FO: Aerie Shawl

As a Christmas present to myself, I joined the TFA Year in Colour Club for 2013.

The first pattern of the year was the Aerie Scarf by the very talented Julie Crawford. Now, my first thought on opening the pattern back in January was that it was very beautiful, but it was soooo not my style. I liked the lace pattern. I adored the yarn. But the scarf is just not my style. So I put everything for it aside and began ruminating about how to turn this into something that I loved.

full length view of the shawl

lace detail

And then, in early March, I was watching The Dark Knight Rises. Now, most of you probably didn’t notice this, but in TDKR, some of Bane’s henchmen wear these red (probably asymmetrical) scarves that remind me of something Martina Behm would design.  And that’s where I started working. I grabbed the (gorgeous) mulberry silk in boysenberry and my size 4 needles. And I started building an asymmetrical garter stitch scarf. Then, about three feet into the garter stitch, I added three repeats of chart A of the lace charts from Julie’s pattern. I then put in about eight or nine more rows of garter stitch, three more repeats of chart A, eight or nine more rows of garter stitch, and three more repeats of chart A. I used up about 75% of the skein (around 415 yards, I think). And I am thoroughly pleased with the result. I foresee this baby getting a lot of use this spring. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to make myself a pair of Patina socks. 

FO: Another Hunter Street Cowl

Less than three weeks ago, I posted about my recently finished Hunter St. Cowl. It was purple and gorgeous, and I was in love. In fact, I was so in love that I turned around, picked my size 4 needles back up, grabbed another skein of fingering weight yarn, and set to work making a second Hunter St. Cowl.

Yesterday, in the midst of a snow day, I finished my second Hunter St. Cowl. And I am still as in love as ever. I love the style, the pattern, everything. It’s stunning. Glenna has created a truly fabulous pattern.
One of the great things about this pattern is that while it in and of itself is gorgeous, it allows you to showcase a fantastic yarn. And for me, that’s what this second cowl was about. Back in the fall, I purchased a skein of 75/25 fingering weight yarn from Tanis‘ Etsy shop. Now, I love TFA for their stunning colors. And I love their yarns. (Let’s not talk about how many projects I currently have on-needle that are using TFA yarns.) But this yarn was just a dream. It’s 75% merino wool and 25% silk. It’s soft and smooshy and cuddly and I’m pretty sure that it is somehow related to baby kittens.  And then there is the color. It’s a one-of-a-kind color, and I love it. While I was working on this project so many people commented on the color. The color is named “Green Sea” and my mom says that it looks exactly like seafoam should look. In short, I love this cowl. I foresee it getting used quite frequently especially once spring finally shows up. This really is a great spring color and style.

Project Details:

Pattern: Hunter Street Cowl by Glenna C.

Needle Size: US Size 4 (3.5mm)

Yarn: TFA 75/25 merino/silk fingering (green sea), an Etsy special from Tanis Fiber Arts

Miranda Headband and Cowl

 

Today, I have a great pleasure of announcing to y’all that I have finally finalized and published a knitting pattern that I started working on almost a year ago.  Back in February of 2012, I started working on a pattern for a headband and a cowl that I had decided to name after Miranda, Prospero’s lovely daughter in Shakespeare’s delightful, ethereal (and Caribbean) play The Tempest. It took me a year to get everything together, but at long last, it is my great pleasure to announce that the Miranda Cowl and Headband patterns are now available for sale on Ravelry. (Cowl pattern here, headband pattern here, both together here)Both projects require a US size 9 (5.5mm) needle and bulky weight yarn. I used Knit Picks Full Circle Bulky for the red sample and Dream in Color Groovy for the purple sample. The headband requires about 50-60 yards of yarn and the cowl requires about 110.
If you’re wondering how I combined a play set in the Caribbean with winter, it all comes from the dictionary definition of a tempest, which is “a violent windstorm, especially one with rain, hail, or snow.” Well, Shakespeare’s tempest had more to do with rain, but I live in Michigan. And while last winter wasn’t too snowy, I’ve already had three snow days in the past three weeks. In Michigan, we know what a tempest is all right. We just know different tempests than say those known by the folks in say Jamaica. I then looked at the way Miranda is described in The Tempest. And when I saw this particular line, I knew that I had found the name for this cowl and headband set.

…But you, O you,
So perfect and so peerless, are created
Of every creature’s best!

-The Tempest, Act III, Scene 1

So inside or outside, this set is designed to keep you warm and protect you from any and all tempests.  But sadly, I do not get to keep either of the samples. The red one must go back to its rightful owner and the purple one will be mailed to Pennsylvania tomorrow. Mercifully, I have a few skeins of bulky weight yarn in my stash yet so I can make myself a set. I love these two sample sets and I can’t wait to have one of my own.

