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I think the likelihood that my boss comes to my blog is slim to nil, she's the director of a department in a world renowned company, I'm sure she has more important things to do, but better safe than sorry.
See her rather belated Christmas present after the bump
Continue reading "If you happen to be my boss, please go away" »
Sofi is the name of the little girl who will be wearing this sweater soon.
The only thing not done are the spots. I'm not sure I'll have time to do them and I don't think the sweater is hurt by being plain, but the spots sure are cute. We'll see. I'm also dangerously low on purple yarn so what spots I might knit will be of a fairly small quantity.
I had enough time to make a few spots for the little Dragon Hoodie, before the gift was due to be received. I really like how they look in front.
The back of the sweater, and notes on this version of the pattern, after the bump.
Before I bore you with more of the same, how about a little something new?
I finished my stealth knit a little while ago, and it's awaiting whatever fate the yarn gods have in store for it. That left my needles free for other things.
I begin teaching some classes at the KnitCafe, starting this week. The owner asked me to come up with a simple eyelet scarf pattern and the above image shows the results.
I'm relatively picky about scarf stitches. I don't believe they have to be completely reversible, but I do feel that, if others are respecting your personal space, it shouldn't be apparent if the back and front don't match. So my quest was for a stitch pattern that used only knits, purls, k2togs, ssks and yos, and did so in a manner that was very simple, basically reversible, and would lie flat without any additional edge stitches. I couldn't find anything that entirely suited my needs, so I modified a stitch pattern and came up with what you see above.
Here are some close ups.
There isn't a front or back, per se, but let's call this the front.
And here's the back
The yarn is the leftover Karabella Aurora 8 from Hopeful. I used exactly 2 balls with less than a yard left over after I wove in all the ends and cut the fringe. The scarf blocked out to about 6 feet long. The stitch pattern is a modified 5x5, with a 3 stitch selvage on each side.
I will post the pattern, for free, sometime soon.
And now, some entirely unnecessary images of my Cotswold as it basks in the California sun, after the bump.
Last we met, we learned all about my insecurities and short comings. Yay! It appears I've unveiled some kindred spirits in the process. I'm sure if we all took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test, we'd find ourselves scoring largely the same. But that's not what this post is about. I thought I'd tell you more about that hat I had mentioned.
It sort of came out of nowhere, huh?
Get the whole story, after the bump.
All the notes after the bump
I actually knit this hat a while ago but didn't finish it until yesterday. I've been wearing it to walk Panda early in the morning, but I knew it needed a big pom-pom before I could really show it here.
It's made of GGH Aspen, knit on US# 10.5 needles.
This is one of those ridiculously easy hats that can be knit up in a day, if you have nothing else to do. It's a chunky yarn made of merino and microfiber so it's warm but soft enough to wear against the skin. I usually can't wear hats with any wool content, without feeling itchy, but this hat gives me no problems. I think the combination of the simple stranded pattern, funky ribbing and huge pom-pom, make for quite a hat. Panda, however, finds it rather gauche for her taste.
I know I said I was going to knit a scarf with my sunflower colored Corriedale handspun. I know I said I wouldn't knit a hat because I don't look good in yellow.
I say a lot of things.
So yah, I knit a hat with my handspun and I'm pretty happy with it. The stitch pattern is from a Barbara Walker book and is called "Bleeding Hearts." It doesn't really look like bleeding hearts to me, unless it's some commentary on my political stance, then maybe.
Here's a little close up of the stitch pattern
Panda decided she wanted in on the photo shoot, so I picked her up and gave her a big smooch.
And then I took her picture because after the last post, I felt I needed to prove that I do not condone the humiliation of doggies except inasmuch as I find it funny and post pictures of it which means I sort of do condone it. But let's not dwell on alleged ducky slippers and robes. Instead, let's admire how cute Miss Bear is.
Awwww...
Anyway, I've submitted the hat pattern for consideration in a future edition of Spindlicity. If Janel doesn't want to run it, I'll post the pattern here, so either way, if you want yourself a similar hat, it'll be available somewhere, at sometime.
I took a couple rough photos of the machine knit cardi and cami
The pictures aren't so good because there was only a little daylight left when I took them. And I've been doing housework all day, so the hair; it is in no condition for photographing. But, I think it gives you a general idea of what the pieces look like.
I'm now fully engrossed in Leo's sweater.
This is the back piece. I'm about halfway to the armsceye. It looks thin, but it will block out much wider. So far so good. I got most of it done while watching a movie over at a friend's place. It was a great, relaxing evening.
Leo went out with some friends and brought me home this:
He’s so sweet. Little things like that make knitting miles of ribbing seem fun.
A friend of mine is due, any day now, to have a baby. She has a great affinity for Invader Zim and a really quirky sense of humor. She doesn't seem like someone who'd be likely to be content with run of the mill toys and garments for babies. I decided I had to come up with something that no one else would be able to get her.
So I found some green Calmer, and some left over black cotton yarn. I picked up a little bit of felt and I went to town.
Thus was born a little Gir.
And for scale, here he is in front of some knitting needles.
I know he's not a perfect match but I have to admit to being happy with him nonetheless. He'll be popped in the mail tomorrow to go to his new home.
Also known as "Curses Foiled Again".
This is the second sweater I've knit for Leo and neither have, yet, resulted in the end of our relationship. I will spare you my diatribe on the boyfriend sweater myth, because I'm simply too pleased to have this off the needles
I hope to have a properly modeled version of this for you soon. For now, you'll have to settle for it on me (and slightly rumpled).
Pattern notes after the bump.
For any of you that feared I might be wracked with malaria or some other such disease, fear not. I've been fighting a fever, cough and general run down feeling which may possibly be strep throat, but I've been taking it easy and getting lots of rest, and am already starting to feel better. Saw the doctor on Friday and will know on Monday if it's strep. As a side note, does anyone else have the hardest time with those giant q-tips being jammed down their throat? Man alive!
Between vegging out on the couch watching cartoons, and sleeping, I was able to snap a few photos of my Peppy Long Stockings in all their glory. Here are the pattern notes as well.
Pattern: Peppy Long Stockings
Designer: Me (but based on your every day toe up sock with short row toe and heel)
Yarn: Unknown. It's a self striping sock yarn but I've long ago lost the label. It came in a 100 gram skein, 94 grams of which were used to make the pair of socks. If anyone recognizes the yarn, please let me know.
Needles: Started as 2 socks on 2 circs, switched to DPNs, all in size US #2
I didn't do any shaping in these socks and they fit fairly well. They are a touch baggy at the ankle if I stand on tip toe, but otherwise look pretty cute.
It managed to work out pretty well with the toe, heal and top of the socks coming out in red. It wasn't planned, but it is exactly what I'd want to happen.
And what's a photo shoot without my little glammor girl?
My Nods to Jaywalker are done and here be the pattern notes.
Pattern: Nod to Jaywalker
Designer: Me with inspiration from Grumperina's Jaywalker
Yarn: 48 grams of Lang Jawoll Jacquard 159. However, I needed a little bit of a second 50g skein in order to complete the socks because I lost some amount of yardage matching the stripes of the two socks.
Needles: US #2 set of 5 DPNs
About: The sock is a standard toe up design with both a short row toe and a short row heel. The chevron is made of sets of paired increases and decreases which, to my eye, give a slightly softer look than the more defined chevron used in Jaywalker. This is in no way better or worse, just different, you know?
The socks are technically a touch too small for me, circumference wise. I worked off my stockinette gauge instead of the gauge of the chevron, but I don't mind it. It doesn't bind at all, it just stretches a bit between the chevrons.
I used a tubular bind off at the top and did so with complete disregard to where the row technically began and ended so I'd have a very deliberate looking last stripe. I think this helps prevent the slight irregularity of self patterning sock yarn.
What the heck am I talking about? Well, instead of waiting until I got to the end of a round to start the bind off, I knit a complete round of my last color (purple) regardless of where that purple color started in the round. When every stitch in the round was purple for a single round, I began the bind off from there. I think this is a nice way to finish these self striping socks. The sock on the left is at that point where I'm about to begin the tubular cast off. I'm mid round, but it doesn't matter because it's where I have a single complete purple round of stitches.
I did something similar with my Peppy Long Stockings only with those, I knit until I completely ran out of the red shade and then did the tubular bind off with the yellow. The effect was not so good. It gives just dots of yellow across the top instead of a nice clean stripe. It just doesn't look as purposeful.
Sorry for the crappy photo. It got dark when I was thinking you might want to actually see a picture of what I meant.
One might ask, "Marnie, why not just bind off at the end of your color stripe of choice, so that the stripe is the same width as it appears throughout the sock?" That would be a splendiferous idea, indeed, but it does pose a challenge. It would mean plotting the exact point where you'd have enough yarn to perform a tubular bind off without going into the next color. It could be done, but would probably require some frogging which is not so fun with tubular bind offs. In the end, the stripe would probably still be off by just a smidge, so why not make it look like you bound it off that way on purpose?
Of course, all these points are moot if you forego the tubular bind off for a more traditional bind off. In that case, frogging is much easier and it may make sense to try to plot the bind off to use up almost the complete last stripe. Just note, you still need to leave a tail to weave in and it should be a tail that matches the area around it.
So the socks are done and I’m working on my silky wool project until I begin some work on a certain someone’s book. More on the the former soon. For the latter, you’ll just have to wait.
The Lake Park Glove pattern is now available for free in the pattern section of my site. This thing was a beast to put together so if you find any issues, feel free to drop me a note.
