There was something about when the pandemic first began that put me in a “make due and mend” mindset. Maybe it was the uncertainty of what was going to happen next. Maybe it was the lack of toilet paper.

But… I was suddenly in the mood to finish or at least start working on my abandoned projects again.

If you are a longtime reader of this blog, you may recall when I was all fired up about the Beekeeper’s Quilt. I was. I truly was. I had every intention of making 500 million of these hexipuffs and having an epic puffy blanket to show for my efforts.

But for whatever reason. I lost steam. I felt like I was dedicating all of my spare time to knitting these adorable stuffed hexagons… but when I would put them altogether to check the size of my “blanket” it was shocking how many more I had to complete to get the large squishy, scrappy blanket of my dreams.

But recently I have tried to develop a “something is better than nothing” mentality and thought I would start piecing these together to at least have something to show for all of my hours spent knitting cute puffy hexagons on tiny needles.

So… I made a cushion for my desk chair.

I love the texture and cute pop of color. And it makes me happy to finally put those sweet hexipuffs to good use. I still have several more.. so I have some more cushions to create soon!

Baby Sweaters are great for using up yarn stash! They only take 1 or 2 skeins of yarn usually, and I have lots of full skeins with accompanying little scrap balls leftover from previous projects. This little cardigan was just the thing for some gorgeous Becoming Art single ply worsted I had languishing in my stash.

I made this for a friend who recently welcomed a sweet baby girl. I hope she loves it.

This pattern is called Aida Top Down Cardigan by OGE Knitwear Designs. This designer has some amazing baby sweater patterns! I will be looking here again for more inspiration in the future.

I bet you thought I fell off the face of the earth, didn’t you? In some ways I have, I suppose. Life has taken a few unexpected detours and I have slowed way down in all things involving the knitting world. One thing however will never change for me. I will always find joy in creating things.

Meet my recent creation.. the Magnolia cardigan. I finished it early on in the pandemic.. just in time to have nowhere to actually wear it and the California air outside to turn chokingly hot and hazy with wildfire smoke. But in recent months.. this little cardigan has gotten quite a lot of wear… (in my house)… and my kids, husband and cats are very impressed. :)

I have been knitting from my extensive yarn stash as of late.. and this particular beauty was made from a batch of Plucky Knitter Cashmere that I had been hoarding from a few years back. I think that this was the perfect pattern to come along for it, and I love this wearable neutral color!

It also has just the right amount of texture to add some interest.

This pattern was designed by Camilla Vad and you can find it HERE. Hope everyone (anyone?) reading is safe, well and keeping busy and happy with their knitting. :)

Recently I have enjoyed indulging in a sweet little colorwork sweater as a gift for my cousin’s brand new baby boy!

I have been seeing so many amazing colorwork sweaters popping up that have been very tempting to knit… but truth be told. I don’t have a lot of experience with stranded knitting and intarsia. There has been the odd project here and there.. but lace and cables has really been more my thing. I have a few larger colorwork projects planned for myself (more on that later) but this tiny cardigan was a nice warm up.

As is usually always the case.. this pattern, Gilipeysa, requires you to knit the cardigan in the round, sew two lines of stitching to secure both sides, then cut in between to create a cardigan. This process is called “steeking” and you can view a video of me cutting the sweater HERE.

The purpose behind this technique is that stranded knitting is complicated enough without having to do it on the knit AND purl side. Knitting in the round is so much easier!

Once the cardigan was cut and my nerves resettled.. it was time to do something with that ragged cut edge!

After weaving in all ends, I decided to hand-stitch some grosgrain ribbon to finish off the edge. It also gives the cardigan a little extra structure which is nice.

I also decided that these tiny resin sheep buttons were a perfect finishing touch!

AND… I added a wooden wash tag to the sweater in hopes this keeps it from running through the washer and dryer as I did use a wool yarn!

All in all.. this was an enjoyable little project and the finished sweater is so sweet. :)

Pattern for the Gilipeysa Cardigan found HERE.

