Unicorn mane yarn and how I wish all children dressed completely vintage

I’m working on a baby gift at the moment. I went shopping for the yarn last week ’cause the 200 balls of yarn I had already just weren’t right. I knew I wanted a fibre that was washable, as anything else for babies is impractical. I opted for a super wash merino in grey for a cardigan, and a soft cotton for another Entrechat (I told you I liked that pattern!).

The cotton is so soft to the touch I find myself disbelieving my fingers. Perhaps it’s really a blend of Easter Bunny dreams and fairy peach fuzz?  It’s so lovely. The Entrechat, although incredibly fun baby knitting, may require a fibre a tad lighter than the cotton I chose. The Cotton Supreme yarn may be a bit dense for this knit. If someone smarter than I could come up with the same pattern for a finer yarn I would be all over that.

  
  

The other cardigan pattern I selected is bottom-up construction, which is new for me. I have only knitted top-down raglans until now. The yarn is not scratchy at all, but it definitely is not the spun angel clouds I was working with previously. I also gapped out and bought a yarn for 5 mm needles, when the pattern calls for 4.5 mm… so the sizing will be off as I also didn’t swatch (for shame!). The cardigan is more outerwear anyway, so it should all work out. *Fingers crossed*. I selected the Thea Cardigan because it looked quite modern and rustic at the same time. I’m just knitting the sleeves now and will have to let you know how it all comes together. Part of me thinks this type of construction might be best suited for creating Frankenstein than a baby sweater. You know, all that stitching together.  Sorry, I am obsessed with Penny Dreadful lately and the gothic horror metaphors are slipping into this post about innocent baby knits made of cruelty free care bear fur (surely they shear in summer?).

    

I love knitting cardigans for babies. Part of me wishes all children still dressed like it was pre-1950, and wore hand made everything, perhaps with patches even. I am also planning a handmade stuffed owl toy for this gift. I saw the stuffed toy at Baaad Anna’s when I picked up the yarn, and went looking for the pattern on ravelry. I will try to make a smaller version of Purl Soho’s Big Snowy Owl in some leftover baby yarn I have in my stash.

So, in closing I do admit to slightly exaggerating the softness of the cotton, but I couldn’t help myself.

InStyle Magazine to Ravelry, Matchmaker Vol 3 – Sweaters

For this volume I went looking for sweaters with cables, and vintage inspired patterns that had more room than the 50’s sweater would have allowed. The combination of a sweater and skirt is very cute, and I love that the tops have more positive ease. I found what I could that matched, and will also venture a few patterns that combine or exemplify the menswear trend, looser fits, traditional cables, and modern shapes. There are lots of pattern ideas and suggestions here though. Vol 3 may be the longest.

From left to right, a puffed sleeved cable sweater, a tunic length navy cabled sweater, a teal 50’s inspired sweater, an embellished basic raglan, and a barely cropped stockinette turtleneck.

Cables were featured in most of the editorials. I’ve grouped all my cable finds in one spot. These sweaters have cables, and either a longer looser tunic shape, puffed sleeves, or a turtleneck:

High Neck Cable by Kim Hamlin

Inisheer by Martin Storey

Fresh by Martin Storey

Clove sweater by Jo Storie

Blue Bird by Susan Crawford

#12 Texture Turtleneckby Lori Steinberg

#10 Cabled Turtleneck by Lang Yarns

Lattice Knit Sweater (W210) by Susie Bonell

These sweaters below don’t have the exact attributes as the InStyle images, but I think they hold the same look; the higher neck, the longer and looser shaping:

Through the Dales by Ruth Garcia-Alcantud © Practical Publishing

117-21 Tunic with raglan sleeves and rib in ”Eskimo” by DROPS design

The neutral turtleneck with a cropped feel is gorgeous (farthest right). I found a few designs that have some of those features: turtleneck, cropped to waist length, with stockinette stitching.

Cropped Turtleneck by Lion Brand Yarn

#15 Cropped Pullover by Lori Steinberg

Cropped Boatneck Sweater by Vi Bui at http://girlmeetsyarn.wordpress.com/

From left to right we have, again, a cabled turtleneck sweater, a uniquely shaped bulky weight raglan sweater with exaggerated cuffs, a striped turtleneck, a mesh sweater, and a combination leather with high pile yarn. I didn’t include patterns for the leather and knit combo – there wasn’t alot there to be found truthfully. Stripe pattern ideas will be under the next editorial.

