Saturday Night Live’s now-classic “Sweater Weather” video clip, starring Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph, makes its annual appearance on social media around Labor Day, but it takes a bit longer for actual sweaters to make it here to our gallery of finished projects – but we’ve got ’em now!
The last post featured Barbara’s chic cabled cardigan from Bergère de France and Jill’s Mountain High. Now, I’d like to present Jill’s Crosscountry* in madelinetosh Tosh Chunky, designed by Alicia Plummer.


Pretty gorgeous, right? And I finally crossed the finish line with my sleeveless Weekender*.

Designer Andrea Mowry suggests making her pattern a pullover vest by simply leaving off the sleeves, but I wasn’t keen on the idea of having the reverse stockinette curling at the edges of unfinished armholes, so…

…I worked a slipped stitch on the edge and introduced columns of 1×1 ribbing, adding another column every 6th row, until my ribbing merged with the original neckline of the pattern. I am pretty chuffed with the results. Not so with my centered column of slipped stitches, however. If you make your own Weekender (and I hope you will; it’s one of the easiest sweaters to make and wear) learn from my mistake and give your yarn a tiny tug when you pass it behind the center stitch when slipped. I didn’t for the first few inches and got a wobbly column of stitches and sloppy reverse stockinette on either side of the column (left). When I wised up, things got much tidier (right).
More sweaters? Yes, please! Joan shared her fantastic Chadwick with us. Her yarn is Woolstok from Blue Sky Fibers in Midnight Sea. I could live in this cardigan for the entire month of January.

Give designer Sarah Solomon five stars for such intriguing stitch patterns and Woolstok the same for great stitch definition.

Another way to stay cozy from Joan: Leah McGlone’s Beech Hill*, sized to be more ruana than poncho, in silky Acadia from The Fibre Company.

She made it her own by adding an elegant silk/mohair edging to discourage the fabric from rolling.

Oh, Acadia. You make such beautiful fabric…

And finally, knowing you can’t go wrong with Madelinetosh Pashmina, Joan chose it for her Tracie* shawl by Joji Locatelli.

Pashmina’s blend of merino/silk/cashmere makes a perfect Tracie.

Tina says she has been on a “brioche binge” lately. As you can see from her Checkerboard Keyhole Scarf from Nancy Marchant, she has progressed well beyond the basic two-color brioche stitch. She used Berroco Ultra Wool for this snug neckwarmer.

Stephanie cast on for Laura Aylor’s recent mystery KAL with some Ultra Alpaca from her stash, and the result is this stunning Winter Orchard* cowl.

Naming her project “Drive the Cold Winter Away,” Stephanie included lyrics from the Elizabethan carol on her project page:
Good fortune attend each merry man’s friend,
That doth but the best that he may;
Forgetting old wrongs, with carols and songs,
To drive the cold winter away.
Carols and songs may work fine for some, but in the bleak midwinter, I’ll take Berroco Ultra Alpaca every time.
I had toasty toes on my mind when I made these baby booties for Granddaughter #2. They are based on Veronica Van’s Dreamy Baby Booties, a free pattern on Ravelry. My only change was to continue the 1×1 ribbing down the instep, rather than switch to garter stitch. It’s a well-written pattern, but I’m still on a quest for an even more adorable bootie. I’m attempting to create a seamless version of these cuties right now and should have them ready to share in the next post.

Even pups need to stay warm! Sharon made this custom Darling Darby Sweater for her new best friend Lola, adding a darling panel of cables down the back. There’s even a notch in the ribbed edging for a wagging tail. I’ve never seen a dog so happy to be wearing a sweater as Lola!

One of the joys in working at GYI is teaching Knitting 101. Last Saturday, I had the great pleasure of introducing 12-year old Rachael and her friend Gabriella to knitting. Rachael’s mother took this photo as we worked together. These bright, enthusiastic young ladies mastered the basics in record time, and I expect to see wonderful things fly from their needles. If you have room for one more New Year’s resolution, why not teach someone to knit in 2019? You’ll both benefit!

The GYI staff is putting together a lookbook of pattern suggestions for new knitters. (All-garter stitch scarves can sour you on knitting pretty quickly.) Catherine just finished this shop sample of the Quality Time* scarf from Fifty Four Ten Studio, one of our finds: a simple scarf with an easy-to-memorize stitch pattern that will hold a new knitter’s interest. Do you have a favorite “first” pattern? Please share it with us!

Note: Patterns marked with an asterisk (*) are available at Gosh Yarn It!