The pattern is very simple, but I've offered lots of information for modifying the pattern and I made charts and verbose instructions for those of you who have a preference. I give because I love.
I hope a few of you will show me your hand spun and variegated yarns worked up in this stitch pattern. I think it'll be great to see how different yarns look.
I have overcome one of my previously mentioned afflictions, or at least have suppressed it long enough to complete the Silky Wool piece.
The lighting in the "model" shots is a little cruddy, but I'm happy to say that shooting myself in front of a dark brown wall appears to make me look slightly less fish-belly white. Not a bad trade off.
I'm modeling here with a pair of dark brown cargo pants, which, oddly enough, suit the top. I'm thinking the top needs some sort of lacy cami underneath, in order to be truly practical, but as a garment, am happy with the end product.
Pattern Notes
Design: My own
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool
Method: Knit with crochet
Will I write up this pattern? I'm thinking not. It's a rather involved pattern and I can't fathom having the time to size it and write up the whole thing. Who knows, maybe someday.
Some bits and details:
The sleeve has a button to keep the pleat from flaring too much. It made a huge difference in the finished appearance. The Silky Wool is so light and able to hold it's shape that the sleeves tended to fly out a bit too much for my taste. An alternative solution would have been to start the pleat halfway down the sleeve, but I like how the button pulls the design together.
The sleeves were knit in the round, from the top down, using Barbara Walker's method, though I had to make some serious modifications to the technique in order to leave the opening for the pleat. In fact, saying it was knit in the round is really a misnomer since the sleeve was worked back and forth with short rows, leaving a wide opening where the pleat went.
The inset was worked by picking up the stitches from the top of the armsceye and working down, then the edges of the inset and the edges of the sleeve, were seamed via crochet.
Here you can see the princess shaping. I have about a 10" difference between my waist and my chest, and hips. When I've knit a piece to correctly match my dimensions, by only decreasing at the side seams, the garment has tended to fit oddly with a funny little peplum effect at the sides and too much excess fabric at my lower back. These princess seams allowed me to distribute the shaping over more points and where they are most needed. I removed the side seams altogether, working it all in one piece. I faked the seams up the princess line by working a slipped stitch, every other row, where the seam would be. The project could just as easily have been worked in separate pieces which would have made the piece easier to block, but it would have probably made the seams less apparent because mattress stitch tends to be so invisible. I really wanted the "seams" to be a design feature.
The buttons are just from my local craft store, nothing fancy shmancy, though I like them. They are metal, maybe pewter, and have a relatively ornate engraved design. I thought for a while about what sort of button would best set off the piece and while I thought wood would be a nice color compliment, it seemed too rustic for the design, while shell or pearl was too dressy. The metal seamed to blend more with the look of the piece, so that they complimented while not overpowering the piece. Even better, the holes in the button were big enough to accommodate a small Chibi. This meant there was no need to find matching embroidery floss or thread to finish the piece. Life is good.
So that's that, another FO.
It was rainy most of this morning so I thought I'd only have crappy indoor shots to show you.
Or pictures of the piece being blocked
A closeup of the waistband facing might be interesting
But we got a bit of sun and I was able to take some better shots.
With a little help from my friends
I am so pleased to present my newest pattern, Giselle, which will be available exclusively through Stitch Diva Studios.
The pattern is currently in the tech editing stage, in Donna Druchunas' capable hands. After that, it goes to layout and then the pattern will be available for order.
Jennifer asked me to model the garment so I met with her, near her home and we shot over two days. I have the first day's shoot up at my Flickr account. I'll have the second day's shoot, shortly in the same location. Check out a couple of the outtakes at the end of the set.
The garment is modeled in three variations; an all knit version (orange), a knit and crochet version (red and silver-mo betta pictures to come) and a cropped version in knit and crochet (to come, in brown and teal.) However, the knitter can work any of the styles in a single color or in two colors and may work knit or crochet trim in any combination.
This design is based on a piece I've called, The Wedding Cardi, which I knit for myself back in 2005, for a friend's wedding.
It is probably obvious that over the last year I have worked on some rather time consuming projects. I have several as yet unveiled ones as well as the Poet Coat and Giselle.
Something hit me this weekend and I just needed to knit a sock. As a general rule, I'm not much for knitting socks, though there are obviously some exceptions, but this weekend, it just felt like the right project and it is more portable than my larger secret project has become.
I did a few things that might not be totally standard. I worked the toe in a smaller needle than the rest of the sock because the gauge of the stockinette toe is so much wider than the twisted stitch pattern. The smaller needles weren't to match the gauge, just to make it a little more even.
And I decided to forgo the reinforced heel flap that most people like. I realize it's more functional to do a standard slipped stitch heel flap, but I just never liked how it interrupted the flow of the stitch pattern on a sock.
Both motifs, on the sock, can be found in Barbara Walker's stitch dictionaries but I made some modifications to both. The main motif required a substantial overhaul while the side motif was just changed so that it would have the same number of rows in each repeat as the main motif.
I think my only concern with this design is that anyone with even slightly shapelier legs than my own, will need some shaping at the calf. Luckily, I've thought about how to handle that and will be putting shaping instructions in the pattern.
Oh, did I not mention that I plan to write a pattern for this? Yah, I do.
I know I'm a little late to be reporting about my weekend. But these pictures are making me happy right now and I want to share.
I finally finished the piece I've been knitting for Donna Druchunas' upcoming book. We were all asked to incorporate one of Dorothy Reade's lace patterns into an original design. I love this sort of challenge. I find I'm far more creative when I have some sort of rule or limitation.
I wish I could show you the whole thing but this teaser will have to do for now. The yarn is Lorna's Laces, Lion and Lamb. And the wee buttons? Those are vintage. I just love old buttons. I've been slowly amassing (maybe more of an "asmattering") a little collection of vintage buttons.
Completing this piece basically frees me of all deadline knitting. There is actually one other small item I need to knit but it's, as I said, small and I expect it to be rather fun, too.
I do have a substantial amount of pattern writing to do now, though. It's never as much fun as the designing and knitting but I guess it's what they pay me for, right?
On Saturday, Leo and I walked around downtown Portland a bit. We live about 10 minutes from downtown, but for the sake of our savings accounts, we don't go terribly often.
Obviously, most shops were a mob scene, this weekend, but we weren't terribly bothered by it. The air was crisp, there was no rain and very little wind. Just gorgeous.
I love how the sidewalks get stained by the fallen leaves.
When one stops staring at her toes, the stuff higher up looks pretty darn nice too.
I finished Astoria.
If I hadn't flubbed the sleeves, the first go around, I probably could have finished this baby in a week.
Most setbacks slow my momentum substantially, and this was no exception, but since this piece is one of those ubiquitous top-down raglans, there was no reason not to finish it up. Almost all the work was already done, and having tried it on, I was sure it was a design I'd enjoy wearing.
The finished piece looks just like I hoped. The body darts allowed me to get a good custom fit and I think the wave motif pops nicely against the deep gray and purple.
And for all of you voyeurs, here's a look at the garments naughty bits.
I ended up with plenty of leftover yarn, after the piece was done. I could have made the sleeves much longer but I didn't think it would look right with the length of the garment. Like Goldilocks would say, this seemed "juuuuuust right."
For those who might ask, and several of you have already, I'm not sure if I'll offer a pattern. Right now, I'm just happy to have a deadline associated with this. We'll see. It's simple enough that it might be worth it to write something up.
On an, arguably, unrelated note, you see those jeans up there? I like them. They fit me well. You see how, in that top left shot, they sit on my hips, near the hem of Astoria? Those are considered a high waisted cut. Can you believe that? When did our waistlines get so low that 3 inches below my belly button is high waisted? Or is my torso so freakishly long that there isn't a mom-pant alive that can pass my hip bone? Let me tell you though, it's nice to wear a pair of pants that doesn't threaten to show the world my knees from a bird's eye view. You know?
Corn on the Nod is finished.
This little guy used one full skein of Crystal Palace Maizy in Bittersweet (dark purple) and about a half a skein of Crystal Palace Maizy in Neptune (variegated blues, purples and greens). I knit it on US#1/2.25mm needles.
From the hem to the top of the argyle, I used one method of double knitting in which both the front and back of the knitting are knit in a single row. This produces a fabric that is double thickness, reversible and attached, so that the two sides cannot be separated.
For the striped areas, I used a second form of double knitting that allows you to knit in the round on straight needles. You knit the front on one row, then turn and knit the back. The front and back sections are not attached to each other. It's the same method I use to knit the fingers on my Hooray For Me Gloves. Once I started the shaping, on the crown and ear flaps, I separated the stitches onto two circulars and knit in the round per the standard two-circs method.
In the argyle areas, the two sides have reversed color patterns. In the striped areas both sides are identical. This gives both sides of the hat a unique but unified look. I thought I'd like the mostly purple side more, but now that it's finished, I'm lean a little more towards other side. Luckily, I don't have to choose.
As you can see here, my seaming is a bit wonky in areas. In hindsight, I should have worked the selvage stitches slightly differently in the first double knit section, so that seaming would be easier.
There are a few things about which I'd caution you. Firstly, is blocking. I have not touched iron to this fabric but I've seen swatches of corn based fibers that looked decidedly melted in spots. I would be hesitant to use this for anything lacy that would need serious blocking. Additionally, the yarn is pretty splitty which means you do need to keep an eye on what you are doing, but it's certainly manageable. Finally, this yarn is horrible for seaming. I would highly recommend subbing out Maizy for some embroidery floss for any seaming you might do. Otherwise, though, it's a great yarn and the hat even passes Leo's stringent standards for comfort.
