matchy-matchy

One of the things I really loved about making the sleepsack from the last post was finding piping and buttons that made a smooth match to the multi-coloured fabric. Taking the effort to find the thing that’s just right, even if it’s a tiny detail, really makes a difference to the finished object.

I quickly learned that there is a danger to matching, though: once I start, I cannot stop. Before I knew it, there was a perfect tiny hanger to match the piping. Then I thought: well, sewing is all good, but in my deepest of hearts I’ll always be a knitter first, so surely this baby must get something knitted from me as well. Thus a newborn sweater was born. In a matching colour, of course.

Then one day I was walking around one of my favourite shops, and spotted a most adorable pair of baby pants that would just go sooo well with it all.

I would have gone on (don’t you agree that this ensemble is just crying out for a matching hat? and all babies need booties to keep their feet warm, right?), but luckily the baby cut me off by deciding to arrive a few weeks early. I am grateful to him for that. He doesn’t know it yet, but he saved me from going even further down the rabbithole.

Now, of course this doesn’t mean I’m done knitting for him! But maybe I’ll explore some other colours too… ;)

Pattern: Newborn Tristan by Mer Almagro
Yarn: Anny Blatt Flanelle Merinos
Baby pants: Hema

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buttoning…

Choosing the right buttons can be quite a challenge, and I often feel quite insecure about it.

This time as well I felt completely at a loss, but I had some help, and I am very happy with the solution we came up with together!

on the blocking board

I’ll have a lot to say about this piece when it’s finished… For now, here’s just a quick photo from the blocking board.

For the buttons, I was struggling for ideas… until someone mentioned wood. Yes, I think nice natural real-wood buttons would actually fit perfectly here, don’t you agree?

fallback project

You know how I said that sock knitting was hurting my fingers and I needed another project to fall back on when the pain from gripping small needles appears? Well, I found one. And then, several episodes of Doctor Who later…

The “fallback” project seems to have somehow taken over. I didn’t touch my sock once yesterday. This was too much fun! :)

I’ve been wanting to make this baby/toddler cardigan ever since I first saw it. It was one of the main reasons why I bought the book (this one), though I love most the patterns in it. But somehow I could just never find the right yarn for it. Until two days ago, when I realized I had the perfect amount of the perfect yarn in my stash!

In DK weight on 3.5mm needles, after days of only sock knitting, this feels like super-loose knitting. The diamond pattern is easy to follow (even if you’re giving more attention to Matt Smith than to it) and is creating a sort of quilted look.

I have a feeling that I’ll need another fallback project soon… This one might not last much longer!

holiday Liesl!

When I was knitting my Liesl, I decided to make it buttonless out of sheer laziness, to be honest. I was writing my masters dissertation then, and I think if I had provided any extra strain to my brain, even with such a tiny operation as choosing the best buttonhole placement, I would’ve cried. The happy consequence, however, is that I now have an item which gives me plenty of opportunities for creativity and versatility! You may recall my version with a big belt. Yesterday, I wore Liesl with one of the satin ribbons I picked up for it at the craft store.

The lace holes are big enough to pull the ribbon through them without a problem, and the yarn is resilient enough to go back to its original state after the ribbon is taken out, without leaving big gaping saggy holes behind. And the ribbon adds the perfect touch of flimsy that every garment needs, if you ask me. ;)

The final thing is, and I hadn’t noticed this until I uploaded the photos onto my computer, it all seems to come together in very Christmasy colours! Umm, especially if you pose in front of a huge pine tree with snow on its branches… :D

I guess then it counts as having started putting up my Christmas decorations! :) How about you, are you in the mood yet? :)

it was about time! giveaway!

Lately I’ve been such a lucky blogger and knitter – winning in giveaways all over the place! Now, I’m not one to scoop up all the sweets and eat them on my own, so I’ve decided to give a bit back. :) Thus, here I am presenting to you the second fridica giveaway :)

The theme this time is designers, and I would like to present to you a very special young designer who has given me her kind permission to give away one of her patterns! Connie Chang Chinchio describes herself as a trained physicist who “works on environmental health science research between sweaters”. Just another piece of evidence that knitters extraordinaire come from every possible occupation and that, regardless what they were originally, knitting does not fail to take over one’s life. :)

My favourite in Connie’s designs are her cardigans, which are invariably simple yet interesting.

