agave sweater, finished

Blocked, seamed, and hanging in the garden! Agave is off the needles. Pleased with this finish and looking forward to wearing it this week. The color, 'buttermilk', is a delightfully cheerful but soft yellow. The fiber content, very soft cotton, makes for a lightweight but draped fabric that seems to hold the lace pattern well. The bottom edge is curling up just a bit, so it will be interesting to see how that goes when I've worn it a few times. The other thing I hope changes with wear is the drape of the sleeves. They haven't quite relaxed into full drape yet, but I suspect they'll soften up and get there; they just came off the blocking board today. 

The pattern, Agave by Yumiko Alexander, was easy to follow and pretty straightforward as far as construction goes. It's knit flat in two panels which are then blocked and joined at the shoulders. The sleeves are picked up and knit flat (!) and blocked into shape. Once that's all done, the sides are seamed. I've not made one like this before but had no trouble. The yarn I used was Jody Long Cottontails which is soft and light and was pleasant in my hands as I worked. I can't say I am a fan of how many times the yarn was knotted though. One ball had at least 3 knots in it. The others weren't quite that bad. Each time I came to a knot I untied or cut it out and left ends to weave in. I don't think the knots would have worked themselves very well into this sea of stockinette stitches. I do like the stitch definition and drape. I suspect if I had gone with a linen yarn as the pattern called for I would have achieved even more drape but this was on SUCH good sale at my LYS during yarn crawl (like $1 a skein I think?) that I decided this was the material for this sweater. I had to scrounge around for one extra ball online at full price (it's discontinued) but overall this was less than $20 of materials which makes me enjoy it even more. 
 

Yellow is not usually my color because it seems to highlight the red tones in my face extremely efficiently but this one works. It's more butter and less marigold. The neckline is kind of interesting since it's just a straight line seam interrupted for a head to go through. I kind of like the resulting boatneck though it has some figuring itself out to do to lie correctly where the lace panel is. It seems to behave differently than the rest of the neckline which makes it wave up a bit. I have confidence it will work out. Would consider making again with the other sleeve option, but these flutter sleeves are really quite fun. More feminine than I am usually comfortable wearing, but still fun. 

On first fit it is comfortable if just a bit fussy in the length department. Being cotton I did not want to make it too long since it should grow over time, but right now I'm wishing for an extra inch or two. Again, not worried and it will work perfectly with flowy pants for now and will look better with the jeans as it grows. This was a fun one, though I don't want to make a sweater knit flat again any time soon! I've learned it's not my joy, even if the finished product is pretty joyful. 

eat your heart out, anthropologie

These. Look. Awesome.

I nearly did not see this project through. I made a couple of pieces this spring and thought it was just too much work with the thin yarn and tiny hooks. Mom offered to pitch in and do a few, which gave me some extra oomph to get over the doldrums. We also found a few great artificial (non-yarn artificial...) succulents to add to the mix. I like that they both are bulky and take up space and add a different texture so the whole thing is not just fuzzy. They're also in shapes that I think would have been just ok with yarn but really look super in the plastic. 

I had some dense foam from something, making an ottoman top I think, that I used to fill in the bottom of the fixtures and the succulents are just kind of poked in (store-bought have stems) or perched and squished into place. It worked out surprisingly well and I think they turned out looking even better than I had imagined. They're a matched set in the stairwell and they make me smile every trip up and down the steps. 

quick zips

Mom and I did some color play with my fabric stash to make a couple of zippered pouches. One is for my niece, the other for my sister in law. I had to kind of remind myself how the assembly went, but once that was figured out they went very quickly. Note for next time so I don't have to look it up: if not doing tabs on the zipper ends, flip the zipper towards the lining when sewing together so it tucks in well. 

The first one I added a little tab to the side for a little something extra. There was much debate on whether that was the correct side to put it on or if it goes on the side with the zipper pull when it is closed. I would use it on either side to hold and pull, so we decided it didn't really matter. 

