Yarn Along: Purple Haze

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hand-knitwear design, handmade, kids, knitting, sewing, toddler, toddlers, Yarn Along

From small things:

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?

I’ve been in a little haze for about two weeks.  Allergy season hit me hard and I’ve been mostly grumpy, tired, and rubbing my itchy eyes.  I was so dizzy and tired I didn’t even go to my Stitch ‘n’ Bitch last week!  I did manage to keep stitching, even if blogging and socializing fell to the wayside.  I have lots to share, and I will get my newest pics and projects up as my energy allows, I promise.  In the meantime, I decided to check in for a little Yarn Along!

Reading has been tricky, (itchy eyes really don’t work with staring at the printed page), but I did manage to go through some of my Knitters Book of Yarn and made a little progress on Special Topics in Calamity Physics.  The Calamity book is still intriguing, but mellowed a bit as I got into it.  I am sensing it’s about to get really good again, so I am trying to fit it in when I can.

On the needles I have another little pair of leg warmers going for Lil One.  These will be for her dancing outfit, which includes a fluffy purple tutu!  I am working on them to refine the pattern as well.  I hope to start writing this up real soon.

I also just finished making her a little purple calico dress.  I liked taking a break from the knitting during the day and working with Lil One in the studio.  She’s gotten better at using her computer for ABCmouse.com activities, and it gives me the opportunity to jump on the sewing machine for a bit.  Sewing is a very different mode of creation for me, quick overall, but stops and starts make it feel very active as compared to the meditative nature of knitting.  Lil One was very enthusiastic and kept carrying the half-finished dress out to update Daddy or Big Bro on the progress as we went.  Of course, now that it’s done I can’t seem to get her to wear it.  She prefers carrying it around on a hanger and placing it decoratively on door knobs.  Go figure!

So, what have all my yarn lovin’ friends been up to?  Looking forward to catching up at Small Things.  See you next time!

Yarn Along – Pansies and Salmon

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children, garden, gardening, kids, knitting, toddler, toddlers, Yarn Along

From small things:

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?

This week was SO NICE!  I threw household chores out the window this week and just let the spring weather draw us out into the garden as much as possible.  I really have to say, these are the days I dream about – gardening with my beautiful Lil One, innocently examining everything from the tiniest bug to the clouds overhead, then curling up and knitting all evening long beside my Hubby.  Can you hear the purrr?

So, this week I’ve been knitting on my newest sock type: Knee-Highs!  At the same time, this marks a milestone in my stash busting efforts.  Around the start of the year, I promised myself I would knit six projects from stash yarn before allowing myself to buy yarn for a “non-stash” project.  Roughly speaking it also included a structure of at least one new design idea and one full size sweater in those six, with an exception rule for test knits in pursuit of developing a design.  Well, so far, it is all working pretty well.  I finished two full-sized sweaters, worked on the new leg warmer idea (including one small yarn purchase), and then finished a scarf, two Lil One accessories, a Lil Sweater, and a pair of socks.  That’s eight all together!

Now I am on my “non-stash” knit, Alaskan Salmon Socks, and I feel very accomplished for sticking to the plan.  I’m using the Three Irish Girls McClellan Fingering yarn in Salmon which I posted about a while back.  The pattern is the Czarina’s Lace knee-highs by Barb Brown.  I was nearly done with the sock when I took the pic today, then when I counted the stitches on the toe, I realized I screwed up way back at the gusset. Rip, rip, rip, count.  I should have known better than to knit until midnight!  That’s always when my arithmetic goes out the window!  I like the pattern so far, and the yarn is absolute heaven!

As for reading, I will just mention one of the many books I’ve been darting in and out of in recent weeks:  Preschool Art: It’s The Process, Not The Product,  by MaryAnn Kohl.  It is a great resource if you have 3-5 year olds in your house.  I found some of my childhood favorites like salt-dough and marble paper making, along with some great new ideas including some fantastic chalk-on-sponge painting, and of course a scrap yarn project or two.  I promise I’ll share when the next rainy day necessitates an inside project to keep Lil One Busy.

