Tag: summer

My Knitting Life · Non-Knitting Projects

Sewing and Knitting: A Happy Combo

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I wanted an eyelet-style dress, but not in white which seems to be the predominant color of eyelet, especially during the summer. So off I went on a fabric-hunting expedition, but with gas at $5.00/gallon, I only went virtually. I shopped online at Fashion Fabrics Club and bought an excellent burgundy eyelet, more geometric in design than floral. For the dress I used McCall’s M7948; at about $7.00/yard multiplied by 3.5 yards, I got a great deal! (It never ceases to amaze me how expensive Joann’s sub-par fabric is.)

About this fabric:

Thing 1: it’s dry clean only, but I’m confident that I can carefully wash it.

Thing 2: It frayed very easily as I was sewing it. It’s a good thing I’m an experienced seamstress!

The fabric is lightweight, and the dress is billowy and comfortable. But because sometimes air conditioning in the summer is a little aggressive, I knit a simple shawl to go along with the dress. The shawl is the Souvenir Shawl by Maria Samuelsson on Ravelry. It’s a great pattern to use up a skein of yarn that just had to be purchased on vacation (better a skein of yarn than a t-shirt, right?)

It’s a 100% self-made outfit! I love it when people say, “I like your dress!” or, “I like your scarf!” At which point I say, “Thanks, I made it!”

What yarn is this, you might ask? It is Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in the February 2020 Pop Up colorway. I bought this when The Loopy Ewe lady was retiring and had a big sale. But don’t worry because The Loopy Ewe lives on! Visit their site, help a new owner of a previously loved LYS by grabbing some yarn!

Someday Baby Blanket Pattern
Baby Patterns · Free Knitting Patterns · My Knitting Life

Someday Baby Blanket Pattern

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Someday one of my kids will call and say, “You’re going to be a grandma!” I decided not to wait for that moment to start knitting some little baby things. I started with this blanket in a soft yarn that has excellent drape. It’s machine washable in warm water, but it will need to dry flat. That’s not too bad!

This is an easy blanket to knit, with a 24 row “modified basketweave” stitch pattern, 18 of which are just knit rows. The other rows of this basketweave pattern are a knit 3, purl 3 repeat across the row. It makes for nice texture and something a little more interesting than plain garter stitch. Oh, and the pattern is free! Click the link below!

The blanket measures 28″ x 32″ and should be easy to tote along for families on the go. I recall having a few blankets that were way too large to bring along, so I didn’t want to make this one too big.

For those experienced in knitting for grandkids, what do you suggest I knit next? Follow my blog and make a comment, and I’ll pick a winner to receive 3 balls of Brilliant Blues Universal Yarns Bamboo POP yarn! Winner will be chosen randomly on Sunday, June 14, 2020 at 8pm MST. I will notify you by commenting on your comment, so stay tuned!

someday baby blanket

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Summer Projects

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Since it’s summer here in the northern hemisphere my projects are all for the warmer weather.  For this week I’ll share about this sweet little tank in a book from the library called “Mesh Layering Tank” from Veronik Avery’s Knitting 24/7.  Even though library books are free to borrow, it usually costs me something because I decide to knit something from the book. And that requires a trip to the yarn shop.

So off to Blazing Needles I went to get some yarn. I thought I’d walk there to save gas and be green. And I’ve always wanted to be within walking distance of a yarn store. Walking there was a savory experience down a few tree-lined streets, beautiful! About Blazing Needles, they don’t have just yarn, they have sumptuous stacks and hooks filled with fabulous fiber. And they’re nice. Oh, and they enjoy selling yarn! But that’s not hard, since most women (and guy-knitters too!) walk in to buy yarn. It’s akin to taking candy from a newborn. I’ve worked in a yarn store…I know this for a fact (large retail smile on my face right now)!

 

Here’s a photo…this cursed English Mesh Lace stitch has me in a tizzy in some rows, since I want to always put a yarnover after a decrease. It would help if I weren’t watching every FIFA World Cup match and being too into football/futbol/soccer (chose your word there to make yourself feel better) to pay attention to my knitting.

My Knitting Life

Green Tea…um…Tee

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I just rarely knit for summer. I mean, really, a sweater in SUMMER? But of course, this is my Michigan upbringing coming in to play, because there are many lightweight and short-sleeve or sleeveless sweaters to wear. Add to that the fact that every place is over-air-conditioned, sweaters really ARE practical in the summer!
So here’s a T-top that I knit this summer out of Plymouth’s Grass yarn, a blend of cotton and hemp. It’s got these great color variations in each skein so the yarn looks tonal depending on the angle.
My crochet skills (I’m using the word “skill” here very loosely) had to come into play in that I needed to crochet around the neckline and sleeves to tighten up the picots. I just chained around the neck with the chain side showing. That helped, but it needed more, so I chained one more row above that to make the picots look less like fingers and more like bumps. Then the sleeves needed something, so I loosely chained around the sleeve picots and it’s done! I think it’s very cute!

My Knitting Life

African Violet in Full Bloom!

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OK, you caught me on a knitting binge. Sometimes I’m just so motivated to get stuff done, and this project was one that motivated me! So, here are the pictures. It looks great on, but I don’t have anything to put on underneath it since I’m on vacation and have a limited color/shirt selection. I’ll post pics of me wearing it in a few days! By the way, if you want to see the pattern I used, I’ll post a link in the right column. Look for Knitty: Leaflet!

Remember! Check your gauge if you decide to use worsted weight yarn! This fabric on this sweater is a lot looser than the one on Knitty! So if you desire a stiffer fabric, you’d best choose an Aran weight yarn.