I used Plucky Knitter Rambouillet yarn in the Avocado Toast colorway. I only needed 1 skein for the smallest size. Yarn found HERE. (The colorwork section is a mix-mash of scraps!)

Buttons found HERE.

Wooden wash tag found HERE.

I know I had said that I was going to be knitting up a second Thunderstorm Toque next… but then I saw this hat pattern… and well… I simply fell in love with those tiny textured flower stitches!

This is the April Hat designed by Kelbourne Woolens. I wanted to gift a handknit hat to a friend that I will be seeing this month and the cheeriness of the April Hat really matches her personality. The only pattern modification I made was excluding the pom pom. I also did not block the hat on a plate as you would normally do for a beret. I wanted this to be more of a slouchy hat style as I think my friend might like that better. This was my first time working the puff stitches needed to make the flowers. It required the use of a crochet hook which was a bit fiddly at first… but a fun challenge!

I used a skein of The Plucky Knitter Traveler Aran yarn (which was unfortunately discontinued) in the Bellini colorway for my April Hat. This yarn was a real treat to work with. So soft and luxurious.

The best part? This pattern is a free download! You can find it HERE!

My beautiful Thunderstorm Toque is now complete and I couldn’t love it more! The fun textural changes of the stitches really kept things fun and interesting on the needles. AND THAT COLORWAY. :o

As you can see… I like this color so much I have 3 skeins of it in the Super Silky fingering weight in the same colorway “Nailed It!” for a sweater design. But before I start that.. I have one more Thunderstorm Toque to knit as a gift for a friend.

So much knitting.. so little time!

I’ve got a pretty new hat on the needles that I just cannot get enough of. This is the Thunderstorm Toque in Emma’s Yarn Simply Spectacular DK in the “Nailed It” colorway. The texture on this is just purely addicting.

I have to go now… I have more knitting to do.

Pattern found HERE.

Yarn found HERE.

As a vendor at Stitches West this past February I was excited to wear my favorite knitted pieces while working at my booth space. One that I chose was my Twigs and Willows Cardigan from my book Botanical Knits.

I have always really really liked this particular sweater and when it was no longer needed in my Botanical Knits trunk show, I quickly claimed it as my favorite! We spent many days together this past fall and winter until…

Let me first back up real and tell you a little sad story about when I was actually knitting this sweater. The yarn I chose is Brooklyn Tweed Loft which is lovely. It has held up very well over the years and rustic yarns like this are my personal favorite, buuuut the way that it is spun makes it a bit less sturdy than other yarns. This became problematic when working the cables on the yoke of my sweater. I accidentally knitted one of the cables too tight and it was puckering too much for my liking. I finished the sweater, washed it and tried to “fix” the puckering in the yoke by tugging on the cable when it was drying. And yes… you guessed it… the cable gave way and broke. After crying a little, I literally deconstructed the sweater, ripped back the button band and yoke on that one side and re-knit making sure to keep my cables nice and loose that time.

It was painful when it happened, but has since become an entertaining story that I’ve repeated several times since. It was simply an ancient funny/awful story until I took my cardigan off after a long day of vending at the show to hear an audible pop.

IT HAPPENED AGAIN.

Yep.

So this time around, I was going to need to repair the cable instead of re-knitting. Unfortunately, since this cardigan was knit approximately 7 years ago, I no longer had this yarn in my stash. At one time, I am sure I had a partial skein hanging around… but in an effort to “de-clutter” probably gifted it to someone at some point. That meant that now.. I had no yarn to match for the repair. I knew that there was a good reason for me to hoard bins and bins of yarn scraps!! See.. you should never get rid of anything.

I considered using a thread but wondered if that would slice the wool fibers over time and lead to the same exact chain of events in the future.

This was the best match I could find which really only matches the little flecks of orange fibers running through the wool.

Using a mattress stitch seaming technique I wove the stitches back together as invisibly as I could. The result isn’t “perfect” but good enough to keep wearing my favorite cardigan!

Disaster averted.. yet again!

I am happy to say that I have been working away on this sweater design and it is now….

… off the needles!

