Tag: sweater knitting

Current Obsession // Nini Pullover

I’m watching game 1 of the NBA Finals as I write this. It’s history in the making as Toronto gets a shot at being NBA champs! It’s the very first time the Finals is held outside of the US and I couldn’t be more proud and happy for my city! Let’s gooooo, Raptors!

I haven’t been as active on Social Media these past few months. I had a big deadline to meet and I noticed going on Instagram distracts me so much that before I know it, an hour has gone by!  I struggle with remaining relevant, and felt anxious due to major FOMO, but in the end I made a conscious decision to limit my browsing and put the phone away so I could get work done.

I allow myself a few minutes in the morning to browse, often while I sip my second cup of coffee after dropping the kids off at school. A couple of days ago, I stumbled upon this gem from @knitbot and had to share it with you!

Current Obsession - Nini

This is the Nini Pullover, designed by Hannah Fettig. It’s an oversized cropped sweater knit seamlessly from the bottom up and calls for DK weight yarn.

It comes with 2 variations for the neck – a rolled hem or a hood. Love both, and as much as I adore a great hoodie, I know I’ll get more use out of this garment worn layered over a collared shirt. Preppy all the way!

Current_Obsession_Nini Pullover5Hedgehog Fibres Picture: Miki Barlok

[ images via Hannah Fettig ]

I got excited because I have been wanting to use up the yarn I brought back from my trip to Rhinebeck last year. At first, I thought I was going to make the Mara Shawl but I’ve since had a change of heart with knitting triangular shawls – at least, for the time being. When I checked the pattern details for the Nini, I knew I finally found the perfect project for it!

Primrose Yarn Co - Dreams

The yarn is from Primrose Yarn Co’s Rose Gold Collection in the colorway Dreams. It’s 100% SW Merino, 3 Ply Sport Weight and I can’t wait to cake it up! I’m excited to cast on my very first hand dyed sweater!!!

Hedgehog Fibres Picture: Miki Barlok

I really like this contrasting stripe detail for the bottom hem. I have some leftover Brooklyn Tweed Arbor in Arabesque that I hope to use up. The pattern did not include yardage for this however, and Arabesque is DK not Sport weight so I’ll have some playing around to do!

Hello, new project!

Hedgehog Fibres Picture: Miki Barlok

// Pattern: Nini Pullover by Hannah Fettig //

>> If you’re interested in this pullover, there is a sale happening right now on Ravelry! Buy the Nini pullover and get any other pattern from Hannah Fettig for free! Add both to cart and discount will apply automatically. I got the Rosemont Cardigan and even purchased the yarn for it as well! My friend Lisa at NBK Knitting is also having a sale right now (just sayin!) get 20% off all yarn purchases with code: SPRINGSALE <<

 

 

Weekender

// The Weekender Sweater by Andrea Mowry //

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this space. How are ya?

I’ve been juggling being a part-time single mama most days of the week and my what feels like 12+ hour days working on my small business. It is tremendously rewarding and exhausting at the same time. Knitting has always been my refuge even though I barely get the luxury to do so anymore. Most days I am completely wiped out to knit a single stitch so when an opportunity to travel presented itself in March, I knew I had to take full advantage.

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I’ve had both pattern (gifted by my friend Ashley) and yarn (Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Narwhal) in my stash for over a year. Honestly, I don’t know what took me so long to knit it up. I shared a sentiment on Instagram a few weeks ago about hoarding my most valued treasures, never wanting to “ruin” the state they came in and Brooklyn Tweed yarn is very very high on that list.  I’m ashamed to admit having a few sweater quantities just sitting in a drawer waiting to be used up.

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We (myself and my 2 younger mini me’s) traveled to Ottawa to visit my husband for March Break.

Wait… what? why you ask? This should fill you in.

I cast on for this sweater sometime during the 4-hour train ride on the way to Ottawa. We spent 2 weeks there and before I knew it, I had a brand new sweater shortly after we returned home.

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Incredibly fast and so rewarding!

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It’s knit in the round. Bottom up. Inside out.

The only thing you need to pay attention to is 1) the length and 2) refreshing or learning how to do a Kitchener bind off for the neckband and sleeves.

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I used this tutorial from Purl Soho. Easy Peasy!

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I loved knitting this sweater as much as wearing it so much I’m already planning to make at least one more. This is easily a wardrobe staple for me and I’d like it in black as well.

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These FO photos were taken by my soon to be 20-year-old son, Ryan.

