7 things

I’ve been tagged twice (by CanarySanctuary and fiberfiend6891) in a little “7 random facts” quiz. I don’t usually do these things, but I’ve taken their encouragement as a kick in the butt to actually use my blog.

1. I was born August 25th, 1987 in Toronto, and I’ve lived here all my life. 21 in a few months! I’ll be able to call myself a twenty-something.

2. I really love shoes. That’s probably not too uncommon for a young female, and I’m sure some of you can agree that you can just never have too many. Two new additions:

3. My clock radio is set to a classic rock station and all day long, each day, I have the song that I woke up to stuck in my head. Today it was “The Boys in the Bright White Sports Car”:video link. Hi-larious.

3. I love knitting for the summer: skirts, tanks. Wooly winter sweaters just don’t appeal to me, despite living in Canada.

4. I got a haircut recently! With bangs! I haven’t worn this type of bang since i was a little kid, so i was naturally apprehensive. And although I don’t look too thrilled in that photo, I am actually happy with them. I think they look like Chuck’s from Pushing Daisies while wavy and like Ana Karina’s while straight.

5. I generally bake when I’m avoiding something (ie. SCHOOL WORK UGH). Today I baked a bread loaf.

6. I listen to bands with female singers almost exclusively. Like Broadcast, Blonde Redhead, Amy Winehouse, Komeda, Nouvelle Vague. I just find the sound sweeter, I suppose.

7. I can’t drive. I think I bought the driver’s manual when I was 15 in anticipation of taking the test, but I’ve never gone for it. The thought of controlling a giant machine is a bit terrifying, and I’m happy taking the bus.

And speaking of summer knitting, I’ve finished something for this season:

It’s the Lacy Skirt with Bows from Greetings from the Knit Cafe. It’s finishing blocking now, and I’ll get some modeled photos later this week and post some details about the project.

 

Yummy things

Blooming tea, a gift from my friend Gillian. It is so beautiful and delicious!

White challah bread with an egg and honey glaze. I let it rise extra long so the texture is especially fluffy.

Rustic apple galette with raisins and almonds. Easy to make and soo mouthwatering.

I’m making myself hungry now. Share with me some of your own food porn!

 

In colour

Been awhile, hasn’t it?

I’ve been so busy with school in the last few months, I haven’t had time to blog (and barely time to knit!). Still read my blogroll daily, so I’m caught up, but I hope you haven’t forgotten me!

When I have knit recently, I’ve had colour(work) on the brain.

These herringbone gloves are from a free Japanese pattern here. I do not read Japanese, so I’m knitting them with the help of bablefish translator and nightly prayers. The pattern includes really great charts though, so it isn’t so bad. The first one is going well so far, I’ve finished most of the fingers now. I only hope I can remember everything by the time I get to the second.

Winter doesn’t have much longer to go(hopefully), so I’ll pack them away once I’m done for next fall. I’m using Regia Solid 4-ply in dark brown and white, which I got on sale on a trip to London this Christmas (I have a few London digital photos here, but unfortunately I lost the bulk of my pictures because my film got stuck in the camera :(. ) The fit isn’t that great (I have very small wrists), but they’re super cute, so who cares?

Next up, Swell from Knitty! This was a request from a cold-headed individual who had no idea what he wanted in a hat, so I searched around and settled on the chullo style, since I’ve always been attracted to it but I can’t really get away with the style myself. I styled it after this hat, which is also knit from a free pattern, but I found Swell to be better written. The yarn is Paton’s SWS (solids) and the needles are size 7. The only mod other than the stripes, was to crochet around the edges. It curled like crazy before that.

This pattern I think needs no introduction, since it’s been knit by every Harry Potter fan/knitter on the Internet. It’s the Prisoner of Azkaban scarf from atypically.knit. I actually knit this several years ago, before my days with a blog and a camera. It was one of my first projects and I’m still really proud of it. Recently I broke out the sweater shaver and went to town on it, and it looks like new again. No mods on it that I can remember, I wasn’t too brave at the beginning. The yarn is classic merino, and it’s been awhile, but I think the needles were 8s.

That’s all there is to report on. I’m just desperately waiting for Spring because I have some cute warm-weather knits planned and I’d freeze in them on -10 degree days like today.

 

My first pie.

Recently I’ve had a pie craving that I knew couldn’t be satisfied by one-note grocery store pies. I’m not sure what it was, maybe I’ve gotten too into Pushing Daisies, but I knew I had to have one. So here it is, my very first pie. Made from some super vintage pie crust mix(at least 10 years old) and a can of strawberry rhubarb filling. It’s not perfect(the lattice work is a bit wonky), but its my first pie, give me a break! It was delicious anyway.

If I’d made a cherry pie, now would be when I’d give you my segue into my next knitting project, Cherry! Ravelry has a great gallery of finished ones. I hope this actually comes to formation though, recently I seem to talk about knitting more than I actually knit. I have my yarn and I’ve already started, so lets hope its a good sign.