In the meantime, like I said to start, we’ve been all about the gardening this week.  Lil One picked out some purple pansies at our local Home Depot and helped me plant them in a pot.  Here she is chatting away as she arranged them on her “work table”…

…and then patiently waited for Mommy to “put the camera away” and help her find a pot.  Yes, sweetie.  Just one more picture for Mommy?

Of course her favorite part was filling her little plastic bucket with potting soil and making a huge mess putting it in the planter.  I’m so glad she likes to be clean most days, but in this case I was equally glad to see her delight in dirt!  When we were all done, she wanted to take a picture herself, and I helped her look through the view finder as she clicked away.  Her Grand Daddy has apparently passed the shutter bug passion on to her too!  So here’s Lil One’s first contribution, a “toddler’s eye view”, to the blog:

Enjoy the week and indulge in the innocence and fresh views of Spring!

An Elastic Trick for Better Fit

Tags

bead cord, children, design, Gemstone Silk Yarn, hand-knitwear design, handmade, kids, knitting patterns, Naturally Caron Spa, spring, sweater, toddler, toddlers, yarn

Nearly a year has gone by since I published the Baby Hepburn Crop Coat Pattern, and here we are at the start of spring again with Lil One asking to wear her soft smooshy sweater coat all the time now.

She has grown in so many ways: taller, smarter, more talkative and even more energetic!  When I made this sweater last year, I was reading the “standard” measurements from CYC and figured I’d go up a size and have her wear it longer.  Well, while it is true that she can still wear it, but her tiny torso has remained almost exactly the same size.  I guess she isn’t very “standard”!   I finally had to admit to myself I just made this one too big for her!  What to do?  The only part of ”too big” that really matters when it comes to a cozy, loose sweater like this is that the 5″ (rather than the prescribed 3″) of ease in the body also meant that it was a little sloppy around the shoulders.  I can be determined and a perfectionist when it comes to fit, so even though she’s been cozy and comfy for nearly a year, I decided to do my favorite elastic collar trick that I’ve used so many times to just tidy up that one area.

When it comes to silky textured yarn like the Spa which trims this sweater, or the Gemstone Silk which I used in the Silk Tipped Toddler Tee, they may look and feel lovely, but that usually means they don’t have the spring action of a nice wool yarn.  Obviously, that hasn’t stopped me from using them over and over again in my work.  Especially for spring and summer knits, those lighter, silkier yarns have great appeal.  I have learned to add that elastic quality back in to the key area of the neckline with a little trick with clear elastic cord.  I have now used this on nearly all of my silky textured knits including the Periwinkle Rayonnant, both versions of the Silk Tipped Toddler Tee, as well as above on the Baby Hepburn Crop Coat.   I’m sharing it in hopes that if you find you’ve made something a little too big, or it has stretched out to be a bit too big (silk, cotton, rayon, and bamboo tend to do this), this may be an option to help it hold its shape better – at least around the neckline.

What I use is an elastic jewelry stringing cord that is on the thicker side at 0.8 mm, and run it behind the top edge, of the back of the work like this:

It is almost like darning a thread.  Once I’ve run it all the way around, I tie the two ends together in a loop that doesn’t pucker the work, but is just snug enough to keep it from sagging over the shoulders when it’s worn.  If you can, try it on with a quick loose knot to see how the weight of the garment pulls on the neckline and adjust it to your liking.  I then give a good secure permanent knot, following the instructions on the package of elastic bead cord, and either clip the ends short like a jewelry knot, or darn in the longer ends depending on your preference.  Because the cord is clear, it really does disappear when you’re done.

Forgive the crazy expression, but here’s what the Silk Tipped Toddler Tee looks like on her with the neckline reinforced as shown above.

You really wouldn’t know I did anything if I didn’t tell ‘ya.  Strictly speaking, I didn’t have to do it on this one at this point, but the good news is, when she grows just a bit more, I can actually just sneak a snipper in there to cut the cord and pull it out with no damage to the sweater.  (I know this because I had to take one out to adjust the length when I was first trying all this out.)