Since we covered cables, I’m add the Dad’s Thick Sweater pattern below. It’s menswear inspired, with an oversize fit, and matching yarn weight. There are no cables but the heavy rib gives it the same rustic feel. It’s very classic. One of my favourites for this post:

Dad’s Thick Sweater by Britt-Marie Christoffersson

This oversize t-shirt is exceptionally beautiful:

Oversized T-Shirt by Mari Lynn Patrick

The next sweater is the uniquely shaped raglan with extremely exaggerated sleeve cuffs. The sweater below has close resemblance to the more subtle raglan shaping in the editorial. I think this pattern, with elongated sleeves and body modification is probably the closest match:

Raglan Pullover by Bernat Design Studio

This pattern is runner-up, due to the cuff shaping that could be easily extended. The cowl neck would need to be omitted, but I also think it works as is:

Raglan Cowl Pullover by Patons

This simple raglan sweater does not have elongated cuffs, or unique shaping, but perhaps it’s a more wearable version of the pictured design. This seems very versatile, and something you would wear for years:

Simple Sweater by Kris Percival

Mesh sweaters are everywhere lately, and there are many to chose from in Ravlery. You have have your choice of neckline and construction really. Here is my pick to match the editorial:

1892 – Ladies Openwork Sweater by Christelle Ledoux

Runner-up list:

Prairie by Lisa Richardson

This mesh tunic has a longer fit, and would look amazing in linen, with skinny jeans:

#28 Oasis by Verena Design Team

From left to right: a fair isle sweater, houndstooth tunic, ombre stripes, heart flecked raglan, and fuzzy ribbed. The fuzzy ribbed sweater is more about the yarn choice, so I didn’t include it in my matches.

Fair isle is not hard to find on Ravelry, and at first thought posting anything might ruin the adventure of finding the fair isle of your dreams. There are so many beautiful versions! This is my absolute favourite:

Fair Isle Yoke by Susan Crawford

Houndstooth is the pattern du jour, non? I’ve already posted two houndstooth capes, and a houndstooth cap in Vol 1. There are also some beautiful coats for both knitters and crocheters on Ravelry too. I’ve posted a vest below, along with wrist-warmers, and a houndstooth sweater:

Marshmallow Houndstooth by Aileen Cahill

#10 Houndstooth Tank by Ann McDonald Kelly

Houndstooth Handwarmers by Ellen Gill

I was trying to find a roughly faded stripe effect in sweaters but didn’t quite hit that mark. The patterns listed below have either an ombre effect, or other elements that made them feel ‘now’ like garter stitching, a cropped turtleneck shape, and cables:

Beth by Marie Wallin

Gradient Pullover by Amy Miller

Flore by Julie Hoover

Kabler by Marianne Isager

Initially I thought the flecked sweater would be an easy match, but I came up with nothing. If you know of a project that uses these heart shaped colour flecks I would love to know about it. I also skipped over the embellished sweaters. These designs look quite basic, relatively, and there are so many choices in both yarn and sewn embellishments that you can add. In my local Montreal yarn store I noticed they featured a few yarns with interspersed fibres and weaved in pieces this season. I’ve stayed away from what I consider novelty yarns in the past, but seeing these sweaters has changed my mind.

I hope the matchmaking helped some one out there find a project that inspires them. I had so much fun trying to make the matches these last few days. Thanks for taking a look!

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!

Longer winters mean a longer knitting season

Spring? Really? The snow is still falling outside, but at least staying inside to knit seems justified. If this weather keeps up I will be ahead of schedule for this project.

I completed the yoked cardigan, and am most of the way through the vest. Both patterns are fun to knit, although I wish the yoked cardigan had some suggestions on arm length. I had to guess where to decrease and stop on the sleeves, without a baby for reference. The cardigan is sized 0-6 months, which isn’t so much a ‘size’ as a rough ballpark as to when the garment may fit. With my looser knitting I think the yoked cardigan is closer to a 6 month size. The variegated yarn worked well for the body, but the sleeves became uneven in colour which I wasn’t as happy with, and the slip stitch details are hard to pick out against the striped pattern. If I were to do this again I would pick a solid colour, but I’m still happy with the way it turned out.

The vest has been a quick knit so far, and the owl pattern is much easier than I anticipated. I see myself making this again but perhaps adapting the sizing, or creating new motifs.

My goal is to complete all 3 sweaters by the end of March, and it looks like I’ll do it! I still have babies to knit for in April, but I’d like to keep trying new patterns if it works out.

Happy Spring!