Showing posts with label Lace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lace. Show all posts

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Pullover #2

Joan Forgione & Rose Callahan
Maybe it's a little late to blog about this now..

But after finishing Shibuya and spending a few days wondering which sweater to knit next, I decided to use the leftover yarn for Joan Forgione's #20 Eyelet Pullover.

Well, I actually started it on April 5th already. I added an inch of ribbing to the bottom and changed the sleeve ribbing a little bit as well.. 

It's insane how fast it knit up! Here's my progress from Ravelry:

April 7 - Over 8" of back done!
April 8 - Working on armholes
April 10 - Back is DONE!
April 12 - Front started
April 14 - 5 inc left for front waist 
April 15 - Started neck-shaping
April 20 - Sleeve No. 1 done!
April 19 - Finished front & 4" of first sleeve!
April 20 - First sleeve done!

As you can see, I only have the last sleeve left!!

Can't wait to see it finished!


Friday, April 20, 2012

Favorite Pattern Friday - Summer Time

Only about two weeks left until summer break!

Even though, I will be busy interning at Stillwater Living Magazine (I'm so excited!) and taking three courses during the summer, I should still have a little bit more time for crafting than usually during a semester. YES!

Time to share some of my favorite summer patterns!

Whole Wheat Cardigan by Alexandra Charlotte Dafoe 
Published in Delicious Knits 
© Alexandra Charlotte Dafoe
I'm actually going to knit this cardigan for my mother soon. She will send her kiwi-colored Mille Fili cotton yarn in a few days! By the the it arrives, the Eyelet Pullover I'm currently working on should be long finished. Really looking forward to this one!


Razor Cami by Katie Marcus free!
Available on Ravelry.com

Monteagle Bag by Ann Hahn Buechner free!
Published in Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines;
also available at the Mason-Dixon Knitting Blog
© knitshearbliss
Semele by Åsa Tricosa 
Published in Åsa Tricosa Designs
© knittimo

Laar by Gudrun Johnston 
 My favorite Laar project is NoTailKit's version by far.
It fits perfectly and I love the yarn she picked!

Friday, March 30, 2012

Favorite Pattern Friday - Jared Flood

©Jared Flood Photography
This FPF will be dedicated to one of my favorite designers, Jared Flood. 

Jared Flood is a Pacific Northwest native, founder of Brooklyn Tweed, knitwear designer and photographer. His outstanding designs are clean and strong and focus on quality, texture and detail.

Another thing I like about his patterns is that they are mostly worked in the round. As a fan of Elizabeth Zimmermann, who was big on easier, more adjustable 'recipes' rather than line by line patterns, Flood tends to use her construction styles and creates most of his designs to be as seamless as possible.

There was a great two-part article, titled "Going Seamless," by Jared Flood in Vogue Knitting about converting flat-knitted and pieced sweaters to a seamless version, specifically with bottom-up construction. You can read parts of his tutorial online in Vogue Knitting's article archive.

Martina Hecht, a German knitwear designer and writer, had really inspiring interview with him last year; it's available on her website MaschenGold.

Enough said. Time to share some of my favorites!
Published in BT FALL 11
© Brooklyn Tweed/Jared Flood
Published in Brooklyn Tweed
© Brooklyn Tweed/Jared Flood
Published in Brooklyn Tweed
© Brooklyn Tweed/Jared Flood
Published in Brooklyn Tweed
© Brooklyn Tweed/Jared Flood
Published in Brooklyn Tweed
© Brooklyn Tweed/Jared Flood
Published in BT FALL 11
© Brooklyn Tweed/Jared Flood
Published in Brooklyn Tweed
© Brooklyn Tweed/Jared Flood


Thursday, March 29, 2012

First Pullover Finished!

It has been crazy during the last few days.. Papers, projects, exams and on top of all that we are getting ready to move to a different apartment soon!

Somehow, I still found time between all of this to finally finish seaming Shibuya! It looks and fits great; I'm extremely proud of my first sweater! Unfortunately, I didn't have time to take nice pictures of it so far, but I promise to post some soon. Until then, here some cellphone cam shots:


After continuing to work on the Scent of Lavender socks for a while, I realized I still have enough leftovers of Jamie's merino yarn to make another sweater for myself! One sock is almost done.. but I think it will have to be put on hold again soon..