Well, after claiming that I would need to use the pink or orange yarn and after an overwhelming majority suggested the pink, as the best option, I went with...
...mint green.
Once I completed the brown portion of the garment, with most of the 4th ball left, I realized that the two balls of mint green should be just enough. I really like the pink yarn, but I'm going to use it for something different.
I knit and reknit the green portion, a few times to get just the right effect.
When I was finally happy with the results, I debated doing the straps in brown, but decided green, with brown trim would be better. After three days of obsessing over the piece, the knitting and crochet are done.
The sun poked her little head out today, so I decided to get some shots while the shooting's good. The piece is just lousy with unwoven ends, right now, but the nice thing about having a mannequin is that I can easily tuck them away, and she won't move around and set those ends loose.
So here it is, all done, but for the weaving.
I don't think I'll keep that particular ribbon at the bust, I'll swap it out for something simpler, but I wanted something there to complete the look.
Here's a back view and a view of how I'll most likely wear it; layered under a jacket. If I had more yardage, I think I would have done short little flutter sleeves, terminating in the same lace as the hem, but a tank is nice too.
It's a relief to have this finished. UFOs really irk me, I think because I'm so bad about revisiting them if I've lost my momentum. I seem to be getting better at it, with age, but I still think I do best with a big burst of inspiration.
You know what's funny? This might be one of the few garments that looks a little better on me than the mannequin. The very narrow hips and shoulders of my stand-in, make the piece look unbalanced (top heavy?), to my eye. Still, she holds still which is useful on these overcast days.
When I first started designing this, I felt sure that I did not want ribbing at the neck and hem. I can't remember why, because I actually really like it, now. At the sleeve hem, I just used a simple i-cord bind-off to maintain the rather pronounced scallop that the lace produces. But, at the neck and hem, I think the ribbing does a nice job of producing a clean finished edge.
Speaking of the neckline, I used a few decreases to keep that boat neck from falling off the shoulders. It juuuust covers my bra straps. I could probably have done a little more ribbing if it bothered me, but right now, I like it.
I really don't think I need to say much about my love for Calmer. I've used it quite a few times before and love it to pieces. It's soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, and for those of you who can't stomach the price, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the yardage and how far it goes, when knit at the recommended gauge.
All in all, I think it's another piece I'll actually wear. I'll try to get a shot of me in it, eventually, but it's a bit too rainy and cold right now.
I've been working on lots of little things lately. There's a bigger item on the needles too, but I haven't had the time or mental fortitude to tackle it recently.
Firstly, the handsome one has been subtly hinting that he needs more hats. And by subtle, I mean he's been saying, "I need more hats." Leo wears beanies almost every day, and his favorites are soft, wool-free, and in a neutral colorways.
Worked in Frog Tree Pima/Silk [85% pima cotton/15% silk] this little beanie bears a striking resemblance to the Carlsbad hat, only worked in a larger gauge.
I need to get a shot of him actually wearing the hat. Right now, this dark, blurry shot of Leo (and the hat) watching me teach Madeline to salsa dance, is the best I can offer.
Hey, you celebrate your birthday, your way, I'll celebrate my birthday, my way!
And now that one hat is done, I've cast on another.
Beanie number two will be worked in solid black (same yarn) and entirely in 2x2 ribbing. This will be a variant of the Pismo hat.
I think Leo will really enjoy wearing these hats, because the yarn is so soft, but the fibers aren't as easy care as some of the other hats I've made, so I'll probably be casting on at least one more design, in 100% cotton.
My friend, Julia, was asking if I put elastic into my cotton hats. I never have and the hats don't seam to be any worse for the wear. Some negative ease seems to be enough for the hats to keep their shape.
On the tatting front, I feel like I'm really getting a grasp of the basic. I'm certainly no expert, yet, but it's all starting to make more sense.
These are the two types of thread I've been using.
The green is standard Pearl (or "perle") Cotton. It's size 5 and seems to come in a huge selection of colors.
The white is Pearl Cotton in size 8, which comes in little balls and is available in a much more limited color range. The craft stores have white, black and ecru, while a local needlepoint store had those and some primary colors.
The latter produces very delicate little lace pieces, while the former really shows off the texture of the tatted stitches. They almost look like little beads, to my eye.
I worked on this while riding the local public transportation and was really appreciating how portable it was. I was even able to work on it while standing, which I find harder to do with my bigger knitted pieces.
Passing fancy? New passion? Who knows, but it's fun so far.
This piece is so different than my normal style. Usually, I like to create something you couldn't just pop into Old Navy or Gap and buy. But sometimes it's nice to crank out something so utilitarian that you could wear it twice in a week and no one would notice.
There's not too much to say about it. The lines and construction are all quite simple. It's incredibly comfortable and should be a nice layering piece on those rare occasions I need to be in the office for work.
I think my mannequin wears it a little better than I do. She's such a show off.
Even though this piece feels a little "blah" to me, there are elements I like. I find the wide ribbing very flattering and I thought the way the collar looked, when half finished, could be modified into an interesting shawl collar on a cardigan.
For now, this piece is off to New Hampshire to get a warm dip in a dye bath.
My mom did an amazing job overdyeing my Cowl.
"I’m afraid I just blue myself"
She used two dips in a muted blue dye which allowed just a little of the warmth of the original beige to shine through. The result still looks blue to me but teeters on the edge of a sage green. It's really striking in person. Of course, pictures never do it justice.
The girls are just there to draw attention away from how much we need to prune the shrubbery.
The free pattern download for Sinuate is now available. If you are on Ravelry, you can see all the details here.
The pattern is two full pages of instructions plus a cover.
The piece uses about 270 yards of fiber that's 15wpi (somewhere between a DK and Worsted) and requires US #6/4mm needles and a size F/3.75mm crochet hook.
If you have any trouble downloading the pattern, please let me know.
Yesterday was Julia's baby shower, where crafty women, from far and wide, came to rain gifts and well wishes on Julia and her li'l bun in the oven. It was so great to see my local friends and meet some amazing women I hadn't met before. Such a great day.
Honestly, so many people were taking pictures that I didn't go to great lengths to get all the prime shots, but you can see what I took, over on Fickr.
But there are a couple of shots that I'd like to highlight, for totally selfish reasons.
Here's a more detailed shot that will appear in the pattern.
In the mean time, I leave you with a little more sweetness
And, my friend Chrissy's dog, Akasha, wearing a hand knit sweater.
The Sam I Am Cardigan is complete, and I got way more length than I thought I would.
There is something truly satisfying about creating a garment from pure fluff (albeit, pre washed and dyed fluff, thankyouverymuch.) I simply haven't had the sticktoittiveness to spin up 1000 yards of a single fiber, so stripes are an obvious solution.
The finished piece fits well and is soft enough to wear near skin, which isn't surprising since it's mostly merino with some silk and cormo.
I don't think I'll ever use more than one button on this. It's how I wear almost all my cardigans, but I put in a whole set of them, just to leave my options open.
Speaking of the button band, I can never remember which way it should open for men versus women, so if I reversed it, I'm not surprised. I had a 50-50 chance to get it right.
I can't finish this post without including a shot of me wearing the piece. Here I am on our dormant lawn. Portland goes pretty hot and dry in the summer and it's a rare person whose lawn is actually green, but come winter, with all the rain and mild temperatures, it's lush as all get up. So, um, ignore the lawn, if you would.
Completely unrelated, but of great importance, there's a new pusher in town. For those of you who read JenLa, the La half has started her own little crack yarn line and I'm fortunate enough to have a sample of it. It's damn fine stuff, indeed. Think soft, smooshy merino in gorgeous and rich monochromatic variegated colors. I foresee quite a following for it.
It looks like she may be sold out right now, but keep your eyes peeled, I expect she'll be dying up more.
I finished the Nehalem Bay shawl a couple days ago but it took me a little while to get it all blocked out and modeled. The lighting was pretty poor, so the shots aren't great, but you get the idea.
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
The size is also a good one for my intended use. I like the idea of a shawl, but I get a lot more mileage out of scarves and I expect to use this that way, a lot, this winter. The best part is that even when I get to my destination, the scarf converts back to its shawl role if it gets too chilly in the building. This makes it all the more appropriate to use a good sock yarn, since it's likely to get lots of real world wear and tear. I have to thank Julia for gifting me such fantastic yarn.
Hey, guess who's back and looking better than ever?
I even have a pattern in this edition.
I actually designed this way back when, right after I designed my Lake Park Hat and Gloves. In fact, I designed it so long ago, it was before we adopted Ms. Theano-Purl. (Excuse me while I get a little nostalgic for puppy cuteness and then remember what a huge pain in the keister she was and how much more delightful she is now.)
Anyway, I haven't had a chance to actually look through the whole site but what I've seen looks great. Yay for the return of Spindlicity.
The new Twist Collective is up and I think you'll agree that it's a fantastic issue. There are so many great designs by so many great designers.
My own contribution is Dietrich
Photos copyright Caroline Bergeron All Rights Reserved
Layout by Twist collective.
Dietrich is a simple felted cloche with a subtle, asymmetrical brim. When I told Kate I really wanted to adorn it with a feather, she said it was a great idea and said she had just the feather, if I hadn't picked one out already. I think she did an amazing job styling it. I love it.
The only problem with designing felted items is that you can't know if you got it just right until it's too late to undo what you've done.
