Roses and Ribbings

 We had just a touch of Fall the last couple of days...false hopes, as the temp has went  back up to Summer temps for a bit, but we have a promise of real Fall, possibly, in a week or so.  I'm so ready, mostly we could say, because, well, I'm a Knitter and I like Fall/Winter sweaters the best.

From my rocking chairs on the porch, I have two very contrast sights, one of a rose bush all finished up (if I was a better gardener, I would have trimmed it back some time ago, so there were new blooms right now), I wonder if it is too late?!

The other side is a fully in bloom rose bush, bringing me all kinds of wonderful flowers to not only enjoy, but also, cut for a couple of vases to have inside.  I didn't want to go overboard on the cuttings, although I could have, I have plenty of vases, and I may just do that next week, if there are still plenty of blooms.

My two hummingbirds are still flitting around, not drinking as much as I would have thought they would have, storing up for their migration later this month.  Maybe because of it being so hot, the water is not to their liking, so changing it up today was in order.

Last weekend, I spent a couple of days up in Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool with my friend Debbie.  We had lots of adventures and laughs and the weather was perfect.  While there, I only took one picture and that was of a magnificent sunset the first night.  The rest of the time, my camera stayed in my tote, and I just enjoyed the time walking the booths.

That about catches this blog up for right now, hope you are planning your sweater knits, sweater weather will be here before we know it.  

Finally Finished Friday

 Ugh!  It's hot here at Chez PJKnits as it is in most of the Midwest.  And it doesn't appear that there is any cooler weather coming here any time soon.  But, that doesn't stop me as I have said before, because I am okay with knitting on Winter sweaters inside where it is nice and cool.

This edition of Finally Finished Friday, I started last year this time as part of KAL that I was doing with my PJKnits Zoom group, with a finish date of Thanksgiving 2025 to wear for the holiday season and into the new year with the Winter season.  But, that didn't happen.  So when the group decided to do another Holiday Sweater KAL this year, why yes, I wanted to cast on another one, this time Yule Do by Isabell Kramer.  But before I could do that I had to finish last year's sweater, Christmas Belle.

Ta da, it's done.

When I first decided last year on this sweater, I wanted a Christmas sweater that I could wear all Winter along.  I did not want it to scream Christmas colors, so I opted for Cascade Heritage in Pine as the body color, which is out of my normal color range, but I really am glad that I chose it.

For the color work, I used a PYS (Penny's Yarn Shop aka Stash) yarn, James C. Brett, Aria Double Knitting yarn,  It took less than a ball and for me, this was the highlight of this knit - the sequins in the yarn very subtly shining through with just enough sparkle for me.

The color work was super easy to do and kept my interest, but the body and sleeves were just plain ole stockinette, and frankly I was so glad to have this one done and ready for wearing.

I did make some mods, as I always do, and if you are interested you can see them all on my project page in Ravelry here

I know it won't be long and Winter will be here and then I'm ready for the Holiday season.

What Do You Look For In a Post or a Podcast?

 That is the topic for Episode 168  of the PJKnits Podcast today.  You can find it my clicking here

A New Cast On

Several years back, and I do mean several, my oldest grandson, requested a knit from this book.

It took me a couple of years to knit his sister's pig, and almost as soon as she received it, he did mention if he was next.  And of course, I said yes, (that was at Christmas) and since then he has asked once about it.  So, I decided last weekend, it was time to get it cast on.

I wish you could really see the sparkle in the yarn, it is there, albeit pretty subtle.  

I also pulled out the skeleton head stitch stoppers for the end, thinking it is very appropriate for the Death Star!

I'm hoping to have it done for his birthday the middle of October, so I better be working more on it!

Clowing Around

Musselburgh Number 20 - 7 for this year is finished.  I am playing around with the Artistic Yarn by Abi subscription box this year for my Musselburghs.  I just love opening up a new box every other month, seeing what the yarn is, but also the fun stuff in the box. 

And the accent colors that come with it.  I am pretty sure her intention is for these to be socks, but, I can knit a hat so much faster than I do socks.

For the most part, these hats are not for me, but, rather for fun holiday parties where family can choose a hat from my finished hats.  I had better get moving on them if that is my plan for this year. 

This Is How It Starts

 When getting ready to do a PJKnits You Tube video, there is a bit of planning.

First I plan it out on paper, I may make a couple of versions, depending on the topic.  The morning of the taping, I will line up on my couch the assorted things I want to talk about, before finally making their way to my table to podcast from.

Today's Episode 167 is pretty much all about some Winter Sweater WIPS that I brought out to start knitting on one at a time.  You can check them out by clicking here

And stay tuned here, in the coming weeks, I'll be showcasing them here and on Instagram!

Birds As A Source For Sweater Colors?

Recently, I've been watching a lot of Wild Earth Safari on You Tube.  Not that I am ever going to go, nor do I really want to, but I do enjoy watching animals and animal behavior in the early mornings or late evenings.

