i make stuff

Sportified Wispy.

A few years ago, Hannah Fettig designed the simple yet awesome Whisper Cardigan, published in Interweave Knits, and I made one right away. What I love about it is that it's a sweater that goes with just about anything - you can pull it on over a tee shirt, you can pair it with a dress, whatever, and it doesn't use much yarn. It's really more of a shrug than a sweater, a shrug with a long "skirt" or body to it. That sweater was so popular, Hannah re-issued it (with a few modifications) as the Wispy Cardigan, published it herself, and more people started knitting it. Her mods made the sweater a little more crisp - added ribbing to the bottom and the sleeve cuffs, most notably, so that the ends didn't curl up. 

My old Whisper is pretty much spent. I knit it out of 100% merino laceweight yarn, and the armpits have felted entirely. I knew it was time to make another, and I decided that I'd just go ahead with the Wispy for myself. However, I realized that in my Seattle climate, laceweight maybe wasn't the most practical choice if I really wanted something I could wear most of the year.

In truth, sport is my favorite weight yarn. I wish there were more patterns written for sport weight, because it's kind of the best thing ever. One of my favorite sport weight luxury yarns is madelinetosh pashmina. It's pricy, but it's simply fabulous and well worth the cost. I got the hankering to knit myself a Wispy out of pashmina, and I was hooked! I picked up a few skeins from ESK and prepared for the awesome...and awesome is exactly how it came out.

PATTERN: Wispy Cardi by Hannah Fettig
NEEDLES: US 6 (4.0mm), US 4 (3.5 mm)
YARN: madelinetosh pashmina in Antler

SO. In order to modify this puppy for sport weight yarn, I first knit myself a swatch. Somehow, magically, my gauge was very, very close to the slated pattern gauge, so that made life a little simpler. I decided to knit the bulk of the sweater on 6s and the ribbed collar band on 4s.

One thing I knew I wanted to do was convert the sleeves to knitting in the round, and make them more fitted and tapered (I do love a fitted sleeve). This pattern has an interesting construction where you knit the shrug first, going up one arm, across the back and down the other arm, then you pick up for the body. So to modify the sleeves, I started off with 52 stitches in the round, knit my ribbing for 10 rows, then knit 5 rows and increased 2 stitches every 7 rows till I had 72 stitches. I then knit the pattern as written until I got to the other sleeve, and I reverse engineered what I did on the first. The result? A well-fitting shrug with nice, fitted sleeves.

Otherwise, I basically knit the pattern as written, the only other change being the rate of increase on the body. I knit the first 6" with an increase every other row, then changed to every 4th row for the rest of the skirt. This way, my front panels didn't come too far into my middle, what with the length I was knitting.

Really, really pleased with the result. Pashmina is such a delightful yarn, and the sport weight will mean that I can get a lot of wear out of this just about all year in Seattle. I'm pleased to say that I only used 2 skeins of yarn for this sweater, so it's really not terribly expensive to splurge for a sport weight luxury yarn!

Plus, another fun thing with this one - I explored some new spots in my 'hood for the photos. It's so easy to fall into a rut with your photos, don't you think? I find myself lazily heading to the same spots to pose, and it's so much better when you can pick out someplace new as a backdrop! 

The perfect sweater.

I want to share a sweater project I'm really proud of because it's the first cardigan I've made that I modified a good bit to suit my needs and my body - and it was a success. Earlier this year, I made my Owls sweater and changed the length and the waist shaping to suit me. I think this gave me a little boost of courage to take a stab at modifying other patterns that almost worked for me but needed a little something.

Last year, I saw Hannah Fettig's Carrot Cardi pattern spring up on Ravelry, and I was drawn to it, but not in an "I must make this right now" sort of way. I faved it and then kind of moved on, busy with holiday knits and other delights. But I kept thinking about it.

I've spent a lot of time in the last year getting better at making sweaters, but also thinking more about what kinds of garments are fun to knit AND also get worn. As knitters, we often find ourselves drawn to a pattern because it's beautiful or interesting in its construction (looks fun to knit). But too often, those beautiful sweaters end up on a forgotten shelf in our closet and not on our bodies. I know this has happened to me a lot in the past, and I'm trying really hard to pinpoint what makes a sweater both fun to make and then really wearable. 

One thing I've realized is that I like layers, given the climate I now live in, and I like sweaters that are easy to take off or throw on over other tops. For my lifestyle and wardrobe, this means cardigans - but mostly open cardigans, not so much with the cropped or buttoned or decorative cardigan. Functionality is the main objective. I've also realized that, as much as I love hand-dyed yarns, the sweaters I wear the most often are colors that go with a ton of things in my wardrobe. More often than not, they're neutrals - greys, browns, blacks, creams, perhaps a dark blue or that perfect shade of green that goes with so many colors. Yes, I think green can be a neutral. I'll revisit that in a few weeks when I have a new sweater FO to share. 

