Guess who's back?!

Hello?

...

*cough cough*

...

Anybody there?

Mind you, I wouldn't blame you. 7 months without a post! But I'm back now, and although I've spent some very intense seven months (training to become a webdeveloper, and now I've found a job in the same place where I've done my internship, woohoo!), that doesn't mean I have been without making!
What have I been making, you might ask?
Well...here it goes.
I've knit socks. A fair few pairs. Some for me, some not. And I'm not done with socks yet, so you can expect MOAR sock pictures on this blog!

Tardis Socks for my boyfriend...

Hermione's Everyday Socks for me...

...and the same for my sister...

Broken Seed Stitch socks...

Plus 3 other pairs I haven't photographed yet!




I've knit mittens.

I've knit a snood for my Gran...but unfortunately she didn't even have the time to wear it :,(

I've knit a Chuck sweater. And an Aiken dress.

I've sewn a Negroni for my boyfriend. That took me a looong time, mainly due to poor fabric choice I think. This sort of double cotton gauze/voile is sure to be lovely to wear in hot weather, but it was a real pain in the ass to sew!

I've also made myself a Moneta (this is my third, btw).

And I'm currently making a Kim dress and a Vianne cardi for the Outfit Along 2016.

Soooo...I guess you could say I'm back in the saddle, making-wise!

Outfit Along : all done!

You've already seen my dress...now here's my (almost) finished cardi!

This is a Hetty. Nothing particular to say about the construction. I put loads of markers to mark the lace repeats and everything went fine. As I often do with Andi's designs, I just added one lace repeat so the length fit me better. It took some time to finish because of the heat wave - not the kind of weather that makes you want to knit!

I used these gorgeous black glass buttons which I got on A Little Mercerie. They're beautiful but quite fragile - I broke one as I was sewing it, thankfully the lovely lady who sold them to me added 2 spare buttons just in case. I'll try to be very careful, but I hope they'll stand the wash!

And may I say, I think Hetty really pairs perfectly with a dress that's meant to show off a bit of skin!

Finished : Red Miette

You've probably already seen this one in some of my Me-Made May pics, where I was actually wearing it without the buttons...But I've actually finished it now! It's been a little bit too hot in June for me to post pictures in which I wear it, but I still have some to show you : 

The pattern is the well-known Miette by Andi Satterlund, which I decided to make again because I had spilt some red wine on my first version.
I've made a few modifications :
-I moved the darts because I didn't like their placement on my first version ;
-I did simple 2x2 ribbing ;
-I moved the top button hole to get it aligned with the others;
-I added one repeat of the lace pattern to make it a bit longer (did the same on my first version)
I used some black glass buttons which I ordered on A Little Mercerie, and stabilized my button bands with gros grain ribbon as explained here by Lauren.
The yarn I used is Drops Loves You 5. Although I like the fact that it's eco-friendly (it is made from recycled cotton) I'm not a huge fan because I find it rather coarse, and my finished cardi feels a bit stiff...I hope a few washes will make it softer!

Outfit Along is back!

Well...I'm in!

I'm going to knit Hetty in black Drops Paris, and sew a Lily in watermelon print (for the skirt and neckline flaps) with a solid black bodice. I also plan to modify the skirt and make it gathered, with patch pockets, instead of the pattern's slim skirt.

Fabrics, sewing pattern... and my Hetty, already started! I've knit the back, right and left front, and I'm about to tackle the body.

Head over to Andi or Lauren's blog if you want to know more about what's going on!

Woot!

Here they are...my owls!

For those of you who may not know it, the pattern is Kate Davies' o w l s.
I used Tassadit's cropped version as an inspiration.
This was my first time knitting bottom-up, and I think next time I knit a bottom-up sweater, I'll make both the body and sleeves longer...sewing the underarms shut did make the body creep up, and my sleeves look more like bracelet or 3/4 length...but I like it this way, and it's not really a problem since I meant to wear it mostly with my Chataigne skirt, which is very high-waisted!
It's not perfect - I did something weird when I picked up my wrapped stitches at the back, and one of my underarms was sewn shut on the right side instead of the wrong side - but it was my first bottom-up project, and my first project involving cables, so I'm quite happy with how it turned out!
My Ravelry notes can be found here, in case you're interested. 

Finished : a Cropped Sweater for SSK 2015

Hi everyone, just finished this sweater which I made for the Selfish Sweater Knitalong : 

When I put it on, I was so happy with it didn't want to take it off. I guess I'll wait till next weekend to block it...

This sweater was made using Andi Satterlund's Cropped Sweater for Winter tutorial.
Nothing much to say about it, apart from the fact that this is really quick to make, fun to knit and totally suitable for beginners! Not to mention that the pattern is free!

