i make stuff

Rockin' the Handknits - Kelly's Pull Empiècement

This week's star: Kelly (kellyincville)

This is Kelly. I can think of a hundred reasons to hate her. She is exquisitely beautiful, clever and quick-witted. She makes me laugh. She has incredible style and taste and is a beautiful knitter. She lives in Charlottesville, VA where she's learning to make wine, has an awesome home in the country (and horses) and a fabulous husband who takes her on amazing trips. Cue the hatred, right? Not possible. Kelly's got a big, generous heart and a passion for sharing things with others. This Christmas, she sent all of her friends hand-made mulling spices. Best gift ever. Once, a big group of us travelled to Charlottesville for a weekend - Kelly was the greatest host ever, and arranged for us all to go on a wine tour in the area, provided us with awesome restaurant reccommendations for the weekend, and made sure we were stocked with wine in the hotel.

I would absolutely love to raid Kelly's yarn stash, which is mainly comprised of the most beautiful neutral colors and luxurious wools you can imagine. Of my many knitting friends, I think Kelly makes some of the most wearable items, things you might not immediately realize were hand-knit because they're so wearable and beautiful and professional-looking. For example...

Kelly's Pull Empiècement Sweater
Pattern: Bergère de France
Yarn: madelinetosh eyre in Composition Book Grey
February 2010

Where do I begin to tell you all the reasons this sweater is fabulous? First of all, it's impeccably made. This is a worsted weight yarn, which is thicker but not bulky, but Kelly knit the sweater on medium-sized needles, which means that the fabric's gauge is nice and dense - which makes it look a little bit more like a sweater you'd buy in a store. Lots of people think of knitted sweaters and they think chunky and bulky, but this sweater is fitted and shapely, warm enough for winter but still quite sexy. So she's keeping warm while also looking super hot. It looks great with jeans, as seen here, but you could also pair this with a skirt and boots for a bit more dressed-up look. 

The color is also a win. This is a hand-dyed yarn, but a pretty semi-solid colorway, with just enough color variation to provide interest, but not enough to make it seem stripey or color-pooly. It doesn't scream, "Someone dyed me by hand! Wahoo! Handmade!" You have to look at it closely to realize it's not commercial yarn. And one of the toughest tricks to master as a knitter is matching the right yarn to the pattern you plan to make. This sweater is a perfect match for this pattern.

So, now that we're all insanely jealous of Kelly for being so freaking beautiful and awesome, and for her sweater-making skills, I think we can agree once again that hand-knit sweaters are, in fact, amazing.

Rockin' the Handknits - Aimee's Creature Comforts

The other day, a very fashion-forward friend of mine commented that she just can't get into handknits. Now, I'm not one to argue with someone's sense of style. I think everyone should wear what makes him or her feel amazing. But it did get me thinking...I think a lot of people have NO idea how many rockin' handknits are out there. Stop me if I'm wrong, but when most people think "handknit" they probably picture something terrifying...something like this, maybe. GAH!

So I've decided that every Friday until I get sick of it, I'm going to feature someone I know wearing something she made - or her spouse or kid wearing something she made - in an effort to show you just how freakin' chic handmade can be. 

This week's star: Aimee (TheNerdyKnitter)

Aimee's Creature Comforts Cardi
Pattern by madelinetosh, yarn is madelinetosh vintage in Antler
April 2010

I figured we'd get things going with a boom, and so here's Aimee looking amazing as always in a slouchy and fabulous handknit cardi. I wanted to start with Aimee for a couple of reasons. One, she has an incredible sense of style and always looks adorable, no matter if she's lounging on the couch or heading out for a date with her amazing hubby, Derek. Two, she's a beautiful knitter - down to the last detail, every single stitch is perfect. Does this surprise anyone who knows her? No. Aimee is a details person. Everything she does is done with heart and intention, and that comes through in her knits. When you receive a gift from Aimee, you know that she put all her love and energy into the making of it. Isn't that the magic of handknits, anyway?

In my opinion, what's so special about making a gift for someone else, or for yourself, is that it's got so much of you in it. When you make a sweater for yourself, you are putting so much more thought into the garment than you would ever if you bought it in a store. You also have so much power to alter the pattern's shape, color, drape, etc. to suit you just perfectly. It might seem frumpy and weird to make a sweater for yourself, but really, is there anything more luxurious than treating yourself to a made JUST for you sweater, made out of really awesome, expensive, fancy yarn, designed to fit your body and yours alone? Nope. For someone like Aimee, knitting makes a lot of sense. She's so small and petite, sometimes it's hard for her to find things that fit just right. But when you can make it yourself, fit isn't a problem!

