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You guys, packing is stressful. I have to cull everything I own until I can fit it all in a minivan, and I have a lot of stuff. A LOT of stuff. Mostly yarn and clothes. I have four plastic bins and a cardboard box full of yarn, plus I have yarn or unravels-in-progress stuffed in every tiny nook and cranny of the rest of the bags and boxes and bins. Probably 80% of my stuff is either craft supplies or clothes, both of which are things I enjoy frequently and can get for very cheap. The other 20% is books. Maybe there’s 1% “other stuff”. Mostly clothes and books and craft supplies and books. I like books.
ANYWAY, I made a sweater. It looks like this:
(Do ignore my blurry arm meat there.)
Pattern: My own. Thinking about writing it up.
Yarn: Recycled mercerized cotton from a Ralph Lauren pullover (I have lots left)
Needles: US 3/2.75mm straights and a US 5/3.25 circular for the ruffles
Please appreciate that it is approximately five hundred degrees outside, into which I ventured to get pictures of this sweater. (The actual temperature is like 97 but at a certain point it all just feels HOT.) I jumped into the pool right after (I changed first) but still. HOT.
I really like knitting summer sweaters and tanks. They’re fast and I can wear them pretty much year round (though with a shirt under for the winter), unlike a sweater, which is really only good when it’s cold enough.
So I love this thing. I knit it in a strip like the Carousel socks from Knitty that I made a couple weeks ago. I do love the strip construction. It keeps my attention for the whole project so I never get bored like I do with things that are just long rows of stockinette.
In further life news, if I have no said exactly so yet, I will be moving to Fairfax on Tuesday. You might not hear from me for a little while after that while I settle in/job hunt. I’ll almost certainly be on Twitter frequently though, so feel free to drop me a line. I almost always respond on Twitter. I love Twitter.
Whoo, I finished Ophelia the other day.
(Please ignore my grumpy face)
Pattern: Ophelia
Yarn: Recycled cotton tape
Needles: US 8/5 mm
Mods: Well, it’s in the round. I followed (sort of) the directions until the eyelet round and then I just sort of made it up as I went. Y’know.
I really like how it came out. There are some flaws of course, since I don’t swatch or consider anything in advance.
I really like how the back came out. And it was just good luck that I happened to have a cute blouse with spots almost the exact same shade of lavender. And the yarn is quite soft and very comfortable.
I had to wear something with sleeves under the tank cause I wore it to work, but when the summer temps hit the nineties I’ll just wear it over a cami. The fronts decrease away from each other a bit too much for me to wear it on its own, plus the v dips down too far. I love it though.
And in case you were wondering, this is sweater number five for the year. Not that I need 12 sweaters. I do like making summery tops though. As you can see. : )
I currently have a whole series of works-in-progress going, of various and sundry crafts. It’s summer and I’m unemployed, which means if I only stick to one stockinette-based project at a time, I’ll lose my damn mind.
Anyway, yeah. There’s the Box 96 pullover I’ve been working on:
Finished the back and am working up the front.
There’s the aforementioned Ivy sockettes:
A somewhat-secret project, which is a new design, which will hopefully be somewhat seasonally appropriate when it gets released:
And some sewing projects. I believe I hinted about this project a couple of months ago:
I took all the shirts (mostly free) I got from my years at UMW, cut squares from the graphics, and am in the process of sewing them into a t-shirt quilt. They’re sewn in columns currently, so I have to sew the columns together, but I picked up a large sheet at the thrift yesterday for a backing, so at this point it’s just a lot of sewing. I haven’t decided if I want to do an edge binding (probably not because JESUS that would take forever), but I’ll definitely be quilting and top stitching. Loooooots of top stitching.
Finally, there’s one last sewing project in the works:
That there is a stack of delightfully soft felted cashmere squares cut from various thrifted sweaters. I need about one more sweater’s worth of squares and then I have to sew it all together. Not sure how I’m going to do that yet (overlap and zigzag stitch maybe?), but I know when it’s done, it’ll be ohhhhhhhh so soft and warm.
So that’s what’s in the works. I’ll probably finish the new design first but I might hold off on showing it off until the pattern’s done. What say you, readers? Do you prefer to see the FOs as I knit them and then the pattern updates or save everything for the pattern update?
After much testing drama, the Green Leaves tank pattern is up and ready!
US $5.00
Sizes
To fit bust size 32” (36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60) (Shown in 32”)
Yarn
Cascade Pima Tencel (50 g/89 yard skeins), 4 (5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) skeins or approx. 350 (400, 450, 500, 575, 650, 750, 850) yards worsted weight cotton/cotton blend yarn
Needles
US 5/3.5 mm 29” circular
Notions
Tapestry needle
Four stitch markers
3-4 mm crocheted hook (optional)
Gauge
4.5 sts/8 rows per in/stockinette
That’s right everyone, this pattern is FINALLY up for purchase thanks to some great test knitters! The timing is a little off unfortunately (I had hoped to have the pattern up a little earlier), but there’s still some summer left! And I know plenty of places that are still warm through September. And let’s not forget about the Southern hemisphere, where it’ll be warming up soon!
