Spring Cleaning

These are Stephen West’s Spring Cleaning Socks.

This pattern is the April sock in my Westknits Year of Socks e-book. This pattern is available exclusively as part of the Westknits Year of Socks 2025 e-book. You will receive a new sock pattern update at the beginning of each month until all 12 socks are released by December 2025. The sock patterns will be available to purchase individually in 2026. 

Gather a colorful pile of fingering weight sock yarn to knit these scrappy stashbusting socks! The pattern begins with the leg knit sideways in garter stitch short rows. The leg is knit flat and then seamed together, producing several angular short row wedges. Little eyelet stripes provide perfect color popportunities for using small bits of leftover sock yarn. Stitches are then picked up for the cuff and heel flap. The top of the foot is knit flat with more short rows and eyelet stripes. The bottom of the foot is worked in stockinette stitch while being knitted together with the top foot fabric. A final toe is worked in the round to finish these fun sock yarn stashbusters.

You can purchase the e-book on Ravelry. 

Photos © Stephen West

Beth and I fell down the unpacking rabbit hole last night. We’ve unpacked a lot of boxes but there are a few stragglers. The last boxes are things we don’t really need so we’ve been putting off opening them. We are also trying to get more pictures on the walls. Then there was about an hour of golf. I was also able to knit a few rows before bed. 10 repeats are finished and I have 5 to go until I separate. Lynn passed me and has separated hers 😂

Is it April or January? We had crazy snow here this morning that changed to freezing rain and then rain. 

This came up in my memories today. It was the day that dad and Beth picked up Fred.

Someone wouldn’t come in and was soaked.

The knitting corner in my sewing room.

There are still a lot of boxes to be unpacked. Lynn - where are you???

I checked on Beth after winding a skein of yarn. I made it a bit further on my cardigan and I might get another row finished before bed. Tomorrow is a long day. Dad has a doctor’s appointment at 8:30 downtown. Then work and we have a function after work. I’ll tell you more about that tomorrow.

Stay dry! It’s still raining here.

Scarlet Sweater

This is the Scarlet Sweater from PetiteKnit. You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.

The Scarlet Sweater is worked from the top down with a line of raised knit stitches down the middle of the front, middle of the back, and along both sides of the body, as well as down the underside of both sleeves. The first section of the back yoke is worked flat, back and forth, while the slope of the shoulders is shaped using short rows. After this, an i-cord edge is worked along the back yoke cast-on edge. The stitches for each of the shoulders are picked up and knitted along this i-cord, and the shoulders are worked separately flat, back and forth. The shoulders are then joined to form the front yoke. The front and back yoke are joined to form the body, which is worked in the round on a circular needle. The sleeves are worked from stitches that are picked up and knitted along the armholes. The neck rib edge is worked at the end, from stitches that are picked up and knitted along the neck opening.

The sweater is knit in DK weight. The pattern recommends 3mm needles but I would suggest you swatch. I would use 3.75mm-4mm with a DK weight yarn to get the tension that PetiteKnit is asking for.

LYS Day will be Saturday April 26th. 

Here’s a sneak peek at a kit that is coming for LYS Day. I’ll share more information in the next few weeks. The kit will not be available for preorder. Emma has asked that we don’t start selling the kit before April 26th.

There wasn’t any golfing on the weekend because we had more computer troubles. I spent some time this afternoon with support and it was fixed after dinner. Beth and I played 8 holes and then called it quits. I’m sore - it’s been 3 years since I’ve played a round of golf.

Jackson and Fred hate the golf room. Boscoe loves it. He runs up and steals the balls on us.

 

I want to knit but I’m not sure my arms are going to cooperate. 😂

Soft Current

Wool & Pine has a new pattern. You can purchase the pattern for Soft Current on Ravelry.

Soft Current is a lightweight lace loop with a flowing rhythm and an easy, wearable shape. Simple lace and easy cables move across a long rectangle, knit flat and finished with a small seam at one corner. That tiny join is what gives it structure—turning the piece into a loop that stays in place and takes all the guesswork out of styling. Two fingering-weight skeins is all it takes to create something soft, beautiful, and easy to throw on and go. Watch our video to see how it fits.

Design Details

Soft Current is designed for adventurous beginners ready to move beyond stockinette. The lace and cable motifs are easy to follow, and the pattern includes both written and charted instructions so you can choose what’s most comfortable. A short video tutorial is also included to walk you through the special stitches and offer a few helpful styling tips.

The construction is straightforward, the stitch count never changes, and the texture gives just enough interest to keep things feeling fresh. It’s the kind of project you can settle into and finish at your own pace.

Construction

Just like Mossblossom, Soft Current is knit flat as a simple rectangle. After blocking, a short 2-4 inch seam at the corner creates a soft loop that slips easily over the head and stays in place without fuss. The fabric sits comfortably on the shoulders and layers well with both casual and more dressed-up outfits. Watch the video to see the shape and how it’s knit.

