May The Force Be With You

my son is a huge star wars freak so last year i made him an adorable star wars fair isle yoke sweater. of course it is getting a little small so he wanted another one. not feeling up for all that fair isle work i convinced him that a "jedi" sweater would be soooo much cooler. he picked out some gray noro yarn and basically told me to get to work. now i was a little stuck - what would i do for a "jedi" sweater. after talking it over with some of my friday morning knitting group friends i realized all that was important was the huge hood. here is the end result:

"jedi" sweater

pattern: elizabeth zimmerman's tomten

yarn: noro shirakaba in color #2, gray

needles: #7 circular and #6 for inside of the hems

i decided to go with the basic pattern of the tomten since i knew that would give me the larger hood i needed. the biggest modification i made was to make the sweater stockinette instead of garter. once this decision was most of ez's percentages go out the window and then when i wanted to make the armholes smaller - the rest of them went out the same window!

the sweater was knit to h's measurements. i used a provisional cast on and then knit up to where i thought the sleeves should go. also, wanted the sleeves to start a little later so it would be less modular looking so i made the front and back larger and put less stitches on waist yarn for the armhole than you would for the typical tomten.

and then used a three needle bind off to make a more defined shoulder. i thought it was important for the hood to not have as much of a point so added some decreases in the center of it when i got close to the top. lastly, i then knit up the provisional cast on stitches and picked up all around the front and hood edges to form the mitered button hole band. and of course, used my favorite edge treatment - a nice neat hem. the buttons are different robot buttons i purchased at brooklyn general 2 years ago.

and there you have it - a "jedi" sweater - of course the hood should be a little bit bigger...

since i decided the rest of the summer will be spent finishing some things that have been sitting around - here are the egyptian mittens i started in january for my chicken knitting group. finally!

Glittery E

this was one of the first projects where the yarn called to me before a pattern. i saw the glittery silver threads and all the pink and just knew e would love it - sure enough she couldn't wait to put it on. in fact the pictures of her in it don't even have the buttons on it yet.

e's starry cardigan

pattern: loosely ez's seamless yoke sweater

yarn: dream in color starry, ruby river color

needles: size 3 circular

6 vintage pink buttons

went off of elizabeth zimmerman's seamless yoke sweater with lots of modifications. here are the full details of what i did...

provisionally cast on for the bottom of the sweater, knit one row, cast on 5 stitches for the steek and joined to knit in the round. from there i followed the usual seamless yoke pattern with, of course, making the sleeve wider than the original pattern calls for. the two sleeves have hemmed borders with a picot edging.

after knitting approximately one inch after joining the three tubes i knit 2 rows of purl and then doubled the amount of stitches to form the ruffle. after knitting 8 rows, i then halved the stitches right before it was time to decrease for the yoke. (does any of this make any sense?) i repeated this two more times. basically just replaced the fair isle patterns with ruffles and put two rows of purl in between.

when all that was done it was time for the steeking... wasn't as scary as the green sweater! i used the crochet method. i then picked up the cast on stitches on the bottom, up the front edge, around the neck and then back down the other front edge. knitting in the round i knit 8 rows of hem (including the button holes) with mitered corners - then the picot turn row (k2tog, yo) and then another 8 rows.

all that was then left was to sew down the hem and the steeked edges.

ta da! that's all it takes to make a very happy 2 year old girl! :)

Beaded Lace

beaded lace shawl

pattern: #10 beaded lace shawl from vogue knitting holiday 2008

yarn: canopy fingering weight, river dolphin color, approx 1000 yards

needles: size 7 circular

approximately 1000 size 6 beads

beaded lace is really my all time favorite thing to knit. just the sense of accomplishment alone makes it great! i've made a few of them and really wanted to make this one for myself. my friend made it for her wedding and i thought it would look awesome in a non-white color.

the pattern is well written. the only comment i have on it is the bind off takes a really long time and A LOT of yarn!! i ran out but luckily, mary, had some.

oh - btw - i am not pregnant even though i appear to be in the last picture.