Well, now I'll try to think of an answer for an existential question...what to knit next?

#SSK 2015 : I'm in!

Hi all, wanna take part in a knit along this winter? How about Andi's Selfish Sweater Knitalong?

I still have a bit of work to finish my Nix shawl, but I'll make sure to jump on the bandwagon as soon as I'm done with it!

I'm going to make a Cropped Sweater - I already have some yarn left from my Hortensia which I plan to use for the main color, and I'm going to order some off-white yarn for the contrast.

© Andi Satterlund

If you want to join, you can get the button for your blog on Andi's, and/or join the discussion on Ravelry.

FESA is back !

Sarah's Fall Essentials Sewalong is back! Basically, FESA consists in making warm, cosy and easy to wear garments for Fall, and as there are several categories you can choose to make any garment you like and as many as you like...which means that pretty much any sewist can join in with whatever she (or he) is making between September 1st and November 30th! Pretty cool, isnt'it?

The only thing I managed to me make last year was Wearing History's overalls, which did not turn out so great...but at least I see now what I must do to make them better!

This year, however, I feel like I could be more productive during these 3 months (yayyyyy for learning to knit!), so here are my plans :

• In the "Fabulous Frocks" category, a "Goth-ish" Moneta, which I'm going to make in a lace print over beige background jersey for the skirt, and plain black jersey for the top (version 3, with the 3/4 sleeves) ;
• In the "Chic Chemises for Cool Climates" category, Andi Satterlund's Aiken sweater, most likely in Cascade Lana d'Oro (in color 1036 or 1058 H, not sure yet)
• In the "Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather" category, a Chataigne skirt (following Estelle's tutorial for turning Deer and Doe's Chataigne shorts into a skirt), in a brown wool mix I have in my stash

Well, that makes three garments, let's see if I'll be able to make all of them!

Interested in FESA? Then pay a visit to Sarah's blog Rhinestones and Telephones if you want to learn more about it and join in!

Unselfish knitting : finished!

Hi all, here are the little hats I knitted for the ladies in my family :

hats #1 to 4 were knitted in Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky, #5 (the yellow one) from Malou Light Baby Alpaca by Lang Yarns, because I didn't like the color of the Cascade yarn I had chosen previously. This yarn was much thinner than the Cascade and trickier to knit, and as the result this last hat looks more lace-y than the others, but I think it still looks good!

And here's how it looks on my head. It looks very slouchy after blocking, but it looks just like the picture on the pattern, so it's fine!

Outfit Along : completed!

Hi all, I've finally completed both my cardigan and dress for the outfit along!

I look slightly stupid on that pic. Dunno why but my boyfriend wasn't very inspired. He could at least have told me I was looking that dumb!

I won't go over the cardi once more as you've already seen it in a previous post, but here are a few facts about the dress :
This is Colette Pattern's Hawthorn dress and I've made the sleeveless version, in a navy swiss dot cotton underlined (for the bodice) and lined (fort the skirt) in a navy cotton voile.

Sorry for the crappy pictures, didn't have the time to snap anything better...

But, you guys...THIS MUST BE MY FAVORITE OF ALL THE THINGS I'VE MADE SO FAR!!!
I mean, this is the first time I sew something (relatively) complicated and manage to get perfectly finished seams everywhere! My facings have been finished with a mock overlock stitch and then catchstitched to the (under)lining, same goes for my hem, I made a faux waist stay, finished my armholes with piping, used French seams everywhere I could...it's almost as beautiful on the inside as on the outside! (check my FlickR if you want to see the details!)
On top of that, the fit is spot on (although I was unsure about it after making 2 muslins, I finally cut a size 6 with no alterations) and this is a perfectly office-friendly garment.

However, even if this dress, due to its color and clean lines, is definitely cake material, it would be very easy to add some frosting to it with the right accessories and make it a perfect outfit for an evening out or even fancier occasions! I can already imagine wearing it with green or pink...I'll have to knit more Myrnas to pair with it! And I think it's definitely going to be worn a lot!

To conclude, I'd just like to thank Andi and Lauren for organizing the Outfit Along, it was fun!

Unselfish knitting

Now that I've started knitting, it's hard to imagine a train trip without something to keep my hands busy...And as I spend more or less 2 hours a day on the train, you can imagine I don't wait till I finish a project to start thinking about the next!
However it might not be comfortable to manipulate some warm material like wool in the summer, so I chose 4 small projects to start after my Myrna : I'm going to make 4  of Ysolda Teagues's Icing Swirl Hats, as Christmas Presents for the ladies in my family.

