What’s on my needles: April/May 2023

Remember when I said that this would be a monthly series? (Pause for laughter)

Anyway, here’s what I’ve been working on lately:

Freddy Krueger Sweater: I have this romantic idea of knitting my own Halloween costumes for the next few years, and what better place to start than the iconic striped sweater-clad dream demon himself?

I was on a mission at the Gathering Threads Festival the other weekend to find the perfect moody red and green yarns. It’s surprisingly hard to tell exactly what shades make up Freddy’s sweater, it seems to vary slightly from movie to movie (although that could be the film quality of the ’80s and ’90s). Sometimes the red looks almost orange, other times the green is more olive-toned. I honed in on Fireweed Fibre Co’s “Black Emerald,” which is an unimaginably deep dark green, first. Then I went around to a bunch of other booths searching out my perfect red to pair it with. I landed on Black Cat Yarn’s “Redpool,” a similarly deep and stunning red.

Surprisingly, there is no pattern available for a Freddy Krueger Sweater, so I had to improvise by finding a base sweater pattern and doing the stripes freehand. I’m using PetiteKnit’s Contrast Sweater, a DK-weight sweater pattern with a folded collar, switching between colours every 13 rows. I just separated the sleeves, and I’m beyond excited by how it’s turning out so far!

Super secret baby gifts

Our friend K. is the newest mother-to-be in our social circle, and I have been working on a very special gift for her little bub ever since she shared the big news with us this past winter. As her due date rapidly approaches, I am finding myself with more than enough yarn left over to make a little extra something-something! K. follows my blog so I’m being purposefully vague (even archived a post I made about it on my Instagram to be safe!) No spoilers 😉

What’s still on my needles: Jenny Sweater and Scandy Socks

I’m still working my way through two of the projects from my last WIP update post. I’m almost at the sleeve portion of the Jenny Sweater, which is worked from the bottom up instead of top-down like I’m used to. The smock stitch pattern is shaping up beautifully and now I see these lovely diamond shapes in my work.

My stripey socks are coming along nicely as well. I haven’t decided yet how long I want to make them — if I make shortie socks I could be finished sooner, but I’d still have a lot of yarn left over; conversely, if I keep knitting from each end I could make a couple of really long socks, but it would take a very long time. It’s a real quandry.