A finished summer sweater: Fire Opal Tee

Lookit what happened: I finished a thing.

This is my Fire Opal Tee, and I finished it a few weeks ago as part of Allyson's KAL. Oh, what a satisfying knit!

Allyson designed the tee to be knit with wool yarn, but I live in California, so I subbed Knit Picks Comfy Fingering in Parchment, and had to make few modifications. This yarn knits up so soft and drape-y, I know I will wear this all summer (and let's be honest, winter) long. 

Although the pattern was designed to be knit with positive ease, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I cast on the 38" size (my actual bust measurement is around 40"), and a few inches in, I realized it was going to be far too loose for my liking. So I painstakingly ripped out a good 6" of knitting and cast on the 36" size. I lengthened it by about an inch before separating at the sleeves, but otherwise knit as written. It's perfect. 

And yes, I'm modeling it without a tank top underneath. Once I had finished it, I knew it would lend itself nicely to being sauced-up a bit in this way. I'm not sure if it's because I'm smack-dab in the middle of LA, or if it's just the way fashion trends have turned, but I would have never worn it this way a few years ago. 

Is it the reasonable color? The sophisticated cables? Whatever it is - I'm a-ok being a bit scandalous with just a bra underneath. Maybe it's the short hair. I'm a risk-taker now! 

Finished Nachtfalter, Wheeee!

Here's my finished Nachtfalter sweater! I finished it over the 4th of July weekend, but I wasn't able to take pictures of it until this week. I've been wanting another airy summer sweater, and I think this will fit into my wardrobe quite nicely. 

Why this week? Because Allyson Dkyhuizen of Sweatshop of Love is here! Although she was just here in February, but she's back to help me film my web series, and to start a new business. 

Yup, you heard me: New Business. It's called Red Letter Day Stitches - a site dedicated to holiday embroidery fun. It's something we've had in the works for awhile, so I'm excited to get to work! 

Allyson and I have been busy bees, so things have been a bit quiet on this ole blog. But Allyson has Instagram-ed some fun photos of the past week, so be sure to follow her here! 

Holla Knits KAL - Nachtfalter

Just looking at that lacy swatch makes me happy. 

This summer I'm leading a knit-along for Holla Knits, for my favorite sweater from the Spring/Summer 2013 issue: Nachtfalter.

I'm using CotLin in Gosling and Wallaby, and we start next Monday. Care to join us?

Effortless...

This cardigan was technically my first FO of 2013, finished on January 1st. My BFF, Annie, requested a sweater for Christmas this year, and she picked everything out. The pattern is Effortless by Hannah Fettig, which I'm sure you've seen around the block once or twice by now. 

The yarn is my favorite - Knit Picks Comfy Worsted - in Seraphim, a pretty grey-violet. It's a bit short on me, because Annie is a bit short, but you get the gist.

Every Christmas I am resolute: NO sweaters. For anyone. ...And then every Christmas, someone has to ask for the perfect sweater that I totally want to knit them (on size 10 needles), and wear me down. Next year will be the year of no Christmas sweaters. Yup, NEXT year. 

Finished: Holla Back Tank

The Holla Knits KAL is just about wrapped up, and I have this gorgeous Holla Back Tank to show for it: 

I love the finished project - it will definitely be worn during this Indian Summer we're having in Southern California. I used Knit Picks Stroll Sock in Everglade Heather, which makes a surprisingly wearable sweater. You wouldn't think a yarn described as "sock" would be so lovely on the body. 

The design itself is great - I made no changes except to knit a size smaller than normal to account for my gauge being off. As some knitters have noticed, that neckline is low. If you're modest about the cleavage, I'd shorten the straps a bit. And the bottom band will not take an hour, like you suppose. It will take 3, so plan accordingly. 

But overall, it's a success. And I've got 9 other ladies sharing their FO's along with me, so lookie here.

Holla Knits KAL Week 3: Finished Front

I've finished the front of the sweater, whoohoo! 

This week's goal was easy peasy, and I actually finished almost a week ago, but I've been fighting some serious internet burn-out. You know how it is, you don't want to post, you don't want to tweet, and Facebook is terrible. What do you guys do to get that ole spark back again?

HKKAL Week 1 Progress

We cast on Monday for the first Holla Knits' Knit Along! 

