Knitting

You can find the free pattern here.

A couple weeks ago I (37/F) landed my first job in a proper office setting (after being unemployed almost a year, so yay me!). I had worked only in the industrial field so far and my work attire was basically jeans and corporate shirts paired with very stylish safety shoes LOL.

I'm in the southern hemisphere and it's like 80°F outside but my social anxiety is already making me plan for colder weather (hoping I'll still be employed by then). So I was wondering if you could give me some insight on incorporating handknitted items into my office attire, whether it's specific patterns or just general recs.

I'd describe the style at work as business very casual because it's a tech company. Most of my coworkers wear sneakers (women tend to choose 'dressier' ones, but guys often wear Vans and Chuck Taylors).

I was thinking of knitting myself a Lulu Slipover to use over shirts and maybe a cardi.

I read somewhere that fingering and sport yarn weight were office appropiate and more bulky yarns were not, is that really so? Are cables ok? Lace?

TIA!

Edit: Thank you everyone for your insights! I've decided I'll try the Monlight Dancer cardi following @[email protected]'s suggestion for a shawl collar cardi and the Fade of Beads tee maybe? (I'll be getting that pattern free with my ticket to an event, so I'll probably knit it anyway even if it's not to wear at the office lol).

https://www.ravelry.com/people/KnottyLorri/new_library?volume_id=483676270

My former inlaws bought me this yarn on their anniversary trip to Hawaii a few years ago. If I recall correctly it’s bamboo and cotton. Finally decided to use it for myself!

I bought this kit from Aliexpress. I’m not very picky about my needles, but I do have have the Chiaogoo red ones. I wanted a set to travel with and these seem good so far, which is kind of surprising.

Price $38.38 Canadian

3-8mm needles

Just in case anyone’s in the market for some needles.

Just in time to start my mystery knit along, I finished both yip yips. The knit eyes worked out really well. I’ve never laughed so much while knitting something, these were a really fun project

Pattern

Remember those “Martians” from Sesame Street? A friend asked me to make a couple of these for their kid. My first one is on the left and the pattern photo is on the right. I’m going to try to knit some eye balls instead of using ping pongs, we’ll see how that goes

Pattern

https://www.ravelry.com/projects/MxRemyWay/whats-this

I don’t get much knitting done in the summer, so I thought I’d share someone else’s project. Saw him in the stands tonight watching the men’s doubles final and it looks like he’s already cast on something else.

*What makes a cardigan, Mr. Lebowski? *

Knowing almost nothing about knitting before I started this project, I spent many months trying to recreate the original as faithfully as possible. And you can try it yourself as well :)

CAVEAT: I am not a designer, the pattern is only available in one size, and it can be a pretty difficult knit at times.

BUT: it's free, and I can answer questions if you try your hands at making it!

Raverly link (The Dude Copycat Cardigan)

I have no idea how to do this. Sometimes I pick up the yarn and it runs nicely, sometimes I end up with, say, 1 inch of length that just keeps getting shorter the more stitches I make and I must manually pull more from the ball instead of me just getting more yarn from the ball naturally with each stitch. ("1 inch" was just made up for this example, never actually measured it.) I have no idea what is affecting this. But the tension is awful and my practice piece looks like this. Please help me!

Is this actually a widespread thing? I'd never heard of it (sorry if this doesn'tfit the sub)

Just have to vent, because I’m struggling to finish this sweater. The body was knit with US 17s (12mm). Now I’m doing the sleeves on US 19s (16mm) because my gauge was too tight with the 17s. I have discovered I don’t like knitting with these size needles. They’re uncomfortable for me to hold and knitting with them feels like a chore.

Vent over. Hopefully I’ll get this sweater off the needles today or tomorrow, and now I know to avoid any more projects using these needles.

So I want to knit up an all-over lace top, which is originally made with two strands of Lang Yarns Mohair Luxe. I've been searching for non-animal alternatives for quite a while now. My best bet might be Lammy Soft Sensation, but as it's rather cheap I'm afraid it might also look and feel cheap. Does anyone have experience with it? The reviews I can find online are rather scarce.

Also been looking into Alize Cotton Gold and Hobbii Amigo. They're not exactly mohair-y but might provide a little fluff and, more importantly, softness.

What do you think? Are there better options? TIA!

The pattern is free on Ravelry- 198 Yards of Heaven. I used Madeline Tosh Vintage in Fatal Attraction (1 skein). I'll have to post it after it's dry because this picture doesn't do the color justice.

Caveat: when the article mentions the "dominant hand" and "non-dominant hand" they really just mean "right hand" and "left hand". These knitting styles do not adjust to your personal handedness. So I guess you can read it as written if you're right-handed, but if you're left-handed this was not written with you in mind.

One day I might finally cave and buy a real yarn swift & winder, but for now this shall suffice

Seems to be put together with images from The 4-H Knitting Handbook.

While I am asking about what knitting resources you use I might as well plug this thread asking for knitting resources for beginners.

I have a Ravelry account I rarely use. I come here from time to time. I still have a few how to knit books I got as a child. And I have a few specific tutorials (none are video-only, they are all image + text tutorials) bookmarked online that I know I'll need to refer back to sometime in the future:

• https://sheepandstitch.com/what-is-knitting-gauge/
• https://nourishandnestle.com/tension-in-knitting-too-loose-tight-or-inconsistent/
• https://www.yarnspirations.com/blogs/how-to/how-to-knit-cables
• https://sarahmaker.com/stockinette-stitch/
• https://smokeandslate.com/pages/weave-in-ends-stockinette-stitch

Finally, I keep the pattern I am working on written out in Obsidian (@[email protected] says hi), with a little note at the bottom describing the tension I am using and this: "Finished row x, need to start at row x + 1". (If I wrote 'row x' I would have no idea if I just finished it and need to start x + 1, or if I just finished x - 1 and need to start row x. That was a serious issue for me when using just a counter that ticks up. I could just technically write 'Finished row x' but I feel better both writing that and 'need to start row x + 1'.)

Slow but steady progress on my socks

Pattern: Hermoine’s Everyday Sock

Needed a new car knitting project as my Kelowna sweater is too big now to work on comfortably. So I cast on some socks for me.

Pattern: Hermoine’s Everyday Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in Palm Springs colorway