spring robin

This is one of those garments that you love to wear despite knowing it is not necessarily that flattering nor well-made. Ha, I act like that's a common thing for other people, too. I dunno, dude, I'm just on a baggy top kick and I don't know what else I want to wear these days. There's something pleasant and comforting about dressing like a frump. Let's call it effortfully effortless, because a lot of effort goes into knitting a baggy sweater you can take a nap in.

This little mama is knitted from the Robin pattern by Josée Paquin. It's a striped raglan-sleeve sweater with a dipped hem, knitted in one piece from the top down. It's purposely slouchy, with VERY LOW armholes for a batwing look. Wait a sec... batwings. I think I understand why she called this the Robin pattern.

Another example of someone wearing something all the time despite it being unflattering.

I wanted a sweater that I can wear in the transition months between cold and hot weather and vice versa, so I chose to make this pattern using a cotton/modal blend yarn: Shine Sport from Knit Picks. I have leggings that are cotton/modal and are heavenly to wear, and this yarn is just as delightful. I spent a lot of time just squishing it against my face. I went with the cream and black colorways to keep it classic. I used about 9.5 balls of the cream and 2 balls of black. I eventually realized I couldn't make it all the way through this sweater with so little black, so I shortened the arms to 3/4 length which is fine by me anyway.

I bought size 3 circular needles specifically to do this project, but my gauge was too loose. Instead of buying MORE needles, I just knitted the smallest size in the pattern and hoped for the best. It ended up being the size I was expecting, sooo I dodged that bullet. The insane thing about knitting garments is that you have no idea if it's going to fit until you've already invested many hours over many days, weeks, or months. At least with top-down garments you can try on as you go, but it's not like I would know how to make mid-knit fitting adjustment calculations anyway. 

It's a cropped-head kinda day, folks.

Short rows are used to shape the neckline as well as the high-low hem. The pattern has you do yarn-over short rows, which I found I prefer over wrap-and-turn short rows because it's easier to find them when you pass over them again. I don't know if these things have technical names! For help with the YO short rows, I used this resource.

I don't know what happened with my tension while knitting... or maybe it happened while weaving in all the ends (which I always half-ass) or blocking (I dried it in the dryer!)... but my stripes are a bit wonky. You can tell in some of the photos where they look jagged. Some of the white stitches above and below the stripes were looser than others, causing the black to dip or raise in random places. In one or two places, a black stitch just disappeared. Ran for its wee little life.

I'm still a rookie, okay?! I'm not that upset. I should just probably stop switching between English and continental style knitting so often, but I get hand cramps if I don't keep it varied. 

All in all, this was a fun and relatively simple knit. I love the colors I used and find it cozy as hell to wear. As a seamstress, I appreciate that the stripes automatically match across the body to the sleeves. It's the little things.

I doubt I'd make it again (do people knit sweater patterns more than once?), but if I did I would raise the armholes by a lot and streamline the fit if possible. 

Ravelry notes here.

I guess I've accomplished two of my six handmade "goals" this spring: I made a bag and now a spring-appropriate sweater. I still plan to tackle the others, except maybe the shorts, but I keep being lured in other directions. I'm less confident about Me-Made-May this year. I've been wearing fewer me-mades recently because I no longer work in an office (uh, hallelujah), so all the business-casual dresses and skirts I've made over the past 2+ years are starting to collect dust. More baggy tops to make, I guess. Who's with me there?

rosemont and the wild ponies

Grandma bun and grandpa sweater. I am an old soul with a short skirt.

WHAT, pray tell, is better than wearing an enormous 100% wool cardigan that envelops you completely as you battle through a miserably endless winter? I can think of nothing else, especially now that I own one for the very first time. "Own" isn't even the right word, because it's not like I just plucked it from the gramps section of the thrift store and handed over $4 for it. This puppy was hand-knitted by yours truly, and it's astonishing to me that every fiber of its being has passed through my hands and grew before my eyes from a tiny little woolly sprout to this oversized blanket-with-sleeves that I never want to remove from my shoulders until Mr. Sun is back full-force on this side of the earth. There's something about knitting that feels much more involved and intimate than sewing (depending on the project, I guess), so I apologize for the sentimental maternal-like gushing that's going on here. Crafty high -- I can't think straight.

PATTERN: The pattern! It is the Rosemont Cardigan by Hannah Fettig, newly released in February 2014. It's a shawl-collar open front cardigan that's knitted seamlessly from the top-down. Being new to knitting, I still don't know where to start to look for patterns as I don't have any go-to designers yet. Ravelry is a wonderful resource but is absolutely overwhelming. Even if I filter by garment type, style, price, yarn weight, needle size, age/gender, and construction technique, there can still be hundreds of pages of patterns to sift through. And a lot of it is godawful. So, when I visited the blog of a local yarn company, Kelbourne Woolens, and saw they were hosting a knit-along for a new cardigan pattern, I jumped at the chance to have someone ELSE tell me what to knit. I liked that the Rosemont has no closures, is knitted with aran weight yarn, and is a basic, unisex style that's still pretty cute.