The first week was a bit intense - 9" of st st - but I powered through. I didn't realize exactly how much I'd knit until I really flattened it out. Last night I was slightly panicked at the size of my sweater, but that st st likes to curl in on itself and look like a tiny bit of knitting, when it's really closer to 8.75"! Whew. 

Want to join in? There's still time! Keep up with us on the Holla Knits blog, and in the Ravelry group, or email me at katie@hollaknits.com for more info. 

Knit Like it's 2004

When I moved from Chicago to LA, I went through every single thing I own, and buried deep in a huge plastic bin, I found one of the earliest examples of my knitting: 

The pattern is Stephanie Japel's Minisweater (aka Boobholder), and I knit it in the spring of 2004. I clearly remember wearing it for the first time to the cast party of Into the Woods my sophomore year at Michigan State (I played Granny & the Giant, for those interested). No picture of me wearing it at the time exists, but for reference, here's what I looked like at the time:

Ahhh, the days of the timestamp! Is it just me, or is there a stain on that shirt? Ok, back to the sweater.

It's knit with a lovely hand-painted superwash wool that I bought at a tiny yarn store near the MSU campus, which was probably the first time I bought "expensive" yarn. Upon closer examination, you can see that all my stitches are twisted. 

Yup, I knit with twisted stitched for at least the first 2 years I was a "serious knitter." Since I taught myself from online tutorials and books, I didn't realize my mistake for some time. Good thing I finally corrected myself, right?

Ahhh, memories! 

Knit the Holla Back Tank with me on the Holla Knits blog!

The votes are in, and I'll be leading my fearless Holla-Knitters (Knittas? Too much?) in the first Holla Knits Knit Along. 

We'll be knitting the Holla Back Tank starting on Monday, August 20th. There are tons of fun discounts and prizes, so click over to the Holla Knits blog to read all about it!

Holla Knits KAL, Whoohoo!

I'm pretty excited to be hosting the first ever Holla Knits knit-along! 

(Begin counting exclamation points now...)

I will be leading a team of fearless knitters to complete one of the sweaters from the Spring issue of Holla Knits, and voting is now open! After the votes are counted, I'll divvy up the pattern into 8 bite-sized chunks, and we'll tackle one per week. At the end of 8 weeks, you'll have a gorgeous new sweater. 

This is perfect for anyone who hasn't knit a full sweater before, or is a bit intimidated by the advanced knitting in the Holla Knits patterns. I'll be answering questions on the Holla Knits Ravelry group, and checking emails at katie@hollaknits.com. 

I'll kick off the Holla Knits KAL on Monday, August 20th. After a week of voting, the winning sweater will be announced on Monday, July 30th. The winning sweater pattern will be offered at a discounted rate of $3, instead of the usual $6. Holla Knits subscribers and anyone who has already purchased the winning pattern or who purchases it before August 20th will get a coupon code for discount yarn from the indie dyer. Anyone who finishes their sweater with the KAL will be entered to win prizes! Whoohoo!

So hop over the Holla Knits blog to vote and check out the designs.

Summer Goal #1: Lace Stripes!

I got a little bit of knitting done on my Lace Stripes sweater while traveling. 

Knitting this sweater was the first of my summer goals, and I'm glad I prioritized it, since I've already worn it three times. I wanted my Lace Stripes to be like a comfy sweatshirt, but nicer, and the finished product lives up to my dreams. It's classy, slouchy, stylish and the perfect extra layer in the summer heat. 

I knit this up in Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in Ivory, just like the pattern told me, and ended up using 7 skeins. I knit the 41" bust size. A little word of warning: Allyson designed this sweater with 4" of positive ease, which is not my thing. I mostly go for the negative ease, but I figured if I knit the size at my actual measurement (41"), that it would fit tightly. Wrong. It's loosey-goosey. 

I did make a few modifications. First of all, I added two stripes-worth of length, so it hits just below the bum. I have a long torso, so I knew I wanted a little extra length. Second, I started the ribbing for the neckline one row early, to make it more boatneck-y. Yes, that's a technical term. I also did my standard mod: knitting the sleeves one size smaller than the body. I have me some skinny arms. 

Ooo! Also! I conquered my "Reading while Knitting" goal! This was the perfect project to knit while reading Shakespeare for my acting class. So that's like, half of a summer goal, right? 

