Tag Archives: knitting

Knitting in the New Year (2016)

Posted in Musings & Everything Else by

image

Season’s greetings! It may not be snowing in these parts just yet (not complaining), but it is snowing on my blog. I wish WordPress would let me keep that feature through the whole of winter. Makes things feel festive, you know?

Speaking of festive things, I’ve been thinking a lot about winter sewing and knitting. I really like the 3 Season Wardrobe Challenge (#3seasonwardrobechallenge) that Tasha of By Gum By Golly dreamt up this past fall. Her post really resonated with me, even though our winter has been pretty mild so far. Let’s see if that lasts…

In any case, I like that she didn’t set a deadline for herself; the challenge is more of a guide. That works for me. Knowing me I’ll definitely be sewing summer clothes. The humidity of a New York summer just doesn’t inspire me to sew with wool (!).

That challenge idea transitions well into the main focus of this post: knitting plans for 2016! Obviously, knitting is a much slower process than sewing, and I know I’ll never get through all of these projects in a year (or two or maybe even three). But I’m not sure what I’ll want to knit and when, so I’m highlighting some of the cold-weather patterns I’ve added to my “favorites” on Ravelry. Also, I love seeing what other bloggers find – gives me ideas!

Click on the image or the link below to go to the pattern page. All the pattern photos are from the designers and are credited.

Continue reading →

Cherry Pie Agatha Cardigan

Posted in 2014 Knitting, Finished Projects, Knitting & Crafts by

IMG_1057

Okay, so I haven’t timed my posts just right. Because of that, you’ll be seeing yet another finished knitting project at some point in the next week or so! I like to space these babies out between sewing projects, but what can you do? Between travel and the holidays, I made much more progress on my knitting than my sewing. But it’s okay – I am pretty psyched to have added another warm wool cardigan to my wardrobe arsenal because, brrrr, it’s cold out there!

This is the Agatha cardigan by, you guessed it, Andi Satterlund. I have loved this design long before I actively took up knitting. So beautiful and intricate. Ravelry tells me I added it to my queue in September 2013, close to a year before I knitted my first ever cardigan. I made a few mistakes with this one, but since I’m still in “I turned that string into a thing!” mode I’m pleased with it. I started this around Thanksgiving, slowed down a bit over the holidays, and finally finished in January. Still playing catch-up with project posts, t’would seem.

I first wore this cardigan to work and then for dinner at Benihana in midtown – gotta look put together for my hibachi shrimp!

Continue reading →

A Coral-Charcoal Belt

Posted in Knitting & Crafts by

IMG_0225-001

After my first cardigan came the question: what to knit next? I knew I wanted to make another cardigan, but when I saw this lace elastic belt tutorial I figured it’d be a small and quick project to break up the longer ones. Plus, I’d like to add more belts to my wardrobe even though I hardly ever think to wear them! I’m not big on accessorizing (I wear earrings and call it a day), but sometimes it’s nice to pair a belt with a dress. So here’s my attempt at doing just that.

IMG_0213-001

**Note: I found this Andi Satterlund tutorial on Tuts+, but there are errors on rounds 10 and 12. The corrections are noted on the Ravelry page so I’d recommend looking there as well.

Continue reading →

All Aboard the Marion KAL

Posted in Knitting & Crafts by

MarionKALyarn

Happy late August, friends! Just wanted to pop in and say that I’ll be joining the Marion KAL (knit-along) that Andi is hosting. I was all set to start on the Miette cardigan, but – long story short – the yarn just wasn’t quite right for that particular project. As I was contemplating next steps the KAL was announced, and so I thought why the heck not? I find these to be helpful motivators as a knitting beginner.

MarionKALI’m going with the recommended yarn for Marion, which is Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks. Can’t get over how inexpensive this yarn is: six skeins cost me just $16 total! I’m on a bit of a green kick right now (as you’ll see in my next two sewing projects) so I went with the Jalapeño color.

Marion seems like a nice project to practice knitting cables since they are only along the button band/neckline edge. Should be good times. I just discovered Kristin’s video tutorial, which really helps me visualize how cables are formed. Now the process/instructions make so much more sense, so thanks, Kristin! Didn’t realize you also had a knitting blog. :)

By the by, I am someone who never wants summer to end. It’s not that fall is bad (I guess), but it’s followed by the season which must not be named. I’m hoping that by sewing fun cold-weather clothes and knitting cozy cardigans, frigid days ahead will be slightly – slightly – less of a bummer.

Is anyone else knitting up Marion?! And do you love the fall or, like me, do you try to hold on to summer as long as possible?!

OAL 2014: I Made A Cardigan!!!

Posted in Finished Projects, Knitting & Crafts by

photo-2

I knit my very first sweater! The Myrna cardigan by Andi Satterlund of Untangling Knots. Woohoo!

This was completed as part of the Outfit-Along, as I mentioned in a previous post. I did sew a dress in the challenge time frame (my peach dress that I shared last week), but I didn’t originally intend to wear them together. It just happened to be the dress I was making at the time and since the summer has been so busy I never got around to making the pencil skirt I had planned.

In any case, I was just so thrilled to have finished this cardigan by the deadline that I wore it with the peach dress and shared them in the OAL thread on Ravelry. A few days later, these photos were taken in Bryant Park and I’m much happier with how this cardigan pairs color-wise with my Colette Parfait dress from two years ago.

The yarn I used was Worsted Cotton by Blue Sky Alpacas. The color is Mediterranean, which is perfect since it reminded me of crystal blue water when I spotted it at Downtown Yarns at Avenue A and East 3rd Street. This yarn may be a bit heavier than what’s recommended, but I think it worked out all in all. The one issue I noticed is that it shed on my white dress. Little blue furries lightly sprinkled over the fabric. Hmm, was that supposed to happen?

Continue reading →