Wednesday, March 26, 2025, Issue 387: What is on your needles?

• Posted on 26 March 2025
• By Sue
• Posted in knitting inspiration, March 2025, spring knitting
• 0

It hasn't been very warm outside especially with that blustery wind and even though when it is sunny out it, it is not as warm as it appears. I am not quite ready to wear more seasonal sweaters yet but we can cast them on our needles!

The Lacey Loop Tee by Other Loops_ has a loose fit, a classic round neck and is detailed with stripes consisting of purl stitches, a feminine eyelet pattern and a unique ribbing edge.

The t-shirt is worked from top to bottom. First stitches are cast on for the back piece, which is worked back and forth with short rows to shape the upper back. Then stitches are picked up along the shoulder edges and the shoulders are worked back and forth individually. The two shoulders are joined for the front by casting on stitches mid-front. The front and back piece are then joined, and the body is worked in the round and finished with a ribbing edge consisting of eyelets and purl stitches. Neck stitches are picked up around the neckline and the neck is worked in the round in ribbing. To create a nice finish, the last four rounds are worked in double knitting, followed by Italian bind off. Sleeve stitches are picked up around the armholes and sleeves are worked in the round. Stripes are created with purl stitches and eyelets according to a chart across the whole t-shirt. The first part of the pattern describes the chart row-for-row.

Sizes
XS (S) M (L) XL (XXL)

Measurements
Circumference_ 109 (116) 120 (125) 131 (138) cm.
Length_ 52 (52) 52 (57) 57 (57) cm, measured from under the neckline on the back piece.
The t-shirt has a positive ease of 25-30 cm which gradually decreases for the larger sizes.
The t-shirt shown is size S with a positive ease of 30 cm.

Materials
1080 (1215) 1215 (1350) 1350 (1485) m

Recommended needles
4.5 mm circular needles (40 and 80 or 100 cm).
4 mm circular needles (40 and 80 or 100 cm), possibly DPNs in the same size, unless using Magic Loop method.

Gauge
20 stitches x 32 rows in stockinette on 4.5 mm needles = 10 x 10 cm after washing and blocking.

Suggested Yarn
Sandnes Garn Line, BC Garn Allino, Rowan Cotton Cashmere, or Estelle Linocott.

Fiorellino by Isabell Kraemer is worked seamlessly from the top down.
Starting with the neck shaping, short rows are worked back and forth to create a higher back neck. The yoke is then worked in the round to sleeve separation. Increases are worked into the textured part of the yoke, followed by raglan increases for the lower part of the yoke. Sleeve stitches are placed on hold to work the body top down. The short sleeves are worked top down in rounds to the cuffs. No finishing required.

The textured pattern for the yoke is written (no charts).

Yarn
approximately
706 (793, 875, 957, 1028)(1116, 1214, 1313, 1400) yds/ 645 (725, 800, 875, 940)(1020, 1110, 1200, 1280) m

Needles
US 2 1/2 (3 mm) 16” (40 cm) and 32” (80 cm) circular needle and DPNs (or longer circular needle for magic loop) for neck cast-on, body ribbing and sleeve ribbing.
US 3 (3.25 mm) 16” (40 cm) and 32” (80 cm) circular needle and DPNs (or longer circular needle for magic loop) for body and sleeves.
needle sizes are suggestions only! Please make a gauge swatch to determine the needles size needed to get gauge

Gauge
24 sts x 35 rows = 4” (10 cm) square in Stockinette stitch on larger needle after blocking

Sizes
1 (2, 3, 4, 5)(6, 7, 8, 9)
finished bust circumference:
34.75 (37.25, 40.75, 44, 48)(51.25, 54.75, 58, 61.25)”
87 (93.5, 102, 110, 120)(128.5, 137, 145, 153.5) cm

Recommended ease: 1 - 3” (2.5 – 7.5 cm)

Suggested Yarn
Schoppel Wolle Alb Lino, BC Garn Bio Balance GOTS

Orchid Bloom pullover by Sari Nordlund is knitted seamlessly top-down starting at the neckband. The sleeves and body are separated at the underarm and knitted separately. The back is shaped with short-rows to give it a bit more length and to improve the fit.

The lace pattern is both charted and written row-by-row.

