Satinel Test

Beautiful rib pattern for the body!

This is the first time I've knit any of Asja Janeczek's patterns, and it probably won't be the last (Ziggyzack, Wild Grass, Whiskey on the Rocks, I'm looking at you) - I had a great time throughout with the attention to detail and interesting construction. Yes, it's a top-down raglan, and perhaps that seems pretty run of the mill, but it's made in a way that accounts for small details such as the way the short rows don't introduce asymmetry in the garment (even though I usually just leave it with one side having one more row than the other in my own designs - shame on me!) as well as the very narrow front which allows for the generous neckband. It's definitely something I would never have been able to think up on my own, and that's one of my favourite aspects to following other designers' patterns!

Stockinette brioche

The only big mod I made to the original design (with permission) was to crop the cardigan so it hit my hip rather than my thigh. Of course, the sleeves were shortened as well to match the body so the proportions would work out. The only other thing was that because I don't own 3.75mm needles, having never had to use them before, I ended up using 3.5mm for all the brioche parts. It was my first time knitting stockinette brioche, and I really love the way the knit side looks! I could probably use that as the main fabric for an entire sweater, myself. The purl brioche I'm not sure how I feel about on its own, but the cuffs match the neckband, and I do like how it looks on the neckband. That's one of the details I was surprised by when I actually got to it, because the main photo for the original design was worn WS out, showing what looked to be a rib cuff (pretty normal).

Worn wrong-side out, the rib pattern is more prominent

What really sold me though, was the rib pattern. at first I thought it might be a cable, since I've never really worked with rib patterns like this before, but I love how subtle it is from the right side! All the little details that went into designing this cardigan make it absolutely perfect for every season - I originally wanted to make it using a silver dk-weight silk/linen mix, but couldn't get gauge - and the knitting goes by very quickly with the easily memorized rib pattern that keeps things interesting as you go.

Thank you Asja for the opportunity to testknit this pattern!

The Too Little Lilla My

Lilla My sweater/shirt for the brother

So... this was what it was meant to be, for my brother (above).

Lilla My on the front

This is how it came out (above).

Now, my brother's about one full size larger than I am as far as clothing goes. So suffice it to say it doesn't fit him. The good news is that it came out pretty true to the illustration, at least! The slightly relaxed fit, the drop shoulder, the Lilla My... the size just came out completely wrong. About a full size wrong. What went wrong? I can only guess at a few possibilities.

1. I had two gauge swatches: the first was not quite tall enough, but used the chart, and the second was the bottom half of the shirt after I had ripped out the colourwork because my row gauge was wrong and I had to reknit it. I should have made two swatches: one with the chart, and one plain stockinette. Then I could probably have made more accurate calculations regarding how to make up for the difference. Measuring again using this finished shirt, here is the stitch gauge: 25 sts (stockinette) and 28 sts (over chart) = 4". That's a pretty big difference.
2. I put too much faith in the magic of blocking. It seemed to stretch out somewhat and relax into a good shape after the first block, so I didn't have my brother try it on or compare it against the tee he gave me as reference after that.
3. I tried it on in the last few stages and saw that it fit me, and assumed my brother being only one size larger should be ok with that too (and besides, it would stretch back out a bit after blocking, right?)

Weeeell... what can you do right?

I'm actually pretty miffed about the whole thing because this would have been the first thing I knit specially for my brother, but well... what can you do? I'm not about to rip the entire thing out (who knows if I'd ever finish it again after frogging the entire sweater?) and the sizing issue's a bit too much for me to just adjust it little by little, so. The shirt will have to be for me and/or my mom, since it fits us pretty well. And just in time, too! It's getting a bit chilly, but not outright cold just yet, so we'll be able to make good use of it, I'm sure.

And besides, this is sweater/shirt #2 completed for the Very Shannon Summer Sweater Knit Along 2017! Considering my progress in 2014, this is amazing.

Welp!

At least I've learned a few things from this project (in addition to getting a nice new shirt, though it's not really my style):

• Make proper gauge swatches! Especially if I'm going to be doing colourwork, because now I know that my tension goes horribly awry when I do that.
• Use smaller needles for the inside of the folded hems: I had to reknit the sleeve hems because (as you can see in the photos above) the folded hems are kind of popping out a bit. That's because I knit them using the same size needles. I went down to 2.5mm needles afterwards for the inside bit.
• The sweater curse runs true, even if it's only for your brother! (For further proof, see the unfinished Sherwood sweater, which I'm pretty sure is actually also too narrow for him.)