So with this in mind, I kept coming back to that Carrot Cardigan, and as I studied the photos, I became more and more convinced that I needed to make this sweater, but with a few changes. First of all, I didn't like the baggy sleeves. I'm pretty small, and Hannah's patterns tend to run large as it is, so I knew that I would have to do something about the sleeves to make them more fitted, because I definitely wanted a cleaner, less bum-around-the-house look - although I did want a sweater I COULD bum around the house in. Also, this sweater had knit flat, seamed and set-in sleeves. I hate seaming shoulders. A few sweaters ago, I learned how to pick up stitches around the sleeve hole and knit down in the round, and I figured that's exactly what I would do in order to make the project more fun for me. Also, I knew that it would be easier for me to modify the sleeve tightness if I knit them in the round from the top down - try it on as you go! Finally, I decided to add a faux seam to the side of the garment to give it a bit more structure, another trick I learned on a previous sweater. I read through the pattern carefully and made some notes about the changes I wanted to make, and then I was off to the races!

Since moving to Seattle, I've made a few friends who also happen to be handy at dyeing yarn. I love supporting them in their small businesses, so I decided to ask my friend Brigette over at Hermosa Fiber Co. to custom-dye the yarn for this sweater. I had seen her Coal colorway before and knew it was the exact sort of neutral colorway I needed to make this sweater more wearable as an everyday kind of garment. The yarn came out perfectly - semi-solid and beautiful, and I got to guinea pig her brand-new sport base. Loved everything about the results.

PATTERN: Carrot Cardi by Hannah Fettig
NEEDLES: US 6 (4.0mm)
YARN: Hermosa Fiber Co. Sport in Coal

I know I always say my latest sweater is my favorite, but I've actually knit other since, and I can say this is STILL my favorite sweater to date. I love everything about how it turned out. It fits me perfectly and it suits my wardrobe entirely, and of all the things I have made, this is the one that fools people the most in terms of looking like I bought it at a store.

I'm really happy with how the sleeves came out, because as I expected, slimming them down gave the whole sweater a much more streamlined and sleek look. I do like the comfy look of the original, but with the slimmer sleeve, I feel like I can wear this to work and not look like a bum (albeit a cute, cute bum).

The faux seam is such an easy addition that I think I'll probably end up adding it to many of the seamless sweaters I make in the future. Seamless sweaters are so appealing because you don't have to do any sewing at the end other than weaving in ends and closing up underarms, and often the knitting is more mindless than knitting flat pieces with more shaping to them. But the faux seam adds more structure without actually adding any difficulty. You just set off a column of stitches on either side with some stitch markers, and then when you've knit the entire body, you drop the stitch all the way back down and then use a crochet hook to weave it back up, creating a seam. It's awesome and easy and fun!

There you can see the fake seam, just near my hand.

I love this sweater, and I hope everyone makes one - whether you follow Hannah's pattern as written or make your own. I was really excited when a fellow Raveller contacted me recently to let me know she had followed my mods and made herself a sweater and loved the results. Yay! I am getting better at this whole modification thing!

Rockin' the Handknits - Elin's Frankie

This week's star: Elin!

So, to tell you about Elin, I have to confess myself a stalker. A few years ago, when I joined Ravelry (I guess this would have been in 2008), Elin was one of the first people I noticed. Her projects kept popping up in my searches, and holycraptheyweresobeautiful. I pored over her projects and her yarn stash, feeling envious of it all - her gorgeous taste, her obvious knitting talent, her photography skills...GAH! I requested her as a friend on Ravelry (which basically just means the person's projects fall into a stream you can check out handily) and looked for reasons to talk to her. I totally admit it, I was a little bit of a creepy stalker. 

But I was really inspired by Elin, because she has color preferences that are similar to my own, and she has such a knack for knitting things that look clean, crisp and professionally made. It was Elin's stash that led me to many hand-dyed yarns and wools that would become favorites as I eased my way into the vast world of luxury yarn. Eventually, I found myself in many of the same groups as Elin on Ravelry, and over time we would casually chatter on the boards, finding that we agreed on a good many things. This led to eventual emailing about projects and patterns, and then one day we ended up talking about non-knitting and discovered we had a lot more in common than we thought. And somehow about a year and a half ago, I realized we had become ACTUAL friends. And I did a happy dance. I love it when stalking ends up working in my favor. :)

So now we're real friends, and we chat regularly about plenty of stuff that has nothing to do with knitting. She lives faaar away in Melbourne, Australia and it's winter there when it's summer here and sometimes it's tomorrow when I talk to her today - it's straight-up Lewis Carroll-esque, this friendship! But I love Elin, and after all these years, I still turn to her when I have a question about whether or not something is going to look good in a particular yarn, or if I want to make a modification to a pattern. (She's the genius behind the Josefin pattern I showcased a few weeks back).

