knightly-knits

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2025 update part 2: everything else!

Starting off with these questionably adorable frogs I crocheted for another library fundraiser! (I made just the frogs, not the Lilly pads they rest in as seen in the pic). As you can probably tell, amigurumi is NOT my strong suit so these guys definitely came out a little wonky. Sewing on their faces was so difficult, they all look quite crooked. I was able to use entirely scrap yarn I already had, which was nice. I also, unfortunately, went out and bought a gigantic bag of fiber fill to stuff these guys with (it was still the smallest size Joanne's had (RIP my beautiful wife Joanne)), only to come home and immediately find a gigantic bag of fiber fill I apparently already had. (Now I have two huge bags of this stuff. What the hell am I supposed to do with it. Help. )

6-Day Star Blanket by BettyMcKnits:

Next up is another one of these, this time as a mother's day present for my mom! She picked out these colors and I did it in the same style as my original one (as seen in the background of some of these picks, yes it's still on my bed in the middle of June), except that I used a 5-color repeat instead of 4, and I did all the setup rounds in the same color to really emphasize the center of the star. I also did 8 repeats of the pattern, making this thing absolutely GIGANTIC. I had to steam it hanging over the shower curtain rail, and it barely fit. I used the same yarn as the original blanket, Caron One-Pound, except for the green color, which I can't remember the brand but is just a very similar acrylic yarn. Anyways, she likes it! It's the perfect decorative-but-still-warm throw blanket to put on top of a comforter in the spring months when it may or may not be needed for extra warmth. Betty really wasn't kidding when she said you can't only make one, because I'm constantly dreaming of new color combos to make another one of these in. This pattern actually is addictive.

Tomato Sweater by StudioKlara

This one is by FAR my favorite creation of 2025 (so far). I had been counting down the weeks for this pattern to drop, that's how excited I was to try it. The base sweater fits me perfectly and was very easy to follow. I believe this is the first raglan sweater I've done? This uses a slightly modified raglan technique, which I at least on my body shape works absolutely perfectly. I used the yarn recommended by the pattern and was quite worried initially as the swatch felt very scratchy, but I decided to use it anyways and it paid off. I've never experienced a yarn like this, but in the first few seconds of putting the sweater on it is quite itchy, then that sort of just goes away and it becomes just extremely soft and warm while being lightweight? I don't really understand how that all works but the texture, color, and feel of this yarn is just gorgeous, so I would definitely buy it again. This was also my first time doing the duplicate stitch (side note: probably not the best pattern to start with), which I found to be very fun and methodical as I just worked it back and forth like a color work chart. I don't know if that's the right way to do it, but it worked for me.

Now this part is a brag, but I actually can't contain myself about it:

I wore this sweater to a meet and greet after when I saw the 2025 Stars on Ice tour, and Madison Chock, 3-time Olympian, 3-time and current World Champion, extremely accomplished ice dancer, etc, etc, who also happens to be an incredible fashion designer complimented my tomato sweater. That compliment actually meant the world to me, especially coming from someone who has designed some of the most GORGEOUS skating dresses I've ever seen in my life (seriously, look up some of her stuff. It's phenomenal.) Of course, my mom had to immediately tell her that I made it, and her and Evan were just so genuinely interested and conversational about knitting and fashion design, despite likely being extremely tired (it was well after 10 pm and I was very tired from just watching them. Sorry Madison and Evan, I definitely fumbled that conversation quite a bit.) Anyways, I wasn't going to finish this post without mentioning that, because it probably raised my self-esteem by several latitudes.

[knightly-knits]

2025 update part 1: cardigans!

Hey guess what! I'm still alive!

I haven't been able to craft at quite the same rate in the past 6 months but here's some of the stuff I completed since January:

The Unicorn Cardigan by starcrossedknits:

This looks all wrinkled because it's been in and out of the frustration bin for the past three months. Knitting it went pretty smoothly, but it turned out just *slightly* too small to be comfortable :(( . I've already blocked it so I don't know if there's any chance of stretching it out any more without making it look wonky. Given that this same problem (project comes out way to small, even after knitting a size up based on the gauge) has happened twice now with this yarn, I think I might just have to stop using it for projects (even though it's the softest thing ever, unfortunately). The sleeves are the biggest issue as they're about 2 inches too short, so I when I finally work up the desire to I can frog those and add some length as I have plenty of leftover yarn. That might make it feel better overall, but if it still is too tight across the body to be comfy, I may just gift it to a friend.

Freehanded cardigan:

This was my first official attempt at freehanding a cardigan, and despite knitting/frogging/knitting/frogging the sleeves about 8 times because I couldn't come up with a design that I liked, it was pretty easy. It's just three rectangles for the front and back panels, as well as two more rectangles for the sleeves (which I finally decided to just knit straight without any increases or decreases-- makes the cuffs slightly too big but overall looks fine albeit very oversized) and picked up stitches to knit the button band. Fun fact: the cord on my circular needles was wayyy to short to knit the whole button band at once, so I knit it one half at a time, then seamed it together at the center back. I used the Italian bind-off, which I think give sit a nice look. I also did make 6 buttonholes, but I currently only have one button since I decided to make the buttons out of avocado pits (and by me I mean my dad with his actual woodworking skills and tools). I haven't found any useable pits lately, so this thing only has one button for now.

