Selma, finally!

Selma - short-sleeved strongly Anthropologie-inspired cardigan/cape is finally finished. This version took 19 balls of Rowan Alpaca soft - and yes, there was humongous amount of yarn ends to weave in. Otherwise I loved  this project!

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I like the result, too, but I’m not completely satisfied. I saw actually two yarns that would have been so much better options - but I was on my way with Alpaca Soft and couldn’t just think another large bulky knitting project for it to justify frogging. Alpaca Soft has lovely feel, beautiful surface and quite luxurious softness, so I’m completely happy that I happened to run on it on yarn sale. But I saw a beautiful finished object made with Rowan’s Cocoon - it had so amazing drape and so light feel in spite of a heavily cabled texture of the garment, it would have been a perfect choice for this project.

A very nice budget option woul be OnLine Linie 208 Nature-Wool - a very similar quality to Cocoon, not quite as soft (soft still!) but great drape, too, and similar gauge.

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This is not easiest garment to wear, there is so much material that it is quite possible for small person to disappear in or end up looking huge (well, I’m not small, so possibly that is the actual problem for me). I would rather wear Selma with my black skinny jeans and slouchy boots with high heels, but those jeans happened to be in the laundry bag today. A short A-lined or flared skirt - no mini for me, but over the knee - with opaque tights might also be a nice option; if considering longer skirt a pencil silhouette might work. Gotta experiment a little.

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I wrote down pretty decent notes about Selma while knitting, so there is a good probability that I’m able to write a pattern out of them!

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Those buttons really deserve some extra attention. I found them in a rush, thought them to be just some very nice plastic ones, but closer examination revealed some irregularities that speak of the origin. I guess that they are made from horn or something like that.

Wabi-Sabi stitch pattern

And here’s the illustrated description of Wabi-sabi shawls stitch pattern. It is known as Garter and Loops, 440 More Knitting Stitches: Volume 3 (The Harmony Guides) uses the name Little Crowns.

Knit two first rows of the pattern.

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Third row is extended stitches. After one edge stitc (knit) wrap the yarn twice around the needle when knitting. Repeat to one stitch from the edge, knit 1.

On the fourth row the stitches are knitted three together as follows. Knit the edge stitch.

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Move three stitches to the right needle and let those wraps loose.

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Move extended stitches back to the left needle, don’t change the direction of stitches.

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Now knit those three stitches together by k1, p1, k1. Repeat to edge stitch, knit. Amount of stitches should be thus dividable by three + 2 edge sts.

Sides of this pattern are not identical, but both are presentable.

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WIP: Harlequin Socks

I got one skein of lovely Mokkasukka -yarn. Base yarn is Zitron (Trekking?) and it is handpainted in Finland by Villamokka. And here is the love child of this cheerly colourful yarn and some nice patterns from my stitchionaries:

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Overall pattern is adapted from 220 Aran Stitches and Patterns: Volume 5 (The Harmony Guides). I combined it to narrow lace border from Knitting on the Edge and my favourite heel.

Lately my knitting bookshelf has mainly expanded with new stitchionaries. I have to say that get those old Harmony Guides, while they still are available! Those new ones are pretty and practically sized BUT contain quite small selection of stitch patterns - old ones simply offer better value for money (I’ve got one of the new ones: Harmony Guide: Lace & Eyelets: 250 Stitches to Knit (The Harmony Guides))

And of course there are interesting options in other languages, too. I’ve been in awe of intricate and detailed Japanese stitch patterns seen in blogs everywhere, to get a taste just search Flickr for Japanese knitting pattern; (of course you get some patterns for whole garments, too). Latest IK:s bookshelf article was all I needed. Amazon Japan just got a new customer.

That wabi-sabi feel in that shawl - a free pattern

Allthough that knitting just happened overnight, the whole design process of Wabi-sabi shawl was not such a hasty project.

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Read the rest of this entry »

Sneak preview

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Well, that knit just happened.

Noro challenge

I got myself few of these fabulous skeins of Noro Kochoran. As yarn it is probably the most luxurious, most beautiful I’ve ever seen. The colours range from deep wine to hot fuchsia, to white, coolest mint green, peach, teal, taupe, olive and rich yellow with green tint, all wrapped together to lovely handspun. A gorgeous white halo of angora wraps the whole package. The combination makes me think those travelling fun fairs with candy coloured but weathered equipment ant graphics.

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In spite of all that serious yarn love I have strong doubts if I’m able to convert that thing to wearable and equally tempting knitted item. Right now I’m pretty sure, that it shall be a plush shawl knitted with some rich texture stitch (I’ve done my dose of garter stitch for this winter). I’ve also considered a sweater, knitted carefully in circle, matching those colour pools exactly. But I’m pretty sure that this colourway is not for that purpose.

And Selma - well, I’m almost there. Only those about one million yarn ends waiting for weaving in are in between us.

More about Chelsea - and one pair of socks

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So, this is Wenlan Chia’s Chelsea Sweater, washed and modeled. It shrinked a bit lengthwise, but I’d say that length is still pretty good, great paired with clothes gathered on natural waistline.

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I like the shruglike appearance of it weared open.

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But with simple cord it can be easily attached from one point - or even laced from several loops.