Here's the beginning of the first one. I had started it last night, but as I had dropped a few stitches, it didn't look very pretty, so I ripped it off and started afresh this morning. However, as I'm using a big yarn (Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky), it's quite fast!

As I had never knitted with double pointed needles before, I decided to give it a try with some scrap yarn before getting the yarn I ordered in the mail. The yarn was too thin and there wasn't enough of it to make much, but I managed to get something just the right size for Gipsy. She doesn't look very happy about it though...Cats are such an ungrateful bunch! ;) And honestly, that's what she gets for turning my OAL dress fabric into a hairy mess. How sad would life be if you couldn't make fun of your cat once in a while?!

Outfit Along : one down and one to go!

Hi folks, I'm done with Outfit Along Part1!

I'm only showing it on my dress form for the moment, I'll make an outfit post of sorts when I finish the dress.

I'm not 100% happy with how the keyhole looks, too many holes for my taste. Maybe my bind off is too tight?

Sleeve detail. Notice something funny? Read on ;)

On the whole everything went pretty well. I'm not super happy with the keyhole, and the shoulders look a bit weird, but nothing to prevent me from wearing this sweater, and after all I've been knitting for less than a year!
You may have noticed some differences in the stitches on my sleeve, so I'll try and explain why it is so. I had started on the short rows and was knitting "normally" (that's what you see on the right, on the picture above). Then I got to the part when you join in the round and I found that the stitches didn't look the same - they were looking perfectly parallel and there was a gap between the two parallel sides of the stitches (that's what you see in the 5 or so rows on the middle of the picture) - instead of looking like a little braid with alternate criss-cross as before (I don't know if that's clear, I hope it makes more sense if you look at the picture!). I was too lazy to rip the whole thing off to have everything look the same, so I ended up knitting through the back loop for the last rows before the decrease round, and my stitches ended up looking a little bit more like what you see on the rest of the sweater. 
And, of course, I did the same on the second sleeve and decided to call it a design feature ;) 

As for my dress, it's still not going quite as fast as I'd like too...After making a second muslin and deciding that the first one finally looked better, I traced all the pattern pieces the weekend before last, and left my fabric on my ironing board, which is about the only place in the house where I can put my fabric out of the way and have it lying flat.
Incidentally, the ironing  board is ALSO one of my cat's favorite resting place. Needless to say that when I came back to my fabric last Saturday to finish cutting, it had gone from smooth and navy to white and fluffy!
However, after using 11 sheets on my sticky lint remover, I finally restored my fabric to its previous navy color and I have now cut all the pattern pieces, basted my underlining to the bodice's shell fabric, interfaced my collar and facing and pinned the darts on the bodice pieces, woohoo!
I'm looking forward for the long weekend to come, hope I'll be able to go a little faster!

Miette : finished!

Hey folks, my Miette is finished!
The yarn I used is Eole, by Plassard (more informations about it here). As I wanted to wear my cardi for summer, I decided not to make it in wool and therefore chose this 55%cotton, 45% acrylic yarn. I'm only half-satisfied about it - in several balls of yarn I discovered some knots, as if the yarn had been cut or broken and then tied back together, and there was nothing I could do to prevent it from showing in some places.

This one just to show you that I'm rocking the matching tights, yay! (OK, I know they look darker on the picture because of the light, but they actually match!)

 As for the pattern, I really liked working with it! "That Miette, she ain't no piece of cake!"...is what I might have been thinking at the beginning (Frenglish joke inside). I couldn't get past row 8 because I kept getting the wrong number of stitches! Until it finally dawned on me that I wasn't counting the right way (see my Ravelry notes for details) What can I say...? That's what happens when you forget about your 9th grade-level maths program!
However, once I finally figured it out, everything went on like a breeze!

Look, I'm actually smiling on this one!

A Miette in the making...

Hi all, I'm currently making Andi Satterlund's Miette Cardigan (which is free, BTW. Just sayin'...)

Here's how it looked on yesterday evening...

I just finished the body yesterday and am now making the sleeves. I had a tough time at first figuring out how to knit the lace pattern (Ravelry notes here) but it's OK now!

...and here's a close up on the lace pattern!

Hortencia has flowered!

Or should I say, it was finished a week ago, blocked 4 days ago, and finally worn 3 days in a row! (and I'm so happy with it I'm making rhymes, how cool is that!)

Quick and dirty picture taken in my building's hall, just before going to work...please forgive the bad light and my "just-fell-out-of-bed-wheres-my-cup-of-coffee" face, I'm actually REALLY happy with it!