Sizes
1 (2, 3, 4, 5) (6, 7, 8, 9)
Finished bust circumference: 85 (95, 105, 115, 125) (135, 145, 155, 165) cm / 33.5 (37.5, 41.25, 45.25, 49.25) (53.25, 57, 61, 65) inches including the intended ease of 10 cm / 4 inches
Length from hem to underarm (adjustable): 30 (30, 30, 33, 33) (33, 35, 35, 35) cm / 11.75 (11.75, 11.75, 13, 13) (13, 13.75, 13.75, 13.75) inches
Yoke length: 23 (23, 23, 24, 24) ( 24, 25, 25, 26) cm / 9 (9, 9, 9.5, 9.5) (9.5, 9.75, 9.75, 10.25) inches
Sleeve length from cuff to underarm (adjustable): 44 (44, 44, 46, 46) (46, 48, 48, 48) cm / 17.25 (17.25, 17.25, 18, 18) (18, 19, 19, 19) inches
Upper arm circumference: 37 (38, 40, 42, 46) (51, 56, 59, 61) cm / 14.5 (15, 15.75, 16.5, 18) (20, 21.75, 23.25, 24) inches
Cuff circumference: 25 cm / 9.75 inches
Note: Please be aware that adjusting the length of the garment will also affect the amount of yarn needed to finish the project.

Yarn
910 (1000, 1100, 1210, 1330) (1470, 1610, 1770, 1860) m / 1000 (1100, 1210, 1330, 1610) (1770, 1950, 2050, 2050) yards of fingering weight yarn and 910 (1000, 1100, 1210, 1330) (1470, 1610, 1770, 1860) m / 1000 (1100, 1210, 1330, 1610) (1770, 1950, 2050, 2050) yards of lace weight yarn (mohair).

Needles
For the ribbing and lace:
3 mm / US2.5 DPNs or a circular needle with a cable suitable for small circumference knitting for cuffs
3 mm / U2.5 circular needle with a cable length of 40 cm / 16 inches for the neckline
3 mm / US2.5 circular needle with a cable length of 80 cm / 32 inches for smaller sizes and 100 cm / 40 inches for larger sizes for the lace yoke and the hem
For the Stockinette stitch part:
3.5 mm / US4 DPNs or a circular needle with a cable suitable for small circumference knitting for sleeves
3.5 mm / US4 circular needle with a cable length of 80 cm / 32 inches for smaller sizes and 100 cm / 40 inches for larger sizes for the body
Note: Always use the needle size that gives you the right gauge!

Gauge
22 sts (1 pattern repeat) = 10 cm / 4 inches in Sleeve pattern on smaller needles
21 sts and 30 rounds = 10 cm / 4 inches of Stockinette stitch in the round on larger needles, after blocking

Suggested Yarn
Lichen & Lace 80/20 Sock held double with Marsh Mohair, Garnstudio Drops Sky

FOs and WIPs

I finished my Plumped Up Harlow by Andrea Mowry on Sunday.

This squishy hat is reversible and I love the colours on both sides! I had 88g remaining of the Malabrigo Mecha that I used for my Plumped Up Cowl. For the hat, I used 45g of the main colour (Pearl Ten) and 50g of the contrast colour (Unique Colour A).

Unfortunately, I discovered that my Art Nouveau sweater by Elenor Mortensen is way bigger than I had intended. I cast on and knit the ribbing using 2.5 mm needles and used magic loop for the yoke with 2.75 mm needles until I couldn't take photos of the yoke flat. When I changed to using interchangeable needles starting with 47", I used 3.0 mm tips by mistake.

I frogged back to round 21 of the chart and I’m back re-knitting the yoke using 2.75 mm needles.

KNIT GROUP AND GALLERY

Karen (kmae64) finished this lovely Tweedy Dip by This.Bird.Knits using Hedgehog Tweedy.

Kay (83krobbins) finished her stunning Do Ewe Yoke? #2 by Zanete Knits using Kelbourne Woolens Andorra and Schoppel Wolle Edition 3.

Farzana finished her Plumped Up Cowl by Andrea Mowry for our brioche class and is about to cast on the Plumped Up Harlow.

Yanhong (CaptainMocha) finished this wonderful Tundra by saskie&co using Istex Lettlopi.

You can see that the colourwork yoke both on the right side and the wrong side is knit beautifully.

Patty (Travelbravely) knit this Emotional Support Chicken by Annette Corsino.

Patty (Travelbravely) finished her Grand Forks Pullover by Cheryl Chow.

Sandi (sandima) finished her March gnome - Savour the Gnoment by Sarah Schira for the Year of Gnomes 2025 KAL.

Sandi (sandima) cast on and finished her Elbows Up Plaid Canadian Toque by Compassion Knit Co that she knit using Cascade 220 modified to move the words to above the ribbing and the BOR to center the Elbows Up on the ‘front’.

Libby finished her modified Elbows Up Plaid Canadian Toque by Compassion Knit Co that she knit for our KAL.

Anna (@kollar.annie) test knit this Rain Shadow Sweater for Natascha Tulloch to give her daughter Emma.

Anna (@kollar.annie) test knit for another one of her daughters, this sweet Arrosa by Esti Juango.

Linda (lmcnorton) finished the Dr Teeth's Shawl by Mary Annarella that she started on last year's Alaskan Knit cruise.

Linda (lmcnorton) wearing her finished and very big shawl.

Happy Wednesday, Happy Knitting, Crocheting and Crafting!