How beautiful is this yarn combination held together? I love the texture and halo it creates! These are two Julie Asselin yarns.. Nurtured Fine and Anatolia. So lovely. I am now working up the pattern and can’t wait for it’s release and seeing it being made in all sorts of color combinations!

In other news. It has been an adjustment with no longer having a storefront, but I have still been enjoying collaborating with artists and working on adorable new products for our online shop. Last week we released our new Spring Collection of handmade notions and accessories and I am just simply in love with this collection so much. Although so much of it came from different places and from artists from around the world.. it all works together so well!

Everything is bird and nest themed with seems so perfect for Springtime!
Today… I added something brand new!

That’s right! An owl tin.. with baby owl buttons inside!

If you would like to see more please click HERE.

I can’t tell you how much joy it brings me to create and bring the knitting community beautiful things.. not only in knitwear but in fun and useful accessories as well.

I hope that all of you are finding similar joy in whatever you are creating! :)

… is another new sweater design!

Combining a fingering weight wool tweed and a mohair silk blend with little pops of lace here and there.

It is taking shape and I am so excited about it! :)

One of the few things I am finding consolation in with closing my storefront is knowing that soon I will have more time to focus on design projects like this. It is hard to do it ALL, and taking one responsibility off of my plate will make room for more creativity.

With my latest designs, I am really enjoying playing with texture and yarn weights. Working them both together and as single strands. So many possibilities there! So many ideas to explore!

What is currently on your needles?

I’ve been procrastinating with this blog post because it is a tough one to write.

I have been the proud owner of this little storefront for nearly 4 years now and I am very attached to it to say the least. While we have been in business, this building has changed ownership and it is no longer a good fit for our business needs. As hard as it is, we’ve decided to close our little retail store for now. We will be continuing online and perhaps re-opening in a new location in the future.

Change is hard. I’ve always hated it. But I’m learning to evolve with changing circumstances and make those tough choices when the need arises.

I will miss this little place. I have enjoyed my time here and the friendships formed. I appreciate and am so grateful for all of you who have visited and supported our storefront over the past few years.

As this chapter closes, I am excited to see what opportunities 2019 will bring us. I look forward to continuing to work with different artists to create even more fun new items for our online store and taking advantage of this time to work more on my own designs.

We also have 3 events to look forward to this year.

• Never Not Knitting will have a “Pop-Up Shop” at The Plucky Knitter Booth at Vogue Knitting Live in NYC, Friday January 25 - Sunday January 27. There you will find my books, patterns and notions from our tiny store for sale!

• Never Not Knitting will be at Stitches West in Santa Clara, CA February 21 - 24 (we got in by the skin of our teeth!) at booths 1445 and 1447. We will be stocked up with kits, notions, books, patterns and all sorts of fun unique items. Come say hi!

• Never Not Knitting will also be going to Stitches SoCal in Pasadena, CA November 14 - 17 for the first time this year. I’m excited to see what this show is like!

We hope to see you at an upcoming event or in the shop before we close. Our last day open at our downtown location will be February 22. Of course, our online shop will continue to be open during this transition and after! You can find our online store HERE.

This cozy Winter Trails hat is now complete and sent off to a friend who recently lost it all in the Woolsey Fire. It is so nice when we can use our knitting to bring some comfort to others.

For this project, I used Echoview Fiber Mill Haley which is thicker than the original yarn used and resulted in a very warm and cozy version! The angora pompom at the top adds the perfect wintry touch.

I have a few kits for this Winter Trails hat version left in my online shop if you want to make one too.

I hope that she loves wearing it this winter and that it brings her some comfort and coziness during what is undoubtedly a terrible time.

I’ve decided that these two items from my shop would be perfect paired together and turned into a special gift for a friend going through a difficult time.

A Winter Trails hat is on the needles as we speak and will look so cute topped with this fluffy pompom! Can’t wait to get this finished and sent off to its intended recipient! :)

I finished my Lainey Cowl and couldn’t be happier with it. It is so warm and cozy and I will be happy to have this when the weather turns.