Crafty Summer Plans

Mmmm, Summer. Although I'm still pretty busy, Summer always puts me in the new-project-planning mindset. I suppose it comes from those Summers in high school & college when a break from school meant time to devote to crafty pursuits and reading fiction. 

Here's what I'm planning for this Summer:

Knitting

A few weeks ago I had a dream I was wearing Allyson's Summer Lace Stripes Sweater, and I couldn't get it out of my head. I know, I'm the corniest. "It came to me in a dreeeaaammm!"

I ordered Knit Picks' Comfy Worsted in Ivory and cast on Sunday after I finished my Holla Knits sample. It's the perfect California sweater - a light, breezy extra layer that will go well with shorts or my bright teal skinny jeans! 

Jewelry

A is watching...

Last summer I was totally obsessed with recreating some beaded bracelets from a popular show about doomed teenage girls (....) and made the one above for my sister. This summer, I'm dying to use my bead loom to create pretty Native American- inspired jewelry, like these bracelets, and these barrettes.

Crochet

A crochet blanket from years ago, before I had a blog

It's time to jump back into crochet! We were gifted three plain, wooden stools that work perfectly with our counter. Except that, you know, they're so plain and wooden. I'm going to crochet a little seat cover for each, and hopefully they'll be as pretty as this cover. 

Sewing

I bought McCall's M6331 last Summer, and totally didn't get around to sewing it up. I want, nay need, that romper. I'm interested to see how this pattern comes out, since it claims to be adjustable for different bust sizes, instead of just going with the standard B-cup. We know that's not gonna work for me! 

Reading

What's that you say? Reading isn't a craft?! Ok, let's say I plan to perfect the craft of reading while crafting, and start with this book. I'm a huge fantasy fan, so I don't know why I've avoided A Game of Thrones for so long. Chris and I just finished watching the first season of the HBO series, and I'm totally hooked, so I think it's time. Anyone else loving these books or the show?

Fixing Past Mistakes (with Crochet, let's not get too serious)

Remember this ole thing?

It's Make Up Your Mind, which I knit last summer, and >ahem< was not in love with. Ok, I've never worn it. Ever.

But then two weeks ago I actually wanted to wear it, put it on, and it was still ill-fitting. (Why didn't it magically fix itself in my closet?) The neckline was too droopy, and the whole thing lacked structure, being knit in an un-elastic cotton. Boo.

Luckily, I still had some of that un-elastic cotton in my stash, and I took it out and added two rows of single crochet at the neckline, armholes and hem. Problem, solved! 

Cause, let's face it: It's time to get on board with summer sweaters, living in California and all. 

MUYM Progress

When I joined Allyson's knit along and chose to knit Julie's Make Up Your Mind sweater, I was skeptical. I don't really believe in summer sweaters - who wears a sweater in the summer? They're hot, even if sleeveless, and I sweat. Plus everyone knows sweaters belong to winter! But I had no idea how awesome this sweater would be to knit on the road. 

Cellular stitch on Thursday morning

I had a bit of a false start - since I'm using different yarn than called for, I swatched a bit skinnier than gauge. I decided to compensate by casting on for a size 48. After knitting about two inches, I tried on the sweater and even though it was only two inches, it was a baggy two inches. So I pulled the whole thing out and cast on size 44. 

Knit through cellular, checkerboard and in the midst of linen stitch on Saturday

From there it was smooth sailing - I added two extra inches of cellular stitch to the bottom of the sweater, and about an inch to the bust, as per Allyson's KAL recommendations. 

Took a few days to work the Hindu Pillar stitch and finished off with some lace

I love knitting this! Or did, since I'm actually done at this point (stay tuned for FO pics). The design is really smart - every few inches you switch up the stitch pattern, which creates shaping without increasing or decreasing. That also makes it perfect for travel - no stitches or rows to count, just a new stitch pattern to keep things interesting. 

Giveaway - The Ohio Knitting Mills Knitting Book

This past Christmas, my mother gifted me The Ohio Knitting Mills Knitting Book.

I'm a sucker for vintage and vintage-inspired patterns, so I requested it, thinking it might have a few fun patterns. The photography looked amazing from the promo pictures online, and I love a knitting book with great photography - just inspiring, you know?