I think this is a TOTAL win in handknit land. This looks like something you might pay $150 for at Anthropologie, and the way Aimee's styled the slouchy sweater with skinny jeans and a blousy tunic is just perfect. You think it's pretty from the front? Check out the back.

Even though I said it reminded me of something from Anthro, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything this beautifully made at any store, period. Look at the details on those flowers! 

Rockin' the handknits like a champ, Aimee!

 

Cuddles the Sweater.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Cuddles the Sweater.

Pattern: Cadence pullover by Jordana Paige
Yarn: Plied Together 2-Ply, 630 yards heavy worsted weight
Fiber: FLUFF Fibers Merino/Cashmere/Silk in "Cuddles"
Knit by: Erin Walker

I didn't knit this sweater. But I want to share it with you because it's a very special labor of love, the combined work of three talented artists (why yes, that's me patting myself on my own back - I am one of the three). My very dear friend Erin, owner of the online yarn shop Eat. Sleep. Knit., knit this beautiful sweater from yarn I spun using FLUFF Fibers merino/cashmere/silk fiber, hand-dyed by my wonderful friend Jeanette.

How's that for a circle of handmade lovin'?!

This is the first time I've ever spun a sweater quantity of fiber, and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be - in large part because Jeanette's fiber is so beautiful and soft and well-handled, it was a joy to work with. I spun 20 ounces of fiber into 5 skeins of yarn, and it took me about a week to do. The hardest part was maintaining consistency for that many skeins of yarn. Since the fiber was hand-dyed, and I wanted it to "match" as well as it could, I mixed it all up before spinning, so Erin would have a really blended effect, and I think that worked out in the end. Her sweater is just lovely, no? 

Here's what the fiber looked like when I got it (forgive the vaguely pink lighting, it was tough to photograph on a rainy Seattle day).

And here's what it looked like once I spun it up:

Sometimes it's hard to look at handspun and envision what it's going to be like knit up, and that's what has stopped me from spinning for a sweater for myself so far. But I think Erin did a great job choosing the right pattern for this yarn. It has a nice embellishment at the top that's not marred by the way handspun yarn stripes gently and naturally. All around, I think this is a beautiful project, from the dye job to the yarn to the knitting/wearing of the garment.

There will be owls.

Finally - an Owls sweater of my very own!

PATTERN: Owls by Kate Davies
NEEDLES: US 10 (6.0mm)
YARN: Cascade Eco Wool #8049 (Tarnish), 1.5 skeins

This sweater...what a win! It's been a sensation on Ravelry for so long, and I always admired it, but this fall really put me over the edge. Several of my girlfriends knit this sweater, which increased my admiration for it, and then at Rhinebeck I saw about 10 more of them floating around and knew I had to have one. I'm glad I cast on recently - somewhat on a whim - I was waiting on other sweater yarn and decided to go for it. It knit up SO quickly, as the yarn is pretty bulky and I was on big needles.

The sweater is written at a gauge of 3.25 stitches per inch, and I had 4 stitches per inch, so I knew some modification was going to be in my future. In the end, I changed a LOT of the numbers to make the sweater work for me. It's written sort of small, and so I started out making the largest size, a 44" if you're at the right gauge, which I wasn't - I would have ended up with about a 36" sweater. Trouble is, it was going to be great on my (super wide) hips, but too big up top - so I ended up starting out with the largest size, then decreasing down further for the waist and working the top half of the sweater and the sleeves a size down. In the end, my sweater is about 34" around the bust, perhaps even a little smaller, so it has a little negative ease. It's PERFECT. I think it's super-flattering, which surprised me, given that the yarn is bulkier. LOVE!

In the original, all of the owls have button-eyes, all the way around the sweater. I decided that was too twee for me, but I didn't want to go totally eye-less. So I gave one wee little owl a pair of eyes. Jay helped me pick them, and the buttons are very small and subtle. 

I'm so pleased with this sweater. It's not a hard pattern, but I love that I'm becoming comfortable enough with my knitting to begin to read a pattern and see how it might not work for me and then modify it accordingly. At least, this is true with seamless sweaters - I'm still something of a novice with sweaters knit in pieces, so I'll have to tackle that a bit. And sure enough, my next two sweaters are going to be seamed. I hate seaming, so this will be a challenge. Stay tuned!

