Shop update

Hi guys! This is just a quick little update to tell you that these three cuties are up in my Etsy shop! You can click on the Etsy button to the right of this post, or you can click here.

Have a great week and enjoy the snow if you have any (we have about two feet of it over here which is really exciting).

Hijacked

I was going to post a nice little update about my work in progress knitting, but said knitting was hijacked by a small cat on her quest for the ideal napping location.

So I guess for now, despite a lack of full sized pictures, I can explain to you what I'm working on.

I'm knitting myself a blanket to bring to college next year. I knew I wanted a pretty big one so I measured a blanket I sewed a while ago because that was the approximate size that I wanted. I calculated the number of stitches I would need based on the gauge of the yarn, and eyeballed the number of skeins I would need. So far, I've used about two. I'll give you the full measurements and stitch details when I'm done! I'm knitting with the Ecological Wool from Cascade Yarn in Beige. So far it's been really nice to knit, although the more the blanket grows the heavier it is, but that comes with knitting any kind of bulky project.

Even before its completion the blanket has been cat-approved, and honestly, what more could you ask for?

Tis the season

I made a little bear for a little girl. I know it's almost Christmas, but this bear was supposed to be a birthday present (back in August, whoops).

He's my own design, made of fleece, with an embroidered nose and a seed-stitch hand knit scarf.

I'm really proud of him, I think he's one of the best stuffed animals I've made and through him I was able to really start creating a style that I like. I think I'm going to try and make the limbs a little chunkier next time though to add to the cuddle-factor, and perhaps use fake fur instead of fleece. But I figured that for a baby, fleece is just fine.

Hope you all have happy holidays and a great New Year!

Penelope

Hi!

I have a little story to share. This summer, I worked on two knitting projects, both of them following a pattern. If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll know that I don't do well with patterns, and I don't like following them. So, after much trial and error, I decided to ditch one of the patterns I was working with - a cowl pattern - and write my own. 

So here it is, the Penelope Cowl! My first ever successful knitting pattern.

Penelope Cowl

- Cast on 231 stitches in the round, place marker

- Border: *knit 3, purl 3* repeat to end of round 

- Wheat stitch (a 4-row stitch): 

1. row 1 - purl 1. *knit 1, purl 1* repeat to end of round

2. row 2 - knit 1, *purl 1, knit 1* repeat to end of round 

3. row 3 - knit 1, *purl 1, knit 1* repeat to end of round

4. row 4 - purl 1, *knit 1, purl 1* repeat to end of round

- Wheat stitch for 11 inches or as long as desired

- Border: *knit 3, purl 3* repeat to end of round

- Cast off loosely 

Notes:

- make sure your stitches aren't twisted when you cast on in the round

- keep track of your wheat stitch rows to ensure that you know where you are when you pause in your knitting (I recommend tally marks)

I knit my cowl out of Purl Essence Everyday yarn in Oatmeal Heather, with 5mm circular needles. Despite being acrylic, it was really soft and easy to knit, and so far has done a very good job of keeping my neck warm. I would recommend not frowning down on acrylic yarn, but honestly, knit what your heart desires. 

So here it is, I hope you like it! If you have any questions about the pattern or anything, feel free to leave a comment down below!

Also, a big thank you to my mom for taking pictures of me even though people were walking by. 

P.S. The story behind the name of the cowl is that while I was desperately trying to follow the pattern I had originally planned on making I would knit about three rows then take everything out and start all over again. This process lasted a good week and my project was dubbed Penelope, who would weave her tapestry during the day and take out all her stitches at night, of course not making any progress. 

Philip: A Bear-y Inspiring Success Story

The cheesy titles are back and I have no regrets.

Before I start relating to you the enthralling tale of my success story, let me paint you a little picture. At the beginning of the summer, I was in a creative slump. Nothing I designed seemed to work, nothing I sewed fell into place (insert the too-small pair of shorts here) and I was just in a funk that I couldn't seem to get out of. It's like writer's block, when your words get all jumbled up and nothing sounds quite as it should.

