knitting, beading & jeans making
Each Wednesday, I post little snippets about what’s happening, and what I’m working on.
I finished off the neckline of my entirely handspun & handknit sweater. I had originally done an i-cord bind off, but that was rolling unattractively, so it took it out, and worked 3 rounds of seed stitch on a smaller needle, then bound off, and it looks much better.
I learned to bead crochet at VKLive this weekend and might have gotten a little bit obsessed. VKLive was a blast – thank you so much to those of you who stopped to say hi. I didn’t take many photos, and (following my Rhinebeck trend) didn’t buy much. I bought the beads that you see in the photo, and a gleener, but that’s it.
And I restarted the jeans making experiment. Way back at the very beginning of the self-made wardrobe I experimented a bit with making jeans, enough experimentation to get a mockup that was “ok” but needed some fit adjustments. I put them down to work on sweaters and other cold weather things, and completely forgot what I was going to do to them, so I started again from scratch. Fingers crossed this experiment goes better.
Rosmerta – a new shawl pattern!
I sort of sneaked a new shawl pattern up onto Ravelry Friday morning.
It’s a crescent shaped shawl with a mesh lattice work pattern, and knit with one skein of Julie Asselin’s “Merletto,” which is 800 yards of a beautifully plump lace weight yarn.
Hand dyed yarn and complex stitch patterns usually fight with each other, and can play epic games of tug-and-war if you let them. What do you look at first? The yarn or the stitch work?
With this pattern I’m calling a cease fire.
The strong diamond & mesh pattern creates lace work that shines, while smooth expanses of stockinette allow the gorgeous yarn & colors to take center stage.
Here’s the pattern on Ravelry.
I started this pattern way back in August, and am so excited to have the pattern out to you.
The name “Rosmerta” was initially inspired by the last name of everyone’s favorite Hogsmeade pub proprietress. After a little digging it also turns out to be the name of the Gaulish goddess of abundance & fertility.
And (maybe most importantly) it fills “R” in my (slightly strange) quest to name shawls after every letter of the alphabet.
This is also my 40th(!) pattern on Ravelry. When did that happen?!?!
You can see them all here.
All the important pattern details.
Materials: 800 yards (740 meters), lace weight
Sample Shown in: Julie Asselin, “Merletto”
1 skein, 800 yards (740 meters)/skein, colorway ‘Anémone’
75% merino wool, 15% cashmere, 10% silk
Needles: US size 3 (3.25 mm) 40 inch circular needle
use needles needed to obtain gauge
Notions:
stitch markers (8)
extra stitch markers for internal reps (36)
it helps if these two sets of stitch markers are different
tapestry or yarn needle
Gauge: 26 sts and 40 rows = 4 in (10 cm) in washed and blocked St st
Blocked Dimensions: 18 inches (45.5 cm) down center back, blocked
exact dimensions may vary depending on how aggressively the piece is blocked
Note: This pattern only includes charts for the stitch repeats.
The pattern is available on Ravelry, now.
sweater amnesia, cold weather & a new shawl pattern – The Self-Made Wardrobe Week 24
The Self-Made Wardrobe is a project where I only wear garments I’ve made.
It’s sort of a year long experiment in getting dressed without clothing labels.
DAY 162 – JANUARY 9th
Versio Sweater
Black Scarf
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Black Tights
Brown Boots
Various Rings
How do you guys store your sweaters?
Prior to this wardrobe project, I didn’t knit sweaters, so I didn’t need to have a storage system. My sweaters currently live in half of a drawer in my dresser, there are two problems with this 1) they no longer fit in half of a drawer, and 2) some sweaters end up at the bottom of the drawer, and then I forget about them.
The obvious solution is to rearrange my dresser so the sweaters get a full drawer, however I’m not sure that’s going to prevent sweater amnesia. Anyone have a better way of storing their sweaters, and avoiding sweater amnesia?
DAY 163 – JANUARY 10th
Moonstruck Cardigan
Boring Black Sweater
Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit
Black Tights
Brown Boots
This is one of those sweaters that got stuck at the bottom of my sweater drawer for awhile.
DAY 164 – JANUARY 11th
Hand Knit Sweater Dress
Basic Black Tank
Black Tights
Various Rings
This is the outfit I wear when I don’t have to leave the apartment, and would have preferred staying pjs to getting dressed. Like on Sunday, I spent the day hiding from the cold, knitting, and cutting fabric.
DAY 165 – JANUARY 12th
Not-So-Straightforward Basic Purple Sweater
The First of Many Archers
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Black Tights
Brown Boots
Long Spinny Necklace
Various Rings
I added the buttons to my first Archer button up shirt last week, and posted a full post about it yesterday! You can read the saga of the mismatched center fronts.
I love this pattern, and am already working on my second Archer. Though, next time (for my 3rd) I’m not doing a plaid. I love a good plaid, but I want to sew a shirt that involves no pattern matching.
DAY 166 – JANUARY 13th
Deconstructed Black Sweater
Not-So-Straightforward Basic Purple Sweater
Basic Black Tank Top
Black Maxi Skirt with a Slit
Black Tights
Brown Boots
Various Rings
When I was designing this Not-So-Straighforward Basic Purple Sweater, I wanted a sweater that would work on it’s own, over a shirt, or under another sweater, and I’m delighted to say this sweater does all three wonderfully.
DAY 167 – JANUARY 14th
Not-So-Straightforward Basic Purple Sweater
Black Tank Top
Black Scarf
Khaki Scarf
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Black Tights
Brown Boots
Various Rings
And the purple sweater has ended up at the top of my sweater drawer, so I’m wearing it all the time. As for the bi-color scarf, I just took two scarves and twisted them together, I like the contrast against the purple sweater, and love the idea for adding more scarf variety.
DAY 168 – JANUARY 15th
Deconstructed Black Sweater
Basic Black Tank Top
Graphic Silk Circle Skirt
Black Tights
Brown Boots
Pocket Watch Necklace
Various Rings
Surprisingly enough I didn’t freeze when I stepped out the door in this. It’s always a tricky balance between not boiling in my overheated NYC apartment (with heat don’t control), and not being cold the minute I step outside my building, and not freezing when walking around on streets that quickly turn into wind tunnels. A tricky balance indeed.
PS. Rosmerta is now available on Ravelry! Rosmerta is a new shawl pattern that I designed, with a mesh & diamond trellis type pattern. It’s knit using Julie Asselin’s lovely Merletto.
I’ll also have hard copy patterns of it at VKLive in NYC this weekend. I’ll be at the Knitty City Booth (#710) Saturday morning at 11am. If you’re in the NYC area, and planning to go, I hope to see you there!
