Category: patterns

  • FO: Lucy in the Sky

    So, way back in January I was working on a new version of my Lucy cardigan before I set out on my trip. Despite the minor snag in the underarm gusset, I did get it done, blocked, and buttons sewn on right before I left!

    Lucy in the Sky

    Of course I didn’t get around to taking any photos of it in Japan and China, despite wearing it all the time and taking photos all the time! I think it was mostly because anywhere I was wearing it, I was also wearing a heck of a lot of other layers on top to keep warm.

    I think I must’ve used just 4 skeins of Dream in Color Classy to knit it up, because I bought five and have one still kicking around! The colourway is Black Parade, which is a superdark blue-black. Love. The yarn is great for this pattern – sturdy but soft, smooth, and the texture shows up really nicely.

    I made the body and sleeves longer than my other brown one (which I also still wear a lot) and made a larger bust size (35″ for 36″ me). I also knit the collar onto the buttonband rather than sewing it on afterwards. One of the two sweaters I brought on the trip, it got a LOT of wear and still looks great! It’s even been washed and dried in the Indian sun, which is pretty special.

    Lucy in the Sky

    Ysolda took a few photos while we were at the Botanics, predicting that I’d be blogging about it in two weeks. I think that was *exactly* two weeks ago! I had fun knitting my own pattern again, and I think I’ll be wearing it a lot.

    Lucy in the Sky

    (Kind of a crazy photo – I’m working my way around Photoshop for the first time ever, and I think the levels in this photo were just a little weird to start with!)

    Next time:

    227.365 - photoshoot

    P.S. I almost forgot! Thalia asked in the comments what shoes I took on my trip – an excellent question, I think! I took exactly one (1) pair of shoes – my Doc Marten mary janes that Ysolda and I both bought when I went to Europe in September. Since I wore them all around then, I knew they could stand up to a lot of walking, and I was right! They’re really supportive, and versatile enough for cold or hot weather – in cold weather I wore thick, thigh-high socks with leggings underneath; in hot weather I just wore some little cotton ankle socks. They’re perfect shoes. I should probably buy another pair!

  • home sweet home

    Following a crazy airline scheduling thing that had me scrambling to find a flight on Monday (and thinking I might end up staying in Edinburgh a lot longer) I finally flew home yesterday! I have so much still to catch you all up on – all my adventures in India and Scotland, what I knit, and what I bought!

    I have lots of photos to go through so it might be a few days of intensive posting, if I can manage it. I’m a homebody at heart and I’m so glad to be back, even though it’s barely changed a bit. Sleeping in my own bed for once was just awesome, with the added side effect of changing time zones so much that I able to sleep for 8 hours and still got up at a reasonable time.

    In the meanwhile, take a look at my Errata page – there are a few corrections to the Amelia pattern and a few to Teach Yourself Visually Sock Knitting as well. And on my Classes and Appearances page, something new: I’ll be speaking at the Downtown Knit Collective guild meeting on March 18!

    I guess I’d better start writing something to say! Also, I need to find myself a new project or two – as you can imagine I’m just a little bit sick of the 2 projects I worked on (intermittently) for the last six weeks. Time for a little stash diving.

  • top-down shoulder warmer

    It’s been busy around here, trying to get everything ready and organized for the trip – getting together everything we need, preparing to leave for a goodly amount of time, and of course, deciding on knitting! I *think* I finally know what I’m going to take, but I’m still second guessing myself. Well, more on that later.

    The big excitement/panic for the week was the disappearance of my passport! That was a little too exciting, actually – Vig (my travel partner and best friend) got his from the Indian Consulate with his Indian visa on Tuesday, while mine….didn’t show up. Not on Wednesday either. And the Canada Post website was showing it as successfully delivered on Tuesday at 11am. Uh oh! Since we needed a day for the rush passport, and a day each for 2 rush visas, we had to start the process for getting me a new passport on Thursday – but as soon as I started that process, if my old one showed up it would be invalid!

    Wednesday night, freaking out quite a lot, I went and got new passport photos and filled out a new passport application and the declaration of a lost passport form. Thursday morning we went to the passport office and also called Canada Post a heck of a lot of times, and called my sister at home a bunch of times (to check the mail).

    To keep this long story from getting any longer, the passport arrived in my mailbox on Thursday just before noon, at the Last Possible Second – I was at the booth at the passport office, asking the nice man how long the rush would take while he was looking over my application, when Vig ran up, grabbed me, and said “DON’T DO IT!”. He was on the phone with my sister, and the passport had just arrived at my house.

    I bought my sister a treat – she was home sick from school and put up with us calling every 10 minutes to ask if the mail was there!

    Anyway, hopefully that’s the most exciting (in a negative way) thing that happens re: this trip. We leave on Sunday morning early, heading out to the airport at about 5:30am, and we land in Tokyo on Monday at 1400 local time. There’s still a ton of stuff to do tonight and tomorrow, so I’d better get to the main event of this long and rambly post!

    shoulder warmer

    I’ve re-photographed, re-formatted, and re-sized this little shrug that I worked up for the store – and you can buy a copy for yourself!

    Top-Down Shoulder Warmer
    [Rav Link]

    Whether you’re new to knitting garments or just looking for a little instant gratification, this top- down shrug is the place to start! Versatile, easy to adapt and quick to knit up in worsted weight yarn. Dress it up in something slinky over a fab outfit, or throw it on over a t-shirt with your favourite jeans. This Shoulder Warmer goes with anything, anytime!

    Sizes
    XS (S, M, L, XL, 2X, 3X)
    Back Size: 13 (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20) inches, measured across the back from armpit to armpit.
    To fit bust: 28 (32, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52) inches

    Materials
    Worsted weight yarn: 340 (400, 430, 475, 550, 620, 750) yards
    Shown in Berroco Ultra Alpaca, size M, 2 skeins.

    5mm circular needles, 24 inches or longer
    5.5 m circular needles, 24 inches or longer
    stitch markers
    tapestry needle
    waste yarn

    Gauge
    20 sts and 28 rows = 4” in stockinette stitch on 5mm needles.

    shoulder warmer, back

    TO BUY

    Download by Ravelry and payment by Paypal (registrations for both sites is not necessary).

    $5.00 CAD

    Note: As of July 5, 2010, sales tax will be added to this price for all Canadian residents only. The rates are: British Columbia 12%; Ontario, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador 13%; Nova Scotia 15%; and everywhere else in Canada 5% GST. Tax will be added in the Paypal payment process.