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Forever October Slouch

Happy New Year!

How was your holidays? We missed our extended family but made the most out of it, just the 5 of us. Lots of Facetime and Zoom calls, bingeing the Mandalorian which led to re-watching the entire Star Wars Movies, (still in progress) and playing board games. The best gift arrived a few days before Christmas. I became an auntie! My sister gave birth to a handsome baby boy, Nathan, whom I have yet to hold and cuddle!

I took a break from the big meal prep this year and ordered Filipino food for Christmas day. It’s always a treat for us since I only know how to cook a handful of Filipino dishes. I wish I had the chance to learn more from my mom when she was still around.

I scheduled to pick up the food on Christmas Eve and ended up making a full day out of it. We drove all over the city to stand on porches and wave hello to our family and friends. It took a good 4.5-5 hours in the car so I was so happy when Ryan offered to prepare our Christmas Eve dinner. A simple, family favorite – Caprese sandwiches 🙂

The holidays are usually crazy busy for us. Our routine for 2 decades now was always Christmas Eve dinner with Radley’s mom’s side of the family, followed by Christmas lunch with mine, then off to Radley’s dad’s side for Christmas dinner. We have a big family!

I cook a big feast for my side of the family and meal prep usually starts a few days before since we don’t get home until 1 am at the earliest on Christmas Eve.

Ooof, I’m exhausted just typing that out!

Since none of that was happening in 2020, I thought I finally have a chance to do a Christmas Eve cast-on!

I went stash diving and pulled out a skein of Fluff from Feisty Fibres that I’ve been admiring for some time now. I was excited when I saw an olive pom pom from Grocery Girls Knit and knew this skein was meant to be a hat!

If you can’t already tell, I’m crazy for olive! I kept a matching sheep project bag for myself to hold everything together 🙂

Fluff is a super bulky, single ply, superwash merino yarn.

It’s definitely a yarn baby – soft and squishy!

The colorway is called Riddler. A gorgeous variegation of shades of green and black. I feel like it was made for me.

I chose to knit the Forever October Slouch by Kelly Brooks. I like that the pattern highlights the beautiful colors in the yarn and I love the double brim detail.

The pattern calls for US 13″ and US 15″ knitting needles. I didn’t have these sizes in 16″ circulars but I did have them in 24″. I used the traveling loop method to knit the entire hat. Similar to magic loop, traveling loop is a great alternative to utilize needles in your stash if your cord isn’t long enough to have 2 loops on either side. Here’s a video demonstrating how it works.

I knit this hat in just 2 days! I’ve been on a chunky knit kick lately. Did you see the other ones I made for the kids on Instagram?

I took my new hat out for a hike nearby while Ryan took some photos for me. I love my YARNIVORE sweater from Stitchers Tees which was a gift from him for my birthday a few years back. It’s so soft and comfy and has become my go-to hoodie for some time now. It still looks and feels great against my skin after a couple of years!

// Pattern – Forever October Slouch by Kelly Brooks //

// Yarn – Feisty Fibres Fluff in Riddler //

// PomPom – Grocery Girls Knit in Olive //

// Sweater – Yarnivore – Stitchers Tees //

Oh and in case you were curious, we roasted some chestnuts, played mahjong (my dad brought us a set from Hong Kong a few years back but it was our first time trying it out) while we counted down 2020.

Can you guess who won? 🙂

Happy 2021 Giveaway!

What better way to kick off a new year than with a giveaway?

I’m so excited to team up with Kelly of @knitbrooks and Karen of @feistyfibres to bring you this magical bundle of goodies! These two ladies are both talented and amazing (fellow Canadian) humans!

Up for grabs is a beautiful large “MAKE” @pearadiseisland project bag, and some delicious @feistyfibres Fluff (colorway House) to go inside.

With some 16 inch 9mm zebrawood knitting needle bbs from @knitbrooks along with a Kelly Brooks hat pattern of your choice, you’re all set for a cozy day of knitting!

To enter: Go to original post by @knitbrooks on Instagram.

The giveaway runs until Friday, January 8th, and a winner will be drawn on the 9th.

Good luck!

New Beginnings

Last Sunday, July 5 marked 10 years without my mom.

It’s been a decade of dealing with the trauma of her sudden passing but for some reason, my mood around this time was different…

// Poet socks by Sari Nordlund – Yarn: Dyed by Delz – Minnie’s Wheat //

For years, I’ve been knitting my socks from the toe up.

For years, I’ve been successful at my attempts in converting top-down sock patterns for this construction… until now.

I’ve been seeing the Poet socks by Sari Nordlund pop up on my Instagram so many times that I finally cast it on. The stubborn side of me kept trying to convert it for toe-up but the pattern never showed up correctly. After 5 weeks of failed attempts, it dawned on me that maybe, it was time to learn something new?

It’s so out of character though. The old me would have just moved on and looked for another pattern but I couldn’t get it out of my head. Even though I’m not at all a lace, top-down kind of sock knitter, I just had to have this pair!

