Tag Archives: sweater

Inspiration:Terrace House

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OK, I’ve got a confession to make.

You all know I like TV, and as someone who knits professionally (HA! That sounds funny), I probably watch more than I should.  And, most of the time, I try to limit my TV to stuff that’s a little bit wholesome- something with some cultural or educational value.  You know: BBC dramas, documentaries, cooking shows (and, yes, some Law and Order).

But I have a soft spot for some reality TV.  RuPaul’s Drag Race is my favorite, and I just began watching Project Runway again.  I’ve started watching the Bachelor/Bachelorette family of products.  They’re just such perfect ridiculous, escapist nonsense (especially these days when I need some escapism).

But we’re between seasons of the Bachelor, so what’s a girl to do?

One of my favorite podcasts of all time, Rose Buddies (a Bachelor fan podcast, and the reason I’ve started watching the show), suggested that I start watching Terrace House on Netflix.

And it’s magical.

It’s the Great British Bake Off of dumb reality TV.

Six men and women are given a fancy house in Tokyo and a big SUV, and they… just do stuff.  But, where in an American show all the contestants would get super drunk and cause all sorts of trouble right off the bat, the contestants on this show are so freaking polite and nice.  It’s a delight (if you’re into that sort of thing, and if you don’t mind reading subtitles).

But the best part is that they have a panel of six hosts (judges?) that pipes up from time to time during the show, offering play-by-play commentary.  I’m sure they’re all famous Japanese people (except for the 14-year-old boy whose presence is never explained), but I don’t recognize them.  And, the last episode I watched (Episode 11), two of the hosts were sporting some pretty great knitwear.bothSerious sweaters.

They’re even better close-up:graybrownThey’re not hand-knit; you can see where they were cut and seamed back together in the factory.  But, I love a good, classic Icelandic sweater (even when they’re on a Japanese TV show).

Want your own Serious Sweater?  Try one of these:

Asymptote (Men’s Pullover) by Lars RainsAudKnits snowflake scraves

Veturlidi by Liennea Ornstein9722624247_5b117d7d1f_z1Fosslaug by Linnea Ornsteinimg_2554_medium21What’s your guilty pleasure TV?  Have you watched Terrace House?

The Beginning of Autumn

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Like I said on Monday, summer is officially officially over in Seattle. It’s dreary, rainy and cool.  I’m wearing my slippers for the first time since spring, and last night I broke out my winter PJs.  This morning, when I drove my husband to his bus stop, it was so overcast that I had to turn the headlights on.

I love it.

Everything is quiet and everyone is getting ready to snuggle up for the cold, damp months.  My yard is getting greener.  And, I can start wearing my thick winter sweaters and wool socks.  Heaven.

It’s the perfect time of year for wearing oversized, stripey sweaters.  Sweaters like these:

I love the feminine detail of the wide V-neck on this sweater.  Paired with the super-casual shape and wide stripes- I think it might be perfect.

on the beach by Isabell Kraemer2016-06-19_medium21I love this sweater, too.  The narrow/wide stripe pattern is great!  It reminds me of an old-fashioned French sweater, but slightly more modern.  (I’d probably wear it with jeans, though.  It’s too cold for shorts.)

Clarke Pullover by Jane Richmondimg_0142a_medium21This sweater is high up on my list of Favorite Sweaters I’ve Never Made.  It just looks so stinking cozy.  I love the huge stripes, and the band of color across the belly.  Too cute.  Someday, sweater, you will be mine.

Tea with Jam and Bread by Heidi Kirrmaier

7998272272_097f92a727_z1I’m off to make a pot of tea and put on a second pair of wool socks.  Yay fall!

How’s the weather in your neck of the woods?

Olympics: Across the finish line!

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I did it! Woo!

That last sleeve almost killed me, but I made it across the finish line with time to spare for blocking.

And, I love it!  This might be my new favorite sweater.  (It’s the Campside Cardi by Alicia Plummer, knit in Knit Picks’ Wool of the Andes Sport in Cobblestone, if you forgot.)IMG_3052(Yes, I am indeed a dork, and still haven’t figured out how to pose for a non-ridiculous photo of myself.)

It fits like a glove, and I even managed to get the sleeves the right length, which never happens! If you’re looking for a simple-yet-cute sweater, I definitely recommend this pattern.  IMG_3071Whenever I do a speed-knit project like this, I always think “Why can’t I always work like this?”  I’d be able to make two dozen sweaters ever year! Ha!

How did your Olympics go?  Did you finish your Ravellenic Games projects?

Olympics: The Final Leg

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I’m in the final stretch of the marathon, the last straightaway of the 400 meter dash, the last push toward the wall in the 1500 meter freestyle.

Except I’m knitting, not doing any sort of actual physical sport.  (I am breaking a sweat, however.  But that’s more due to the fact that we don’t have air conditioning and I have a big wool sweater on my lap than any great athletic exertion.)

I’ve still got 3/4 of a sleeve left.  And blocking.IMG_3018This sweater feels like it’s taking forever, which is crazy, since I’ve only been working on it for two weeks.

