Category Archives: finished

10:08 am - September 5, 2014 - AngelaH

There’s something in the air

I’m not sure why, but even though neither L or I experience back-to-school anymore, this time of year is always hectic and disorganized, with a what feels like 80 things happening all in different places, all crammed into the same small window of time. I think we’re at the edge of it now, but wow.

Anyway, thank goodness for knitting, you know? It’s hardly a new observation to say that it really is soothing, but I definitely notice it most when my knitting feels like a calm little retreat. Of course, with so much on the go I didn’t feel like I’d been making much progress on anything, but then I pulled out my WIPs and things are looking okay.

Here’s what has been keeping me calm over the last two weeks.

Stasis, of course. I’m just about to start the body decreases, which means I’m about six inches from joining the arms and then working the yoke. I have this crazy plan that this weekend I can sew myself a skirt (this one) and knit this up to the armscye. We shall see.

After barely touching my Betula socks since we got back from California, I picked them up two weekends ago. They’re great travel knitting (as I said before) and were perfect for the long drives and train rides that characterized our last two weekends. I can only assume my ambitious plans from this weekend are due to my lack of at-home downtime this summer. (I don’t know about your summer weekends, but mine tend to book up pretty quickly. This will be my first weekend in ages that I get to spend at home with only my own whims to direct it. I can’t wait.)

Anyway. Betula remains totally enchanting. I’m half-way through the gusset decreases on the second sock, so once I get a chance to pick them back up they’ll fly right off the needles I’m sure. (I have another trip in a couple of weeks — details to come, but it’s fun — so if they aren’t done before that, they’ll for sure be finished after it).

Surprise! I cast on this hat a few weeks ago because every year I decide I’ll start my holiday knitting in the summer and every year I don’t (and then every holiday season I chastise myself for it). I could see that cycle was happening again this year, so I wound up the two skeins of Swans Island DK I picked up in Nova Scotia in the spring and cast on for L’s annual hat. This is Brig again, but I knit the smallest size this time, on a smaller needle, and the fit is perfect (he just tried it on so I’d know whether I needed to re-knit it, but it’s going to be tucked away now). The smaller needle meant my row gauge was tighter, so despite only starting the decreases 1/4 inch earlier, the overall hat is about 2.5 inches shorter, which means no fold-up brim. I offered to rip back the top and knit it longer, but L says he likes it as is, so I’m leaving it (perhaps there’s a third iteration of this pattern in my future?)

So there you have it. I’m slowly getting my routine back, and with that will come more regular posts (and, hopefully, more regular finished things to post about!)

Categories: finished, in progress, Knitting Tags: hat, socks, sskal14, Stasis

9:18 am - August 12, 2014 - AngelaH

Endless Summer

I know I should write the post about the California LYSs I visited (this is sort of like a prelude), but I feel like it has been ages since I posted anything finished (or, it had been before my Summer Skyps), so this dress is jumping the queue.

I have done a lot of sewing this summer and, as can be the way when you’re learning something new, I haven’t been very successful. I have sewed a half-dozen tops that are just blah, and it has been discouraging. (I should note that is probably as much due to my poor choice of patterns as it is to my skills. My last few tops have been pretty well made, but are unflattering, so can be donated rather than tossed out.) But, I believe in perseverance, and I know better than to be hard on myself about being a beginner. Even though I would consider most of my July projects failures, they all gave me the opportunity to practice new skills and get more comfortable at my machine, and that isn’t wasted time.

Which leads me to this dress. It’s the Endless Summer Tunic from A Verb for Keeping Warm, and I picked up both the pattern and the fabric while I was there (yes, I copied their example exactly. I wasn’t going to, but then I couldn’t resist). I had already been thinking about trying the pattern out, but what sealed the deal for me was that Verb had it made up in every size, so I could actually try them on to determine both whether it was as flattering style and what size to make. The pattern itself is relatively simple, so I wasn’t too worried about the execution.

I am really happy with this dress. It’s all wrinkled in these photos because we took these in the afternoon and I wore it all morning, but I just don’t care. The style is easy to wear, and I will certainly be able to wear it work, since my office is pretty casual.

