FO: Some catchup in the waning afternoon light

Hello again!   Here I am, I'm back in London.  I have a lot to talk about, and sometimes I have a hard time organizing my thoughts, so forgive me if I'm all over the place in the coming weeks.  Life has not been boring, and I foresee it not being dullsvile any time soon.

So, I made a bunch of stuff.  I thought I should post about it, if only to make me feel better about sending them into the ether.

First up was a crazy impulse knit.  I saw a sample knitted up at John Lewis, saw the yarn deeply discounted in a bin next to the sample, and a few days later I had created this:

It's called the Rhea top, and it's too big!  Yargh.  Bulky yarn (Rowan All Seasons Chunky, a cotton/poly blend) and an open-work pattern meant it was really hard to get gauge and guess how much ease I needed.  In the end, it was way too much.  I'm going to frog this back and re-knit it in a smaller size on smaller needles because I think that this could very easily become an oft-worn summer favorite if it fits right.  It's kind of 80's in the styling, and the cable drop stitches and texture, and I just want to wear this while walking the boardwalk.  I will try again.  

See that?  That's the Scottish Highlands right there, and we made it out the other side alive.  Also, a Windschief hat.

Stephen West makes such great unfussy patterns.  He's been my go-to for hat patterns lately- I tend to make a stockpile of them with no one particularly in mind, and then give them lavishly once the right people appear.  This one is a simple slip-stitch pattern that gracefully arcs around a series of decreases and pared increases, giving it an interesting asymmetrical swirl.

I used a skein of Madeline Tosh dk in "Granite".  It's luxuriously soft merino, and although Tosh is known for doing bright, beautiful colors better than anyone, I loved the tones in the greys on this.  It's superwash, so it's been a good hiking hat, with no fading or color bleeding after multiple washes.  


I spent the summer plugging away on this:

It's the Lace Saddle Tee, heavily modified.  The original pattern just had lace on the sleeves, but I went whole-hog and echoed the lace pattern up the side seams.

I love the way it looks, but again: it's too big!  It fits kind of weird- the front looks okay, but there is all this extra fabric in the back.  I really don't even know how to correct that in the knitting process.  It fits my hips and waist just fine, and I did have some shaping thrown in, but somehow I created too much fabric in the back.

I'm still wearing it though.  I used some very precious Rowan Calmer- a cotton/poly blend that behaves more like wool than unyielding cotton, and this continues to be my favorite non-wool yarn to work with.  The sunshiny lemony yellow makes me happy.

This was also my first attempt at saddle shoulders, which were fun to make but hard to explain.  It took a few tries to get it right, but I like the way they fit.

Finally, this.  I made Groot.

I'm not a fan of the huge amount of comic-book movies that come out every summer.  I didn't grow up on comics.  I spent the first half of the "Avengers" movie not knowing that Bruce Banner was the Hulk, and was probably the only one surprised when Bruce got angry and made the transformation.  Pop culture princess I am not.  

However, I did get dragged into Guardians of the Galaxy this summer, and despite being very confused about back story and bad guys, it was a fun show.  There was a tree named Groot who ended up being the hero of the day, and he dances to the Jackson 5 (as we all should), and when I saw someone had written a pattern to make your very own Groot, I nerded out and got to work.  Finally, a use for that super scratchy yarn from Greenland that I bought in Copenhagen that no one would ever be able to touch without cringing and possibly crying from the pain of it all.  He worked up quite fast, and I had to buy safety eyes and pipe cleaners, and then re purposed a pot  from Ikea that had some rosemary in it that didn't quite make it through multiple periods of neglect.  I had opened up a throw pillow and used some of the stuffing in that instead of buying a bag of polyfill, and then sewed the pillow back up and no one is the wiser that it's missing a bit of umph.  Finally, when it came time to plant him, his giant head flopped over drunkenly.  So I went into the kitchen and got a metal BBQ skewer, put the knob end well down into the gravel, and then heartlessly impaled my creation.  He now stands quite upright.  That smile is fixed.  He's dying on the inside.