The reason why I like this particular cowl so much is that it is long enough to stretch over your shoulders. Also it is tapered at the top so it fits in a flattering way. Most cowls I see are simply large tubes... the same circumference on the top as they are on the bottom. The Lainey Cowl requires a needle size change and some shaping at the top.

This cowl pattern is from the book Madder Anthology 2 ; Simple Pleasures by Carrie Hoge. I have wanted to knit something from this series of books for years now… and I am happy to finally have completed a project. Every. Single. Pattern. is amazing!

I used 2 (and a smidge of a 3rd) skeins of Quince and Co. Puffin. Next time, I personally would reduce the cowl by a few rows to make it out of only 2 skeins. :)

I’m working on the Lainey Cowl right now by Carrie Hoge and am making quick progress! Not hard to do with bulky yarn and large needles… but it feels good to see it growing so fast.

I have always loved this cowl since the first time I saw it in the book Madder Anthology 2. It’s a relaxing knit and will be sure to keep me warm this Winter!

I am using Quince and Co. Puffin yarn which is as squishy as can be.

I am working on a new collection of patterns and I am so happy to say that the first one is now complete. This elegant cardigan features two yarns from two different companies that work up together with a stunning result. Julie Asselin Fino yarn in Fleurs Pressees and Quince and Co. Piper in Abeline.

There are more designs to come along this same theme. Mixing yarn weights in the same garment has opened up such a multitude of design possibilities for me and I am bursting with new ideas.

For now… I am calling this cardigan “Fog”.

It’s a silly thing but a little end to weave in kept me from completing this project for way too long. It has been cooling down here in California and I knew that this hat would be the perfect thing for morning school drop-offs, so I finally just picked it up and finished it.

It took all of 3 seconds.

The colorway couldn’t have captured the Fall colors better, don’t you think?

This hat was knit from the Simple Hat pattern by Hannah Fettig of Knitbot. I love this pattern because it includes directions to make 5 hat sizes in 3 different gauges!

The yarn is Storyteller Yarns Biggie Twist from Knits and Knots Tahoe.

It is funny how at the end of my kid's last school year I was so excited for summer. So done with pick ups and drop offs and lunch packing and homework and fundraisers and forms to sign.

At first summer was fun and felt like a vacation for all of us, but so quickly I was strangely craving that structure and routine to our days again.

My kids are now back and school and I am enjoying my days here at the shop dreaming of fun new projects and products. The past few mornings have been cool,  a nice preview of cozy autumn weather to come. 

Knitting season is rolling around again and I can't wait! :) 

I am so happy to finally release my newest hat design, Mountainside!

As I mentioned previously, this repeating stitch pattern reminds me of trees on a mountainside. I took this hat with me to our recent trip to Yosemite National Park and wanted to publish this particular pattern in memory of my amazing Dad and his favorite place. :)

I knit this original hat sample in Barrett Wool Co. Wisconsin Woolen Spun and I love the rugged texture it creates. You can learn more about this yarn HERE. 

I also had the hat test knit in a combination of gorgeous Julie Asselin sock weight yarn (Fino) held together with lace-weight mohair (Anatolia) and the result was spectacular in an entirely different way. I love how the mohair provides a soft halo to the stitches and a lovely weight to the finished hat. Thank you to Kathleen and Sabrina for knitting these up for me!

I've put together a limited number of special kits to go along with the hat pattern. Just to make knitting it an even more special experience! :)

The kit includes a little tree print zippered bag to hold your project, A set of tree and mountain stitch markers to work the crown of your hat, a cable and tapestry needle, and of course the pattern too!

There is also an option to add on a few skeins of the Julie Asselin yarn as well as needles. Can you believe these colorways? So pretty!

I hope that you enjoy knitting up a Mountainside hat of your very own! A great camping project, don't you agree?

The pattern can be purchased HERE. The limited-edition kits can be purchased HERE. Enjoy!

Thank you to all of you who offered your input on my last post.

I honestly wasn't sure if anyone was still reading and was so pleasantly surprised to see that the knitting blog community is alive and well!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your support and kind words.

Above is a picture of my knitting basket today. I'm making progress!