Next season's knitting plans

15:50 Renée 15 Comments

This year I managed to get some good summer knitting done. It started with the butterscotch lacy cardigan I knitted (and you unfortunately haven't seen yet). This cardigan has proven to be absolutely perfect for when I cycle to work in the morning or back home again in the evening (I work a lot of late shifts). It's been my second most-worn me-made so far (first place goes to the Lumber Jacket). I guess this clearly means I need more of the same for next year.

After the cardigan I thought it was time for a summer jumper. This pattern, "Althea", had been high on my list so I decided to knit it with cotton. The cotton has a beautiful stitch definition and I absolutely love the way it makes the stitch pattern look. I finished this one over a week ago and unfortunately it turned out a lot more fitted and shorter than I intended. It's still very pretty though.


For the past three weeks I have been knitting away swiftly on what I have decided will be my last summer project for this year. It's another cotton jumper, but this one has a baggy fit and is knitted in DK. I must say that DK is a nice change from the constant 4ply knitting I have been doing, which I must admit can become a little tedious.

Meanwile, as I've nearly finished my last summer project, I am thinking about fall and winter knitting projects. I'd like to switch back to spring/summer knitting again in march, which means I have about 6 months of cold-weather knitting. On average it takes me about a month to finish 1 project, so that's 6 projects (leaving no room for delays)... and my Top Priority to-knit list is already much longer than that! I have seriously stopped purchasing knitting patterns for now because I already have so many that I want to knit.. and I am very prone to analysis paralysis (even more so with sewing) so I don't need to make it worse by adding even more choices!

I figured it would be a good idea to make a clear overview of my wants and needs for cold weather knitting in this post just to straighten things out for myself. I've tried very hard to think of my 6 most important (or most desired) projects.

(This list is not necessarily in the order I want/plan to knit them)

1. Lacy cardigan
I want to add at least one more lacy cardigan to my wardrobe, but this time in a completely different colour. This will actually be my next project because it's more fall than winter appropriate. I've chosen Artesano Alpaca Silk 4 ply in "Lillypad" and will be knitting Sirdar #1193.
Sirdar 1193 1940s lace cardigan

2. Plain jumper
I have been craving a completely plain high-waisted jumper that isn't too fitted. It is especially inspired by the lovely picture below. I even already have the yarn for it, again Artesano Alpaca Silk 4 ply in "Dolphin" which is almost the exact colour in the picture. The pattern I'll be using is from the same 1937 Jack Frost Blouse Book as this pattern.

1940s plain knitted jumper


3. Tyrolean Cardigan
I have been deeply in love with Tyrolean style cardigans since I started knitting and I don't really know why I've waited so long to actually knit one. I have 2 patterns in my collection that I really want to knit so I'm hoping I might be able to squeeze in both.These two actually happen to be not your typical Tyrolean cardigans with embroidered flowers etc.
1930s Tyrolean Cardigan with smocking
Bestway 1797 Tyrolean jumper cardigan

(woah, I only just realized that these models look like twins! )

4. Colourwork
I finally want to knit my first (stranded) colourwork project and I have pretty much decided that I will knit one of the lovely cardigans from the NitWell book I shared in my previous post. It only uses two colours, doesn't have any colourwork on the sleeves and has a simple stitch pattern that's easily adjustable in size if needed so it seemed like a good pattern to start with.
1940s swedish cardigan


5. Cabled winter cardigan
Another thing I have been craving is a warm and cozy cabled cardigan that will be perfect for winter. I am most probably going to knit Susan Crawford's Tri-Cable Stitch Jumper from a Stitch in Time vol. 2 in dark brown.
Susan Crawford tri-cable stitch jumper cardigan


6. Christmas sweater/jumper
I want to start a tradition this year where I knit a (vintage) Christmas jumper every year. I'm not necessarily very fond of Christmas, but I always enjoy the kitschy-ness of Christmas sweaters/jumpers. I haven't settled on a design yet but I'm considering this 1940s "Reindeer Sports-Jumper".
1940s reindeer christmas jumper


And then there are so many other things I want and need to knit, ugh! I also wanted to start knitting socks and gloves/mitts this year but how I am ever going to fit that in, I don't know.. I need to knit faster!


15 comments:

  1. This is such a good way to sort out your knitting plans - I think I need to do something similar on my own blog. Good luck with your knitting!

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    1. Yes it really helped, I encourage you to do it!

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  2. All of those projects are amazing, I want to knit them all too but considering I already have about four on the go I must resist any new wool!!

    www.pearlsandpurlsvintage.blogspot.com

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  3. What a great idea Renee! I love the Sirdar cardy, and the first Tyrolean one, and of course, the Tri-Cable. I look forward to seeing the one on the needles.

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    1. I just realised it must be a bit odd to see your own face pop up, lol!

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  4. What a great idea Renee! I love the Sirdar cardy, and the first Tyrolean one, and of course, the Tri-Cable. I look forward to seeing the one on the needles.

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  5. That is a great to-knit-list! I love them all :)
    I am still faffing with the leaf jumper you shared earlier. I am just being a bit lazy and uninspired. But as the weather cools, I'm back at it.

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  6. This is a really gorgeous list! I need to figure my knitting plans, but I am such a terribly slowwww knitter!!
    That color work cardigan is precious, and the Christmas sweater is too. Hmm. I should start my Christmas sweater to have for next year at the rate I'm going, haha!

    Carla, Tiny Angry Crafts

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    1. Lol, actually I'm not even a very fast knitter, I just knit very very often!

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  7. Love the list of all those pretty projects, especially the Christmas jumper looks fantastic!

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  8. Great selection of patterns, I enjoy seeing your knits and look forward to seeing these. It is a good idea to plan it out like this, I maybe need to plan my knitting a bit more so that I get it right to match in with the seasons.

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  9. Oh die tweede Tyrolean Jumper patroon heb ik ook! Staat ook nog op mijn to do list. Maar dat gaat nog wel even duren.

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  10. I'll definitely be using Sirdar yarn again sometime in the future and I'll be using other yarns that aren't hand spun and hand dyed. Me, a yarn snob? Never. Kirjontalanka

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