Category: sweaters

another Christmas sweater

I finished Dale’s cardigan in time for Christmas! He loves it and has worn it a bunch of times over the last week – it’s been pretty cold and snowy, and the sweater is definitely cozy and warm.

I used the Cascade Eco Wool that I ripped from a not-quite-right sweater, but I did run out. Of course, I picked up 2 extra skeins and only needed a bit of one, so I have more of the same colour for something else! Maybe a scarf? Total ended up being a little over 4 skeins for a 45″-ish chest.

Pattern is my own, and very plain (despite the sweater surgery I had to perform on it). The body is worked flat from the bottom to the underarm with kangaroo pockets, the sleeves are worked in the round, and then the whole shebang is joined for the raglan yoke. I made the V-neck a little higher than I would on a sweater for myself, and the shawl collar rounds things out nicely. The big wooden buttons are from AnnyMay on Etsy, again. Good stuff.

So what are your plans for the new year? I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions, but I do need to think about what I want to accomplish this year and how to get there. I suppose my main goal is to work harder than ever before, while maintaining my sanity! I have a bunch of projects still in progress from last year, and I’d like to get those cleared out for new projects, but I’m already working on some new ideas and directions for this year. I’m hoping to get over my fear of rejection and submit more ideas to magazines, in addition to lots more self-published designs.

I’d also like to do more tech editing this year. If you’re looking for an editor, drop me a line!

Stay warm if it’s cold where you are. Happy New Year!

January 2, 2014
my (mostly) handmade christmas outfit

I hope you are all having a wonderful holiday season! The ice storm here in Toronto last Saturday really put a strange damper on things this year – my parents’ house, which usually hosts a giant Christmas dinner, was without power (heat, hot water) for over 60 hours! The power was finally restored to them on Christmas Eve, so we had just a small dinner with my immediate family. The 30 year tradition won’t be broken though, as the big dinner is just postponed until New Year’s.

My house was very lucky in the storm, no power or heat disruptions. I did manage to take a few photos of the ice before it melted. Pretty, but as the fallen trees in my parents’ yard would attest, destructive!

The storm coupled with our household of horrible flu did give me time to finish up my handmade Christmas outfit.

The skirt is my handsewn Colette Zinnia, which I think turned out quite nicely! I sewed everything with needle and thread and did all French seams. It’s version 2, without the belt loops, and with a slightly deeper hem.

I used a 7″ skirt zipper (instead of 9″ invisible, because it’s what I had) and two sets of hooks and eyes for the waistband. I cut the size 16 and it fits quite well, I think! The brown cotton flannel is super cozy. It’s not the most big-dinner-friendly skirt as the waistband is a little bit on the snug side for eating, but it did just fine.

The sweater is my own design, worked from the top down in Anzula’s For Better or Worsted. Such a beautiful yarn! I used 3 skeins of Teal, 1 of Lapis, and 1 of Seaside. I love the BIG Norwegian stars on the sleeves, and I think the colourwork transition on the body worked out well. I’m not certain whether I’ll be able to offer this one as a pattern, because I chose the colourwork chart based on my particular sleeve numbers, but I’ll see what I can do! The beautiful wooden buttons are from AnnyMay Craft Supplies on etsy.

More handmade gifts to show off soon!

December 27, 2013
sweater surgery

I’ve been knitting a big, cozy, cardigan for D., but it’s gone through a few iterations in the last few weeks! I knit up some love set-in, horizontal pockets…but they were deemed too small so I ripped them out (I’ll have to save those pockets for something for myself and my tiny hands!). Then I knit up some nice kangaroo pockets, like those on a hoodie:

And they are good! Except for the fact that the body was then too long below the pocket. Clearly I haven’t been planning very well on this project, just kind of knitting. I really didn’t want to rip all that pocket work again, so I decided on some surgery instead.

I picked up stitches in a row below the pocket, where I wanted the new hem to start, by using a spare needle and picking up half of each ‘V’ stitch across. You can see that there’s a few inches of stockinette below the needles there, but I want to get rid of all of that.

Then I gave ‘er a snip…

…and separated the old hem from the sweater by picking out that row.

When you pick up stitches like this, it doesn’t line up exactly with the old fabric, because you’re going in a different direction. I lost half a stitch at the beginning and ends of the row, so I had to increase 1 stitch on the first new row. Luckily, I planned a purl ridge on the RS where the patterning switches to garter rib, so it really doesn’t show much! I knit down about three inches then bound off for the bottom of the body.

Now I’m back on track! Half a sleeve and most of the body.

I do have a new sweater idea that I’m itching to get on the needles though, so we’ll see how much attention this project gets this week.

November 25, 2013