Around the same time I was trying to figure out these socks, I stumbled upon the book, Signs, for the second time around. I heard about it before – a year or so ago – and had every intention then of getting it, but I didn’t write it down and eventually forgot all about it.

This book is a collection of stories from people who’s loved ones have passed but remain close by, through the messages they send from the other side.

From the author: “I want you to understand that this book has found its way into your hands for a reason. That you are reading these words right now is not an accident. It is an invitation from the universe. In whatever way this book and these words have found their way to you, please know it wasn’t a random event. You are meant to be reading these words. “

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BLM Fundraisers

Thank you so much to those who made a recent purchase from my shop!

As a reminder, I’m doing a fundraiser and donating 100% of the profits this month. I originally intended to send the funds to Reclaim the block but, they have since received overwhelming support and are now re-directing donations elsewhere. After much consideration, I’ve decided to send my donation to Black Lives Matter Toronto instead.

Wrist Ruler

Japanese Americans for Justice Fundraiser

Emi Ito, also known as @little_kotos_closet is hosting a fundraiser on @jasforjustice Instagram account starting tomorrow and I am proud to be a part of it! Proceeds are being donated to several Black run organizations.

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NO MORE SILENCE.

The revolution happening amid this pandemic is loud and unapologetic.

I’ve been outraged like many about another police brutality, this time against George Floyd which resulted in his tragic death.  I have thought long and hard about how I can possibly make a difference?

I absolutely recognize my privilege as a non-black POC. I’m a Filipino-Canadian and I will never encounter anything remotely close to what our black brothers and sisters face every single day, but that does not mean I will sit in silence.

First and foremost, I do not tolerate racism and there is no room for hate or violence here.

I’ve been plugging away at this post gathering as much resource and information as possible to be informed. I stand with the black community, always, and the least I can do is listen, learn, and amplify their message.

I hope you’ll find this useful. I encourage you to take action.

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A metallurgy affair – pt. 2

My love affair with NBK‘s metallurgy colorway continues with the Andy Sweater. A cozy, top-down raglan cardigan designed by Junko Okamoto.

If you’ve been following for a while, you would know how much of a fan I am of this colorway. I’ve been knitting with it throughout the years using different bases, from a luxurious shawl in BFL Silk & Cashmere to socks in Merino & Nylon.

Noctilio shawl and vanilla socks in metallurgy. You can read about them here.

It’s no surprise that I would want to have a sweater in it too!

My beautiful Monstera bag is from JHendry Design Co.

I love the moodier tone of this colorway in worsted weight and I searched for a while to find the perfect pattern for it. I wanted something in plain stockinette to show off the variegation.

I came across the Andy Sweater and immediately fell in love! It was exactly what I was looking for. A cozy sweater in plain stockinette. I’ve mentioned before how much I love cardigans and I was excited to add it to my hand knit wardrobe.

But a few things kept me from knitting it right away. It was a one size fit all sweater written for bulky weight yarn.

I’m thankful to my friend, Selma who helped me problem solve this dilemma. She is a beautiful knitter who’s made many modifications to sweaters she knits and shares on her podcast. If there’s anyone who can help me make this work, it’s Selma!

We were sitting at a cafe one day and in the middle of doing a puzzle with the kids when I remembered Andy. I showed her the photo and explained I only had worsted in my stash. I hoped for a magical solution and sure enough, she had one!

Basically, she recommended using the same needle size listed in the pattern (or whichever one got me the same gauge) with the worsted instead of bulky. I’m sure there was plenty more insight offered and I really should have taken better notes because she also managed to factor in my size in her equation. Whatever kind of brilliant math she was working out in her head worked! Thank you, Selma!

I am petite, so I did have to modify the body so that it would be oversized just enough for me. I used German short rows for the wrap and turn section and stopped increasing after Row 16. I was trying it on as I went and as soon as I achieved the ease I was comfortable with, I stopped increasing.

The pattern comes with 2 versions, long and short. I wanted this to be an everyday go-to sweater so I opted for the longer one with mod’s to fit my height. From my scribbles, it looks like I stopped decreasing at 190 stitches, but again, it’s easy to customize this and move on to the ribbing once you’ve knit it at your desired length.

Pardon the dirty car floor in this photo, but I forgot to take a group shot of the buttons I used. I finished knitting this sweater a while back but it took me some time to find the buttons because I had my heart set on army green ones. The pattern didn’t specify what size to get so I just guessed.

I went with the 14mm matte Corozo Button in Khaki from Merchant & Mills. One of the random things I’ve purchased online during this pandemic. I have to say, it has really paid off being subscribed to newsletters these days!

My everyday uniform long before quarantine has always been yoga pants and a t-shirt. Elevated with comfy hand-knit socks for the past few years, and now, I’m slowly adding comfy hand-knit sweaters, too!

I’m so happy with how this turned out! I just love metallurgy so much and now I get to wear it every day! I’m also really excited that I have my own formula down to make Andy again. It’s one of those timeless sweaters you can knit over and over! Maybe I’ll add a pocket to the next one!

// Pattern: Andy Sweater by Junko Okamoto //

// Yarn: Northbound Knitting in Metallurgy //