Work in Progress - January 2026

unfinished knitting projects on a coffee table

it's January in Scotland

 

A monthly update of all the projects piling up on and under my coffee table. You can read all previous months here.

I've been a bit lax with these updates recently. We had a lot of building work (and delays) to our house last year. I've only recently got my living room and coffee table back! Although I'm still missing a rug. 

I'm now aiming to get back to monthly updates of all my WiPs - all the projects that live on or under my coffee table. I may even do another pouffe of doom update too.

As is usual for January I've completed quite a few projects during the Christmas holidays. Not quite what I predicted in the December newsletter. I ended up starting and finishing 3 projects whilst ignoring most of my long term lingering projects. Which I think is very on brand. 😆

 

super chunky sweater

 

The first project finished is the troublesome Holiday Sweater. It's actually a very straightforward knit. It was my lack of care when picking up stitches that caused the problem. This can easily be made in a week not over a year that it took me!

The pattern is Holiday Sweater by PetiteKnit (available to buy on Ravelry) and I used King Cole Explorer Super Chunky in shade Marco Polo. You can read more about it here and come squish it in the Pittenweem shop.

 

striped sweater

 

The other sweater WiP is another PetiteKnit pattern Cloud Blouse. Available to buy on Ravelry here.

The pattern is written for two strands of a mohair silk laceweight. I'm using one strand of Rico Meri Mohair in shade Deep Sea. This is such a lovely sweater. So light and airy.

It's knitted seamlessly - in the round and back and forth, from the top down. The pattern is very well written (I recommend reading it all the way through before starting) and the yarn is glorious. I particular like how the stripes blend whether you're knitting the body or the narrower sleeves.

I still have one more sleeve to do... so I've made no progress for a while. This project has officially stalled!

 

Instead of working on the Cloud Blouse I cast on another mini shawl/scarf. 

Yes another one!

Last year I made 3 mini scarves in quick succession.

 

blue grey and yellow mini shawl

Isla Shawl

 

brioche shawlette

Bitty Brioche

 

neckerchief

Star Scarf

 

I thought I had got it our my system. But no...

 

mini scarf

 

Jaunty is by Andrea Mowry (available to buy on Ravelry). It's a side-to-side triangle.

The pattern includes instructions for lots of different yarn thicknesses. I used a sportweight yarn but did a smaller size than written in the pattern. It knitted up super fast and, as it's a fishermans rib it's super squishy especially as I used the 100% merino Edition 3. You can read more about it here and squish it in the Pittenweem shop.

 

Also on the table is something I said I would make during the holidays, another Pop baby cardigan in Socks Yeah DK. The shade I'm using is Aeacus (it's photographed brighter below).

 

pop baby cardigan

 

But as you can see I've once again arrived at sleeve island. 😆

Pop is super popular in the shop. We have several samples of it in the shop. This one is following the pattern as written. 

It has a garter stitch (knit every row) yoke and a stocking stitch (knit one row, purl one row) body and sleeves.

As it's knitted from the top down you have no sewing up, although you do have the choice to knit the sleeve flat and then sew up.

Here's a photo of a previous version I knitted (this yarn is now discontinued)

 

pop in progress

Pop is a great pattern for beginners and those new to top down knitting. 

You can also make easy modifications to switch up the look. We have this version which is made all in garter stitch.

garter stitch pop

And if you have lots of 4ply, you can hold two strands together and make a chunkier jacket, again all in garter stitch.



The last thing on the table is something I had no intention of knitting. It's a response to a failed cast on.

In the December newsletter I mentioned I really wanted to knit Mae. A side-to-side triangle scarf by Ysolda.

I chose a skein of our My Mama Knits Don't Talk Back in  Bloody Henry Starfish.

However I had problems with the cast on. 

Mae is knitted in the round. Although it looks like a standard flat side to side scarf it is actually double thickness. It was this construction that intrigued me. You start with a few stitches and increase up to a mid point before decreasing down to the other end. But, after trying several times to work in the round with a few stitches I gave up.

Don't Talk Back is not that slippy (it's a blend of merino and yak) but it was still too slippy for me to achieve a neat transition from front to back. Perhaps it's my loose knitting style?

I couldn't manage such a small number of stitches on magic loop so I used DPNS. I'm normally quite happy with DPNS but it was still a struggle and the combination of slip stitches worked at the 'fold' looked too sloppy. Even for me. Definitely a case of too many needles and not enough stitches.

I think I'd get a better result using a woolly wool which would be grippier and plump up when blocking.

Never one to dwell when a project fails (there's so many more to cast on) I looked through my favourites list and cast on a Souvenir Shawl (available to buy on Ravelry).



I've seen a few customers wearing these in the shop. Especially amongst visitors. It uses just 100g of 4ply so it is a perfect way to use that single skein of yarn that you perhaps picked up in a random yarn shop you came across by chance.👋

It's an elongated triangle (you increase by 6 stitches every two rows) so it's more scarf like. It has a pretty YO detail down the centre spine and ends with a lace edge.

After the first few repeats the pattern is easy to remember and as it's mostly garter stitch it's good TV knitting. Although I imagine the edge will need more concentration.


pink shawl

I did have a wobble whether I'd carry on knitting this. Especially as its cast on was a reaction to a failed project! But I do like the 'unfinished' edge and mindless knitting of it so I'm going to continue.

Not on the coffee table are two stranded colourwork projects. Knitted specifically as shop samples for beginners. I'll write more about them soon, but if you want a sneaky squish they're in the Pittenweem shop right now.

Next month I hope to have at least another half sleeve knitted on the Cloud Blouse and also show you some more mini scarves. 😆

I might even have a new living room rug too.
— Fiona Wright
Tagged: WIPs
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