8 garments I knit but didn't wear this year / lessons learned - The Woolly Worker Knitting Podcast

Great episode Vanissia. I’ve been knitting for 50 years and it is only been in the last few years that I am successfully making garments that work for my wardrobe. I think it takes a long time to know what shapes look good on your body and to acknowledge that at different times of your life you like different shapes. I have found with some sweaters that I did not like them initially after I made them but a year or two later, I did start wearing them and enjoyed them. I should also say that none of these were a waste of money. You have to remember how much enjoyment you got out of the knitting most of them. That has a value attached to it itself.

New Viewer Interesting to look back and see what did not work, and then to fix it in the future. My recommendations as a 60 year knitter. 1: always use a smaller needle for the ribbing. this is the traditional go-to solution for loose ribbing, so common a problem that all vintage patterns include it. 2: Don't use mohair!!!!! You don't like it (neither do I and am amazed how popular it is) but use a substitute or go 'plain'. 3: If you are not enjoying a knit project, STOP and do something else. Even a Test Knit - it is valid feedback. As you have paid for the yarn you are not doing the designer any harm. 4: work out what colours you do like and use them again and again - different mixes but basically the same and you will be pleased. 5: Like with Like - don't mix yarn types. There is a reason that cotton/wool mix feels so different - cotton is a completely different type of yarn - plant based, not animal. Does not stretch the same, does not take colour the same etc. Having said all that, experience comes with time and I am sure this year you will have greater success. Mind you, 8 out of 33 is not bad. Now a subscriber

One option for garments in colors you don’t like is over-dyeing it! A bottle of dye is usually quite affordable, and can dye multiple projects! I started buying dye a few months back and I want to dye so many things I don’t love anymore. I’ll get around to it eventually haha

Even your "fails" are gorgeous and you should be proud of these accomplishments. Personally, I think giving the garments to your mom, if she will wear them, means you'll still be able to see them (and get them back later if you'd like) and know that they will be loved and used. Sometimes mohair tempers over time, so if your mom wears them for a bit, they may become a bit less itchy over time.

i really appreciate your honesty about your knits! it's so comforting knowing that everyone has a "fail" knit piece and it's not something that just happens to me😅

If these were my projects I’d choose to Let them all go on to new owners. I’d let family pick first then the rest to the charity shop. I’d count them all as valuable lessons hard earned. Starting the New Year with no worries about past projects.

Great episode- thank you. One suggestion I would make is to consider broadening your colour palette. I had my ‘colours done’ many years ago and that helped me with choosing colours for my knits. With your fair skin and blue eyes, I would guess you are a ‘spring’ which includes some beautiful brighter colours. Season’s greetings from Australia. Alex

I really appreciate your honesty! It's so rare among knitting podcasters

Really enjoyed your episode. Here’s two thoughts. 1. Spend some time evaluating what colors you love and that you feel you glow when wearing. Or look at paintings or even printed fabrics to see what you’re really drawn too. And let yourself explore brighter, more clear toned colors. You can always look at prints you adore, paintings to lead you toward a color combination for new knit wear. If you see a color combination you love, you can retreat it with your yarn selection. No need to stress or reinvent the wheel if you don’t need too. 2. For the sweaters you feel proud of and do like, is it possible to line them with a fabric that does feel good? Or just line the neck and wrists? A nice soft stretchy knit fabric could “float” inside the sweater and keep you protected from being bothered by the itch. You knit beautifully. Itd be nice to see how you feel if you left the dulled neutrals behind and focused more on clear, brighter colors. Really enjoyed your assessment and it’s helped me think a lot about my future choices.

Thank you for making this video. Over the last months and weeks I gifted quite a lot of my knitted garments and shawls to people that are dear to me: friends, family, hairdresser, etc. It gives me so much joy to give something I have made with my hands and good quality materials to someone who will hopefully love and use it more than I do. I enjoyed making it with the intention of loving and wearing it myself, but I don't enjoy having it in my closet if I find it itchy or not fitting well or in a color that doesn't make me happy. My recommendation is: let go of the items that are not your favorites, and enjoy your favorites to the max. There will always be more yarn, more patterns, more learning and more joy. There is plenty.

Oh my, I’m crushed for you. But I truly TRULY love your willingness to share your flops with us. It is extremely helpful to see, no matter how long we’ve been knitting. My suggestion (old enough by far to be your mom, and from years of crafting made my fair share of flops) will sound harsh but it’s really for the best. No matter why you don’t like the FOs, get them out of your house. period. If you love both color and content of the yarn, and I mean LOVE, go ahead and frog it and find a pattern you know fits your body. Everything else, find someone who adores the item, gift them with well wishes and move on. Saved items that we gaze on with guilt but never ACTUALLY utilize bring absolutely no value to our lives. Needlessly inflicting ourselves to all that went wrong just makes it worse. So, how to prevent future flops? Another viewer suggested having your colors done, great idea! Take that info and the list of fibers you can’t tolerate to heart and vow not to go down that path again. I look forward to the livestream for charity. You’re a treasure! 💜Blessings to you from Hilton Head SC USA.

A tip for underlayers, I really like uniqlo heattech, they are super thin so won't look bulky under any sweaters and have a scooped neck option that I find is not visible under almost any neckline! Really enjoyed this video as a beginner knitter, and learnt that I should probably avoid mohair!

Thank you so much for the honesty of this video Vanissia! It was so so refreshing. I find when I'm watching knitting podcasts and looking at beautiful FOs it's so easy to assume every project is perfect and I'm the only one who has projects that don't really work out..! Good to know that it happens to all of us knitters and it's just a part of the learning process in discovering what works and what doesn't! It seems like a lot of your flops could be fixed with some nice undergarments - have you tried Uniqlo? Not expensive and great for layers. Really looking forward to the stream! X

Thank you Vanissia, very interesting to see what you didn’t like among your projects. I think that they are all very beautiful and I hope that some of your second chances will work out and that the rest will find another happy owner. Just want you to know that I’m very thankful to you for the episode on how to use Ravelry, it really inspired me and showed me how useful it can be, so now I have my whole stash catalogued and am adding my projects bit by bit, you are a very good teacher and I see you as a fantastic influence in the knitting community.

Thanks for taking the time to put this together, love listening to all your comments and seeing your makes. Happy New Year.

Thank you for being so open about what worked well in terms of garment knitting. Enjoyed the episode will tune in and support on 2nd Jan!

I was cleaning house and listening to this podcast for the first time and was stopped dead in my tracks when you said this...."I don't want this garment or the yarn in my house anymore". I had to laugh at your level of revulsion towards this vest project. I can totally relate to those "ugh" projects! Subscribed.

One way to soften rough/rustic wools is to give them a long soak (like an hour or more) with a good amount of hair conditioner (any cheap conditioner will work). It doesn't make them merino soft, but it can improve their texture quite a bit. I've also read about people softening mohair by freezing it. It might be worth some research.

This was a really interesting, thoughtful and helpful episode. Thank you!

Hi! Your sweaters are all beautiful! What you need is a buy a couple of nice pima cotton t-shirts, either round neck or henleys and that will protect your skin from mohair and having a white backdrop with your skin colour will make any colored knit look nice