mYak is an ethically sourced fiber born in Tibet and crafted in Italy.
Baby Yak is a worsted-spun yarn that is lightweight and feels luxurious knit up.
I love the naturally dyed heathered tones they offer – in particular, mustard, which is the colorway I chose for my sweater.
The sweater is designed to include approximately 5.5″ positive ease. I knit mine in XS and had plenty of yarn left over to make a matching hat. I’m still not very good at gauging how much yardage I actually need for my size. I don’t mind having the extra skein though – I’d rather that than have anxiety playing yarn chicken!
Here it is!
The turtleneck, hem and cuffs are knit in twisted rib.
The pattern called for a particular bind off that I’m not familiar with and was too impatient to learn.
Can’t remember if I went with just a regular bind off or JSSBO but either way, very happy with the results!
My favorite design element has to be the shoulder shaping!
I can’t say enough good things about this project. From the colors of the yarn to the stitch pattern, knitting it was therapeutic and soothing. I love the hints of speckles that emerge every time a flower is completed.
I ended up getting a new needle with the longest cord possible – 60″ – just so I can lay the shawl out and admire it in all its glory! The photo above was taken just before I started binding off. If I were to knit this again, I would add a couple of inches of garter border in the main color. I saw several shawls with that mod and I love how it looks. My concern was the shawl would be too big for me after blocking.
Ryan took me to see Cirque Du Soleil, Kurious for Mother’s Day and we took some photos after the show:
A belated International Women’s Day post celebrating the phenomenal women behind this dream combo. Pattern and yarn are both from fellow Filipinas 🇵🇭 and I couldn’t be more proud.
I’ve been dreaming to knit with Akara Yarns ‘Ube’ colorway for some time now and was excited when Jessie Mae released Cozy Classic Raglan. I knew I found the perfect pattern for it.
Ube (pronounced OO-BAE) is a purple yam/sweet potato that is common in the Philippines and other Asian countries, and is on every Titas’s (auntie’s) dessert table.
I have many fond memories growing up eating ube cake. Back then, you can only find it as a traditional cake like the photo above or as a roll. Nowadays, you can find ube in almost everything from donuts, to brownies.
If you’re local in the GTA, you have to try the Ube Mochi Cupcake by Tri Pas Bakes:
And! If you happen to be in SoCal, you must indulge in the most delicious ube cheesecake by TheMissingPieceOC:
My mouth is watering just looking at these photos.
What were we talking about again? Oh, that’s right, yarn!
Let’s get back to the knitting 🙂
The pattern calls for DK weight or fingering + mohair.
At first, I held ube with the silver mohair together, but eventually wound the two in a single ball.
It’s best to alternate skeins when knitting with hand-dyed yarn, and managing 2 instead of 4 cakes per row made the process smoother.
I love the simplicity of a raglan sweater and the fact that top-down construction lets me try it on as I go.
I knit a matching pair of socks to go with my sweater using Ube by itself:
I used Sugar Frost socks, a free pattern by Marianne Heikkinen. I find socks with a minimal texture more comfortable to wear than a plain stockinette stitch.
Some of my go-to patterns are: Blueberry Waffle socks and Hermoine’s Everyday socks. Both are free on Ravelry. A new one I recently finished and adding to my rotation is Andrea Mowry’s DRK Everyday socks. The heel construction is perfect for self-striping yarn.
It’s been 2 years since I came across this pattern. I love that it came with 2 variations to choose from and the instructions were pretty straightforward. So what took me so long?
The sweater is knit in the round from the bottom up. It’s even super cropped so you would think I’d finish it in no time but as per usual, I procrastinate every time I have to seam.
It also became obvious that I was going to lose in yarn chicken for the contrasting color after I finished the ribbing.
I had some leftover Brooklyn Tweed Arbor in Arabesque from the hat I preview knit before. It paired well with the yarn I chose for this project, so in my efforts to use up what I had, I played the game.
When I realized it wasn’t going to be enough to finish the sweater, I asked around on IG if anyone happened to have leftovers sitting in their stash that I could buy. I didn’t need a full skein to finish the sweater and didn’t want to end up with leftovers again. It was a long shot, but to my surprise, someone in my community answered my call. Knitters are the best and I am so grateful!
I mentioned this pattern came with 2 options, a rolled hem neckline or a hoodie. I really liked how the rolled hem (loose neckline) looked in the pattern photos and intended to go with that version for my sweater.
But, after I tried it on, I realized it wasn’t for me so I ripped back and modified with a traditional 2×2 rib. It wasn’t until after I took my FO photos that I realized I probably should’ve used a 1×1 rib to match the sleeves and body.
Noted for any future mod’s – pay attention to the details!
I’ve heard of using markers for the decreases in the sleeves so I wanted to give it a try. I am forever an analog kinda girl so this was both weird and amazing at the same time for me.
It felt liberating to knit round and round without having to pause, grab a pen and mark a line on paper for each decrease. It was easier to keep track too.
Do you use markers for decreases or do you prefer to write it down? Those little checkmarks I get to put on the pattern after each section is so rewarding, but as for knitting sleeves, I think I’m converted 🙂
And here’s the finished sweater!
I’m really happy with how it turned out, even though I wasn’t as lucky this time around with my yarn not matching exactly. (You might recall this post where I used 2 different skeins of BT and had a different result.)
You can see a slight difference of Arabesque in this photo. The one from my stash (ribbing on body) is darker than the donated one (sleeves).
But honestly, you can’t really tell!
I love how it turned out.
My favorite design detail is the mini striping just before the ribbing on the sleeves and body.
And my favorite way to wear it is over my Smash and Tess Saturday romper in Forever Fawn.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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. “
