Anne's Christmas Sweater

It took 12 months, but this cardigan for my sister is finally finished! We did two photoshoots to show it off - a Christmas-themed, and a non-Christmas themed. In the end, I couldn't decide which photos I liked best, so I'm posting both!

The Facts:

Pattern:    Forestry from Vogue Knitting
Size:         Small (with extra small arms)
Yarn:        Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran (12 skeins!), in Colour #360013
Mods:      I made the same modifications as most people on this project. Specifically:

• sizing down the sleeves as much as possible (following the XS instructions),
• changing the placement of the stitch markers to the beginning of the neck shaping;
• adding coin cables to the back; and
• using the collar instructions from FlikaFish (Rav link).

The Story:

This project started out in January 2010 as the Viking-version of the Central Park Hoodie.  I completed the back and sleeves relatively quickly, but got stalled on the front, as I wanted to make a shawl collar but didn't have the technical know-how to modify the pattern so heavily.

After a long hiatus, I looked at the sweater and decided it wasn't what I wanted. The shape was too casual, and I wanted something more tailored-looking, since my sister might wear it to wrok (she's a librarian). In October 2010, I ripped up the pieces, and started fresh on the Forestry cardigan from Vogue.

This pattern had many warnings on Ravelry, and I would echo the same concerns (i.e., sleeves sized too big, and collar instructions are confusing). But I love the cozy look of the sweater, so it was worth it.  The collar took me four attempts, but I'm glad I ripped it out all those times to finally get it right.

The yarn was quite nice to work with, though I did find several knots in the first few balls I used. That's probably not acceptable from a yarn in that price range. The orange was a request from my sister, as her hair looks quite good with that colour.



All the materials were purchased on Queen Street West in Toronto:

• the yarn came from Romni Wools;
• the buttons came from Queen's Fabric and Buttons (do not let the name of this store fool you -- they have only buttons!  No fabric!); and
• the ribbon trim came from Mokuba. I think the ribbon gives it a nice finishing touch. I was also just looking for an excuse to buy something from Mokuba. I had heard stories of their beautiful things, and very snobby salespeople. But I didn't find them unwelcoming at all.  This is a touch I'd add to any future sweaters, I think.

This sweater now lives in Calgary, where I hope it will be cozy and warm in their cold winters!

Merry Christmas, Sister! :)

Christmas Gnome

Another 2010 finished object!


The Facts:

Pattern:    Jultomtar & Teeny Tomte by Alan Dart
Yarn:         Small quantities of:

•  Briggs & Little Heritage in blue;
• Patons Canadiana Knitting Worsted in dark red; 
• Mission Falls 1824 wool in off-white; and
• some silly, silver eye-lash yarn of unknown origin.

The Story:

I'm embarassed to report that I started this gnome on January 16th, but got tired of his fiddly little parts, and put him away until yesterday. When I took him out again, all he needed was two legs, a nose, and some seaming.


I can't say that I'm a huge fan of this pattern -- knitting everything flat and sewing together tiny parts is not terribly clever, in my opinion. I knit the body and the limbs in the round to try to minimize the annoyance.

Above: Christmas Gnome is tired of being photographed.

I wanted to make myself a gnome after I had made one for my sister's birthday in May 2009.  So now he's finally here! 

A Christmas Hat!

Finally, I have some updates for this blog!  This project is one that I completed in January, but since it was a Christmas gift, I couldn't spoil the surprise.  

 

 The Facts:

Pattern:   Lorne's Hat by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Yarn:       St-Denis Nordique (1.75 skeins in Colour #5836 - Oatmeal)

Mods:     Knit 34cm instead of 30cm before decreasing - more ear protection that way!

The Story:

This project was a special request from my Dad last Christmas, after he realized that my knitting had advanced far enough to take special orders.

Basically, he wanted a hat to replace his very old hat. His old hat was oatmeal-coloured and ribbed, and long enough to fold over for extra ear protection. The colour was not my favourite, and ribbing is not too fun to knit, but since the customer is always right, I made it to his demands. Very conveniently, last January, the Yarn Harlot posted exactly what I needed in terms of a pattern.

I used the recommended yarn - St. Denis Nordique. Interestingly, this yarn was pretty difficult to find in Toronto. I had no luck at either Romni or the Knit Cafe, so I had to make the trek to Lettuce Knits in Kensington Market. I was pleased with this yarn when I was knitting with it, and even more pleased once it had been washed up. I'd use it again, though I wouldn't be thrilled about having to scout it out at that one location. Though, it was a year ago that I made my purchase, so maybe the distribution has improved since then.

I'm happy to finally have a finished object to post - and there should be more on the way... I'm trying to get all my 2010 knitting projects done before the New Year!

Happy Halloween!

This blog has been neglected too long.  I've been crafting a few different projects, but they're all unphotographable works-in-progress (WIP) at the moment. 

So all I can share for now are these pumpkins my mother and I carved last night.  Picture is not great, as I am inexperienced at pumpkin photography.

My mother loves carving pumpkins!  I used to love it too, but then I got bored with the routine, and gave up for many years.  I carved a pumpkin at the office this past week, though, and it reminded me of the fun of it. 

My mother made her usual pinocchio face (with carrot nose), and I think he is quite charming.  I made my usual lantern-type pumpkin with cut-out stars and little scraped-out dots.  I used to spray-paint my pumpkin black before making this kind of lantern pumpkin, but since we only starting working on them at 8pm last night, there was no time (or paint!) available for that task.

Some of my favourite spooky links for Halloween:

• Great chair costume and Lego costume (via CRAFT);
• Lionel Richie makes a handsome pumpkin - hello to you, Mr. Richie! (via CRAFT); and
• These googly-gourds are so adorable, I might borrow this idea for another year (via Martha's Craft Department).

Googly-eyed gourds from Martha Stewart's Crafts Department (link)

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Mini-File Goodbye Card

Work obligations have prevented me from crafting much lately, unfortunately. But I absolutely had to make a goodbye card for my fantastic co-worker. She's going back to school to become a French teacher, and I am going to miss her a lot!

This card is a mini version of the files that we work with everyday. It has all the accoutrements of the regular-sized files, except I made them cute-sized!

At left, real-life file; At right, mini-file.

I made the card by measuring the proportions of the larger file, and then cutting it down to about 25% of the size. So all that was required was a legal-sized navy blue folder, blue paper for the tracking sheet on the front, and plain-old white paper for the inside documents (those were also modeled on real file documents, but no pictures here, because I have to protect privacy!).

I think it's quite cute - and she seemed to really like it!

Remembering the King of Pop

One year ago today, the world lost Michael Jackson.  What a sad, strange, specatular life. This is part of a larger stitching project I'm working on - and, so far, it's my favourite part. 

From left to right:  MJ, 1980s; MJ, 1990s; MJ, 2000s.

On the topic of handmade MJ tributes, this magnet lives on my fridge, and has since the fall, when I got it (and the others) at the One of a Kind Christmas Show:  

                                                   

RIP Michael.

iDad Father's Day Card

I made my Dad this iPad-inspired card for Father’s Day. He loves the iPad, but they’re too expensive and could have first-generation glitches, so I thought this one-of-a-kind iDad was a good alternative. The icons on the front are all real Apple apps, save for the “Meal Plan” app and the “Bacon and Eggs” app that are just for my dad.

I made this using black cardstock, metallic-silver scrapbooking paper, Sharpies, and glitter paper from The Paper Place on Queen Street W., in Toronto.

PS - Am I the only one in the world not in love with Apple products? I don’t even have an iPod!