Tea Rose Lace Shawl

This lovely Tea Rose Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark was so much fun to knit.  I had a chance to take a class with Evelyn at The Tea Cozy in Ballard (awesome yarn shop!) and couldn't pass it up.  Evelyn shared tips about designing lace and her career as a knitwear designer, she has published so many patterns that I admired way before the Ravelry and indie pattern boom. I have been wearing this almost every cool day for the past year and it certainly kept me cozy when visiting Minneapolis this year (it was about 5 degrees when we took these photos).  Shetland Spindrift is a favorite yarn. So wooly, but it softens up nicely when washed and it blocks well. This is definitely a favorite color and it was a happy coincidence that the Beeswax hat made the year before matches even though it is made from a completely different yarn - Berroco Ultra Alpaca. 

Kyoto Sweater

The sweatshirt of my dreams!!! It's funny because I never thought I would love this as much as I do but am so happy a friend convinced me to try it. This is made out of the nicest hemp/cotton mix fabric with the ruffles in a different color than the rest from District Fabric. The Kyoto sweater by Papercut Patterns size small was the perfect oversized comfy without needing to do any alterations to the pattern. Highly recommend and am already thinking of making this in a tshirt variation for friends for Christmas!

 

Totes Knit Wit Variation

Well I bought this nice rich golden cotton yarn about 3 years ago wanting to make the Heartbreak Shorts but that was before I realized that Wool and the Gang didn't sell their patterns separately from their yarn. So when I saw the Knit Wit Tote I thought this yarn would be perfect! Of course I didn't want to follow the exact pattern, I wanted an XL tote for shopping and farmers markets that can fit just about everything. So I went big and needed more yarn, so dug through my mom's stash of dish cloth yarn and found the perfect deep red/brown. A long time later (ALL summer) and the tote is done! I've gotten so many compliments already and it's always so fun to be able to say 'oh yeah I made this!'. The tote pattern is free and downloadable on the knit wit digest here.

Scrappy Hiking Socks

Last summer hiking it came to my attention that I needed some shorter socks- just long enough to clear the top of the hiking boots. The yarn in these socks has been hanging around in the sock knitting bag for a while - so here we are.   These are the best and have been worn over and over.  The pattern is a recipe that I learned from Betsy McCarthy many years ago in the first ever knitting class I took at the still mourned Hilltop Yarn. Details are on Ravelry

Dress Y

This is Dress Y from the Stylish Dress Book by Yoshiko Tsukiori. I made this dress two years ago and it's taken me until now to finally get some pictures of it and post it! Mainly the delay was that I hated how it fit. After working on several muslins, I finally landed on a fit that I thought would be good. Sewed up this chambray, added some vintage buttons, wore it around a couple of times and realized the back of the dress was scooping under me after sitting and standing all day. It was driving me crazy! So after it hanging in my closet for a year, I finally fixed the pattern a little bit. The solution was to bring up the middle of the back panel by an entire inch and re-attaching to the yoke. 

It now fits great, but it's winter so unfortunately I have to save it for next summer. I purposely left the yoke edge raw and I hope after a few washes it will become soft and worn.  

Funny thing is that my mom made this same dress! Hers fits her much better than mine. We just haven't had time to take pictures yet but you'll see :)

Jelly Roll Without the Roll

Love, love, love this Jelly Rolls sock pattern teamed up with NanoStitch Lab Double Helix Duo yarn. The two mini skeins were enough for two pair of socks. The colors look great together and the yarn washed up really nicely. They are soft and have enough nylon that they will wear well. This pattern is well written with lots of options - there will definitely be more on the needles soon. Adi likes the fit of these shorties. I forgot to take extra needles on vacation, so tried the slip stitch pattern on the instep with the same size needles as on the foot. It did not work, there was not enough give to the fabric - so it was a good opportunity to buy a new pair at Stix Yarn in Bozeman (great store). Win, win! 

Heartbreaker Shorts

I tried out my first pattern with Wool and the Gang on these Heartbreaker shorts and was pleasantly surprised. The yarn is made from recycled denim (awesome) and the pattern was easy and quick to follow. Warning to anyone else who want's to try these, the pattern comes in only one size! Fortunately the size fit me, but the purchase would have been very disappointing if they didn't fit. I might try them out again soon, I'm eyeing the Eden Jumper and think I might just have to!