He works for a photography company and with the wedding season now in full swing, he’s booked solid right through summer. He asked for a rain check to celebrate Mother’s Day due to this schedule. We went out on his day off instead.

The plan was to watch a movie then have dinner. He even made arrangements prior for my in-laws to babysit so that we could take our time downtown.

As per usual, we parked at Finch station (he even drove so I could knit!)  and we took the subway down. As a young adult, we barely get time alone and it was like a breath of fresh air to catch up with what he’s been up to. We arrived at least half an hour before our movie started so he took me on a tour around his school, Ryerson University. We ended up taking an impromptu photo shoot in the stairwell.

Ryan

We watched the movie “Us”. He’s currently taking Media Production and is hoping to get in the Film Industry. He’s a huge fan of Jordan Peele’s work and couldn’t wait to show me his latest film even though he’s already seen it before. I enjoyed it! So many creative sequences throughout the movie. Funny how I look at things in a whole new perspective now that Ry is literally dissecting it! Recently, he came home after a lecture from one of the directors of the TV series, Suits. He was so inspired and talked about it so passionately I could taste his hunger for this new passion.

Ahhh, life with young adults is the best!

For dinner, he took me to Assembly Chef’s Hall. We ate so much because we wanted to try as much food as we possibly could. Boy was I glad I was wearing super high waisted pants and a loose fitting boxy sweater 😉 Highly recommend this place. It’s like a food court at the mall except the dishes are 10x better! We plan on going back and bringing the entire family just so we can try more dishes!

me and ry

I shared most of the food we ate in my stories on Instagram. It’s actually one of my favorite things to share, for no other reason than I’m just happy I’m not cooking hahaha! My dream if when I win that million dollar lottery ticket is to hire a full time chef for life 🙂

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Dear Ry,

Thanks for being such an amazing kid. I had so much fun on our date and I feel so lucky I get to be your mom. I love how creative you are, whether it’s playing the piano, taking pictures not just for work but for pleasure whenever you can, and for this new passion you found in film. You constantly blow me away with your drive and motivation and I am so proud of you. I will always support you and be there for you, no matter what.

I love you so much.

xoxo,

mom

Year in Review

I can’t believe another year has gone. In an effort to be more aware of the things I am making, I gathered all the projects I worked on the past year to reflect. This is an overview of the past, my thoughts on current WIPS and plans for the new year.

5F62ED60-E2D0-4EB5-B4D5-96CE12833BD3I cast on 19 projects in 2018. Finished 16. 1 sweater, 3 shawls, 2 hats, 6 pairs of socks and 4 pairs of mittens. Out of these 16 items, 5 were for my family. Not bad! Let’s break it down:

MY FO’s:

1 sweater – Freja cardigan

3 shawls – Rivulet wrap, Nordic Wind Shawl, Laylow Shawl (for Vanessa)

2 hats – Tiilda and High Pines Hat

6 socks – 1 pair for my husband, 5 for me: Kinda Magic Socks, Galiano socks, I used my sock recipe for the other 3 pairs

4 mittens – the matching Tiilda mittens for me and x3 Tinsel Mittens for my kids

MY WIPS:

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I have 3 sweaters still on the needles:

The oldest one is living in my Cake & Knit Tote bag – the Amalgam Hoodie. I haven’t touched this in months. It’s too bad because I’m so close to finishing but I just can’t bring myself to work on it. In fact, I recently transferred the stitches to scrap yarn because I needed the needles for another project. Not sure when I’ll work on this again but as I write this I’m realizing I still want the FO so I don’t think I’ll be frogging it. I’m fine with it taking a longer time out for now.

Next is the Orime sweater living in my Blue Knitterati project bag. This one is about 90% complete but sadly I think my style has changed since casting this on and I don’t see getting much use out of this garment. I do love the yarn and would like to use it towards something else. This will get frogged soon and you know what? I’m ok with that.

The last sweater WIP is my beloved Treysta living in my toffee Fringe Field bag. This is heavily on my knitting rotation and I can not wait to wear it! However, the next few months is going to be super busy for me. I’ll be spending long hours in the studio again so I’m not sure if I’ll get this done in time to wear before Spring but I’m ok with that too. I finished the yoke so it’s smooth sailing now.

As I’m writing this, I realized there are 3 other WIPS that I cast on in 2018 that I forgot to include in the photo above:

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The Summer Feelin’ Sweater, the Stripified Shawl and the Coffee Talk socks. The latter 2 are still on heavy rotation but sadly I think I lost my mojo on the sweater. I love the idea behind the yarn but it stains my hand when I knit with it which is why I haven’t picked it up. I still love the garment though and can see myself wearing it so no plans to frog that one anytime soon. It’ll just sit there for now beside my Amalgam until further notice.

