Spring ’18: The make list!

by

Spring ’18: The make list!

Following on last week’s assessments of my wants and my needs, I sat down this weekend with my notebooks and favorite pencil and stack of recent sketches. The simple fact is there are at least a half-dozen things I’m eager to knit and sew right now, all of which are more interesting than the projects pictured here, but I’m putting the needs first — especially since they’re fairly simple things to knock out:

1.) Finish the little grey marl sweater already on my needles.

2.) Fix the navy canvas pre-sleeves Clyde Jacket I got at Elizabeth Suzann’s sample sale in December. Meaning: trim out deep vest armholes (along the lines of one of my State Smocks) and finish the edges.

3.) How many times have I said this? Sew myself a heather grey Linden Sweatshirt. I’m actually thinking I’ll make two: One exactly that, and the second the short-sleeved version in a thicker bouclé knit I also have on hand. (While I have the pattern out …)

4.) Replace my natural toddler pants with an identical pair, this time in undyed cotton canvas. (Fabric picked up for $2/yard as remnant at ES’s garage sale last summer. What did I ever do before I lived near Elizabeth Suzann?)

5.) Make another pair of toddlers in my light blue, recycled-denim canvas, this time tinkering even more with the leg shape and rise. (If you’re confused, I am currently in possession of two fabrics made of recycled denim: one lightweight and drapey, the other one a sturdy denim/canvas.)

6.) Replace the white linen shell.

These are all projects where I already have the pattern (in most cases already traced and tweaked) and also have the fabric ready to go, apart from needing to find good ribbing for the two sweatshirts. So all I need is the time and head space to get going. And then there’s one other near-term thing:

7.) I recently freed myself of the need to carry a laptop back and forth with me every day — hallelujah!! — so I can have any everyday bag I want for the first time in awhile. I’m thinking for spring/summer, I’ll make myself a big ol’ Stowe Bag! (There have been so many inspiring ones posted to the #stowebag feed lately!) I have a blank linen one in progress, just waiting for it’s bias bindings, but I have some ideas about some very specific pockets for this scenario, so may be starting a new one.

That’s more projects than the number of months since I last sewed, I think, but it seems really doable. And then with these necessities (back) in place, I can start to scheme about some more adventurous stuff for … Summer of Basics! More on that to come.

• Fashionary sketch panels, Fashionary sketchbook and spiral notebook from Fringe Supply Co.

.

PREVIOUSLY in Wardrobe Planning: Spring ’18 Haves and Have-nots

Logalong FO No. 4 : Cal Patch

by

Log Cabin Make-along FO No. 4 : Cal Patch

One of my favorite things about this last fafkal concept, the Log Cabin Make-along, was being able to rope crocheters into it (no pun intended) — and particularly getting to include my friend Cal Patch on the panel. The crocheters have made so many amazing contributions to the #fringeandfriendslogalong feed (I’m particularly crazy about @peacockaren’s boxy sweater) and today I’m thrilled to show you Cal’s finished bandana-cowl, which she’ll be releasing a pattern for soon! For news on that and more of Cal, make sure to follow @hodgepodgefarm on Instagram. Here’s Cal—

. . .

You initially set out to make what you were tentatively calling a “log cabindana” — a neckwarmer with coverage in both the front and the back. Did you veer at all from your original plan along the way, or did you make exactly what was in your head from the start?

This is a case where my end result is very much exactly what I envisioned! I guess the only real difference is that it did end up a bit bigger than I imagined … possibly more into mini-poncho territory than a bandana cowl-esque thing, which was my intention. I am pro-poncho so this is not at all a negative for me! I did consider crocheting around the neckline to build it up higher around the neck, and I’d like to try another version and do that. But I loved this one so much once I joined the rectangles together, that I wanted to keep it just as it is.

I also didn’t imagine it quite this big — I love the scale of it. And I take it you love how it turned out?

I LOVE IT!!! The log cabin technique is so fun; I had dabbled in some LC sewing but never tried it in crochet. (Which, in retrospect, seems unimaginable that it took this long!) As a scrappy improviser, this method makes my soul sing! I’ll be wearing my Cabindana for the next few months as Winter transitions into Spring here in the Hudson Valley — always a chillier season than we’d like to think. So having this snuggly mini-blanket around my neck will be a welcome comfort.

We talked about this a little bit before, but have you used one crochet stitch the entire time and it’s just the yarns giving it subtle variation in appearance, or have you changed it up at all along the way?