The next sweater will be either #20 Eyelet Pullover by Joan Forgione, Mary Jane by Sarah Moore or Slinky Ribs by Wendy Bernard. They would be knit in the same dark gray as Shibuya, which would make them look a lot different than their sample pictures. I don't really know how to decide yet..

#20 Eyelet Pullover by Joan Forgione
Mary Jane by Sarah Moore
Slinky Ribs by Wendy Bernard

Which one do you like best?

Thursday, March 8, 2012

National Craft Month!

Unfortunately, I didn't have that much time for crafting so far.. I had a ton of assignments and papers due the last few weeks. I finished the back and both of the sleeves of Shibuya last month, but the front is still laying around and waiting for spring break to come.

But that doesn't mean that you can't celebrate National Craft Month!
 
There is a really nice article on About.com by Sherri Osborn that lists more than 20 different crafts and interesting projects and techniques, including knitting, crocheting, cross stitching, weaving, pressing flowers, beading and how to make candles. All of the crafts are linked to pages that describe the topic more in-depth and give instructions and help. So get inspired and do something crafty and creative this month!

I love learning and experimenting with new crafting techniques! My only problem is that I tend to stop halfway through the process of one project and start a new one.. The widespread curse of UFOs.. If you like knitting and crafting, you will probably have enough "Unfinished Objects" laying around your home to understand what I mean.

Because I can't celebrate this year's Craft Month by showing you a new and exciting project I'm starting, I will share some of my UFO's!
 
Two of the more recent projects that still need to be finished are The Scent of Lavender by Stephanie van der Linden, started in January, and Perfection by Patricia Kristoffersen, started last December. I would probably be able to finish both of them in less than two weeks, but for some reason I just can't get myself to start. Maybe when Shibuya is finished..


The next one in line would be Captivating by Patricia Kristoffersen. It's a really stunning pattern, especially crocheted in black. I started it in March 2011 and have about half of the doily finished - much more than this picture shows. Unfortunately, I don't have a recent picture of it; the doily is in Germany right now. You can take a look at epawelko's finished Captivating, to get a better idea of how it would look.


Another unfinished projects would be my On the side.. Blanket!, started in January 2011. The pattern is 124-1 Crochet blanket in ”Delight” and ”Fabel” by DROPS design. I really love this project and can't wait to finally finish it. I have almost 50 squares done and should really continue working on it.. I think it's my favorite out of all the UFO's and people on Ravelry seem to like it as well. It received the most hearts out of all my projects, closely followed by Age of Brass and Steam.



The next two are cross stitch projects and so old that I don't even remember when exactly I started them. The first one is a table cloth I planned on making for my mother. It has a three-colored bamboo design, which I really liked when I first picked it out in 1999. Now, 13 years later (what?! wow - I feel really old right now..), I can't really understand the weird color scheme at all; why would bamboo be black, light blue/gray and yellow?!

It's a medium-sized square table cloth with two of these motifs stitched in opposite corners. There's not a lot missing from the second design and my mother still seems to like it, so hopefully someday I will manage to finish it. 


The last project is probably to most complicated one I have ever started.. I think I started it sometime in 2007 as a birthday present for my sister, who was a big Emily Strange fan at that time. I used an image and transformed it into a stitch pattern with the help of a cross stitch program. Unfortunately I really don't remember which one it was; I know I only had the two month trial version.

I knew that I wouldn't be able to finish it in time, so I printed all the charts and color information before the two month were over. I guess I was right.. after about 5 years, it's still waiting to be finished.


I really have to finish this one. It's about 3/4 done and already looks stunning with all the shapes and subdued colors. The last few parts are the faces and eyes and the slightly more complicated detail work. I have all the thread and instructions here and would only need time and the right mood to actually continue.. "only"..


There are probably a few more UFO's hiding around here somewhere, but this is it for today. I hope you are inspired and willing to start some crafty projects for yourself and remember to stick to them and finish them! Digging out a 13 year old project will not make you feel too good..