I could pretty much link just about any of Elin's knits to show you how to look good in a handknit, but here's one of my favorites, Elin's Frankie sweater.

Elin's Frankie Sweater
Pattern: Frankie by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: Rowan Pima Cotton DK in Badger
December 2009

Wow. Where to start? One of the many things Elin and I share, aside from a love of autumnal and neutral colors, is a love of commercially dyed yarn. In the knitting world, sometimes it seems like everyone is all about the hand-dyes all the time. Hand-dyed yarn is awesome, but it usually looks hand-dyed. And sometimes you want something that's more perfectly matched in terms of color. Not to bore you with details, non-knitters, but if you're knitting hand-dyes, with lots of inconsistencies in the color, you have to alternate skeins of yarn while you knit or else you have a mess. Not so with commercially dyed yarn, which is dyed in large quantities so you usually always have reliably matching skeins. Also, commercial yarn often just looks more "professional" as a finished fabric. 

With this sweater, Elin used a readily available but still luxurious commercially-dyed yarn to make this gorgeous everyday cardigan. She wears it all the time and as you can see above, it looks super with a cute dress, but also great with jeans and a tee. I love the NEATNESS of this cardigan. It's big and cozy and could easily look messy and slouchy, but Elin's sizing is just right, and her knitting is so TIDY and she does such a great job with finishing that the sweater isn't sloppy at all. Just super awesome. 

I tend to be pulled toward sweaters that are seamless, knit all in one piece with just a little finishing, because I'm lazy and I hate sewing the pieces of a seamed sweater together. Elin is not lazy. She loves seamed sweaters, because she appreciates the way they always seem more tidy in the end, and she never slacks off on the finishing. When you've knit this huge thing, you just want it done, and it's a common mistake to rush through the finishing. With Elin's knits, every detail is perfect, and the result is a garment that works for years and looks amazing.

Can you tell I have a bit of an unhealthy crush?

Did I mention she's coming to visit me in September?!?!?!

Rockin' the Handknits - Thayer's Josefin

This week's star: Thayer (ilikecake)

This is Thayer. She and I go way back on Ravelry. Last year when I drove across country during my move to Seattle, I finally got to meet her in person - and may I just say, she is even more badass than I had thought she would be? Look her up on Twitter and her one-line bio reads, "baker, knitter, violinist, and porn lawyer to the stars." This is possibly the best one-line bio of any of my Twitter friends, but she omitted a very important detail - GIANT NERD. And that's not a slam. It's a huge pat on the back. Thayer's big into gaming and proud of it! I support this because I like games myself, and also because it means she comes to Seattle for gaming conventions and then I get to see her. Yessssss. I once spun/knit Thayer a cowl with a gaming theme, in fact.

There are lots of things I love about Thayer. She's incredibly smart and funny, but she knows when to listen and is very good at it. I like that we can hang out and it's okay to be quiet for a little while. That's hard to find in a friend. Nothing I say shocks her, which is excellent, and we can disagree amicably and with full respect. She's a very talented knitter and designer, and I admire that about her, but she's also incredibly laid back about her talents. And how about her long, luxurious curls and perfect eyes? Jealous!! Super jealous! She has Disney Princess Hair! I wants it!

And, as with all my knitting friends, Thayer knows how to wear a handknit. In this example, Thayer is modeling a sweater she test knit for our friend Elin, who you will certainly see featured here in the near future because she rocks a handknit in her own right. This new pattern, still in development, is called Josefin, and I think Thayer's is freaking amazing.

Thayer's Josefin Sweater
Pattern: Josefin by Elin Berglund
Yarn: madelinetosh pashmina in Iris
March 2011

Talk about the perfect color/yarn for a pattern, no? Thayer's love of jewel tones is no secret - she knows what looks good on her and works it OUT! That purple is a stunner. Thayer is super tall, and I like that she knits her sweaters long enough to accommodate her long torso (jealousy creeping up again - I want a long torso! whine!) and long arms. Pairing the sweater with that simple necklace really ramps it up a notch and makes a look that's completely appropriate for a porn lawyer to the stars slash World of Warcraft raiding queen.

Well played, Thayer. WELL PLAYED.

 

 

 

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!

