Cotton Candy Zickzacks

We've been enjoying some gorgeous spring weather lately (albeit far too early in the year, in my opinion). All that sunshine means yard work, grilling, hiking, and a plethora of other outdoor activities that drag me away from my sewing machine. I haven't sewn a stitch in over two weeks. It's insane. But I also know I should enjoy the weather while I can because it'll be ridiculously hot before we know it.

Something I can do while hanging on the patio with friends, however, is knit. I finished up these beautiful socks recently, and I just adore them! The pattern is the Smokey Zickzacks from New Directions in Sock Knitting, the same book that contains a couple of my own designs. I can't take credit for this particular pattern though; that honor belongs to Natalia Vasilieva.

I used an old, discontinued sock yarn that's been in my stash forever - S.R.Kertzer On Your Toes in color #KOF.3825. I picked it because its self-striping pattern produced stripes of a similar width to the yarn used in the sample socks in the book. I think a variegated or hand-painted yarn would look good too, but might not accentuate the chevrons as nicely. Ditto for a gradient yarn. A self-striping yarn, I think, would do this pattern the most justice.

I had some issues with fit along the way, the largest size being too big around and the next size down being too short for my freakishly long, narrow feet. But after I'd knitted one full ill-fitting sock, I understood the construction much better, and with advice from Natalia herself, I was able to modify the second-to-largest size to lengthen the foot by simply adding a few stitches to either side of the double increase nearest the toe. I did have to sacrifice some leg length though, to make sure I would have enough yarn for a second sock. I just omitted a pair of increases and decreases between the cuff and the heel. But I actually like a shorter leg anyway, so that was fine.

The original pattern has the zigzags spaced out a little differently on the second sock than on the first, but you know me - symmetry is crucial. So in addition to my sizing modifications, I also shifted the increases and decreases on the second sock so the zigzags would match up.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed this pattern (enough to knit three full socks, after all!) and have already added several more of Natalia's designs to my knitting queue. This one is not for the faint of heart though. A very long provisional cast-on, as well as a mid-row provisional cast for the heel, and the grafting of over a hundred stitches to finish each sock, make this pattern more suitable for an experienced knitter. But those with the chutzpah to try it will not regret it!

Refined Knits

I received another book for review a couple weeks ago - Refined Knits by Jennifer Wood - and it has some truly lovely designs. It's chock full of beautiful patterns,ranging in difficulty from simply elegant accessories to expertly cabled sweaters.





I wrestled with which her designs to knit first and eventually settled on the Estee Light Cowl, with its airy pattern of eyelet lace alternating with four-stitch cables. I pulled a ball of yarn from my stash that had been languishing there for six years. It's Fiesta Yarns Boomerang in a subtle mix of cream and khaki - enough variation to add a bit more interest to the fabric without taking away from the stitch pattern. In fact, the differing gauges of the lace and cables did a wonderful job of breaking up the colors in the yarn to prevent any awkward pooling. The pattern and chart were well-written and easy to follow. The only modification I made was to do an extra half-repeat of the chart because I wanted a slightly wider cowl, and because I had enough yarn to do so.





I am typically a fairly monogamous knitter, but have recently indulged in a few... diversions. Now I really must be getting back to my current design project. I imagine though, this book will be staying on my coffee table a bit longer, within easy reach to be flipped through again between those seemingly endless bouts of ripping and re-knitting that go hand-in-hand with the designing process.

Polka Dot Refashion Number 347

I snatched up this lovely polka dot number on Yerdle a couple months ago when I had a free shipping credit, meaning I got it for a whopping $0! It fit fairly well, except that the sleeves were a bit tight. The length was also a little dowdy.

Cross-Stitch to Calm

You guys, I think I've discovered a new obsession - cross-stitch! Just think about it - tiny little perfect x's all in a row. How could I not love this craft? I was recently given this book to review, Cross-Stitch to Calm by Leah Lintz. It has 40 easy patterns, ideal for a beginner such as myself. There's even a section at the front of the book that explains some of the basics. And isn't that little bird on the cover just the cutest?

Inspired to try something new, I ventured out to the craft store last weekend to procure the necessary supplies. Embroidery hoop - check. Needles - check. Embroidery floss - check. Cross-stitch fabric? Nah, I have oodles of fabric at home. There's gotta be something in my stash that will do. Mistake #1. Anything I'm likely to sew with will almost certainly be too fine a weave for cross-stitch. Unless you have perfect vision and the sun is always shining in your living room. I should have read the book's section on choosing the right fabric before I left the house. But I didn't. So I muddled through this first project, squinting all the way, and vowed to acquire something more suitable for next time.

In addition to the need for proper fabric, I learned a few more lessons along the way. For instance, it's better to cut shorter lengths of thread than longer ones. As a knitter, my desire to use the scissors as little as possible actually came back to bite me. A thread too long increases the likelihood of knots and tangles, slowing down the entire process each time you have to pick one of those apart. Furthermore, pulling the same piece of thread through the fabric over and over again can damage the individual fibers and eventually lead to breakage. After some trial and error, I found about 12 inches to be a decent length of floss to work with.

According to Ms. Lintz, you should always start in the center of your design. So I began with the dark pink hearts, and you can see I had lots of knots and ickiness there. The red hearts are a little better, but still not great. Then I moved on to the medium pink, and finally the palest pink is looking pretty darn good. By that time, I had also learned the best way to secure my ends under the nearby stitches on the back side and the fact that tension plays an important role in many needlecrafts, not just knitting. It turns out pulling your thread too tightly can make your hearts shorter, fatter than you might like.