Yes, this project is 100% half-double crochet in the back loop, which gives the ribby texture. Half-double is actually my favorite stitch; it’s the “just right” middle size between single (too short and potholder-y) and double (too tall and open). Any variation you’re seeing would be due to the slightly varying yarn weights and textures. They’re mostly sock yarns, but some were definitely lighter single-plies, verging on lace weight, and others may have been sport or DK. There’s even some handspun in there, from a bag of bits of leftovers given to me by a friend.

And you’ve gone totally freeform in terms of both the sizes of your various blocks and your use of color — or did you map any of that out ahead of time?

I did not map it at all; my only plan was that I knew the destination, or the finished dimensions of the two rectangles, which I had worked out in advance using some T-shirt jersey. So I worked freestyle and occasionally held the two rectangles up to the sample to guide me. I knew I could always add on a few “logs” to just the short sides, if I needed to make up extra length. It worked out perfectly.

Will the pattern invite people to be freeform about it as well, or have you broken it down into established chunks of crochet?

I’ve been mulling this over in my head … I’d prefer the pattern, which I haven’t yet written up (maybe for this very reason), to allow the maker to freestyle within the blocks like I did. But I’m not sure if that method suits everyone. Maybe I’ll include both ways in the pattern. It wouldn’t have been nearly as fun for me to be told the size of every log, but I’m sure there are many who’d like to be told the sizes. Feedback is welcome!

I mentioned before that I kind of feel like crochet is inherently modular and log cabin-like, but did working on this project make you want to do more in the log cabin realm? Or did it have any effect on your broader sewing/making practice? How soon before you log cabin again?

Yes, I definitely predict many more Log Cabin Crochet projects and designs in my future! My wheels are turning … and the crocheters seem to have embraced it over on the Insta. We’re using the hashtag #logcabincrochet to share. I haven’t decided what my next LC plans are; I may need to make another Log Cabindana to test the pattern, or a sweater, or some crochet mitts, or … I guess you can safely say I’m HOOKED on Log Cabin!

. . .

Thanks, Cal! Don’t forget there’s still activity on the #fringeandfriendslogalong feed, and we’ll have our final panelist FO q&a with Kay Gardiner once she finishes up her little gem of a sweater!

.

PREVIOUSLY in Log Cabin Make-along: FO No. 3 Veronika Jobe

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Elsewhere

by

Elsewhere: Yarny links for your clicking pleasure

Happy Friday! This has been one of those weeks that I’ve felt like I was dragging myself through quicksand trying to get through my to-do lists, so I’m extra excited about the weekend and some creative time!

But first, I’ve got a healthy stack of links for you to click around in today—

– One of my very favorite projects from the #fringeandfriendslogalong is @sari_n_’s blanket (photo above), and she’s now posted an in-depth video on YouTube talking about how she’s going about knitting it

– Also, Bonne Marie Burns has published the pattern for her beautiful rendition of “courthouse steps” blanket (20% off with code LOG for a limited time)

– I’m so excited that the long-awaited Vintage Shetland Project has come to fruition, and can’t wait to get my hands on a copy

– How are your favorites faring in MDK March Mayhem?

– Here’s a guest list I wish I’d been on!

– “I’ll try anything,” I told her. “Just don’t make me stop knitting.”

– Meanwhile, studies continue to show knitting reduces depression, anxiety and chronic pain (thx, Rach)

– Pretty excited about Denim Days

– Yes, please

– These swatches. And these.

– “If you have ever wanted to crochet an eyeball …” is my favorite random phrase from Insta lately

– and What’s in your tool pouch? A little or a lot? (Tell me here or there!)

Have a fantastic weekend — see you back here next week!

.

