Cable Knit Crop Top

It is such a warm December! I'm still not sure how I feel about it. I'm super stoked every time I don't have to scrape my windows to drive to work, but it makes me so sad on weekends to look out and still see green grass and raindrops. I'm going home in less than a week, and hoping some snow finds its way to Northern Minnesota while I'm there! 

I have some secret knitting I can't share with you yet, because it's that time of year. It was so nice to find the time to make some gifts, the first time in a long time that I've been able to! Of course, I should've started earlier -- isn't that always the case? Have you done any Christmas knitting or sewing? When do you start? (Next year, I need to start in September!)

I made this little sweater while binge watching Fargo last weekend. I knit it on size 15 needles with two strands of Knitpick's Bare Merino Style DK yarn. It's knit in the same style as my other tee sweaters, which I find myself really enjoying. They are fun to make, and I love combining the look of a t-shirt and the look of a sweater, especially with details like rib trim and big cables.

I'll try to be back with a couple more posts in the next few weeks, and hopefully a tutorial, too! Speaking of, I posted my cowl pattern/tutorial on Ravelry, so if you decide you want to try it, you can add it to your queue and stuff. Give it some love, and add me as a friend! :)

Also, this sweater is for sale HERE! Let me know if you are interested in something custom!

Alpaca Open-Front Cardigan with Pointelle Details

I read an article recently that talked about the mantra of "Done is better than perfect," and it really resonated with me. I often find myself absolutely paralyzed in my creativity, simply because I don't know where to begin. And yet, logically, I know that that's the crux of the problem: if I were just to start anything, I'd figure it out. But my fear of failure, my indecision, and the overwhelming possibilities of what I could do take over, and I ultimately find myself putting off or putting aside projects for that intangible "inspiration".

But done is better than perfect. I know my human understanding of "perfect" is actually far from it, and even my definition of perfection differs from others. I am not a perfectionist. I am Type A, I do want things done right, and I do take meticulous joy in small details. But I'm not capable of making anything to perfection.

Here's a little tidbit, though: neither is anyone else.

And making something that is imperfect can lead you to do even better. Those imperfections are learning opportunities for next time. That in and of itself could be the inspiration you are waiting for! I need to keep reminding myself that it's okay to accept imperfection, as long as I keep doing. This has helped me lately to keep on getting things done. Starting is better than waiting, done is better than perfect. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this! What motivates you? How do you find your drive to create?

Yarn used is from Blue Sky Alpacas. Knit by machine and by hand.

Handknitting: Chuck Sweater

Two years ago, I started knitting this Chuck sweater (one of Andi Satterlund's patterns). Today, I finally wove in one last end. Good things take time? 

I'll confess, I'm not a very diligent hand-knitter. I pick projects up and set them down periodically, as I did with this sweater, which should have been a relatively quick knit. I have completed several projects over the last year or so, but this is the only large hand knitting project I have ever completed in all my years of knitting. That's a big statement! I did finish knitting this sometime over the winter, but didn't finish weaving in the ends. Who has time for that??

 I found the pattern to be pretty easy to follow, even though I'd never knit anything that was constructed this way. The only other sweaters I've started were either top-down raglans where everything is connected, or seamed with set-in sleeves. I really love how the shaping on the side of the bodice looks, and the sleeve seams are pretty clean, but I'm not in love with the transition from sweater to neck band. I wish I had seamed that, because it looks a little messy. Other people who have made this don't seem to have this issue, so it must be just me!

A funny thing about this sweater is that from when I started making it to when I finished, I went through a style transition. Now this is style is more on the fringe of my sartorial choices. I'm sure I'll still find opportunities to wear it, but now I know for next time: knit faster!

I used KnitPick's Wool of the Andes in Worsted Weight. If you are on Ravelry, add me! Link to the project is here.

Some Finished Sweaters

I'm back at school... and, one day in, I'm already exhausted! It feels like it's been weeks! I know this semester -- my LAST semester! -- is going to fly by. Could it just, um, start flying a little faster? I'm conflicted in that I'm looking forward to my classes this semester, but also looking forward to them being done. And my senior fashion show. And graduation. And the trip to Europe I'm taking with my brother. So many exciting things to do (and to wait for!). 

A week ago, I was deeply entrenched in cleaning my room. I'll spare you the details, as well as the before photos. (And, apparently, I'll spare you the after photos too, for a little bit longer! I'll write up a new post about my studio space soon.) However, my mom came to help, and it took us over a day to clean out, pack up, and reorganize my little apartment bedroom into a functioning, clean studio space to work in. And boy, was it worth it. Above, you can see some of the materials I'm using for my collection! It's so inspiring to work in this clean, bright space. I can feel the creativity flowing!

Speaking of! I finished three sweaters over break. I was hoping to get at least four done, but I'm still really happy with the amount I finished. It puts me that much further ahead for the semester! As of right now, I'm planning to make 13 garments: seven sweater knit garments, three coats, two pairs of trousers, and one blouse. Having three done is going to help me keep my sanity! I found the process of knitting them over break to be so enjoyable. Honestly, it was some of the most fun I'd had in a long time. Is that silly? It felt great to be productive and get lots done, and it was so pleasant to sit and knit without any sources of stress.

I'll show photos on my models once all my garments are complete, but in the meantime, here are some flat shots of the finished sweaters. The intarsia turned out great! I'm so stoked about it!

Mostly successfully matched up the triangles on the side seams. Good 'nuff!