A word about the yarn - Cascade Eco is a wonderful yarn for a very low price. It's really quite nice Peruvian wool. It's a bit itchy, if you're wool-sensitive. Not everyone would enjoy wearing this next to the skin. I like wool, and with a tee-shirt under it I was fine. Not sure I could have gone without, but really - who would want to? Anyway, I would definitely knit with this yarn again - it's pretty soft to the touch and the stitches look great - plus it comes in a lot of lovely natural shades.

Man-sweater.

My man has a new sweater!

PATTERN: Cobblestone by Jared Flood
NEEDLES: US 7 (4.5mm)
YARN: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in "Woodsmoke"

My spouse is something of a clothes horse. He actually likes buying clothes and puts thought into what he wears. He also likes handmade sweaters. I told him I would knit him a sweater every other year, because let's face it, man sweaters take for-ev-errrr. I settled on the Cobblestone pattern by Jared Flood a long time ago, but wasn't sure about the yarn. Jay is really great about wearing wool - he has no itch or heat issues. As a wool lover, this is awesome for me, as I'm not restricted in what I can use.

When Jared Flood announced his new yarn, Shelter, an American-made wool, I was super excited and thought Jay's sweater would be the perfect excuse to try it out. I hopped on the next ferry to Churchmouse Yarns and brought back 10 skeins of the Woodsmoke colorway. I cast on for the sweater in November, but it ended up taking me until January to finish it, due to the Christmas knitting madness.

In terms of the pattern, this was a really simple knit. You start at the bottom and knit up the body, make two sleeves, join and knit a yoke with short-row shaping on the back. Easy. I did, however, modify the arms a good bit. In the original pattern, the sleeves are rather loose at the cuff and all the way up, and I knew Jay would hate that. So I cast on 10 fewer stitches at the cuff and reworked the math for the increases. The result is a much closer-fitting (and I think more flattering) sleeve. Jay and I are both pleased.

A note about Shelter: The yarn I got was from the first-ever lot. There was a lot of hype when this stuff came out, and people rushed to stash it. Like lots of other people around the country, I experienced an unusually high amount of vegetable matter in the yarn - much more than I have ever encountered in Beaverslide or Rowan tweeds or similar rustic yarns. I’m told this issue has been resolved in subsequent lots of the yarn, but you might want to check if you or your intended wearer has sensitive skin.

Even aside from the VM, this is a very rustic yarn. It has a great, lofty hand and is super nice, but it’s definitely not going to work, for lots of people, for next-to-skin wear. My suggestion - if you’re wool sensitive, grab a skein of this to see if you like it before committing to an entire sweater. As a wool lover, I definitely would knit with this yarn again, even with the VM. The stitch definition is just beautiful (as you can see in the photos) and I think this would make beautiful cable knitting.

 

Tubey

It's so rare that I make a baby gift and then actually receive photo evidence of the child wearing the gifted item. So when my friends Erin and Bill sent me photos of their new son, Bennett, wearing the hat I'd knit him, I was so excited!

PATTERN: Tubey by Wee Woolly Wormhead
NEEDLES: US 7 (4.5mm)
YARN: Sunshine Yarns Merino Worsted in "Mountain Shadow"

I kind of hate the traditional powder blues and pinks that make up most baby gifts, so I really wanted to dig into my stash for something a little richer. I love this gorgeous green and blue yarn from Sunshine Yarns and thought it would be a great alternative baby color. I made the small, not really expecting it to fit Bennett yet, as he was born a little bit early. But it appears he's already growing at the speed of light!

Here's Bennett with his gorgeous mama...

Scarves and cowls and hats, oh my!

Still playing catch-up, I have a few more items to share from this fall.

PATTERN: Melody's Shawl by Melody Moore
NEEDLES: US 9 (5.5mm)
YARN: Sundara Yarn Fingering Silky Merino in "Poppy"

This is the very definition of a languishing WIP (work in progress). I started in March 2010 during our trip to Paris/Warsaw, and dubbed it "Old French Whore" after the old SNL game show parody. I finished it this September. Yeah...that took a while. The thing about the Melody Shawl is that it's perfect mindless knitting, to cart around in your bag with you and pull out while you're waiting for your food to come at a restaurant or gabbing with a friend. There was really no rush to finish it, but as soon as it was done, it became a staple of my wardrobe for fall. I don't normally wear a lot of purple clothing, but as an accessory, the color is stunning. And the yarn is so luxurious. I get questions and compliments about this scarf all the time. And I've cast on another, which should be finished in roughly October 2011. 

PATTERN: Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West
NEEDLES: US 7 (4.5mm)
YARN: Hand spun yarn from my friend Marianne!