PREVIOUSLY: Elsewhere + Mitts No. 6

Spring ’18 wardrobe: Haves and have-nots

by

Spring ’18 wardrobe: Haves and have-nots

There’s a sufficient level of flux and lack in my closet right now that I don’t feel like I can do quite the same sort of tight, functional closet inventory I’ve done the past couple of seasons. Instead, I’m taking stock of the key haves and the critical have-nots (with underlined notes-to-self along the way), in the hope of translating this into a very focused plan for what I get to knit and sew for myself in the near future. So from all of this will come the make list—

TOPS WITH SLEEVES (that aren’t wool or flannel)

I mean, crickets; see above. And this is the number one thing a person needs at this time of year — actually at least half the year here — when it’s too warm for flannel shirts or wool sweaters (both of which I do have, of course) yet not warm enough to be leaving the house sleevelessly. I have the one cotton fisherman sweater (old L.L. Bean); my blue Archer button-up (and the somewhat redundant chambray workshirt I rescued from Bob’s discards a couple years ago); my little black gathered sleeve top (never blogged); plus my black silk Elizabeth Suzann Artist Smock (no longer available), and to put that last one in the “sleeves” category is to define it loosely. So as keen as I am to sew myself some more pants, I need to concentrate on this area first and foremost.

SLEEVELESS TOPS, VESTS and SMOCKS

Spring ’18 wardrobe: Haves and have-nots

If there’s one thing I have in spades, it’s sleeveless garments. I’m in decent shape for little sleeveless tops, with all my old chums hanging around: black silk gauze shell/black Adventure tee, striped Adventure tee, grey linen sleeveless tee (Everlane, no longer available), striped cotton shell, dotted chambray tunic (Endless Summer, made by a friend). Sadly, the one I lean on most — the white linen shell — was involved in a laundry mishap and is now a sad, dingy shade of not-quite-blue-ish. It can be solved by dyeing it a more deliberate shade of blue, but the little white top is a key piece of my wardrobe missing, so it needs to be replaced asap. A few of the others are looking a bit worse for wear at this point, plus a quick little sleeveless top is my favorite thing to make, so I’ll likely be adding a couple more (in color/pattern), in addition to replacing the white linen one.

In the not-quite-sleeves category, I have my little plaid top (never blogged), my blue stripe Fen and (not pictured) my two Harper Tunics: natural linen and olive cotton (no longer available), the former of which needs a dye job or some contrast stitching or something so it will look less deathly on me. But the olive one is a gem.

This is my favorite time of year for my black Sloper sleeveless turtleneck — either over a shirt or tee, or on its on. I’m also in good shape on vests — from my black Anna vest to my Cowichan-ish vest, which has its window of opportunity right now, to my very old J.Crew holdovers, the denim vest and trench vest. My beloved State Smocks are everything right now, through summer and fall. And my ES sleeveless navy canvas Clyde Jacket cum vest (top row, sample sale score of all time), which needs a bit of attention and then will be a big star of the season.

OUTER LAYERS

Spring ’18 wardrobe: Haves and have-nots

My army shirtjacket is my absolute favorite thing right now, thrown over everything from a sleeveless top to a smock to a dress with boots. The only one of my cardigans still in play is the black Linen Quill cardigan, which I recently blocked out a tad longer and have decided to leave alone once and for all, largely because I absolutely love how the length of it works with my State Smocks. And there’s the lovely tobacco-colored linen Nade tunic from last year (no longer available), which is easy to throw on over assorted sleeveless things. It would really be nice to have another season-spanning cardigan sweater.

PANTS and JEANS

Spring ’18 wardrobe: Haves and have-nots

This is a bit of a sad situation. Of the four pair of “toddler pants” I’ve made myself, two have gotten ruined in the wash. You already know about the original olive pair going all discolored. (I do still wear them around the house or on manual labor days.) Then after relying heavily on the cherished ivory pair all winter, I finally worked up the nerve to wash them — on delicate/cool, even though the fabric had been pre-washed in hot water. They came out about two sizes smaller and several inches shorter, so they’ve gone to a friend’s house for a try-on. (Sob!) That leaves the denim and the camo pairs, plus my clay-colored Wide Clydes, and it’s time to bring back out the black linen Florence pants. I’ve been itching to make some pants in a little bit different shape in a lighter faded-denim blue (among other things), but replacing the natural ones might now be top priority. And then there are my dark jeans (x3) and my natural jeans, but I’m just not wearing jeans as much lately and still feeling pretty happy about that.

SKIRTS and DRESSES

Pretty much same exact situation as last Summer — i.e., I have a couple of newer workhorses and a couple of slightly older things that have gone unworn, and those I’m giving them one more chance. There have actually been two additions, which will show up in outfits and/or Summer inventory — an Ace&Jig Eve Dress is Forte that I bought at their sample sale last fall, and an Elizabeth Suzann Harper Dress in grey linen gauze bought at her sample sale in early December. It’s a big muumuu — invaluable come summer — but I do like it now with my tall boots and army shirtjacket. Still no sign of me starting to wear skirts, and no real needs in this category.

