christmas
Snowflake
So many projects, so little time!! Last weekend, I finally finished a sweater that has been on the needles since May 2017 (ahem!..) and I’m so happy it finally came together! Not only is it another project I can check off the WIP list, but it’s also a really pretty and cozy sweater, right on time for the cold season.
The pattern is (of course!) Tin Can Knits’s beautiful Snowflake, and the yarn is some Berroco Folio yarn I had in stash in color “Raspberry coulis” and “tan”. Since I had only a couple skeins of each, I decided on a striped version of the sweater to maximize the use of every yard. I ended up using all but 3 grams of the tan and 13 grams of the purple. As always, all the details on the yardage, striping sequence and mods can be found on my project page so take a look at them there if you’re interested!
Now this is my second snowflake sweater, but I haven’t been able to wear the first one that I made 4 years ago at all recently because I’ve lost a lot of weight and the bottom half of the body has been incredibly loose and shapeless. I’m very happy to have this model on my sweater rotation again, but I’ll definitely have to do something about the older one at some point this winter.
I think it should be an easy fix, since I could probably just pick up stitches around the waist where it still fits, frog the bottom half and re-knit it with less hip increases (or none at all). Whatever I do, I’ll make sure to keep you posted on my sweater surgery, so wish me luck!
Now if you don’t mind I’ll go back to my needles, because I definitely got some catching up to do before the year is over!
Cheers 🙂
Spilled wine
Time goes by so fast! Christmas is right around the corner and I am so not ready! Are you? Admittedly, I should have been working on presents a bit more, but I really (REALLY!) wanted to give the last push needed to finish the Dessine-Moi Un Mouton sweater I started last year. And I did! Yay! And I’m super happy at how it turned out.
First of all, big shout out to Becktrek who was kind enough to send me her cream Heritage Solids leftovers without which I would not have been able to finish this sweater! 
Secondly, as many people have said before me, I must say that this pattern is simply genius. It’s well designed with good play on color and texture, it’s got cutesy little details around the cuffs and the pattern is so well written and explained it’s just insane.
Like always I made a few mods, namely here added some (ok, a lot of!) length, and also changed the stripe sequence to make the most out of the “Have some wine” Cheshire Cat yarn gradient pack from Frabjous Fibers I bought a couple years back. Any otherwise, this sweater was a no-fuss kind of project, with no waist shaping and no neckband. As usual, you can check out all the details and yardage on my project page.
Now, back to my Holiday prep!
Holiday countdown started!!
Yep, it’s now officially started. I made a list, carefully chose the presents I was going to offer to the people I love and hashed out a plan for all the things that I have to make before the Holiday season arrives. As always, it’s going to be a busy few weeks, but oh-so-rewarding!
The first item I checked on my list this year is this cute shawlette version of the Sunwalker Shawl by the ever so nice Melanie Berg, knitted in Noro Taiyo Sock yarn on size 3.75mm needles. It’s the second time I’ve used this pattern and I still love it as much as I did before. It’s so easy but also so interesting to knit with both texture and lace, and the result is always so breathtakingly beautiful!
As always, all the details can be found on my project page, so check it out if you’re interested 🙂
As for me, I shall now go back to my needles, my friends! See you again soon!
Radio Silence
Yep, it’s been radio silence here on the blog for almost two months now – I know, it’s totally unacceptable! But as you may have guessed, things have been busy again both at work and at home, and I also couldn’t really post pictures of most of the tings I was working on in the last couple months as they were intended to become Christmas presents, and you know how much I hate spoiling surprises 🙂 As the holidays are now over, I am now pretty excited to show you the result of my hard work AND of my little Christmas shopping spree, but first things first I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! 🙂
Now, let’s talk knitted presents. For my mom, I made an Iron Maiden shawl using an almost full skein of Tosh Merino light in color “Shire”. The shawl came out pretty big, and my mom was so happy she made a little dance when she unwrapped it 🙂 I made a few small changes to the number of repeats for each section that are detailed on my project page here.
My brother’s girlfriend received the Call & Response cowl I made over the summer, that you may (or may not) have seen posted on the blog here – it was a wonderful test-knit for Sarah Schira.
