Tag: sweater

Year of Projects Update

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Finished Arachne Sweater

I finished my Arachne Sweater! I love it! I think the cropped silhouette and short sleeves keep the vintage vibe alive. I had plenty of yarn and I look forward to making a Seamwork Rachel shirt to wear under it in this print.

Surely I’m not the only one whose YOP list stays the same number, or even grows?

I want to sew more Rachel shirts, one for each season. I want to customize the fit and make it my go to shirt pattern. I also want to do that with a pant pattern, but I haven’t found the pattern yet.

Our curtain rods should arrive today, which means my linen curtains just moved up on the sewing list.

Laura Kate asked me to share a sketch of my idea for my fiber art piece. I don’t feel comfortable doing that yet, but I am glad I have a more concrete idea. I will share something later, once I’ve made a little more progress.

This has been a Year of Projects Update. You can read my original list here. You can find out more about the group here.

Bob and I watched Driveways yesterday. Highly recommend. We shared our mutual love of Brian Dennehy. Then we watched the latest episode of Lovecraft Country. Highly recommend. Then I thought we were going to make it a Brian Dennehy weekend with a Lovecraft Country intermission, but Bob surprised me with an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that was a Doug Jones breakout role. I don’t love Buffy (the show, although I love the movie) but we think a Doug Jones weekend is imminent. And I wouldn’t mind rewatching the first season of Buffy in October.

Is it too early to watch Hocus Pocus? It is, isn’t it.

Thankful Tuesday

Posted on Posted in sweaters, Works in Progress (WIPs)Tagged , , 7 Comments

Putting my thoughts out there in a podcast must be more anxiety inducing than I expected. I went to bed early and woke in the middle of the night. That hasn’t happened in a while.

I never thought I would be saying this, but I’m thankful that it’s budget week at work. Numbers are so solid and reassuring. And I’m always thankful for my job, which I enjoy as much as I appreciate.

So I am up in the wee hours of the AM, steeping some nutritious and relaxing tea and contemplating my Weekender progress.

I’m not at all sure about it. The sleeve seems too narrow, I have started the cuff but now it looks too short, and I gave up on the fussy and (in my mind) completely unnecessary Kitchener stitch bind off. I’m hoping this is one of those designs that looks better on. I can always make an extra long ribbing at the cuff. This design is forgiving that way.

I haven’t started Vanishing Fleece by Clara Parkes, but if I’m in for a long night, I may as well get started. Or, I think I will catch up my blog reading first. Yay!

Woe is Meee Tra La La

Posted on Posted in knitting, life, sweaters, yarnTagged , , , 12 Comments

I wore my Cumulus Blouse yesterday and it is pilling a little. I’m going to use my sweater shaver on it. Maybe once I wash it a few times it will settle down.

On a happier note…

My last orchid flower is hanging on for dear life. Let go, beautiful blossom! Fall is here and it’s time to rest!

Summer lasted so long this tomato thinks it’s a pumpkin. I helped it along with a sharpie. You do you, little pumpkin tomato!

My older children think it’s funny to close their eyes in photos. I might have taught them that. This was from family movie night when we watched Great Pumpkin and Hocus Pocus. Snuggly.

Selfie of the week. My hair is growing and I went back to my old skin care regimen. My skin won’t tolerate anything else.

Today I’m going to cast on my Weekender! I had planned to do it last night but I didn’t realize I was going to need three different needle sizes and scrap yarn. I went to the studio twice to collect things yesterday and still didn’t have everything I needed, and finally gave up. Today is the day!

Shimmering Silver Lady

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Mildlygranola has me convinced to make a Weekender by Andrea Mowry with her. I admit to flirting with the idea of this pattern, but I never committed. I am ready.

Do you remember this yarn? It’s Scout by Kelbourne Woolens. The gauge is spot on for me for Weekender since I’m a loose knitter. And I have almost enough of the green to make it! I only need one skein. I do have enough of the silver, and I do love me a silver sweater which matches my silvery hair making me swan about like a shimmering silver lady (hence the title of this blog.)

But greeeeeen… deep verdant earthy evergreen.

I only need one skein. I’m going to go to my local yarn shop tomorrow to see if she has one more skein of this. If she doesn’t, I’ll probably cry. But maybe I’ll find it on the internet.

I considered waiting until our trip to Nova Scotia in case there was some special yarn there I would like to buy, but realized I don’t want to lug home a sweater quantity of yarn. Maybe one or two skeins of something special!

I’m still waiting on the new zipper for my jeans. Today I serged the edges on all the pieces and did some top stitching. I’m taking great care with these as I want them to fit well, and I’d like to be able to take them in and let them out as needed.

I lost another 5 pounds, making it 18 pounds total. My old jeans fit more comfortably now and I’m ready to take the larger sizes down to the basement. I save my old jeans since my weight fluctuates so much.

I’m almost finished with Lilac Heather Cumulus Blouse.