Everything in the yarn looks so luscious. I'm really happy with this one, and how very classic it turned out! I did have to re-do the neckband last night. I seam things really tightly, which had eliminated all of the stretch. It actually fits over heads now, while still maintaining a tight crew style!

I don't think I even posted about this sweater at all! After the intarsia took me two weeks, this felt like a breeze to whip up in five days. It's a shawl collar cardigan with a saddle shoulder and some pretty terrific shaping. I also did a cool feathery stitch on the sleeves that I am pretty excited about!

Here you can see I did the back in panels to create a little bit of a flounce. It was so cool to see it actually turn out as I had envisioned it!

I have only done strictly set-in sleeves before this, so I was unsure as to how the saddle shoulder would turn out. It went pretty okay, and I love the extra detail! I read that this style is used more in menswear, but the lacy stitch adds more of a feminine touch to this sweater.

How delicious is this stitch pattern, seriously?

So that was my break! Now, I have to catch up on reading textbooks!

Intarsia Triangles WIP - Part 2!

It's slow(ish) going on the intarsia sweater front. The truth is, knitting it isn't so bad, but knitting combined with all the other steps is what kills. See: making charts. Weaving in ends. Fixing mistakes (duplicate stitch embroidery, shhh). But it is SO gratifying to see a pattern come to life like this!

This is the front panel. It is going to be a hi-lo design, pretty cropped in front, with a scoop neck. I had not done a shaped hem before, so I'm pretty happy with how it turned out--but it does bother me that I didn't shape it with the ribbing on the bottom. I now have to rehang it or seam the rib band on, which just won't look as clean. Maybe in the future I'll be daring enough to try it, but I wasn't even sure how the shaping would turn out here, so I decided to play it safe. 

These aren't totally true-to-color images, at least not with the blue. It's more of a teal (Knitpicks Marine Heather, Palette wool yarn), which matches my aran sweater a bit better. It is just so darn exciting to watch this come off the needles bit by bit!

Sweater Planning: Intarsia Triangles WIP

Even though I have the tiniest bit of knitting left to do on my cabled City Tweed sweater, I started in on the next project. I couldn't resist! My next sweater is going to be similar to the intarsia sweater in my print design project, but with some different colors. 

I purchased an intarsia carriage off eBay, and the day it came I was immediately trying it out. This thing is incredible! I'm so stoked about the possibilities here! However, charting the entire sweater out on graph paper is less than ideal. Anybody know of a website where you can do this? All I could find were sites where you upload a photo and it turns it into a pattern -- and I don't have a photo to use, since it is an all-over pattern. It would be perfect if I could digitally just fill in a chart!

In the meantime, it's all about the hand drawing and coloring. I know it will be worth it once I start knitting, but for now, it's pretty tedious. Only the excitement of actually putting this on the machine is getting me through!

Design Project: Jacquard and Intarsia Patterns

This fall semester I took a portfolio class. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work, and I'm really happy with the outcome. We had a variety of projects that I will share, but one of my favorites to work on was this print design project. It was just not like anything I'd ever done before, and that made it exciting!

I settled on a rather weird color palate. Somehow I got really into orange, and just went with it! I decided to build the project around a cut-and-sew hoodie I had made last year, which was out of this awesome geometric double-knit jacquard (pictured below). With that to work from, I did jacquard and intarsia patterns only, with bold geometrics. It was a cool challenge to do knit-only patterns, because it meant limited colors (due to potential cost of multi-color jacquards, which would be astronomical if they were produced) and limitation in shapes (due to the structure of knit fabric). Below is my color palate, the original hoodie, and then a few of my prints photoshopped onto clothing I had made.

Another thing I enjoyed was that I got to play with multiple color combinations and offerings. I made about forty different combinations of colors and prints, hung them all up, and then narrowed them down in a very difficult decision-making process.

All of my croquis are drawn in Adobe Illustrator and colored and shaded in Photoshop. Prints were made in Illustrator. I can't find my absolute up-to-date JPEG files, actually; they are supposed to have slightly pixelated prints (to imitate a knitted chart), and a sweater texture overlay like the first photo. Oops!

The triangle sweater above is my absolute favorite, and I'm actually going to knit something very similar for my senior collection! I'm so stoked to see it come to life.

Cabled Sweater in City Tweed - WIP

Lately I have been doing a lot of knitting! I brought my knitting machine home for break, along with, um, over 100 balls of yarn. When Knitpicks had their Thanksgiving week sale, I splurged and bought pretty much all the yarn I will need for my senior collection. It was a huge purchase, but I am so excited to use these luxury yarns. Fiber snob and proud of it!

Here's some proof from after I opened the box. This isn't even all of it! But I just counted 99 balls in this picture alone so I guess it's close. It's just so much yarn. But I'm starting to make my way through it, believe it or not!

So this is the latest project/ I learned how to do these cute little triangles on my machine, and paired them along with a staghorn aran cable and two braided cables. Lots of counting and keeping track of my place and catching mistakes! I don't even know what I would do without my knitting machine. Maybe I'll post all about it sometime this month in case someone is interested in getting one? They are amazing tools with insane capabilities. It still takes a good amount of time to knit something like the sweater above, due to the amount of hand manipulated stitches, but it still speeds things up from hand knitting.

By the way, this is Knitpicks City Tweed yarn, in the Jacquard colorway. The photo isn't true to color, but I'll try to get some better photos in natural lighting with a real camera soon! The yarn itself is some of my favorite to work with. I used it on my last sweater, and it's just a luscious blend of merino and alpaca. The neps add so much visual interest and it's a joy to work with and to wear!