What I have discovered is how much the birds in Africa have me looking at their colors for possible future sweater color combos.

I am seeing combos in them that I never would have thought would go together, while also finding out about birds a world away.

But, also colors I never would have put together, like these below in the Merops.  Beautiful green, orangey red and brown.

It is funny how sometimes, the color of the same bird comes up differently on the tv screen, but also gives color thoughts too.

This Blue Waxbill intrigues me with the sort of light turquoise and gray/brown combos.

So many color thoughts and more just keep coming.

While we are on the subject of birds, I finally found a hummingbird feeder that is bee proof and ant proof this year from Chewy. I have been having a hoot of a time watching a couple of hummingbirds come all hours of the morning into evening.

I, also, am paying attention to how long the water is out there and changing it often.  

Funny how the little things bring moments of Joy.  I hope you, too, are finding those moments.

 

Summer of T- Shirts

 I do love a good knitting tee shirt and when it is hot, isn't it the perfect top to wear when a knitted sweater just is too much?

Here are just a few of the collection I've accumulated over the years.

This one is so me. And I don't apologize for it, nor can I be shamed about the amount of WIPS/Unfinished Projects I have.  It's just me.  And a gift from my friend, Norma, many years ago.

Norma gifted me a lot of knitting t-shirts over the years.  This is another one.  And again, me and maybe you reader, especially if you are retired, and knitting is better than almost any other task I could do.

This t-shirt I bought.  So appropriate during the pandemic when we all were doing and exploring via the internet new things in knitting and in crafting.  And we made it to the other side and still knitting, me exploring avenues in knitting that I never thought I would.

Last, but not least of my t-shirts, this is another one I bought for myself.  Yes, I am a Grandma of five now, but, I don't think my knitting reflects the stereotype of Grandmas of old knitting.

Do you?

It's Summer Outside, But, I'm Knitting Winter Inside

 Yep, put my last Summer knit WIP away today and now it is all about Winter knitting!  In today's episode 166, I've started thinking of sweaters I would like to do and some swatching too.  You can hear all about it, by clicking here

Spending Time On The Porch

 I cannot believe we are at that time of the Summer already.  Kids here go back to school in just 9 days and my grandson starts kindergarten this year.  I cannot believe that is happening either.  It makes me a little sad, because there will be a lot more structure in his life, and less time for on the spur of the moment fun things.

But, with all of that, also comes Fall and then Winter, which I know I am rushing, but I am already working on my Winter knits, I have had enough of Summer knitting.  There are so many knits for the next season that I want to show here, but, that will wait for a couple of posts down the road.

What I am doing right now, is spending as much time as I can on the front porch, whenever I can, dodging hot hot weather when I can, and taking advantage when I can.

This weekend, I've played around with some swatching while casting on a new sweater.  Long story, short, it didn't work out like I wanted to, but it did provide me with a gauge swatch for what the yarn was always intended for.  

Except, I cannot restart it, until I finish one or two other color work projects on the needle.  Casting on a third, just to see it set there or take away from the other two, just doesn't get any of them finished.

It was nice enough this morning to turn the air conditioning off for a bit, and after I got some cooking done, I headed out this afternoon for a cuppa and look at the Anniversary Edition of Laine magazine I picked up at my local yarn shop, The Fiber Universe on Friday.

I've earmarked 4 or 5 that I would love to knit for this next season, mainly because they fit the kind of sweater I like to wear, and the yarns or rather the alternative yarns are easy to get via the United States vendors.  For now, they are on the wishlist, we will see what becomes of them.

Despite, it still being Summer and the weather can attest to that, I think I am done with my Summer knitting (only one Summer WIP still on the needle from 2025, I think I will bring it back out next year when I head to Florida and work on it then.

PJKnits Podcast - Episode 165

 Episode 166 is up on the PJKnits You Tube Channel.  You can watch it by, clicking

here

This episode features things I learned while test knitting for a couple of designers.

Maker's Meetup 2026

 Another Maker's Meetup is in the books, and it was a fantastic one.  With around 145 makers, it was our largest ever, and others who couldn't make it, would have probably kicked us over the 150 mark.  We started out Thursday night, taking over the lobby of the Hilton Garden Inn in Hoffman Estates, Illinois with everyone coming in, checking in and getting a healthy dose of hugs.

Friday, both big conference rooms filled up with more hugs and lots of friends meeting again 

And new friends being made over knitting.

But, before they could find their seats, we had a little gift for all of the attendees, made by our dear, gracious, friend, Sandy, who made 150 of these special bags just for this year's meetup.

We always do some sort of KALs prior to the meetup which are always so fun and truly optional.  In past years, we have done a specific designer, a specific pattern and our fave colors, teals and turqs.  

Friday's theme was Knit Tees, Knitted or Printed and these lovely makers came through for this bit of fun.

Saturday the theme was Stripes, My New Favorite Color and we had such a fantastic array of knits for the KAL, a winner for sure.

All too soon it was over, with door prizes, laughs, snacks, making, sharing and looking forward to another Meetup in 2027.  