Want to make one?  You should, because I'm not going to make another one even though I've gotten dozens of "I want one!" requests.  It's easy; I barely know how to crochet and it only took a few hours.  Here's the instructions on Twinkle Chan's blog.

I've made a few more things, but haven't photographed them yet.  Soon.  I think.

But, cheers to all that.  I find that I miss sitting down to write, and I'm working on getting some post about our hikes and travels up soon enough.  After a cold and dreary August, September was fantastic weather and I took advantage fully.

FO: Briar Rose Pullover

While it doesn't get cold in Paris like it does in Maine or even New York, it's nice to have a few really heavy-duty warm sweaters to keep you toasty on the rare day where the temps do dip below freezing.

I reached for a bag of Lousia Harding yarn called Thistle. It's a Suri Alpaca and Merino blend. I took to heart how Pariseins love to wear all black with a bright pop of color and I choose a rather stunning shade of sunshine yellow.

I cast on for the Briar Rose Tunic, a cover girl from Interweave Knits:

I made a couple modifications as I went. I took a full 8 inches off the body, but still ended up with what one might call a rather immodest dress. I decided to put my decreases in the ribbing section on the side instead of in front of it to give it more of an hourglass illusion. Finally, I reversed-engineered the sleeves so I could knit them from the sleeve cap down, and just stop when I run out of yarn. It worked out brilliantly, and I ended up with a long-sleeved sweater with just a couple of yards of yarn left over.

It's so warm and cozy. Once blocked and worn, this yarn blooms and sheds like crazy though, so this is a decidedly outdoor sweater.

I am hoping the shedding stops or slows up eventually. Everything else I wear with it ends up looking like a giant yellow cat has used it as bedding.

I love wearing it though and have done so several times already. It was fantastically easy to make and the cabled yoke detailing makes the pattern.

FO: Wee Shadow Tuque

...In which I turn my gauge mistake into baby garments, aka generous gifts for the baby rabies crowd.



It's the Shadow Tuque hat from Interweave Knits. I was going to make it as a gift for a friend who is also a big fan of UPS colors, but right away realized that she would have to go to Papua New Guinea for a bit in order to get her head to the point where she could squeeze into it comfortably. Instead of frogging the 20 minutes worth of work I had on it, I changed my game plan and decided that now a friend with a bun in the oven would like a UPS man for a child. And so it is written.



I made a pom-pom with the leftover yarn, which required an online tutorial. Hello Knitty had a great one- it's simple to do, but not having had to make a pom since I dressed as a mime for halo-ween in grade school meant I needed a refresher course. (About that mime costume...if clowns are scary to you, try being on the other side of the face paint. Terrifying.)

The yarn is a single skein of Rowan Drift, which is a loosely spun bulky merino single. At a looser gauge, I would have used up most of the ball, but on size 9 needles (and a miniature cranium) this wasn't a problem. Hence the pom to finish things off. The pattern is from Interweave Knits Fall 2001. It is a simple off-set cable that looks very much like the bark of a ceder tree, especially when knit in UPS brown.

Some Works in Progress

Two weeks in to 2012 and I've not cast on for a pair of socks. This means, despite having limited knitting time, I've gotten some real progress done on sweaters. Multiple sweaters.

First up is the Pas de Valse from Twist Collective.

It calls for fingering weight yarn but it works up pretty quickly at a loose gauge. I'm using Sanguine Gryphon Bugga in the Adonis Butterfly colorway. I can't wait for this sweater to be done and it's not because I'm sick of knitting it- I just love the way it drapes and I can't wait to wear it. It's almost like putting something on layaway. I keep plugging away at it, and one day it will be mine, all mine!



Because it is hand-dyed yarn and there are variations that can't be helped, I'm alternating every couple rows with another skein. That way, when I change skeins there won't be an obvious color change striping its way across my sweater.

Next up is a manly man sweater. It's the Lattice Sweater from Interweave Knits.

