a not-so cardigan.

Those of you who know me, or see what I post about and knit regularly, know that I never knit pullovers. I actually don’t know why – I just love cardigans. They are the reason I knit – some people are into shawls or socks … I like cardigans :)

But then I fell in love when Veera published this:

Pattern: Gathering Stripes by Veera Välimäki

Yarn: Phildar Preface in colours 36 (grey) and 35 (navy)

Needles: 4.00mm circs and DPNs

A very quick knit, I kept putting it down so it took me a while to complete. I started it in April and finished now … in late June. I made the 38” bust knowing it would be too big but I wanted 3” of positive ease at least. This also means I can wear it for the rest of my pregnancy (which isn’t long but that’s ok):

Modifications:

• Lengthened the body to 19” since my torso is so long.

• Instead of 10 stripes, I did 14.

• Rather than seaming the hems, I left them. I quite like the casual effect this has on the overall look of the sweater.

I have to say, I’m really happy with this sweater. I think it’ll see a lot of wear. While I was knitting, I was torn about choosing the blue versus some gorgeous rust that I had in my stash but I’m glad I went with the blue. And it’s soooooo lightweight! Perfect for cool summer evenings, which we see a lot of in Vancouver :)

ETA: I backed the wooden buttons with small, clear buttons from my stash to give the collar a little more structure as it was very floppy. I’m really glad I did this & would recommend doing that if you’re having the same problem :)

comforts.

Ooooh madelinetosh. Your yarn, your patterns, your overall look … why do you tempt me so?

Although I really like the results of this cardigan and I wished I had pushed through, finishing it sooner; I just wasn’t into this knit. As I mentioned last time, I am lacking my knitting mojo but I really wanted to finish at least one sweater this month … especially the one I started because I was pregnant and would be able to wear throughout the whole pregnancy without worrying about it being too small, short, flattering, etc. But did I get it finished? No. Not until the last 2 weeks of pregnancy and just when summer is starting and I am already boiling (have been for a while!). Herumph. I hope this will see lots of wear in the Fall :)

Pattern: Creature Comforts Cardi by Amy Hendrix

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers in colour 2443 – neutral

Needles: 5.00mm

Modifications:

• Cast on for the 38-42” (med/lrg) size. Halfway through, I decreased every 6 rows until I had the stitch count for the 34-38” (sm/med) size (12 decreases total).
• Knit the chart and St st portion first, seamed the sides, then knit the ribbing in the round.
• 3” of ribbing around instead of only 1.5”.
• Made the armhole a bit smaller, as it kept falling down my arm when I tried it on!

p.s. Thank you so much to the comments from last post! You all completely inspired me – and although I am really looking forward to baby coming, I have decided to take advantage of the quiet time and cast on for something I have wanted to make for a long time but didn’t know what yarn to use. Instead of stash busting, I went to my LYS and spent a little more than I usually would (no workhorse yarn for this project!) and am swatching this evening for the Acer Cardigan – something I have been wanting to make for a loooong time :) xo

mojo.

I thought I would join Ginny in her Yarn Along today since I am really enjoying my current knitting project and reading a great book. First, the book:

I love everything Barbara Erskine writes – this is her second newest book. All of her books are historical fiction that generally go back and forth between the past and present. I always enjoy them! In terms of knitting, I am working steadily on the Creature Comforts Cardigan – I actually think I will get it finished today and since the weather is gorgeous here, I may even get it blocked and dried!

This has been a labour of love for me – I love the effect of the oak leaf pattern but for some reason my heart wasn’t in it. I threw it on my dress form last night and love the results … but I am just not into knitting right now. Will Knit For Food’s Michelle posted this a while back and that is TOTALLY how I am feeling. There’s just nothing I am working on right now that is really fuelling my fire but I am craving something great … Not sure what to do about it. I definitely am not into baby knitting – I tried but with having a little one in July, there’s just no point! I’m looking forward to some winter 6 month or even 18 month knits but it’s too far away to be knitting something for then since we don’t know the gender yet.

If you have a pattern or have knit something really awesome lately that you really enjoyed, I would love to hear about it! Maybe it’ll get a fire lit under my butt ;)

Happy Wednesday!

one wall of one room. done.

I, of course, am talking about the nursery. There is still a bunch of furniture in the room that we need to move out – more for minimal extra ‘stuff’ in the room than anything else. BUT. I have organized the dresser (aka. washed and put things away), put a light bulb in the lamp, and finished a couple of things that have been in the making since … 2009.

The summer prior to getting Charlie (our Golden Retriever puppy who’s now 2 1/2 years old), we drove down the Oregon coast. Camping and showing off the coast to M. was wonderful as it is one of my favourite places in North America. We stopped in Canon Beach and I took a look around one of the great quilt stores … and found “Little Owls” by Barbara Brandeburg. It’s a tied quilt that can only be described as completely silly. I actually started it almost immediately when we got home but soon put it aside. What was I going to do with it? M. was not going to want something like this above our bed!

So, I rolled it up in a towel and garbage bag, threw it in the back of our closet and left it.

I pulled it out this Spring in hopes of finishing it. The heat n’bond needed to finish it off was a pain to work with but I didn’t want to spend the time sewing the owls down either by hand or on my machine. I just didn’t see the point of spending the time. Lazy, I know, but this is not an heirloom!

It’s silly and fun. Perfect colours for a gender-neutral nursery! Here’s an up close of the owls themselves:

You may have noticed above that there is a ‘package’ sitting on the dresser.

It is a travel change pad. I saw the idea on someone’s blog a long time ago, filed it away and didn’t think about it again. After making all those diapers, I had about 2 meters left of the PUL fabric. I cut a roughly 16” x 40” rectangle out of the PUL, quilting cotton left over from the owls quilt and batting. I did some top stitching on the PUL and batting to secure it together and allow for washing (necessary for a little one).

Made a sandwich, stitched around, turned it right side out and folded over one end to make an 8” pocket. I stitched up the center to create two pockets: one for the liners and one for the outer diaper covers. About 4 liners and 3 diapers fits nicely.

All-in-all, very successful, free and simple. It took me about an hour and a half to make it. And it’s super light, unlike the ones I saw in the stores.

If you can believe it, I have finished the ‘baby sewing’ I wanted to do and am on to some Christmas presents that I am planning to finish next week and put away. There has been knitting, albeit very little. I will share that with you soon :)

Also, Charlie would like to say something. He’s very concerned with all the changes occurring upstairs at the moment. He thought you might want to know. Charlotte doesn’t seem to be nearly concerned enough, according to him. He would like to know what’s going on :)

And I am pleased to announce I am officially finished Grad school! We drove to Northern Alberta this past weekend and I convocated with my classmates on Friday. I am so pleased to be finished – and we had amazing weather the whole time we were gone. I have photos but haven’t downloaded them yet – I will share them soon.

I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday – I am still reading what I was reading a couple of weeks ago … and knitting what I was knitting … so no Yarn Along for me today :)