Felicity Hat by Wanett Clyde

Several weeks ago, my co-worker Leah walked in the yarnstore with the coolest hat. After I was done admiring Leah’s hat she quickly informed me that she got the pattern for free on Ravelry and that it is named “Felicity Hat”.

I was struck by its simple yet cool looking design and planned on making one myself. When searching for the pattern on Ravelry, I was stunned to see that over 900 Ravelry members knitted the Felicity Hat!

The designer of this hat, Wanett Clyde (Nettie on Ravelry) has a blog called “Knitology“. 

Go visit and  download her pattern but please make sure to say hi and express your gratitude. After all, Wanett is so kind enough to give out her Felicity Hat for free!

I am itching to start one myself right this minute and I already have yarn for it but… my hands hurt terribly… 

Every once in a while, my hands hurt so bad, that I just cannot pick up the needles and knit. Bah…I want my Felicity Hat!

Oh well… just gotta ride this one out…

In the meantime, high five to Wanett, thanks so much for your beautiful Felicity Hat!!! 

All pictures in this blogpost courtesy of Wanett Clyde.

Thanks for reading and until the next entry…

Alice Palmer

Scream…! This is aesthetically pleasing to me!

Check out this post by Rebekah Roy over at fashion-stylist.net:

Interview with Knitwear designer Alice Palmer

Geez. Who am I calling myself a “knitwear designer“? Hahahaha..! Please…

Thanks for reading and until the next entry!

 

Talk to me

I have been coveting this beautiful cardigan called Kilcar by Debbie Bliss for the longest…

This beauty is made with bulky yarn and it so happens that I have some black bulky yarn in my stash so I eagerly casted on.

But…who wants to look at black yarn when outside the trees are blooming pink and Spring is softly announcing its presence?

So rip rip it goes… and onto some more Spring color looking yarn!

 

Talk to me, Karabella Breeze…

Me and Breeze by the brand Karabella have been hanging out together. At first this lovely silk and cashmere blend seemed a perfect fiber for this design by Stefanie Japel:

But now I am having seconds thoughts… You see, Breeze has in my opinion a more casual look and feel to it. The stitches are kind of uneven and sort of organic looking. It just yearns to be something more casual…but what? 

Doing some more swatching

My very first swatch I did with needle size US 4 and I now I am  dying to see how this fiber will look and feel if I open up the stitches a bit more. So I casted on and made a swatch with needle size US6.

I sure do like the look of it on a US6… airy and open, just about right.

For the past few days I have been looking at my swatches, holding it close to me, inspecting the stitches, see how it flows in the hope that they would tell me what they wanted to be.

This one is a hard one to crack though… I haven’t figured it out yet. Some keywords might help me out:

• Soft flowing
• Light
• Open stitches great for spring weather
• Casual/Organic chic
• Old rose vintage color

What does this want to become? A shell, tanktop, nightie, light sweater, open cardigan? I just have no idea yet.

I so want it to talk to me… maybe she is, but I am not listening well enough.

First drawing

Finally, after lots of staring and dreaming, I made a first drawing of a possible design with Breeze… I am going to ponder some more, make some more drawings and hopefully we wil come to an agreement.

Thanks for reading and until the next entry!

 

 

 

Sandra Backlund

Knitwear designer Sandra Backlund certainly has my attention. Big time.

Don’t expect any patterns from her. This is the kind of knitwear designer that puts handknitting on a whole different level. Like way up there.

Props to Sandra Backlund. Check it out:

Sandra Backlund

Lovely Textiles: Sandra Backlund

Neu Black: Sandra Backlund

Sandra Backlund: not your average knitter

 

Thanks for reading and until the next entry…

Finished: Black Textured Tunic

Pattern: Textured Tunic with(out) Side Buttons
Book: Fitted Knits, Designer Stefanie Japel
Yarn: 10 balls of Margrite Bulky by Karabella colorway black
Needles: Addi Turbo 24″ circ. #10 and wooden needle #10 and #11 to cast off
Cast on date: Mid February, 2009
Cast off date: March 18, 2009

Suck in that belly

She’s done… came out somewhat smaller than planned but still fits fine. Very fitted now, which means I gotta suck in that belly which I am not very happy about. Sucking it in and holding your breath for just a second in front of the camera is manageable. To do this all day…oooffff.

Oh well…it fits and looks fine which is all I want and need in a handknitted sweater! And I know that with a couple of wears, it will stretch out.

Lets look at the modifications

1. Decreases and increases applied at the side
2. No side buttons and no side slits

Trials and tribulations

Problem:

Casted off at the bottom too tight. This caused the bottom part to draw in and pucker while I was wearig it which was really not okay with me.

Solution:

Instead of casting off with the needlesize #10 I was working with, I used needlesize #11 to cast off. I am a tight knitter you see… casting of loosely does not make sense to me. So switchting to a bigger needle helps!

Helpful tips

 

1. Use a figure 8 cast on. This will make the neckline a bit sturdier.
2. Also, give your neckline a crochet edge to reinforce it and to prevent the neck edge from rolling.
3. ALWAYS CHECK YOUR GAUGE. 

How do I like the yarn?

Simply love the yarn. It is such a delight to work with and it feels super super soft on my skin. It is also nice and warm because of the cashmere blend. 

I love that it is black yarn and I did not have troubles working with it. Just make sure you use good lighting when you work with black yarn in the evening.

I’ve got two Textured Tunic sweaters now!

I simply adore the fact that I can recreate a sweater when I want to. No more crying when my favorite sweaters get too old to wear. I just whip out another one!

To read about my first Textured Tunic, click here…

Knitting rules!