Anyway, I left for France in the beginning of July and began a super simple knitting pattern. It took me several tries to get the size right, but in the end, one of my more successful projects fell from my needles. I then began designing something (it's a secret, you'll find out soon enough) and to my great surprise (and relief) it worked and it looked good! I had actually sat down and written out the design process as I was doing it too, so it was a proper project.

When I got home, I knew I wanted to design a stuffed animal. I knew how I wanted it to look, and how I wanted it to feel. So I was a responsible designer and drew out pattern pieces, dug out some old denim from my closet and proceeded to create something that was absolutely not what I wanted.

Back to the drawing board.
This time, however, it worked.

This is my bear. I made it all by myself, pattern and all, and I am pretty darn proud of the result.

It started out as a sheep, but right now it's a bear. It also, surprisingly, doesn't have a name. Maybe I'll call him Philip.

So Philip is the result of many hours of creator's block, a summer of chill knitting, and finally, proper designing procedures, and I am so proud of how he turned out. I love the lanky limbs and big feet and slightly floppy head. Figuring out what he should wear was easily the longest part of the process because conventional shirts and other items of clothing don't quite fit.

So that's the story of Philip the sheep-bear-thing that sits on my desk and watches me work while silently giving off good vibes. It's very difficult to take a picture of his entire body, but if I make another Philip (which I think I will) I will take clearer pictures.

The moral of this story is, if you're in a creative slump, find a simple project with a simple pattern and watch a lot of episodes of Friends while making said project. It helps, I promise.

On that note, have a nice week!

Dusty Pink

I just really love the idea of dusty pink as a color, soft and warm but more subtle than in-your-face pink. Even the name is pretty, it makes me think of flowers.

This is a sweater that I made, and is in fact the first time I have ever knitted something with pink yarn. It is the Chatou sweater from La Droguerie. I tweaked the pattern a little (oh surprise), keeping it on the jersey side of the stitches, as opposed to the garter side as was indicated in the pattern. I also didn't use the yarn they said to use but it worked out okay.

I used the Merino Aran yarn from Katia, which is a mix of wool and acrylic and is so soft. It makes for very regular stitches, which is always nice. 

I'd like to thank my wonderful grandmother who sewed it all up because I'm very bad at sewing sweaters, and for also knitting the collar.

This is a very simple sweater, absolutely accessible for a beginner, it's essentially a lot of rectangles with a few increases and decreases for the arms, collar, and sleeves. I would definitely recommend this pattern if you know how to knit and want to take the plunge and knit your first sweater. The only potential problem may be the language but I think they do have translated patterns if you need it in english.

I hope you all appreciate how much effort I put into modeling for these pictures because it was hot and humid and I was wearing a wool sweater of over 500 grams. I'd also like to thank my mom for taking pictures of me because taking outfit pictures is not an easy task when you're flying solo (and you left your tripod at home when you left for vacation) and you have no idea how to pose. 

 This sweater marks the completion of my creativity requirement hours for my program (woo!) so that's a relief, but also it has only furthered my penchant for cozy sweaters (which are basically my winter uniform).

Have a great end of the week and see you next time!

Typical...

Hello all!

It's been a while since I've made an outfit post, so get excited cause here it is, the most recent addition to Wardrobe 2.0!

We start with a pattern from a great little place called Purlbee, I so name the City Gym Shorts. Then we take cute flowery fabric and leftover chambray, as well as a lot of black bias tape and the remaining scraps of elastic buried at the back of the crafts closet.

And then we get a super easy to make pair of shorts that of course are too small.



They're not ridiculously small, just small enough that I'm extremely frustrated. I've made a pair of these before and the size was perfect! I didn't change anything to the pattern except that I used chambray instead of linen for the back.

I don't know what I did wrong, and it was only when I was done that I realized that the shorts did not fit as well as I had hoped. However, despite the sizing mishaps, it is one of the better-made pieces of clothing that I have ever sewn. The edge stitching on the bias is straighter than on anything I've made before, and the pattern is just overall very easy to follow, I highly recommend it (although I would recommend to pay attention to the size that you're making). 

And because another part of the IB requirements (see previous post) also require 50 hours of creativity, making these shorts counted as part of my creative hours. 

Time spent: 2h10