It’s funny, I zoomed through the body of the sweater, which was the biggest part of the project- all that stockinette and all those eyelets.  It was fun, easy, uncomplicated.  But now that I’m doing the sleeves, it feels a bit like pulling teeth.  I don’t know why, it’s just plain old knitting in the round with a handful of decrease rows.  Nothing difficult.

It took me two whole days to finish the right sleeve!  Two days!  Hopefully it won’t take me two more to finish the left.

And now, here I am procrastinating on my sleeve by writing this post (which was only supposed to be about three sentences long).

Enough faffing around.  I’d better buckle down and finish up.  The closing ceremony is on Sunday, after all!

How are your Olympics going?

And have you watched any synchronized swimming?!  It’s amazing!

Olympics- In the thick of it

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It’s Wednesday.  The Olympics end on Sunday.  I still have 2 arms to knit (OK, 1 and 7/8ths) on this sweater.

IMG_2986Will I make it?

I will need to knit with the speed of Katie Ledecky (assuming she knits as well as she swims), and harness the concentration of Simone Biles.

And I must be as pure of heart as the Olympic flame.  (OK, that doesn’t really make sense… I think I must be suffering from Ravellenic Games Madness, a very real and actual disease.)

I’ve gotten through the majority of the knitting- the body’s done, and I’ve bound off the collar/button band combo (have I ever mentioned how tiresome the sewn bind-off is… I wish I didn’t love the finished results so much).  Sleeves are always a pain, but there are only two of them.IMG_2996So, I should be off.  Only four days to go (three, if I hope to block this bad boy).  How’s your Ravellenic knitting going?

Quick Ravellenic Games Update

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I haven’t been updating you on my Ravellenic Games Project, but I’ve been chugging away on it since last Friday. and I’m sure you’re sitting on the edge of your seat, waiting with bated breath for an update.

Unfortunately, I’ve been in a magical land of no internet connection.  Or at least with crummy enough internet to count as no internet.

We took a road trip out to Yellowstone!  It’s my favorite place on earth, and if you haven’t gone yet, Go!  It’s absolutely amazing, every time I’ve been.

I’ll tell you more about that later, but I wanted to give you a quick update on the sweater, and I briefly have internet (we’re still on the road- we just stopped at a coffee shop for a little bit of WiFi and caffeine).

The my Campside Cardi is coming along great!  It’s perfect car ride knitting- just interesting enough to keep cabin fever from kicking in, but not so interesting that I have to watch my fingers.IMG_0652I’m well into the eyelets in the bottom half of the sweater body, and they’re surprisingly fun.  The pattern changes subtly every few inches, which keeps me on my toes.  But, it’s not so fiddly that if I zone out for a few miles I ruin the sweater.  Perfect!IMG_0667And, it’s fun playing with my new camera.  Artistic knitting shots ahoy!

I’d better head out- we need to get back on the road if we hope to make it back to Seattle by dark!

How’s your Ravellenic knitting going?

Who You Gonna Call?

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GHOSTBUSTERS!

I just saw the new Ghostbusters movie, and oh my goodness!  I loved it!Melissa McCarthy;Kristen Wiig;Kate McKinnon;Leslie JonesIt was funny, and a little scary (but I’m kind of a weenie when it comes to this kind of movie), and the four Ghostbusters were totally (pardon my French) badass! They are portrayed as wildly intelligent, brave and scrappy women who don’t stop fighting for what they believe despite the entire city thinking they’re frauds. They save New York, expecting no recognition, doing it only because they know it’s the right thing to do. (And they do it with style, and some really killer (ha!) weapons.)  They’re scientists who know they’re working for the greater good (and even Patti, the only one who isn’t technically a scientist, is incredibly smart and resourceful).

Sure, it’s still rare to see women getting different, interesting roles, much less four women in the same movie, but I love that we’re starting (slowly) to move in that direction.  It’s so important for kids (boys and girls) to see that women can be just as interesting, intelligent, brave, and (sorry again) badass.

So in honor of my four newest favorite characters, let’s play imaginary dress-up.Ghostbusters-2016-02[1]Erin Gilbert, played by Kristen Wiig, is a prim-and-proper scientist.  She is an assistant professor of Physics at Columbia, up for tenure.  Unfortunately, due to her involvement with the paranormal, she not only fails to get tenure, but is booted from the university entirely, prompting her to fight ghosts full-time.  She’d totally rock this knitted blazer, especially with a blouse and a tiny bow tie.

Triangle Jacket by von Hinterem Steintriangle-hinterm-stein-_medium2[1]Abby Yates (Melissa McCarthy) is also a physicyst, but she is unabashed in her study of the paranormal.  She’s been exploring the field for years, working away on the fringes of academia.  She has a less-formal wardrobe, focused on comfortable, practical pieces that are still pulled-together, like this super cute sweater.

Climb Every Mountain by Heidi Kirrmaier15439833162_7ff9e3897d_z[1]Kate McKinnon plays Jillian Holtzman, a crazy-smart (or maybe crazy and smart) nuclear physicist.  She spends her time creating amazing weapons, traps and other awesome ghost-fighting gear.  She marches to the beat of her own (slightly syncopated) drum and is unapologetically her own person.  (She might be my new hero.)  Holtzman would rock an oversized sweater like this, paring it with something unconventional, like overalls and welding goggles. (But she wouldn’t have the patience to knit it herself- not enough explosions.)