5-Year Old Sheep

I suppose the sheep are closer to 3 years old since I reknit them all in 2014?

I think I can call it a year now. This sheep sweater-turned-vest-turned-sweater has finally - finally - been finished! It's come a long way, and I just discovered the progress updates information on the ravelry project page, so I have a bit of a better idea when I did what... kind of:

• April 2012: CO and work on it sporadically until sometime in May
• 21 months pass
• March 2014: join in SSKAL14 in an attempt to motivate myself to work on it again - it didn't work.
• I ripped this out all the way until the ribbing, re-knit the sheep and basically got myself back to where I was before picking it back up again, I think?
• 4 months pass
• September 2014: unfortunately I didn't write any notes down as to what I did to it during this time, but I remember just knitting it straight up to the armholes and starting the armhole shaping
• I also started to knit a sleeve, because my original plan was to knit it all in one piece, connecting the sleeves and knitting the armhole shaping all at once.
• The sleeve was frogged for several reasons: it was way too roomy because of the sudden increases right after the ribbed cuff (part of original pattern that I ended up changing), but also because I was rethinking how I wanted to knit the sweater
• I think I also decided to make it into a vest around this time, so that probably gave me a good reason to just rip out that entire sleeve.
• 33 months pass - 33!
• July 2017: pick it back up again, just in time for the SSKAL17!
• Had to re-knit the ribbed neckline once because I just winged it and it was a bit of a tight fit.
• August 2017: finally done!

It's been a long time coming.

Longer armholes next time, maybe?

To tell the truth, I probably wouldn't be casting this on if I saw the pattern today. It might make it into my favourites, but I don't think I'd even have added it to my queue: I just wouldn't be able to see myself wearing it. So thank goodness I cast on before I started actually thinking about the practicality of casting something on! It's a pretty basic sweater, and I know the sheep aren't all that sheep-like, but it's cute, it's comfy, and I think it'll probably see some use once fall and winter roll around. It's actually the first stranded sweater I've ever knit, and what's even more amazing is that knowing that there was colourwork all throughout the entire thing didn't faze me a bit - me, who had yet to do any stranded knitting before; who didn't get gauge so had to recalculate the pattern (though this has never really fazed me so much as irritated me because it was extra work - though satisfying once everything came out just as it was supposed to!); and me, who didn't understand what magic blocking could generate (as evidenced by the pink sage). Though I'm pretty sure everything to do with knitting can't be that difficult, really, and that it's mostly a matter of practice and going for it, which has been my attitude since I started. And which is why I ended up knitting wight in a completely different gauge, and did the math to make a sage pretty early on. Knitting finally made me see the practical use of the math I had been learning all those years - truly, it did!

Loopy stitches possibility - neckline too wide to do this

Originally (by which I mean my Plan B after I decided I'd cut myself some slack and make it into a vest instead of a full-blown sweater), I was going to add a loop stitch funnel neck (as in the sketch above) to really bring out the sheep colourwork at the bottom hem, but the neckline ended up too wide and I really didn't want to rip it out and re-knit the neckline for both front & back again, so I ended up just doing a regular red ribbed collar. Because all the measurements for the finished garment were for a slightly drop-shoulder sweater, it ended up being too wide to change into a vest, so despite having ripped out an entire sleeve before some years ago, I went ahead and knit some sleeves to go with the body. Everything came full circle.

Impractical with shorts? Definitely!

This sweater has gone through so many revisions, starting as a sweater and then turning into a vest, then returning to the original sweater plan because the body was just too wide to be a vest; not to mention the frogging of everything except the ribbing at one point! It's been a solid 5 years since I cast on in April 2012 and I'm so glad it's done and out of my WIP pile! And now I've only got one more long outstanding WIP: the Sherwood sweater for my brother. I started that one in July of 2013, so I've got one full year more to just get on that before I break my record for this sheep vest. It will get done eventually, or so I tell my brother (who has  long since stopped asking about it). At least my completion of the sheep sweater should serve as proof of my word!

Yellow Holes

It's such a nice fit! And super comfortable, too!