So hop on over to Ravelry and check out the pattern pages!

P.S. Scroll back through my various pictures to see if you can spot my cutest employee photobombing my photoshoot.

13 Goals for 2013

For the third year in the row, I’m giving myself a list of goals for the year. As it is 2013, I’m giving myself a list of 13 goals. Two years ago, I had 11 Goals for 2011, and last year, I had 12 goals for 2012. This format seems to work well for me. I seem to be a “list person” and the blog seems to provide me with a sense of accountability. Last year, I went so far as to do a couple of check-in posts as my goals were achieved and evolved.

So now, here are my 13 for 2013.

1. To knit each of the patterns I receive in the Tanis Fiber Arts Year in Colour Club
2. To read Henry James’ Portrait of a Lady
3. To read Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives
4. To become a better cook
5. To knit the Hunter Street Cowl, the Royale pullover, the Water Street Cardigan, and the Chatelaine cardigan
6. To take a fun and exciting trip this summer
7. To get some sewing done-probably over the summer
8. To get my own place
9. To do something truly memorable and delightful to celebrate my quarter-century in July
10. To knit socks for myself
11. To go somewhere I’ve never been before
12. To develop a more regular exercise regime
13. To do something that scares me.

So those are my goals. I think I have some other dreams and hopes up my sleeves, but those are other stories for other days.

But for now, Happy New Year!

Update on 2012 Goals-Round Two

We are more than 50% of the way through 2012, so I thought I’d update us all on how I’m doing towards accomplishing my twelve goals for 2012. So I’m copying and pasting the amended list here. Then I’ll mark what’s complete and what’s not. And I may even amend a few goals…again.

1. Finish reading Middlemarch. It’s a carryover from last year, but this year I’m going to do it. Sorry, George Eliot, but you will not be on my 2013 list. Anthony Trollope will be replacing you. DONE!
2. Make six shawls this year. I made four pairs of socks last year, and I’m determined to do something awesome this year. To be entirely honest, I don’t know why I’m so fixated on this, but I am. So, six shawls, here I come. (If you’re wondering why I switched from socks to shawls, it’s because I use sock yarn to make shawls, but I like shawls more because they’re accessories you can really show off to everyone…even if they don’t notice.) Done…and I’ll probably have more than six done by the time 2012 ends. 
3. To find a real job-I think this is self-explanatory. Done! Praise the Lord!
4. Take the GRE…Done, but I don’t think grad school is coming up as quickly as I once thought.
5. Figure out which schools I want to apply to for grad school…and maybe apply this year? I might put that off another year. It depends on how a few other things play out. As previously stated, this goal is probably being postponed for quite some time…and I’m quite fine with that.
   
6. Go to Iowa for a week and see The Hunger Games with Jenn. DONE! And I’m more than willing to tell you how much I loved The Hunger Games. I loved it. I laughed. I cried. It moved me, Bob. 
7. Make Katie a sweater for her birthday…I know, I said I was going to do this last year, but I’m really going to do it this year.  She picked a pattern and a yarn today. It’s going to happen. And it’s now been postponed until 2013. I attempted to make her a sweater for her birthday but it died. Then, I was going to make her one for Christmas, but she wants pig mittens more than a sweater. So now, my goal is to make Katie pig mittens for Christmas…because she’s classy like that.
8. I want to make myself six sweaters this year. And I want the Ravelympics Ravellenic Games to help me to this goal. (NB: These six sweaters do include the two cardigans I currently have on needle from 2011. They do not include the tunic I am frantically trying to finish right now or the two short sleeved shrugs I’m planning to make in the next week or so.) I have two done and two three on needle. The tunic died in the dryer but that’s another story. But I should have six sweaters done by the end of the year. The Ravellenic Games have helped in this a bit but I still have more knitting to do.
9. I want to sew more of my own clothes. There’s something that I love about looking at a piece in my wardrobe and knowing that I created it. I value my homemade (both knit and sewn) wardrobe pieces more than I value store-bought stuff. Working on this…still working on it. I have a dress all cut out that I need to sew together and fabric for another dress that needs to be cut out and sewn together. Hmm…weekend projects, Cecilia? Hmm…
10. I want to have an adventure this year. I’m not entirely sure what that means, and based on the amount of uncertainty in my life at this point, I’m fairly certain that some sort of adventure is inevitable. Life is an adventure. The further I’ve gone into 2012, the more I have realized that my life is an adventure and while I never know where I’m going next, I always end up where I’m supposed to be. 
11. Spent more time praying…and actually finish reading both of Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth books; I’m thinking that I need to accept that having a cup of coffee with God in the morning or a mug of tea with him in the evening is actually acceptable-and good for me. I’ve finished both books and I loved them. 
12. Last year, my final goal was to become more patient. This year, I have the same final goal but with a slightly different approach. I want to find some form of meditation that will help me to achieve some sort of peace/patience in my life. The prayer to St. Michael is helping me with this, interestingly enough. 

