vappu

Pattern: Vappu by Suvi Simola
Yarn: Cascade 220 heathers colour # 2425 (leftovers from this)

A few months ago Suvi and Mari Muinonen released a stunning collection of patterns as a hardcopy book in Finnish as well as 2 PDFs in English called 'Hold Your Needles'. I absolutely love the work of both of these designers so I waited for this collection with great excitement. It has a wide assortment of sweaters and accessories and there are many, many I want to knit.

I'm working on several of my own designs right now and I felt guilty jumping into a sweater but I decided I really could use a new set of mitts and hat. These only took a few nights to make and they're super warm and cozy. Now, my head is burning up with what I can only assume is the onset of the flu my children have suffered with this week so I'll go lie down. And wish I didn't have a party to attend tonight. Hope your weekend is awesome.  

release into the wild

My Ridge pattern now lives on Ravelry here. It's constructed top-down with raglan shaping using Shalimar Yarns Breathless (in 'glacier' and 'gunmetal'). It features welts along the front opening and sleeve cuffs which take a bit of time but I think add an interesting detail to an otherwise straightforward sweater.

I decided on a pleat to add interest to the back and used Erica's ingenius decrease pleat in reverse.

The yarn is wonderful to work with and I think this will be a useful layer in cool-to-warm weather months.

I can't stop

I may be a wee bit obsessed at the moment with dyeing. I also can't stop reading the Hunger Games books. I don't think the 2 are related but you never know. Happy Valentine's Day :)

another use for swatches

The girl started violin lessons last week. I couldn't resist renting one for myself, too. The rentals don't come with shoulder rests and they cost $35. After trying various cloths and sponges I discovered my swatch was the perfect thickness.

I'm also having fun with Instagram on my phone.

And spinning.

(Northboundknitting BFL in 'Nocturne' spun to fingering wt.)

And more dyeing

And knitting. I'll show soon.

Happy weekend.

finished julia

Pattern: 'Best Friends Pullovers - Julia's Sweater' by Kristin Nicholas (in 'Color by Kristin')
Yarn: Nashua Handknits Julia (wool, mohair, alpaca) in 'magenta', 'squash', blue thyme', 'coleus', 'velvet  moss', and 'lady's mantle'

I've had the yarn in my stash for about a year with the intention of making this sweater, so I'm glad I finally set aside some time to do it. It only took a little over 2 weeks, while working on other stuff as well, so it was pretty fast. The worsted weight helped, too. And this yarn! Such loveliness in this fibre blend and the colours are saturated and gorgeous.

The pattern itself is great, too. The motifs in the charts are interesting and the embroidered embellishments are fun additions (there are also supposed to be French knot thingies on the tops of some of the flowers which I attempted and failed miserably at, so they're omitted).

I did find the collar needed decreases added to the corners or else it stood up awkwardly, then I shortened it so the opening wouldn't be too small. I also wish the sleeve openings were a touch longer. Once you have steek remnants and hem stitches in there they bunch a bit under the arms. I lengthened the sleeves by several inches, since the pattern has 3/4 length and I wanted full. Otherwise, I'm generally happy with this warm sweater, and I think the girl likes it.

variance

Pattern: Variance by Lisa Mutch
Yarn: dk weight 2-ply yarn I spun from NorthboundKnitting Superwash BFL roving in 'Wicked Witch of the North' colourway

The NorthboundKnitting group on Ravelry is having a knit-along and I couldn't resist using this gorgeous yarn I spun last fall from Lisa's fibre. I love these colours and her wonderful cowl pattern is a perfect vehicle to use handspun yarn to its best advantage. It even wraps twice around your neck for maximum warmth. Love. Love. Love.

more julia

Now that the holiday knitting season has passed I've reverted back to my old habits of working on too many projects at once. Bad me. So I'm trying to finish up several smaller things this week to check off my list while I work on the above obsession. The body's now done save for blocking and doing the embroidery bits on the row of flowers. You can see how it's a basic tube with steeked sleeve openings and neck. No shoulder shaping, either. Even though it's fair isle, the worsted weight means it's knitting up super fast.

It's crazy cold and we've all been sick this week, but the upside is it's fantastic knitting time. Stay warm, peeps.