Waterrock Vest

The Waterrock Vest was test knit for Appalachian Knits. The different rib stitches made it fun to knit and adds subtle interest. I would definitely recommend this well written pattern.  This vest is going to be a great addition to my ski wardrobe and had the added bonus of using some Rowan Felted Tweed that has been in the stash for a very long time.  These photos were taken before blocking - to get some test knit shots up on Ravelry.  I have been wearing it to work with a button down and it is a great transition piece for the fall season.  This is the second sweater I have knit in Felted Tweed.  I love the colors and it knits an washes well.  It is one yarn I have been able to maintain the same gauge going from swatch to garment - a consistent issue for me. 

Jane Ready to Sew

I was beyond impressed with the Jane pattern by Ready to Sew. The body is one giant pattern piece that spans the entire length of a 45'' width fabric! The fabric used is from District Fabrics (my fav) and is some sort of synthetic material which I failed to write down. I did do a few modifications to the pattern, the original sleeves do not have a shirt cuff, so I added  this detail. The width of the sleeve was perfect for the cuff with a small pleat added, so I didn't have to do any adjustments to the original sleeve pattern. I also added 3'' to the back so that it would hang a little lower. All in all very excited about this new addition to my wardrobe! 

100 Acts of Sewing Pants

     

In March I was fortunate to take a 100 Acts of Sewing Pants class with Sonya Philip at Drygoods Design. It was a fun and informative class with good company. Sonya had all of the sizes sewn up for us to try on which made it easy to get started. It is stunning that I made a pair of pants in one day. The fabric is a corduroy purchased in St. Paul in the late 80's that is happy to be out in the world. There will be more of these pants in the future. I am working on pair #2 in the next smaller size and made a few tweaks to see if I can get a better fit. Check out Sonya's Instagram feed. Her flair for styling inspires me. Give this pattern a try. 

  

Peacock Blue Socks

These are the Lacy Cable Socks from Veronik Avery's book Knitting 24/7 knit in a Tanis Fiber Arts yarn. I bought this yarn in Calgary one year as a souvenir of the trip and am happy to have it out of the stash and onto feet. The color is so cheerful. More detail on Ravelry. The sock drawer seemed a little bare this winter. More sock knitting is coming up!

The Pants That Finally Were Finished

I can't believe the day has come where I've finished a pair of pants! My mom and I have been in the Make It Happen class at Drygoods Design for almost 3 years now and I spent one entire year working on these damn things. The pants first started from pattern E in the book I Love Pants by Yuko Takada, but let me tell you, the book did not make me love pants. After what felt like a million muslins we finally had the pattern fitting how I wanted it to. Then it was on to figuring out how to do a fly and welt pockets. The fly took a long time to figure out, I ended up mashing a bunch of different fly instructions together. The welt pockets are fake, and were probably the most magical thing I've sewed to date; right when it feels so wrong you flip them around and wahlah you have these cool, sophisticated pockets going on! 

So I figured all of that out, did one more fit adjustment and was ready to make a real pair. These are the only pair I've made so far, they're a wearable muslin out of a nice light cotton in dark blue from my favorite, District Fabrics. I finished sewing, was all excited to put them, and on and then to my disappointment the waist was drastically large...What did I do wrong?? Thankfully in my rendition of the pattern I made the last pleat using the completed waist band, so all I had to do was rip out a few stitches, take out about 2'' and they fit like a glove! Finally! I'm really excited to kick on MMMay with these sweet things, they are the perfect work pant which is exactly what I was going for. 

As cute as they are apologies for how difficult it is to capture the details in these photos. 

Camilla Shawl

This shawl is adapted from the Camilla Shawl by Carrie Bostick Hoge. I love the way that Carrie takes a stitch motif and interprets it in different garments.  The yarn is a lovely silk/wool blend from Bumblebirch in soft grays that look like a stormy day. We had a hard time capturing the true color on photo day. Since the original pattern was written for a heavier yarn - several repeats were added to the length and the width. More details are on Beth's Ravelry page.