Jutta von Hinterm Stein has designed a beautiful cardigan that can easily be dressed either up or down, the Holey Comfort, just in time for spring weather! Even better, I got to testknit this beauty for her! This is actually my first time knitting one of her designs, although I had been drooling over a couple of them over the years. See the Low Budget Pullover, Turnaround Diamonds, Louvre,  Slim Lines, Cross Pockets, and Hourglass, to name a few.

The entire cardigan looks so beautifully structured, but it's completely seamless!

Because it was my first time knitting one of her patterns, getting used to the way the instructions are written took a bit of time. Jutta is very clear in her instructions, but do make sure to read through everything in the section before starting so you know what's happening. In my haste to knit up this cardigan, I misread some sections and ended up having to rip back the equivalent of about one whole sleeve's worth of knitting! However, the pattern itself is very detailed, and Jutta takes care to introduce charts where they are relevant within the instructions instead of putting them all on another page at the end, which I quite enjoyed. There are also many little details that make the finished cardigan fit beautifully! I was worried at first because the armhole seemed so large (it stretched a couple of inches further down from my actual armpit than I would have expected it to when I tried it on), but just trust in Jutta and knit on!

Should I make another?

I made no changes to the pattern, but here are a couple of notes for anyone observant enough to notice and wonder why it's a bit different:

• My gauge was off, since I couldn't get the specified 25 sts x 34 rows despite several gauge swatches and yarns/needles combos. I had 27 sts by 38 rows, so I knit up a size (M) to get what I needed (S).
• The yarn was held double, so it took me about 1730 yards, which is much more than the specified estimated yardage for size M (1250 yards). I suspect this is due to my gauge difference, and would trust Jutta's yardage estimates over mine.
• Another note on the yarn: while it's lovely stuff, there's a ton of oil in it and it biases like nothing else I've ever knit with (except for maybe my own overspun yarn). I'm not sure if the milky yellow that washed out was the oil or the extra dye, or both, but it looked pretty disgusting, to be honest. Prewash the yarn in hot water with some citric acid if you can. Otherwise, go through a couple of hot soaks before blocking, with citric acid. I noticed the same thing happening to a slightly lesser degree in my mokoshi, so now I'm absolutely certain that it's caused by this yarn and not the Louet linen.
• I made a mistake in the right neckline by a couple of rows. It's not too noticeable, so I kept it (also because I was pretty behind in terms of the test deadline). It also did not affect my stitch count, so all's well.
• When I connected the sleeves in the round, I'm not sure what I did wrong, but I kept getting a hole in the armpit area, so I just left it and sewed it up afterwards. If this extra little bit of sewing will irk you, I would probably just knit the sleeves flat and then do a major seaming of both of those after blocking instead.

Whaddya mean my yarn biasing means the back increases aren't centred?

This was also a huge stashbust in that I've got less than one cone - specifically, 365 yards - of this yellow left! Hurrah! I mean, I love the colour and the yarn itself, but I don't actually need that much sunshine yellow in my wardrobe (or at least, I don't think I do?). The major biasing that I can't fix even when blocking is also a bit of a downer, so I'm pretty happy I'm using it up and getting lovely results out of it!

Testing Patience (Silvertweed)

Silvertweed test

Not the pattern; that was easy to follow, as always with Nadia's patterns, and quite satisfying for mindless knitting. I used Miss Babs Kilimanjaro in Impatient, a stunning purple that borders on black. I had been hoarding it since I purchased it sometime last year, I think, trying to find the perfect project to use it all up in one go, and here we are! Sadly, Kilimanjaro is discontinued, but its twin sister, Katahdin, is still going strong!

On the whole, I love the yarn and I want to work with it more! The colours are stunning and although it's not super soft, that's to be expected. I think it would actually be really good for socks, which I'm pretty sure is what it was made for. The only negative things I can say about this yarn are:

1. The dye ran when I soaked the sweater for blocking. A bit of citric acid fixed most of the issue though. (There was still a bit of purple in the water after soaking for half an hour or so, but I'm assuming that's just excess dye.)
2. Not really a negative so much as the nature of hand-dyed yarn: I didn't notice the striping happening until after I knit the entire thing, and while there isn't much I could've done about it anyway, and it doesn't really bother me that much, I might have alternated skeins if I had another skein.

I'm going to go ahead and assume these comments will apply for Katahdin as well, but I get issue #1 with other yarns too, especially with the madtosh when I soaked the bomber jacket. That was a disaster. Citric acid saved me both times, so I think it has something to do with the saturation of the colours for both these cases. As for the subtle striping, that's just hand-dyed yarn doing its thing. If I were really that bothered, I could either alternate skeins, or I wouldn't be working with hand-dyed at all.