Anyway, to celebrate this somewhat unplanned timing, I’m having a contest! Enter by leaving a contest on this post, and in one week (that’s Monday, August 16), I’ll draw a winner who’ll get to choose a pattern from my pattern store! For an extra entry, blog or tweet about the giveaway and leave another comment with the URL.
There are a total of two entries per person, open to everyone (regardless of location). The contest will stay open until Monday August 16 at midnight (approximately), at which point I’ll draw a winner. Make sure you leave an email so I can contact you! The winner will receive the pattern as a gift on Ravelry or (if you don’t have a Ravelry account) emailed to you. Good luck!
Pattern: My own! Which I am writing up and will be available for test knitting… soonish? Eventually.
Yarn: Cascade Pima Tencel (the longer 109 yarn skeins), three skeins (I know. It was close.)
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm
I love this tank. I basically made it up as I went along (I took notes though), and it’s got waist shaping, a slight A-line flare, and a deep v cut. Love it. I suspect it’s a shape that looks good on a lot of people, though the tiny straps might be too tiny for some. I find it’s super comfortable. I knit mine a little short (I was worried about the yarn I had) so I have to wear it over a tank top (otherwise it’s opaque enough to just wear a bra under).
I’ve written up the pattern and it’s currently undergoing test knitting, and I anticipate it being ready about the end of July. Which is a little late in the season, but it gets pretty hot many places in August and September, so it should still be appropriate knitting: cool fiber and no long sleeves to try on. I’ll keep you guys posted when it’s available, of course.
Pattern: Razor Cami by Katie Marcus.
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft, probably less than a skein
Needles: US 6/4 mm circ, Knit Picks Options
Modifications: Using light worsted instead of fingering, cast on 120 for 10 pattern repeats (which turned out to be perfect), divided for the armpits them did some garter in the front and bound off the back, and did two twisted chains for each of the straps. I was going to do icord straps, but by the end of this top, I was SO ready to get it off the needles.
So I like this a lot, even though it’s juuust a tad too short. I keep pulling at it. But worn over a tank that’s long enough, I think it’ll be okay. I got reeeeally bored about two inches from finishing this, but I’m glad I pushed myself through it because I’m quite fond of the finished product. It’s made of acrylic, so it’s rather warm, but I think it’ll look cute paired with a long-sleeved shirt for the winter, when I’ll appreciate the warmth.
And for those of you playing at home, this tank makes the cut for sweater number ELEVEN for the dodecathon. Here’s the monthly break down:
January: Corona/Talia
February: Burgandy (Cable Cardi from Knit Simple)
March: Spring Cardi (Hey Teach)/Lime
April: Lime/Superman
May: Climbing Vines
June: Lelah/Tank Top (Tank Girl)
July: Razor Cami
One more to go!
No new FO’s to report (shocking, I know), but I have certainly been knitting and crafting. I’ve been working on a tank top:
(Razor Cami in Caron Simply Soft cause it’s what I’ve got onhand and I want it out of the stash)
and a little cardigan for my littlest cousin:
It’s in some random sport-weight acrylic I got from my grandmother ages ago (it’s been in my stash basically since I started knitting). The cardigan is the 24 months size, so I hope it will fit him during the winter. He’s not even a year and according to my sister (according to the baby’s sister), he’s already in 18 month size clothes. We’ll see.
In non-knitting news, my sister and I spent an afternoon being crafty, resulting in this:
We made paper! Ground up newspaper and magazine pages in a blender, dumped everything in the sink with a bunch of water, then strained the pulp and let it all dry. It’s thick and some of it’s quite fragile, and it’s a strange grey color, but I like it, and I’ll definitely use it in some paper crafts. And there’s glitter in it!
So that’s what I’ve been up to lately. I did another round of the Ongoing Wish Swap, so that will be happening soon. And there might also be a little tutorial type of thing… Stay tuned!
Pattern: Tank Girl by Vickie Howell, from a summer issue of Knitty
Yarn: NaturallyCaron.com Spa (75% microfiber acrylic, 25% bamboo) in Ocean Spray, about a skein and a half.
Needles: US 6/4 mm Knit Picks Options circular needle
Modifications: Knit in the round, left out the color change and the drop stitches, didn’t continue the ribbing up the back, didn’t bother with the lingerie rings (just did an eye cord and fastened it to the back of the tank). I probably also fiddled with the length– I basically just knit the bottom until I ran out of yarn in that skein then did the other part.
So I’m a huge fan of this tank top. It came out amazingly. It fits perfectly (well, the straps might be a leeeetle long), and I will definitely be making more in other colors. Possibly in other fibers. I like making tank tops cause they’re quick to make and I don’t have to knit sleeves, so that’s fun.
The yarn: I would definitely use this yarn again. The bamboo makes it nice and drapey and soft and lovely, while the acrylic makes it more hard-wearing. It’s hella splitty, so if you don’t like that, stay away, but I only had slight problems with it (splittyness is never really an issue for me). Also, ya know, big box craft store and all that. But I bought the two skeins separately, each with a 40% off coupon so the tank was probably $3.50 total? SCORE.
Coming up: That swap thing, some more knitted things. If you’re good, there might even be a wip post somewhere sometime.
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 