I cast on for this shawl very soon after receiving this gorgeous yarn (spun from Finn wool) from my friend Marianne. The color was "Orchard" so I thought it would be the perfect accessory for my October trip to NYC and Rhinebeck. I didn't finish it before the trip, but during, so I did get to enjoy it! :) Super easy pattern, great for showing off handspun yarn.

PATTERN: Honey Cowl by Madelinetosh
NEEDLES: US 7 (4.5mm)
YARN: Hand spun yarn made from Funky Carolina BFL/Silk in "Dragonskin"

I love this project so much. My knitting friends do these quarterly swaps, and I ended up with my friend Thayer as a swap partner. I wanted to make her something really fun and appropriate to her personality. Thayer is a huge gamer, and she loves big loopy cowls, so when I saw the Dragonskin colorway my friend Carrie dyes, I thought it would be perfect for Thayer. The color reminded me of the blues in World of Warcraft, and the stitch pattern of the cowl really did resemble scaly dragonskin. I found this hilarious button and pinned it to the finished cowl, and Thayer wears it that way. Love! It was a hard one to part with, because the cowl was so snuggly and such an awesome jewel tone. Again - will have to make another for me!

PATTERN: Flicker Socks by Cookie A.
NEEDLES: US 1 (2.25mm)
YARN: Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock Yarn in "Bella's Truck"

This is a lesser-loved Cookie A. sock design but I just LOVE the finished socks. I have had this pattern in my faves for a really long time, and the yarn seemed like the perfect match. These are mine all mine!

PATTERN: Wurm by katushika
NEEDLES: US 4 & US 6
YARN: Madelinetosh Pashmina in "Tart"

Yep, I jumped on the Tart bandwagon. In case you don't know, Madelinetosh is a maker of gorgeous hand-dyed yarns, and this color was something of an internet sensation throughout the end of 2009 and most of 2010. It appears to be going strong still, because really, it is the perfect deep red. Not pink, not burgundy, RED. So I had to copy my friend Megan, who also made a Tarty Wurm. It's such a great, adorable, slouchy hat. I already had one made with handspun but I just had to have another!

Whew! I was productive this fall, even though I fell off my sweater-a-month kick a bit.

Christmas knitting.

Friends, I am so behind on blogging. OMG. I don't know what's been the matter with me, but I just have been totally comatose when it comes to writing. And now I have a ton of things finished and not shown. Part of this was Christmas knitting, which of course means not showing things off till people receive them. But anyway, let's catch up a bit. 

Jay and I did a mostly non-storebought Christmas this year, which was great. I knit a lot of small gifts, which was also great, since last year I about killed myself knitting two gift sweaters. SO...

PATTERN: Christmas Greens (improvised toe-up socks)
NEEDLES: US 3 (3.25mm)
YARN: Hand spun yarn made from GLBLF Superwash Merino in "Greensleeves"

My sister loves green and hates knitting socks, so I decided to spin up some yarn for her and make her a pair. I contacted my friend Sam of GLBLF and asked her to custom-dye a gradient colorway for my sister, and the result was so beautiful! 

I knit the socks over just a few days, and sort of improvised a toe-up, 48-stitch sock recipe. 

 

PATTERN: Chicklets Socks by Anne Hanson
NEEDLES: US 3 (3.25mm)
YARN: Sunshine Yarns Merino Sport in "Counting Lilypads"

I knit these socks for my mom for a wee Christmas gift. The yarn is special - my friend Dani chose a photo I took in the Asticou Gardens in Bar Harbor, Maine for her annual summer photos-inspired shop update. I knew I had to have some of the color to make something for my mom, who lives in Bar Harbor. I used every single inch of the yarn, and barely made it through the second toe, but I love the finished socks. Super simple, I must make another pair for me!

PATTERN: Dotty by Irishgirlieknits
NEEDLES: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
YARN: The Plucky Knitter Merino Cashmere Nylon Fingering in "Cream Tea"

I love these socks! They knit up so quickly for fingering weight, and I think my mother-in-law, Susan, really loves them too. It's another pair I'll have to do again for myself, because they turned out so great. The yarn was really awesome - I love MCN! It's so stretchy and soft.

PATTERN: Cross-Country Garter (improvised)
NEEDLES: US 7 (4.5mm)
YARN: Hand spun yarn from The Thylacine merino fiber in "Zig-Zag Track"

This scarf took sooo much longer than I intended. I started it last winter during my move across the country, but then put it on hold for a really long time and finally finished cranking it out this fall - just in time for the cold weather. I think Jay likes it, because he wears it all the time :) It's just simple garter stitch, perfect way to show off hand spun yarn.