First time knitting i-cord edging

The pattern is Silvertweed, by Nadia Crétin-Léchenne, which was released not too long ago. I was lucky enough to testknit this before the official release, and although it's not the sort of pattern I would normally have picked, I'm so glad I signed up for it! I would probably make the v-neck a little bit lower next time, but apart from that, I'm quite happy with the finished shirt. This was also the first time I've ever knit an i-cord edging for a collar (I did knit an integrated i-cord edge for this cowl, but that's different), so I ended up having to knit it twice: the first time around, the collar was way too loose, so the i-cord just flopped right over. You can actually still see that the back is a bit loose, but it's barely noticeable, and I can't see it once it's on (nor, do I suspect, can anyone else), so I'll live with it.

I never really get to wear jeans anymore

In fact, I could probably live in this sweater for a while. Winter's rolling in, and despite the lace sleeves, my Silvertweed is surprisingly warm. Maybe not surprising, given the 85% wool content, and I'm sure I'll feel the chill once the wind starts to blow through the lace, but I'm so ready for the winter months ahead now! Now just to start knitting some hats for me...

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

WIPs (A.K.A. Playing Catch Up: the June & July Edition)

It's been a while since I've done much knitting or the like, or so it feels, so I'm glad I finally have something to post. Let's start out with the good news: I'm knitting a lot out of my stash!

Warning: this is going to be pretty long.

Is there such a thing as too many flounces? I think I might be hitting that point.

Mokoshi is very well-written & easy to follow, so it's not the designer's fault mine turned out rather loose. I know the reason, at least: my gauge was way off, in addition to which my gauge swatch lied to me (it's actually surprising it fits at all and isn't two times as large as it is!), so even though I tried to compensate for it, I compensated incorrectly. Knowing what I do now, I would definitely make the smallest size next time, maybe even scaling it down one more size from there. That being said, I'm not sure whether it's supposed to be this loose or if it's because I chose the wrong size/used the wrong yarn & needle size combo (went down a needle size to accommodate the linen of the Louet Euroflax). I can live with the positive ease though.

See that middle back bit that's coming out where my hands are? That's all extra!

What I'm really not 100% sold on right now is the second flounce at the bottom. Am I pushing it a bit with this super voluminous detail? And should I compound what might be an egregious decision - keeping the second flounce - by following the pattern for the fluttery cap sleeves too? I'm overstating it a bit, because I actually like it a lot, and it's just that frills aren't too much in my wardrobe at all. So it's just a question of whether to remove the second layer or not, and whether to knit the flutter sleeves or make them long sleeves with one layer of light frill at the end, in the fashion of eritml.

Vestigial, in colourway Starry Night - pretty fitting, no?

Socks! For me! Finally! Using that Eden Cottage Yarns BFL Sock that I purchased in England a while back! I've knit a pair of socks before, but they didn't really fit well and they felt pretty half-baked, to tell the truth, so I've stayed away from them till now. But no more! Apart from the slightly tight cast-on for the first sock, these fit me so well I want to wear them all the time, never mind that it's summer right now with humidexes upward of 40C some days. Truth be told, the BFL isn't as soft as I'm used to with my socks, being a bit prickly and all. I'm not sure whether that's because of the heat or if it's the fiber though. What I am positive about is that I will much appreciate these once winter rolls around.

I knit Vestigial, which is a free pattern and coincidentally offers only one size. I also could not spot where the gauge was listed in the pattern itself - I might just be blind though - so thank goodness they fit! I'm pretty smitten with the finished socks, so I'd say it was worth blindly following the pattern this time.

No pictures of the finished Summer Bralette yet. There may never be.

I set about translating the Summer Bralette pattern from Swedish - thank you Google translate! - the day it came out, cast on the day after, and finished the day after that, only to realize it was waaaaaayyy too loose. Needless to say, I didn't do a gauge swatch in between any of those steps, and although there was a nagging suspicion that the size looked way too large, I figured I might as well finish it and see what to change the second time around. The first try came out with positive ease. Not what you want from this pattern! So I got rid of the 16cm of garter stitch at the beginning & end (reducing it to 4 rows each), changed to a provisional CO, cast on half the stitches for the straps (50sts instead of 100 - I tried 75sts the first time and it was still too much), then did a 3-needle BO to the provisionally CO sts.

