First sweater of the year

Okay, I actually finished this last year (meaning last week) but since I'm posting today, I'm calling it the first of the year.



Pattern: Kaari from Norah Gaughan Vol. 1
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in black, 12 balls
Needles: size 8 and 6

This sweater was easy to make and is easy to wear also. Due to the front utility pockets and slightly weird neck, it has that 1960's futuristic space-sweater feeling that I quite enjoy. It is also very cosy. Probably the Cashmerino Aran is going to pill, but oh well, it's so soft and pretty, I will forgive it.

More Saturday sewing

With some help from my sewing buddy,



I successfully made the buttonholes for my shirt:




It is done!


(thanks to Jimmy for being my fashion photographer for this pic)

I like it a lot, and I will definitely use the pattern (Simplicity 4077) again.

I wanted the inside of the garment to look nice. I really hate zigzagged seams, so I did French seams for the side seams and darts. For the shoulders and cuffs I used Hong Kong finishes. I made my own bias strips from a light-weight yellow cotton fabric. It was more work, but very satisfying.

Elf Toe Surprise

When I looked at the picture of the Gentleman's Fancy Sock in Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush, I had no idea that I would be soon knitting socks with pointy elf toes. I thought about changing them to a good old flat toe, but I decided I would keep them as is. So here they are, all finished:



Pattern: Gentleman's Fancy Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks (made for a lady, that is, me)
Yarn: Schaefer Anne, color Butternut
Needles: size 0 metal dpns

Although I kept the toes as written (I kind of love the way the Kitchener stitch is worked sideways at the end, instead of straight across the top like on a flat toe), I did stray from the pattern in a few places. First of all, I didn't do any calf shaping. I cast on 72 stitches, with my yarn doubled, and worked the ribbed cuff and 6 repeats straight. I increased to 73 sts for the heel and worked that as written. I did 6 more pattern repeats for the foot. A half of a repeat looked weird, so I did 10 rounds of stockinette instead of 6 rounds before starting to decrease for the elf toe shaping.



As you might have guessed, I added some orange reinforcement thread to the toes. There is yellow reinforcement thread in the heels, but I ran out of it and couldn't find any more. So I used some orange that I had. Schaefer Anne feels kind of thin on its own.

A top

I broke out my sewing machine and made myself something to wear for the summer:




The pattern is the Anna Tunic by Amy Butler, size Medium. It was very well-written and not too tricky technique-wise to make. It was exactly what I wanted since I hadn't done any sewing in a few years.

The fabric is some cotton I bought at the World's Worst JoAnn Fabrics. I'm not super in love with it, but I think it works well for this pattern. The lining is just some unbleached muslin I had lying around.

I found some cute vintage buttons on etsy for the back:



I'm happy that my half-assed method of modifying the pattern actually worked. I cut out the front and back pieces, pinned them together, and put them on to see where the waistline fell on my body. It was about 2" below my actual waist (you know, 'cause I'm short), so I cut the pattern at the waistline, brought the waist up so that it was where I wanted it to be, and taped the pattern back together. The rest I left as is.

I took me two Saturdays and a few short sessions during the week to make this. Much faster than knitting!

Well-traveled yarn

I just realized that the yarn I used to make these socks has been across the USA five times. I bought it at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival in May of last year and brought it back to San Francisco. Then it came with me to Brooklyn this April when I was visiting Betsy. And finally it was my knitting project on my trip last week to Maryland and Pennsylvania to see friends and family. Travel broadens the mind and makes a great pair of socks:








Pattern: Marlene by Cookie A., from knit.1 magazine
Yarn: Brooklyn Handspun Soft Spun Plus, colorway Smooth Sailing
Needles: size 2 bamboo dpns

Another great Cookie A pattern. Lots of fun and easy to knit, even when you're stuck on a plane for 5 1/2 hours and the person in front of you has just spilled their water all over your carry-on bag.

Modifications? Why, yes. I only did 6 repeats for the ankle. 26 rows for the heel flap were all I needed. And I kept the ribbing on the toes, which is what the photo in knit.1 shows, but the written instructions are for a stockinette toe. Oh, and I cast on with 2 needles held together so that the top would be nice and stretchy.

fini finito finished

After I won the battle of the sleeves, ma Pluie Pullover turned out pretty well:



Pattern: Pluie Pullover by Teva Durham from Knitscene Winter/Spring 2009, mostly followed the directions for the 38 1/2" bust size
Yarn: Rowan Cotton Tape in Electric, approx 7 50g balls
Needles: size 15 Knitpicks Options wood 40" circ, size 17 to bind off

The yarn was resurrected from a sweater that I knit a couple years ago and never wore. I learned from that fail that Cotton Tape stretches out really fast. I think this pullover can handle it, though.

Other than my yarn substitution, my biggest change was in the sleeves, worked out through a great deal of trial and error and quite a few episodes of the original Star Trek series. . . To start each sleeve, I ended up picking up and knitting 12 stitches for the underarm instead of 6. Then, I did not do any increases and just knit until I got to the length I wanted. I only made three eyelets per sleeve and ended with 4 rounds in stockinette.

no longer in progress

I haven't attempted blocking this yet (I don't usually block hats), so other than that, this hat is done:


To block or not to block. . .

Pattern: Relm by b r o o k l y n t w e e d, from Knit.1 magazine, Fall/Winter 2008
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Squirrel Heather
Needles: size 5 circ and dpns for main part, size 4 for ribbing

I wanted an understated hat for a change. I wasn't planning to use this yarn for the hat, but then it clicked. The yarn is really soft though I found it a bit splitty. The pattern is fun to knit. It has a nice rhythm.

If you're planning on knitting this hat, check the errata page so that when you start decreasing, everything turns out pretty.

"A stitch to wear"

Finished up my rpm socks this morning. In an homage to Aija Goto's image from Knitty. . .



. . .pictured with my Smiths 12" singles that I've had since high school.


Pattern: rpm from Knitty
Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight, color Carbon
Needles: size 1 40" circular, magically-looped
Modifications: I followed the directions for the large size but used smaller needles and a finer yarn. I made short-row heels using my usual method rather than following the pattern's directions.


I went with grafted rather than round toes, which apparently smell interesting




These turned out pretty great!

You know that spring is on its way. . .

. . .when the squid return to the trees:



Li'l Squid ended up as a cyclops, inspired by the squid in the movie Coraline. The yarn is bits and pieces of Noro Kureyon color 92. Like my other tentacled creations I didn't follow a pattern, I just started knitting until I had what I liked.

The funny thing is that the yarn used to be in the form of a hat, and it's been on three of the world's continents. I wore it when I visited Japan, Scotland, and Italy a few years ago. I decided I didn't really like the hat very much, so I unraveled it. That's one of the great things about knitting.

I went to Stitches West and only bought one thing

A skein of Dream in Color Classy, to make these mitts for my kick-ass supervisor, who is leaving my department:



Pattern: Evangeline via free Ravelry download
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy, color Gray Tabby
Needles: size 6 bamboo dpns

These were fast and fun to make. I love the yarn! (Stay classy, Dream in Color!) I still have enough left to make a hat, probably.