For my step-brother’s girlfriend, I made a Fidra hat using a skein of Katia’s Peru in a very pretty olive green (the actual color looks more like the picture on the left). I am currently working on completing the set by making a pair of wristers that’ll probably appear on a blog within a couple weeks, using the second skein I have of the same yarn.
Lastly, I am working on a very purple Star Anise hat for Emilyto match the infinity scarf I made her last year. I’m hoping to finish it and get it in the mail by mid-January, since I ran out of yarn and couldn’t finish it while we were in Ohio. I still love the pattern as much as I did when I made one for my brother’s girlfriend last year, but this time I downsized to 2.75 – 3.25 mm needles instead of the recommended 3.25 – 3.5 mm since hers turned out a little bit on the large side. I am using a purple Baby Luv 100% acrylic yarn bought at Walmart in Canada, the very same one I used for her scarf. I don’t usually like to work with acrylic, but it seemed to be the best option here as I wanted both the scarf and the hat to wash easy and not shrink or wrinkle, and she finds wool to be very itchy so this baby soft acrylic seemed to be the perfect option.
As for me, I guess I have to admit that I was spoiled rotten this year, as I received a very nice adjustable sewing dressform (more precisely a Dritz Celine Standard Plus) and a yarn store gift certificate. I made good use of my present this week and came back with these little lovelies here:
There’s 2 skeins of Dream in Color’s Wisp yarn, which is a 2 play lace weight yarn in a 50/50 merino-silk blend, 2 skeins of Berroco’s Folio yarn in color “Raspberry coulis” and 8 skeins of Plymouth’s Nettle Grove yarn in color “Mermaid”, which is a nice sport weight Cotton/linen blend yarn that will be more than perfect for a summer top.
Once we’re back in Quebec, I’ll make some time to prepare my 2016 recap and review the good and the bad shots of the year. Stay tuned! 🙂
2015 in numbers
2015 came to an end, which means it’s time for me to look back on what I accomplished and set new goals for the year to come.
In 2015, I used 9372 yards of yarn in a total of 17 projects. Out of those 17 projects, 16 were knitted, 1 was crocheted and 0 were woven.
These numbers are telling me that I used 8.9% less yardage than last year, but I’m still satisfied by my performance since I made more project (17 compared to 16) and that most of them were knitted (16 compared to 11); and as most of you know, knitted items generally tend to use less yarn and more time than crocheted ones.
Now let’s review the resolutions I posted here last year and assess whether or not I was able to achieve my goals in 2015. Drumroll….
- I want to learn how to relax more.
This one is a work in progress, and although I think I was able to make some time for myself this year, I think I still need to make a few more changes in my everyday life to make it more zen. - I want to start less and finish more.
Ok, maybe I didn’t ACE this one, but I think I did a pretty good job. I still have 3 WIPs on the needles and a couple projects hibernating in my closet, but at least I was able to go through my WIPs, frog the ones I knew wouldn’t go anywhere and concentrated my efforts in projects I was actually interested in and finished them. In my book, that’s a good thing, so I call this one a success. - I want to knit from stash.
Last year I promised myself I would try to knit from stash as much as possible, and buy yarn only for specific projects I didn’t already have suitable yarn for. Hm. Let’s look at the numbers and see. This year, 51 skeins (12 209 yards) were added to my stash. Thrown out just like that, it’s 8 skeins (2837 yards) more than what I actually used in the entire year, but let’s break it down and see what the REAL damage is. Out of those 51 skeins added to my stash, 7 of them (1736 yards) were gifted to me. Let’s be real, although I didn’t want to buy yarn, I certainly won’t turn it down if it’s offered to me for free – so those shouldn’t be counted. To that number, we also have to subtract 35 skeins (7018 yards) that I bought for specific projects that were started or even completed in 2015, which I was allowing myself to do so that’s also all good. Considering all that, the damage really isn’t that bad. Turns out I bought only 9 skeins (3455 yards) of yarn “just because”, which is a definite improvement compared to the 64 skeins (15076 yards) of yarn I bought in 2014 that are still collecting dust in my stash. Although it doesn’t look that way at first, I think I think I did a pretty good job on this resolution this year, and I definitely want to keep it going in 2016. I also want to add an additional challenge, and try to USE more yarn than I actually BUY/GET. Wish me luck! - I want to weave more.
