I really don’t know clouds at all

 

We ferried over to Salt Spring to visit a friend this last weekend. The island is small with a couple windy roads that take you through the moss covered forests to the bays and inlet villages.  The island is cultivated in a way that reminds me of the British countryside with the same idyllic farm life and prolific lichen but with an intense creative side. The island is full of artists of all kinds and it appears that whatever a Salt Springer chooses to do, they do with beauty in mind.

Ultimately it is an ideal mini-holiday for someone with my interests: Good food, inspiring art, a killer back massage, and the best damn coffee I have ever had.  There is no sacrificing for the country life on Salt Spring – expect perhaps the bright lights and hussle and bussle of the city.  To take it to the next level I bought a Joni Mitchell CD for the car. Awww yissss.

To top it off  my friend has a wood burning fireplace to knit by, complete with two extremely fluffy Persian cats. Knit in paradise much?  While shopping in Ganges I stopped at Elderberry Yarns and picked up all the things I had been looking for and didn’t find anywhere else.  It’s like they were all waiting for me in an adorable sea side knitting shop. I found tiny and cheap wooden buttons and even some cape clasps. The luck continued when my friend volunteered to model some of my finished projects.

I’ve knitted two Claire’s Capelets by Shelly Wescott so far but they are so fun to make I know there will be a third. Especially now that I have cape clasps.  If you love Outlander you may have noticed this capelet on Claire as she runs around the Scottish countryside. Knitters watching the show certainly did and I am surprised there are only 27 projects currently listed on Ravelry for Shelly’s pattern as it is a perfect dupe for the TV version.  My next Shelly Westcott pattern will be the Moto Vest.

Also pictured are the Vancouver Fog gloves I adore knitting. These blue ones are the shorter version of the red pair I knitted in the fall.

Thanks for a beautiful weekend in your beautiful company my friend!

A Tale of Two Cabled Hats

Here is the picture my friend Ariel gave me as inspiration for a hat she wanted, and I said I would whip her up a cabled hat tout suite… and that was about 2 years ago.

I went searching for a matching pattern and found something so very close, but the 1×1 ribbing versus 2×2 ribbing really vexed me. I never did find a way around adjusting the pattern despite attempting a few times. I completed the One-Ball Chunky Cabled Hat  as written in the end, and I love the look of the braided cables. It’s the grey hat pictured below.

I added some length to the ribbing as the fit looked small to me but I think that lead to my failure to recreate the hat as pictured.  It doesn’t look like the picture as much as I thought it would, and after all this time I didn’t want to give Ariel a flop. I thought I would try again with the November Cabled Hat.  This hat was an insanely fast knit. I finished it, weaved in the ends, soaked it, and blocked within two evenings. The fit is perfect, and the antler-like cables are simple yet look more intricate than they are.  It’s a great pattern that deserves more popularity. The fit is more like the picture, although neither hat is the dupe I was hoping for. But I tried Ariel! I really did.

Here they are on my super cute co-workers:

I had to fight the urge to try again, when I remembered my list, and the other projects in the queue. So I am back to the Lucy Hat, and attempting to understand the short rows in the brim. So far all my cries for help with this pattern have gone unheard. C’mon internet, send wisdom.

3 WIPs and 2 in the wings

 

The weather has changed, and the smoke eased up. There are cooler days between the hot, so I was able to try sitting with some yarn again. I have a few things I started and haven’t finished. I’m not that sort to be okay with unfinished projects, at least not after the procrastination has worn off. I’m making an honest effort to complete the projects listed below… And I already have new projects in mind. I love making lists, so here is my “to-do” for the immediate future.

1. The Thea Cardigan has to be completed before anything else. The construction is botton-up and it hasn’t been a smooth project thus far. Still, I have to get it in the mail as soon as possible so that it still fits by the time it reaches Germany. If anyone has a favourite baby cardigan pattern, please let me know.

2. I started the Lucy Hat, oh, six months ago or more. It was a Christmas present, and now I hope it becomes a birthday present…. but I have a two week deadline. Can I do it?  I have been harassing Ravelry users who have completed this pattern to help me with the short rows. As with any knitting pattern that I have had a hard time comprehending, the instructions start to resemble an unsolvable riddle. Please send help! (Update: I did not make the deadline. Not even close)

3. This One-Ball Chunky Cabled Hat pattern was an exact dupe to a fashion photo a friend sent me and asked me to recreate. I was so impressed with myself for even finding this pattern. I have actually knitted the hat a couple times, but I really wanted a double ribbed brim, like the picture she gave me depicts. The pattern calls for a single rib, and the stitch count makes the double rib impossible. I knit it with a single rib, and pulled it back to try the double rib with an added stitch I would work into the pattern, but that failed so then I pulled it back again… fourth time is the charm?

Once these are completed, I want to start on one of these patterns:

1. This Cozy Luxe Baby Throw with an added crochet trim (Like this Fooshknitstoo’s version).  I have never made a baby blanket, and this cotton weight is something I have in my stash. I also want to try crocheting again, and an edging seems like a practical thing to learn as a knitter.  It’s also very Princess Charlotte (Why am I such a fad knitter?? Stay tuned for Outlander knit posts which will be next) .

2. A Pinafore dress, also in cotton. This seems like a fun summer knit. I can see myself making a few adapted versions with corresponding cotton shifts.  I wish I had a finer linen in my stash…

Speaking of knitting stashes, KnitCity is only 4 months away! This last year has been the fastest year yet!