Cozy cardigan pattern by Mahum crochets:

See, I LOVE this yarn and this pattern (this stitch is a yarn-over slip stitch in the back loop only-- it has such a lovely texture), but I think this cardigan just came out a little too bulky for my comfort. I also made the front and side panels slightly too short as I was playing yarn chicken, so they don't sit quite right on my body. I think that I may just frog this and reuse the yarn for something else eventually. We'll see when we finally escape the hot weather months and I actually have use for something as warm as this.

Well, my cardigan attempts haven't exactly gone as well as I'd hoped, but everything is a learning experience :)

[knightly-knits]

💌📖💌

Book sleeves!!!

these are the mini projects ive been working on for the past two weeks or so while im in-between bigger projects and a good excuse to use up yarn scraps that are otherwise just taking up space.

the two purples ones i made based on this free tutorial and added a scalloped border rather than the heart just because i thought it fit the look a little better. these are going to get donated to a raffle basket at my local public library! i made them out of some cotton purple yarn i was gifted and since i absolutely hate the texture of cotton yarn i was glad to have an excuse to use some of it up.

the green granny square one i made as a little present for myself following this free tutorial; it came out a little big but that just means i can fit some chunkier hard-back books in it!

the light blue and white ones i made following this as an inspiration (i couldn't find a whole tutorial but also didn't really need one); the blue one is a present for a friend and i am totally obsessed with how pretty the metallic yarn looks! the white one is another present for myself 🙃 i also used the crocheted-ribbon to tie the flap down idea from the other granny square tutorial for these since i really like the way it secures the whole envelope while being really cute

[knightly-knits]

Aaaaaaand its DONE!!! I think I ended up doing 7 repeats of the pattern which is why it is just so massive but I wanted to use up as much of the yarn that I bought as possible (I used about 1,241 grams total). I also did a picot stitch border rather than the crab stitch/reverse single crochet since I just really like the way the picot looks and its been my go-to border stitch since it has such a cute texture

this was the first blanket (and really the first big crochet project) I've ever done and true to what the pattern says I will definitely be making more! My mom and best friend already want one and I really can't complain because this pattern was so therapeutic to follow.

(under the cut is my dog refusing to leave me alone; this blanket is so massive the only place I can lay it out flat to get a picture is the living room floor. not pictured is me pitching forward three steps high on a step-ladder trying to keep the step-ladder legs out of frame and trying not to think about how i am very very very afraid of heights and therefore step-ladders)

[knightly-knits]

Hello! I am terrifically late but here is the progress for days 4, 5, & 6! This thing is so big now each row takes me an hour but it is so warm and cozy and I just get to huddle under it while I'm working!

(I still have one more repeat to do so, probably more like a 7-10 day blanket)

[knightly-knits]

Day 3! I didn't get quite as far as I'd like to, but each round takes quite a long time to finish now so I guess I'll just have to be patient. I just love seeing how this works up though! the pattern is very relaxing even though (at least for me) it involved a lot of counting

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Day 3! I didn't get quite as far as I'd have liked to, but each round takes quite a while to get through now, so I'll just have to be patient

[knightly-knits]

Day 2 progress! This thing is big enough for me to use it as a blanket while I’m working in it which is nice!

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Day 1 progress on my 6 day star blanket! I got through the setup rounds and through round 4 of the second repeat. My goal is to actually get through this in 6 days, but who knows if that will actually happen 🙃

[knightly-knits]

All* of the sweaters i made in 2024!!!

Chunky crochet sweater following the (free!) youtube tutorial by crochemily. this one is super warm and cozy and i'm definately going to make more sweaters in this style for my friends!

Rory Gilmore sweater following the (also free!) youtube tutorial by ikoxun. fun fact: after completing this sweater and blocking it, i had to take all the panels apart and shorten them because the yarn i used stretched out SO much with blocking that all the sudden it was 10 inches too long

Tarot card sweater by starcrossedknits! I'm sooo glad I chose the yarn that i did for this because it is so dreamy soft and I'm in love with the final result (minus the ends I have yet to weave in)

on a slightly more serious note, 2024 was kind of a sucky year for me and my family, and i don't think i could have made it through nearly as okay as i did without this silly, lovely little hobby i randomly decided to pick up in march. i've never met a hobby that made me as uncomplicatedly happy as knitting and crochet do :')

[knightly-knits]

december 9th is not the best time to decide to make intricate handmade xmas gifts for each of my friends

[knightly-knits]

1 sleeve down on the tarot card sweater! I think I’m going to do the collar next just to get a break from the endless rounds of stockinette 💙