Ok, this one I miserably failed. I did buy some more weaving yarn, but I failed to use my loom even once this year. Why? I think I simply had to much to think about considering I wrote 2 new designs, made most of my Christmas presents and renovated 2 rooms in the house. A failure is not the end of the world though, and I will give this resolution a second chance in 2016. - I want to keep this blog going.
Well, this one I sure did. I’m still here! And let’s hope it will continue in 2016, because I really enjoy sharing my little stories with you guys! - I want to publish more designs.
In 2015, I DID publish my Sea Breeze Sweater pattern, and I have another sweater pattern currently being tested and a basic headband pattern all written out, ready to be tested. Yes!
Looking back, I guess I didn’t have a “perfect” craft year since I couldn’t achieve all the goals I set myself in the beginning of the year, but I feel very satisfied and accomplished, and I think that’s what matters the most. So cheers to the new year! 🙂
Oh, and I can also now safely post the last few projects I made in 2015 that were meant to be gifted on Christmas. Exciting!
There’s my mom’s Casu Cowl
My brother’s girlfriend’s Anise Hat
And Emily’s infinity scarf, no pattern used – but maybe another design coming? Who knows!
And you guys, what’s your 2015 recap? Any resolutions for the new year?
A little guessing game – Christmas Giveaway!
I have been working a lot in the past couple weeks on handmade Christmas presents for friends and family, and fortunately for me things have been cruising along at a very nice pace. I started my Christmas preparation a little late this year so things really could have gotten ugly – I am so very glad it didn’t, and I’m crossing my fingers that things will keep cruising until the very end!
Since most of those projects have not yet been gifted (heck most of them aren’t even finished!) I can’t really show you guys real progress pictures, but I guess we probably CAN play a little guessing game. Here’s a close up of 3 projects I’m currently working on for Christmas. If you think you can guess what one (or more!) of these items are, like or share this post and leave a comment below telling me what your guess (or guesses) are. Out of all the entries received by December 25th, I’ll give away a little surprise to one lucky winner.
Good luck all! 🙂
December rush
Hey-ho Crafties! As December rolls around, bringing its share of freezy-rosy cheeks and joyful moments, I want to share with you my thoughts as I am slowly getting started on my Holidays preparation. There’s a lot of mysteries and secrets around this month as most of my quick projects will be offered as Christmas presents, but I’m sure I’ll find a way to show you a glimpse of what I’m working on throughout the month without spoiling too much of the surprise 🙂
First off, I finished the Woodsmoke Sweater I was test-knitting for the lovely Megh Testerman, from Studio North. I am completely in love with the finished garment, and I can tell you that I will wear the heck out in the next few months as the temperature drops to inhuman levels (ok, I might be exaggerating a little bit). And I found the cutest owl buttons to go with it, isn’t cool?
The cardigan is complete, at 36 355 stitches. Needless to say that I did not qualify for the the NaKniSweMo this year, since the sweater was under the required 50 000 mark. I must say though, even though I didn’t make it, I’m still very happy about the sweater I completed, and I at least know I reached the goal in my own way – especially knowing that I finished my Frosted Rose cardigan during the challenge, which puts me at way more than 50 000 stitches combined.
Since I finished the 2 sweaters I have been working on in the last couple months, I (obviously) decided to start a new one, and I’m really excited about the project. I just cast on a couple days ago, the pattern is called Snowflake from Tincanknits and I’m using a lucky destash find of Plucky Primo Sport in the color Cryin’ Icicles.
In other news, I have been spending my time cleaning and decorating the house, and I slowly started cooking and baking for the Holidays – hmmmmmm, sugar pie!! (if you don’t know what this Quebec specialty is, you oughta look it up. Seriously. There, just click here).
So how’s your Holiday preparation going, fellow Crafties? 🙂
Crafty Effie 