It’s a cold and snowy day here in Maryland and I’ve been taking it really easy. I did get up this morning and finish the blocks for a WIP that’s been in the works for quite a while.
Hard to believe but that’s 100 blocks! I had probably a third of these done on New Year’s and decided to spend 30 minutes each morning working on it. I’ve gotten up a little earlier each day and had my coffee while I sewed, pressed, sewed, pressed, and there we are! I started this quilt back in 2022 and it was a leader/ender project for a while. It was so nice to just sit down and focus on this project.
The pattern is just a simple nine-patch block where I’m using a soft pink with a ton (I mean a ton!) of different colorways of the same pattern. If you’re unfamiliary, the star of this show is Liberty Betsy, one of my favorite prints of all time! I can’t take full credit for this idea, Bec of Sew.Be did this as a quiltalong back in 2022 when I started. I can’t wait to see this one all laid out.
This pair of socks is sloooowly coming along, I’m getting a few rows in here and there. This yarn is Hedgehog Fibres twist sock in the colorway, Budgie. This is a long coveted colorway and was a gift from a dear friend – it always feels so good to knit up favorite and hoarded skeins of yarn.
Today, and this year, I am focusing on joy. Part of this is letting go. Part of this is embracing myself each day. I want to start this year from a place of positive, joyful intention.
Does this mean socks? garments? quilts? underwater basketweaving? I suppose we’ll just see day by day. Use stash, purchase materials, start projects, or finish WIPs. If it brings me to joy to work on it, I’m going for it.
I recently decided to take part in a craft room declutter challenge put on by Karen Brown of Just Get It Done Quilts – her channel is a amazing by the way. Yesterday, she said something that really resonated with my feelings about the year ahead. Karen said to ask yourself “Do I want to make it?” and let that be your guiding star when you evaluate what to keep and what to let go. I’m going to take that on into my decision making for this year – sometimes I get caught up in “Do I want to have it?” and get frustrated or burnt out if the process isn’t enjoyable for me.
Speaking of enjoyable processes, I did a whole lot of knitting and crocheting in December to keep up with advents and finish some gifts and other things. The gifts are gifted, including this adorable sweater on my even-more-adorable nephew:
This is Flax Light, by TinCanKnits, in Bumblebee Acres Fiber Farm Squishy Sock in Longbottom Leaf. Gosh, I could just squish him! I can’t wait to get back down there for some more cuddles.
After the advent rush and traveling so much, I’ve not been in much of a knitting mood. I’ve been working a bit at my sewing machine and working more on my cozy farm on Stardew Valley.
This feels a little loosey-goosey but that’s what it’s all about right? Who knows where 2024 will take me but I’m excited for the journey.
I’m starting to see the light at the end of the make nine tunnel. I did a fair amount of sewing in late August and early September, and now I’ve got a few new garments to show for it.
First up, is the Stasia Tee. I had hoped to make the dress but I just didn’t have enough fabric in stash. So I decided to practice up on my knit sewing with the tee version. It comes out pretty cute.
This was my first version. I sewed a straight size 18 with a cap sleeve and no adjustments. This fabric is deep stash remnant of unknown origin and I do not recommend! It was a beast to sew, my thread broke constantly. I changed needles, tried different types of thread, all kinds of things. After sewing a few other knit garments, I am fairly confident that the fabric was the issue. This is number 7 of my make nine, and I’ve finally caved and purchased fabric to try out the dress version, hopefully you’ll see that soon.
And my second version. Another unknown cut of fabric, purchased in the ago, and much nicer to sew. Same size, no fit adjustments other than to shorten the sleeve. My pattern piece was labeled as 3/4 sleeve but it was quite long, so I shortened by 4″ before hemming the cuff. I thought that the neckline on this was going to be really low but it turned out just right. By the way, this is the Stasia Dress & Tee pattern by Sew Liberated. The pattern is really great, very easy to sew.
Finally, i have made a Blackwood Cardigan, a staple pattern in the sewing world by Helen’s Closet. I have wanted to make this for years and years. I actually made my sister-in-law a pretty bad version of this many years ago – sorry Madelyn! But now we’ve done a bit better. The fabric here is from JoAnn’s back in 2021, purchased to go with my ill-fated purple Hinterland. I cut a 14 graded out to an 18 at the hip and I think it works pretty well. I am very pleased with how straight the front hangs without pulling around the hip. This cozy cardigan is number 8 of my make nine and don’t you worry, I’ve already made another one! I just haven’t gotten a good picture of yet, though you can see it here in this fancy car selfie:
And finally, I decided to try the in-seam pocket version of the Gypsum Skirt by Sew Liberated. I made it up in this cotton poplin from Blackbird Fabrics and let me tell you – it is a lovely skirt to wear. The fabric is the perfect weight for a cotton skirt.
For this one, I read through the pattern notes and realized that it directs you to pick a size based on your hip and then use the elastic length to get the waist size you want. I went up from the 16 to a 20 and based on my experience with the previous Gypsum, I went with about 2″ of negative ease in the elastic length. The fit here is just right. Oh, one last change, I did a narrow rolled hem rather than the turn and turn method the pattern calls for. I just felt like I needed that last inch of on the skirt.