I'm grateful for the Ravelry group and knit-along because the pattern's wording for the raglan and neck increases was incredibly confusing to me (and others, thank goodness). If you decide to make this pattern, definitely consult this post first, which explains the logic and order of it all. I would have given up without that help, really. After that was all sorted out, I sped away from the group and finished the rest of the sweater within two weeks. The knit along is supposed to last two months! I am psychotic.

SIZE: I decided to knit the size that corresponded with a finished bust measurement of 39.5", with an added five inches of length to the body. It's the third smallest size out of 11 (eleven!) sizes, so I thought that even though 39.5 inches sounded baggy, it would be fine. The model in the pattern photos is wearing the 36.75" and she's quite slim, so I thought it'd be safe to go up just one size from her. Okay, wow, this cardigan ended up much bigger than I thought it would be, but luckily I'm a fan of oversized sweaters so I'm happy with it. I guess my row gauge ended up being way off because I even stopped knitting the sleeves a full 10 rows sooner than instructed.

YARN: The knit-a-long is using Terra yarn, which is a fancy baby alpaca/merino/silk blend that your girl here simply cannot afford, even if it would mean I could joyfully think of baby alpacas the whole time, whether or not that's what "baby alpaca" yarn actually means:

Cannot. handle. 

Anyway, for a big fat yarn-eating cardigan for an unconfident knitter, I went the economical route and chose Knit Picks' Andes del Campo in the color Smoulder Heather. I don't know what the public consensus is on the quality of Knit Picks yarn (thoughts?), but a 100% Highland wool yarn for $5.49/ball is hard to resist. I ended up using just over seven skeins so it's a relatively affordable sweater all things considered (not counting labor). It's pretty soft and not that itchy on bare skin. I think this is ACTUALLY the first authentic wool sweater I've ever owned and worn. I have a ton of store-bought cardigans that are either cotton or some acrylic cocktail mix.

The color is described as: ""Inspired by the warm glow of a bonfire, Smoulder Heather is a rusty burnt orange with mahogany undertones that is combined with heathered flecks of yellow, burgundy, and purple." It is definitely an autumn color, but it complements my coloring and it matches my boots, living room brick wall and hardwood floors so, you know, here it is in February. It looks toasty brown from afar but is actually quite complex:

CONSTRUCTION AND SHAPING: I taught myself how to do the knit stitch in continental style, which is SO much faster than English style, but I cannot for the life of me do purl stitches in continental style. I also can't knit continental on double-pointed needles, so my first sleeve felt like it took forever, especially since I always drop stitches accidentally on DPNs. I switched to the Magic Loop for the second sleeve, and since it was circular I could just knit continental nonstop without purling, so the whole sleeve took like 2/3 the amount of time.

Just after finishing the sweater, I couldn't get the shawl collar to roll properly. Wet-blocking helped me form the collar to proper shape, at least when flat, but as soon as I put it on it doesn't want to roll enough of the way back to cover more of the neck ribbing. I don't know if it's supposed to, and I can't tell if it's just because my sweater is so oversized it doesn't fit my shoulders properly. The ribbing does seem laughably deep:

THE PONIES: Okay, I can't ignore the ponies. I sewed this basic dress in January from some silky poly I found at Jomar. Of course I liked the print, even though these are insane, chaotic horses tromping about all upside down and round about. Took me awhile to figure out which was way up -- or which way had the most upright horses. The dress itself is okay. Sleeveless, elastic waist, lined skirt, self-bound neckline and armholes. It doesn't fit beautifully so it actually benefits from being overshadowed by a huge grandpa cardigan. The pattern is (roughly) the bottom layer of the BurdaStyle Double Layer Tank dress, which I've used before.

Alright my little alpaca babes, how are you staying warm? Is anyone else knitting the Rosemont or knitting/sewing something just as snuggleh?

Ravelry notes here.

how do you store knitting needles?

I'm a relatively new knitter, but just as it was with sewing, the obsession hits hard and supplies accumulate extremely fast. I'm having flashbacks to when my fabric and sewing supplies all fit on half of a shelf in my living room. I had one Simplicity dress pattern and thought, "Hey, this is pretty fun..." and eight months later I had two (now three) machines and a mountain of fabric and was at the point of demanding my own sewing room.

