Tag Archives: knitting

Snoqualmie

Snoqualmie

Snoqualmie

Snoqualmie

Snoqualmie

Snoqualmie

Snoqualmiecardigan: Snoqualmie by Michele Wang, pattern here // shirt: Grainline Archer, pattern here // legwarmers: pattern here

Snoqualmie is done!

(Semi-related: I’m pretty sure every single time I’ve typed “snoqualmie” it’s come out “snog.” Every single time.)

Anyway, I did this one for Heather’s Snoqualmie Knit-along last year. I started knitting it sometime in March, got caught up in end of the semester projects, and then it was summer and I was sweating too much to hold a pile of wooly cables in my lap. I picked it back up a few weeks before finals week of fall semester as stress knitting. And in fact, since it was my first semester of a full class load (plus work, plus I’d just started my internship), there was a lot of stress knitting and I actually accidentally finished it the week of finals. Oops.

I love everything about this pattern (I also love everything about Michele Wang). I wear this sweater ALL the time. The only issue I have with it is that I used Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool because it’s on the cheaper side and it’s  usually knitted up pretty nicely before. This time it’s pilling like crazy. To be fair, I am wearing this sweater pretty often, but still. It seems a bit excessive. It’s such a comfy oversized boyfriend blanket of cabley goodness that I could totally see knitting a second one. I’ll have to try a better yarn next time and see if it makes a difference.

I struggled a bit with figuring out what kind of buttons to put on this one. It’s a pretty hefty cardigan so I wanted over-sized buttons, but the ones I tried first were a similar toggle style made of some kind of plastic or resin that was much heavier and pulled one side down too much. A friend gave me these lovely wooden ones that are super lightweight and exactly the size and style I was going for.

I knitted a 41 1/2 size (the second smallest size) and while I love how giant it turned out, I might size down or re-check my gauge on the next one just for variety. I like that I can pop this one on over leggings or a dress, but it might be nice to have a slightly more fitted one for wearing with jeans and a t-shirt. I’m also considering adding some grosgrain ribbon or bias trim to the inside of the button plackets and maybe around the back neckline edge for extra support. Does anyone have experience with this? I’ve seen it on RTW sweaters but haven’t actually tried it on anything I’ve knitted.

Now excuse me while I go snog this sweater. I mean snuggle.

lila fowler

lila pullover

lila pullover

lila pullover

lila pullover
sweater: handknitted, pattern here 

I love this sweater so much. I wanted to make it ever since Carrie made hers. I love that I can basically wear gym clothes and throw it on and look like I tried. Or that I can wear it over a dress and it doesn’t bunch weirdly at the waist because it’s cropped. And that collared shirts look cute under it.

The yarn is this scrumptious alpaca I picked up (specifically for this project) at Stitches West from Ranch of the Oaks in Lompoc, CA. After I bought it I basically spent the rest of the day petting it and cast it on pretty much as soon as I got home. It was a really quick knit and perfect for zoning out while binge-watching tv shows.

Tiny note: I decided that I wanted mine extra cropped, which in retrospect may not have been the best decision since boobs + extra long torso. I still love where this one hits but I think it’s toeing the line of too short so probably I’ll just follow the pattern exactly on the next one (there will definitely be a next one).

Sidenote: there are also the Lila Top Down and Lila Light, neither of which I’ve knitted but both of which are intriguing. I should really probably start knitting with lighter weight yarns now that I’m no longer living in the arctic north (Boston). Case in point: the day this sweater was blocked and ready to be worn, I very excitedly picked out an outfit and pulled it on.. and then walked outside where it was 90 degrees. No exaggeration.

(Was anyone else as obsessed with the Sweet Valley series as I was?)

cables&squish + wearable art show

I’ve done a lot of knitting this summer (don’t ask me to explain that one) and my goal for the next several months is to slowly work through my yarn stash. Some of that means finding new homes or new projects that I lost interest in and some of it means finally getting to certain projects that have been in my Ravelry queue for ages. In the interest of making this happen I went through and cleaned out my queue and removed a bunch of projects that I know I’ll never get to or just no longer have any interest in doing. I also couldn’t resist looking around at patterns and adding a few to the list. Only a few! Anyway, here’s a few of my favorites that I moved to the top of the list. You’ll notice a theme.


Chateau by Melissa Schaschwary


Lila by Carrie Bostick Hoge


Boxy by Joji Locatelli


Speckled Shrug by Lion Brand Yarn Patterns


Oshima by Jared Flood


Chainlink by Norah Gaughan


Fisherman’s Daughter by Carol Sunday


Sperry by Amy Miller 

This might actually all realistically happen this winter too. I have a half-finished green, navy, and white Sperry lying around somewhere. I have a cream Fisherman’s Daughter that just needs sleeves. Plus between starting this list and actually posting it, I’ve managed to get a ton of knitting done. I started a Lila. I have a Boxy sweater who’s only missing a neckline and some faith that I didn’t knit the wrong size, and I finished a Chateau and a Speckled Shrug that is huge and so cozy and I want six of them.