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Oh, another FO, these socks have been on my needles for ages! Embossed Leaves from Interweave’s Favorite Sock. Yarn is Koigu KPM - simply lovely sock yarn. It’s a shame that it is impossible find in Europe. Some UK webshops sell KPPM, but I’m not so into those multicolours…

Fast Forward

I accidentally end up knitting Chelsea Sweater from Wenlan Chia’s Big City Knits. I was not immediately drawn to this design, but some very beautiful finished objects in Ravelry opened my eyes.

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And oh boy, this was a fast knit. I casted on Wednesday, had some time to knit yesterday and finished this morning. Yarn is Colourmart DK weight cashmere silk in colourway Tussah, two cones with very little remains. I used 3 strands together to get just slightly denser gauge than advised, compensated with larger size and few additional rows. I made some minor adjustments for the pattern, front edges and sleeve caps are shaped gently. I was not bothered about the pattern errors - but I seldom follow the patterns to the letter, so that’s probably the explanation.

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That dress underneath is actually a bustier dress, it hangs too up to look natural. And the material is pretty stiff, it draws the knit to this A-lined shape. That crocheted part actually begins nicely from my natural waistline, and the overall impression of the knit is pretty fitting. I will model this cardigan later.

I’m not sure if that pinky-orangey dress is enough to qualify this as a Project Spectum work =).

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I haven’t washed and blocked the garment yet - there will probably be a beautiful bloom with this yarn. I took one closeup of the knitted surface, just to compare later. This image shows better the beautiful, slightly pinkish natural shade of this yarn - at least in my monitor.

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Oh and here is Selma. This heap of knitted material has overwhelmed me so that I haven’t been able to put the pieces together. No, I don’t have any antipathy for finishing work (actually I like them), but sometimes with large projects I’m so tired to even see the material that I have to put it aside for a while and wait for a true inspiration. I know that it will come soon!

Fiery?

Okay, I searched my stash for fiery findings and guess what.

Pretty lame, isn’t it? I guess that those bright or deep red shades just don’t belong to my palette. And I have decided to mainly bust my stash during this years Project Spectrum, so there is no fancy yarn shopping at sight. So I’m considering a very broad definition for the colour pink and aim to use at least half of these in the first section of Project Spectrum.

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Allthough the yarns are somewhat bland coloured, they are otherwise gorgeous. That peachy pink is Kidsilk Haze. Very dusty old rose coloured, almost brown cakes and cone are Colourmart fine cobweb weight cashmere silk blend. That cone contains a whopping 5500 m (6000 yards) of yarn - even knitted four strands together that should be well enough for lacy tank top that I have in mind. Cool pink and natural with very slight pinkish undertone are both Colourmart DK weight cashmere silks. That natural should be enough for Wenlan Chia’s Chelsea cardigan. I have no plans for that strawberry milkshake coloured yarn, though.

When I’m planning new knits from stratch I allways sketch something, just to get a clear idea about the construction and actually see the proportions of the non-existing garment. Those sketches are seldom pretty, I might use some ballpoint pen and margins of magazine in a hurry to get knitting.

On the other hand, I have a love for ink and I have promised myself to sketch more thoughtfully. Fortunately not all my ink bottles were dried in their unused state, when I rushed to them after photographing my “fiery” stash. Just one minute of very generous sketching and now I have a plan for that pinky-peachy Kidsilk. I will make a very light oversized coverup, long sleeves with lace sections. That would blend nicely my wardrobe without being overtly romantic.

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That is still far from thoughtful and neat. And it took 10 minutes to clean the floor after sketching…

Cilla - free pattern!

Another day I thought to myself: why don’t I have any knitted headwear that I’d love to wear on a daily basis? I live on a cold climate after all and those headpieces are so fast and nice to knit. Then I started to collect a list of properties of my preferred knitted headwear.

It should be simple. Allthough I love skillfully made embellishments, my everyday style is more or less minimalistic and straightforward, so there is no order for frills this time.
In spite of that it should add some spice to my everyday outfits AND look good on top of my locks.
I would love if there were several ways to wear it.
It should be made of 100% wool.
It should leave no marks on forehead when weared extended times - i want a loose knit.
It should be large enough to cover all my hair - even when my mane is in it’s long state.
And ohh, what if it would go well together with my beloved Lumi Accessories handbag!

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So I took my DPN:s and some worsted weight wool in perfect petroleum blue shade to meet some friends of mine at the local pub. Few hours of knitting with couple of pints of decent lager and I had a simple ribbed hat on my needles. On the next morning (there was no hangover, if you asked) I fitted and finished Cilla - a slouchy convertible ribbed beanie of mine.

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The basic form is all about the slouchiness and the size - just right, roomy enough to cover the hair and give a nice silhouette. And I love the bold colour, too!

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It can be easily moulded to resemble a beret. (Gee, I hate to model my crafts…). This form can be emphasized even more by wet blocking the beanie to shape.

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Or the edge can be turned up for a sporty version of a beanie (not exactly my preferred style but might be handy sometimes…).

And here we go: this is my first free pattern!

Download the PDF here. NOTE: pattern updated for sizing information!

To be honest there is not much pattern in this, but I really needed something very simple to start with, just to get going easily. And I wanted to sample some fonts and basic layout of a pattern. All feedback about pattern, instructions, layout etc. is highly appreciated!

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