Now to figure out exactly how to fill the holes, and in what order.

.

PREVIOUSLY in Spring 2018 Wardrobe: Mood and strategy

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

New Favorites: Grete

by

New Favorites: Grete (dickey knitting pattern)

Quick pause in my Spring 2018 Wardrobe Planning (my workload is requiring me to space it out a bit this time around) to tell you all I’ve fallen in love with a dickey. Or should I say another dickey. When Woolfolk was teasing the pattern above, now revealed as Grete, I instantly fell for the turtleneck sweater under the camel coat. The neck itself bothers me — turtlenecks that don’t hug the neck just look like wind funnels to me, counterproductive — but otherwise it struck me as perfectly proportioned. The scale of the cables, the width of the hem ribbing, the exact spot where the hemline hits the model. Love.

So I was momentarily stunned and disappointed when I learned that it’s actually a dickey! And then I stared at it, and stared some more. Imagined it walking down some painfully cool runway, like Céline or Stella McCartney, and could see myself wanting to copy it instantly. I mean, that model looks pretty chic wearing it with just that beautiful white shirt. Could it be cool to walk around in a dickey all day, as opposed to wearing it only with a coat? Maybe so! It’s certainly one way to deal with my want of all the wool sweaters and insufficient cold weather for them!

Plus as gorgeous as it is in Luft, which is actually a wool-cotton mix I’ve been eager to sample, it could also be a great match for that beautiful bulky OUR Yarn in the shop.

I might need to knit one and give it a go. If nothing else, I would love it under my coat.

.

PREVIOUSLY in New Favorites: Ply by Emily Greene

Spring ’18 wardrobe planning: Mood and strategy

by

Spring ’18 wardrobe planning: Mood and strategy

In really starting to think about dressing myself for Spring — or the most important part: what I get to make! — I of course started a spring 2018 mood board at Pinterest, and thought it’d be a good idea to go back through last year’s spring planning posts … but alas, there are none! We skipped over spring last year, and so did my planning. But it looks like I had all the right ideas and attitudes in my summer strategy, even though my plans were largely foiled. This year, I don’t have to worry about being frozen at work (we have control of the themostat now!) but I also don’t want to get ahead of myself. It seems like we may be in for a nice long spring, so I’m thinking in terms of winter-into-spring right now, more than spring-into-summer. Knock wood knock wood knock wood.

So what does this season’s pinboard tell me:

COLOR
As always, I’m in the mood for all the blues and greens, especially the lighter ones, piled onto a foundation of whites and off-whites, khaki/camel/caramel, heathery greys, denim, navy and black. But I’m also longing for a hit of yellow and maybe even a spot of pinkish-red. I used to have a killer pair of men’s chinos in vivid yellow, which works better for me than yellow near my face, so I’m pondering that at the moment. But mostly keeping with my usual palette and thus, happily, my existing fabric and yarn stash. If I buy any fabric at all, let it be for the sake of color.

SHAPE
And I’m still in the mood for loose, easy shapes — floaty tops or soft tees with loose pants, worn with a shirt, jacket or tunic-as-jacket. Not reflected here, though, is what a big vest mood I’m in — from my State Smocks to my sleeveless Clyde to my assorted sweater vests. It’s interesting to me how many of the same images make it back onto my mood boards season after season, which I think is fantastic and as it should be — each season is a slight evolution, not a tearing up and discarding of what I wanted the season or the year before.

Apart from that, I’ll be following much of the logic expressed in last summer’s plan as I start to think about what pieces I’ll be moving to the center of the closet, what I’ll be making to augment that, and how I put it all together into outfits. More to come!

• Fashionary sketch panels from Fringe Supply Co.

.

PREVIOUSLY in Wardrobe Plannning: So long winter wardrobe: Notes for next year

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

Logalong FO No. 3 : Veronika Jobe

by

Logalong FO No. 3 : Veronika Jobe

Our second panelist from the Log Cabin Make-along to make it across the finish line is Veronika Jobe of YOTH Yarns, with her stunning plaid wrap (modeled here by her gorgeous daughter). Dude: I want to make this. For more of Veronika’s endless stream of knitting beauty, be sure to follow @yarnonthehouse on Instagram. With that, here’s Ve—

. . .

