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...

The Summer Of No Knitting

this has definitely been the summer of no knitting. my family and i spend most of the summer at the beach and even though i packed a ton of yarn, it was just too darn hot!

i only managed to complete one project and it was probably because it was a lace weight silk!

copper raglan

pattern: elizabeth zimmerman's seamless raglan

yarn: habu textiles a-1, 2/17 tsumugi and habu textiles copper

needles: size 5, circular

i am giving credit to elizabeth zimmerman for the pattern but the truth is i just knit to my own measurements. i also added in some waist shaping since the copper would take away some of the stretch. love, love, love the copper!!! i wish the one sweater and blog post for a while could be more exciting but alas it is not.

i am working on two more exciting projects right now so until next time...

Sunset Cardi

i was super upset that i ran out of yarn on the habu tank i just made and couldn't do the pockets. i really love pockets!!! so the next project definitely needed some. add those pockets into a much needed lightweight summer sweater and you get the:

sunset cardi

pattern: made up as i went along

yarn: lana grossa linea pura biosoja, 9 skeins

needles: size 5 circular

i knit to my measurements - but should be easy enough to size up or down so please leave a comment or message me if you want the full details.

inspired by simple japanese clothing, the sunset cardi is an asymmetrical cardigan fastened at the top and allowed to swing open. i started at the bottom and knit up around 9 inches where i created space for the pockets on each side. at the same time i did some slight waist shaping.

when long enough to the armholes i separated for the front and back. using the provisional cast on method, i added enough stitches to form the arms (i like long sleeves) and knit up the fronts. leaving the fronts on waste yarn, i picked up the stitches from the provisional cast on and knit up the back and then grafted the front and back stitches together, leaving a larger than average neck. the collar is just the neck stitches knit back and forth until it was a size i was comfortable with. not wanting to take away from the simplicity of the sweater, i used snaps as closures.

this was a super simple and fast knit and i am happy to write the pattern up for anyone interested. it definitely calls for a heavy, drapey yarn!