I do want to make a note, in case anyone else is using Google translate. It actually does a pretty good job with translating the pattern, except for some misleading parts: where it says "purl", it actually means to "knit" (you want stockinette for the most part), and when it says to "have 16 stitches wormed"/"bind off 16 stitches", it actually means that 16 stitches have already been bound off, so don't bind off another 16!

Not very good depiction of the lace here either though.

I've also started on a vintage sweater pattern that has an allover lace pattern, which the photo depicting said sweater does not actually depict at all. You can vaguely make out there's lace, but you can't for the life of you tell what the lace pattern looks like. And now you do, though admittedly not much clearer. Knitting on 2.0mm needles for a 1x1 rib is a bit torturous though, and I'm not sure I would recommend it to anyone to follow the pattern blindly as I am, especially given the lack of clear gauge - by which I mean I have no idea what the finished garment size is supposed to be, though by my own gauge of 24 sts = 4" in pattern, the finished garment will have +14" ease on me. I'm kind of doing this in good fun to see where it'll take me, but I'd probably want to just recalculate everything and give myself maybe +6" ease total for this. On the upside, I am using the Spellbound Fiber laceweight merino that I got from an installment of Fiberista Club, so that's going to be knit completely from the stash. I might have to supplement it with colourblocked sleeves or maybe the lower 3/4 of the back can be yellow? We'll see how it goes.

Finally decided on what to knit with this Llama Lace!

I waffled a bit with choosing what to knit with this, from Rhaedr to Citron before finally settling on Divinity. I actually cast on for all three of these, and there's nothing wrong with any of the patterns, but it didn't really seem to match the yarn. The cables of Rhaedr looked like they'd be lost (besides which I messed up the cables pretty early on, so I simply didn't try a second time, knowing it wasn't going to be the pattern for this yarn). And while Citron is a tried & true, I wasn't sure the Americo Llama Lace was actually going to be soft enough for my neck, not to mention I noticed I was having some difficulties breathing easily while knitting with it. I'm assuming it's due to all the fibers coming loose from the yarn that I'm subsequently inhaling, but I didn't think putting that yarn anywhere near my face for long periods of time would be a good idea. So I searched high and low for a lacy clothing pattern that I could squeeze out of my 765 yards, and Divinity's been on my list for a while, so that was that.

The one on the right.

And I also knit myself a Hitofude cardigan, which has been in constant use since it came off my needles using the Julie Asselin Merletto (in Cove) I purchased during the Lettuce Knit closing sale. I still don't have any photos of the cardigan itself, which is almost ridiculous, but seeing as it's been on me more often than not, let's excuse the lack of actual photos. Very well written, and I love the construction! Only two ends to weave in, as long as you only used one skein: the CO and the BO.


Now the slightly more painful bits:

Nips & tucks, here and there, left and right.

This has been in this state for about a month or two now. I had grand plans to wear this to the Team Up reception - I didn't make it in time due to some issues with the sewing - and now I have no particular motivation to finish it apart from having it done and out of the way, now. I also cut off a couple of inches from the original pattern, but realized that the hem is way wider than I thought, and looks better wide, so I'm going to have to undo the hem and sew an extra piece on that turns in as the hem. The collar also didn't work out at all, so that plan flew out the window pretty quick, in addition to which the lack of shaping, combined with the cotton fabric I'm using, don't work well together, giving me what looks to be a baby bump. So I've had to add vertical bust & back darts to fix that problem. Maybe if I were using something super smooth or slinky it wouldn't be as much of an issue?

Seamwork Hayden shirt... still in pieces. Crinkled after months of sitting under itself.

... So this is supposed to be Hayden. I'm 98.2% sure (+/- 1.8%) that it's too small for me. It might be a perfect fit if I could ever get it over my head and shove my arms through, but I'd never get it off again. I cut out size 36, which measurements should fit me perfectly. The realization of which got me so down I still haven't sewn it together. In addition to which I belatedly searched up reviews of the pattern and noticed a couple of negative reviews mentioning size & fit issues, so it's probably, sadly, a bust. There's still only one way to find out though. But that would mean I'd have to actually sew it up and face reality to see what I can do to fix it - uhh... cut a larger size? - and that doesn't really appeal to me currently. Now I understand why my very capable friend, Haley, who learned how to knit in an incredibly short frame of time and delved right into lace & cables after some encouragement, felt like dropped stitches and other knitting mishaps like accidental increases or decreases were such big hurdles. I assured her they aren't, at all, so maybe I should just administer the same medicine to myself: suck it up and truck through!