Kendra and I will see you there!  Thank you to everyone who came and supported us in all the many ways!! We love you.

Second Test Knit of the Summer

 Prestige Pullover by Tinker Taylor Designs is the second test knit I did for the Summer. Finished it yesterday. I have to say, I was a monogmous knitter on this on this test knit, because I knew if I didn't work on it, I'd be reaching out to the designer and telling her I was a failure.

I had issues from the start with my yarn choices.  The pattern is in DK and Darlene suggested knitting it in a marl yarn for the best effect.  I don't really have any DK in PYS, so I tried a Sport.  Gauge wasn't working out.  My next attempt was a yarn that was marled that my local yarn shop had.  Swatched it, and it was too heavy as well.

Darlene had set up an Instagram chat group, and as other knitters were posting, a couple mentioned they were using two finger weight yarns together to marl together.  So, back to my local yarn shop I went, where we matched up a Cascade Heritage in a ruby colorway and a Malabrigo sock yarn that has black, white, a bit of teal and ruby in it.  Now, these are not my normal color palette, but I gave them a whirl.

Again, had some gauge issues, and at the suggestion of the designer, I went down two sizes in the needle.  Changing sizes to a Large was not an option, as I had committed to a size XL.  I made it work and was able to get gauge.  

The design is all knit and purl in the round, and by the end of the second sleeve, I was definitely ready for it to be done. It has icord hems on the bottom, neck and sleeves and with the advice of my Saturday night Zoom dates, we decided the ruby would look great and it does as you can see from the above picture.

This is Tinker Taylor Designs, first design and she did a great job managing the group, answering questions, giving us videos or a technique or two and was johnny on the spot to update the pattern for us.  It is slated to come out mid August.  For me, it is going to be a great transition piece.  Please check it out when it hits Ravelry.  I'll keep you posted here too!

Test Knitting - Bandana

During my absence from blogging, I have been doing a couple of Test Knits.  

I've been test knitting periodically for Beth MacDonald Stone the last couple of years, taking some time off from that as well, the last couple of months, but decided to test knit one of her Bandanas from the current collection for her, just to keep my name in the mix.

The Bandana, Pass to Center is a bandana, done in mosaic knitting.  I've played around with mosaic, but never really knitted anything in it.  It seems like right now, there is a lot of mosaic knitting being incorporated into shawls and sweaters, along with the sweaters done in slipped stitches (Andrea Mowry's Rhinebeck Sweater for 2026)

I pulled a shawl kit from PYS (Penny's Yarn Shop, also known as stash).  The yarn is Stunning String Studio's Stunning Superwash and was a gift years back. 

 I am not sure after knitting even this small of a knit, that mosaic knitting is for me.  It's a lot of work, or maybe it was just that I was under a time crunch (not because of the designer, but of me, the ultimate procrastinator) and had another test knit that I had signed up to do starting almost right after I should have finished the bandana test knit, but I was certainly wishing towards the end, that the knitting fairy would have come in the middle night and knit some of it for me.

As I was nearing the end, I really did fall back in like with the design, loved the way the yarns looked together and know that when we get into late Fall, early Winter, I'll be sporting it.

My Finished Bandana

I'm Back!!

 Did you miss me?

The first of this year, I made a decision to not blog anymore.  I needed a break, I started posting a lot on Instagram, which I still do and I try to do a PJKnits You Tube episode every 2-3 weeks or whenever I have something worth talking about.  With both of those social media thingys, the blog was suffering and I really was wondering if anyone besides my dear friends from knitting camp were even dropping by.

The last few weeks, I've been wondering about doing blog posts again for those who don't do those other things, or I don't come up on their feeds for you to even know I am out there?!  My blog over the years, 23 yearsish, (the first post in July 2003 for a few short posts and then back up again in December of that year).

During these last couple of weeks, I have been thinking about why I would want to reprise the blog and came up with some reflections - 

I have been writing in my daily journal, and I find that I am trying to up my writing skills there. The blog this time, may be a little different in the past, more writing about knitting, knitting friends, knitting adventures etc.

I have also been playing around with my iphone and checking out others' tips and tricks for getting better pictures to post.  

What I also found, which is a total possible future blog(s), is not everyone is on Instagram or watch You Tube.  And I wouldn't want them to miss out on whats going on with my knitting and the above.

Finally, but maybe not the last of the reasons, is I have become lazy.  Not checking my Ravelry as often as I should, (remember when we went all went down the rabbit hole and didn't come out for hours?), and definitely not checking my email as much as I should.  

Most of all, the blog is such an easy way to go back and really see what was going on in PJKnits life for me and maybe, one day, my grands.   If you are just finding my blog, please keep in mind, this is a knitting blog, but also, I have family and adventures that I will post too, just because they bring me Joy.

Now, if you are still with me, Hi, my name is Penny.  I live in Central Illinois, I'm a Knitter, a Blogger and a You Tube podcaster.  Welcome.

Choose Joy!