For this second one I skipped the tab, though it would have been cute in that bright green lining print, and instead opted to experiment with making a tassel for the zipper pull. It turned out very cute and I would do again. More bags in the future, no doubt. These are easy to make, satisfying to finish so quickly, and a good time playing with color combinations. 

something much less simple

It occurs to me that it's been a while since I started my Clint and I have not updated at all. This project is much more complicated than the shrug I just started, so I don't tend to pick it up unless I am craving focused knitting time. I have found a rhythm with it recently after it sat for a little bit while I worked on easier things. 

It's looking pretty good so far. I've made my peace with the fudging required to get the corners "close enough" to having pointy points (some slip stitches in the patterns make this less than automatic), and I'm ignoring the one intersection where I must have added a stitch or something because the alignment isn't particularly close. All that to say it's not joyful knitting right now, but it is pretty fun. I do find humor in the fact that I am knitting a quilt - that was in fact part of what drew me to this piece. I have just a few more additions to this middle panel, which will be two or three more good chunks of time I think, and then I believe things will simplify and start progressing at a speedier clip. My goal is to have this for a cozy fall. Around here there's no pressure on that until like November because we get some pretty hot weather in September and October (NOT at all great for this girl who loves cold crisp autumnal weather). So there's time. 

tiptoeing through the mushrooms

Mom brought a finished mushroom cross stitch. So, rather than hoop it or frame it, we decided to do a "collab" (is that what the kids call it these days??) and make a quilted pillow cover. 

It was fun to stash dive and pick out some appropriately woodsy fabrics to use. I love that these have all come from different places. The low volume print has been in my stash for a very long time and I find it satisfying how perfect it works here as the background. I also got to break out my little mushroom templates for some iron on appliqué! How cute is that? The HSTs in the patchwork are the leftovers from making the flying geese, so it was technically a "no waste" technique even though I just made them the traditional way, not four-at-a-time, to get the fabrics facing the way I wanted. 

  

We took a slight detour to a version that had a different border on it, but decided it was taking too much away from the actual piecing in the middle. It would have looked fine, but I much prefer the print background fabric as the border. Not sure yet how I will finish it, so it's still hanging up on the design wall, but this was a fun afternoon of stitching today. 

See, look, it turned out just like the sketch! 

something simple

Feeling festive and restive (see what I did there?), I started this around July 4 while my Agave was on the blocking boards. This will be a Blue Sky Fibers design called the Afton Shrug and boy is it easy. 

I bought the yarn on a recent LYS trip to get something entirely different - isn't that always how it goes? It looked like a simple project, and it is not disappointing in that department. It's just garter stitch for days, which means I don't have to think hard and can have conversations and easily pick up/put down as I move through the days over the next couple weeks with company over. 

Don't get me wrong, the Agave has been very fun too but this is like candy. The fabric is squishy, the color is great, and the progress is fast. As of this typing (but not that photo) I am already halfway through. 

some assembly required

That was fast! Just a few weeks of knitting and I'm already done with the front and back pieces. I blocked to measurements suggested in the pattern, and it's looking kind of odd at this point but I'm not worried about trusting the process. It is a delightfully drapey fabric so far, and I'm looking forward to popping it on sometime later this summer. 

Now that it's dried a bit I seamed it up and I'm on to knitting the sleeves. Sad that I thought I was done with flat knitting but the sleeves are also knitted flat. It's going to look so cool when it's done, or so I keep telling myself... wish me good purling. 

plant parents of the world unite

Wow, I finished the stitching on this just after Valentine's Day and I finally got it in a hoop! Goodness that's a lot of procrastination. This lovely thing is a design out of a library book called "Self Care Cross Stitch" and it made me giggle. I did not completely adhere to the called-for colors since I have a pretty decent stash of colors that were rather close. 