Luckily, knitting takes up much less space, but there are a lot of small barely-distinguishable items -- often in pairs or quadruples -- that can be tricky to keep track of. I started out buying only the knitting needles I needed for the projects I wanted to do, but that quickly became frustrating when I downloaded a new pattern and wanted to start right away but didn't have the proper needles. It's also pretty clear that buying needles in bulk or in interchangeable sets can save you a LOT of money in the end. I did buy the Knit Picks interchangeable set for circulars and straights, but its vinyl case has already ripped.

So, you know the story. I already have a lot of needles and no idea how to organize them neatly so everything is easy to find. I know many of you are knitters, so I'm turning to my favorite people in the blogosphere: I need your advice on knitting supply storage.

How do you store all your knitting needles? Do you organize everything by size, type, length, etc? Do you keep them all in the same case, or in multiple places? Do you keep them in the original packaging? Do you label everything? How do you keep all your sets of double-pointed needles together? Do you make sure your storage is portable? Do you prefer to roll everything up, fold everything up, hang everything up, or throw it all in a bag or box and toss it in the closet? Do you hack other storage devices (i.e. CD cases, three-ring binders, Ziploc bags, vases, etc)? Did you SEW your own case (and what pattern did you use)? Where do you keep your stitch markers, point protectors, gauge rulers and all the other small doodads that so easily disappear in the dark depths of the couch cushions? Etc. etc.

Two recent projects - the Lucky 7 Hat and the Vermont Hat

Tell me everything! I'd love to hear about your knitting organization systems (or lack thereof, to know I'm not alone) so I can figure out the best way to proceed before things get out of control. Thanks in advance!

archer appreciation pt. 5

I made this Archer before I even knew December was Archer Appreciation Month. Yeah, I've been that behind on blog reading and that sugar-high on pumpkin pie lately. But since I pull out this pattern every month or two when I realize I have hardly anything else to wear on Casual Friday, the chances were good that I would accidentally stumble my way into this bloggy sew-along led by power duo Rochelle and Erin.

This is my fifth time making the Archer shirt by Grainline Studio. If you know me in real life, you've most certainly seen me wear this stripey version. A lot. It's my favorite so far, because the fabric is made from rayon, which I lurv. I think this pattern is well-suited for crisp shirting fabrics like cotton (see Amy's), linen (see Lori's) and flannel (see Lauren's), but also works in more fluid fabrics like rayon, chiffon or silk (see Jen's, Lizzy's, or Stevie's). It means my collar stand doesn't actually stand up and the collar won't roll to save its life, but the general style of this pattern is pretty relaxed anyway so I'm fine with the pancake collar.

Sewing a button-down shirt with vertical stripes makes it laughably easy to neatly cut and sew those button plackets and line up buttonholes. Okay, maybe not laughably easy. The only time I "laugh" when making buttonholes is in maniacal rage after ripping them out for the thousandth time. But as I recall, I had no such issue with this shirt. 

I changed nothing about the pattern except lengthening it to cover my bum and omitting the cuffs because I always wear my sleeves rolled up. Always! From the looks of it, I should have added another button on the bottom, but, uh, I've gained some weight recently (see: pumpkin pie) so I don't think the shirt would close at my hips anyway. Ouch, that hurts to admit. 

I haven't really seen too many striped Archers around, so I'm glad I'm contributing unique content to the world even though I feel like I'm constantly blogging about this pattern. I love playing with stripes but didn't want to make it too dizzying in this case, so I only added one feature with horizontal stripes. I guess it's effective because people are always like, "I like your pocket" and I'm like, "Aw shucks."

There's not much left to say that hasn't already been said about this pattern. If you still haven't made an Archer shirt for yourself, December is the time to do it... when you're not too busy sitting in traffic in the mall parking lot or whatever. ~ 'TiS tHe SeAsOn ~ 

Jen, Grainline Studio's fearless head honcho, did a full sew-along for this shirt awhile ago, so check out those posts (in reverse order) here. And if you want to get neater results on your collar stand, check out my own tutorial about that here. I've loved hearing success stories from those who tried it out! 

Read more about #archerappreciation here or here.

In knitting news, I've finished a hat (that I've already lost, dear god), cowl and sweater since I took my beginner knitting class. If you live in Philadelphia and are interested in learning the basics and more, I'd definitely recommend the beginner knitting class at Rosie's Yarn Cellar in center city. It's a six week class and we learned how to cast on, knit, purl, increase, decrease, knit in the round, use double-pointed needles, cable, read patterns and charts, bind off, and -- most importantly -- fix most of our mistakes. We got to use the beautiful yarns in their shop to work on a ribbed hat and cabled fingerless mitts. I do feel like I can tackle a lot of patterns out there now.