How is your Sunday going? I cleaned the bathroom, the stove, and my car interior today, but I’m still having a good day. 😁

La Chemise

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Look at that sleeve happening! I was afraid I might run out of yarn so I ordered another skein from Cestari. Luckily they still have this dye lot.

I’m really enjoying Traditional Danish Sweaters and this Aastrup Sweater is my favorite pattern in the book. Of course I would extend the body. Thanks to quiteayarnblog for mentioning this book on her blog.

Bob’s birthday is tomorrow and I’ve already given him his present, a Pendleton wool flannel shirt in the MacLean Tartan. It’s itchy, though, so we’ll see if he wears it. I found it used on Poshmark so not a big deal if he doesn’t.

Are you glad it’s Friday? I’m glad it’s Friday.

Christmas Knits

Posted on Posted in finished objects, hats, holidays, sweatersTagged , , , , , 7 Comments

I finished all my Christmas knitting by the end of the day. That counts, right?

Harald’s sweater is massive, but he loves it and wore it all day. I suppose we could felt it a bit and shrink it a tad, but I think he really likes it as is. The stripes ended up looking okay as the entire back is like that.

I had to modify the Goats of Inversnaid hat pattern in order to use the Milarrochy Tweed yarn. I ended up knitting two more repeats of goats before starting the crown. (Look at me learning from my mistakes and listening to myself.) I really like how long and narrow the beanie is. It looks a little more trendy this way. And I’m pleased with how the crown came out.

We had a great day of Ethiopian food for dinner, presents, and Christmas movies. I’m surprised by how many we watched this year: Elf, Rare Exports, Krampus, A Christmas Horror Story, Christmas with the Kranks, A Charlie Brown Christmas, A Christmas Story, It’s a Wonderful Life, Black Adder’s Christmas Carol, SCTV Christmas Special, and Scrooged.

Merry Christmas! I hope your day was jolly!

Seaming Sweaters

Posted on Posted in sweaters, Works in Progress (WIPs)Tagged , , , , 1 Comment

I seamed the shoulders of Harald’s sweater today. I was a little put out with myself because I had forgotten to keep my stitches live during shoulder shaping so I could use the three-needle bind-off method. I rationalized myself out of ripping back by telling myself this knit is drapey and a little heavy (due to accidentally knitting on size 9 instead of size 8 needles) and the seams would give it more structure. That probably isn’t true but my seams turned out nice.

I fell back into mattress stitching as if I did it every day instead of once every few years.

When you really love something I guess it is like riding a bike. You never forget!

I have been trying to find more knitting blogs to read by looking at the knitting hashtag in my wordpress reader. Do you have favorite knitting blogs? Will you share them with me?

What Have I Been Knitting?

Posted on Posted in hats, sweatersTagged , , , , , , 1 Comment

I was going through the old images of knitting I have been posting and dating them, and I thought geez these sure are old! I have knit a little bit in the last few years. I decided to share these things, and I would be all caught up and ready to move forward! Because in the words of Ziggy Marley – lesser known than his father Bob, but still no slouch in the wisdom department –  “If you don’t know your past, you don’t know your future.”

Not that there won’t be some flash backs down the road, I’m sure.

 

I finished this gansey for Husband Bob. The pattern is Old Way Gansey by Ann Budd. The yarn is Cascade 220 from stash. When I posted it on Ravelry, Ann Budd stopped by to say hello and added me to her Ravelry group. I was really geeked out.

Le Smoking

I finished Le Smoking from A Fine Fleece, in Fingerlakes Soft Wool 3 ply from stash. This design is pretty but it isn’t super wearable on me, or maybe it’s too small. Or, the shoulders are too shallow? I’m not sure what’s wrong with it exactly, but I’m not wearing it, so there’s that. I’m a little sad because I love this color.

 

I knit a slew of hats, no patterns, just measurements and gauge. The one on the left is a slouchy hat in Berroco Vintage from stash, and the one on the right is a straight beanie in Manos del Uruguay Clara, from Yarn It and Haberdashery.

There were a few other hats in there, mostly beanies knit for kids in straight up stockinette in whatever yarn was laying around. I do get a little bored knitting in stockinette, but it’s so mindful and mindless at the same time. Very meditative.  Plus I can watch a show or a movie and knit and not worry about making mistakes. Mmm… yards and yards of stockinette. So healing.

 

Speaking of stockinette! Right now I’m knitting Plain Grey Sweater for Harald from Manos del Uruguay Maxima in Kohl, also from Yarn It and Haberdashery. It’s my pattern, which is to say it is yards and yards of stockinette: so just measurements and gauge with drop shoulders and ribbed finishing. It is what he asked for, although at one point he thought it might be nice to add some cables. I had already started so I told him no. Maybe next time, after I knit sweaters for his brothers, of course.

Manos del Uruguay yarns are some of my favorite because not only are they natural fibers, they are also single-ply and wearably soft for wool, kettle-dyed for delicious colors, and Fair Trade! I work for a fair trade organization, and ethical sourcing is really important to me. It’s something I hope to get into more on this blog.

Word of the day: Stockinette. Runner up: Slouch.