Friday, March 2, 2012

Favorite Pattern Friday - Knitted Doilies

Doilies are nothing new to me; I crocheted more than 20 different designs during the last year. Most of them were made for family members as birthday or Christmas presents. I even sold one of them on Etsy once. At the moment I have one WIP hibernating in a corner somewhere.. It's really pretty, especially in the dark red thread, but I just can't get myself to crochet the last 2-3 rows right now.. blaeeh..

Some of my Doilies
I spend hours crocheting all of these and really enjoyed it, but for some reason the idea of knitting a doily really frightens me. I don't know why, it just seems so extremely complicated. I prefer other people making them and me looking at the pictures. Maybe I'll surprise myself and try it one day; until then: Pictures!


Knit Flower Doily by Coats & Clark   free!
Published in Coats & Clark
Coats & Clark

This one is still nice and cute..

Doily with Spiral by Verlag Otto Beyer Design Team   free!
Published in Yarn Over
Photo by Talsu
But then it gets to a point where I just can't follow anymore..


Stor Lysedug by Vintage   free!
Published in Yarn Over 
Photo by muumi
128 rows of crazy! Unbelievable.. I would never have the patience..
 

What do you think? Would you try it?
Maybe you already have?

Friday, February 17, 2012

Favorite Pattern Friday - Shawls & Wraps

I love looking at shawl patterns; there are so many beautiful designs out there! I can't wait to finally make one for myself. The only shawl I have made so far was Age of Brass and Steam for Maresa, which wasn't really that spectacular and done in less than two days.. These patterns on the other hand are a little more elaborate and might take a little longer to finish.

Juneberry Triangle by Jared Flood
Published in Brooklyn Tweed
 © Jared Flood
This is my absolute favorite. It's a design by Jared Flood and it's stunning like always.
The texture the yarn creates and the combination of the stitches are gorgeous!


Amelie by Eva Linus   free!
Published in Avelinux
 © Eva Linus
This is one of my favorite free patterns. It has relatively easy lace stitches, 
but still a really nice design. Unfortunately it's only available in German at the moment.


Henslowe by Beth Kling
Published in Beth Kling's Rav Store
 © Beth Kling

This irresistible pattern by Beth King has just enough lace work to give it a simple but elegant look. I am a huge fan of the yarn color she chose as well!


Have you knit a shawl before?
Show me some pictures!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

February Knits

Ten month ago, I found an amazing sweater pattern on Ravelry and thought I had just the right yarn for it. It was left over from another project and seemed perfect. I would finally be able to knit myself a pullover and wouldn't even have to spend money on new yarn!

But of course it was too good to be true.. After knitting a few swatches it was clear that the cotton yarn I had was just not working with the pattern. It was way to smooth and didn't create the depth I wanted. It was so disappointing..

The pattern I'm talking about is Shibuya by Cirilia Rose. You have to admit, it's everything a short-sleeved knit pullover should be..

 © Berroco Inc.

Now, almost a year later, I realized that I still have Jamie's sweater project, which I started years ago and never finished. I had about 6-7 inches done when Jamie finally told me he doesn't like the pattern.. I planned on knitting it anyway and forcing him to wear it, but never found the motivation to continue.

So.. Jamie's pullover is now officially frogged and the yarn currently in process of being 'recycled'! It's sick, it fits the pattern exactly to the point - gauge, weight, everything! Why did I wait so long?!

I started to knit the back last week, I finished the waist and am on my way to the armholes already! The pattern is really easy to remember and surprisingly quick to knit. I'm really looking forward to seeing how this project will progress.

Over 12 inches done!

© Interweave
A few weeks before this, I actually started The Scent of Lavender by Stephanie van der Linden; it's from her book Around the World in Knitted Socks.

Even though, I really like the gray of their example I chose to use the blue Lang Yarns sock yarn I already had here.

For some reason I seem to be in a little 'lace-knit' mood right now.. ?

Unfortunately these socks will have to be put on hold until Shibuya is finished.. I'm planning on making them a present for my sister's birthday, which is in May, so I should have enough time still.



Well, this is it for this month. I hope I can find some free hours to continue knitting soon..
Five weeks until Spring Break!! haha