In the case of the Hepburn coat, I concealed the thread in one upper corner of the collar with a couple of well hidden back stitches, then carefully threaded it through the space under the fold at the top edge.  Once I had it out the other side, I adjusted it to cinch, but not gather, the collar, and then again secured and concealed the end of the thread at the ending corner.  Here’s a close up of how it looks with the collar done this way:

It’s just enough to keep everything in place while she plays like the crazy little toddler she is!   And for me that’s the ultimate design goal – good looking and easy to wear!

Hello Sunshine!

Tags

handmade, knitting, knitting patterns, short row heel, Sock knitting, Sockupied, yellow

Finished up my Sunny Lil Socks!  They are bright and yellow and make me feel very cheerful indeed while puttering around the house opening windows to let the fresh spring air in.

They are a fun little toe-up anklets pattern from the e-mag “Sockupied” that I bought a while back.  The pattern is called “Sweet Maize Anklets” by Kristen Kapur.  It was very nicely written and the socks were done in just about a week!  Now that’s what I call a quick and satisfying knit.  I especially liked the little leaves that frame the central panel.  I can see them appearing in future projects, socks or otherwise.

The yarn is discontinued and I picked it up in the discount bins at the Dirty Water Dyeworks booth at the 2011 CT Sheep & Wool Festival.  It was a typical merino sock yarn, I worked it on a US 2 needle, and used the larger size pattern which gave me 66 stitches around the foot.  I had calculated 64 would be perfect, but in retrospect I think I could have gone to a smaller needle or a smaller size.   I had figured on my stockinette gauge, so the lace work must have opened up more.  Consequently, they are a little loose.  I think they’ll be great for around the house, which is kinda what I intended, but in shoes they feel a little baggy.

This was actually my first short-row heel, and it seemed very easy to work.  I didn’t realize that what I have done before involving short-rows in the working of the heel wasn’t really the “short-row heel” that most people refer to.  It did create the line of holes that I had heard about, but in this case it looked right with the pattern, and they are sort of summery looking, so it all felt in tune.  I do think for winter, better wear and closer fitting styles, I would prefer one of the other heel types I’ve learned.

The name of the pattern inspired the yarn-pattern pairing and as I was knitting along, the little purl sections reminded my of a nice ear of “butter ‘n’ sugar” corn.  I can’t wait for summer!

Putter, putter, putter – smile, it’s spring!

Back In Black

Tags

design, hand-knitwear design, handmade, Knit Picks, knitting, knitting patterns, leg warmers

I do really like that song .  I recently finished up a new favorite-to-wear knit in a very a-typical color:   the “Back in Black” button-top leg warmers for me.  You see, my daughter and I basically always have wardrobe envy – I make something for me, she wants to borrow it, I make something for her, I think “How cute would that be in my size!”.  Well this time, I did it.  I made a “grown-up” version of her Lil Button-Top Leg Warmers.  I am in love with them, even if I do say so myself!

What I love the most is that they blend into my shoes and tights to make it seem like I just have really cool boots on.  They are lovely and warm in the Knit Picks “Gloss DK” Silk-Wool blend I used,  and of course that makes them awesome for fall right on through spring when the short skirt may leave too much out in the cold.

The idea to make them longer and black actually came from my new favorite online hang-out, Pinterest!  The capezio leg warmers I saw there were a nice 27″ length, so I went for it.  Black was actually a big leap for me.  As anyone who may have followed the blog or my ravelry projects knows, I almost always use saturated, rich colors.  The black was predictably a little tricky to see in my “movie theater” basement knitting spot, but so worth it!  I confess, neutrals are important in the wardrobe, even if knitting with them can seem less than fascinating at times.  Of course, now I am thinking I need some nice red ones, and a lovely red t-strap mary jane heel to go with ‘em!  I apologize for the dim lighting, and hunched pose, but here’s one last candid pic of the whole “look”, when Lil Princess and I were hanging out the other day.

I’ll be writing up this pattern very soon for a full range (baby to women’s) of sizes.  Have a great week everyone!

Yarn Along – Busily waiting on spring.