These are the sleeves and they only have a few more inches to go. You can't tell from the sample photo, but the sleeves have a line of rib in the center. The whole sweater is kind of boring to knit, but comforting on the commute. It seems really exciting at this point to do that cable detail around the collar. That's going to be like Christmas and my Birthday all wrapped into one when I finally get there. I am on the road for a business trip next week (that I'm seriously dreading) and I'm going to work on the body then. Flights and late nights mean that there is a chance I'll get a great deal of this knocked out without much effort. I'm using Cascade 220 Heathers in the color "Sparrow". We can't really make a man's sweater in an exciting flashy color now, can we? I'd rather it be brown or gray or a combination of the two and have the sweater get a lot of use. Maybe it can be dark green or navy if we're feeling particularly adventurous.

I actually finished this sweater a couple days ago but I haven't had a chance to get pictures yet. So here is what it looked like a couple weeks ago:



It's the Leyfi pullover by Romi Hill. It's a top-down seamless sweater with a great lace collar and a pretty leafy lace pattern that continues down the sleeves. I'll have more on it later, but I love it and it fits and it's flattering. The yarn is Cascade Eco, which knit up in no time at all once I got over the intricate lace.

An Amazon giftcard from a co-worker went to good use:

Squeeee! My quest to find comfy pumps that don't look frump resulted in these cute Mary Janes from John Fluevog. They have a nice round toe and a sturdy heel, so I've had no complaints at all. I walk quite a bit during my day- not only am I on my feet a great deal at work (well, not a waitress amount, but quite a bit) and then I'll usually have to qualms about walking a mile or so after work to run errands or avoid taking the subway at rush hour. I don't like to carry an extra pair of shoes around, so I'd rather just get something I can walk all day in without crippling myself.

I'll be out of commission for a bit as I go rah rah rah for corporate life and put on my serious face and powerpoint present my ass off. Let us all hope that it does not permanently steal my soul.

FO: Bamboo Frock Camisole

My A-Z stashdown continues as I plunder my stash for any non-wool yarn that I might be okay with wearing in summer.



I had 8 skeins of Bamboo Tape yarn in my stash. Like so many yarns from Rowan, it's been discontinued, but a almost exact replica will certainly appear with a catchy name like "Tapey Bamboo" or something.

I chose a pattern- after my previous lace project, I wanted something super simple- I wanted to be able to go into a movie theater on an overly warm day, catch a film and come out of the place with most of a garment done. The ribbon yarn did a little twist and coil trick, but otherwise I was as happy as I could be with it (considering it didn't come from a sheep). You just have to pick the right project for the yarn in order to love it.



The yarn basically has no shape- it just becomes this drapey mass. It would be impossible to do lace in this yarn. Just let it hang out and drape. If you fight it, it will win. Let it move like a jellyfish.





I used 7 skeins in the color "Tissue" for the Medium size. It's so pretty and purpley. The whole thing took less than 570 yards. I used size US6 needles.



The pattern is called Frock Camisole by Katie Himmelberg. It's from the Spring 2010 Interweave Knits, but they also have the pattern for free up on their website. It's a really simple piece- really, if you get gauge you can whip this up with no issues while you are taking a nap. It has a line of purl stitches running up the front and back to give it a neat seam. There's a tiny bit of shaping, you work the fronts and backs of the yoke separately and knit up the straps in reverse stockinette. The only real finishing involves tacking and sewing the straps to the front, and you're done.

I love it- it's wearable and comfortable. The fabric is dense enough so I can wear this without a security shirt underneath, lest my bra show through. It's a bit heavy but I'm really in love with it. As far as cute summery tops go, it's pretty much instant gratification.

I like it a lot better than my other Bamboo top, the Lotus Blossom, from a couple of years ago. This one is much more flattering.

FO- Placed Cable Aran

About a month ago, I had the brilliant foresight to cast on for a warm, comfy sweater. I'm now wallowing in self-congratulatory glee.