On that same note, I searched up reviews on the Moji pants while I was at it, because those were what I really wanted to make, and found negative reviews concerning the lack of ease in those, too! Now, I can't actually razz on Seamwork patterns just yet since I haven't technically sewn anything from it, but I'm already getting bad vibes because of the reviews, so I've temporarily cancelled my subscription. It's probably for the best, considering how much - how little - sewing I actually do.

Primrose? More like butter!

I've been working on a project inside the confines of my mind that plays with recipe weight ratios and thinking about weaving my interpretation of several recipes up. The yarn is here. I finally got the right shade of yellow for the butter (the first round of yellow might do for Meyer lemons, but it's not butter as far as butter goes in Canada, from what I know). And I have absolutely no excuse to not have even calculated exactly how to warp this up. In fact, by my own timeline, I should have already finished a couple of scarves and started applying for exhibitions and marketplace stalls by this point! Alas.

It appears as though knitting is still my game, with sewing and weaving falling far far behind just now (and spinning having fallen off the radar altogether), which is quite unfortunate, but at least I'm knitting.

Chevron Cardigan, Finally.

It's been done for a while now! Long enough to stain a shirt!

Am I even still knitting? Is that a thing?

This took way too long. Even longer to get pictures done.

The button bands have been done for a while and were just waiting to be soaked and blocked to length, before being sewn onto the fronts (see more below), and the neckline (picked up and knitted up) took all of maybe an hour, and that was with 3 failed impromptu attempts. But I finally hunkered down and did the whole sewing of the button bands to the fronts in a day, as well as improvising the neckline because I had run out of buttons and couldn't just knit it straight up.

Perfect fit. Except the arms could have maybe 1-2" more ease.

It's a hot pink-verging-on-red cardigan/bomber jacket-cardigan thing, and I think it will fit very well into my wardrobe (or any wardrobe, really, because this colour would likely go with precisely nothing in particular). I love it. But there are a couple of things I already want to change:

1. WHY DOES THE PATTERN HAVE NO POCKETS? And why did I not think to add them along the way? I realized this little dilemma after I had sewn the body together & tried the thing on to make sure it fit the way I wanted it to - which it did - only to reach down... and find that there was nowhere to place my hands. I guess I'll have to awkwardly hold them beside my body now like a regular person and try not to fidget all day long. So here's my advice to you, if you're considering making this cardigan: add pockets. I would probably make slanted pockets, but that doesn't seem like such a great option right now because it would interfere with the chevron pattern, so maybe even just vertical slit pockets 1/4 of the way into the fronts from the side seams. As it stands, I might just steek pockets into the fronts.
2. For the button bands, I would definitely have just cast on those stitches at the bottom of the fronts & put those stitches on hold. There's really no advantage that I can see with sewing completely separate bands onto the fronts.
3. I might even go so far as to say don't bind off the button bands at the top, instead knitting across while simultaneously picking up the neckband stitches. That way you'll get a smooth transition into the neckband. As it was, I had cut the yarn, so I ended up picking up half the stitches of the button bands, every stitch at the front neck & back neck until the curve started, where I picked up 3/4 of the stitches. Also, along the back, where the shoulder seams are, I only picked up 2 stitches for the first & last 4 bind off stitches. Then 1x1 ribbing up approximately 12 rows, complete with BO 1 at front edges 6 rows before the end, BO 1 & dec. 1 at each front edge, then BO 3 sts, then the final row was just BO all sts. That gave me the curved top of the neckband.

Dark spot of shame: remember to remove your buttons before long soaks!

So in addition to stashbusting this madtosh dk (67g remain), I also stashbusted with the buttons! (Obvs. Just look at how I had to alternate.) I was waffling between these and wooden buttons, but because it turned out more of a cardigan than a coat/jacket, alternating between these two types won out. And as you can see, I clearly ran out and had to use another one that's gold/black and fit in well enough with these two other ones. I think it turned out pretty well!

And of course, my previous rant about this madtosh bleeding scenario. The black that bled out of the buttons seems like it's here to stay. And I'm still not sure whether I can wear this with anything light in colour. Or anything that is any other colour. Which is a pity, because this would look amazing with white.