2015-10-13 18.14.11
Meet my extremely squishy Chateau.

Funny story about the Chateau. It was SO fun to knit and so quick that I did the “Just one more row..” thing until it was completely done and about 2am. At that point I completely passed out with my finished Chateau in bed with me, and at some point during the night it fell in the crack between the wall and my bed and I completely forgot about its existence until about three days later. Surprise new sweater!

2015-09-30 16.21.35
If you follow me on Instagram you’ve seen the blanket and tiger Archer I now live in.

Sidenote: I have a feeling I’m going to be feeling very smug about completing so much of my knitting wishlist until the next time I go on the Brooklyn Tweed website again and add six complicated cabley sweaters to my list.

Another sidenote: I’m really really bad at culling my Ravelry queue. In my defense half of it is things like a chart for the Tree of Gondor which you just never know if you’re going to need.

Completely knitting-unrelated, but I also wanted to mention a really cool  contest/fashion show a reader (thanks Holly!) emailed me about. Uncommon Threads is a wearable art show that takes place in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Every year a theme is chosen and artists submit crazy artistic garments that fall under their interpretation of the theme.

This year’s theme is “Epilogue”, and here is how juror Wylie Garcia explains it: “This year’s theme asks artists to meditate on notable books, authors, or literary characters and use wearable art as means of opening up a conversation about these influences. By revisiting the stories and writers that have made a personal impact, artists are encourage to create a garment that serves as an epilogue to a single novel or an entire writing career. Comments on genres, the dynamic between the physical and electronic medium of books, and the cultural implications of works of fiction and nonfiction are also appropriate ways to interpret this theme.”

How awesome does that sound? I seriously debated making something to enter but between getting ready to move (yes, again!) this weekend and still being in the midst of Cinderella and ruffles, I couldn’t see starting a large scale project like this and keeping my sanity. Maybe next year! For anyone who is interested, submissions (not actual finished pieces) are due November 16th and the show is December 5th.

Below are some photos* of past shows and you can find out more by visiting their website here.

20131019-193817-Culture Candy

20131019-204246-Culture Candy

20131019-202046-Culture Candy

2011

*Photos used with permission.

Me Made May ’14

Datura #1
Yayyy it’s May! I participated in Me Made May last year but it ended up being a bit of a failure. Technically I pretty much wore my Madeline mini-bloomers most days so that was me-made, but that’s not really the point, is it?

This year I’m going to try to do something a little different. My closet is getting a little out of hand. There are so many garments that I either never wear or are hidden under things that I never wear and have been forgotten. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the idea of having a mostly handmade wardrobe and I think the first step is going through and getting rid of all of the stuff I have made that I never wear. (Or the stuff that I should probably stop wearing because I made it ages ago and my sewing standards are higher now.)

So this month I’m going to make a point of trying to wear everything I’ve made that’s currently taking up space in my closet. If I feel icky wearing it or if  I just don’t find the occasion to wear it, it’s out. Depending on what it is that means recycling the materials, donation, or putting it in a box to be stored.

Sidenote: I think a huge part of the reason I failed last year was because I had planned on taking actual fancy-camera photos of my outfit every day and that just wasn’t feasible. So this year I’m just going to go with Instagrammed mirror photos and maybe a roundup on the blog once a week.

 ‘I, Ping of peneloping.com, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May ’14. I endeavor to wear at least one piece of me-made clothing each day for the duration of May 2014’

Wish me luck!

greenberries

Blackberry cable cardigan

Blackberry cable cardigan

Blackberry cable cardigan

Blackberry cable cardigan
sweater: self-made, pattern here // glasses: BonLook.com (affilliate link) // pants: AE // boots: Hunter

Sometimes I finish a project and immediately get dressed up and run upstairs to photograph it. Other times, I wait three years.

This sweater was my birthday present to myself in 2011. I had been eyeing fancy yarns and decided to treat myself to a sweater’s worth of Madelinetosh (colorway: thyme). I almost chose Composition Book Grey but I think I just liked the name.

CIMG2114Hello babbies!

Anyway, the pattern is the Blackberry Cable Cardigan and it was so much fun to knit! It was three years ago but I’m pretty sure the blackberry stitch was a bitch and a half but the rest of it knitted up easily. Cables are the best. They’re not actually that hard but they make sweaters look so fancy and complicated. Hee. I also love how hourglassy it turned out with the very deliberate waist definition.

My only issue is I overestimated the sleeve length and ended up with sleeves that are about 3″ too long and didn’t have enough yarn left to make the shawl collar as wide as I’d wanted.

Someday I might fix it. Someday.