 And that’s all for now. I am making even more progress on these goals, and it is nice to see how I’m accomplishing things. And I can’t wait to see what sort of progress I make between now and my next update on these goals.

Pattern Release-Grace

Today, I am excited to announce the release of my newest pattern, Grace.

Grace is a lightweight triangle shawlette designed to complement a casual summer outfit.

The name, Grace, was inspired both by the literal meaning of the word grace (elegance or beauty of form, manner, motion, or action) and the women in my family who have been named Grace.

Materials Needed
~350-440 yards of fingering weight yarn (the difference accounts for an optional ruffled edging)
~Four (4) stitch markers
~One set of US 6 (4.0mm) needles

I used Malabrigo Yarn Sock in Impressionist Blue for my sample, which you can see in all of the lovely photographs. For more details, please see my Ravelry project page.

All photographs (with the exception of the above photo) were taken by K. Pruss at My Favorite Cafe in Saline, Michigan. I am, per usual, my own model.

Hop on over to the Ravelry pattern page for more information.

 

 

Sunday Sewing

Back in May, I went to JoAnn’s and bought two yards of a gorgeous dark plum linen fabric. I was planning on making a top out of it. I even had a pattern in mind. I had plans. I was going to have an adorable top and soon.

Ahem. Some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. History became legend. Legend became myth. And for two and a half thousand years-or for two months, the fabric and pattern passed out of all knowledge. Until, when chance came, the ring ensnared a new bearer…or I finally remembered that I wanted to make a really cute dark purple top.

And with that memory came motivation. I was going to do this. In fact, I was going to do the whole thing in one day. And then, while I was at it, I was going to use the leftover fabric (the pattern only uses about a yard and a half) to make a cowl.

I got home from church around 1:30pm. I took this picture around 5:30pm.

This is what winning really looks like.

The caption says it all. This, Charlie Sheen, is winning. Winning is making a new top (including modifying the pattern and putting in a zipper) and a new cowl…all in under four hours.

The cowl was SUPER easy.

That’s about a yard and a half of fabric folded in half with two seams…looped around my neck twice. Classy.

And the cowl actually looks good with the top I’m wearing today…which is an unexpected bonus. (I am not, however, wearing it at the moment. Ninety-three degrees Fahrenheit is a bit too hot for a linen cowl.)

And then there’s my new top.

Fierce

I modified the pattern slightly from its original decision. The pattern was designed to have a side zipper. I didn’t like the idea of having a zipper in my armpit, so I cut the back out differently that directed and put the zipper in the center back instead of in the side. Also, I used a 7″ zipper instead of a 12″ zipper. This appears to be working out just fine for me.

Also, I added two ties to make the top a little more fitted. I really like this addition.

Back view…including back zipper and ties

Now I need some excuses to wear these two new gorgeous additions to my wardrobe. Maybe a brief vacation next weekend to the setting of Somewhere in Time could help?

But right now I need to try to finish knitting a sweater and a cowl by Thursday evening. Bring on the coffee…and watching Inspector Lewis with Momsy…

(P.S. Bonus points if you can find my modification of a Lord of the Rings quote…we all know how much I love to modify things.)

FO: Ava

I finished a dress today. And I named it Ava. If you pay much attention to my posts about my sewing projects, you’ll notice that I name things. So what was View A from Simplicity pattern 2246 is now Ava.

I started my photo shoot with this dress in the backyard and later moved to the front yard for a different setting and light.

I really wish that I could tell you that what kind of fabric I made Ava out of, but I can’t. I know that it is a machine washable fabric, and it’s a very comfortable fabric at that. I can also tell you that it is an absolutely lovely shirtwaist dress and I adore it.

I bought the pattern and fabric for Ava back in August, but I only actually really started working on the dress last weekend.

The project works up pretty quickly. It’s a quick and fun job. The only reason that it took me a week to finish it was that it took me until today to ask Mom for buttonhole making lessons. And once she showed me how to do it, it was all smooth sailing.

The belt, which I poached off a flannel shirt I bought at Vanity a year or so ago, does wonders for the dress. On its own, the dress is shapeless, but the belt gives it shape and a little pizzazz.

