FOs of July (and before)

I have some more photos of finished projects from July and also a couple from way before!

mokoshi in linen & wool

Wow. Linen and wool act really weirdly when together. After blocking, mokoshi seemed to shrink down a bit down to my size, despite the fact that it looked about half a size to a full size too large while I was knitting it! It's probably because the linen just hangs so well - fixing the problem of the super flouncy flounces, too - that the extra fabric ends up hanging down instead of poofing out. Also, I'm not sure which yarn it is since both of them are yellow (and thank goodness for that, too!), but the yellow turned a murky yellow just minutes after putting the entire thing into a basin with water. I did this three times thinking it might just be excess dye before deciding to try adding some citric acid to the (hot) water before adding the garment and letting it soak for about half an hour or so, and all came out well! Not a trace of colour came out of the yarn after that. I wore it out for an entire day, and I noticed when I came home that the armhole had sagged a bit - probably because of the linen content - but not enough that it looked weird. Next time I work with linen, though, I'll keep that in mind. All in all, lovely pattern - well written, well thought-out - and I enjoyed working with both yarns! The Colourmart soft wool had this oddly sweet smell to it that I especially liked while knitting the body, although I'm pretty certain it's the oil that's used to make the yarn keep to itself on the cone. (The smell more or less went away after blocking. After another wash, it'll probably be completely gone.)

Summer Bralette - a free pattern!

 Here's the Summer Bralette, not modeled! You'll just have to take my word for it that it fits well, although I had to make a mod to the garter stitch band length, as I mentioned before. It's also super warm, which makes me wonder whether it's actually supposed to be a summer bralette at all. I realize my yarn is different, but I'm pretty sure the original is a llama & silk blend, so it can't be much cooler. Although I suppose the silk content could really make a difference depending on the percentages.

Mods: provisional CO, 4 rows garter stitch instead of 16cm on both sides

Here's the provisional CO from the back, as well as the shortened back bands. If I were to make it again, which I actually might since it's super comfy, I would probably alter the rate of increases so that I actually get a back band and the bralette cups don't stretch all the way around. It's a great stashbuster though, so if you have about 175 yards of fingering/sport weight yarn left over, I would give this a try!

Easy to knit, repetitive lace pattern

 I've finally got some photos of the Hitofude Cardigan I finished a while ago! Next time, I'd make an extra repeat of the sleeves part, since I feel as though I would get an even better fit if the ribbing section were a bit lower down (it curls up almost like a raglan at the front, as you can see in the below photo). That being said, the current size is a pretty perfect fit, so it's more of an aesthetic thing.

Feathery lace fans out

I might have mentioned this before, but Hitofude only has 2 ends to weave in after you're done, as long as you didn't have to attach a new ball of yarn. 2 ends! If that doesn't convince you to go get yourself a copy of the pattern and knit it up immediately, it only took me 10 days to finish knitting it (and I'm pretty sure I was working on other projects as well during that time, so if you're a monogamous knitter, it might take you a week or less!), and the pattern itself, well written and easy to follow, is only... about $2.62 CAD, and if you're in the U.S., it will cost you less, surely! Anyway, I'd love to knit another of these beauties up. Another thing I'd like to do is to work with this yarn again - Julie Asselin's Merletto is extremely soft and silky, and although I had some trouble with splitting the yarn a number of times, once I got the hang of it, it was easy to work with and gave me very little trouble. It's also a bit of a plus that it's a Canadian yarn.

The below are just some re-shoots of a couple of things, namely my linen cardigan from my exhibition last year. I finally have finished photos of myself modeling it. The other one is also from the exhibition: the scarf everyone that participated helped to weave!

Twills upon twills upon twills!

So first we have a clearer picture of the scarf and all the colours and different patterns of twill that went into it! I treasure this scarf very much and, after a bit of thinking about what to do with it since the warp was pretty much done after the exhibition, decided to weave it into my everyday life and wear it as a scarf. That way I get to remind myself of how well everything went then, and to motivate myself to create more opportunities for others to learn to weave! Along the same lines, I'm also going to be hosting an Introduction to Bookbinding workshop at TPL during the Culture Days weekend on Saturday October 1 between 2-4pm at the McGregor Park branch of TPL. I know it's a ways away, but I'm super excited about it, so I'm giving out some advance notice!

A better shot of the line'n'cardigan (over the line)

The line'n'cardi (over the line) was knit all in one piece from the back over the shoulder line to the front, then the sides seamed, before picking up and knitting the sleeves. The neckline/edging was picked up and knit afterwards. I made it A-line in shape, which might have been unnecessary given how much extra fabric the body already has, but that just makes for more twirling opportunities!

Obligatory twirl shot