The time between last stitch and today was spent fretting about the "right" way to soak and block it (answer: just like my knitting, no big deal) and then having it be a bit wrinkly on the ironing board for literally weeks before I finally got some water in the iron for steam to smooth things out. It looks great now. The purple hoop is pretty awesome for it - a yard sale find - and I am looking forward to finding a fun spot on my wall for it to sass people as they pass. 

agave on the needles

I'm feeling pretty motivated to work through my sweater quantities of yarn that I got myself this year at the yarn crawl. The thrill of finishing a piece that actually looks like clothes is pretty great. I've been making a bit of progress on my Clint shawl I started a few months ago, but it's going to be my slow and steady project. This one, on the other hand, I hope will be a good one to focus on! I finally cast on my Agave.

    

I started it a few days ago and got myself into the wee hours of the morning by finishing the first lace chart. I've been trying to have some quiet time in the mornings to knit a few rows, and this is the progress I have made so far. It's looking really pretty in this soft yellow yarn, and despite the fact that it's knitted flat, I am enjoying the rhythm of the making. Surprisingly, it's growing at a pretty quick pace, I feel it won't be a challenge to finish by the end of July without forcing it. 
 

scarlet sophie scarf, finished

That took no time at all! I can totally see why so many folks have made multiples of these. The extremely simple design is a lovely canvas for a special skein of yarn. I could see featuring texture (like cashmere) or a pretty speckle or other interesting color feature. That is, if you're the kind of person that can rock a tiny scarf. I am one of those people. I have definitely been through phases of wearing small silk scarves, so this fits right into that aesthetic. Plus, my mom crocheted me one very similar to this, which is what inspired me to try it out in the first place. I love that one with a button down shirt. 

This one turned out great! It is a little wider than I imagined, so perhaps a reprise might not include as many increases. I did not use a dk weight yarn, instead I opted for a fingering weight, so I guess the "correct" version is even wider? Dunno. Would not want that. I do like the yarn I used both for its feel and its color. That red is going to be fun for the summer. It's a little orangier than it's turning out in the pictures, which is what drew me to the color in the first place, but it will still be a nice accessory for a patriotic vibe in July. 

I used up every last inch of the ball of Catona yesterday evening, which was very satisfying, though I ended up needing to fudge the second end because I was running out of yarn. It's a bit less pointy than the first end. I ripped back several times to get it looking right, and no one will know but me unless they look really closely. Which would be kind of awkward if I was wearing it, to be honest. I thought about, but did not rip all the way back to the midpoint. That just seemed like an overreaction. 

I enjoy the croissant form factor photos I've been seeing around the internet, so here is mine for good measure. I'm still chuckling that I was influenced by YouTubers and my mother to make this little guy, but it was an incredibly fun knit and I am going to really enjoy it. 

jumping on the bandwagon

I'm not really much of a joiner or a trend follower. However. This little scarf making the rounds of the knitting world has captured my attention despite initial resistance. What happened that finally convinced me is my mom made me a crochet version that I absolutely love, then I've been hearing about what a palette cleanser relaxing knit this version is. I just finished several large projects and am craving simple and fast before I hop into starting my next sweater. Enter the Sophie scarf. 

The yarn my mom used is Scheepjes Catona, a mercerized cotton yarn that is quite soft, cool to the touch, and has a lovely sheen to it. It's also easy to care for and kind to sensitive skin like mine that would resent wool close around my neck. I find the color options of this yarn at my LYS quite appealing in general, and I was quite drawn to this pretty poppy red. I have some lipstick in this color (which might be a bit much paired with it but fun to note) and it feels kind of retro and fun. I'm going to see if I can use up the whole skein. How fun would it be to have a project in mind where I could just pick up a little ball of yarn and use it all up whenever I wanted?! This could be a new habit. I imagine that is also some of the appeal for others, too.

 

Speaking of habit, this is quite a habit forming knit. I have already made quite a bit of progress in a short amount of time and I find myself picking it up to knit a repeat between chunks of tasks at work. It is a palette cleanser and mental floss all in one! 

behemoth ring blanket, finished

I am so proud of how this turned out! The cotton took a while to dry, and we had an unusual cool spell for the season which was AMAZING but meant wet things stayed wet longer. Taking the blocking wires out I could see that the block was just right - the piece kept it's shape nicely, did not bounce back to a smaller size, and did not have any weird pointy bits around the edges (hooray for the wires). It's just shy of 5 feet in diameter, so a really good size for a lap blanket.

