Spring Knitting Plans
Spring is the season for renewal and growth. For a lot of us knitters spring is a time to renew our wardrobes, grow our abilities and try out new techniques, and take a nice needed break from knitting those big chunky sweaters, hats and scarves. Whether your a seasoned knitting or fairly new to the craft, spring offers a chance to be creative with your skills, play with color, and celebrate the nature and joy of creativity!
Every season I always have a myriad of patterns on my to-be-knit list however this spring I thought I would take it slow and really narrow down my list. Focusing on a shorter list this year allows me to embrace the slow steady enjoyment of my craft without feeling overwhelmed or stressed out with my knitting choices. I have picked out three patterns this season that I felt offered me the balance between relaxation and creative growth that I have been yearning for.
Lets break down my knitting plans for this spring!
First on my list is the Pressed Flowers Cardigan by Amy Chrisoffers.
This pattern checks the creative growth box on my list this spring as it will be my first time working the mosaic knitting technique. Mosaic knitting is a colorwork technique where you knit with two colors independently instead of together such as in other colorwork techniques like Fair Isle or Intarsia. This technique is perfect for beginners as it does not require you to juggle two or more colors at the same time in a row. I will admit that my fair isle is atrocious so I felt mosaic knitting might be a better place for me to start my colorwork journey and this pattern is beautiful! It will also be my first time knitting a cardigan which is very exciting!
The Pressed Flowers cardigan is knit bottom up in sport weight yarn. In the main pattern page on Ravelry it does say that you can use DK weight yarn which is what I went with as I have a lot of DK weight yarn hanging around in the shop. For color choices I decided to work this pattern in two solid colors instead of a solid and variegated color like the sample. I thought it might be easier to style. I am using my Eyes on Fire colorway along with a lighter version of this colorway that I dyed up for this pattern.
I did knit a sample gauge swatch and I am glad that I did as the final fabric for this pattern in quite stretchy which played a factor in the sizing that I ended up picking for my project. I opted for the smallest size as it fit my measurements and I can over-block a tiny bit to get a more oversized fit if needed.
Overall I am really enjoying this pattern. It is currently the only pattern I have on my needles where I need to heavily pay attention to the pattern, so my progress has been a bit slower.
During the week though I have a simple quick pattern that I have been working on and that is Spring Thing by Espace Tricot.
This pattern is so precious and I just adore the little tassels! I am working this pattern in an older colorway of mine from a prior club I did just to use up some yarn that I had lying around. This is a simple garter stitch shawl and pretty easy to follow. The pattern is intuitive so I have been enjoying working on this while reading or watching some of our favorite shows. I have been flying through the entire Throne of Glass series by Sara J Mass and I have been LOVING it! This pattern is easy to work on while I get through that series.
The last pattern I have been eyeing on for this spring is the Moby Slipover by PetiteKnit.
I have never knit a PetiteKnit pattern but I know a lot of people do love her patterns. I have really been enjoying browsing sweater patterns but I know if I start a new sweater it will likely be a long time before I finish it while working on the Pressed Flowers Cardigan. I thought this pattern was perfect because its sleeveless so it checks the sweater itch that I have without needing to knit sleeves. Once I cast this on I will provide some updates but for now it continues to linger on my to-be-knit list!