Pointed Progress

A bunch of ends to weave in.

See what I did there? Pointed progress? Please don't hurt me.

There's been some progress on the Chevron Cardigan that I've been plugging away at. The body has been completed, with a couple of mods to the original pattern, and one sleeve is being churned out as we speak. So, because I don't really plan on making more mods beyond the neck & button band treatment (except for maybe a couple of steeks for pockets, but then again, maybe not), here are the mods I made so far & some other comments:

1. I made a crew-neck instead of the v-neck (or what I assume is a v-neck... it's kind of covered by the model's hair, unfortunately, so I can't quite make it out, but the instructions look like a v-ish-neck).
2. Instead of binding off in stair-like fashion for the shoulders, I made short-row slopes, put the live stitches on a holder, and connected it all when I knit across the back using 3-needle BO, then binding off the back neck stitches and knitting across to pick up all the short row yos, before coming around again to do a 3-needle BO for the other shoulder. Much handier than doing more of that sewing stuff.
3. That being said, I still knit this in pieces. I wanted the structure side seams would offer me.
4. Because I went down a needle size (3.5mm & 2.75mm), I'm making the second size (M).
5. I made the shorter version, and even measured the pieces to be around 14" while stretching it out, since I knew it would grow (this tosh dk stuff is lovely, but it has a tendency to do that without remorse), but it has since grown without any regard for my regards for its nature, to about 15~16" long.

Knitting the first sleeve.

As you can see, the ribbing at the bottom of the cardigan/jacket pulls in quite a lot - which is exactly what I wanted, so that I can get the bubbled look in the first photo (I was pulling the fronts in, to simulate actually having buttonbands holding it all together). The crew neck modification looks great right now, and the shoulders are a good fit. One sleeve has passed the point of increases (oddly only about halfway up the arm or so?) and is on a straight path to completion. Also, that white dress? It's my own from this exhibition. Perfect fit. As it should. I wouldn't mind me another one in black.

I'm pretty excited to wear this when it's all done! My first garishly pink clothing item! (Or not. I mean, one could argue this is also garishly pink. They would lose the argument hands down, but they could still theoretically try. Not to mention a hand-me-down dress I chose to keep, which is an undeniably bright pink.) And once I'm done, I can start something that isn't in the colour range of red-pink-pink/orange/blinding! Nevermind that the pink slip hasn't even been cast on yet. Also nevermind that my burnt brioche has not seen one stitch of progress for a while now. Or that I haven't really gotten too far into my scarlet billows dress either. And don't even get me started on those two forever-unfinished objects. I just saw this nice and simple cowl on ravelry yesterday (free!) and I want to cast on already! I'm thinking of using up the rest of my Malabrigo Mecha in Mostaza (the one I used for the bulky Change of Heart). This is looking to be a productive year already (if I get things finished, mind you)!

Timber!

Fully recommend wholesome addition of pockets. Grandpa style.

So I finally seamed up that Timberline I was working on (and that I finished knitting Christmas eve)! And I wore it for a good couple of hours at home after I finished seaming everything and tried it on, before realizing I still hadn't woven in the ends! Probably the cosiest sweater/cardigan I have made to date. Sadly, it is a bit too big for me. Not woefully, but somewhat noticeably. It would have done me good to skip those purl panels at the sides (though maybe not the sleeves, so I would still be able to layer stuff under it). The sleeves are also a touch too long, but that's fine, since that means they're at that comfy length where I can grab at them at will without dragging them down with my other hand. That being said, I can layer a bunch under this! And it's incredibly warm. Did I mention it's soft? And that even the camera isn't picking up those dye lot differences anymore? Don't ask me why the camera has accepted it, but I can still spot them with my naked eye. That might just be me though.

Nice buttonholes! Easy to find & feel sturdy.

The pattern is written up beautifully (as expected of a BT pattern), and walks you through every step you need to be walked through. The charts are repetitive and simple to follow, so after making the two sleeves, I was more or less on my way to not needing them anymore past the setup chart. One thing I would like to point out, though, with respect to charts: notice how, at the v-neck, the small cables disappear at different points? It's not a glaring difference, but it's there. So if you're super-nitpicky, you might want to reverse the cable pattern on one side (and for continuity's sake, probably mirror that for the back cables) so that you start with the right cable instead of the left cable cross. Or vice versa. I don't remember which you do first. The large cables are fine. They don't bother me at all. But all the large cables point in the same direction, so if that bothers you, keep that in mind.