I quite like the color combination, which is pretty good for a collection of random skeins on the sale table! I kind of knew when I matched them up in the shop that they'd look good together, but it's nice to see that play out in an actual project. I especially like that putty grey color and would love to get some more to use it in another version I am dreaming up. I also really like this yarn which is Blue Sky Fiber Cotton Skinny. It has weight to it and is buttery soft and nice to work with. 

It looks great in my loft, which is where it will live for a bit while I decide if I am keeping it or not (ha!). It will probably go to my brother. These are kind of his colors and his vibe, especially the orange and I was imagining this for him as I was working on it. I enjoyed the process and would happily knit one again to keep for myself. I have some yarn in mind already that might make a really fun girly version paired with the gray leftovers, and honestly that seems like the answer. I'll wait on that though. It feels really good to have all of my big projects off the needles and just two projects in progress. It would be nice to have another one of these on the needles to keep me company in my YouTube and staff meeting hours, but I've got quite a few other projects planned already so let's keep at least the illusion of focus, shall we? What I really want to do is start my Agave sweater but it's just too much brain power at the moment! 

this is what guest bedrooms are for...

... when there isn't a guest at the moment. I bound off this bad boy on the 10th but it's been hanging out since then while my tank top dried and let's be honest because I was intimidated by blocking something this big. Turned out to be the perfect size for the queen sized bed, and I pulled out my bendy blocking wires so the curves were actually a piece of cake to do.

It's not quite the 5 ft diameter it's supposed to be based on the pattern, but I will chalk that up to ending the outer most ring a few rows early (to avoid winding another ball of yarn) and not going that aggressive with the stretching for the block. I am quite pleased that the puckery inner dot settled down, that my needle switch mistake was not an issue for rings 4 and 5, and that the bind off was loose enough to allow for a nice big stretch without being floppy. Looking forward to seeing how this drapes after drying. Then I will consider whether it's staying here or making it's way elsewhere as a holiday gift. 

Now that I have finished both the tank top AND this blanket, I feel I can start something new. I may vamp for a bit on my Clint shawl (which I have also been making progress on this month), but I do want to get my Agave sweater on the needles to hopefully have done for wearing some time this hot season. Not to worry though, our hot season is LONG. 

mushroom forager tank, finished

It's been quiet from the writing perspective, but busy with the needles this month. I have been motivated to finish projects I have going so that I feel spacious enough to start some new ones. Not a rule, but certainly a good way to push myself to follow through on things I've started. This tank top I started in January is finished and I am quite pleased with the way it fits and how the color looks against my barn tanned skin. 

This yarn was a clearance find at Fillory at LAST year's Bay Area Yarn Crawl. I at least started it before this year's ;). It's a discontinued Berocco cotton rayon blend and was kind of an unforgiving yarn to work with. I had it on large needles for a loose gauge, but it's got NO stretch so was a bit fatiguing to work with which is kind of why it sat for a few months before I picked it back up again in May. 

It shrunk a surprising amount when I blocked it. This turned out to be a good thing because it was looking a bit big around the arm holes and the v neck was bordering on scandalous, but it didn't actually turn out as long or as baggy as I was hoping from making the largest size. The internet tells me it's possible to add length to a stockinette bottom up sweater with just a small amount of fiddling and I have one extra skein of the yarn, so it is an option. It does look very cute with the right pants, though so I will be living with it for a while before considering a modification. As I said to my coworker who wears shorter tops on the regular and looks fabulous, I am trying to embrace the short top as A Thing for myself. 

