cottington's so crafty: stitches

Sunday, January 13, 2019

A Magnolia Mini to Grow Into

The second I saw this pattern design, Magnolia, by Camilla Vad, I knew it had to be MINE.

But wait!!! This is for Camden.

Yes, it is, as the designer then came out with a children's version, the Magnolia Mini which is clearly much faster to knit, aha! Since then, she has also designed a hat for this pattern, and she will be coming out with a chunky version of the sweater, which is great for fast knits.

I really wanted to use HER yarn, as you could tell, in photos alone, that it was a great pairing, but she isn't state-side, and I didn't need to spend a lot of money. I purchased Quince and Co Organic Chickadee Heathers some months ago from Twisted, which is a great shop in Portland! I love that Camden now has a classy gray sweater (Kumlien's Gull colorway), so to speak. I don't do neutrals too much, so, it was fun to make this!

As for the pattern, it was super easy. I had a one foolish moment, OF COURSE, where I lost my ability to read, and there is one error in the pattern, which I messaged the designer about, but it's a typo sort of thing you know must be wrong. It did take me five hundred years to work through all that stockinette before the bottom of the sweater, which is great for easy knitting, and I felt I moved quickly through the patterned section. I was pushing it on needle size/gauge. Chickadee isn't a superwash yarn, which is great, but I maybe should have sized down needles. I was pretty spot-on, pre-blocking, and I haven't measured gauge since, but I had also knit a size larger than what she needs, so, it should fit a while.

Also, I sized down one needle size for the bottom and sleeve cuff ribbing, which the pattern doesn't call for, but I couldn't help myself. I do see how NOT going down a needle size is beneficial for this pattern, but I am ridiculous, aha. And while the pattern does include directions for long sleeves, and those would have been pretty, when I had purchased the yarn, I was trying to save money and not buy another skein of yarn, so, I knew I'd do shorter sleeves. I could have pushed it to see if 3/4 length sleeves would have worked, but I felt lazy.

Go knit this pattern, y'all!!! The adult version, the kid version, whatever! I still really want one for myself.

And sooooo many days in the life of us.

On Christmas day in the morning!

Hmmm... whispers!!

Weirdo dad

Mary Poppins was a great show!

OMG... this kills me!

Mr. Banks!!!

2016 and now!!

I love me some throwbacks

Somebody came out at 11 p.m..... lol

A tasty dinner!

OMSI

Things they do, rather than sleep

Building a wee house

We love author events at Green Bean Books! Mac Barnett

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Doodle THIS!

A finished object?! What's THAT, you ask?! I do, indeed, have one ;)

I was knitting away on my Doodler Shawl by Stephen West of Westknits (FB page) fame when the whole move thing happened....and ate away at my LIFE. I had some laundromat time to knit, and that was lovely, if I was on my own (not gonna lie: there were 2-3 times I skipped down to the laundromat, conveniently located 3 minutes from my house, SANS children. BLISS. TRY IT.). Then it was hot, and I was quite the negative nelly about knitting - and preferred, instead, to pick up the Harry Potter books and the Outlander books and while away the hours, LOL.

Trying to really impress you with those wrinkles! Poor shawl!

But. I LOVE the shawl! Hooray to me that it's DONE (albeit after three months). I did make the process only a TEENY bit more painful, in that I'm not a huge garter stitch lover. I wanted to see some stockinette in there. I incorporated the stockinette on the wedges, which clearly slowed me down a bit, what with all the purling, but it was honestly not a big deal to me. In the end, I DO see how the all-over garter stitch pulls it all together, but I like having broken it up a bit. I was pretty tempted to knit the long cable in stockinette, also, but I said a big EFF THAT SHIZ and forged ahead with garter. I wanted that thing off the needles. I would have been done so much sooner, but for the move.

LOL, funny little brother

The pattern is clearly awesome. It was super well-written, and I did just fine. I needed to watch a quick tutorial for the cast-on, but I think that was it??? LOL. I am a bit sad that I didn't pick up quite right for the i-cord edge in the middle of the shawl, so, there isn't a cool i-cord look. That loveliness is more obvious on the WRONG side. Bah humbug. Ah, well.

I did try to make the most of my lovely yarn, which is from The Wool Barn. I used the Silk Sock base in the colorways Sage, Autumn Delight (Maya is way awesome and custom-dyed that colorway for me!) and Metal. I do overall think I should have used a purple, rather than the Metal, but that was my choice and nothing doing now. I have realized over time, though, that I'm not a fan of 50/50 wool/silk blends. I like a bit less silk in my yarn, mostly because I want it slightly less shiny. The yarn itself is awesome, though, and everyone who has seen the shawl has loved it and commented on it, which is nice!

Overall, it was a lovely project, and now I dream of casting on for another Stephen West design, the Exploration Station...when I have time on my hands. For now, I work on the Across the Pond shawl by Mina Philipp.

In life/family news, we are better organized around the house, though there is still so much to do (I know I'm a broken record, LOL). Matt's dad helped put in the tub, which is one of the last things to be finished in the bathroom. The clawfoot is lovely, but we are naturally experiencing some leaks, so, I hope that is remedied tomorrow. We also hope to complete a bathroom door and cabinet doors for the hall cabinet over the next week or so. My sister will be visiting with her husband and children (new baby, too!!), and I'd love a cleaner and neater space for them to all run around in. I will blog about that visit and hopefully another project in just a couple of weeks!