Category: knitting

  • Spring/Summer Sweater Patterns

    I’ve got a rather large sweater design to finish this week, so of course I’m dreaming of new projects! It’s gotten pretty sticky here the last few days (for me, anyway – I have a tough time in the summer!), but that never deters me.

    Need a little layer for those chilly movie theatres and offices? Want to knit a sweater but it’s too hot for a big one?! Here’s a roundup of some of my cardigan and shrug patterns that are great to knit and wear for spring and summer! Links go to Ravelry where you can purchase the pattern, no account necessary – but you should really sign up if for some reason you haven’t! It’s amazing!

    Any of these patterns would be awesome in a non-wool or a blend, like cotton/wool, cotton/silk, linen/cotton…loads of possibilities! I still wear wool in the summer, just lighter, thinner ones.

    Bellevue Cardigan, fingering weight
    Bellevue Cardigan – worked bottom-up and seamless with set-in-style sleeves and a pretty lace edging. Available for fingering weight or worsted weight!

    Sauble
    Sauble – I wear this one a ton, the lovely grey colour probably has something to do with that! Worked bottom-up with seamed set-in sleeves and an easy but beautiful ridge-and-knot stitch, in Cascade’s Heritage Silk. I’ll always think of Halifax when I wear it because I was knitting it while I was there.

    Matcha
    Matcha – from my Afternoon Tea Volume One collection. I used Malabrigo Sock, which is such a pretty fingering weight yarn – and you only need 2-4 skeins! Matcha is worked in one piece from the back hem, over the shoulders and down the cascading fronts, with just two short seams to put it all together.

    Markdale Cardigan
    Markdale – how I love Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock! It’s so light and easy to wear even in the summer. Markdale is worked from the bottom up, has lace bands built in and short lacy sleeves.

    Crestline Cardigan
    Crestline Cardigan – my latest cardigan pattern, worked top down with short sleeves, lace, and twisted ribbing.

    Winona
    Winona with Twist Collective – top down raglan with a deep v-neck and hip flare. It’s one of my staples for when I’m travelling as I find it goes with nearly everything I wear.

    Dew Point Shrug
    Dew Point Shrug – fingering weight, top down raglan shrug with a lacy edging. Only uses a tiny bit of yarn – I used a precious skein of Handmaiden silk.

    Top Down Shoulder Warmer
    Top-Down Shoulder Warmer – an easy and basic shrug, worked from the top down like it says on the box! Bit of a quicker gauge using worsted weight yarn.

    await-shrug-2-web
    Await Shrug – worked side to side, with short seams for the sleeves and ribbed edging worked in the round. Very easy, perfect for beginners.

    Whew, that’s a lot of sweater patterns (and a lot of different hairstyles over the years eh?). Accessories roundup coming up next! As always, you can see all my patterns by clicking “patterns” along the top menu there, or on Ravelry.

    What’s on your needles?

  • New Pattern: Byway Cowl

    byway-promo

    I knew it’s been awhile since I posted, but I didn’t realize it had been THIS long! I’m back today with a new pattern release – Byway Cowl!

    This cowl/infinity scarf is an easy knit, but the combo of cables and lace creates an awesome texture-y look! Every other round is just knit and purl, and the pattern rows can be worked by just reading your knitting, once you’re set up. The lace and cable directions are given both as charts and row-by-row directions.

    byway5-sm

    The purple version is knit in Lantern Moon’s beautiful Indochine silk – the single loop version takes just 2 skeins, the larger double loop uses 4 skeins.

    byway2-sm

    I’ve had this skein of handspun dyed by Into the Whirled in my stash for ages, and Byway was the perfect project for it! It’s a little busy with the striping and patterns, but that’s okay with me :)

    Want to make a Byway of your own? Buy, queue, fave the pattern on Ravelry!

  • more and more plants

    I apologize if you’re not a plant person! There’s a little knitting at the bottom of the post.

    Last weekend we ventured out on a gorgeous day to do some shopping (City of Craft) and eating – here’s the soft serve we had after lunch at Momofuku Milk Bar – one cereal milk, one fried apple pie, both with cornflake crunch. Man that apple pie one was really delicious.

    Untitled

    Crown Flora was having a plant sale and Dale’s been wanting some new cacti or houseplants so we checked it out. There was a line-up to get in still, but it wasn’t nearly as long as it had been before the shop opened, so I heard.

    Plant sale!

    Things were getting a little picked over, but we still managed to find some gems. It was one of those small spots where the line to pay snakes around the store, so once you join the line you can still check out all the plants on your way to the cash! Ha!

    Plant sale!

    It was quite windy, and I saw a few people struggling to protect their new plants while walking around. I’m super glad I took my basket as it made it very easy to carry them on the rest of our outing (with a box in the bottom for stability). Still managed to get poked by those cacti a few times though.

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    Some beauty shots:

    succulents

    moon cactus

    jade

    globe cactcus

    In the garden, the radishes popped right up and need thinning. The peas are just starting to come up – there was a bit of snow yesterday and today, hopefully they’re okay.

    radish sprouts

    And since it’s been so gloomy, I set up my desk lamp to be a grow light for the tomatoes (with a daylight bulb). They’re looking good and I think they’ll appreciate the extra light.

    tomato under lights

    A little bit of knitting, since I don’t have much I can share – I started this sweater out of Indochine silk from Lantern Moon, but I was a bit unsure about the amount of yarn I have, and it got ripped out.

    indochine silk

    But the good news is, the yarn is much happier being knit up into a cowl.

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    READING

    A bunch! A whole bunch of holds on e-books came in from the library all at once, isn’t that always how it is?

    Bios, The Chronoliths, and Blind Lake by Robert Charles Wilson: good straight-up scifi. I like this author a lot.
    The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Marukami: long and definitely winding. Like when I read 1Q84, I had to concentrate a bit to keep the thread as I’m reading. Lots of weirdness. I liked it but it was kind of hard to keep going sometimes.
    Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch #1) by Ann Leckie: Interesting premise, I’m definitely going to read the other books.
    Edge of Dark by Brenda Cooper (The Glittering Edge #1): Another good scifi world from a woman author! I really enjoyed this one.
    The Martian by Andy Weir: Read this one really fast as I only had a few days left on the book! It really does read like a movie – the film is supposed to come out in November. Really draws you in, and amidst the science there’s humour too. Loved it!

    EATING

    The very first tiny leaves of chard from the windowsill; Oatmeal Date sandwich cookies (I made them smaller, and cooked the dates just with water and some sugar); shepherd’s pie. It’s still cold after all.