New

New Summer Blouse
(does "blouse" sound antiquated?)













Pattern is McCall's 5388, View B
Fabric is a pale blue cotton with white ginkgo leaves, which I bought at JoAnn Fabrics years ago.
I shortened the whole thing by about 6" because I didn't have as much fabric as I needed. I like this length, though, and probably wouldn't have wanted it longer.
Check out this finishing inside the underarm:













New Finished Sweater

















Pattern is Green Tea Raglan from Interweave Spring 2007
(which I started knitting in Spring 2007)
Yarn is Nashua Creative Focus Superwash in color 11
I ended up with accidental bracelet-length sleeves on this, which I am not sure I don't hate. I'll try wearing it as-is (and maybe I'll love it) but there's a good chance I'm going to snip the sleeves at 3/4 length and reknit the edging. Also the neckline is a little weird, but that I'm getting used to. (I think it stands up like that because I used wool instead of the recommended bamboo.)

Newly Big Tomato Plants

















Okay, so maybe they've been big for a while, but I just wrangled them into a tomato cage and tied them up, so they're newly tall. No buds yet, but I'm thinking any day now.
By the way, the secret to getting leggily overgrown tomato plants into cages is to cut the cages almost all the way up one side and then open them like a clam shell, instead of trying to get them up into a cage without breaking off a lot of branches.

Trilobite in Knitty!

Summer Knitty is up, and my Trilobite hat pattern is a Holiday Head Start item! It's a quick knit, especially if you cable without a cable needle.
Knit it in Berroco Pure Merino Nuance for a stratographic color fade:













Or go with good ol' Malabrigo Merino Worsted, for that smooshy semi-solid effect we all know and love:













More details on Ravelry.

Nicole - thanks for being the best test knitter and model a girl could ever want!

33 (or 30 or 36) Dots

Introducing 33 Dots, a new hat pattern from iknityouknot:

















It's a simple fair-isle hat, knit in Rowan Wool Cotton and Rowan Felted Tweed - two great tastes that taste great together. Mmm, textural polka dots. Plus, I'm pretty sure this hat is unisex.

Available for purchase in the sidebar or on Ravelry - $3

And here it is, as knit and modeled by Nicole:
(note how well it goes with her necklace)

















Thanks Nicole!

Caroline Cloche in Popknits

The summer issue of Popknits is live, and I've got a pattern in it! It's Caroline, a lightweight summer (or spring or fall (or winter, if you don't live in Chicago)) cloche with classic pleats and a grosgrain hatband.


















The yarn is Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool, which I had never used before making this hat, and which is now one of my favorites.













In summary: go check it out!

(Many thanks to Nancy for test knitting and Leslie for modeling!)

16 Squares

This is what I've been doing lately:













It's the top of a quilt, which I finished piecing and ironing today during reruns of America's Next Top Model. Nothing like being unemployed on a weekday.

The fabrics are of somewhat mysterious origin: all from my stash, all purchased at different times and at different stores for different forgotten projects. The pattern is of my own devising - I charted it out on graph paper, trying to make the most of the odd amounts of fabric I had (1 yard of yellow, 1 1/2 yards of blue-green, 2 yards of blue). With the sashing, it's almost 5' square, and I'll probably be adding some wide borders to try to squeak up to 6'. It'll likely see duty on the sofa rather than the bed, but the bed seemed like the best place to spread it out for a photo.

Tuesday Evening

Introducing Tuesday Evening, a new free pattern from iknityouknot:

What have we here? It's a chunky lacy cowl knit in Mirasol Yarns Cotanani, in color Denim (aka dusty purple).

The yarn is held double throughout, making this a super-fast project, and the 60/40 cotton/wool blend makes it a substantial yet wearable accessory.

I knit this one in about three hours.

Enjoy!

My New Spring Skirt

Here's how I spent a good bit of the morning:

Pattern: Great Fit Gored Skirt from Indygo Junction.
Fabric: part of an "irregular" Ralph Lauren sheet (bought years ago at Filene's Basement)

Lovely comfy waistband:










The only elastic I had happened to be the perfect width and length.
I put it on to take photos, and haven't taken it off since. I still have to figure out how I want to finish off the bottom edge, and now I'm wondering if I could add pockets without too much fuss. Maybe I'll keep this one as it is, and add pockets to some of the many more skirts I'll be making with this pattern.