The hat starts big and floppy
The first version had a VERY dramatic brim, which is fun, but not as practical, so I knit a second version, that you see in the pattern shots, and kept the original to play with.
Dietrich not your thing? There's oodles of great content over in the winter edition, so go on over and check it out.
1. IMG_0008.jpg, 2. IMG_0006.jpg, 3. IMG_0003.jpg, 4. IMG_0012.jpg
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
It's always good to have one little mindless project on the needles that can go anywhere. I've been toting this little project around for a month now, and mostly working it on the train, when my more involved projects would be unmanageable.
The final piece is really dense, so very warm, long enough to wrap around the neck several times, and bright and cheery enough to counteract the winter gloom in Portland.
La Cumparsita is arguably the most famous tango. We may not all be masters of those intricate yet subtle steps and intimate grips, turns and dips, but we can surely feel as sultry, wrapped in an airy and soft lacy shawl.
Sometimes finishing a project is an act of pure willpower and sometimes projects are a joy from conception to completion. This project fell into the latter, for me. I had no other pending deadlines, so this wasn't even a procrastination project, it was simply fun to knit.
I am nearly done writing the draft of this pattern and am looking for a tech editor to finalize it. I hope to have the pattern available for sale by next month (fingers crossed.)
A crisp cool linen skirt. What could be nicer on a hot day?
This will definitely need a slip or underskirt, since it's a bit sheer, but that seems fine to me. I think I'll pair them with my black Doc Martin mary janes.
All in all, a fun little project that was a good mindless knit. I love how the linen softens and tightens up when washed and dried. Except for the bit of ironing it will require, it should be a sturdy and low maintenance piece. On that note, does anyone have a visceral response to putting their knits in the dryer? I'm so used to hand washing and drying. Even knowing that linen loves to be washed and dried, didn't keep me from feeling a little dread when I put her in the dragon's maw.
Sometimes being a slouch is just fine. Normally, I love knitting fitted, figure hugging designs that appreciate all the fantastic curves we women have to offer but occasionally, all I want is something comfy and slouchy and relaxed while still being appropriate for human interaction. (I've heard it's frowned upon to go out in public in your robe. Go figure.)
Remember Freudian Stitch? Long since ripped, it's now become this.
It's a simple design with plenty of ease and a huge scoop neck that can be worn on or off the shoulders. The cowl is gently flared to allow it to drape loosely at the neck or be worn across the shoulders, as desired.
The simple cable running up the front and back has been scaled down to run along the sleeves as well.
As I've noted in the past, I just love working with Silky Wool. The tweedy color, subtle texture and crisp hand, make for a lovely fabric and the light weight doesn't add bulk and is suitable for most seasons.
I'm not sure if I'll offer a pattern or not, that'll depend on time and customer interest. It's not a complicated piece but I would be offering several different cable charts to ensure that the scale of the cables fits the larger sizes so the cost in time and tech editing would be a little higher than usual.
But hey, this is my first official knitting photoshoot in the new home. It's silly but it feels a little momentous to me. Even the girls got in on the fun.
The Tour de Fleece pushed me to do a lot of spinning and now I feel compelled to knit my new skeins.
The thing, though, with knitting your own handspun is that the quantity you have is it, especially if you buy handpainted fibers produced in small quantities. Mostly, my skeins run 2-4 ounces which may vary in yardage depending on fiber type, ply and weight. Ideally, I want to avoid projects where I'll come up short on yardage, but I still want to use as much of the yarn up as possible so as not to waste any of my hard work spinning it. A challenge!
My very last skein from the tour was a merino/bamboo blend from Freckle Face Fibers that I spun up into a little more than 600 yards of fingering weight singles. It seemed like plenty of yardage for a rectangular wrap, so I got to looking through some stitch dictionaries to find something that was lacy but simple enough to stand up to the highly variegated rainbow colorway.
Making use of my kitchen scale and a center pull ball, I managed to achieve my goal of using the entire skein, with no waste.
I call this, "burning the skein at both ends."
I trimmed the shawl with a little Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in a light beige shade, blocked and voila.
Do you see anyone peeking around the corner.
The main motif is out of one of the Barbara Walker treasuries, and then I scaled it down near each end and finished it off with a simple ruffle.
The cast on edge is actually the center back and to use up as much yarn as possible I used the tail from the cast on and felted it to the start of the yarn that I used to pickup and knit down from the other end. So the only ends were at each end.
And lastly, my dogs are cute.
I have freakishly small ears that reject all ear buds. I've used in-ear models that work like ear plugs, and models with little hooks that go over the ear. The former cause me endless pain and the latter fall off when I move at a pace faster than a gentle stroll. All this makes running while listening to my ipod, an exercise in frustration. The solution seems to be to combine the hook on models with a comfortably snug hat, to hold the ear buds in place.
All my hats are warm wool or fleece so I decided to knit a hat. And heck, while I'm coming up with my own design, why not make something that would actually allow for a ponytail or two.
These dark and blurry pictures are just a sneak peak of the dead simple design I came up with. The yarn is Elann Esprit (nearly identical to Cascade Fixation) and the colors are leftover from my Assets Of Evo project.
I plan to put together a very inexpensive little pattern for this, that I hope to release in the next few weeks, time permitting.
Also, an obligatory doggy fix.
A fat squirrel on our patchy but quite green lawn. The girls are not fans.
Yummy green olives, capers and artichoke hearts combined to make a delicious spread. Check click the image for a link to the recipe.
Not green, but a recipe recommended by the same site, is a buttery tomato sauce I've garnished with bacon. Mmmm, bacon.
And lastly a quick little spiral striped (jog free, baby!) hat in soft superwash merino left over from another design.
The Spring/Summer 2010 Twist Collective is up and it's visually stunning and filled with amazing designs. I was lucky enough to have two submissions accepted and will do a blog post for each.
The first piece is Damariscotta.
Named for a hard to pronounce but lovely little town in Maine, near where my dad's family has land. I'll sometimes fly out to Maine to go to the Fiber Frolic with my mom, and we'll all stay at a little cabin that my dad built on the land there.
Having grown up in New England and having spent plenty of time in Maine, I associate the area with a love for the ocean, a rather pragmatic sensibility and clean and structural design. I strove to capture those qualities in this top.
The piece is knit from the top down with instructions for an entirely seamless construction, right down to the double-knit hems that are grafted closed. I've also included instructions for people who might run at the sight of the words "graft" or "double-knit" so don't despair if that's not your cup of tea.
I also think this piece would be magnificent with a simple lace border around the hem and sleeves, instead of a finished hem shown. A wee bit of single crochet would prevent any curling and it would turn this simple piece into something worthy of a pretty pencil skirt and heels.
While I love the idea of a deep angled square neck (image it over a pretty little lace tank,) I knew that wouldn't suit everyone and that is why I chose the top-down construction instead of my preferred method of knitting bottom up. Keeping in mind that the single crochet will pull in the neck a little, one can simply throw the live stitches onto waste yarn and try the piece on to determine the most comfortable and flattering neckline depth and width.
Once you work the neckline you like best, you can shape the torso to follow every curve or leave out the shaping altogether for a more relaxed fit. The sleeves can be worked the same way, and can easily be lengthened to fit your climate and preference.
So that's Damariscotta for you. I hope that those of you who like the design will enjoy knitting it, and if it's not your style, I have no doubt there's another piece in this edition that will catch your eye.
Check out this and all the other beautiful patterns in the Spring/Summer 2010 edition of Twist Collective, by going here.
The new Twist Collective is live and it's beautiful. I have seen these patterns from their thoughtfully laid out submissions right up to their final tech edited PDF. I've read the articles from their early drafts to their polished finished composition. I feel personally invested in each and every piece's success and receptions from knitters.
There's a lot to love in this edition, including two beautiful garments from my dear friend, Julia Trice, and a must read article on seamed knitting, by Sandi Rosner. And while I think all the articles are fantastic, I'd be remis if I didn't direct you to this story, where you'll struggle to decide which is more endearing, the story itself or the beautiful illustrations.
Of course, I've made my own contribution to this edition (beyond my work behind the scenes), about which I plan to do a separate, more in-depth post. Make sure you cruise by my his and hers pattern, Doppler.
Photo copyright Jane Heller
Originally conceived as just a men's garment, with an asymmetrical ribbed pattern to keep the knitting interesting but not too fussy, I added in a women's version too, sized proportionally for women's standards, with just a hint of waist shaping. Both patterns come with both the crew and turtleneck instructions, so you can really tailor this garment to your preference.
I know it's simple, without the excitement of some of the myriad designs also available in the edition, but I hope it'll be a wardrobe staple for those who choose to knit it.
Now stop reading my blog post and go check out this amazing new edition.
The new Twist Collective is live. I know I say it every season and I mean it, I am honored and humbled to be a part of such an amazing magazine.
My two patterns this season are
And Zosia
As always, I'll talk more about the designs in a follow-up post. For now, go see everything in this beautiful edition, including all the amazing articles.
I feel like I'm on a designing kick right now. I just released two patterns for Twist, I have yarn for two deadline projects, due to publish next spring and I just sent a new design, Cercis, to my tech editor to be self published.
I took some pictures of Cercis this weekend, while we were at the coast. I thought I'd share my favorite outtake. It's useless for actually seeing the sweater but it has everything I love; my pack, haystack rock, a bright sunny day, knitting and the ocean.
I hope to have this pattern ready for release in the next couple of weeks. Until then, I have some designing to do.
I had enough time to make a few spots for the little Dragon Hoodie, before the gift was due to be received. I really like how they look in front.