My overall thoughts on my making in 2018 and plans for 2019:

I’m disappointed that I only finished 1 garment the whole year! As you can see, I had every intention of making more but somehow got distracted with accessories. I still love to knit hats and socks so I will continue making those but I think for shawls, I want to make at least one big rectangular one in 2019.

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I’ve had my eye on the Tokyo Shawl for forever – in fact, I got my sister to pick up the printed pattern for me when she visited Loop London a while back. And during a recent trip to my LYS, The Knitting Loft, I finally picked up all the yarn for it. It’s been a super stressful couple of weeks for me and I have been doing a lot of knitting as therapy. I think that’s why I decided to go for the Tokyo shawl. All that knitting will be good for my soul.

I also want to knit more garments in 2019. Aside from finishing Treysta, I’ve swatched for 2 new sweaters:

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Top: Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Narwhal for The Weekender by Andrea Mowry.

Bottom: De Rerum Natura Gilliat in Fauve for Citrine by Emily Greene.

Both are knit in worsted weight which I’m finding is my go-to for sweater knitting. The Weekender’s seamless construction will be a super fast knit that I plan to leave by my bedside. Citrine is knit in pieces which will be more my on the go project knitting.

And there you have it! Finish 3, cast on 3. I think I can manage that!

What about you? What are you most excited to make in 2019?

Freja

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Back in October of last year, I was invited by Brooklyn Tweed to Preview Knit a pattern of my choosing from their upcoming Winter 2018 Collection.

Preview knitting is different from sample knitting and test knitting. At this stage, the pattern has already gone through an extensive knitting process and technical feedback was not a requirement. I was given the pre-layout version without the finalized pattern name.

A couple months later, I was delighted to find out that the garment I chose was named Freja –  meaning Lady, Goddess of love, beauty, war and death in Norse mythology.

I love the name Freja and if you recall from my first vlog, I had named my dress form after her!

How serendipitous!

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“For insouciant style you can dress up or down, Freja is a quick knit with big impact. An open front with a swingy A-line shape and a textured shawl collar make this sculptural piece easy to throw on over any outfit, and in chunky Quarry, it’s an ideal cozy overlayer. Add angled patch pockets for the perfect functional accent.” – Brooklyn Tweed. 

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Just my cup of tea!

I used Brooklyn Tweed Quarry in the colorway Gypsum. I hadn’t tried it yet and to be honest, was a little skeptical, having read too many tips on how to use this yarn. In the end, I decided to give it a shot and see for myself exactly what the fuss is about. I made notes – just in case…

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I’m happy to report that I experienced no breakage with Quarry while knitting. NONE. It was an absolute pleasure to work with – from hand winding the skein into a ball – to spit splicing (my favorite!).

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Every technique Jared incorporated in this design resulted in an effortless knit. If only I had a dollar for every time I stopped in awe to tell Radley “I am blown away by this”.

It’s not an easy feat to keep things simple. To know when to stop – when you’ve hit the sweet spot by adding just a hint of texture to keep interest.

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The classic stockinette paired with an easy to memorize texture along the neckline produced a sophisticated garment. The pockets are optional but I highly recommend. The construction is ingenious!

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At first, I knit the longer version of the sleeves (7″). I wore it for a couple of days and really thought about what I like and need for a cardigan. I still had about 70% of the last ball so I wasn’t worried that I will run out.

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In the end, I decided to go for a 3/4 length sleeve and for little me, that translates to roughly 10″. I ripped back the binding, added 3 more inches to each sleeve then re-blocked.

I’m so happy with how this turned out. Part of the reason why I was so impressed is that I had never worked with Quarry before. The stitch definition really made the texture pop. It works up really fast because you’re using a bulky weight yarn, but it’s not heavy. It blocks out like a cloud.

Freja is a timeless, carefree cardigan that I see myself living in for many years to come.

pd-freja-4Freja by Jared Flood 

I would like to thank Jared Flood, Korina Yoo, and everyone at Brooklyn Tweed for inviting me to be a part of this collection. It was a true honor and pleasure to preview knit and work with you! xo

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As always, here’s a list of shows I watched while working on this project:

  • The Walking Dead – Season 8
  • Vikings – Season 5
  • How To Get Away With Murder – Season 4
  • Top of the Lake – Season 2
  • The Handmaid’s Tale – Season 1
  • Outlander – Season 3