To make it a dress, I added three inches to the length (below the pocket marks). Wearing it with a belt definitely shortens it a bit, so I might add another inch (above the pocket mark, I think, so they end up in the right place) next time. I actually left the pockets out of this version, since the double-gauze I used just didn’t seem robust enough to make pockets I’d actually be able to use, but I’m dreaming about another version in Liberty (this leafy one, I think) and it will definitely feature pockets. I like the idea of having a more fall version of this, and a darker fabric will look better with tights I think.

So, what do you think? Is it worth making another one? How to you handle disappointing FOs?

Categories: finished, Sewing Tags: dress, Endless Summer Tunic

12:24 pm - August 10, 2014 - AngelaH

Summer Skyps!

One of my favourite things about vacation knitting is that whatever project(s) I take along will forever remind me of the trip and when and where I worked on them. Even if these socks weren’t the exact colours of Big Sur, they will always remind me of beach knitting and the drive down the California coast.

I bought this yarn last spring with no real plan, and it’s one of the skeins I singled out at the beginning of the year as destined to become all the time, not-too-fancy socks. This is my fifth pair of whenever socks this year (though only the second to come from that original pile of yarn) and I’m quite pleased with them. Pulling them on in the middle of winter will be a nice reminder that the cold doesn’t last forever.

I’ve knit this pattern before, so I don’t have much (new) to say about it. It’s a nice, simple pattern — a little more interesting than basic ribbing, but plain enough to pick up and put down, or knit without looking. Looking back at my last pair, I realized that I knit them almost exactly a year ago, on our trip to Boston, so they are a tried-and-true one-the-road pattern.

Details
Pattern: Simple Skyp Socks
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Alegria in #A9537
Needles: 2.5mm
Notes: Not much to report, really. Like last time, I split for the heel so that I maintained a purl stitch on either side of the instep, which keeps the pattern centred down the foot. I knit the heels a little deeper this time (34 rows) and stopped the pattern 1/4 of an inch earlier, to make the toe a little longer. I was also really surprised/pleased with how the yarn striped up, so to maintain that I used the other end of the skein for the heel flap. I also purposefully tried to mirror the pooling around the ankles (caused by the gussets) and think it worked out pretty well. Ravelled here.

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: socks

10:40 am - July 2, 2014 - AngelaH

Hello, summer

Summer is finally here. I know it’s technically been summer for a few weeks now, and it has certainly felt like summer for the last month, but I can’t quite escape the grade-school sense that summer starts with Canada Day. Add to that the adult reality that summer seems to be the season when every weekend is planned months in advance and, yeah, we’re officially there.

This year we kicked off the summer with a last-minute camping trip. L’s sister and her husband recently moved to Toronto, and since they don’t start work until today we decided to take advantage of their freedom to get out of town. It has been a few years since we were in Tobermory, but Georgian Bay was as gorgeous as ever, and I’m so glad we went. It was a quick trip, since I had to work on Sunday, but we took our one full day and made the most of it, spending the morning clambering over rocks at Halfway Log Dump/walking through the woods on the Bruce Trail, and the afternoon swimming in Cypress Lake. I even managed a few rows of knitting (plus a fair bit of knitting in the car to and from).

The water may look tropical, but let me assure you it was freezing. So cold it actually hurt. (Also, the colours in this photo aren’t edited at all.)

This bunny spent a lot of time hanging out in our campsite.

I was originally hoping to get these socks finished up in time to get some pretty pictures in the wild, but it was a bit too dark by the end of the drive up (I was getting very close to the toe decreases) and once we were there we didn’t do too much sitting around. I finished the second sock on the way home and then ended up ripping out the first toe and re-knitting it (for a better match/fit) anyway, so it was just as well I didn’t try to rush things.

Details
Pattern: Basic 64 stitch socks
Yarn: Turtlepurl Yarns Striped Turtle Toes in Gatineau Fall
Needles: 2.5mm
Notes: There’s not much to say about these really. I thought about doing a contrast heel, but in the end decided just to knit from the other end of the ball, which worked out perfectly colour-wise and also meant I didn’t disrupt the stripe sequence at all. Ravelled here.