Garter Stitch Hooded Wrap by Audrey WilsonHGSW2STAR2_medium2[1]And last, but certainly not least, is Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones), a former New York MTA employee.  Patty knows just about everything about the history of the city (which comes in very handy, dealing with the undead), and is incredibly brave and surprisingly cheerful in the face of an unpleasant public and a horde of unhappy ghosts.  This adorable crocheted miniskirt (especially paired with big gold earrings and a silk bomber jacket) would be perfect for Patty’s bright, un-selfconcious style.

Mini Skirt by Jane Greencrochet-skirt-pattern_medium[1]So, who wants to say it with me?

I ain’t afraid of no ghosts!

Cephalopod

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I finally finished it!

Or at least I finished the knitting part!

And, it is glorious.

My Stranger Cardigan is all knit up, and you hardly even notice that the sleeves are a different color than the rest of the sweater.

The only thing is…

I think this sweater is meant for someone with significantly more arms and legs than I have.  Perhaps an octopus.  Or maybe a cuttlefish.  Look at this bad boy!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAOof!  (As a side note, finishing the last arm was a pain, to say the least-  all that sweater flapping around in my lap!  Ugh!)

But, wait, a little origami, and Hey Presto!

A sweater!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERANow I’ve just got to sew up the underarms and block the bejesus about of it.

I’m so close I can taste it!

OK. New Plan.

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I’ve finally got my act together.   I’ve sulked long enough, and I think I figured out a solution.  I think I can make this sweater work.  I’ll live to knit another day.

But first, I had to rip an entire sleeve.  It was… an unfortunate amount of ripping.   I poured myself a nice stiff drink and went to town.

God… look how different that yarn is.  (New yarn is on the right, old, scraggly yarn is on the left.)OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI remembered someone telling me, or maybe reading somewhere (not sure where… I just know I didn’t make this up), that if you had two different dye lots that you had to make work, you can work them in stripes to blend the two colors together.  It was worth a shot.

First I tried 2-row stripes, but that ended up looking really stripey.  (I didn’t even bother taking a picture of this one- it didn’t look good.)

But, when I tried narrow, 1-row stripes, I managed to get a pretty even color.  And, since I’m using a big circular needle, I can slide the needle back and forth after every other row.  That means I don’t have to break my yarn or juggle extra balls of yarn!  Winning!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASee?  The sleeve (the bottom portion of the picture) is pretty close to the rest of the sweater.  It’s still a smidge blue-ish in real life, but only so much that someone looking really closely would notice it.

The only problem is that the combination of new yarn and old, frogged yarn makes the fabric a bit of a mess.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABut at this point, I’m just going to cross my fingers and hope that it looks OK after blocking.

Have you ever had to get creative to get around poor dye-lot matching?

Inspiration: Cheering Up

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I got some pretty cruddy news today, and I find myself in a bit of a funk.  (Don’t worry, I’m not dying or anything, just disappointed.)  So, what’s a girl in my position to do?  Nothing productive, surely.  That would make too much sense.

I know, I’ll go trolling through my Ravelry Queue.

I’m sure you’re Queue looks like mine… hundreds of random patterns you’ve collected over the years, half of which you don’t even remember adding.  But, the one thing they all have in common is that they are all patterns I like.

So, in an effort to cheer me up, let’s look at pretty patterns from my queue.

This sweater has apparently been on my Queue since 2009.  I still love it, seven years later.  I’d wear the heck out of this cardigan- a zipper, stripes, and a hood?  It’s like it was designed for me.  Love it!  (Actually knitting it up, with all those stripes… all those ends… *shiver*)

Staccato by Kristen Kapur

2458554061_dfe8208157_z[1]This little wisp of a shawl is too beautiful for words.  But I’ll try anyway.  I don’t think I’d ever actually wear it (I don’t think it’d go too well with jeans and flannel), but it’s so pretty, I kind of want to make it.  Don’t you just love the way they incorporated the corner increases into a lace pattern.  I’ve tried to design something similar, and it’s not as easy as it sounds.

Growing Flowers by Mia Rindejan_2012_224_medium2[1]These little girls are just too cute, too.  And!  They have teeny tiny clothes!  Little dresses, skirts, sweaters, and shawls.  I could just eat them up.  Delightful!

Mary, Millie, and Morgan by Susan B. AndersonDSC_8359_medium2[1]I’ve loved this sweater since last year when I saw a whole table of ladies wearing them at a knitting conference.  It’s just the cutest, with perfect 3/4-length sleeves and a hem that falls at the natural waist, perfect for paring with full, 50’s-style skirts.  And those cables!  Just adorable.  Someday, Chuck, you will be mine.

Chuck by Andi Satterlundchuck01_medium2[1]Well, I’m feeling a bit better already.  There’s something very calming about scrolling through pages of beautiful patterns.  Ahhh…

Do you have an out-of-control Ravelry Queue, too?  Do you have any favorite patterns stashed away for “someday”?