And there you have it. That’s number 7 and 8 of my make nine plus some duplicates and all from stash fabrics! I’ve started my last make nine project – a handknit cardigan – and I’m about to split for the sleeves. Right now it just looks like a lump all bunched up on the needles, but I’ll share some progress on it soon. I am really pleased at how all of this coming out. You know I love a good stack of makes and this is going to be an especially good one, I think.
I’ve told you once and I’ll say it again, I’ve knit a lot of socks. Literally hundreds of socks have come from my needles. I’ve had my share of mess-ups here and there, but it’s usually a straightforward process. Until I pulled out a special skein of yarn way back in January.
I decided to knit up this precious to me yarn into a pair of socks for my brother Judge. I with all over ribbing so that they would fit snugly and I was honestly playing a bit of guess work on the number of stitches since this is a fine yarn. I settled on 60 stitches and was off to the races. After a while, I couldn’t figure out what color to do the heel in, so I cast on the other sock and knit the leg of it too.
Eventually I settled for black but at this point, I was thinking it seemed to small. Everyone in my house also thought they would be too small, so I put them on hold for Judge to try on the next time I saw him. Try them on and confirm they were too small he did, so I ripped them out on that trip.
I settled on the DRK Everyday Socks by Andrea Mowry. I figured this would give me numbers to go off of and that heel gusset is just to die for. This is a toe-up sock pattern, way out of my comfort zone. I messed up the toe and heel so many times it’s embarrassing. It took me quite a while to get going, but I eventually got 1 sock done and then started the next one.
I got to the point at which you start increasing for the heel and thought I’d snap a quick picture. Cosi helped and I put it up on instagram, quite pleased with myself. I then sat right down to do the heel and discovered I had the wrong number of stitches. I said some blog-inappropriate things while I ripped the sock out and started over. But of course, I started over, only messed up the heel once and finally finished this pair of socks. About 8 months and 6 tries later, but I finished them.
Once they were done, I realized I had about 12g of yarn left in total, including 2 complete rainbow repeats. Any guesses as to what my current favorite leftover project is? You’re right, nephew socks! I though it would be just beyond for Uncle Judge and Oak to have a matching of socks. I cast on the Perfect Newborn Socks by Tabitha Gandee that I used for a few of his socks already and in no time I was down to the very last little dregs of grey from that skein. I would up with barely enough to weigh on the scale, so this yarn is safely all used up!
And with that, matching uncle/nephew socks are complete! This beautiful yarn that I have used up is 9 Dark Side epv by Must Stash Yarn, a lovely colorway inspired by the cover of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album – I’m not sure if she even dyes it anymore, it’s been in my stash for eight or so years. #yearofstash indeed!! The contrast color for both pairs of socks is Knit Picks Stroll Fingering in 23701 Black.
Judge and Oak are both highly knitworthy so all the extra effort was definitely worthwhile. These socks are on their way to their respective recipients now and I hope they make the wearers as happy and cheerful as they have made me.
Still can’t believe I caught a cicada on my dress in this one, but that’s not really the point here. Bottom line: I’ve only worn this dress once or twice. It’s been hanging in my closet the whole time and I never reach for it. I’ve never gotten Hinterland out of my mind though, I even put it on my make nine list for this year.
I knew it was coming and so this last week, I decided to finally dig in and try to figure out Hinterland. I started with the less than happy task of trying on the old one to try and diagnose the issues.
Ok, maybe I lied about it hanging in my closet. Clearly I meant to say it’s been balled up on the top shelf. Putting this on, the fit wasn’t quite as bad as I was expecting. The biggest thing was the tightness across the bust and in the sleeve/shoulder. It doesn’t look so bad in the picture, but the buttons definitely pull and look pretty bad if I lift my arms. First idea, more room in the bust. I even talked about the sleeve cap in the first blog post, so that’s another issue. Second idea, more room in the shoulder/bicep. The third is a little less obvious but something that nagged at me immediately is the skirt. I’m just more drawn to more swish. I’ve seen the designer in a version where she just made a bigger, more gathered skirt – boom, idea three.
Beyond that, this just isn’t a great quality make. I tried to shortcut the neck binding and it was a five alarm disaster. There was cutting involved with the repair and I’m sure that doesn’t help the bodice fit in the end.
Bodice muslin! This fabric is a little more stiff than what I’m using, but I didn’t have enough scraps in anything similar, so here we are. I also havent’ sewed darts in a million years, so this is not the best try. All that aside, here we are with a full bust adjustment, sleeveless, no-placket version. I’m hoping this will solve the bust and bicep issues – in any future sleeved versions, I’ll probably explore a bicep adjustment. I also wanted a simple look on this one, so no buttons.
I’ve really enjoyed the process with this dress. I’ve done a little bit most nights this week and then finished it up this afternoon. And, drum roll please… Volia!
I given you Hinterland, version 2. This is more like it. I can’t wait to wear this all summer and fall long. It’s so drapy and comfy right now and I think it will look great with a sweater under or under it.
