|
Hi friends! I have a finished project to share with you! My Vianne Cardigan!  The pattern is by Andi Satterlund, it's available on Ravelry and also through her site Untangling Knots. Andi has a gorgeous collection of vintage inspired cropped sweaters which I can't get enough of. I'm already eyeing her Christmas tree sweater for this Winter.  Vianne is a top down seamless sweater featuring mirrored lace sections running down the front panels. The original pattern calls for a lace framed mesh panel on the back but I've opted to keep the back as a solid panel.  For my cardigan I've used KnitPicks Simply Alpaca in the colorway Alfie. I had a little trouble making gauge because KnitPicks Alpaca is classified as an Aran and this pattern calls for a DK, but with lots of swatching and one (accidentally) extra large test run I finally got the size to work out!  The pattern calls for 0-3" negative ease. I wear a 40" bust circumference and was able (just barely) to get away with the 37" bust after blocking. My only complaint with this pattern was the picked up short row sleeve caps. I understand the inherent ease of a seamless sweater but I would rather work a flat panel sleeve and seam it later than have to mess with a large panel of short row shaping on the sleeve caps over many Dpns. I'm also not a fan of having short row turns visible on the finished product. This is just personal preference and definitely won't keep me from working one of her patterns again. I will most likely just work the sleeves as flat set in panels next time.  Not gonna lie, it took me AGES to pick out these buttons! At first I was set on rhinestone buttons until I realized that if I made it extra fancy I would never wear it. I finally settled on these grey buttons from BonjourHandmade on Etsy. They fit perfectly and are just retro enough to work with the sweater style. I did end up opting for only 3 button holes on the button band since it did turn out a little snug across the bust.  Overall I am happy with how this pattern turned out. It was more time consuming than I had hoped since I fought with those short row sleeves for a while (trying to make the visible short row shaping disappear, to no avail) and I spent weeks picking out the buttons (both, my own fault.) I plan to wear this sweater often in the upcoming Fall months.  If you haven't used KnitPicks Simply Alpaca before you should definitely give it a try. I used it for my Two Way Wrap Cardigan and I'm still living in this thing. The yarn is soft and gorgeous. It does take a little swatching to use since the yarn weight designation is a little off but don't let that dissuade you from giving it a try!
Have you tried one of Andi Satterlund's patterns before? Let me know in the comments! Thank you for reading! -Ashley
0 Comments
Hi guys! Happy August! I hope you're all enjoying the last couple weeks of Summer and are getting excited for the upcoming Pumpkin spice season. I've been finishing up lots of my Summer projects (pictures to come soon) and trying to soak up as much sunshine as I can before the grey skies roll in. I've also been test knitting the heck out of my Dandelion Stitch Cowl pattern. After a few revisions, it's finally ready to launch! Introducing, my Dandelion Stitch Cowl pattern;  The pattern is a one size fits all. It features a repeating Dandelion stitch that alternates every few rows. For my cowl pattern you'll need about 120 yards of Bulky Weight yarn. For my samples I used Cascade Yarns Baby Alpaca Chunky in the colorway Sunflower (above) and Black Trillium Fibers Quadra in the colorway Space Odyssey (below.)  This pattern is a fun, quick knit which showcases hand dyed yarn beautifully. It features simple step by step instructions and a link to a video resource for those new to the Dandelion Stitch.  This cowl pattern is now available in my Ravelry store, which you can find HERE. If you make this pattern please tag me on Instagram as @ashweather_fa or share with the hashtag #dandelionstitchcowl.  I hope you enjoy making this cowl as much as I enjoyed designing it!