The pattern above is Lara's Cowl in bulky Lion Brand Wool Ease yarn (from Joann's, not Rosie's, gah). Quick, easy and warm. I wear this cowl every.damn.day because the color complements my plum coat as well as my navy Minoru jacket.

Duh, this is the Owls Sweater by Kate Davies. I've finished it since I took this photo but I honestly don't really like it because of the high crew neck, bulky shoulders and the super fuzzy roving yarn I chose. And after blocking the sweater, the yarn now seriously smells like a sheep's ass. So, it makes me look like an adorable owl-clad linebacker who smells like I slept in a barn all night. Such a bummer.

How's your December making going?

three out of three including two firsts

(Note: My legs are not actually on fire in these photos. But wow, they look crazy.)

Count 'em. My outfit today consists of three handmade items, a rare feat for me. Three -- how can it be? Renfrew cardigan, check. We've seen that one. Black skirt? Yeah, looks home-sewn for sure (more on that later). But what else? Did I sew my own tights? Ick, no.

I knitted my first ever scarf. My first ever anything! Boom. This is the same project I started when I was home for Christmas without my sewing machine and with a whole lot of time. I saw the GAP-tastic Cowl (free Ravelry pattern) that Kelli made, and decided to go for it myself. It's just a seed stitch, knitted in the round, but I had to completely start over four or five times because I didn't know how to fix my mistakes without doing so.

I very nearly surrendered to it, but I saw a friend wearing the exact store-bought GAP cowl that this pattern is based on. Just like with my sewing, I wanted to prove that I could make my own, in the USA and with my own little lobster claws. Take that, GAP. The yarn is Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick in charcoal, which you can find anywhere. I know this because I ran out of yarn halfway through binding off (hey, genius) and found some more on Fabric.com.

I will talk about the skirt, too, because we're all here for the sewing, yes? And I like it! It's another first: my first PDF pattern. I finally got a printer so it's opened up the world of Burdastyle online patterns to me, which means I can now enjoy even more curse-inducing sewing-related headaches, I guess. Just as they (you) say, Burda PDF instructions are basically worthless. When it comes to skirt-making, though, I can make educated guesses. Not sure I could tackle a tailored coat with them just yet.

This is the Burdastyle Mini Pleated Skirt 05/2012. I've been wanting a zip-fly skirt for awhile; I like the casual look of it and already have far too many button-up skirts. The Grainline Moss mini skirt is pretty darn cute, but it sits lower and fits straighter and tighter than I typically like. This Burda one popped up on Sophie (Cirque du Bebe)'s Pinterest, and I decided it would be a good start to my PDF pattern adventures. It's only 15 pages total.

The Burda instructions did not show illustrations for any of the steps, so I needed some help with the fly zip. I consulted a tutorial I've had bookmarked for awhile: Debbie Cook's tutorial for a jeans fly, from the year 2001. WHAT? Sewing blogs existed in 2001? In 2001, I think I spent the majority of my time dancing maniacally to 'NSync CDs in my bedroom. I had the "Bye Bye Bye" dance memorized. And what's your greatest accomplishment?

Anyway, I've looked at a lot of fly-front tutorials, and have even done one myself (on my Thurlows, after a struggle), but somehow Debbie's made the most sense just reading it before even trying it. It was very straightforward and even easy... but since it was for a jeans fly, my fly ended up opening to the right even though I guess most non-jeans zipper are supposed to open from the left? Meh.

The fabric is a boring black linen blend from JoAnn. The only other black skirt I own is a thin elastic-waist jersey thing I chopped from a dress. I wanted something structured that could be tucked into if need be, so my new Burda mini baby was born. 

Who knows what's going on with this skirt angling. Call it my sassy bell-swing hip pose.

Now, don't be fooled. I'm not going to get any closer because the back "welt pockets" are not welt pockets at all! This is the second time in two weeks I've come across this same weird faux-welt construction -- the first one was on a Simplicity Amazing Fit pants pattern, which surprised me. It's just a folded rectangle sewn on the back of the garment then pressed up and stitched at the ends. Normally I don't protest faux-anything because I'm pretty lazy, but this technique is queen of the lazy. Queen E-lazy-beth. I'm sure there's a better way to make easy faux-welts that still look halfway-functional. Right? I'll save it for a less lazy day.

Despite how utterly sick I am of winter, I'm feeling pretty good about these new monochromatic additions to my wardrobe, both of which I've already worn a few times. I like keeping it diverse around here: mixing in the neutral basics with the flamingo dresses, you know. 

What are your recent crafty "firsts"?

P.S. OK kiddos, don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY for the Beginner Serging Craftsy class, if you're into that. You have until Thursday! I'm rooting for each one of you.