 The shawl/poncho is knit in fingering weight yarn.

This the Nice Stitch Bandana (pattern purchased on Ravelry). Years ago Beth knit the Nice Stitch scarf and the stitch is easy and looks great.

We started hanging art tonight. The whole house needs to be painted (it will be a different colour) but I can’t wait until that is finished to start hanging pictures. There are many boxes in the living room and I would like them emptied.

There are so many nail holes in the walls (from the previous owners) that the painters are going to go crazy trying to fix all of them.

Beth and I were looking for something so we started going through boxes in the storage room. We found some great things. I really want to get back down there to open more boxes but that will be for tomorrow. 

I’m going to say good evening and get back to my knitting. I have finished 10 of 28 rows on Yoke Section Three.

Fore

We have a brand new colour of Arranmore Light called Bradan. It is a beautiful coral and would be amazing for the Everyday Cardi. I have added some kits in Arranmore Light to the website.

I didn’t have time to make a kit for every colour so I made a chart showing you how many skeins you need for each size.

I need to work 4 more rows and then Yoke Section Two is finished. I’m trying to stay ahead of Lynn but I think she’s going to pass me soon.

There wasn’t much knitting last night. We still had the computer problems to work out and finally around 9:30 everything worked.

We have a secret room in the house that I haven’t talked about. The previous owners put in a golf simulator. This sold the house for Beth. Unfortunately they took one part of system with them (we knew this when we purchased the house) so we had to replace it. Everything is now in working order. After I get home we are going to download the software so we can play golf courses. This is going to cut into my knitting time. 

Susan Ashcroft has a new pattern coming tomorrow (purchased on Ravelry) called That Nice Stitch Bandana. It is knit with one skein of Malabrigo Rios or Washted. Everyone loves Rios and I can’t wait to see the Bandana.

I hope everyone has a good evening playing with yarn. 

My Knitting

My cardigan is growing. Someone asked today if you could make the collar shorter. I don’t see why you can’t - just work less rows and make it the length that you are comfortable with.

We were supposed to receive a shipment of Patagonia today but the FedEx driver decided to mark that the store was closed and they didn’t try to deliver. No I wasn’t pleased. We should have our boxes tomorrow morning and I will get the yarn online. 

Beth and I had computer problems this evening and couldn’t get it resolved. We decided to turn it off and try again tomorrow. I hope I don’t dream about it tonight. 😂 The worst part is that it cut into my knitting time so I didn’t get as much accomplished as I had hoped. Wish us better luck tomorrow.

New Isabell Kraemer

Isabell Kraemer has a new pattern and you can purchase it on Ravelry.

Fiorellino 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 sweater is knit in fingering weight yarn. You can use wool, wool/silk, wool/nylon or cotton for the sweater. We have lots of options.

Today there was a barbecue on one of the job sites. Dad was in charge of the burgers.

DRK Everyday Cardi update - I have one more row on Yoke Section One. 

There will be a box coming on Friday filled with Arranmore Light. These three colours will be in the box and I will be adding them to the website tomorrow. 

I’m going to try and empty a few more boxes before bed. It seems like they are multiplying in my bedroom and I’m never going to be finished with them.

Use Your Stash

This is the Artist’s Garden Blanket Shawl by Tif Neilan. You can purchase the pattern on Ravelry.

The Artist’s Garden (blanket shawl) is designed to be worked as a scrappy / stash-buster project. Inspired by the layering and mixture of colors within a garden, this shawl can be like your very own painting of a garden in bloom! 

The idea behind this design is to use yarn from your stash - whether it be scraps of yarns that you love (leftover from previous projects) mini skeins or a variety of single skeins in your yarn collection.

This shawl is designed to be worked using two strands of fingering weight yarn (held together throughout) for each “C1” & “C2” or a single strand of DK weight for each “C1” & “C2”. 
Mix & Match, and have fun with it! 

• If using Fingering weigh yarn: 
Stash busting total of approx. 1,860 yards / 1700 meters or minimum of 2 colorways at 975 yards / 891 meters of each. 

• If using DK weight yarn: 
Stash busting total of approx. 980 yards / 896 meters or minimum of 2 colorways at 500 yards / 457 meters of each.

The dogs and I had a good time today. 

I worked on my DRK Everyday Cardi for a bit. I finished my first skein and didn’t want to go downstairs to wind another one so I got caught up on my Temperature Blanket.

My colours are all over the place right now. Today’s temperature is going to be low - we had a bit of snow.

Now I need to get myself downstairs and wind another skein. This is the first time that I have knit with Arranmore Light. I really like the yarn. The colour I am knitting with should be here next week.