Later,

Kelly

p.s. look forward to some winter accessories, its gotten so cold so fast here!

 

Happy Halloween!

I know I’ve been an awful blogger, I cant remember the last time I posted, but Halloween gets me excited about everything so I want to start up again. I love dressing up, and especially as fairy tale heroines. This year I was Red Riding Hood (its actually a repeat from last year, but I refined it a little this year and took some action shots). It got out last Saturday night, but tonight I’ll just wear it to hand out candy (kids are already coming in).

Lots of pictures, I know. But aren’t they so pretty? We took them this morning in a hiking trail near my house.

The cloak is a really big half circle, and I can dig up the pattern if anyone wants it. The fabric is a huge remnant I got on the cheap last year, and its also used as the cover in my basket. The 2nd picture shows a close up of the lined hood and velvet ties. The fabric is a little ripped around the collar because I tore it having too much fun this weekend On the right are the pumpkins my father and I carved this year.

On the knitting front, not much has been going on. I’m so busy with school and life that I haven’t had much opportunity. I’ll update soon on my winter projects. I’ve also been tagged in a survey by the girls at teamknit, so I’ll get on that soon!

Happy Halloween everyone!

 

Something quick: bath puff!

I saw this pattern yesterday on a crochet board. I haaaave been needing one of these, and I had some left over kitchen cotton I’d planned for another market bag, but I have enough of those already. So I cast on (chained? hooked? I don’t know my crochet terminology) and finished it within a day. It probably should have taken less time, but my crochet skills are a little rusty.

I haven’t tested it out yet. I’ll probably bleach it like crazy it first to soften it up.

If it doesn’t work out as a bath puff, I can use it as an accessory for a zombie costume, because I can’t help thinking of brains when I look at it.

I’ve also made some swatches (not official swatches- just figuring out stitch patterns) for those two Phildar sweaters, and I think I’ve got them down! You can see them here. I think I’ll start the ones with the V’s first, because it’s more fun to do.

-kelly

 

Knit graffiti to the extreme

Early Frost by Janet Morton at the Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art

holy crap! I couldn’t knit something like this flat, let alone around a tree.

This weekend (August 4,5) at the CCCA in Ottawa, help artist Janet Morton create a garden using textiles, knitting and other non-traditional materials.

You can see more of her work at the CCCA website www.ccca.ca

I’m jealous of all of you in Ottawa, anyone up for a carpool from TO?

 

MUST KNIT

So many projects…

I’ve loved this Anthropologie sweater for months (I took a million screen shots of it in November because I know Anthropologie’s pages never last long), but I think soon I’ll get the nerve to knit it. I bought this abosoloutely gigantic men’s cashmere sweater that I’m going to rip out for this. It was knit to 6 stitches per inch on the sweater so I think I’ll stick with that guage. My only problem with the yarn is that it’s in the most boring light heathered grey, so I know I’ll end up dying it. I’m just worried because I’ve never dyed 100% cashmere and I think it will be very delicate. I might dye it with some tumeric to get the same mustardy shade as in the original sweater, but I also don’t look the best in yellow. So many decisions…

This Malen Birger vest is really cool and the construction is so simple. It looks like a scarf that starts out thin (at the neck) , then gets progressively wider at the middle (across the chest and around the waist), then tapers back to it’s original width. It’s seamed together at the narrowest points, then sewn to a square back piece. I love the cables and ties too (there also may be some extra shaping to get the front panels to lay flat). I may make the crocheted ends into pompoms though, I just think they go better with chunky cables. I already have a yarn in mind for this (Lamb’s Pride superwash bulky) which I’ll pick up soon.

I admit that I’m drawn more to the embroidery on these Free People mittens than anything, but I like the part knit-part crochet construction. The ribbing and front panel are knit, and all the curved shaping is crochet. I wonder what the palm is like? I’d probably just continue it in crochet. I’ll have to lurk the embroidery boards on Craftster though before I attempt this, working on fabric this bulky can’t be easy. I’m not sure what the wooden thing on the wrist is. Maybe it’s knit flat and buttoned? That’s a neat detail, but I think it would add even more bulk and they’re already bulky enough already. Maybe I’ll make these if I have enough yarn left over from that vest…

I love these two pullovers from Phildar, and although I took French classes for most of my childhood, there is still a problem. 1, we never learned knitting terms, and 2, I don’t remember a word of it anyway. So… I’m going to wing them. I already have the stitch pattern for the brown one, and other than that it looks like a pretty simple scoop neck. I don’t think it will be too hard. Any yarn suggestions while we’re on it? I want something wool, but I’d prefer a blend so it isn’t too warm. It also needs to be worsted weight and easy to find in an LYS, I don’t want to buy yarn online because I fear I may become addicted if i do. Okay, on to the golden sweater. Does anyone have any idea what stitch pattern this is? I’ve never seen this kind of thing before and I’d have no idea to do it. It looks like you create an elongated stitch, and then a few rows later you pick it up and knit it into this row. I tried this and failed miserably.

