Tag Archives: cardigan

Inspiration: Grantchester

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Have you been watching Grantchester on Masterpiece Mystery?  On my PBS station, it’s been airing at 10:30 on Sunday nights (after Downton Abbey and after the horrifyingly bad Downton wrap-up show), in what is possibly the worst time slot available.

Despite that, it’s a really good show.  (And available to watch online.)  It’s a fairly standard, slightly dark, amateur-detective show (one of my favorite genres), set in the charming British countryside, where a charming country vicar and a slightly-less-charming-but-still-quite-charming police detective team up to work together to solve the surprisingly high number of murders that happen in their sleepy little village.

But, like with most period dramas on PBS, my favorite part are the costumes.  I mean, who wouldn’t want to wear dresses like these:

Bz0BRLOIMAAa8oX[1]Totally gorgeous!

And, I have to say, the knitting game for this show is simply top-notch.

Example 1: A fantastic crochet bed jacket.

Grantchester-S1-E3-Slideshow-BTS-04-scale-690x390[1]Example 2: A gorgeous graphic-knit cardigan.

Grantchester-Scene-Icons-Episode-1[1]Example 3: Not one, but two beautiful (and practical) cardigans.  I particularly love the geometric trim on the one on the right.

Grantchester-2014-imagini-4[2]This show makes me want to start on a new cardigan of my own.

This one is sort of 50s-by-way-of-80s, with a pretty lacy pattern.

Poppy by Patons

Poppy_Cardigan_medium[1]And this one is totally sharp.  I love the pinstripes and mitered corners.  Very cool.

Jasper by Louisa Harding

3978086382_1d8e60c1d8_z[1]Do you have a favorite decade of fashion?

Husband Sweater: The Body

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My husband’s sweater is coming along (slowly, but I’m still making progress).  It’s looking pretty good, if I say so myself.

I split off the arms a while ago and have been working on the body.

See?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI actually modified the body a bit from the pattern, which should make the sweater a little more fitted.  When I was measuring my husband’s favorite cardigan to pick the size for this one, I noticed that the torso was slightly tapered.  The chest measurement was 40″, while the waist was 36″ around.

I figured, why not add a little waist shaping into this sweater?  That’s why we knit, right?  To make beautiful, customized garments.

So, it was time to do some math (Yay!).

I knew I wanted to decrease 4″ (which comes to about 20 stitches, based on my gauge).  And, I wanted to arrange the decreases in pairs underneath the armpits, along the “side seams” (this sweater is knit in the round, so there aren’t seams, but you can imagine where they would be).  This means, that each time I work a decrease row, I’m decreasing 4 stitches (2 under each arm).

So: 20 decreases total / 4 decreases per row = 5 decrease rows.

I wanted the decrease rows to be spread evenly down the torso.  Based on the Emilien pattern, there are 88 rows between the armpits and the top of the hem ribbing.

So: 88 rows total / 5 decrease rows = 17.6

Because you can’t knit .6 of a row, round to 18.  So, I work a decrease row (decreasing 4 stitches under the arms) every 18th row (ish).

A couple inches doesn’t seem like it’d make a lot of difference, but you’d be surprised.  Adding just a few k2togs will change this sweater from a standard, boxy cardigan to a cool, slightly fitted one.  I hope my husband will like it!

Inspiration: Mrs. Drewe

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I love me some Downton Abbey, but I always am disappointed about the lack of knitwear on the show.  I guess knitting just isn’t classy enough for Lady Mary and Co.

But, my new favorite character has no problem with rocking a super-cute cardigan.  Mrs DreweIt’s Mrs. Drewe, Marigold’s adoptive mother (and most ridiculously portrayed character in the show.  We’re supposed to think of her as a jerk for not wanting Edith to hang around Marigold.  I don’t know about you, but if a weird, entitled lady who happens to also be my landlord kept sniffing around my kid, I would go all mama bear, too.  Just my two cents.)

Mrs Drewe2Anyway, look at her adorable cardigan!  I think it’s crocheted (though it’s kind of hard to tell).  I love the understated, all-over texture, and that shade of pale, gray-brown would go with just about everything (especially her robin’s-egg blue blouse).  I might have added a row or two more to the cuffs, but that’s just me.

Want to make your own?

This cardigan has a similar shape, but I’d make the sleeves longer, remove the bobbles, and add more buttons:

Summer Breeze Cardi by Elena Malo

CTMJ09YOKECARDI 01This one uses an interesting crochet stitch to make a very cool all-over texture pattern, though it is a bit different than Mrs. Drewe’s.

Sparkling Crochet Cardi by Heather Lodinsky

WR2134_project_medium2[1]Or, maybe you’re not a crocheter.  This knit sweater features a texture across the front and back that echoes Mrs. Drewe’s sweater.  (Also, super cute!  I might have to make one for myself with my fancy buttons.)