The colours in this photo are a little weird (both too dark and washed out) but it shows off the striping quite nicely.

Categories: finished, Knitting, Out and about Tags: camping, socks, Tobermory

10:25 am - June 17, 2014 - AngelaH

Summer socks

As promised: more finished socks! This pair has been sitting, half-done, in my WIP basket for nearly a year just waiting for the return of warm weather to push me into picking them back up.

It was quite a sunny day when we shot these, but since they’re meant to be summer socks I guess that’s alright.

This is one of the few sock patterns I’ve knit twice, and honestly I think I could knit them a third time. The lace is so fun, and the logic of the pattern makes the chart pretty quick to memorize (or, if not completely memorize, at least make it more of a glance).

I knit these using Indigodragonfly’s Bleats, Shoots & Leaves (a merino, bamboo, silk blend) in the Baldersquash colourway. I got the skein a few years ago through their fibre club and I don’t think this base ever made it into their regular rotation, which is too bad, because I would absolutely buy more. It’s such a lovely summer-y yarn, slightly cool to the touch with enough stretch to be pleasant to knit with. I also really love this colourway, which is excellently squash-y.

Despite the long timeline for knitting these socks, the pattern is very quick. Each sock took about a week at a casual pace, so if you’re thinking you could use some pretty summer socks, I would definitely suggest this pattern. I have a skein of Indigodragonfly’s Merino-Silk in my stash (which is what I used for the first pair) and I am seriously considering casting on for a third pair.

Details
Pattern: Daphne by Cookie A.
Yarn: Indigodragonfly Bleats, Shoots & Leaves in Baldersquash!
Needles: 2.75mm
Notes: The only thing I’d say is to knit this using a magic loop. I’m a dpn fan, but the chart repeats once across each side of the leg, with stitches moving back and forth, so if you’re open to the magic loop method, it makes for a quicker/less annoying experience. I also wish I’d knit more stockinette before the toe. I did 6.5 chart repeats on the foot, but should have stopped at 6 and knit a few more stockinette rows. The socks are perfectly comfortable, but I think the stockinette would have mode them more robust (and certainly easier to darn if/when the time comes). Ravelled here.

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: socks

9:03 am - June 13, 2014 - AngelaH

Finished Pheasants!

Remember that list of WIPs I posted about a while ago? Well I guess pulling everything out lit a fire under me or something because here I am with a third item off the needles!* These are just plain socks, knit up in Hedgehog Fibres Twist Sock (a BFL/nylon blend) in the Pheasant colourway.

I finished them last week, but they had been on the needles for a while. I cast them on after finishing my Christmas socks and they’ve been background knitting ever since. Mostly that has meant a row here and a row there, but no concentrated attention. I have a vague memory of spending an afternoon finishing the foot of the first sock so I would be able to cast on the second one before I had to go somewhere (plain stockinette socks are great social knitting as long as you aren’t just about at the heel or just about at the toe), but somehow these never pushed their way to the top of the pile.

After I finished Grace, though, I decided to just finish these already! I’ll admit that I was tempted to leave them on the side and pick up the Daphne socks that have been languishing (another item from my WIP list, which made it easy to justify), but I knew that if I left these any longer they wouldn’t get finished before the fall. And I’m so glad they’re done! This colourway is so lovely, and I even wore them earlier this week on a sort of chilly day.

Next up? I’m now half-way through the second Daphne sock without even trying, so you can bet you’ll be seeing more finished socks very soon.

Details
Pattern: Just my basic 68-stitch top-down socks
Yarn: Hedgehog Fibres Twist Sock in Pheasant
Needles: 2.25 mm
Notes: Nothing special. I knit these at 9.5 stitches = 1 inch, so they’ll basically last forever. Ravelled here.

*Items one and two, in case you you’re wondering.

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: Hedgehog Fibres, socks

11:10 am - June 7, 2014 - AngelaH

A year in the making

You guys, Grace is finished! I’ll admit that I was starting to wonder if it was even possible to finish this cardigan, but then last weekend I just decided to ignore the lovely weather, buckle down, and get it done. I am so pleased I did!

