QUAR KNITTING - Starting a PetiteKnit Wednesday Sweater in Hotel Quarantine

Now that we’ve done it, I realize there is no way to totally emotionally prepare yourself for an international move during a global pandemic, but you know, I tried! When we visited my parents for Christmas, we knew we would be moving within the next month or so. My mom, an accomplished hand and machine knitter, encouraged me to plan a knitting project to work on while we traveled and/or quarantined, in case sewing wasn’t convenient, and she gave me some technique refreshers.

I have knit in the past, but I think the last time I knit a sweater was circa 2005, and I knit a large intarsia tapestry maybe around 2006 (I’ll photograph both of them when we are reunited with our possessions). I learned to knit from my mom, so getting a lesson from her again made everything come rushing back.

I decided to throw myself into the deep end and purchased the Wednesday Sweater pattern by Petite Knit off Ravelry. My mom recently knit me Petite Knit’s Holiday Slipover, which you can see here, so those designs were really on my radar. Ravelry has a feature where you can purchase a copy of a pattern as a gift, and it sends a PDF to the recipient’s email. I went ahead bought a copy of the pattern for my mom, so she could help me navigate instructions if I got stuck.

After a little nudging, I convinced her to knit the sweater for herself while I knit mine! I know this will keep us both motivated, give us a reason to text while we are apart, and if I get really stuck, we can hop on a Zoom. I have been.… exhausted since we moved. I’ve been seeking normalcy anywhere I can, and it is hiding only in small places: tea and coffee in my favorite mug that I brought with me, texting with friends, wafer cookies from the Key Foods on Myrtle Avenue in Brooklyn that I stashed in my suitcase. It makes me feel connected, and a little grounded, to know my mom and I are knitting the same sweater at the same time.

She was also SO helpful in the yarn selection process! I read a ton of Ravelry reviews for this pattern, and clicked on everyone’s yarn choices to get a feel for what worked. We decided to order our yarn from Web’s in Northampton Massachusetts, a store I have fond memories of yarn shopping with my mom, both for weaving on my floor loom, and for her machine knitting, and actually, probably for both of our hand knitting projects those years ago.

We both decided to use Web’s house brand Valley Yarns 100% wool yarn as the main yarn (I went with 01 White, she selected Black); my mom has used this yarn before and likes working with it. She chose a solid color black silk/mohair as her carry yarn, and I wanted to keep it funfetti, and selected Hedgehog Fibers Kidsilk Lace in Comeback. When ordering enough of both yarns to make a sweater, I hit a discount threshold, and got a price break, which was nice! I knit up a swatch and easily achieved the desired gauge with this combo.

I think this was my first attempt at the short rows, which I ripped out and started again. Once I got the hang of it, I enjoyed this technique.

I cast on when we arrived in Glasgow - I wish I had started before our flight, but probably best that I didn’t attempt knitting while flying, as I stayed up for idk 22 hours or something. I was still a bit jet lagged when I started, and the first thing you do is German short rows. I had only ever done short rows as machine knitting, and in my jet lagged state, I could not process it! My mom was so patient with me, writing calm emails explaining the concept, and she sent me this video from Purl Soho that completely sorted me out. I knit it once, with a bunch of mistakes, ripped it out, and did it again successfully.

After you do the short rows, the back yoke of the sweater is well underway. Once it’s done, you add stitches to your cast on edge to create the front shoulders. Petite Knit has little videos on her website which are super helpful! (They are also on YouTube.) She has you add these stitches with the tip of your knitting needle, but I’m too clumsy for that. I’d prefer a crochet hook, and was happy to remember I brought my loop turner with me. It’s basically a skinny latch hook. I used that instead of my knitting needle, and for me, it was much easier.

Next up, I will finish up the front yoke and be on to a bit more shaping, adding some stitches, and working the body of the sweater. I had to order a longer circular needle for knitting the body in the round, so I might need to wait until that arrives. But I’m definitely hooked! XO, Martha