Another thing I learned: pay attention! I got so caught up making adorable little hearts that I lost track of my pattern and made a whole heart where there should have only been half of a heart. See that dark pink half-heart right in front there? Yeah, I had to pick out the other half after I realized what I'd done, but the fabric underneath was left distorted from the stitches. The "pay attention" lesson can also be applied to where one places one's needle at the end of a stitch session, especially if one has a dog (or cat or kid or any other critters) with a history of eating dangerous objects. At least twice I had to get down on my hands and knees and search the carpet for the blasted thing so Laika didn't find it first.

Though there were plenty of mistakes and lots of lessons learned, I thoroughly enjoyed the entire process and will definitely stitch up some more of the designs in this book. Like that cute little bird on the cover maybe. For now, I just need to figure out how and where I want to display my heart of hearts.

In the meantime, I've already charted up a few ideas of my own and have started stitching one of them. Details to come!

My Refashioned Romance

Instead of a bright red or pink outfit, I decided to go for a more feminine, romantic look for Valentine's Day this year. As luck would have it, a friend had given me this lovely floral dress a few months ago. It had a nice hemline that came up higher on one leg, but I wasn't keen on the two different floral prints together.

I thought a little lace might go a long way here, so I pulled out a pale pink piece of lingerie from my heavier days. It seemed appropriate to incorporate this into a Valentine's Day refashion.

New Directions in Sock Knitting

It thrills me to no end to announce that today, February 1, in bookstores everywhere, you can pick up this fantastic new sock knitting book, chock full of marvelous designs "knitted from every which way"!

Photo courtesy of Interweave publishing

Inside its pages, you'll find such wonders as Crystalline - a cuff-down sock designed with biased stitching and interesting angles to mimic the faceted growth patterns of rock crystals. And who designed it, you may ask? Why, it was me! That's right! A for-realsies, paper book with my name in it!

Photos courtesy of Interweave publishing

But wait, there's more! A second pattern by yours truly in the very same book! Meet Cumulus - a modular, toe-up design that brings to mind billowy clouds and plays ever so well with semi-solid, tonal colorways.

Photos courtesy of Interweave publishing

So what are you waiting for? Hop on down to your local bookstore, or order your copy on Amazon now!

Disclaimer: I have already been paid for my designs and will receive no royalties from the sales of this book. I just really think you'll like it. :)

Leather and Wool

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen a teaser of this project last weekend - a black and white houndstooth, 100% wool, men's suit jacket which I got for free via my local Freecycle group a couple years ago.

You see, I've been using my upcycled leather fold-over messenger bag almost exclusively since I made it back in August. But there have been outfits which I've felt, despite my growing comfort with mixing brown and black, really needed a black bag instead of a brown one. And though I have a couple black handbags, what I really wanted was an over-sized bag that could carry all my stuff - cell phone, wallet, car keys, house keys, sunglasses, phone charger, earbuds, knitting project, lip balm, lotion, nail clippers, emery board, feminine hygiene products, pen and paper - you know, the essentials. I had seen tote bags on Pinterest made of men's suit jackets, so I thought, why not get a little fancier and make a messenger bag instead?

Totally Rad

Last week's denim and lace project got me thinking about another denim jacket patiently waiting in my refashion closet for its turn to shine. This vintage Levi's jacket from last autumn's clothes swap was in pretty good condition other than the dirty and damaged collar. The sleeves were also a little baggier than I would have liked.

I started brainstorming about how I could replace the collar and sleeves while salvaging the body of the jacket, and then it hit me. Leather! So I pulled out this long black leather skirt from last spring's clothes swap and set about recreating a Veda X Madewell jacket I saw on Pinterest.

Denim and Lace

Some of you may remember this white denim jacket, which had some unfortunate stripey action going on until almost two years ago when I introduced it to a bucket of bleach. Sadly, and not surprisingly, I think the bleach probably weakened the fabric, and one fateful day, rrriiiiiippp went the side panel when I raised my arm. Not to worry! I've got a too-tight lace tee that'll fill in that hole nicely.

Exsanguine

Apologies, dear readers, for my absence. I'm afraid the hustle-bustle of the holidays and an acute case of The Plague (or maybe it just felt like it) have kept me away from the blog for a couple weeks. I'm feeling much better now though and plan to get back to your regularly scheduled programming soon. But first! Knitting!

Take a gander at my newest knitting pattern, the Exsanguine shawl, now available for purchase and download through Ravelry. Its upside-down hearts and aptly namely colorway - "My Bloody Valentine" - call to mind the darker side of human emotions. So whether you're commemorating the upcoming anniversary of the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre or secretly dreaming of that guy who dumped you on February 13th last year meeting a slow, painful death, you can do so in style and warmth with your very own Exsanguine shawl.

Or hey, maybe you'd like a cheerier accessory for upcoming holiday of romance. Worked up in a solid red or pink, the lacy heart pattern would take on a whole new aesthetic. You could even use a fun rainbow gradient yarn to celebrate the USA's first Valentine's Day with nationwide marriage equality! #LoveWins!

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS
Span: 48 inches
Height at center: 19 inches

MATERIALS
Vice Blurred Lines [80% merino, 20% nylon; 457m/500yd per 150g skein]; color: My Bloody Valentine; 1 skein
US #6/4mm needles
Tapestry needle

GAUGE
20 sts/32 rows = 4 inches in stockinette stitch

BUY IT NOW!