The back of the sweater, and notes on this version of the pattern, after the bump.
Sofi is the name of the little girl who will be wearing this sweater soon.
The only thing not done are the spots. I'm not sure I'll have time to do them and I don't think the sweater is hurt by being plain, but the spots sure are cute. We'll see. I'm also dangerously low on purple yarn so what spots I might knit will be of a fairly small quantity.
I think the likelihood that my boss comes to my blog is slim to nil, she's the director of a department in a world renowned company, I'm sure she has more important things to do, but better safe than sorry.
See her rather belated Christmas present after the bump
Continue reading "If you happen to be my boss, please go away" »
Last we met, we learned all about my insecurities and short comings. Yay! It appears I've unveiled some kindred spirits in the process. I'm sure if we all took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test, we'd find ourselves scoring largely the same. But that's not what this post is about. I thought I'd tell you more about that hat I had mentioned.
It sort of came out of nowhere, huh?
Get the whole story, after the bump.
Before I bore you with more of the same, how about a little something new?
I finished my stealth knit a little while ago, and it's awaiting whatever fate the yarn gods have in store for it. That left my needles free for other things.
I begin teaching some classes at the KnitCafe, starting this week. The owner asked me to come up with a simple eyelet scarf pattern and the above image shows the results.
I'm relatively picky about scarf stitches. I don't believe they have to be completely reversible, but I do feel that, if others are respecting your personal space, it shouldn't be apparent if the back and front don't match. So my quest was for a stitch pattern that used only knits, purls, k2togs, ssks and yos, and did so in a manner that was very simple, basically reversible, and would lie flat without any additional edge stitches. I couldn't find anything that entirely suited my needs, so I modified a stitch pattern and came up with what you see above.
Here are some close ups.
There isn't a front or back, per se, but let's call this the front.
And here's the back
The yarn is the leftover Karabella Aurora 8 from Hopeful. I used exactly 2 balls with less than a yard left over after I wove in all the ends and cut the fringe. The scarf blocked out to about 6 feet long. The stitch pattern is a modified 5x5, with a 3 stitch selvage on each side.
I will post the pattern, for free, sometime soon.
And now, some entirely unnecessary images of my Cotswold as it basks in the California sun, after the bump.
I actually knit this hat a while ago but didn't finish it until yesterday. I've been wearing it to walk Panda early in the morning, but I knew it needed a big pom-pom before I could really show it here.
It's made of GGH Aspen, knit on US# 10.5 needles.
This is one of those ridiculously easy hats that can be knit up in a day, if you have nothing else to do. It's a chunky yarn made of merino and microfiber so it's warm but soft enough to wear against the skin. I usually can't wear hats with any wool content, without feeling itchy, but this hat gives me no problems. I think the combination of the simple stranded pattern, funky ribbing and huge pom-pom, make for quite a hat. Panda, however, finds it rather gauche for her taste.
All the notes after the bump
I know I said I was going to knit a scarf with my sunflower colored Corriedale handspun. I know I said I wouldn't knit a hat because I don't look good in yellow.
I say a lot of things.
So yah, I knit a hat with my handspun and I'm pretty happy with it. The stitch pattern is from a Barbara Walker book and is called "Bleeding Hearts." It doesn't really look like bleeding hearts to me, unless it's some commentary on my political stance, then maybe.
Here's a little close up of the stitch pattern
Panda decided she wanted in on the photo shoot, so I picked her up and gave her a big smooch.
And then I took her picture because after the last post, I felt I needed to prove that I do not condone the humiliation of doggies except inasmuch as I find it funny and post pictures of it which means I sort of do condone it. But let's not dwell on alleged ducky slippers and robes. Instead, let's admire how cute Miss Bear is.
Awwww...
Anyway, I've submitted the hat pattern for consideration in a future edition of Spindlicity. If Janel doesn't want to run it, I'll post the pattern here, so either way, if you want yourself a similar hat, it'll be available somewhere, at sometime.
I took a couple rough photos of the machine knit cardi and cami
The pictures aren't so good because there was only a little daylight left when I took them. And I've been doing housework all day, so the hair; it is in no condition for photographing. But, I think it gives you a general idea of what the pieces look like.
I'm now fully engrossed in Leo's sweater.
This is the back piece. I'm about halfway to the armsceye. It looks thin, but it will block out much wider. So far so good. I got most of it done while watching a movie over at a friend's place. It was a great, relaxing evening.
Leo went out with some friends and brought me home this:
He’s so sweet. Little things like that make knitting miles of ribbing seem fun.
A friend of mine is due, any day now, to have a baby. She has a great affinity for Invader Zim and a really quirky sense of humor. She doesn't seem like someone who'd be likely to be content with run of the mill toys and garments for babies. I decided I had to come up with something that no one else would be able to get her.
So I found some green Calmer, and some left over black cotton yarn. I picked up a little bit of felt and I went to town.
Thus was born a little Gir.
And for scale, here he is in front of some knitting needles.
I know he's not a perfect match but I have to admit to being happy with him nonetheless. He'll be popped in the mail tomorrow to go to his new home.
Also known as "Curses Foiled Again".
This is the second sweater I've knit for Leo and neither have, yet, resulted in the end of our relationship. I will spare you my diatribe on the boyfriend sweater myth, because I'm simply too pleased to have this off the needles
I hope to have a properly modeled version of this for you soon. For now, you'll have to settle for it on me (and slightly rumpled).
Pattern notes after the bump.
For any of you that feared I might be wracked with malaria or some other such disease, fear not. I've been fighting a fever, cough and general run down feeling which may possibly be strep throat, but I've been taking it easy and getting lots of rest, and am already starting to feel better. Saw the doctor on Friday and will know on Monday if it's strep. As a side note, does anyone else have the hardest time with those giant q-tips being jammed down their throat? Man alive!
Between vegging out on the couch watching cartoons, and sleeping, I was able to snap a few photos of my Peppy Long Stockings in all their glory. Here are the pattern notes as well.
Pattern: Peppy Long Stockings
Designer: Me (but based on your every day toe up sock with short row toe and heel)
Yarn: Unknown. It's a self striping sock yarn but I've long ago lost the label. It came in a 100 gram skein, 94 grams of which were used to make the pair of socks. If anyone recognizes the yarn, please let me know.
Needles: Started as 2 socks on 2 circs, switched to DPNs, all in size US #2
I didn't do any shaping in these socks and they fit fairly well. They are a touch baggy at the ankle if I stand on tip toe, but otherwise look pretty cute.
It managed to work out pretty well with the toe, heal and top of the socks coming out in red. It wasn't planned, but it is exactly what I'd want to happen.
And what's a photo shoot without my little glammor girl?
My Nods to Jaywalker are done and here be the pattern notes.
Pattern: Nod to Jaywalker
Designer: Me with inspiration from Grumperina's Jaywalker
Yarn: 48 grams of Lang Jawoll Jacquard 159. However, I needed a little bit of a second 50g skein in order to complete the socks because I lost some amount of yardage matching the stripes of the two socks.
Needles: US #2 set of 5 DPNs
About: The sock is a standard toe up design with both a short row toe and a short row heel. The chevron is made of sets of paired increases and decreases which, to my eye, give a slightly softer look than the more defined chevron used in Jaywalker. This is in no way better or worse, just different, you know?
The socks are technically a touch too small for me, circumference wise. I worked off my stockinette gauge instead of the gauge of the chevron, but I don't mind it. It doesn't bind at all, it just stretches a bit between the chevrons.
I used a tubular bind off at the top and did so with complete disregard to where the row technically began and ended so I'd have a very deliberate looking last stripe. I think this helps prevent the slight irregularity of self patterning sock yarn.
What the heck am I talking about? Well, instead of waiting until I got to the end of a round to start the bind off, I knit a complete round of my last color (purple) regardless of where that purple color started in the round. When every stitch in the round was purple for a single round, I began the bind off from there. I think this is a nice way to finish these self striping socks. The sock on the left is at that point where I'm about to begin the tubular cast off. I'm mid round, but it doesn't matter because it's where I have a single complete purple round of stitches.
I did something similar with my Peppy Long Stockings only with those, I knit until I completely ran out of the red shade and then did the tubular bind off with the yellow. The effect was not so good. It gives just dots of yellow across the top instead of a nice clean stripe. It just doesn't look as purposeful.
Sorry for the crappy photo. It got dark when I was thinking you might want to actually see a picture of what I meant.
One might ask, "Marnie, why not just bind off at the end of your color stripe of choice, so that the stripe is the same width as it appears throughout the sock?" That would be a splendiferous idea, indeed, but it does pose a challenge. It would mean plotting the exact point where you'd have enough yarn to perform a tubular bind off without going into the next color. It could be done, but would probably require some frogging which is not so fun with tubular bind offs. In the end, the stripe would probably still be off by just a smidge, so why not make it look like you bound it off that way on purpose?
Of course, all these points are moot if you forego the tubular bind off for a more traditional bind off. In that case, frogging is much easier and it may make sense to try to plot the bind off to use up almost the complete last stripe. Just note, you still need to leave a tail to weave in and it should be a tail that matches the area around it.
So the socks are done and I’m working on my silky wool project until I begin some work on a certain someone’s book. More on the the former soon. For the latter, you’ll just have to wait.
The Lake Park Glove pattern is now available for free in the pattern section of my site. This thing was a beast to put together so if you find any issues, feel free to drop me a note.
The pattern is very simple, but I've offered lots of information for modifying the pattern and I made charts and verbose instructions for those of you who have a preference. I give because I love.