Tinder by Jared Flood

Tinder3_medium2[1]Who’s your favorite Downton character?

Husband Sweater: Slow and Steady

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I’ve been working away on the sweater for my husband, and I’m starting to make progress.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’m already to the armpits!  Woo!  Now I just have to do the rest of the sweater…

The yarn I’m using is a really lovely cotton yarn, and I’m totally in love with the finished fabric.  It’s crazy soft and luxurious-feeling (especially the swatch that I put through the washing machine)!  I know my husband is going to love it.

But you know what I don’t love?  Actually knitting with the stuff.  There’s something about cotton that is kind of hard on my hands.  I don’t know if it’s the fact that it has almost no spring, or if it is stickier on my needles than wool, but it’s a little bit of a pain to knit.  Instead of sitting down in the evening and working through several X-files episodes, like I usually do, I’ve been slogging my way through a couple rows per night, which is making this sweater rather slow going.

But, I think I’m really going to like the finished product (or at least I hope I will!)

Are there any fibers you don’t like working with?  Or am I just being crazy?

The Husband Sweater: Yarn!

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My husband picked out the pattern for his sweater, and the yarn, too. And here it is:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAKnit Picks Comfy Sport in Planetarium and Whisker (AKA, navy blue and gray).

Let’s just take a moment to remember the example pictures on the pattern:

img_4328_medium2_medium[1]I wonder where he got the idea for a blue and gray sweater?  A sweater with stripes is far enough out of his comfort zone, so I’m not going to raise a stink about the color choice.  (And, he is a Ravenclaw, so I suppose blue and silver is pretty on point.)

The yarn is a cotton/acrylic blend, which I usually wouldn’t use for a sweater.  But, my husband runs super warm, so anything with even a touch of wool doesn’t get worn, except on vacation to the Great White North.  So we’ll see how it works as a sweater.  Have any of you knit a sweater out of cotton?

I worked up a little swatch on size 5 needles:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI got gauge with size 5 needles, not size 7, like the pattern suggests.  Which is weird.  I’m usually a pretty average knitter, but I guess I won’t argue with the swatch gods.  Maybe it has to do with the fiber content?  Cottons don’t really stretch, but wool (like the pattern asks for) is quite stretchy.  We’ll just have to see.

Cross your fingers for me!

 

 

So Sew Buttons

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I love buttons.  I always have.  When I was little, my mom had this big tin filled with all the buttons she had collected over the years.  One of my favorite things to do was to take the Button Box from the drawer of her sewing desk and spill them out on the kitchen table.  I’d sort them by color, or texture, or size.  I’d make pictures with them, and arrange them in patterns.  I liked everything about them, even the feeling of the little buttons running through my fingers and the sound of them plinging back into their tin.

Not much has changed, to be honest.  I have my own button collection now, but it’s in a little zippered felt bag, not a tin.  And I don’t have nearly as many buttons as my mom did.

But over Christmas, I added a few more to my collection.  They are really special buttons that I’m super excited about.  My family took a little expedition to North Chicago to visit a button shop that we had heard about over a year ago.  And, I have to say, it was totally worth the wait.

The shop is called Soutache, and it sells thousands (and thousands) of buttons, miles of ribbons, and piles of rhinestones and feather trim.  I could spend an entire paycheck there if I wasn’t careful.

soutache-headerThey had buttons made from bone, from stone, from wood, from brass.  They had bright pink buttons, and inky black buttons.  Square buttons, spheres, and buttons shaped like shoes.  They had new buttons and vintage ones.  And they were all gorgeous.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI came home with these little guys.  They’re vintage half-inch brass buttons.  They almost glow in the light, and have a surprising amount of heft.  I can’t wait to put them on the slightly cropped cardigan that has been bouncing around in my brain for a while (of course, I’ll have to knit it first).   They’re pretty much perfect.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAAnd these buttons are so cool!  They look like hand-formed aluminum, or maybe tarnished silver.  But, they’re actually made of plastic, which sounds lame, but is actually kind of perfect for a sweater.  These buttons are so light, they won’t make the front of a cardigan droop from their weight, even though they are large and impressive.  Cool, right?

In conclusion, if you’re ever in Chicago, make a point of going to Soutache.  And bring your check book.

Do you have any special buttons in your collection?

Husband Sweater: The Beginning

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This year, I didn’t even try to get my husband’s Christmas present finished in time.  I didn’t even have time to start it before Christmas.

(Sorry, Tristan.)

Instead, when we did our gift exchange, I told him my plan.  I am going to make him a sweater of his choice.

And, because the last one I made for him never gets worn (except when we go back to the Midwest for Christmas Break), I asked him to pick out everything about the project, so that he would end up with exactly the sweater he wants.