So while I was typing this, I checked the Craftster thread where I asked the same question and someone gave me this link. I think she’s on to something!

Okay that’s all for now. I do have more projects, but I think this post is long enough already. Why am I thinking of this stuff now anyway? It was 35 degrees out today!

 

Birthday socks and movin’ up in the blog world

Recently I’ve been working exclusively on a pair of socks for my father’s birthday. I didn’t finish them on time (and I’m not finished yet!) but I did let him try on the one sock I had done. No pictures of the finished sock yet, I’ll save that for when they’re both done. I’m using the pattern for Eunny Jang’s Bayerische socks (which I love) and Dalegarn’s Baby Ull (which I also love -soso soft superwash merino). I’m using a larger needle size because they’re knit for a man, but it looks like they’re going to be a little loose around the leg, so I’ll sew in some elastic. They don’t look loose here with me modeling them, but they slouch when walking around.

Another angle here

I’ve been so busy with these socks, I haven’t had any extra time to dedicate to my blogging. I have been watching my blog stats though, and thanks to Knitting Pattern Central for featuring my pattern for the Ribbed Lace Bolero last week, my blog visits have skyrocketed to over 25,000! Holy crap! Thank you Knitting Pattern Central! Also thank you to my subscribers. I love reading your comments and following your blogs too.

I promise lots more knitting and blogging soon (as soon as the socks are done). I have a million new project ideas that I can’t wait to start.

Later!

Kelly

 

Ribbed Lace Bolero

I’ve finished my ribbed lace bolero, with pattern as promised I decided not to give the sleeves ribbing, like most of you suggested. I liked how it was sort of dainty, even with worsted weight yarn, and I thought ribbing on the sleeves would be too heavy for it.

The shape of this is based on the Circular Shrug on Craftster. It’s a simple but ingenious design. There is no complicated shaping (it’s really just a big rectangle) and it’s easily customized.

If you have questions, please contact me by email or through ravelry. See the info page for my contacts.

Here you are,my ribbed lace bolero.

-Kelly

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease 2 balls

Needles: US8, US10.5 (circular or straight)

Gauge: 4st/inch with in rib stretched US8

I’m including directions for a size small and easy calculations for a custom fit.

(Numbers in green you will customize for your own fit)

The first step is to measure your shoulder-span. Mine is about 17 inches. Then you add 4 inches for each sleeve (8 inches) and add that to your shoulder measurement. I got 25 inches from that, so 25 inches will be the width of my bolero. My ribbing gauge is 4 stitches per inch, so I multiply 25 by 4 to get 100. I take that number, 100, and round it down to the next number that is a multiple of 4 +2. The next number down is 98, and that will be my cast-on number. To determine the length of my bolero, I measure the width of my upper arm, right under the armpit. Mine measures 12, and I will add 6.5 inches to that (3.25 inches on either side which I will seam together) to get my length of 18.5 inches.

*Slip the first stitch of each row for easier seaming and a neat edge

Begin with US8 needles

Cast on ___ (multiple of 4 + 2)

row 1: p2 k2 to last 2 stitches, p2

row 2: k2 p2 to last 2 stitches, k2

repeat these 2 rows for 3 inches

Start lace pattern:

Switch to size 10.5 needles AFTER FIRST row of lace

row 1: k1 (k2together, yo, yo, ssk) repeat lace pattern until 1 stitch left, k1

row 2: p1 (p1, p1 into first yo, p1 into the back of the second yo, p1) repeat lace pattern until 1 stitch left, p1

Repeat these two rows until entire piece measures 3 inches from target length.

Switch to size 8 needles now

The next row will use cabling to transition from lace to ribbing, so it will mirror the other side

p1 (c1f [p into the stitch that was moved behind, k into the stitch that was moved in front], c1b [k into the stitch that was moved in front, p into the stitch that was moved behind] ) repeat cabling until 1 stitch left, p1

The next row will count as row 2 (wrong side)

row 2: k2 p2 to last 2 stitches, k2

row 1:p2 k2 to last 2 stitches, p2

Continue for 3 inches, ending with row 2. Count your rows and match the number to the rows you knit in the first set of ribbing.

Bind of using Elizabeth Zimmerman’s sewn bind-0ff.

Break off the yarn and leave a tail 4 times the width of your piece. Sew forward (right to left) through two stitches as if to purl, leave the stitches on the needle. Sew backward (left to right) through one stitch as if to knit, slip stitch off the needle. Continue in this pattern to the end.

This bind-off leaves a very stretchy edge that looks similar to the long tail cast-on.

Seam edges A to B for 3.25 inches and edges C to D for 3.25 inches, using mattress stitch (as shown in diagram)

Diagram is not to scale.

The hole created from seaming the edges is your arm hole.

Chose which edge you want to be the top of your bolero, and sew the collar down to keep it in place.

Weave in all ends, wash and block.

Fini!

Pattern & images © 2007 by Kelly Maher

Personal use ONLY. Commercial use, including selling items made from this pattern, is prohibited.