Tag

patterns

8
Oct
2014

shawls, sweaters, sewing, yarn, and a new pop up yarn shop

Each Wednesday I post little snippets about the projects I’m working on.
You can see all of the Wednesday posts here.


late night knitting

I bound off my shawl! Knit out of Julie Asselin’s Merletto and of my own design, I can’t wait to block it and see how it turned out!

sweater blocking

First I need this sweater to dry.

I’m so accustomed to knitting & blocking lace shawls (which can dry in a couple hours) that the day or two sweaters require to dry feels like an eternity.

sewing

I took a break from my frantic sweater knitting to do a little bit of sewing…

In my brain I know that sewing is faster than knitting – a lot faster – but every time I’m away from the sewing machine for more than a week or so, I sort of forget how much faster it really is.

knitting while editing video about knitting

Mostly though, it’s been sweater knitting all the way.

My boring black sweater is nearing being finished. I started the first sleeve yesterday – and thanks to a long evening of knitting & drinking with friends it’s to the elbow.

Got to love a good distraction for many hours of knitting stockinette.

Gauge and Tension goodie bag

Last weekend I went to the opening party of a new pop up yarn shop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Gauge + Tension is run by two friends of mine, Michele and Melissa. G+T specializes in high end, hard to find yarns – and it does not disappoint!

Western Sky Knits - superwash merino lace

I was restrained and picked up one skein of Western Sky Knits – superwash merino lace weight, in the colorway “elephant.” It’s a really beautiful irresistible purple-grey-y color.

They also carry, Julie Asselin, Brooklyn Tweed, Quince & Co. Jones & Vandermeer, Sleep Season, Hedgehog, and Tanis Fiber Arts. You can see all of their yarns and fibers here.

If you’re around for the NYC Yarn Crawl this coming weekend, Kristin of “Voolenvine” is going to set up shop at Gauge + Tension.

If you’re in or around NYC, be sure to check them out!

G+T’s address, days & store hours can be found here, on their website.

Gauge and Tension

And my G+T project bag is already hard at work protecting my boring black sweater from harm – not that you’d be able to see a stain on this sweater…

8
Sep
2014

Which mistakes can you live with?

What mistakes can you live with

We all make mistakes. (Obviously.)

And fortunately in knitting, (almost) every mistake is fixable.
(Apart from things like lighting your sweater on fire.)

But that doesn’t mean all mistakes need to be fixed.

I’m not advocating sloppiness,
because there’s no need for that.

But pure perfection is boring,
and usually unattainable.

Wafian has a spot where the boarder is garter instead of i-cord
– when I got distracted for a row.

Eirwen has a couple loose stitches near the beginning
– where the magic loop pulled a yarn over too large.

Izar has a couple stripes completely out of order
– where I forgot what I was doing for a bit.

Tumbling Deco was supposed to have a smooth boarder (like Mrs. Peacock)
– but I didn’t have the blocking wires.

When it comes to mistakes in my knitting my thinking is…

: if it’s structural, fix it.
(an incorrect stitch count, an off-center repeat, funky shaping, extra rows)

: if it’s cosmetic, it can stay – or get fixed – usually depending on my mood.
(a misordered stripe sequence, a different blocking method, an incorrect stitch that your eye glosses over)

 

So, which mistakes can you live with?

fixing my knitting