Thick and Thin Pullover

I hope everyone is staying healthy and maintaining their sanity in these trying times. You knitters out there probably know that knitting is a great way to past the time if you're stuck at home. I took time to finish off this thick and thin pullover that is inspired by a sweater I saw on a mannequin at Bloomingdales. My inspo sweater was all white and I think the thicker yarn was more cotton-y than mine. I used Berroco Brielle, which is an alpaca blend, for the thick yarn and a fingering weight alpaca yarn whose name I forgot for the thin yarn. The neck and armhole trim was done with the thinner yarn held double. I'm happy that holding it double also makes it look whiter because I wanted a whiter and brighter look around the neckline. This sweater has a tiny bit of positive ease and I love the fit and drape. However, it does feel a bit on the scratchy side. I'm not sure whether it's one or both of the yarns that's causing the scratchiness. I'm hoping it's not due to alpaca, since I just started a sweater in an alpaca and linen blend!

Frankenpattern sweater

I recently finished this "frankenpttern" sweater. The body of the sweater in terms of sizing and stitch counts came from the Herbsaint pattern. I knitted that pattern at the end of 2018 and it's posted here. I love that sweater and wear it quite often. This sweater also uses the same yarn, which is Batiste by Knit One Crochet Too and one of my favorite yarns. For the stitch motif, I adapted the design from the Moonflower Dolman pattern. I liked the stitch motif but not the fit or gauge of that design. I'm just as happy with this sweater as with the Herbsaint version. For warmer weather, I can wear it without the layer underneath.

Here's a view of the back, which actually has not one, but TWO errors in the stitch pattern - one on the top and one on the bottom. Maybe I should have skipped posting the photo of the back so that you wouldn't see the errors. :) The errors are both in the center and I was amazed that I never noticed them until I was almost finished with back.

Butterick B6525 Dress

I finished this dress last fall but just got around to taking a photo of it. It's Butterick B6525 and I made the single color dress version. This dress has dolman sleeves and it's loose fitting and comfy but oddly enough, it doesn't really look baggy. I think it's because the body of the dress tapers nicely to the hem. I used this great wool blend mystery fabric from Fabrix in SF. It has a backing to it and also has a slight bit of stretch. The fabric has great body and really works well for unlined dresses. I bought another piece in deep red which I'm sewing up for another dress. You can't see it that well in the photo, but I love the topstitched look of the pockets. I liked wearing this dress when I was selling at various craft fairs last winter because it's comfy and because it has pockets. This might be a nice pattern for a cozy stable sweatshirt type fabric.

Two cowls

Happy New Year everyone! I haven't posted much knitting or sewing lately, but progress is being made. It's happening a little more slowly because I've been pretty busy during the holiday season selling my 3D printed jewelry. For anyone who's interested, the website is Tiny Right Brain Designs. I've been slowly working on knitting a sweater, but while I was selling at various craft fairs, I wanted to knit something really simple that didn't require any concentration that I could work on during slow sale times. A fellow vendor recommended the Pivot Cowl from Purl Soho. It's a really simple pattern and you can use any gauge yarn as long as you adjust the number of stitches for your gauge. I made two of them - one in a bulky yarn and one in a DK weight. They're both fun to wear.

On an amusing note, I'm using a mannequin that I found for a bargain price in San Francisco at a store closeout sale. I had to haul it back on an SF muni bus, showing here:

I wanted the mannequin not so much for fitting clothing as for a way to display my necklaces for photography. I've decided to name my mannequin "Jolene". :)

Lacy pullover

This is the Cropped Eyelet Pullover from Vogue Knitting spring/summer 2019. I've had this worsted weight Euroflax linen in my stash for years and I was happy to find a suitable pattern for it. I had tried some other pattern earlier but gave up because the yarn was just too heavy. It is still heavy butthat's okay since the sweater drapes nicely. This sweater did come out a bit larger than I liked because the lacy pattern grew as I knitted and handled it over time. I threw it in the washer and dryer once before adding armhole ribbing and again after I finished the ribbing. It fits well enough now but will probably stretch with wear so I think this is one of those garments that will get washed a lot. The washing did soften it and improved the draping. My version is not as cropped as pattern's and I just added some armhole ribbing instead of doing sleeves. I think I did my own neckline shaping to get the fit I like. This works well for warmer fall days and I can wear a longer sleeved tee when it gets colder. This linen yarn is pretty darn sturdy.

Meander

I recently finished Meander by Yumiko Alexander and I'm very happy with it. My yarn for the body is Juniper Moon Farm Zooey DK and the bottom and neck trim is Classic Elite Yarns Fortuna. Both are linen blend yarns. I love this pattern -- in fact, I love quite a few of her DanDoh patterns. The designs are always easy wearing without looking frumpy. For whatever reason, the bottom edge just kept turning inwards and the top neckline edge also turned inward at the lowest point of the front neckline. So, to fix it, I decided to add a faux second layer by adding the bottom and neckline trims using a lighter weight yarn. I picked up the stitches on the inside at the base of the trim sections to enhance the look of a second layer. It's a bit warm to wear this right now, but I'm waiting for fall!

Summer floral dress - McCALL's M7959

I recently finished sewing another easy wearing summer dress and it's already gotten lots of wear. The fabric is this floral linen from Mood and the pattern is McCall's M7959. I sewed the dress length and I added about 8 inches to the length. I also used elastic to create a slightly blouson waist. I added a lining using cotton voile to the skirt half of the dress and the top of the lining is sewn to form the elastic casing. The lining ends above the side slits, which is just above the knee. This dress in linen is super comfy for summer. It also has a slightly tropical vibe, even though the print is not really tropical.