FOs

My second Rock It Tee by Tanis Lavallee last Saturday was moving along on the yoke.

Now it is a couple of inches into the body!! I am knitting this one with Bergere de France Bigarelle which is a wonderful blend of cotton, linen and viscose. While I am striping it every eight rows the same way I did on my first Rock It Tee, my sister knit two of hers in soliid colours.

My Blomsterjakke (Flower Cardigan) by Sandnes Garn is now into the colourwork part! I had 321 stitches in my ribbing for 14 rounds which seemed to take forever.

The added steek stitches are set on my Blomsterjakke! If you are wondering about all of the ends, I used my usual long tail cast on but used two balls of yarn so thatt I didn't have to try to calculate how much I would need for 321 stitches.

KNIT GROUP AND GALLERY

The current Knit-Alongs are the Any Sweater / Shawl KAL and the Knit Your Project: the everlasting knit-along to encourage and support you to knit is running from January 1 to April 30, 2021.

Remember to post photos to the finished object (FO) thread HERE when you finish a project during the Knit-Along so that you will be included in the next draw! We will also add the option of posting your finished project to Instagram using the #sue2knitskal so that I can find them!

Connie (knitnut246) finished her Sahra by Leeni Hoi using Garnstudio Drops Air. Don't you love the pockets?

Rosemary (@coolknitsbyrose) finished a short sleeved Ranunculus by Midori Hirose! She used Diamond Luxury Mulberry Linen and Garnstudio Drops Kid Silk.

Jan (mrsjanknits) finished her Catbells Cardigan by Megan Nodecker of Pip & Pin. Yarn is Cascade 220 Heathers.

Judy finished her Anker’s Sweater- My Size by PetiteKnit using Kelbourne Woolens Scout.

Brenda (@bmallat42) has finished and is blocking the beautiful lacy shawl. Pattern is Naiada by Martina Behm.

Paulette (@psknitting50) knit Trillium by Ann Bourgeois in the round and steeked it to be a blanket.

Lise (Mattedcat) test knit Ariadne by Lisa Chemery in the 3 month size for her newest granddaughter!

Today is the day that Veronica Topham (@xovee.knits)’s Charcuterie Beanie is released!

Leslie (lcritch) finished Joji’s Lightweight Hipster but had to knit it smaller while playing yarn chicken!

Anna (@kollar.annie) is ready to block and weave in the ends of her Makariri Shawl by Francoise Danoy.

VIRTUAL SOCIAL KNITTING

Virtual social knitting using the Zoom app! It has been a great way to knit together through social distancing! Join in with us either Tuesday afternoon from 2 - 4 pm or Thursday nights from 7 - 9 pm. We are continuing to hold our Zoom meetings each week until we can meet again in person. Clicking on the link will take you to our Zoom meeting.

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting
 
Meeting ID: 407820804

Happy Friday, Happy Knitting, Crocheting and Crafting! Keep calm and keep on knitting and making!