I hope a few of you will show me your hand spun and variegated yarns worked up in this stitch pattern. I think it'll be great to see how different yarns look.
I have overcome one of my previously mentioned afflictions, or at least have suppressed it long enough to complete the Silky Wool piece.
The lighting in the "model" shots is a little cruddy, but I'm happy to say that shooting myself in front of a dark brown wall appears to make me look slightly less fish-belly white. Not a bad trade off.
I'm modeling here with a pair of dark brown cargo pants, which, oddly enough, suit the top. I'm thinking the top needs some sort of lacy cami underneath, in order to be truly practical, but as a garment, am happy with the end product.
Pattern Notes
Design: My own
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool
Method: Knit with crochet
Will I write up this pattern? I'm thinking not. It's a rather involved pattern and I can't fathom having the time to size it and write up the whole thing. Who knows, maybe someday.
Some bits and details:
The sleeve has a button to keep the pleat from flaring too much. It made a huge difference in the finished appearance. The Silky Wool is so light and able to hold it's shape that the sleeves tended to fly out a bit too much for my taste. An alternative solution would have been to start the pleat halfway down the sleeve, but I like how the button pulls the design together.
The sleeves were knit in the round, from the top down, using Barbara Walker's method, though I had to make some serious modifications to the technique in order to leave the opening for the pleat. In fact, saying it was knit in the round is really a misnomer since the sleeve was worked back and forth with short rows, leaving a wide opening where the pleat went.
The inset was worked by picking up the stitches from the top of the armsceye and working down, then the edges of the inset and the edges of the sleeve, were seamed via crochet.
Here you can see the princess shaping. I have about a 10" difference between my waist and my chest, and hips. When I've knit a piece to correctly match my dimensions, by only decreasing at the side seams, the garment has tended to fit oddly with a funny little peplum effect at the sides and too much excess fabric at my lower back. These princess seams allowed me to distribute the shaping over more points and where they are most needed. I removed the side seams altogether, working it all in one piece. I faked the seams up the princess line by working a slipped stitch, every other row, where the seam would be. The project could just as easily have been worked in separate pieces which would have made the piece easier to block, but it would have probably made the seams less apparent because mattress stitch tends to be so invisible. I really wanted the "seams" to be a design feature.
The buttons are just from my local craft store, nothing fancy shmancy, though I like them. They are metal, maybe pewter, and have a relatively ornate engraved design. I thought for a while about what sort of button would best set off the piece and while I thought wood would be a nice color compliment, it seemed too rustic for the design, while shell or pearl was too dressy. The metal seamed to blend more with the look of the piece, so that they complimented while not overpowering the piece. Even better, the holes in the button were big enough to accommodate a small Chibi. This meant there was no need to find matching embroidery floss or thread to finish the piece. Life is good.
So that's that, another FO.
It was rainy most of this morning so I thought I'd only have crappy indoor shots to show you.
Or pictures of the piece being blocked
A closeup of the waistband facing might be interesting
But we got a bit of sun and I was able to take some better shots.
With a little help from my friends
I am so pleased to present my newest pattern, Giselle, which will be available exclusively through Stitch Diva Studios.
The pattern is currently in the tech editing stage, in Donna Druchunas' capable hands. After that, it goes to layout and then the pattern will be available for order.
Jennifer asked me to model the garment so I met with her, near her home and we shot over two days. I have the first day's shoot up at my Flickr account. I'll have the second day's shoot, shortly in the same location. Check out a couple of the outtakes at the end of the set.
The garment is modeled in three variations; an all knit version (orange), a knit and crochet version (red and silver-mo betta pictures to come) and a cropped version in knit and crochet (to come, in brown and teal.) However, the knitter can work any of the styles in a single color or in two colors and may work knit or crochet trim in any combination.
This design is based on a piece I've called, The Wedding Cardi, which I knit for myself back in 2005, for a friend's wedding.
It is probably obvious that over the last year I have worked on some rather time consuming projects. I have several as yet unveiled ones as well as the Poet Coat and Giselle.
Something hit me this weekend and I just needed to knit a sock. As a general rule, I'm not much for knitting socks, though there are obviously some exceptions, but this weekend, it just felt like the right project and it is more portable than my larger secret project has become.
I did a few things that might not be totally standard. I worked the toe in a smaller needle than the rest of the sock because the gauge of the stockinette toe is so much wider than the twisted stitch pattern. The smaller needles weren't to match the gauge, just to make it a little more even.
And I decided to forgo the reinforced heel flap that most people like. I realize it's more functional to do a standard slipped stitch heel flap, but I just never liked how it interrupted the flow of the stitch pattern on a sock.
Both motifs, on the sock, can be found in Barbara Walker's stitch dictionaries but I made some modifications to both. The main motif required a substantial overhaul while the side motif was just changed so that it would have the same number of rows in each repeat as the main motif.
I think my only concern with this design is that anyone with even slightly shapelier legs than my own, will need some shaping at the calf. Luckily, I've thought about how to handle that and will be putting shaping instructions in the pattern.
Oh, did I not mention that I plan to write a pattern for this? Yah, I do.
I know I'm a little late to be reporting about my weekend. But these pictures are making me happy right now and I want to share.
I finally finished the piece I've been knitting for Donna Druchunas' upcoming book. We were all asked to incorporate one of Dorothy Reade's lace patterns into an original design. I love this sort of challenge. I find I'm far more creative when I have some sort of rule or limitation.
I wish I could show you the whole thing but this teaser will have to do for now. The yarn is Lorna's Laces, Lion and Lamb. And the wee buttons? Those are vintage. I just love old buttons. I've been slowly amassing (maybe more of an "asmattering") a little collection of vintage buttons.
Completing this piece basically frees me of all deadline knitting. There is actually one other small item I need to knit but it's, as I said, small and I expect it to be rather fun, too.
I do have a substantial amount of pattern writing to do now, though. It's never as much fun as the designing and knitting but I guess it's what they pay me for, right?
On Saturday, Leo and I walked around downtown Portland a bit. We live about 10 minutes from downtown, but for the sake of our savings accounts, we don't go terribly often.
Obviously, most shops were a mob scene, this weekend, but we weren't terribly bothered by it. The air was crisp, there was no rain and very little wind. Just gorgeous.
I love how the sidewalks get stained by the fallen leaves.
When one stops staring at her toes, the stuff higher up looks pretty darn nice too.
I finished Astoria.
If I hadn't flubbed the sleeves, the first go around, I probably could have finished this baby in a week.
Most setbacks slow my momentum substantially, and this was no exception, but since this piece is one of those ubiquitous top-down raglans, there was no reason not to finish it up. Almost all the work was already done, and having tried it on, I was sure it was a design I'd enjoy wearing.
The finished piece looks just like I hoped. The body darts allowed me to get a good custom fit and I think the wave motif pops nicely against the deep gray and purple.
And for all of you voyeurs, here's a look at the garments naughty bits.
I ended up with plenty of leftover yarn, after the piece was done. I could have made the sleeves much longer but I didn't think it would look right with the length of the garment. Like Goldilocks would say, this seemed "juuuuuust right."
For those who might ask, and several of you have already, I'm not sure if I'll offer a pattern. Right now, I'm just happy to have a deadline associated with this. We'll see. It's simple enough that it might be worth it to write something up.
On an, arguably, unrelated note, you see those jeans up there? I like them. They fit me well. You see how, in that top left shot, they sit on my hips, near the hem of Astoria? Those are considered a high waisted cut. Can you believe that? When did our waistlines get so low that 3 inches below my belly button is high waisted? Or is my torso so freakishly long that there isn't a mom-pant alive that can pass my hip bone? Let me tell you though, it's nice to wear a pair of pants that doesn't threaten to show the world my knees from a bird's eye view. You know?
Corn on the Nod is finished.
This little guy used one full skein of Crystal Palace Maizy in Bittersweet (dark purple) and about a half a skein of Crystal Palace Maizy in Neptune (variegated blues, purples and greens). I knit it on US#1/2.25mm needles.
From the hem to the top of the argyle, I used one method of double knitting in which both the front and back of the knitting are knit in a single row. This produces a fabric that is double thickness, reversible and attached, so that the two sides cannot be separated.
For the striped areas, I used a second form of double knitting that allows you to knit in the round on straight needles. You knit the front on one row, then turn and knit the back. The front and back sections are not attached to each other. It's the same method I use to knit the fingers on my Hooray For Me Gloves. Once I started the shaping, on the crown and ear flaps, I separated the stitches onto two circulars and knit in the round per the standard two-circs method.
In the argyle areas, the two sides have reversed color patterns. In the striped areas both sides are identical. This gives both sides of the hat a unique but unified look. I thought I'd like the mostly purple side more, but now that it's finished, I'm lean a little more towards other side. Luckily, I don't have to choose.
As you can see here, my seaming is a bit wonky in areas. In hindsight, I should have worked the selvage stitches slightly differently in the first double knit section, so that seaming would be easier.
There are a few things about which I'd caution you. Firstly, is blocking. I have not touched iron to this fabric but I've seen swatches of corn based fibers that looked decidedly melted in spots. I would be hesitant to use this for anything lacy that would need serious blocking. Additionally, the yarn is pretty splitty which means you do need to keep an eye on what you are doing, but it's certainly manageable. Finally, this yarn is horrible for seaming. I would highly recommend subbing out Maizy for some embroidery floss for any seaming you might do. Otherwise, though, it's a great yarn and the hat even passes Leo's stringent standards for comfort.