He’s typically pretty simple in his clothing choices, so I suggested a few patterns for him to start from.  He’s a big cardigan guy, so I started there:

Cambridge Jacket by Ann Budd

I could see Tristan wearing this sweater all the time.  It’s simple (almost too simple), and very manly.  No goofy colors or weird stitches.  Not even a button band.

3500883460_570d467ee9_z[1]Ranger by Jared Flood

I really like this sweater, even though it’s a little fancier.  (I actually might make this for myself.  I guess just like Jared Flood Sweaters… I’m actually wearing my Cobblestone, right now.)

Ranger1_medium2[1]But, no.  Tristan would have none of the sweaters I suggested.  He went down to his office in the basement, and looked at Ravelry for more than an hour.  (I thought he was playing Diablo… apparently not.)

And he picked out this one:

Émilien by Ariane Caron-Lacoste

img_4328_medium2_medium[1]I know!  Crazy!  Colors! Stripes! A hood!

But, as surprising as it was, he was very sure about what he wanted.  So, here we go!  A stripey, zip-up hoodie for my husband.

Inspiration: X-Files

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I am a big nerd.  And, I grew up in the 90s/early 2000s.  Therefore, I am a giant X-Files fan.  I’ve probably watch the whole show through three or four times (I’ve got to do something to keep my mind busy while I knit).

xfiles[1]When I was really little (when the show was still new), I was a giant scaredy-cat, and didn’t watch the X files.  In fact, when my folks wanted me to go to bed on Sunday nights, they’d tell me that the X-Files were coming on, and I’d run off to bed, scared.

But, in high school, I discovered the X-files, and started staying up late to watch reruns with the volume turned way down so that I wouldn’t wake up my parents.  Sometimes, I’d tape them (on the VHS tape that I’d bought specially to tape episodes) and watch them later with my dad.  Still whenever I hear the theme song I think of my dad whistling along while we sat on the couch with a bowl of popcorn.

(I’m re-watching the series again (because why not).  I found a new podcast from Kumail Nanjiani (a comedian that I like-he’s on the HBO show, Silicon Valley) called the X-Files Files, where he goes through the series and talks about the show with various guests.  It’s kind of great.  If you’re a nerd like me, I’d recommend checking it out.)

You know what else is great?

Scully’s fashion sense.

I’ve never noticed how many boxy suits and sensible shoes she wears.tumblr_lgck2x6W6J1qdaotno1_1280[1]Look at those shoulder-pads.  Amazing.

If she had time to sit down and knit between fighting off the Flukeman and conducting alien autopsies, maybe she’d make herself a blazer like this:

The Season’s Smartest Blazer by Meg Black

img093_medium2[1]But, you know what?  I don’t think those shoulders are quite big enough for Dr. Scully.  This is better:

Midnight Blazer by Xandy Peters

Blazer08130504_medium2[1]But, on her days off with her man-eating puppy Queequeg, she’d probably wear a comfy, slouchy sweater like this one.  (In fact, I’m 90% certain I’ve seen her wear a sweater just like this in one of the episodes… I just can’t remember which.)

Simple Summer Tweed Top Down V-Neck by Heidi Kirrmaier

3526321597_b611db4970_z[1]

Finished!

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And just in time, too!

Phew!  I made it just in the nick of time!  Grandma’s sweater is done!  And it’s awesome!  (And that’s a lot of exclamation points!)

I finished the sweater with exactly 52 inches of blue yarn left.  It was a nail-biter, let me tell you.  (I’m all about reducing waste, but this was ridiculous.)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABut all’s well that ends well, right?  The sweater has turned out beautifully!  The Biggo yarn I used blocked up wonderfully.  And, I’m so glad I made the change from dark gray to light.  It turned out so much better than it would have otherwise.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI even found the perfect buttons!  They’re bright pink, to match the snowflakes, and just a tiny bit sparkly (the photos don’t do them justice).  I drove all over Seattle looking for them, and, when I found them, I thoroughly freaked out the clerk who helped me find them by doing a little happy dance.  It was exciting, what can I say?

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERANow I just have to wait and see if it fits!  Cross your fingers for me!

Adventure Time Sweaters

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I’ve talked about Adventure Time before.  It’s one of my favorite shows, and defiantly one of my favorite cartoons.  It’s weird, existential, goofy, and fun.

And, for a children’s cartoon, it has an inordinate amount of knitting.

Last year for Christmas, the characters even had a Christmas Sweater party.

adventure-time-sweater-time[1]Finn the Human rocked a super-chunky moose sweater.

christmas-finn[1]And Jake the Dog wore a goose-themed turtleneck.

christmas-jake[1]BMO had on an adorable Snowman number.

christmas-bmo[1]And Princess Bubblegum wore a great all-over color-worked sweater which kind of clashed with her typical bubblegum-pink outfit (and hair), but she didn’t seem to mind.christmas-princess-bubblegum[1]Want to see the rest of the gang in their holiday best?  Click here.

Which is your favorite sweater?