InStyle Magazine to Ravlery MatchMaker Vol. 1

I was browsing the September issue of Instyle Magazine, and for the first time contemplated trying to create something I saw on the pages. I thought it might be a fun challenge to try to find patterns in Ravelry’s mammoth database that could mimic Instyle’s editorials and ads.  For some reason I thought, “It has to exist already.”  I love some of the inspiration, and I am tempted by some of the designs and possibilities, but the challenge was mostly about trying to find it, out there, in Ravelry.

Some of the items I think I nailed. Some I didn’t even know how to search for. Sometimes the story really is about the yarn, but a more experienced knitter would be required to tell that story, and make those matches.

There are many pictures of sweaters in any fall fashion magazine, so I’ll release these in a few posts. This one is the ads I found in my iPad version of Instyle’s September issue. The next volume will include their “Sweater Girls” article and spread.

This was the first sweater I saw in the magazine that I wanted to actually own. I really love the colours, and the print.  (The black, red, and tan Navajo print sweater that is, and not the man’s sweater with the Chaps logo).

I couldn’t find an exact match but I found a couple with similar elements. I actually like all three of these, and could see myself knitting all of them:

Nested

Navajo Cardigan

Snood Bicolore Navajo

The next find was also something that caught my eye – probably because I actually shop there.

The Shapely Boyfriend sweater is made of a thicker yarn, but the style is a perfect match.

Shapely Boyfriend by Stefanie Japel

Tommy Hilfiger had several pages of ads to browse. Lots of knits in those spreads, but these caps and the dress below looked appealing to me. You basically could knit anything in navy blue and be stylish.  The Brimmed Cap by Lionbrand is crocheted, and matches the braided strands of the Tommy Hilfiger cap more closely. The others are newsboy caps that would need some shaping adjustments, but doable I think.  The houndstooth newsboy is more hip than Tommy’s (imo) but the colour work could be omitted.

© Lion Brand Yarn, © KnotAHooker, © shegeman, © NirAntae Brimmed Cap #80777 by Lion Brand Yarn

Newsboy Cap by Mai Wyn Schantz

Hound’s-Tooth Cap by Lipp Holmfeld

Tommy Hilfiger navy cabled dress:

I may be missing the finer points of what makes this version of a cabled dress more fashionable than the ones posted below, but I think you could knit them in navy for the same look.

Cable Dress by Patons

Cabled Tunic by Simona Merchant-Dest

I love the Allegheny! (below)

Allegheny by Thea Colman

A cabled dress seems pretty classic. This one is from the 60’s:

The Tralee Aran Dress by Sears Roebuck and Co.

This Nic+Zoe ad is obviously a machine knit, but I was determined to try anyway. I’m going to guess and say this might be a linen blend.

I actually found a match! Although, not every sweater is modelled by a model, especially one that looks like Kate Moss (or, is that Kate Moss? I’m a bit out of touch).  If you imagine this linen sweater below on some one squeezing their shoulders forward I think you will agree that it’s a darn close match!

Sally’s Favorite Summer Sweater by Sally Melville

The sweater below is worn by someone who is modelling jeans, but it still counts. The shape and texture are modern, and the boxed and cropped shape is something I’ve seen in so many places. Some of the patterns I list below are clearly not exact matches, but I think in the same vein. I was hoping to find something to match the construction, but what came closest in construction missed the modern mark, but I included it at the end.

Jeanne D’Arc by Maria Olsson

Boxed Pullover by Norah Gaughan

Boxy by Joji Locatelli

This sweater has similar construction, and perhaps yarn, without the ruffles:

Gypsy Dolman by Laura Gebhardt

The Jessica Simpson sweater has elements I found in separate patterns, but not all together. This oversize, garter stitch sweater has dropped sleeves that could be dolman shaped, and what I think is cable detail on the front. The real draw is the yarn and colour mix. I wasn’t able to come close to a match which I found odd considering the vast selection of gartered, raglan, and cabled sweaters.  The sweaters listed below would need to be morphed.

The garter stitch and sizing of the oversized sweater below:

Mammas hjemmestrikkede genser! “Skappelgenseren” by Dorthe Skappel, photo © raptwithfiber

With the sleeve construction of this boatneck raglan pullover:

Boatneck Raglan Pullover by Joann Rogers

I really searched for this beautiful sweater. It’s another example of beautiful yarn, paired with beautiful stitching. The colour pallette looks like a bulky weight Noro to me.  It’s less a sweater, and more a wrap jacket, or long coat. My constant searching and perusing wrap jackets has left me coveting this sweater a little. The construction is minimal: no collar, no pockets, and no hood. It’s edged in ribbing, and the stitch looks like it could be eyelet, or possibly cabled, but due to the pile of the yarn it fades the lines. I love the colours too. It also reminds me of a Tiny Owl Knits design. I could see this in Stephanie Dosen’s design sphere.

I thought perhaps the stitch pattern was close to this coat:

06 Long Jacket with Eyelet Pattern by Rebecca Design Team

But in a size close to this, without the hood.

2153 Hooded Coat by Schachenmayr

The next posts matches Ravelry patterns to a “Sweater Girls” article. I’ll have those up by tomorrow.

If you find a better match please list those in the comments!