The mushroom brown is not a typical color for me, but I quite like it with my dark features and olive skin, especially with that bit of a suntan. I wasn't sure how I would feel about the random lines of color but I have to say, love it. They're perfect to give this simple piece a bit of interest but not so busy that it's a mess of color. I would make this tank again for sure, trying a non-rayon yarn so the whole thing stays a bit roomier post block. I would probably want to figure out how to combine the XL body with a smaller size for the top bit so the arm hole/v-neck situation works out like this one, though. I have to say I was a bit skeptical about the pattern because it was so simple but sometimes simple really works!  

spreading the mushroom love

My coworker had a birthday today. It's also my half birthday, a coincidence that I take to be the universe's humor since she and I are so different yet get along so well. She is a fellow knitter and we often trade stories, pattern ideas, and show and tell along with a lot of motivation and moral support. Since I've been on a kick lately with sewing project bags, I decided to make her one for her birthday. 

It's kind of an unusual combination using the bright teal linen with the more earthy mushroom print, but I think it worked out really well. I went back to the tutorial I used to make my somewhat improvised mushroomy bag and used the actual measurements this time instead of letting the fabric tell me what it wanted to be. This turned out to be a much nicer form factor. Lesson learned.

I used this cool yellow molecule looking batik on the inside, and a deep purple zipper. Quirky, but classy. She lives in SF which matches the vibes this bag is giving (does anyone else remember designing TimBuk2 bags at their store in Hayes Valley??). I used quilt batting again, didn't interface the interior fabric, and it stands up just fine. The thicker linen blends on the outside make it so that's ok I think. If I were to use regular quilting cotton I might consider interfacing on the outside or two layers of quilt batting. 

I put a metal keyring in the little tab, and also a little bag of stitch markers I had made prior to last year's Bay Area Yarn Crawl. I included some lobster claw progress keepers just for variety. I love that those crystals look like labeled balls of yarn. 

defying gravity, finished

It is FINISHED! I am so very pleased with how this turned out, and I would absolutely make this pattern again. It was a very fun knit and the finished piece is really unique. It did grow quite a bit in blocking! I suppose that is due to the silk in the yarn, more slippy maybe? I think it's ok and the oversized look is very much what I was going for but I'll keep that in mind for the next time in case I want to try out a different size.

There was just a little bit of pooling with my second skein of yarn - the consequence of not alternating skeins - but I don't really mind it at all. This green color is just *chef's kiss* perfect, and I am tickled at the combination with the pinks I had in my stash. The cutest part, that is not obvious to anyone but me, is the little yellow brick road piles in the middle of the granny squares. That small pop of gold sparkles up there and makes the piece more interesting than if I had just chosen to use the light pink again in the center and is a fun nod to the story that inspired this color combination. 

 

I've worn it to work already, and it was happily comfy and not at all itchy all day. Because it grew, I will say the neckline is a bit more open than I felt comfortable wearing with out a tank top underneath. I am considering taking out the bind off and expanding the ribbing to give myself a little more coverage in that department. It's fine for now, but definitely something I may pick up and adjust on an evening when I want to be frustrated. ;) 

ambitious quilt start

I did this color chart of fabric a while ago. Sunday night I finally started the quilt! It feels a little bit like a great journey has started. There were a few activation barriers I had to get over to get going. First, was wrapping my head around all the fabrics and how they mapped onto what was in the pattern. That I accomplished in February by making myself a little chart using snips of each fabric and some glue. 

Second was the fact that I am kind of intimidated by the very large cut of background fabric I have. The thought of cutting it into tiny pieces is not the best because that seems like an awful lot of work! Thankfully the instructions pretty clearly help you stage this process by the type of block and corresponding size of quilt you are making. When I realized I could do that by block design and not have to do it all at once, that was a much smaller problem. So I went ahead and got started on one of the simpler blocks. There are two stages of cuts - one for larger pieces and the second to subcut the individual pieces for each block. These are my piles of first stage cuts for the nine aloe blocks.  

I chose the aloe first because it seems like the simplest. It also has just two colors in it, so I felt like I could keep track without needing to label anything. The cutting is indeed detailed - some of the strips were different by just a quarter of an inch! And this will take precise piecing. This first aloe turned out a little bit less wide than it was supposed to even though I thought I was using a scant seam. Thankfully the width was easily remedied with some elbow grease and the iron. Still, go scanter. 

