Posts Tagged ‘Sweater’

Banstead

Friday, February 17th, 2012

While bobbing around the shop, helping people match yarns and patterns, I re-discovered an old favorite: Blue Sky Alpacas Suri Merino. It’s so soft and sumptuous. A single ply yarn in a charming mix of merino and alpaca, perfect for both large and small projects alike.

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In looking for a new project to match this wonderful yarn I came across the Banstead pullover. This simple, yet lovely, pullover is knit in the Suri Merino and sizes range from 42″-66″ classifying it as a ‘big girl knit’. I love the shaping that makes this sweater great. Urban Yarns is giving the whole magazine the pattern comes in (Interweave Knits Summer 2011) free with the purchase of yarn.

Rain Knitwear Designs

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

One of the most popular designers of the moment has to be Veera Valimaki of Rain Knitwear Designs. Her shawls and sweaters are simple but always with an element of interest that keeps knitters coming back for more.

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Stripe Study Shawl

I recently finished a Study Stripe Shawl and it was a lot of fun to knit. Short row shaping seems to be the element of choice these days and it made my shawl asymmetrical, which it definitely the element of interest in an otherwise garter stitch garment. A similar look is the Different Lines shawl. Both are done with 2 colours of sock or sport weight yarn, a little conversational knitting.

Different LInes

Different LInes

I quite enjoy her sweater patterns with their fabulous details. Veera’s photographs and sample colours are so inspirational you can really just picture yourself in such a striking sweater! Tumeric has to be the best named of her sweaters. I could just eat this one!

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If you are looking for some instant funky gratification the Happy Solitude Cowl is the one for you. It’s done in Garnstudio’s Eskimo (a super bulky yarn) so it will knit up in a flash as the weather is taking a rather crisp turn around here!

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Peanut Butter Cup

Monday, October 17th, 2011

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Since I’m heading to a couple of baby showers in the coming weeks I was particularly keen on some of the Yarn Harlot’s blog posts about baby knits. I’m always a big Yarn Harlot fan and if you haven’t checked out her blog, I do recommend. It’s a knitting humour blog, if I had to pick a category, but it’s often about so much more (but pretty much always funny). She was knitting up a storm for a friend and I immediately wanted to make and adorable little Puerperium sweater just like hers!

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I called this one Peanut Butter Cup for obvious reasons. The colour of this lovely Tosh DK is called Glazed Pecan but I really just thought about peanut butter the whole time I was knitting. The greatest thing about this teeny tiny sweater is that I knit it up in just 2 evenings! It took only 1 ball of the Tosh DK (a washable yarn, just in case) and it’s probably the most adorable thing I’ve ever knit.

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This version is the free newborn edition (which you can find here on Ravelry) but I would recommend the Beyond Pueperium pattern (here) as well, I’m working on a worsted weight version for Hunter in some funky green….I’m thinking skull and crossbone buttons just to make it a little edgier.

Mini

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

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I have a new obsession of late: mini versions of great sweaters. I’m not sure why but I really love dressing Hunter as a mini-adult rather than in baby clothes. This is not a style for all (and I have gotten a few comments to that effect) but I love it! So you can imagine my excitement when I cam across the Mini Manu cardigan!

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I’ve been thinking about the Manu cardigan ever since I saw KT’s excellent felted tweed version while ago. The pleats, pockets, and i-cord bind are all pretty feminine features, perfect for my bald little baby who is always mistaken for a boy. I had also been eyeing up a couple of skeins of Madelinetosh DK in the colour way Cousteau so it was a match made in heaven!

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My Mini Manu took 2 skeins and is the 18 month size. It is blocked and ready to go, as soon as Hunter grows a little more!  If you are loving the mini you might also want to try the Tiny Tea Leaves and the February Baby sweater (I know the baby one came first but there are both baby and adult versions in the world).

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Little Red is Here!

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011
Cria

Cria

I’m so excited and I just can’t hide it, Little Red in the City is here! Little Red is the latest book from Ysolda Teague and it is amazing. Not only does it have 7 fantastic sweater patterns in it, it also has a lot of great information about sweater knitting and fit. It’s crushing to knit a whole sweater and have it fit poorly, but Ysolda has some great tips on how to avoid this knitastrophe.

Chickadee

Chickadee

One of the other nice features of this book is the sizing. Many sweater patterns are for 1 or 2 sizes but these patterns go up to some larger sizes, a nice feature if you need it! The real question is which one to knit first! I’m loving all 7 really but I’m a sucker for a fair isle yoke and birdies so I think Chickadee has to be my fave.

Melia

Melia

Just a reminder that we are all working on an Ysolda Teague KAL (knit along) so if you are feeling bold cast on for one of these great sweaters for the finish late in September!

Dreamcatcher

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

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I was just sitting on my couch the other day, minding my own business when Anina sends me an email with a link to the Spud and Chloe Blog. Now, as you may know, I have a real problem with startitis and a Clapotis shawl that is required to be finished for Friday (it’s coming along nicely by the way). Well I opened the email (mistake 1) to find a picture of a lovely little sampler blanket, called the Dreamcatcher. It has everything I love in a blanket, different stitches, many colours, and a pretty patchwork effect. I started knitting by making sampler blankets (I made them in strips rather than squares because it was easier to make mathematical mistakes that way) and I also made some Sampler Placemats I like the idea so much.

So here is the small amount of Spud and Chloe Sweater I have and I’m just deciding on which other colours I will add. They have put out some fabulous new colours since I picked these up and I’m thrilled to have an excuse to try some different ones too. Perhaps adding some Barn Red? Maybe some Moonlight or Grape Jelly? It’s not as though Hunter needs a new blanket and it’s not as though I need another project but the combination of inspiration and fun yarn is irresistible. I blame you Anina.

A Rant on Baby Sizes

Friday, April 15th, 2011

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It’s not that I don’t love knitting baby items. I actually love knitting them even more now than when I was preggers. It’s that there is no real way to size a baby. They are all just too darn different.  Above is a photo of 2 baby sweaters that are apparently the same size – 9-12 months. They are only a little bit big on miss Hunter (who is 12 weeks old) right now.

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Does this mean that the patterns are flawed? Nope. I really enjoyed the Owlet pattern, it knit up so quick and it looks so cute! It just means that babies are very different sizes and it’s nearly impossible to knit for a particular age for the first year or two. I originally knit the Owlet so it would fit her at 9 months, in September/October when the weather is turning cold again. Not gonna happen. She will be wearing it on some cooler summer nights instead.

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Once I accepted that I cannot size a baby to a specific month, or even a small range of months, life as a knitter became easier. I could freely knit some larger sweaters and not concern myself with the exact date she would be able to wear the garment. I remember when she was first born and I was disappointed nothing I knit would fit her. Now I have a slightly different spin on the subject: who could know? My mum is tells me about how she didn’t have a sleeper big enough to take my youngest brother home from the hospital because he was so big when he was born. There is just no telling! So if you’re knitting for a babe, just knit a bigger size and go with the flow.

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The sweaters above are the Owlet and the Simple Raglan Top Down Baby Cardigan (knit for Hunter by the lovely Kynna). They are both aran weight sweaters (18 stitches per 4 inches) so they knit up in no time! Pick up a couple of SweetGeorgia skeins and knit something sweet for a babe today!