Holly Christmas Sweater

October 24, 2024


Hello! I'm sooooo happy to be here today. September and October has been filled with a few little trips and a few dear houseguests and while I've had plenty of time to knit, I haven't had time to post and I'm happy to be back. Today I have a pretty Christmas sweater to share and a roadtrip to a beautiful knitting store in Ashland, Oregon. Let's begin!

The sweater. Sigh. Holly by Pernille Larsen is festive and charming and elegant at the same time. As soon as I dove into stranded colorwork, I put it in my queue where it waited patiently for the perfect yarn to appear. This spring Brooklyn Tweed came out with their sport weight Imbue, a 100% organic all American merino wool that is as soft as anything you'll find, so just like that I had my yarn. I made the smallest size but feel the yoke is still a little bit roomy for my tastes but I can live with it, but just an FYI if you make this. It is knit top down and has a folded collar. The only change I made was to make three bobbles per leaf clump rather than six. I don't mind making bobbles but doing them in 3 color stranded work was not super fun, and I felt it looked better with just the 3 anyway.  In the end I'm very happy with it and can't wait to start wearing it. I recommend both pattern and yarn.






The white is BT Imbue Crepe and the green is Hummingbird.
The red is Rowan Norwegian wool in Ribbon Red.

Last month we visited dear friends in Bend, Oregon where I met some new knitting friends at a lovely luncheon, went on a beautiful hike along the Deschutes River, had some fantastic dinners, and went to a knitting shop in Bend, Fancywork, a shop I've been to many times when we visit the area. It is a darling little shop and never disappoints. We also visited the beautiful town of Sisters and had a nice lunch and I was able to spend a full hour in The Stitchin' Post. What a treat! Half fabric and half yarn store. Lucky me! On our drive back to California we stopped off at the home of a favorite cousin who lives in the country outside of Grant's Pass. I hadn't seen him in 5 years and we vowed to never go that long again. Not too far away was Ashland, famous for the Shakespeare Festivals, but was an exciting destination for me because it is the home of The Websters, a knitting store that I've ordered from a few times and was dying to see. I begged my kind husband to make a detour and of course he said yes because he is just that nice! The pictures below are from that store.



A great selection of Brooklyn Tweed.

I got to touch Moondrake's Fuwa Fuwa!
At $45 a skein I decided to wait on that purchase!

Lots of Rowan.



So much yarn! An hour was not enough but somehow I had made this road trip into a yarn trip and as this was my third yarn store, I couldn't press my luck. My husband is patient, but still...

I also got to see Pushkin by The Farmers Daughter, a yarn I've known about and was so excited to touch and feel something I've read about for years!

But for my purchases, Pushkin and Fuwa Fuwa were not for me this trip, but I did buy something else that was very nice--Patagonia Organic Merino (so soft!) to make Avena.

I also bought two skeins of Brooklyn Tweed Shelter Flannel (blue)
to go with some white Shelter I already had to make Bergman.



Views from the patio of our friend's home in Bend. The sunsets were gorgeous and we could see Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Washington and the Three Sisters. This was our view for cocktails every night!




I took cookies with me as a party favor for my friend's knitting luncheon.
A good way to use my little peg doll gnomettes!



A few nights ago we were invited to a friend's house for dinner and I thought you would like to see her gorgeous table. With a setting as warm and inviting as this, you just know the evening is going to be wonderful. Don't you love fall? We started the evening with champagne, the ultimate celebration drink, and sampled a few nibbles before we were invited to the table. She  served Ruth Reichl's Tomatillo Stew which had the deep, rich flavor of a stew, but with an interesting smoldering tang. The flavor is difficult to explain, but it was delicious and perfect for fall. Our hosts grow tomatillos and when ripe they take the husk off, cut in quarters, and freeze. I've never grown or cooked with tomatillos, but I am next year.


We have another fun week of house guests and travel, then we settle down into a cozy fall and I hope to have more fun posts to share. Thank you for stopping by. Kristen

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Kristen Rettig

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2 Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 25, 2024 at 8:43 AM

    Your husband is a saint, but I suspect he doesn't mind spoiling you! Love to hear about the yarn stores you visit. Yarn is the best souvenir!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 26, 2024 at 12:14 PM

    Holly is beautiful and I cant wait to see Avenea. Your trip sounded like a lot of fun for you. How nice of you to make cookies and add a peg doll for the luncheon your friend hosted. The Webster's looks like an amazing store.

    Being fortunate enough to be at your friend's dinner, I agree with you about the tomatillo stew. Delicious!

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