It will be interesting to see how this goes. I'm certain it will be slow. I'm also certain to learn a lot in the process about myself, my sewing tendencies, and my preferences. Avanti!
 

project planning

I cleaned up my craft space today.  It felt like an appropriate activity to refresh my headspace and take stock of what I was up to since I just got a big project off of my needles. I can tell I have the itch to start something new! I still have a couple of things going that I'd like done, though, so I am making the choice to wait until at least one of those (the blanket or the summer tank) is done before casting on a new project. I think I have been watching too many YouTube influencers start all. the. things. 

I had a couple items of yarn that entered the chat from LYS day yesterday so that got me playing with my stash and considering what I wanted to cast on next. Since I was planning and have been having an excellent time making project bags, I decided to tuck the yarn (and in one case, wind it) into bags so they are ready to go when I am. 

There is of course the yellow for my Agave sweater that I have been thinking about forever - a yarn crawl purchase and my next garment start. The other yarn crawl item is the dark blue cake which will become a textured scarf. I think that should be a fun project that's easy but interesting. The bright poppy red skein in the appropriately neon bag is going to be a micro scarf. I have been loving the little crocheted Sophie scarf my mom made me, and I've been thinking about a knitted one. I actually went to the LYS with the intention of getting JUST yarn for that little scarf and for checking out the DK stock for potential materials for a crochet row blanket project. There wasn't much I liked for the row blanket, but I did look at patterns and find one for a cute shrug. And lo, she also had the right type of yarn. That will be a fun no thinking project, so probably great for when I finish my blanket up and is hanging out in my big Firefly tote until I'm ready to start. 

It felt good to line up the next projects. Of course, I still have a few other long-term projects that will remain on the go (Clint shawl and tiny succulents, I'm looking at you) but I like the idea of waiting until at least one of the blanket or tank top is done before picking up a new shiny object. This process was fun and I kind of feel like I've already started ;) 

a good soak

I finished knitting my Geddy Tee last night! I had put it down for a few days this week (after finishing the body last Friday) because I had the impression that picking up stitches for the arms and neck was going to be annoying. It absolutely was not. The arms were super fast, and even the neck was a breeze. I picked up the neck in the morning yesterday and was binding off at the end of the day with a short amount of knitting time. I was feeling kind of like a knitting super hero. 

My next hurdle was weaving in ends! I sent a photo the knit night ladies after binding off and then intended on putting it aside to work on my throw blanket. Better sense prevailed and I got a needle to take care of the ends right away. If I had not, I'm sure it would have been another couple of weeks before that was done. There were a lot from the granny squares, though they were mostly woven in as I crocheted so I just snipped those off, and the rest in the body and ribbing weren't actually that difficult to do, I just don't love it. I chatted on the phone while doing them, so it went by fast. 

This morning I felt motivated to get it blocked right away; I'm hoping to wear it to work one day this coming week! Given how vibrant this yarn is I was not altogether surprised to see some dye coming out in the water, but it did mean I soaked this for very little time and mostly with the granny squares parked up on the side out of the water. I did not want the green to catch onto those bright pinks and muddy them up. 

I haven't pinned anything except the bottom ribbing, which I want to tame to be as wide as the body, or at least as close as possible. It is currently puckering the bottom in way more than I really want (and more than the pattern photos suggest is correct).  When I first laid it out it was 26" across, so nearly 52". This is supposed to be a 48", so I slid the fabric around a little bit vertically to make it longer. It is now measuring closer to 24.5", so 49" which is close enough. I tried it on before blocking and mostly liked how it fit so I'm a bit nervous about how it will be after blocking. Way too big? Way too long? I knit it longer than recommended by 2" to avoid it being too short so this would be ironic. It feels like some of the "spring" has come out of the fabric but that could come back as it dries. This is always the price I pay for not doing a gauge swatch - suspense while blocking!