I even made my arbitrary deadline, finishing on May 31 so Grace the WIP didn’t turn 1. I was pretty sure that, after looking at this cardigan fondly for a day or two, I’d be forced to put it away for the summer, but the weather took a little turn this week and I think it’s the first time in my life I’ve been happy about cool weather in June. I’ve worn Grace a few times (and soon really will have to put it away until fall) and I’m pleased to say this cardigan was more than worth waiting for.

The thing about starting a cardigan one year and then not picking it up again for 10 months is that a lot of things can change in that time. Obviously your body size is one thing, but so are gauge and wardrobe requirements, so there’s no guarantee of a good outcome. I am really pleased with how this fits, though, and being a lightweight and colourful cardigan is basically a recipe for a wardrobe staple as far as I’m concerned.

Grace is designed to be a sort of casual-fitted cardigan, which can be a tough blend to pull off. I really like the way this hangs when worn open – without too much fabric hanging down the front – and that it buttons up nicely when I want a little extra warmth. I knit the sleeves shorter than written because years of wearing shirts with too-short sleeves have made hand-grazing cuffs feel weird. I mostly just push up my sleeves anyhow, but I like to be able to wear them full-length (which is bracelet length for me) under a jacket or if it’s a little chilly. The pattern doesn’t specify a bind-off, but I used a tubular bind-off at the sleeves for a more polished look. (I used Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off at the hem because I was worried about yardage and didn’t want to risk it. I think it looks fine.)

As I mentioned before, I used Quince & Co. Finch for this. It was my first time using Finch and I am a definite fan. The yarn isn’t superwash, so it has a slightly woolly texture, which makes for a really nice even fabric and great lace definition. It’s also perfect for spit-felting, which meant I had very few ends to weave in when I finished. I’m already planning another fingering-weight cardigan (which hopefully will not take a year from start to finish) and you can bet I’m going to be ordering Finch for it (more skeins this time – I don’t want to push my luck).

Details
Pattern: Grace by Jane Richmond
Yarn: Quince & Co. Finch in Nasturtium
Needles: 4mm
Notes: I feel like I’ve written so much about this that I don’t have much more to say. My mods were small and didn’t really change anything about the overall cardigan. I ignored her numbers when picking up for the button bands and collar and more-or-less picked up 3 stitches for every 4 rows in the stockinette portion and then 2 stitches for every 3 rows in the lace portion, so it had more room to stretch. That meant I picked up more stitches, so I added an extra button to compensate. My Grace is Ravelled here, and there are lots of notes.

I don’t know why I look so skeptical here.

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: Grace

4:06 pm - May 19, 2014 - AngelaH

Fine feathered Madeleine

I don’t know why, but I always forget how much I like wearing skirts. When I was a kid, I absolutely refused to wear skirts or dresses and really only came around to wearing them on a casual basis in the last six or seven years. This all probably explains why it didn’t occur to me to try sewing a skirt until Sara and Andrea suggested it last weekend. I am so, so glad that they did.

This is the Victory Patterns Madeleine skirt and it represents what I spent most of the weekend doing (that and knit the button bands and collar of Grace). I have a very small stash of fabric, but this is one of the first pieces that made up that little stash. It’s Anna Maria Horner Field Study Linen (a linen-cotton blend) in the “Deep” colourway of Parenthetical Flight. I ordered 2 yards of it a few months ago, before I was really doing any sewing or knew how much yardage to buy. As it turned out, I was very lucky to get this skirt out of two yards, and actually had to sew pieces together for the waistband. Thank goodness I had decided in advance to forgo the straps.

The fun thing about sewing, besides the speed, is how much there is to learn. It reminds me of when I started knitting and everything was new and exciting and each project represented new skills. This skirt represents a bunch of firsts: using interfacing, making a buttonhole, sewing in a zipper, etc.

To choose a size I decided to measure a high-waisted skirt I already have, which put me between sizes 10 and 12. As it turns out, I could certainly have gone down a size: after walking out to take the pictures I realized the waist was too loose and, after getting home, moved the button out by nearly and inch and then added a hook-and-bar to the inside of the waistband. This pulls the zipper off its clean line a bit, but it’s not too noticeable and is a definite improvement fit-wise.