I was not prepared for the wealth of information this book contains! Not only does it have great vintage-inspired patterns with gorgeous photos (for men and women, both), it includes the entire history of the Ohio Knitting Mills. From inception to designers and designs, there are lots of interesting details about running a knitting mill in the early 20th century. Each pattern is inspired by not just one sweater, but many, and there are great photos of these lovely vintage sweaters. 

Now, if you're like me - you'll love the mix of interesting history and hip patterns, with a great visual aesthetic. Lucky for you, when my mom ordered this book for me, she accidentally clicked twice, and ordered two. So you can thank Jean M. Canavan for this giveaway. 

To enter:

• Just leave a comment! 
• For fun, tell me which decade inspires you most (I love the 60's. So much fashion packed into 10 years!)
• Leave your email in your comment - written like this: katie (at) gmail (dot) com
• Open to everyone

The giveaway will close Tuesday, May 10th at 9am. I'll pick the winner randomly at that time. If you're bored, hop over to my mom's blog and thank her for accidentally sponsoring this giveaway. She's a really talented watercolor artist, so there's lots to see!

Good luck!

Beatnik. Finished.

Nothing like terrible weather, the month of February, and a bad cold to help one power through a complicated sweater! At the beginning of February I joined Alyson at the Sweatshop of Love for a knit-along, and it's been pretty awesome. I learned how to knit two sleeves at once - a huge brain-saver! 

The details - the pattern is Knitty's Beatnik, and I knit it with Cascade 220 on size 6 and 8 needles. 

I knit it almost completely according to the pattern, with only one mod - I knit the body in a size Medium, but after seeing how wide it was, I knit the sleeves in a size Small. I have tiny tooth-pick arms. If I had the heart to rip it out and re-knit the body in the smaller size, I would have. Instead I just blocked it aggressively and the fit turned out great!

I'm so happy with how it came out. I LOVE the collar - although knitting 4" of twisted rib is not something I'll be rushing to do again any time soon. Very wearable!

knittin' like the wind

... if the wind could knit, this is what it would look like:

Due to terrible weather and work-related stress, all I have wanted to do lately is knit (and watch Battlestar Galactica). I knit my way through the body of my Beatnik in a fury and I'm all caught up with my knit-along! I just cast on my sleeves and everything.

I was pretty excited to try it on. No matter how careful I am with my gauge and calculations, I am always afraid that my sweaters will be too small. This one looks pretty good, though, and it's a lot longer than I thought it was going to be, since it's advertised as "cropped." If anything, it's bigger than planned, and I think I'm going to make the sleeves a size smaller, since I have tiny toothpick arms.

Of course, I walk away from my knitting chair for 5 minutes, and this is what I come back to. Bunnies love knitting, too!

ThunderSnow

If you didn't hear, Chicago had a really crazy storm on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. In addition to about two feet of snow, there was thunder and lightning! After the storm was over, it was fun to watch adorable dogs frolicking in the middle of the street. 

Since I was stranded inside, I was finally able to slog through the last, outstanding Christmas present. Full breakdown on that later. So I finally cast on for my Beatnik! 

Despite the inane-ness of the twisted rib, I find it refreshing to be knitting something for ME. Yup, it's all about me, and that's why I joined the Selfish Knitalong on Allyson's blog. Let the cabling begin!

planning my selfish knitting

So after I catch up on my Christmas knitting, I have a few selfish projects in mind.

First up, a pair of Bella's Mittens, knit from subliminalrabbit's pattern. When I pulled out all my long gloves in December, they were completely worn through, and they had already been mended and then worn through the mending! So if you ask me, it's time for new ones. I bought some bulky Lamb's Pride for these in Denver, so I'm ready to roll.

Next, a Beatnik.

This was my very favorite pattern from Knitty. Honestly, I haven't really been inspired to knit any of their patterns in a long time, but this one is perfect. Challenging but hip with a great neckline. And then Allyson from The Sweatshop of Love announced that she was doing a knit-along... I'm in, albeit I'll be casting on a little late. They started Monday, but I'll probably join in two weeks or so. I have faith I can catch up!

And lastly, I got a Sock Cocktail Kit for Christmas. Don't stone me here, but I don't really like to knit socks. But this winter, all that will change. Or I'll have a lot of left-over sock yarn.