Are you planning your Fall knits yet? Comment below what you're getting ready to Cast On! Thanks for reading! -Ashley Hi friends! How's your Summer going? I've been spending most of my time working in my tiny garden and perfecting my custard based Ice Cream recipe. I'm still working on publishing some new original patterns but it's slow going, so I picked up a few July commissions to keep me busy while I'm plugging away. The first commission I took on was a Fourth of July themed baby hat and bootie set.  I'm definitely more of a knitter than a crocheter so this set was more challenging than expected. I used Knit Picks Swish in the colorways Serrano, White and Dusk. Swish is my favorite commission yarn, it's soft, durable, machine washable and most importantly; inexpensive!  For the hat I used the pattern Snow Drops Beanie by Castle Handmade. I definitely recommend this pattern, it comes in lots of sizes and is very well written. I modified the band by switching to a single crochet and making it double length so it could be folded over, that way the woven in ends from the star pattern would be hidden inside the cuff.  For the booties I used the pattern Baby Sneakers by Angela Bergeron. This pattern was such a life saver, I had spent 3 days trying to get through a poorly written shoe pattern before I found Angela's pattern and she saved the day! I added a band of red around the outside edge of the sole, white stars on the sides and made a set of shoelaces from fingering weight cotton to make the booties extra adorable. Not gonna lie, these guys took me forever! I am not the best at crochet and def had to look some stuff up; which stitch is your BOR? how do I weave in these ends? etc. It was a learning journey. I think they turned out pretty cute though. My next July commission was a set of Luna Lovegood themed leg warmers.  These guys were commissioned for a Cosplay. Again, I used Knit Picks Swish, this time in the colorways Black, Dusk, Marine Heather, Gulfstream and Marina.  I improvised the pattern for these by measuring a pair of leg warmers I have that fit well and casting on a pair in roughly the same size. I used this great tutorial by Love Crafts for knitting stripes in the round to get rid of any unsightly jogs. I used the Traveling Stripes method. These leg warmers knitted up really quickly and should be arriving at their forever home by the end of the week! That's it for my July commissions! As far as non-commissioned work goes, right now I'm working on a new pair of socks from my Silk Road Socks book. The pattern is titled Mood, so far it's pretty cut and dry, my only issue was gauge since it's written for a fingering weight OR a sport weight. I ended up making many a swatch before I was sure which sock size and needle size would combine for the perfect mens sock. (I went with 2.5 needles and the 80 stitch CO.)  I'm making these in Knit Picks Hawthorn Kettle Dye in the colorway Conifer. Hawthorn is a Peruvian Highland Wool blend so it's not as soft as a merino but it makes a hard wearing pair of socks. I take forever to knit socks so these guys will probably be done just in time for the cold weather to hit!  I'm also working on the pattern Nora Baby Blanket by Lucia Ruiz de Aguirre. I'm making this blanket for my partners office which is icy cold all year round.  I'm knitting this project in Black Trillium Fiber Co. Quadra in the colorway Space Odyssey. It's a Super Bulky 90% SW Merino, 10% Cultivated Silk. I love the yarn but, since it's hand dyed, there's quite a variance in the coloration of each skein. I've been alternating skeins off and on but I still think it will have noticeable different panels of color once it's blocked.  I had a little trouble mastering the I-cord cast on because I'd never done one before. I also started noticing gaps between where the vertical I-cord and the stockinette panels met on each side of the blanket. To fix this, I added an extra stitch to each side of the blanket so the I-cord is always tied to the work with a garter stitch=no gaps.  I think I have three more skeins of yarn left on this guy before he's done. I'm pretty excited to finish this project, I should know better than to start a heavy weight wool blanket in the Summer! As far as original patterns go, I should have my Dandelion Cowl finished soon and up on the Ravelry. Follow me on Instagram if you want to know the second it's available! @ashweather_fa  Thanks for reading!
Comment below what you're working on this July! -Ashley Hi friends!
I'm back with a new project to share! I don't know if you follow Melody Hoffmann (@bmandarines on Instagram) but she has released a lovely set of mystery/knit along sock patterns called The Simple Sock Collective. I've just finished the first pair! Hi guys!
I've finished my Bulky Weight Sock Pattern and I'm looking for test knitters! These socks whip up super quickly and are perfect for chilly Spring mornings. Hi friends!
I've got another finished commission to share with you today! My Autumn's Weekend Shawl; |
Categories
All
Welcome!AFA was launched in 2015 as a craft and lifestyle blog. It has since morphed into a full time knitting blog! Here you'll find pattern and yarn reviews as well as a smattering of recipes and original patterns. Archives
October 2018
|
RSS Feed