Thanks for reading and until the next entry

Knit on the Net

This morning while browsing Ravelry.com for new exciting patterns I so pleasantly found myself stumbling upon an exciting knitting website:

Knit on the Net

Knit on the Net offers, among other knitting related stuff, free patterns and I am particularly struck by this cute cute vintage sweater:

Miss DeHavilland

How come I never heard of this website I ask myself? I always check out Knitty.com, but now for sure, I will be looking forward to every new issue of Knit on the Net as well.

By the way, if you happen to be on Ravelry, my username is: gettingpurly. Come say hello or drop me a message anytime.

Thanks for reading and until the next entry.

Almost done!

Allthough my gauge was off and my black Textured Tunic sweater will turn out somewhat smaller than planned, I am still happy with it. 

When working on a top down raglan sweater, I usually finish the body and then do the arms last. This time however, I am a wee bit concerned that I might run out of yarn to finish my sleeves. So I decided to do my sleeves first and then finish the bottom of the sweater.

All in all, I only have one ball of Karabella Margrite Bulky left to finalize everything! 

I am very very excited about this black sweater and cannot wait to put it on and flaunt it. 

No side slits this time

Remember how I made side slits in my previous Textured Tunic?

Not going to go for that this time. I am just going to take the easy way out: just a simple 10 to 12 row of seed stitch and call it quits! Easy sweater all the way! Love that.

Stefanie Japel writes easy to follow patterns…

I cannot tell you what an easy sweater project this Textured Tunic is. Yes I made several modifications (which I will write about when my black sweater is done), but all in all Stefanie Japel has done a great great job writing the pattern out in such a clear and easy to follow way that she did.

So if you ever are in search for a top down raglan sweater book, give Stefanie Japel’s “Fitted Knits” a try.

Thanks for reading and until the next entry!

ps: Chris, writer of the blog Alice*Thelma, posted the last part of our interview.Check it out:

Alice Thelma

Got Gauge..?

I am a swatcher… big time. Before I start a sweater I am known for making at least two swatches with different needle sizes.

Not only do I make my swatches, I also wash them and then measure my gauge again after my swatches are dry. 

I will not leave anything to chance, I have to get gauge, and I will go out of my way to get it before I start on a big project for a sweater. I feel more secure and comfortable and believe that swatching promises a succesful sweater project.

But I got lazy… very lazy. With the current sweater project I am working on, I did not do a swatch and lulled myself into believing that it would be okay. I did not even check along the way if my gauge was spot on. I just assumed everything was just fine…

Eh…

I am working on another Textured Tunic because I love this sweater so much and of all the sweaters that I made, I wear it the most. I wanted my second one exactly to be as my first one:

Only this time I wanted to make it in the color black and instead of using the yarn Royal Tweed by Lana Grosa, I decided to use the yarn Margrite Bulky by Karabella. Both yarns state that they have the same gauge, so I thought I would be just fine and casted on exactly the same amount of stitches as my first sweater and also used exactly the same needlesize.

Uh oh… look what happened:

Rats..! Came out smaller!

Analyzing after the fact

So let’s analyze what happened here so that you learn from what I did wrong.

The pattern states that my gauge should be 13 stitches over 4 inches in stockinette stitch. I was spot on gauge with my first sweater.

However, on my second sweater, for which I did not do a gauge swatch (bad Nancy), I have a gauge of 15 stitches over 4 inches.

When you have more stitches than the gauge of the pattern calls for, your garment will come out smaller!

So instead of 13 stitches over 4 inches, my gauge yield 15 stitches over 4 inches. Allthough it is only 2 stitches off, it can have consequences for your garment.

So now what?

See, even a seasoned knitter like myself makes mistakes. And it is okay. My black sweater will fit me snugger than I have wanted to, but oh well, I just take into consideration that it will relax out after several wears.

At least it still fits me.

So, I am leaving it like it is and embrace my mistake. 

Apart from my little gauge issue, I have to say, the Margrite Bulky is delicious beyond belief. Apart from the great stitch definition it is heavenly cashmerily soft, has a beautiful sheen to it, and just makes this knitter purrrrr like a little kitten.

Try it one time. You will not regret it.

Thank you for reading and until the next entry!

 

Interviewed

I have been interviewed by knitter and photographer Chris Tolomei, writer of the knitting blog Alice*Thelma. I had so much fun giving the interview and truly felt like a little celebrity…

To read the interview, please visit Chris’ blog:

Alice Thelma

 

Thanks for reading and untill the next entry!

 

 

 

Staring at my Gloves

I finished my gloves and cannot stop staring at them… I am amazed, so incredibly amazed at this beautiful piece of knitting engineering. I just cannot get over the fact that somebody figured this out and actually wrote the pattern.

I used lace weight yarn from Karabella and fingering weight yarn from Louet Gems to play around:

What amazes me the most is that I did not use 4 double pointed needles to complete each individual finger. Two double pointed needles did the trick with using the Double Knitting technique. This means that you knit a tube inside out with only two needles.

 

Top down fingertips

The fingers are all knitted top down. A wonderful cast-on technique and turning of the fingertips creates elegant fingertips:

Elegant attaching of the fingers, perfect seams

Furthermore, the attaching of the fingers are done by such an elegant technique leaving a perfect seam in between the fingers. This my dear reader, is poetry to me:

In this picture you can see how flawless the thumb is attached:

And just look at the seam between thumb and palm:

I am so happy to have taken this class. Talented knitter and excellent teacher Judy Taylor is offering this class again in the Fall. Don’t miss it. You will not regret taking this class!

Thanks for helping me choosing a picture!

Thanks everyone, for helping me choose a picture for my Sally Hat pattern. It was really great fun and no doubt picture # 3 was by far the most popular.

At this moment, the pattern is being send to graphic designers and hopefully all will be ready by next week. Fingers crossed!

Thank you so much for reading and until the next entry!