Back at the start of all this, you noted that your approach was going to be modular knitting, if not literally or technically log cabin methodology. Without giving away the pattern, can you describe the process you used on this — how you went about constructing the piece?

This wrap idea was inspired by a picture of a lovely gal I had pinned on Pinterest wearing a black and white version of a large-scale buffalo plaid-style scarf. It was definitely commercial and not handknit, but I kept coming back to it over and over again. I knew I wanted to recreate the simple nature of the plaid using a series of tonal and gradient marls. This project spurred the creation of our new small-batch yarn by Abundant Earth Fiber, which was only half the work. The other half was how to put this thought into pattern and once you have the yarn there’s really no going back! It was really a beautiful happenstance when you asked me to be a part of the Log Cabin Make-along, because it really catapulted my method of thinking through the construction. I dove into the MDK Log Cabin Field Guide and knit up Cloth 1 & 5 while looking through the construction of the other cloths as well. Without giving away too much of the “secret sauce,” it’s essentially a mash up of the MDK Cloth techniques and a classic knitted-on edging.

Buffalo plaid is heavily associated with black and red or royal blue, whereas you’ve gone very pale with your palette. It has a sort of oversized gingham feel to it. Has it met your expectations, lived up to the idea you started out with in your mind?

It’s pleasantly surprised me. I was a bit worried about the colors and marls not being strong enough in contrast, but it turned out really great, just as I had imagined. I can at times be let down with how my designs unfold, or if they somehow don’t end up working for one reason or another, but this really loose relation to a buffalo plaid has really made me happy and the best part was the knitting. I’m all about the process! It has to keep my attention or I’m on to the next thing. This one with its constant color changes, unconventional construction and the entertainment of seeing the plaid emerge makes me want to make a blanket version of it.

A fabric like this — any kind of plaid, check, what-have-you — is a neverending goal among knitters. Seems like we’re always trying to find ways to mimic it in knitting. But the solutions are often tedious or complicated, and/or you wind up with intarsia or floats, and it’s not a two-sided piece, necessarily. Do you feel like you’ve solved it here — cracked that nut in a wholly satisfying way?

Isn’t that the truth?! One of my reasons behind knitting this scarf in a modular way was to make it more reversible. I think I’ve made a good pass at cracking that nut and both sides of this lovely thing is pleasant to look at. Plus, I think we as knitters so often get distracted or scared away by certain techniques. We can be a bit judgmental! Intarsia can have some feelings and images come up for some of us… little color bobbins dangling and tangling in the back of your work, cartoon characters knit onto the fronts of sweaters, you see where I’m going with this. I didn’t want my scarf to end up in that black hole.

Logalong FO No. 3 : Veronika Jobe

I know you were excited to use your new yarn for this (coming soon to your website), with the tonality and marls lending themselves to the concept. Again, just as you’d dreamed it?

Oh my gosh and more! This yarn is a dream. I can’t really take too much of the credit. Lydia from Abundant Earth Fiber is really the master here. She took our hand-dyed roving and turned it into the some of the most beautiful, squishy, bouncy, slubby, rustic-in-just-the-right-way kinda yarn. It was such a treat to knit and I’m really sad we only have so much of it, to be honest. I would love to have this as a core base with all the colors, but that’s one of the reasons small, limited-batch runs are so special, right?!

This was your first time venturing into the world of modular knitting, correct? If not all the way into log cabin world. Did it leave you wanting to dig deeper into the ways of log cabin, or have you had your fill? What’s next for you, in this regard, if anything?

In the past, I had done some modular knit garments that came together in pieces and were connected as I knit, but there’s a different wave of thought there. Those tend to look like nothing until some of the final pieces fit into the puzzle, but this project starts transforming before your eyes within the first couple of strips, which is really fulfilling. It makes you want to keep going and see the next color pop up while you are knitting away. Definitely on my list: a tonal Ninepatch Blanket from MDK’s Field Guide.

So I know you’re planning to publish the pattern. Any details on that?

I am! Pattern is in the works and will be available this week, as will the yarn. Follow us on Instagram or join our newsletter at yothyarns.com to be the first to hear.

. . .

Thanks, Veronika! Don’t forget there’s still activity on the #fringeandfriendslogalong feed — so many knitters finishing up so many great projects — and we’ll have the last two panelist’s interviews coming soon!

.

PREVIOUSLY in Log Cabin Make-along: FO No. 2 Ann Shayne