Well, after claiming that I would need to use the pink or orange yarn and after an overwhelming majority suggested the pink, as the best option, I went with...
...mint green.
Once I completed the brown portion of the garment, with most of the 4th ball left, I realized that the two balls of mint green should be just enough. I really like the pink yarn, but I'm going to use it for something different.
I knit and reknit the green portion, a few times to get just the right effect.
When I was finally happy with the results, I debated doing the straps in brown, but decided green, with brown trim would be better. After three days of obsessing over the piece, the knitting and crochet are done.
The sun poked her little head out today, so I decided to get some shots while the shooting's good. The piece is just lousy with unwoven ends, right now, but the nice thing about having a mannequin is that I can easily tuck them away, and she won't move around and set those ends loose.
So here it is, all done, but for the weaving.
I don't think I'll keep that particular ribbon at the bust, I'll swap it out for something simpler, but I wanted something there to complete the look.
Here's a back view and a view of how I'll most likely wear it; layered under a jacket. If I had more yardage, I think I would have done short little flutter sleeves, terminating in the same lace as the hem, but a tank is nice too.
It's a relief to have this finished. UFOs really irk me, I think because I'm so bad about revisiting them if I've lost my momentum. I seem to be getting better at it, with age, but I still think I do best with a big burst of inspiration.
You know what's funny? This might be one of the few garments that looks a little better on me than the mannequin. The very narrow hips and shoulders of my stand-in, make the piece look unbalanced (top heavy?), to my eye. Still, she holds still which is useful on these overcast days.
When I first started designing this, I felt sure that I did not want ribbing at the neck and hem. I can't remember why, because I actually really like it, now. At the sleeve hem, I just used a simple i-cord bind-off to maintain the rather pronounced scallop that the lace produces. But, at the neck and hem, I think the ribbing does a nice job of producing a clean finished edge.
Speaking of the neckline, I used a few decreases to keep that boat neck from falling off the shoulders. It juuuust covers my bra straps. I could probably have done a little more ribbing if it bothered me, but right now, I like it.
I really don't think I need to say much about my love for Calmer. I've used it quite a few times before and love it to pieces. It's soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, and for those of you who can't stomach the price, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the yardage and how far it goes, when knit at the recommended gauge.
All in all, I think it's another piece I'll actually wear. I'll try to get a shot of me in it, eventually, but it's a bit too rainy and cold right now.
I've been working on lots of little things lately. There's a bigger item on the needles too, but I haven't had the time or mental fortitude to tackle it recently.
Firstly, the handsome one has been subtly hinting that he needs more hats. And by subtle, I mean he's been saying, "I need more hats." Leo wears beanies almost every day, and his favorites are soft, wool-free, and in a neutral colorways.
Worked in Frog Tree Pima/Silk [85% pima cotton/15% silk] this little beanie bears a striking resemblance to the Carlsbad hat, only worked in a larger gauge.
I need to get a shot of him actually wearing the hat. Right now, this dark, blurry shot of Leo (and the hat) watching me teach Madeline to salsa dance, is the best I can offer.
Hey, you celebrate your birthday, your way, I'll celebrate my birthday, my way!
And now that one hat is done, I've cast on another.
Beanie number two will be worked in solid black (same yarn) and entirely in 2x2 ribbing. This will be a variant of the Pismo hat.
I think Leo will really enjoy wearing these hats, because the yarn is so soft, but the fibers aren't as easy care as some of the other hats I've made, so I'll probably be casting on at least one more design, in 100% cotton.
My friend, Julia, was asking if I put elastic into my cotton hats. I never have and the hats don't seam to be any worse for the wear. Some negative ease seems to be enough for the hats to keep their shape.
On the tatting front, I feel like I'm really getting a grasp of the basic. I'm certainly no expert, yet, but it's all starting to make more sense.
These are the two types of thread I've been using.
The green is standard Pearl (or "perle") Cotton. It's size 5 and seems to come in a huge selection of colors.
The white is Pearl Cotton in size 8, which comes in little balls and is available in a much more limited color range. The craft stores have white, black and ecru, while a local needlepoint store had those and some primary colors.
The latter produces very delicate little lace pieces, while the former really shows off the texture of the tatted stitches. They almost look like little beads, to my eye.
I worked on this while riding the local public transportation and was really appreciating how portable it was. I was even able to work on it while standing, which I find harder to do with my bigger knitted pieces.
Passing fancy? New passion? Who knows, but it's fun so far.
This piece is so different than my normal style. Usually, I like to create something you couldn't just pop into Old Navy or Gap and buy. But sometimes it's nice to crank out something so utilitarian that you could wear it twice in a week and no one would notice.
There's not too much to say about it. The lines and construction are all quite simple. It's incredibly comfortable and should be a nice layering piece on those rare occasions I need to be in the office for work.
I think my mannequin wears it a little better than I do. She's such a show off.
Even though this piece feels a little "blah" to me, there are elements I like. I find the wide ribbing very flattering and I thought the way the collar looked, when half finished, could be modified into an interesting shawl collar on a cardigan.
For now, this piece is off to New Hampshire to get a warm dip in a dye bath.
My mom did an amazing job overdyeing my Cowl.
"I’m afraid I just blue myself"
She used two dips in a muted blue dye which allowed just a little of the warmth of the original beige to shine through. The result still looks blue to me but teeters on the edge of a sage green. It's really striking in person. Of course, pictures never do it justice.
The girls are just there to draw attention away from how much we need to prune the shrubbery.
The free pattern download for Sinuate is now available. If you are on Ravelry, you can see all the details here.
The pattern is two full pages of instructions plus a cover.
The piece uses about 270 yards of fiber that's 15wpi (somewhere between a DK and Worsted) and requires US #6/4mm needles and a size F/3.75mm crochet hook.
If you have any trouble downloading the pattern, please let me know.
Yesterday was Julia's baby shower, where crafty women, from far and wide, came to rain gifts and well wishes on Julia and her li'l bun in the oven. It was so great to see my local friends and meet some amazing women I hadn't met before. Such a great day.
Honestly, so many people were taking pictures that I didn't go to great lengths to get all the prime shots, but you can see what I took, over on Fickr.
But there are a couple of shots that I'd like to highlight, for totally selfish reasons.
Here's a more detailed shot that will appear in the pattern.
In the mean time, I leave you with a little more sweetness
And, my friend Chrissy's dog, Akasha, wearing a hand knit sweater.
The Sam I Am Cardigan is complete, and I got way more length than I thought I would.
There is something truly satisfying about creating a garment from pure fluff (albeit, pre washed and dyed fluff, thankyouverymuch.) I simply haven't had the sticktoittiveness to spin up 1000 yards of a single fiber, so stripes are an obvious solution.
The finished piece fits well and is soft enough to wear near skin, which isn't surprising since it's mostly merino with some silk and cormo.
I don't think I'll ever use more than one button on this. It's how I wear almost all my cardigans, but I put in a whole set of them, just to leave my options open.
Speaking of the button band, I can never remember which way it should open for men versus women, so if I reversed it, I'm not surprised. I had a 50-50 chance to get it right.
I can't finish this post without including a shot of me wearing the piece. Here I am on our dormant lawn. Portland goes pretty hot and dry in the summer and it's a rare person whose lawn is actually green, but come winter, with all the rain and mild temperatures, it's lush as all get up. So, um, ignore the lawn, if you would.
Completely unrelated, but of great importance, there's a new pusher in town. For those of you who read JenLa, the La half has started her own little crack yarn line and I'm fortunate enough to have a sample of it. It's damn fine stuff, indeed. Think soft, smooshy merino in gorgeous and rich monochromatic variegated colors. I foresee quite a following for it.
It looks like she may be sold out right now, but keep your eyes peeled, I expect she'll be dying up more.
Hey, guess who's back and looking better than ever?
I even have a pattern in this edition.
I actually designed this way back when, right after I designed my Lake Park Hat and Gloves. In fact, I designed it so long ago, it was before we adopted Ms. Theano-Purl. (Excuse me while I get a little nostalgic for puppy cuteness and then remember what a huge pain in the keister she was and how much more delightful she is now.)
Anyway, I haven't had a chance to actually look through the whole site but what I've seen looks great. Yay for the return of Spindlicity.
I finished the Nehalem Bay shawl a couple days ago but it took me a little while to get it all blocked out and modeled. The lighting was pretty poor, so the shots aren't great, but you get the idea.
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
The size is also a good one for my intended use. I like the idea of a shawl, but I get a lot more mileage out of scarves and I expect to use this that way, a lot, this winter. The best part is that even when I get to my destination, the scarf converts back to its shawl role if it gets too chilly in the building. This makes it all the more appropriate to use a good sock yarn, since it's likely to get lots of real world wear and tear. I have to thank Julia for gifting me such fantastic yarn.
1. IMG_0008.jpg, 2. IMG_0006.jpg, 3. IMG_0003.jpg, 4. IMG_0012.jpg
Created with fd's Flickr Toys.
It's always good to have one little mindless project on the needles that can go anywhere. I've been toting this little project around for a month now, and mostly working it on the train, when my more involved projects would be unmanageable.
The final piece is really dense, so very warm, long enough to wrap around the neck several times, and bright and cheery enough to counteract the winter gloom in Portland.
The new Twist Collective is up and I think you'll agree that it's a fantastic issue. There are so many great designs by so many great designers.
My own contribution is Dietrich
Photos copyright Caroline Bergeron All Rights Reserved
Layout by Twist collective.
