Who Is The Fairest Of Them All

at the same time h asked for a yoda sweater, e asked for a snow white sweater...





pattern: my own snow white
yarn: imperial yarn tracie 2 ply sport weight in light blue, dark blue, red, yellow, white
needles: size 4 for the body and size 2 for the collar


i had been thinking about the construction of this sweater all summer and spent a lot of time planning - especially the sleeves.  this is what i ended up doing:


i started the sweater with the yellow ruffle on the bottom to represent snow's skirt. then k2tog all the way around and switched to the dark blue.  knit in the round up to the armholes where it was then split for the front and back.  made a square neckline and added a touch of shoulder shaping.  after sewing the shoulder seams together i worked a 1x1 rib around the neck line, mitering the corners and leaving the back open for enough room to get her head in.





now for the tricky sleeves... the best solution i came up with for them was to knit them horizontally around as opposed to from the bottom up as a normal sleeve.  this allowed me to work short rows in the red yarn to represent the pleats in snow's dress.  there was a ton of math involved to come up with the exact amount of rows to fit into the armhole to allow a gathered look.  after sewing in the sleeves, i gathered the bottoms of them and knit in a 1x1 rib in the yellow yarn for a bit.





i thought the sleeves would be the trickiest but that turned out to be the collar.  i knit and ripped it out 3 times.  working each side of the neck, i picked up stitches from the front neck edges and the back with a size 2 needles.  then knitting back and forth adding a mitered corner between the front and back to allow the collar to stand up.  after knitting 1 1/2 inches i decreased a stitch every right side row at the front to make a curved edge.  i then worked a 1x1 rib around the outer edge.  lastly, i crocheted and attached 3 button loops on the back of the neck.  


i took very detailed notes so maybe one day i'll write up the pattern...


she hasn't taken the sweater off in 2 days so i haven't been able to get any detailed pictures but i think it is worth it :)

May The Force Be With You

every year, i give my kids a chance to pick a sweater for me to knit them.  this year my son requested a sweater that looks like yoda's jacket.





pattern: my own
yarn: imperial yarn tracie - 2ply sport weight, 2 skeins + a little more
needles: size #4 circular


this sweater was knit with the same construction as the sunset cardi and e's little pink sweater.  was so simple i don't really have much to say about it.  the only changes from those two sweaters are 1) it is very long.  yoda's jacket goes down to his feet but i didn't really think that was very practical... 



2) this sweater is not asymmetrical - the opening in straight in the center 



3) there is a huge hood.  what would a yoda sweater be without a huge hood that covers your eyes!!!



he loves it and has been wearing it everyday!

A New Coat

my daughter happens to be very picky about what she will wear.  it normally has to be very pink and twirly and not pants!!!  even though i am very aware of this, i still decided to make her a structured trench coat out of "gasp" mostly yellow corduroy. - with pink pokka dot trim...





it is the softest corduroy from brooklyn general.  i purchased it a few years ago but they still have some left.  i strongly suggest picking some up if you can!  the pattern is from a japanese pattern book.  not being able to read japanese is normally not a problem, you can just follow the picture instructions like a piece of ikea furniture.  this one was a little tricky but i was able to figure it out.  





however, the trickiest part of this project was getting e to wear something that isn't all pink and doesn't twirl.  it wasn't going so well and i thought this adorable coat would wind up in the never worn pile. the tide turned one day at brooklyn general.  we went to pick out the buttons and heather the great asked e if she could see the coat on.  she made such a big deal about how beautiful it looked on her that e fell in love - with the coat and heather! 





the pattern calls for four buttons to form a double breasted closure.  even though pink buttons were picked out - e decided she didn't want them.  since she decided she loves it and wants to wear it all the time, i wasn't going to push it...