There's also the fact that this design has a conspicuous lack of pockets. I would fully recommend you make them! My hands keep reaching for them and they're nowhere to be found. I had considered making them, but the idea of the BO at the pocket hole being glaringly obvious because of the cables deterred me. Don't let that deter you! Figure out a way! Maybe change it to ribbing for an inch or two. You're welcome.

This was my first time making these buttonholes, and I really like how they feel like they're going to hold up! They're sturdy and easy to find, and I don't have to pry open the hole to know where the button's supposed to go (or am I prying open the stitch? None of that confusion). These lovely wood buttons were also from my stash! Hurray for stash-busting! I purchased a bag of buttons from VV a number of years ago and proceeded to never use them (just the way things go, you know), so being able to use up almost all of one lot is great. (Just two left.) I guess the solution is just to make more cardigans that need buttons so I can use up the buttons? And use yarn from my stash to do it? Double win.

Sexy back, yeah! (So sorry. Seriously though.)

I did take an absurdly long amount of time to seam this up though. It lay in a pile for a good week or so, I think, before the new year came around and I decided enough was enough. And even then I had to do it over 2 days! I definitely need to polish up my kitchener stitching skills. Or my patience skills. I also didn't read the instructions that said to do a 3-needle BO for the back of the neck (see how smooth that centre back neck is?). So I grafted. And figured out how to make it so the purl to purl stitches grafted inconspicuously the second time around. Otherwise, everything came together really smoothly; everything fit in their proper places without too much stretching, and sewed together easily (just a couple of skipping stitches every so often while seaming), so I'm glad for that. Maybe seaming isn't the horrible beast I've made it out to be?

Victory!

Definitely won that beast over. Anyway, this is the first FO of the year, officially! Does it count? I finished knitting it last year though.

And as for the pattern, it was really fun to work through it, and it became - surprisingly - my mindless knitting project on the couch! Those cables are easy to memorize, don't let the looks of them intimidate you! I'd love another one, with the changes stated above.

Club Monaco dress

And here's that lovely knit dress I bought from Club Monaco during their holiday sale. I had to get it the moment I put it on. Great fit and super comfy. The skirt doesn't get stuck between my legs for some reason (I suspect because it's heavy and drapey?) either, which is great.

Camera Eyes vs. Human Eyes

Alternative post title: On the Importance of Paying Attention to Dye Lots

I hope you can't tell how heavily photoshopped this is. If you can't, please admire that.

I guess it might be difficult to see what it is I'm talking about if you didn't know what to look out for, but if you ignore the heavy photoshopping in the white background there (and the fact that the entire image has been skewed in order to make it look straight), and direct your attention towards the area just where the armhole shaping starts, you'll see what I'm talking about. I noticed it even as a human being, but figured it wasn't that bad and continued (what was I thinking though?). And truly, it isn't that bad in real life, so I guess being lazy was fine this time. But the camera picks up everything that is wrong with reality (see this warp at the bottom of the post? It's off the loom now and nobody can tell it was ever crooked. Not that I've asked. But I know nobody would think it was. Not that I'll be testing that anytime soon either.) and shoves it into your face for you to see! So there's the lesson, everyone who doesn't already know better than to alternate dye lots. Especially ones purchased a year apart. No one? Just me? Figured. It's a pretty good match, though, as I mentioned last time, so I'm not as bothered as I maybe should be.

Anyway, this is the Timberline WIP, sans sleeves even though those are finished (I followed the instructions and finished those first since I was scared my puny little gauge swatch might have lied to me). I'm pretty stoked for this to be done and on my person. You wouldn't know it by my lack of progress since finishing the entire body and everything except for the button/neckband. I don't know why I'm waffling so bad. This is the easiest part. I also started knitting those adorable kitten mittens (for humans) though, so that's probably the main culprit. I'm hoping I'll have this one finished before 2016 starts up. And of course, insert the usual statement about the same hope for my sheep vest/sweater & the sherwood for my brother. Except those are less probable futures and this one's foreseeable, so I'll invest my hope (and effort) in the Timberline instead. Sorry, sheep. Sorry, brother (although I did knit a couple more inches of body into your sweater this year!).