I probably bring a little pizzazz of my own, come to think of it.

And I’m expecting to get quite  a bit of wear out of this dress-both as a church dress and as a work dress. I have a feeling it will look fabulous over a pair of leggings or tights.

I can’t wait to see all the wardrobe possibilities this dress brings.

A Knitting Update

In today’s post, I’m going to show off two finished objects and one work-in-progress.

We’ll start with my Afternoon Tea shawl that I finished about two weeks ago. The first picture is me wearing it Friday night after church. The second I took in the backyard this afternoon.

The second finished object is my Magrathea shawl. Magrathea is a planet mentioned in Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. 

The shawl pattern is written entirely in charts, which was a new experience for me, but it was a good one. And the finished object is gorgeous. This afternoon, I went out for coffee with Becky and made use of her wonderful photography skills (and my awesome camera) to get a couple of modeled shots of the shawl.

And yes, I was drinking coffee while she took my picture. I was enjoying an Irish cream latte from Biggby. Let me tell you; I do love their Irish cream lattes.

When I got home, I took a picture of Magrathea and Afternoon Tea next to each other. I mentioned a few weeks ago that the two shawls are made from the same yarn (Malabrigo sock, yum!) and the same colorway (Abril) but being from different dye-lots, they are very different shades of the same colors.

I love both shawls, but the variance between them is astonishing.

And now for that WIP…I’m working on this project as a test knit, so I can’t release any details to you, but I can show you a few sneak-peaks of something gorgeous.

I’m not sure why but this reminds me of peacock feathers. And I’m very excited about it.

Update on My 2012 Goals

We are almost 25% of the way through 2012, so I thought I’d update us all on how I’m doing towards accomplishing my twelve goals for 2012. So I’m copying and pasting my original list here. Then I’ll mark what’s complete and what’s not. And I may even amend a few goals.

1. Finish reading Middlemarch. It’s a carryover from last year, but this year I’m going to do it. Sorry, George Eliot, but you will not be on my 2013 list. Anthony Trollope will be replacing you. DONE! (And it has been for a while.)
2. Make six shawls this year. I made four pairs of socks last year, and I’m determined to do something awesome this year. To be entirely honest, I don’t know why I’m so fixated on this, but I am. So, six shawls, here I come. (If you’re wondering why I switched from socks to shawls, it’s because I use sock yarn to make shawls, but I like shawls more because they’re accessories you can really show off to everyone…even if they don’t notice.)
3. To find a real job-I think this is self-explanatory.
4. Take the GRE…so I can go to grad school and, ya know, get a PhD in English literature
5. Figure out which schools I want to apply to for grad school…and maybe apply this year? I might put that off another year. It depends on how a few other things play out. I really want to apply to the University of Pittsburgh. 
6. Go to Iowa for a week and see The Hunger Games with Jenn. DONE! And I’m more than willing to tell you how much I loved The Hunger Games. I loved it. I laughed. I cried. It moved me, Bob. 
7. Make Katie a sweater for her birthday…I know, I said I was going to do this last year, but I’m really going to do it this year.  She picked a pattern and a yarn today. It’s going to happen. And it’s going to be a design I create. I already have it in my head. 
8. I want to make myself six sweaters this year. And I want the Ravelympics to help me to this goal. (NB: These six sweaters do include the two cardigans I currently have on needle from 2011. They do not include the tunic I am frantically trying to finish right now or the two short sleeved shrugs I’m planning to make in the next week or so.) I have two done and two on needle. The tunic died in the dryer but that’s another story. 
9. I want to sew more of my own clothes. There’s something that I love about looking at a piece in my wardrobe and knowing that I created it. I value my homemade (both knit and sewn) wardrobe pieces more than I value store-bought stuff. Working on this…
10. I want to have an adventure this year. I’m not entirely sure what that means, and based on the amount of uncertainty in my life at this point, I’m fairly certain that some sort of adventure is inevitable. Life is an adventure. 
11. Spent more time praying…and actually finish reading both of Pope Benedict’s Jesus of Nazareth books; I’m thinking that I need to accept that having a cup of coffee with God in the morning or a mug of tea with him in the evening is actually acceptable-and good for me. I finished the first Jesus of Nazareth book last night. And Momsy gave me the second one this morning so I can find out how it all ended. Don’t give me spoiler alerts. 
12. Last year, my final goal was to become more patient. This year, I have the same final goal but with a slightly different approach. I want to find some form of meditation that will help me to achieve some sort of peace/patience in my life. The prayer to St. Michael is helping me with this, interestingly enough. 

 And that’s all for now. I am making progress on these goals, and it is nice to see how I’m accomplishing things.