The squishy Metro…

The intriguing Geodesic…

And the feminine Printed Silk…

Connie has also designed some wonderful hats and mittens, which brings us back to the giveaway! :) The Cayuga Set is a pattern for matching hat and mittens featuring cute bobbles. It rings very Christmassy to me and I think it would make a wonderful gift for your loved ones or yourself ;) And if you’re not into matching, then you can just make one or the other. The choice is yours – you get the whole set!

So, you can win a pattern for a hat & mittens set and as an extra, I’ll throw in 436 yards of aran weight yarn from my stash! The yarn should be sufficient to make the set, if you like, but of course it’s up to you to use it for whatever you please.

What do you need to do? Comment on this post, and in your comment, leave me a link to your favorite knitwear designer (it can be a website, blog or Ravelry link :) Please keep it to one link because otherwise my spam filter won’t let you through. Feel free, but not obliged, to tell others about the giveaway in any form you like.

It’s one entry per person, and you have until the end of the day on November 29th.

I’ll select the winner by random number draw and announce who it is on November 30th. Oh, and one more thing – I will ship anywhere in the world, so feel free to sign your name even if you are from Tasmania, Zanzibar, Alaska or Siberia!

Let’s take it away… :)

Liesl

Today I have a finished object to show you that has a very special meaning for me. I started it in the final week of writing my MSc dissertation, when things were not good. It was one of the four things I did in that week: write, panic, knit, eat. At moments it seemed like a very good metaphor of the state of my dissertation. When I saw it progress, it sort of gave me strength and made me believe that I could achieve the same with the mess of sentences on my computer screen.

And then I stopped. There was no more time for breaks, just work work work, a sleepless night, and finally, a dissertation submitted. It was, without a doubt, one of the greatest challenges I’ve ever faced.

Finishing this cardigan now, several months later (due to some problems finding the proper DPNs), I feel as if the chapter finally closes. And it went well. BIG sigh of relief. :) So I present to you: Liesl (and its happy and relieved owner – yes, this one stays with me!).

I’ll write more on the project details some other time… Let this be more of an hommage to that other, typed, FO that was being made alongside it. :)

And if you’re really dying to see more photos, you can find them on the Rav project page. ;)

sleeve in a bag

I’ve started on the sleeves. I am still apreciating the magic of the top-down, but hey knitting small circumferences in the round is hard enough (since I don’t have DPNs in this size, and I would really prefer them to magic loop for small circumferences) without having to rotate an entire adult-sized cardi ever time you make half a round! Luckily, I remembered a trick I read about recently (can’t remember where though, sorry!): put the cardi in a small bag with just the part you’re working on sticking out. Like this:

Muuuuuch easier! And here’s a little sneak of what’s hiding in the bag:

It kind looks like cabbage or some other green leafy plant at the moment, doesn’t it? ;) Perhaps I’ll call it my Cabbage Cardigan… :)

p.s. T minus 42 hours for the dissertation. Keep your fingers crossed!

and then, slowly…

…it started resembling a cardigan!

Wooooohoooo! Top-down cardigans are such magic, being able to try it on to make sure it fits as soon as you’ve finished the yoke and separated the sleeves is brilliant! I am in love with this technique!

I’m leaving the photo headless, though, because (trust me on this one) I’m not a pretty sight at the moment. I was wondering yesterday why the guy who served me my coffee had given me such an odd look, but then I glanced at my reflection in the lift mirror and understood his feelings completely. I think zombie is the word he was looking for… A few more days, I can do it! Right? Ummm… :P

Oh, and while we’re at it, all this trying out of Liesl at such an early stage has made me think that I should reconsider boleros/shrugs. I’ve always thought of them as rather useless items of clothing, more accessories actually, and never felt quite right when I tried to put them on. But this image is making me think… :)

Do you have an opinion on boleros/shrugs?

pushing onwards

When I wrote the last post I still wasn’t even completely sure I had the right yarn.

But at some point I couldn’t put it off anymore and had to cast on with what I had.

I undid the swatch and cast on. After I knit the first row I realized I hadn’t cast on enough stitches. So I ripped and cast on again. Just be persistent, you have to do it, cause it won’t do itself.

I started knitting and at first it all looked like a big mess. But I pushed onwards and after about 10 rows I actually thought to myself: “Wow, this is starting to look good!” Another five rows down and I shot a quick glance over what I had achieved thus far. Disaster! I had made a very obvious mistake several rows before, one that neither I nor others assessing my work would be able to forgive. No choice but to rip. Pick up the live stitches. And get on it again.

The process of making Liesl or the dissertation? Who could tell the difference anymore?