Dietrich is a simple felted cloche with a subtle, asymmetrical brim. When I told Kate I really wanted to adorn it with a feather, she said it was a great idea and said she had just the feather, if I hadn't picked one out already. I think she did an amazing job styling it. I love it.
The only problem with designing felted items is that you can't know if you got it just right until it's too late to undo what you've done.
The hat starts big and floppy
The first version had a VERY dramatic brim, which is fun, but not as practical, so I knit a second version, that you see in the pattern shots, and kept the original to play with.
Dietrich not your thing? There's oodles of great content over in the winter edition, so go on over and check it out.
La Cumparsita is arguably the most famous tango. We may not all be masters of those intricate yet subtle steps and intimate grips, turns and dips, but we can surely feel as sultry, wrapped in an airy and soft lacy shawl.
Sometimes finishing a project is an act of pure willpower and sometimes projects are a joy from conception to completion. This project fell into the latter, for me. I had no other pending deadlines, so this wasn't even a procrastination project, it was simply fun to knit.
I am nearly done writing the draft of this pattern and am looking for a tech editor to finalize it. I hope to have the pattern available for sale by next month (fingers crossed.)
A crisp cool linen skirt. What could be nicer on a hot day?
This will definitely need a slip or underskirt, since it's a bit sheer, but that seems fine to me. I think I'll pair them with my black Doc Martin mary janes.
All in all, a fun little project that was a good mindless knit. I love how the linen softens and tightens up when washed and dried. Except for the bit of ironing it will require, it should be a sturdy and low maintenance piece. On that note, does anyone have a visceral response to putting their knits in the dryer? I'm so used to hand washing and drying. Even knowing that linen loves to be washed and dried, didn't keep me from feeling a little dread when I put her in the dragon's maw.
Sometimes being a slouch is just fine. Normally, I love knitting fitted, figure hugging designs that appreciate all the fantastic curves we women have to offer but occasionally, all I want is something comfy and slouchy and relaxed while still being appropriate for human interaction. (I've heard it's frowned upon to go out in public in your robe. Go figure.)
Remember Freudian Stitch? Long since ripped, it's now become this.
It's a simple design with plenty of ease and a huge scoop neck that can be worn on or off the shoulders. The cowl is gently flared to allow it to drape loosely at the neck or be worn across the shoulders, as desired.
The simple cable running up the front and back has been scaled down to run along the sleeves as well.
As I've noted in the past, I just love working with Silky Wool. The tweedy color, subtle texture and crisp hand, make for a lovely fabric and the light weight doesn't add bulk and is suitable for most seasons.
I'm not sure if I'll offer a pattern or not, that'll depend on time and customer interest. It's not a complicated piece but I would be offering several different cable charts to ensure that the scale of the cables fits the larger sizes so the cost in time and tech editing would be a little higher than usual.
But hey, this is my first official knitting photoshoot in the new home. It's silly but it feels a little momentous to me. Even the girls got in on the fun.
The Tour de Fleece pushed me to do a lot of spinning and now I feel compelled to knit my new skeins.
The thing, though, with knitting your own handspun is that the quantity you have is it, especially if you buy handpainted fibers produced in small quantities. Mostly, my skeins run 2-4 ounces which may vary in yardage depending on fiber type, ply and weight. Ideally, I want to avoid projects where I'll come up short on yardage, but I still want to use as much of the yarn up as possible so as not to waste any of my hard work spinning it. A challenge!
My very last skein from the tour was a merino/bamboo blend from Freckle Face Fibers that I spun up into a little more than 600 yards of fingering weight singles. It seemed like plenty of yardage for a rectangular wrap, so I got to looking through some stitch dictionaries to find something that was lacy but simple enough to stand up to the highly variegated rainbow colorway.
Making use of my kitchen scale and a center pull ball, I managed to achieve my goal of using the entire skein, with no waste.
I call this, "burning the skein at both ends."
I trimmed the shawl with a little Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in a light beige shade, blocked and voila.
Do you see anyone peeking around the corner.
The main motif is out of one of the Barbara Walker treasuries, and then I scaled it down near each end and finished it off with a simple ruffle.
The cast on edge is actually the center back and to use up as much yarn as possible I used the tail from the cast on and felted it to the start of the yarn that I used to pickup and knit down from the other end. So the only ends were at each end.
And lastly, my dogs are cute.
I have freakishly small ears that reject all ear buds. I've used in-ear models that work like ear plugs, and models with little hooks that go over the ear. The former cause me endless pain and the latter fall off when I move at a pace faster than a gentle stroll. All this makes running while listening to my ipod, an exercise in frustration. The solution seems to be to combine the hook on models with a comfortably snug hat, to hold the ear buds in place.
All my hats are warm wool or fleece so I decided to knit a hat. And heck, while I'm coming up with my own design, why not make something that would actually allow for a ponytail or two.
These dark and blurry pictures are just a sneak peak of the dead simple design I came up with. The yarn is Elann Esprit (nearly identical to Cascade Fixation) and the colors are leftover from my Assets Of Evo project.
I plan to put together a very inexpensive little pattern for this, that I hope to release in the next few weeks, time permitting.
Also, an obligatory doggy fix.
The Spring/Summer 2010 Twist Collective is up and it's visually stunning and filled with amazing designs. I was lucky enough to have two submissions accepted and will do a blog post for each.
The first piece is Damariscotta.
Named for a hard to pronounce but lovely little town in Maine, near where my dad's family has land. I'll sometimes fly out to Maine to go to the Fiber Frolic with my mom, and we'll all stay at a little cabin that my dad built on the land there.
Having grown up in New England and having spent plenty of time in Maine, I associate the area with a love for the ocean, a rather pragmatic sensibility and clean and structural design. I strove to capture those qualities in this top.
The piece is knit from the top down with instructions for an entirely seamless construction, right down to the double-knit hems that are grafted closed. I've also included instructions for people who might run at the sight of the words "graft" or "double-knit" so don't despair if that's not your cup of tea.
I also think this piece would be magnificent with a simple lace border around the hem and sleeves, instead of a finished hem shown. A wee bit of single crochet would prevent any curling and it would turn this simple piece into something worthy of a pretty pencil skirt and heels.
While I love the idea of a deep angled square neck (image it over a pretty little lace tank,) I knew that wouldn't suit everyone and that is why I chose the top-down construction instead of my preferred method of knitting bottom up. Keeping in mind that the single crochet will pull in the neck a little, one can simply throw the live stitches onto waste yarn and try the piece on to determine the most comfortable and flattering neckline depth and width.
Once you work the neckline you like best, you can shape the torso to follow every curve or leave out the shaping altogether for a more relaxed fit. The sleeves can be worked the same way, and can easily be lengthened to fit your climate and preference.
So that's Damariscotta for you. I hope that those of you who like the design will enjoy knitting it, and if it's not your style, I have no doubt there's another piece in this edition that will catch your eye.
Check out this and all the other beautiful patterns in the Spring/Summer 2010 edition of Twist Collective, by going here.
A fat squirrel on our patchy but quite green lawn. The girls are not fans.
Yummy green olives, capers and artichoke hearts combined to make a delicious spread. Check click the image for a link to the recipe.
Not green, but a recipe recommended by the same site, is a buttery tomato sauce I've garnished with bacon. Mmmm, bacon.
And lastly a quick little spiral striped (jog free, baby!) hat in soft superwash merino left over from another design.
The new Twist Collective is live and it's beautiful. I have seen these patterns from their thoughtfully laid out submissions right up to their final tech edited PDF. I've read the articles from their early drafts to their polished finished composition. I feel personally invested in each and every piece's success and receptions from knitters.
There's a lot to love in this edition, including two beautiful garments from my dear friend, Julia Trice, and a must read article on seamed knitting, by Sandi Rosner. And while I think all the articles are fantastic, I'd be remis if I didn't direct you to this story, where you'll struggle to decide which is more endearing, the story itself or the beautiful illustrations.
Of course, I've made my own contribution to this edition (beyond my work behind the scenes), about which I plan to do a separate, more in-depth post. Make sure you cruise by my his and hers pattern, Doppler.
Photo copyright Jane Heller
Originally conceived as just a men's garment, with an asymmetrical ribbed pattern to keep the knitting interesting but not too fussy, I added in a women's version too, sized proportionally for women's standards, with just a hint of waist shaping. Both patterns come with both the crew and turtleneck instructions, so you can really tailor this garment to your preference.
I know it's simple, without the excitement of some of the myriad designs also available in the edition, but I hope it'll be a wardrobe staple for those who choose to knit it.
Now stop reading my blog post and go check out this amazing new edition.
I feel like I'm on a designing kick right now. I just released two patterns for Twist, I have yarn for two deadline projects, due to publish next spring and I just sent a new design, Cercis, to my tech editor to be self published.
I took some pictures of Cercis this weekend, while we were at the coast. I thought I'd share my favorite outtake. It's useless for actually seeing the sweater but it has everything I love; my pack, haystack rock, a bright sunny day, knitting and the ocean.
I hope to have this pattern ready for release in the next couple of weeks. Until then, I have some designing to do.
The new Twist Collective is live. I know I say it every season and I mean it, I am honored and humbled to be a part of such an amazing magazine.
My two patterns this season are
And Zosia
As always, I'll talk more about the designs in a follow-up post. For now, go see everything in this beautiful edition, including all the amazing articles.
This page contains an archive of all entries posted to Marnie, speak! Good girl. in the finished objects category. They are listed from oldest to newest.
felting is the previous category.
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