A belated Happy New Year! I hope your 2025 has gotten off to a great start. Many of my plans for 2025 began in 2024 or even earlier.
It takes some time to get a pattern ready for release. Thus, a good portion of 2024 was spent working on my planned first pattern release for 2025. Dock Street is a top-down, vee-neck raglan with a textured slip stitched color stripe pattern. It is in testing now with a planned release date of March 1st. The sample is worked in Rowan Felted Tweed making it a cozy but light weight sweater. I see this being a sweater I’ll grab as a layer well into Spring. Sign up for my newsletter. Newsletter subscribers will receive a special discount code when it is released!
2024 also saw the release of Harness Creek, Quiet Waters Tee, and Dulaney. Interest in Naptown Naptime was renewed. This was possible thanks to the support of my local yarn store, Knits and Pieces, who kindly put together kits. A huge thank you to Karen Santa, the owner!
It’s a wonderful snow day here in Annapolis. We’ve already surpassed out totals for 2022 and 2023. It’s the perfect day to snuggle up with some knitting. I plan to continue working on my Christmas Eve cast-on. I’m calling it my Maryland Western Rose. The pattern is Western Rose by Thea Coleman and I’m really enjoying it. This is the sweater I tried to make back in 2020. I had chosen a background yarn with too many speckles. It fought with the mosaic pattern. I’m liking how this is yarn choice is working up much better! The background yarn is Calvert DK in Wine Down by Rising Tide Fiber and the contrast yarn is North Ave. in Row House by Plied Yarns. Both independent dyers in Maryland, hence my name for the project.
Western Rose is worked from the bottom up in the round. The body and sleeves worked separately and then joined at the yoke. Since you work the sleeves first, there’s no sleeve island!
The lower body is a flower pattern done with mosaic knitting. If you’ve been wanting to try color work, but are unsure about trying stranded color work, start with mosaic knitting. It’s a great way to begin. You only with one color each row, slipping the stitches of the color not being worked. It’s great for beginning knitters! You can find a link to a tutorial for this technique here.
I finished the lower part of the body last night. I am excited to join the sleeves later today. Then I will begin work on the yoke. I’ll then need to decide on a neckline finish. Instructions are given for several different necklines: funnel, turtleneck, a cowl or crew neck. Let me know in comments which you’d pick.
If you’re in the path of this storm, I hope you’re staying warm, safe and dry. I”m off to make a cup of hot chocolate, sketch up some future designs and then pick up my knitting. Until next time, happy knitting!
Kim
Leave a Reply