Some Quick Sewing

i have to warn you - not the best photography here but i just finished some small sewing projects and wanted to share :)

pattern: oliver + s tiered halter from stitches magazine spring 2010

fabric: liberty of london from brooklyn general

words really cannot describe how much i love sewing with liberty fabric. it is just so smooth and flies thru the machine. now if it just wasn't so expensive! brooklyn general is having a sale so i finally got some to make the tiered halter shirt that was just featured in stitches magazine. i made three of these - for e and my two nieces. the pattern was very simple and easy to follow. besides printing out and taping together the pattern pieces... i didn't make any modifications. i do hope to get a picture today of all three girls in the shirt together.

pattern: oliver + s bedtime story pajamas

fabric: ready, set, robot from city quilter.

h was getting a little upset with the amount of sewing/knitting i do for e and not for him. it is true and i feel bad but it is just so much easier to a cute little dress than boys clothes :( but i had come across this robot fabric on a red background and picked up a few yards. (anyone who knows h knows red is his favorite color!) the pattern was super simple - the only mod i made was to just hem the bottom and i used the same fabric for the waist band as the legs. he's pretty happy with the results :)

Finishing Presents

i tend to knit almost all of the presents i give to people. just love giving someone i care about something i made. the only problem with this is when you are in the middle of the project and really aren't enjoying the process but need to finish or else buy something...

here are two cases of that exact problem. although, i think the receivers of these gifts will like them a whole lot more than i liked knitting them!

choice

yarn: berroco bonsai and berroco seduce - both in a natural color

needles: size 7, circular

pattern: choice by norah gaughan in her vol. 6 book for berroco

i wouldn't say this yarn was horrible to work with - but i definitely didn't love it... i wanted an easy no brainer project so i used the yarn the pattern called for and made no modifications. i probably should have gone down a needle size. made the smallest size but it is still a little big. this is going to be for my brother's fiancee and she is very little but she has a great sense of style so i am sure she will find a way to wear it!

golf club covers

yarn: berroco vintage in green, blue and tan

needles: size 5 and size 7, circular (magic loop method)

pattern: argyle golf club covers by sarah wilson

now this yarn i would say is horrible to work with!!! maybe i am just being a brat but i cannot stand knitting with this much acrylic! i bought some beautiful malabrigo sock yarn to make my dad socks for father's day but my mother didn't think he would wear them and would prefer golf club covers. i did like the pattern and only made a few modifications. 1- changed the ribbing to a 2x2. 2- added the stripes to the ribbing to mark the different sized clubs. 3- made tassels instead of pom poms for the tops.

i am going to be teaching a baby surprise jacket class at brooklyn general on wednesday mornings - starting next week. check out www.brooklyngeneral.com to sign up.

Happy Mother's Day

hourglass socks

yarn: claudia hand painted merino fingering weight yarn - honey color

needles: size 1.5 circular

pattern: hourglass socks from knitty

i have wanted to make these socks for the longest time and finally found the perfect excuse - i would make two pairs. one for my mother and one for my mother-in-law for mother's day. only problem - i hated the pattern. don't know why but i found it really really annoying. they are going to my mother-in-law since they were a little short and she has smaller feet! the only modification i made was to change the heel to an eye of the partridge stitch - which i use on all the socks i make...

tribute socks

yarn: claudia hand painted merino fingering weight yarn - chocolate color

needles: size 0 circular

pattern: tribute socks from knitty

definitely have a thing for the frost flowers lace pattern :) i had to make these socks as soon as i saw them. made them for my mother for mother's day. really nice easy sock pattern - only mod was the stitch pattern on the heel that i mentioned above. only regret is i didn't make them in a lighter color yarn so you would see the pattern better.

that's it for now. we are finishing up a major house renovation and to say i have been a little overwhelmed would be an understatement. hopefully i will be able to get some good shots and will post some before and after soon!

Happy Friend

bitterroot shawl

yarn: knit picks shadow in spring green

needles: size 6

pattern: bitterroot from knitty

you may think i am strange but lace is really my favorite thing to knit. i am trying to make at least every other project be a lace one - to make myself happy, of course. but how many shawls does one person need? so i started to knit this one not really knowing who it was going to - i had some left over yarn for a shawl i made my grandmother. as i was knitting, i decided it would go to a really good friend of mine who is also a knitter. i find we don't tend to knit a lot for fellow knitters, after all they could just make it themselves. but my friend wasn't having the easiest weeks and i thought she could use a little pick me up. who doesn't feel better getting a little present? once i decided who the shawl was going to it became an even faster knit. i highly recommend this pattern to anyone wanting to try knitting with beads. since the beads are only at the ends it isn't too much. the only negative is that it is a little smaller than i would like.

oh, i use the oral-b super floss method of placing the beads on.