All in all, I am very pleased. I love the huge pockets and the length, and that I don’t need a belt, but could wear one if I wanted. I wore this all day today, and I am please to report that it’s suitable for bicycling, sitting on café patios, and wandering around city parks. In short, it’s a perfect summer skirt, and I still can’t quite believe I made it.

Categories: finished, Sewing Tags: skirt, Victory Patterns

4:38 pm - May 10, 2014 - AngelaH

On top(s)

This week has been a little all over the place, but thanks to a productive weekend (last weekend) and a lovely meet-up with Andrea and Sara this morning, it hasn’t been a total write-off.

Grace is all wrinkled because I unceremoniously shoved it into a bag and then shoved the bag into my pannier. That’s the price of patio knitting.

I was decidedly behind my self-imposed Grace schedule until today. To get this finished before the end of the month, I need to be finished the body and button bands (I’m worried about my yardage, so I’m leaving the arms until the end) by the end of next week. I haven’t had much time during the week to knit, and now that the weather is improving my weekends have been filling up with outdoor time – I’m not complaining, but it is making it more difficult to get this cardigan finished! Anyway, I’m heading toward the final hip increase now and after that there’s just the ribbing and the body is done. I was thinking about adding length, but the body measures 14 inches now with three inches to go, so I think I’m going to be fine, assuming I can find some knitting time.

Of course, knitting time would be easier to come by if I weren’t distracted by my sewing machine. Something about the warm weather and all the lovely fabric my LYS is now carrying has got my thinking about summer tops and dresses, and while I’m always game to knit some, sewing it so fast! Ahem, that is, assuming you don’t spend an entire afternoon sewing something that is (at least) five sizes too big. That’s what I spent last Saturday doing, and let me tell you, while I certainly learned from my mistakes, I kind of wish I had learned faster.

I really like the test-pattern-ness of this print (Color Me Happy by V & Co.), which gets totally lost if you’re not right up close.

Anyway. I was tackling my third (and then fourth) attempt at the Scout Woven Tee. This is a boxier style than I typically wear, but I like the idea behind it and I think, once I get the pattern figured out for my body, that it’s a top I’ll wear a lot in the summer. This version took me two tries (the enormous one, which did not get photographed, and this one) and I’m mostly happy with it.

What do you think?

Looking at the photos, I think I could take some width out of the waist area and the neckline might be a bit too wide, both of which I think I know how to fix. The pulling at the armhole is another issue. I suspect this means I need to go down a size and do a full-bust adjustment, but I’m not sure (do you know?). I like the idea of this top enough to keep tinkering with it, so if you have ideas/comments about it, please let me know!

Categories: finished, in progress, Knitting, Sewing Tags: Grace, Scout Woven Tee

3:22 pm - April 19, 2014 - AngelaH

Splish splash

I was going to write about our Nova Scotia trip today, but I finished my Splash striped socks the other day so Nova Scotia will have to wait. I feel like it has been ages since I finished a pair of socks, which is weird since I always have a pair on the needles.

Stripes!

I really meant to finish my Pheasant socks first, but I couldn’t resist these stripes. Ganymede decided to help out with the winding of the second skein of yarn (it comes in balls, but I wound them into cakes because I find them easier to knit from) and the resulting tangle meant I spend half my knitting time sorting out lengths of yarn to knit with. I finally fixed the problem on our way home of Nova Scotia and the rest of the knitting flew.

Besides the stripes, there’s nothing very exciting about the socks. They’re my standard 68-stitch sock (knit at 9 stitches = 1 inch), though with contrast heels. Choosing the contrast colour was pretty fun, actually. I wanted a real contrast though, so I resisted the blues and greens in my leftover bag. I was originally planning to use yellow, but against the greens it looked more sallow than sunny. The purple is unexpected, but I think it works.

When I ordered all that Felici, I bought enough for four pairs of socks (with shipping, it makes sense to buy in bulk, ahem.) I am definitely not over the stripes yet, so it probably won’t be long before I cast on another pair.

Categories: finished, Knitting Tags: socks