PATTERN: Seaman's Cap by Brenda Zuk
NEEDLES: US 6 & US 7
YARN: Hand spun yarn from Squoosh Fiberarts Corriedale in "Coffeehouse"

I love, love, LOVE this hat. It's actually a gift for my brother, Jeremy, who is a sophomore in college, but I made Jay model it for me before sending it off to him. The yarn was just so gorgeous and manly, I was really proud of it. The pattern was perfect, too - manly, simple, not dorky. Total success. I made a size large, and really didn't make any modifications.

I have a lot of other projects to catch up on, so stay tuned.

Not quite a sweater.

Earlier this year, I signed up for IntSweMoDo (International Sweater-a-Month Dodecathon) on Ravelry, the goal being to knit one sweater for every month of the year. Up until September, I was totally on track. And then...the wedding shawl. As a gift for my friend who was just married this weekend, I knit a stole for her to wear to her wedding reception. And it ate my entire September. In all likelihood, I won't finish my current sweater, Pas de Valse, until November, thanks to other gift knits that are in line right now. But it sure came out pretty. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...White Wedding!

PATTERN: Nightingale Wing by Anne Hanson
NEEDLES: US 2.5 (3.0mm)
YARN: Grey Drizzle Fibers Silk Merino Mist in "White Wedding" (custom dye)

The pattern is very straightforward and not all that difficult, really. I actually think it might make a pretty good first lace project, because it's a stole that remains the same width the entire length of the project, rather than a triangle that grows from the center as you knit it and the rows get steadily longer. The most difficult stitches in this pattern are knitting 3 together, or knitting 2 together through the back loop. Not hard at all.

I will caution anyone who plans to make this shawl that it's lace on both sides. There's no easy back purl side like in a lot of lace patterns. Also, the pattern repeat is 24 rows long, and you knit the pattern repeat 24 TIMES. So it's a lot of knitting - took me about 60 hours to complete - and you really have to focus. I wouldn't call this tv knitting, as I never really memorized the pattern, although it did become pretty intuitive by about the last third of it.

I didn't make any changes to the pattern other than to omit the last 3 repeats. This was due to the length, which was just right. It was 54" when I stopped knitting and after blocking it was 68" - just right!

The yarn was custom dyed for me by my friend Deb, who lives here in Seattle and is the artist behind Grey Drizzle Fibers. She is fabulous and great to work with, and I recommend her fibers very highly.

I Haz a Manu

 

PATTERN: Manu by Kate Davies
NEEDLES: US 5 and 7 circulars
YARN: Rowan Felted Tweed in Carbon

Ever since I first saw the project page for this sweater on Ravelry, before the pattern was even released, I have coveted one of my very own. I seriously stalked the project for months, waiting for the pattern to be released, and then I went on a quest to create the perfect version of it for me and my lifestyle. After a brief flirtation with a hand-dyed yarn (I bought Squoosh Rapture for the project originally), I eventually came around and stuck with my guts, which were screaming at me to knit the sweater in tweed. Do you all know about my love for tweed? It's a love that knows no limits. And I'm really, really glad I listened to my heart on this one.

 

Because the tweed is fabulous. The color is a little misleading - it really does look this blue in some lights, but it can also look rather gray, which is why I liked it so much - it was so reminiscent of the colors in my "natural habitat" - the Pacific Northwest. I thought it would make the ultimate Seattle sweater - and I think it did.

 

From the get-go, I was drawn to the drapey nature of the sweater (it's perfect for layering over jeans or dresses, as above) and the pleated yoke. It's such a beautiful design, and the pattern is really, really well written with lovely finishing details like an i-cord edging and pleated pockets on the front.

 

Even though my sweater looks a lot like the original, I did make a few modifications. Most importantly, I knit the entire sweater on size 5 needles, instead of changing for the various garter edges and such. In the end, I really like the result. I did use US 7s for the i-cord edging, though. Another big modification was to knit the body a bit longer than the pattern called for. In the end, with the extra length and then the growth accumulated by washing, I'd say my sweater is more like 18.5 or 19 inches long, rather than 16.25 or whatever the sweater pattern said to do. Again, I think this is an advantage. While a too-long sweater can be sloppy, I found that most of the Ravelry projects that didn't look good seemed to suffer from the makers not knitting the sweater long enough. Without length, the pockets can make a lady look rather dumpy - especially if that lady is wider around the hips (ahem). I actually think the sweater looks really nice even without the pockets, so if you're on the fence about knitting it, don't be. It's extremely flattering, and since the pockets go on last, you can wait and see if you want to add them.