i make stuff

Rockin' the Handknits - Ceylan's Manu

This week's star: Ceylan (ceylangul)

Ladies and gents, this is Ceylan, one of my dearest pals and partner in knitting/spinning crime. I love her SO! Ceylan's one of the many incredible friends I have made thanks to the fabulous yarnie website Ravelry. I started to "Rav-stalk" her, as we call it, when I saw her gorgeous knits online, and eventually we got to chatting on the message boards and realized we both curse like sailors and pretty soon we were B! F! F! I met her in person for the first time in 2009 and we were fast friends. I think within a half hour or so of meeting in person, we were making inappropriate jokes left and right.  She lives in Texas and we share many things in common - night owl tendencies, love of a good rock show, movie or book, a stiff cocktail, a little raunchy humor, and a hearty laugh! Last summer, we started Plied Together, our little handspun yarn shop on Etsy - check it out if you haven't already.

When I first came across her online, I was blown away by all her beautiful handknits, not just because they were so beautifully knit and photographed, but because she really has a sense for choosing patterns that compliment her curvy bod and then picking the PERFECT yarn to make the most gorgeous clothing that looks amazing on her. It's a real gift, that ability to look at a pattern and say, "Is this going to look good on me?" Ceylan does it better than anyone, and if the pattern is appealing but not QUITE right, she modifies it and makes it work for her. I am so jealous of this skill, and now that we're real-deal friends and not just Rav-stalking friends, I constantly bounce ideas off her for sweaters, because I know that if she thinks it'll work, it'll work! All hail the great Ceylan and her wealth of knowledge! She's so patient and willing to think through a pattern with me, which I really appreciate. But enough of my friend crush! On to the fabulous knits!

I really can't think of a better example of Ceylan's pattern-to-garment genius than the Manu sweater she made last summer.

Ceylan's Manu Sweater
Pattern: Manu by Kate Davies
Yarn: madelinetosh sport in Iris
July 2010

This sweater was originally written as a long cardigan that buttoned at the top and had pockets at thigh level - you can check out my version for a visual. Ceylan knows that button-on-top cardis don't flatter her as well as other shapes, but she was drawn to the pleats at the yoke of the sweater and had the imagination and good sense to think, "Hey! I could turn this into a pullover and rock it!" And that's exactly what she did, with amazing results. Now she has a pullover version of that gorgeous smocked yoke sweater.

This sweater is so beautiful on her! I love how it hugs her curves. The original sweater was kind of artsy and cute, but her version is sexy and professional. I think it'd be killer and totally work-appropriate with a black pencil skirt and heels...

...oh wait - she already thought of that!

Stripes for Marianne

Sometimes you just find inspiration and have to go with it. I was visiting The Most Amazing Yarn Shop In The World in June, and I saw this beautiful little cowl, knit with a yarn I'd never heard of, and decided it was exactly what I needed to make for my friend Marianne. So I copied the unpublished pattern (with the consent of the shopkeeper) and bought a skein of the yarn, and from there I was on my way.

 

PROJECT: Stripes for Marianne
 YARN: Crystal Palace Yarns Mini Mochi (self-striping), #118
 NEEDLES: US 4 circulars

Here's the recipe for this little cowl - super easy: In any fingering weight, self-striping yarn, cast on 120 stitches. Knit 1.5" 2x3 ribbing, then continue in stockinette in the round until you've reached your desired length (I made mine about 11 inches long). Bind off using your preferred method (I did a long tail sewn bind off). Gift to your good friend and wait for smiles. If you're lucky, she'll model it for you in 100 degree North Carolina heat.

 

  

Testing Cecilia

 

PROJECT: Cecilia by Elin Berglund (Sneak Peek!)
YARN: Sundara sock yarn in Italian Rosewood, about 625 yards
NEEDLES: US 1 & 0 circulars

This is my latest finished sweater (my fourth so far this year)! It's a brand-new design by my friend Elin, and I was one of three who did the first round of test knitting. It's called Cecilia and will be available for purchase in May or June.  

 

 

This is the first time I've ever test-knit a pattern, and it was really a new challenge for me. When we got the pattern, it was Elin's first draft and so there were lots of kinks to be worked out. Our job as test-knitters was to help her find the kinks - any errors, but also things that were confusing or poorly worded - so she can perfect it before she publishes it. 

 

 

It was pretty challenging to knit at first, because the design is kind of different. It's a top-down raglan, seamless, but it's got all-over lace, and the lace repeats increase as you work your way down to the widest part of the sweater. Between the raglan increases, the front v-shaping and the lace pattern, it was a lot to remember. So Elin has created a kind of worksheet that goes with the pattern - somewhat unconventional, but it will bridge the gap for any inexperienced lace or raglan knitters out there.

 

 
 

Also challenging - she designed it for Malabrigo sock yarn, which is thinner than the Sundara sock yarn I used. It took me a few swatches to get gauge, also tricky because gauge unblocked vs. gauge blocked has to be measured - lace stretches, remember. It was a bit of a bear to figure out, but in the end I got it right. I went down a couple of needle sizes (gah! size 1 and 0!) to get closer to gauge, but then knit the size 34 and ended up with a little bit of negative ease. Unstretched, my sweater is around 31" and then it stretches to maybe about 35" at the bust.

 

 

I really enjoyed being part of the technical process for this project - I've never designed anything, so it was a real eye-opener to how complicated it is! Kudos to Elin, it's a really neat little cardi!

Cold Feet

I've been meaning to blog these...

Cold Feet (Ravel 'em!)
PATTERN: None - my own special hybrid!
YARN: Sunshine Yarns sock yarn, colorway It's Cold Outside
NEEDLES: Knit Picks nickel-plated DPNs, size US 1 / 2.25 mm

So here's the story with these socks. I started them just before Christmas on size 2 needles, but shortly after the toe, I realized they were going to be way too big, so I frogged them and started over just after Christmas.

I opted for a shorter leg length because these socks are COZY warm and I thought any higher and I'd be sweating. Seriously, this is great yarn. I got it from a fellow Raveler and I love the colorway, although it's much better in person than in these photos. I really like Sunshine Yarns and definitely recommend them to all sock knitters - especially the classic weight. These socks are sort of my own pattern - I used several different elements to put them together. I loved the yarn so much, but with all the color changes I thought a simple stockinette sock would be the best bet - and I was right.

To make your very own simple toe up socks, here's the recipe. I did a provisional cast on starting with 14 stitches on 2 DPNS (28 total) and increased to 64 stitches (all 5 DPNS in use) for the foot. I think Knitty has a wonderful tutorial here for toe-up socks, with several different approaches. Mine is closest to the last version, the Easy Toe - I think that's the simplest way to do a toe-up sock that I've found. Hope this helps you.

After increasing to 64 stitches, I just knit in the round in stockinette until two inches shy of the heel. I opted for the short-row heel, because another project I'm working on it uses wraps so I was kind of in wrap-mode. If you don't know how to make a short-row heel, I like Wendy Johnson's version (here).

Heel finished, I knit up the legs to 5.5 inches and then I did a twisted rib cuff (k1tbl, p1) for one inch and topped it all off with a tubular cast-off for stretchy goodness (here is a great tutorial for this bindoff). And voila! Cozy, warm wintry socks!