I'm still working through my stash alphabetically, so I grabbed some Cascade 220 from the bin. It's the workhorse yarn of the craft world. It's not super-soft, but it's durable and has good stitch definition, and comes in oodles of colors. You can use it on just about anything that requires a worsted-weight yarn. Plus, it's affordable- You can find it for around $7, and if you hunt for a sale you might pay $4. I used 5 skeins for my sweater total, so you can feasibly create a sweater for the price of a single Andrew Jackson.



This is the Lapis Blue Heather color. It's not quite navy, with quite a bit of purple and greens worked in. It give the garment an interesting tonal effect without being too loud or clown barfy.

I was looking for a big, comfy sweater pattern and, with some modifications, settled on the Placed Cable Aran from the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits. I didn't care for the funnel neck (nothing with the word "funnel" in it is remotely sexy) and I thought it distracted from the lovely cables on the front and back.



I found the yarn a tad splitty, and it did bleed quite a bit when I soaked it. Otherwise, I'm happy with it. I feel a bit of a prickle when it's right up to my skin, but its not so bad that I find it unbearable. I always wear a cami or a thin tee under sweaters anyway, so it's only really noticeable around my neck and wrist. I know that bothers a lot of people, but I'm fairly tolerant of slightly scratchy wool.



I didn't like the rolled hem at the bottom edge, so I added an inch of 4x4 rib to keep it from rolling up.



This sweater has basically no shaping and no sleeve caps- they are drop shoulders. It's just a big, roomy comfy warm. Really, it's just what a bitterly cold and blustery February ordered.



Instead of making a giant funnel neck, i picked up stitches and made about an inch of a roll-neck. It lets the cable design pop a bit more.

I'm hoping to squeeze in one more big winter sweater project before the weather turns warm, and then silks and cottons and linen will be on the brain. Last week was fashion week in New York and you see a whole lot of people dressed skimpily and suffering in the cold for the sake of pleasing the fashion gods. I'm not quite that bold and I'm still buried under layers and layers of woolies for the time being.

The specs:

This is part of my A-Z Stashdown Challenge- C is for Cascade (I still have some B is for Berocco Ultra Silk in my stash, but that is my first springtime sweater knit project). I used 5 skeins of Cascade 220 Heathers in Lapis Blue- about 1100 yards- and US size 7 needles. It's completely mindless, movie-theater knitting until you get to the yoke, and then it's almost completely mindless knitting-group knitting from there.

Simply Marylin

I'm back! I have lots of catching up to do, but I wanted to show off a FO. I finished this before I left. It's the Simply Marylin sweater from Interweave Knits from waaay back in Spring 2004.



I've been wanting to make it for a while- it's a great casual pullover. Very wearable. I used 9 skeins of RYC Soft Tweed yarn, which is a bulky weight felted single. I dyed it in natural dyes since I got it deeply discounted ($1.50 a skein!) but in a pukey peach color.



I decided to knit myself the small size. It's meant to be big and sack-like, and that's cute on the model, who is practically swimming in the sweater. Not so cute when you have curves that will actually fill out the sweater.

I made a few big modifications. I knit this in the round to the pits since the seems add bulk. Because of that, I cast on 4 fewer stitches to make up for the selvage stitches. The pattern calls for there to be a cable running up the back as well...I decided to take that detail out. It just seemed odd to have a cable there. I added more waist shaping decreases.

The neck in the original is a huge cowl. I didn't need that extra bulk and most of the FO that people had looked awkward, so I changed the neck and shoulder shaping and I made a square-ish neckline and then picked up stitches and did a few rows of ribbing instead. I like it like this much better.

In the end, I went back and picked up some stitches along the bottom and added a few rows of ribbing. I didn't want to have to be tugging at the hem.

I'm very happy with this sweater! In the pictures, I was about to go out for a hike so I'm wearing a rather confining jiggle-free sports bra, so I'm usually a bit bustier and fill out the sweater better.