Tag: knitting

folded!!

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I finished my folded sweater.

During the last moment of packing for a quick trip for a Florida wedding, I grabbed the project bag from the pile and threw it in my suitcase. I proceeded to work tirelessly since all I had left was ¼ of an arm, and then the yoke. I can’t imagine what people thought of me on the plane– I was furiously knitting and attaching dangly sleeves to body and then working in the “folds” with 3 DPNs along with the long bendy circulars. BUT TRIUMPH I HAVE. This sweater is DONE.

I tried it on right when i cast off, and was rather nonplussed by the fit. I blocked it and sneaked a try on before it was 100% dry and oh my. its perfect. Ill get some pictures this weekend.

Happy.

round up + what’s next.

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i’ve made 3 tank tops from 3 different patterns so far:

1:  (top left) Wiksten tank. Pattern cost = $8.50. I made this first, and it is the most simple. No darts (probably won’t make again because of it). I like the pocket.

2: (top right) Deer and Doe Datura blouse. Pattern cost = ~$20. The construction of this top is very professional and its fun to make. It includes variations for two types of collars. Will make again.

3: (bottom) Collette Patterns Sorbetto tank. Pattern cost = pattern is FREE. Has darts and a front pleat. Took me about 3 hours to make. I did an inverse box pleat and hid the bias tape. Will make again.

(I think its about time to move on to a new type of garment, and i think i am banning myself from any more florals…)

Next I am planning a sleeveless Hawthorn with some beautiful greenish bluish linen, and also I NEED TO FINISH my Folded sweater.

In other news, I’ve got some sticky bun dough rising in the kitchen…. mmmmmmm!

currently listening: sound of silver, lcd soundsystem (what else on the longest day of the year??)

a Cladonia.

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i finished my cladonia! I started it right before Christmas so I would have some “home for christmas knitting.” i finished almost all of the striped portion when i was home, and finished the lace through mid january. since i used heavier yarn than the pattern specified, i adjusted the edging to be just garter stitch and i used the suspended bind off (not tight, but not terribly stretchy. its truly perfect!). i love it and its very warm and big.

pre blocking (with napping Boyfriend):

blocking:
wearing!

on a slightly different note, i got some organizers for christmas, the roll-up, zippered kind. i took this as a sign that i needed to organize all my sewing supplies that had been all shoved haphazardly in a big box. it was really bad. as i was going through all my sewing stuff, i came upon my WIPs from years past. i decided to finish a dress that i had cut out but not sewn. i spent the rest of the weekend working on it, but i was pretty disappointed with the finished product. it doesn’t fit right, which is very annoying.

next up: i am finishing my shadow sweater (only have the two arms left!! they are ¾ sleeves! come on!)

pre-december buzz.

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i meant to make curtains for our entryway to the living room last year, but i didn’t get around to it in time, so this year i made it a priority to keep out the drafts before winter arrived. the entrance to our living room is right by our front door, so it gets really drafty when its cold out. i’ve had a bolt of “vintagey” marines fabric from the thrift store sitting around for years. i got the whole thing for $10, i couldn’t pass it up. a few weeks ago it occurred to me that they would make really neat curtains. i got some red backing fabric and corner weights at joanns. i totally recommend getting weights, i LOVE the results, they hang so nicely. we finally installed the hold-backs this weekend, so its picture time!

my fiddlehead mittens are almost half-done. i got some orange yarn to line them, so they will be extra warm! i love love love the blue sky alpacas yarns, they are so soft and nice to knit with. im getting pretty speedy with two-stranded knitting– i started the second mitten last night. i want to do the colorwork first, then block them, and then knit in the liner.

i planted the paperwhite bulbs i bought in california. i cant believe how easy they are to “plant” and how wonderful the payoff is of watching them grow and bloom! all you do is stick the bulb in a container with rocks and fill the water to cover half the bulb, and watch the magic. 

also, christmas is getting into full swing here, i started christmas cookies. jacob’s special request were buckeyes, he’s already put a big dent in them, so i think ill have to make more before our christmas party.

here’s our tree! we haven’t decorated yet, so heres the raw thing:

FO’s to report.