Rockin' the Handknits - Kelly's Pull Empiècement

This week's star: Kelly (kellyincville)

This is Kelly. I can think of a hundred reasons to hate her. She is exquisitely beautiful, clever and quick-witted. She makes me laugh. She has incredible style and taste and is a beautiful knitter. She lives in Charlottesville, VA where she's learning to make wine, has an awesome home in the country (and horses) and a fabulous husband who takes her on amazing trips. Cue the hatred, right? Not possible. Kelly's got a big, generous heart and a passion for sharing things with others. This Christmas, she sent all of her friends hand-made mulling spices. Best gift ever. Once, a big group of us travelled to Charlottesville for a weekend - Kelly was the greatest host ever, and arranged for us all to go on a wine tour in the area, provided us with awesome restaurant reccommendations for the weekend, and made sure we were stocked with wine in the hotel.

I would absolutely love to raid Kelly's yarn stash, which is mainly comprised of the most beautiful neutral colors and luxurious wools you can imagine. Of my many knitting friends, I think Kelly makes some of the most wearable items, things you might not immediately realize were hand-knit because they're so wearable and beautiful and professional-looking. For example...

Kelly's Pull Empiècement Sweater
Pattern: Bergère de France
Yarn: madelinetosh eyre in Composition Book Grey
February 2010

Where do I begin to tell you all the reasons this sweater is fabulous? First of all, it's impeccably made. This is a worsted weight yarn, which is thicker but not bulky, but Kelly knit the sweater on medium-sized needles, which means that the fabric's gauge is nice and dense - which makes it look a little bit more like a sweater you'd buy in a store. Lots of people think of knitted sweaters and they think chunky and bulky, but this sweater is fitted and shapely, warm enough for winter but still quite sexy. So she's keeping warm while also looking super hot. It looks great with jeans, as seen here, but you could also pair this with a skirt and boots for a bit more dressed-up look. 

The color is also a win. This is a hand-dyed yarn, but a pretty semi-solid colorway, with just enough color variation to provide interest, but not enough to make it seem stripey or color-pooly. It doesn't scream, "Someone dyed me by hand! Wahoo! Handmade!" You have to look at it closely to realize it's not commercial yarn. And one of the toughest tricks to master as a knitter is matching the right yarn to the pattern you plan to make. This sweater is a perfect match for this pattern.

So, now that we're all insanely jealous of Kelly for being so freaking beautiful and awesome, and for her sweater-making skills, I think we can agree once again that hand-knit sweaters are, in fact, amazing.

Rockin' the Handknits - Aimee's Creature Comforts

The other day, a very fashion-forward friend of mine commented that she just can't get into handknits. Now, I'm not one to argue with someone's sense of style. I think everyone should wear what makes him or her feel amazing. But it did get me thinking...I think a lot of people have NO idea how many rockin' handknits are out there. Stop me if I'm wrong, but when most people think "handknit" they probably picture something terrifying...something like this, maybe. GAH!

So I've decided that every Friday until I get sick of it, I'm going to feature someone I know wearing something she made - or her spouse or kid wearing something she made - in an effort to show you just how freakin' chic handmade can be. 

This week's star: Aimee (TheNerdyKnitter)

Aimee's Creature Comforts Cardi
Pattern by madelinetosh, yarn is madelinetosh vintage in Antler
April 2010

I figured we'd get things going with a boom, and so here's Aimee looking amazing as always in a slouchy and fabulous handknit cardi. I wanted to start with Aimee for a couple of reasons. One, she has an incredible sense of style and always looks adorable, no matter if she's lounging on the couch or heading out for a date with her amazing hubby, Derek. Two, she's a beautiful knitter - down to the last detail, every single stitch is perfect. Does this surprise anyone who knows her? No. Aimee is a details person. Everything she does is done with heart and intention, and that comes through in her knits. When you receive a gift from Aimee, you know that she put all her love and energy into the making of it. Isn't that the magic of handknits, anyway?

In my opinion, what's so special about making a gift for someone else, or for yourself, is that it's got so much of you in it. When you make a sweater for yourself, you are putting so much more thought into the garment than you would ever if you bought it in a store. You also have so much power to alter the pattern's shape, color, drape, etc. to suit you just perfectly. It might seem frumpy and weird to make a sweater for yourself, but really, is there anything more luxurious than treating yourself to a made JUST for you sweater, made out of really awesome, expensive, fancy yarn, designed to fit your body and yours alone? Nope. For someone like Aimee, knitting makes a lot of sense. She's so small and petite, sometimes it's hard for her to find things that fit just right. But when you can make it yourself, fit isn't a problem!

I think this is a TOTAL win in handknit land. This looks like something you might pay $150 for at Anthropologie, and the way Aimee's styled the slouchy sweater with skinny jeans and a blousy tunic is just perfect. You think it's pretty from the front? Check out the back.

Even though I said it reminded me of something from Anthro, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything this beautifully made at any store, period. Look at the details on those flowers! 

Rockin' the handknits like a champ, Aimee!