I Wasn’t Kidding…

… I truly love this pattern of Cosy’s.

Here’s my second and third.

Yeah, I’m not one of those knitters who only knits things once.

The Sweater in All Its Glory

Back In December, I completed knitting up this sweater. But I thought to myself that it needed something a bit “extra”. In my mind I pictured a beautiful bit of embroidery involving a cloud and swallow motif. And I tried to make it work, honestly, I did. I used DMC floss–too thin to stand out; I used silk yarn–couldn’t get the fine detail I was looking for; I tried needle felting–promising, but I’m too inexperienced to carry out my vision.

In the end, it needed none of that. It is a beautiful sweater, knit for my little baby girl, from a buttery soft yarn dyed and spun by an amazingly talented friend. She loves it, I love it, and sometimes simple is best. We wear this jacket almost daily and I have yet to tire of the joy it brings me to see her reaching milestones in this bit of mama made.

Isn’t that yarn something else?

Really, I just love the colors and how much visual texture they add. No wonder the embroidery didn’t work; the yarn is art enough.

Those buttons! I walked into my new LYS and they were the first thing I saw. I didn’t need to look any further.

Maybe we can even eek out another year of this. I think I have enough scrap yarn to lengthen the sleeves by a bit next year.

The sweater pattern itself was lovely to knit up, and Lisa was very responsive to a question I had, a rather boneheaded problem involving counting, so embarrassing once she helped me figure it out. It really knit up super fast, and it is a beautiful little knit. I think is absolutely perfect to show off hand spun.

Oh! It is such a meaningful knit to me! I hope you enjoy it!

What Do You Do with All That Yarn?

Why you make hats of course!

Introducing the Permafrost Hat by Cosy! It is currently being test knit and this is one of the examples.

Here’s a little tidbit from me to you… when you offer to test knit for someone, you should probably follow the directions as written, and not go off and do your own thing. See, when you’re test knitting, your testing the knit as written. So don’t go and get all fancy. For instance, when it says to knit in the round, why don’t you go ahead and do that instead of knitting it flat so you can get a funky orange intarsia stripe. Back and forth knitting is not the same as knitting in the round and if you’re trying to find potential problems with the pattern, it’s best to remove any possibility that your brilliant, err, interpretation of the pattern might have caused. Really, really sorry Cosy! I made it up to her by knitting another one that I can’t find!

Anyway, I have to say this pattern is brilliant! I absolutely loved knitting it. If you’re new to cables and find them intimidating, I suggest you try this one out. The cable is created with a slipped stitch (easy!) over several rows, then dropped and picked up, no cable needle needed which makes it the perfect introduction for cabling without a needle, in my humble opinion, the only way to do it.

I also have to add, using your own hand-dyed yarn is oh-so-fun! Not that I don’t love it when I knit something for someone with normal ‘ole yarn, but it’s that much more significant when you add your own touch to the color. Both of the hats I knit up went to my kids, and they totally love them, which makes me beam!

And one last parting shot…

Go grab this pattern as soon as it’s up. You won’t regret it!!

Big Plans

This is it. This is the month I am going to sew. And BOY! I am going to jump right with both feet in a serious way.

 

That’s the plan anyway.

 

I’ve been slowly accumulating fabric, patterns, and projects for about the past two years. A few things have gotten in the way but I’m kind of done with digging for excuses and ready to start creating. Two women have helped get me over the proverbial hump. First Rebeka at Artsy Crafty Babe created this amazing skirt from the Alabama Chanin book, which I’ve had on my shelf for about a year and a half or so. I am so inspired by their work; if I could find the extra money and time I would love to take on one of their weekend workshops. Something about what I saw in that book and on their site really got me going. I love the thought of using something as utilitarian as a cotton tshirt and creating such a wonderful peice of work. And the fact that it is all hand work, and not run through a machine seemed to make it that much more approachable for me. I came across their work as a result of an idea that I have for a memory quilt using my kids’ baby clothes in reverse applique, but that’s a post for another time. I have all the materials lying around, but before I saw Becki’s skirt, I hadn’t found the urge to dive in. Then Autum of Creative Little Daisy declared November as Sew Something Month. Well, isn’t that the perfect alignment of the stars? How could I not take up the challenge?

So here’s what I’m planning on sewing this month:

• One skirt, Alabama Chanin style
• Soft Cotton Duck storage containers
• Basket liners for the baby’s room
• Proof-of-Concept for the baby quilt
• This Apron from Sew Liberated

So hopefully, by the end of the month, I’ll have something to be shown from this mess.

Of course, I still need to finish a hat

or two. maybe three.

 

Unpacking? Who eeds to unpack?