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!

 

To hem or not to hem..

Being only 5 foot tall, shortening pants is nothing new to me. But that doesn't mean that I enjoy it.. I would rather sew a complete buttoned shirt than hemming pants! I guess, it's just like seaming or weaving in ends with knitting. I can't stand it, but it has to be done.

Because of this great enthusiasm, I usually just measured, cut and sewed it without dealing with the problem of how to use the original hem. Even though, I really would have liked to keep it; it just makes them looks a lot better.

Original and 'Easy Solution'

I have two really nice pairs of jeans here that have been waiting for a few weeks already. This time they will keep their original hems, I promised myself that. I just haven't figured out which technique to use yet. There are two great tutorials from Sew Much Ado and The Pretty Poppy. Both explain the process really nicely and feature a lot of pictures. 

With Sew Much Ado's version you basically just fold the original hem up to the desired finished length and then sew as close to it on the back side as possible. It's relatively quick and easy, but  leaves a small darker fold visible above the original stitching.

© Sew Much Ado

Lynsee's tutorial on The Pretty Poppy is a little bit more complicated, but the result looks just like the original hem. Here you cut your pants at the desired length, cut the original hem into a separate stripe and remove its original stitching. The original hem is then folded open, attached inside out to cover the cut end and then sewn in place.

© The Pretty Poppy

I would like to try the easier version, but I don't own an iron. I don't know if my seams would be nice and flat in the end. On the other hand, I don't know if I will be able to sew through the thick layers of fabric in the second version. 

I guess I'll try Sew Much Ado's way this evening to see how that would turn out. If I don't like it, I can rip out the stitches again and try the other version after some sewing machine testing. Sounds like a plan!

Have you ever hemmed jeans using one of these ways?
Please share your tips or suggestions! 

I'll keep you updated on my results!

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?

Shi-Booyah!!

Pattern: Shibuya by Cirilia Rose

Forget what I posted on Thursday! 

I finished the front over the weekend and have all the parts ready for blocking and sewing! 

March really is a good month for crafting!

I still don't really understand how I knit it that quickly; I only worked on it during the evenings of the last three days! I love this pullover already!

Now it only needs to fit! Wish me luck for sewing the pieces together and adding the neckband!

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..

What's so great about knitting socks?

I like knitting socks to try out new stitch combinations. They are also a great choice when I'm not in the mood for a project that needs too much thinking and measuring. But there are a lot of other reasons socks are so popular among knitters:

• Inexpensive - 100g of yarn will be enough for most patterns!
• Portable - best project for traveling!
• Easy & Useful - Great for beginners and practicing stitches!
• Quick results - A little bit every evening and you will be done in 1-2 weeks! 

My Roll Top Socks

The first pair I made was a last-minute Christmas present for my mother. I used a heel-less pattern from Patons, because I always imagined it to be fairly difficult to knit socks with constructed heels.

A short while after I recycled an old sweater and had a bunch of yarn lying around with no idea what to do with it. I finally dared myself and started a ankle-sock pattern called Roll Top Socks by Dawn Pietzsch. It only took me about 3 days to complete and I immediately knew I would never go back to tube socks. It's so much faster and interesting to knit heel-socks!

There are thousands of patterns and many different construction techniques; you can even create your own pattern!

Basic Sock Anatomy 

There are eight main parts: Cuff, Leg, Heel Flap, Turned Heel, Gusset, Instep, Sole, and Toe. 

The eight Parts in Color

With a top-down pattern you would start with cuff and body. These two parts are knit in the round and probably the easiest. They are also a good place for experimenting with different stitches and patterns.
Next is the heel flap, an easy square, usually knit back and forth on one needle.

After this part you will 'turn the heel'. This part scares most knitters away from ever knitting socks, but it isn't any more difficult than the rest of the sock, it just needs a little bit more attention, that's all. The heel is knit in short rows, which means that you are not working with all the stitches. This might sound confusing, but it's necessary to achieve the desired shape in the end.

The next step is the gusset, a triangular-shaped piece that connects the leg/instep stitches with the heel flap and the turned heel. To do this, you will have to pick up stitches along the sides of the heel flap and then gradually decrease until you reach the original number of cast on stitches. At the same time, the instep and sole stitches will continue to be knit in the round.

After you are back to the amount of stitches you had in the beginning, it's back to easy knitting of only instep and sole to shape the foot of the sock. This part will continue until you reach the point where the length of the sock is about one inch shorter than your foot.

At this point you will start the last step, shaping the toe, which is another easy series of decreases. To close up the remaining hole you will need to graft the remaining stitches together to create a flat seam. The Kitchener stitch is the most common and cleanest way to do this. Trust me, it sounds more complicated than it actually is.

That's it! The only thing you have to do now is pick a pattern and start trying it for yourself!


Continue to read and see some of my favorite patterns!

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