Tags

Clara Parkes, knitting, yarn, Yarn Along

from small things:

~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?

I have been knitting away lately, and reading just a little “knit-lit” in between.  The Knitters Book of Yarn is wonderful!  I am going to be pouring over this one for a while.  I finished both of the projects featured in the last two yarn along posts, and I am now on to a new cardigan for Lil One in the form of the “All Seasons Cardy” by Kelly Brooker, and using a very nice peachy-yellow “Baby Bunny” yarn from Plymouth Yarn.  So, I’m pretty much just patiently waiting for the truly nice weather, and perhaps a little break in the pace of life and work.  Speaking of which – Gotta go!

Have a happy knitting and reading week, y’all!

Yarn Along: Leaping and Looking

Tags

children, cotton, handmade, kids, knitting, knitting books, sewing, sewing books, spring, toddler, toddlers, Yarn Along

From small things:

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?

This week finds me quite busy starting all kinds of new things!  I took advantage of a fabric sale at Joann Fabrics, which led to a trip to the Library to get a selection of sewing and embroidery books including my old friend Simon Henry’s The Little Best Dress.  While I was there I couldn’t help but seek out another Clara Parkes treasure, The Knitter’s Book of Yarn, and something that I had seen mentioned in Interweave called Finishing School, by Deborah Newton.  Add to that two tomes on embroidery, and I have a lot of learning to do over the next couple of weeks!

Today there was a pause in the action as the bad weather set in and left Lil One and I looking wistfully out the window wishing spring would hurry back soon. 

I cheered myself by knitting on my “Sunny Lil Socks”, inspired by another Yarn Along Blogger’s remedy to the winter blahs: “Add a little Yellow to Your Life.”  Lil seems focused on her ballet dancing, watching Puss in Boots (and dancing some more) and the lovely purple rose she selected for herself on our shopping trip.  In addition to my cheerful socks, I am also really excited about the spring palette Lil and I picked out at the fabric store.

She loves purple, so, no surprise, she selected a lovely purple cotton print, and of course, the matching flower .  She hasn’t stopped asking me when “we” are going to make it.  So cute.  In addition to the purple, Mommy picked out some apricot cotton and grey-blue satin which I’ll be using to make her Easter dress, repleat with embroidered split-front over-skirt and a matching apricot knit cardigan.  I’m designing this one myself, so it will be an adventure.  And last, and perhaps my favorite, is the aqua, apricot and fuchsia print which will hopefully become something for me.  I’m just not sure if it’ll be a dress or a set of pillows for my studio - the jury’s still out. 

Wow, I feel a little dizzy.  One leap at a time I guess !

So what’s on your needles and night-stand this week?

Lessons Learned

Tags

bamboo yarn, design, fitting knits, hand-knitwear design, handmade, Hannah Fetting, knitting, Lapis Yoke, round yoke, sweater, yarn, yarnia

Every project, no matter how basic it seems, or how many projects came before it, has something to teach me.  Many are easy to remember to do – wrap & turn is now permanently ingrained in my working knitting vocab.  Some things are a bit trickier, like fit adjustments, or “tailoring” for knitting.  My most recent project contained one such lesson.  Here is my “Golden Bamboo” sweater:

I am actually pretty happy with the way it came out.  I struggled a little at first with the multi-stranded bamboo Yarnia yarn.  I was fussing over the tension irregularities in the individual strands and trying to “fix” them by smoothing them out, but it only made it worse.  After I put my perfectionist side in check and just let the yarn come and go freely, it knit up beautifully and quickly.  Still have to keep a keen eye on the stitches though to avoid missing a strand in a stitch.  It weighs two pounds, which I found kind of amusing, because it is a very heavy yarn per yard.  The weight actually make it feel very luxurious on, and I love wearing it with and without the long-sleeved shirts that make it wearable across the seasons. 

The pattern is “Lapis Yoke ” by Hannah Fettig, which I modified slightly by not knitting the sleeves and finishing the lower edge with garter rather than rib.  It is a very pretty pattern, and I loved the way it let the yarn really shine in simple rib stitches.  So far, so good.  As you can see, it fits nicely… in the front.  The thing I didn’t anticipate is that the joyous simple construction (top down, round yoke increases evenly all around, and an even 50-50 split to create back and front) lead to one unexpected fit issue. 