So, this is Andi Satterlund's Hortencia pattern, made in Cascade 220 Heathers in the Mallard color.
No real difficulties whatsoever, just had to use 5.5 mm needles instead of the 5 mm the pattern calls for, and start over again a few times to pick the right number of stitches at the sleeves and collar (anyone has a tip to pick up just the right number of stitches?).
A few little mistakes (in the ribbing on one of my sleeves, and in the collar because the cable/tube got separated from the needle and I had to put all these dropped stitches in place...twice!), and although I like the cropped look, it's really on the short side (if I make another one, I'll probably make it just a bit longer so it hits at my actual waistline, which is slightly lower thant this!), but nothing to prevent me from loving this cardigan as it is!
I learned lots about increases and decreases, short rows, and even working with the magic loop (for the sleeves' ribbing)!
However, as the weather is getting warmer, maybe the time for wearing wool cardigans will soon be over...nevermind, I'm already thinking about knitting something lighter! I can tell you, a Miette will be cast on very soon!

It's a vest!

No, actually it's not.
This is actually Andi Satterlund's Hortencia cardigan. I finished the body this weekend and I am now knitting my first sleeve!

I'm knitting it in Cascade 220, in a dark blue-green yarn called "mallard".
Well...let's see how it turns out! Stay tuned!

2nd knitting project : finished!

Hey folks, I made a beret!

This is my attempt at wearing it 30s/40s style, but my bathroom and its horrible neon light is not the best setting for it. Oh well.
Phone pic again - but even my phone takes better pictures than my poor old little camera. One day I'll have to upgrade to a proper camera and really learn how to use it...wish I had the money and time to do so!

Here's how it looks from above...

And here's a close-up on the cables...

I had cast it on sunday before last, and after a few false starts, the whole thing really went smoothly apart from a little moment of panick. I finished it last saturday evening (yay for being able to take your knitting with you on the train!) and could wear it on monday morning! Now that's what I call an (almost) instant gratification project!

Last nigth a bobby pin saved my life...

No shit. True story. Here’s how it goes.

In this picture, there is a thing which can save a knitter's life. Can you find it?

Last night I was knitting on the train that took me back home from work. (That’s the great thing about knitting : you can do it in public transports, whereas you can’t sew. Needles (circular are even better !) your current ball of yarn, and you’re set !) Anyway, back to the story.

I was doing my stuff and everything was fine, when suddenly I dropped a stitch. I was all « ohmygodIdroppedastitchIdon’thaveacrochethowthehellamIgoingtofixthat ? » but then I told my self, « stop panicking bitch, breathe deep and look in your bag if there’s something you could make do with ! » And there it was – a bobby pin !

I managed to grab my dropped stitch with it and fix it as I would have done with a crochet, and went on with my knitting.

Moral of the story : bobby pins can help you out of the worst situations. Even a possible shuttle crash.  

(Excerpt from Airplane 2 - interesting bobby pin-related action actually starts at 1:30)

(For those who are interested : my pink-hearse-print pencil case was made by the lovely Coffin Rock, whose block and online shop you can check here! And the pattern I'm currently knitting is Andi Satterlund's Cable brim beret, which you can find on Tuts+!)

First knitting project completed!

Hey folks, I just finished my first knitting project!

Pre-blocking - Sorry about the picture on the washing machine, this is about the only flat and white surface I could find in my apartment!

This is the Gorgeous Kerchief by Andi Satterlund (all instructions to make it can be found here!), which I chose because I didn't want to make a garter stitch scarf. Boring.

At least, now I can do ribbing and decreases, and I've learned how to read a knitting pattern!
Mind you, I thought for a moment I'd never get this finished. I had to start all over again three times, because, for some reason, I couldn't succeed to cast on the right number of stitches from the beginning, and everything looked crooked when I started knitting.

You may notice some kind of fringe made of black yarn : I used it as markers on my 3rd attempt at casting on, tying the black yarn in a loose knot every ten stitches. I finally managed to cast on the right number of stitches and was able to really start!

I wouldn't call it perfect (the shortest point is not long enough for me to pull it underneath the front and wear it as a proper Rosie-style headscarf) but I can still wear it as a headband or around my neck...and I'm feeling ready to tackle some more serious knitting!
I'm planning to make a beret next, and then the Hortencia sweater...but I'm stuck for the moment, as I have to wait until I can get the circular needle I ordered from my yarn shop! Looking forward to start something new!

Well...it's a start!

First step towards the accomplishment of my resolutions for 2014 :

Look, I can knit and bind off!

You can also now follow me on Ravelry if you click the button in the right column of my blog! Not much to see on my account yet...but I'm working on it!