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theres a lot in progress here in the emilyWools craft room. this weekend i made:

1. a lace collar from a thrift store shirt (total cost: $3).

i looked for a peter-pan collar necklace at several stores, but all i found were low-quality, overpriced styles that weren’t quite right. frustrated, i went to goodwill and i happened to find a woven shirt with a lace collar. i cut it off from the shirt and then sewed a ribbon over the cut edge. im not quite sure how much i love it yet, but im excited to try it this weekend with the pictured polka-dot dress.
2. peacock costume tail. i sewed hot glued the felt “feathers” together, and then i also hot-glued them to the tulle. i originally attached the feathers to ribbons and they dangled down by themselves, but they kept falling to the back of the tulle and you couldn’t see them, so i resorted to gluing them to the tulle. i also started out sewing the felt pieces together with metallic gold thread, which looked awesome, but was just way too time intensive for a halloween costume. im happy with how this has turned out!!!

3. im also THISCLOSE to finishing my norby hat. i love love love the yarn for this project. pics when its finished! i am pretty sure ill finish before i leave for my trip, so i have some colorwork mittens lined up, as well as the sleeves to my sweater for travelling knitting. 
(OH! by the way i seamed the front + back of the sweater. i also did the inner collar knitting/tackdown, but im really dissapointed with it. i think i need to use a more sturdy yarn, and do some decreases on the first row. so i will have to redo that, but i want to finish the arms first. im proud of my progress with it, though!!)

progress!

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i am making progress on my sweater: the front is over half done. i am planning to block/seam/finish the collar and pockets before starting on the sleeves, we’ll see, maybe that’s cheating. i see a lot of people on ravelry complain about seaming, but i kind of love it. its the most motivating part for me, because im on the verge of finishing! i can go for a much longer time doing seaming/finishing than straight knitting. anyway, here’s where i am. you can see the blue melange yarn peeking out as stitch holders, but that’s what i plan to use for the pocket and collar linings. i am much further along than in this photo.

i also have my halloween costume started! im going to be a peacock! more info to come as i get further along!

you know she’s beachin’ it.

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wow, what a lovely beach vacation. we did so much stuff! and also so much relaxing on the beach. we had mostly great weather, but a couple bad-weather days, but we had a triple-feature-90s-movies day where we watched Point Break, 10 Things I hate about You, and Jurassic Park.

we biked to the cape may/lewes ferry and rode to the dogfish head brewery, which was DELICIOUS. we passed this sign.

we visited the cape may brewery for a tasting and tour. they are very new, but still had 4 beers: a saison, porter, and two IPAs.
my parents and sister came down for the weekend, and we spent some serious time on the beach.
during the drive down, we passed philadelphia and had the marvelous idea to stop and see the barnes collection on the return trip. my friend mike (who was with us) told us about art of the steal, an extremely gripping documentary about the barnes and how the city of philadelphia "stole" it and moved it downtown. although i am not sure i can pick a right side on the matter, i wanted to see this magnificent art collection regardless of its location. in short, it was ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL. i went through the rooms and gasped constantly, the breadth of the collection is outstanding. if you are ever in the area, it is so worth a stop. i would like to go back another time, though, it was very draining and i found myself going through the 2nd floor rooms too quickly because i was burned out. 

i was able to get some serious knitting time in this week! now that i see the pictures i took, it doesn’t look like i spent much time on it, but i used a lot of time to decipher the chart instead of reading the written directions (as i had been doing), and the pattern is going much, much faster now– i am almost memorizing it. i had to rip out several rows at first, but im back on track and almost ready to start decreasing for the neck! my goal is to have this finished for our san francisco trip next month (its a lofty goal, we’ll see).

babies on the brain.

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i found out my boyfriend’s cousin is having a baby girl! the shower is in mid-september. i really wanted to make something for the baby rather than buying. So i hunted on ravelry for some cute patterns. i finally decided to make the duck slippers, so i cast on and quickly realized this pattern was waaaay out of my league. i couldn’t get past row 3, and i became very frustrated. so i abandoned duck feet, and decided to make the booties (rav) that i have seen several times, but i have never had a need to make them.

i think they are adorable. i hope they don’t look too much like the baltimore ravens. i had the purple alpaca in my stash from the free Classic Elite Yarns mini skein giveaway, and it was the perfect amount for these. 
so in the vein of little ones, i found a really cute lamb pattern. i found some white fuzzy yarn in my stash, and for the legs/head, i used some leftover alpaca that is the most lovely blue. i think am too attached to him to give it away….
i think im going to make a baby blanket to go with the booties. we’ll see what happens! im going to the beach on wednesday so i hope i have lots of time for knitting and thinking of ideas.
currently listening: nick drake, pink moon