The back, as you can see, is not quite so brilliant a fit.  It kinda bags out along the edge of the yoke, and I’m holding my arms forward.  It looks almost silly big if I stand up “model straight” in it.  Interestingly, in typical “too little, too late” fashion, I found a tidbit in a caption under a picture of a round yoke sweater in my latest issue of Interweave Knits that stated an important subtle fit detail of the round yoke sweater is that the back section should contain fewer stitches than the front to ensure a proper fit.  Shirley Paden I remembered, in her book Knitwear Design Workshop, states that as knitters we treat the front and the back as though they are the same, and mostly, because knit fabric is so flexible, we get away with it.  But in reality, the body, especially the average woman’s chest, is not symmetrical at all between the front and the back.  Apparently I ran into one of those instances where this fact actually matters.  I thought maybe I made the whole thing too big, but I love the fit around the front side.  I could pinch about four inches in the back though!  So, this set of notes will have to go into my “lessons learned” list, which I am starting in my knitting notes on my computer today.  Who knows when it’ll come up again, but I sure wish I had a “tip” sheet with this on it when I started this project!

I think I figured out the fix, if I made it again, or if anyone else reading this post wants to adjust for a larger bust line than this pattern allows for. 

I would knock out two to three sections of the “pie pieces” at cast on (only 4-6 stitches) to reduce the back yoke width, then calculate it up to the ending edge, I would set aside 10-15 sts. fewer for the back than the front when joining at the underarm.  Now, this means that the overall size of the body at the chest point would be 3-4 inches smaller, which apparently in my case would be better.  I think to hourglass it back out to the hips, which did fit pretty well, I’d also compensate with a few extra increases after the waist point in “darts” at the back.  Interpret as you will, but this is my best guess for how to take this sweater pattern from “good” to “perfect” in the fit department for me.

As I said, still love the sweater, and I would still recommend the pattern.  Happy Knitting!

This Moment: The Princess & the Pistol

Tags

children, Disney Princess, kids, nerf, This Moment, toddler, toddlers

{this moment} – A Friday ritual… photo – no words – capturing a moment… A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  Courtesy of Soulemama, here.

Yarn Along – Spring Already!

Tags

dachshunds, knitting, knitting books, Lenten Rose, Sock knitting, spring, Yarn Along

From small things:

Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading?

The weather was so nice today that I completely abandoned my work and went outside with Lil One, Big Bro, and my three dachsies to play.  I even got to take pictures outside for the first time in a long time.  So, above, we have one “Back in Black” Button-top Leg Warmer for me (new design in progress), which is what I am knitting right now, and my latest read, The Knitter’s Book Of Socks, by Clara Parkes, nestled in a very appropriate Ash Wednesday location, the “Lenten Rose” (Helleborus Orientalis) plants in my garden.  All of these things make me happy, but the Spring-inspired energy and sheer joy of the day I think is best expressed by this photo:

Clara Parkes’ Book is wonderful and appealed to the textile science side of my creativity.  It was really nice to read about the “yarn behind the socks”, as it were.  I did take a full college course in textile science, but a specific refresher like this is always welcome, and she made it readable and applicable for sock knitting, which can be tricky to do.  The patterns were also gorgeous.  I am particularly intrigued by Stephen Houghton’s ”Salted Caramels” use of “faux cable” or ”flat cable” textures.  It may go in the queue for use with my leftover ginger sock yarn from hubby’s scarf.  I borrowed the book at the library, but I’ll be purchasing my own copy soon I think.  It is right up there on my list with the Sock Knitting Master Class, which is also wonderful.

An aside:  Speaking of dachsies- I have to wish my “Old Man” a quick Happy Birthday.  Hansi, my oldest little wiener dog, turned 15 this month.  He’s almost all grey on the muzzle now, and as handsome and spirited as ever!

Wishing everyone a great day, week and Spring!