I think I’ll still futz with the bodice – maybe I just need to raise the arm scythe a little? Everything I make shows my bra and I have to wear a tank underneath. Anyway, I can’t complain, I feel soooo me in this.
So details – my current measurements are 41″ – 35″ – 47″ and I cut a 14. I did a 1″ FBA , added 2 inches to the skirt length, and added 16″ total to the skirt width. I was looking for a much more gathered version and that did it. The fabric is from Blackbird Fabrics, the same linen / rayon blend I used for my Metamorphic Dress and Gypsum Skirt; this colorway is called cactus. This is number 6 of my make 9 for the year and another year of stash project.
Last but not least, I want to give a huge shoutout to my darlin Joshua – the best FO photographer around. You make your old mom with no makeup and dirty hair feel great.
I have sat down to write this post so many times and just keep getting distracted. This last month has been a bit of a whirlwind with travel all over and not so much making. I’ve got a surprising number WIPs going but I don’t think there are any finished objects to be found here.
Well, just kidding, but this is it – I finished these so long ago they hardly seem to count. These were done on July 8, before I even started my Canopy Shawl. They’re cute though, I do love speckled sock. The yarn here is Hobbitses by A Homespun House.
Ok, ok, but these are all things I forgot or wasn’t able to show yet – like these socks. I finished them in June, but they were Mom’s birthday socks so they stayed secret until I got to visit her. This is Rhubarb Pie by Woolberry Fiber Co., gifted to me by my dear friend Hannah an untold number of years ago.
Speaking of visiting my mom, you may have seen that was in NC for a bit to see family and hang out with my brand new nephew and I got to see my mom:
And we got to go see my brother and sister-in-law play:
You should really check them out if you’re in Western North Carolina – Crystal and Judge are a singer-songwriter duo that will warm your heart and knock your (handknit) socks off! After that, we headed back down the mountain to visit with the new little family.
We had some time to kill so we piddled around Winston Salem, went to some gardens, the library, and even a beautiful downtown church. Judge picked up a 50 cent copy of Jurassic Park for me on the condition that I read it – I devoured it in about 4 days. Good pick.
On the trip I was working on these socks for Judge – I started them and they were too narrow, so now I’m trying a different pattern. This is the DRK Everyday Socks by Andrea Mowry and I’m pretty pleased. Only mildly worried that they’re too long.
Before I even left on that trip, I’d gotten to a pause point on my No Frills sweater. I ordered a beautiful skein of yarn from Stress Knits that seems like it will be perfect at the next stripe, so I’m waiting for that order to land. On the plus side, I’ll split for the sleeves on that next stripe! Can’t wait to get back to this one.
I cast these on for concert and baby-waiting knitting and I’ve been slowly making some progress here and there. This is some yarn from Lichen and Lace that I ordered a few years ago.
In other news, I had a birthday! The kids and I took the train up to Boston for a concert and I cast on some birthday socks. I really like the yarn, but these are probably on the back burner for a while in the face of my other sock WIPs.
We had a great night out and took the train back down the next day. Other than that, I decided to do a little testing of the Stasia dress and tee pattern for my make 9.
This is a very poorly lit picture of the unfinished tee – it’s still not finished a couple of weeks later. I have been struggling with my twin needle and I think I’ve figured out the problem. Fingers crossed this will be done soon.
Well there you have it, much of what’s been happening over here in knit1, make2 land. I’m itching to get into more garment sewing and hopefully my twin needle will be solved via mail delivery today. Until then, we’re just hanging out.
July was a busy month. I knit far more than I wrote, so today’s finished object hasn’t even seen the light of the blog. I’m talking about Canopy, one of my make nine projects for the year.
When I was pulling from stash for my make nine, I had originally pulled out lots of potential shawl yarns. I decided that perhaps I had a little too much pink, so opted to utilize this beautiful gold yarn to reknit one of my favorite shawls.
This is Woolfolk Tynd in Gold – those are fifty gram skeins, by the way. I wound up a skein and got going. After a few rows I was concerned so I knit through the first chart and took another look. The sweater is knit at a decently large gauge and I just wasn’t loving it in this yarn. So I decided to try casting it on in something else and comparing.
This is Quince & Co. Chickadee in Petal – also fifty gram skeins. This was actually orginally purchased for another Canopy back in 2020 and I just never got around to it. So I cast on again and knit up to the same place.
And here they are, side by side. The gold isn’t bad, it just somehow isn’t what I had in mind. So I frogged the gold and continued on in the pink.
Once I made the decision, I pushed on through the full chart to be sure. 2020 Cortney knew what she was doing, this is a great pattern to yarn match.
I remember distinctly from the first time I knit this pattern that I just adored the applied border. I haven’t knit many applied borders and believe me, they are not speedy in any way, but boy was this satisfying. It took me a while, I actually finished the shawl while I was down in NC with family. Once I got home, I wove in the ends and blocked it and now it’s all done and ready for some cool nights!
Eek! It’s so sweet and pretty. The pattern is Canopy by Melody Hoffmann. I adore the simple texture and the little traingle border. I really loved knitting this the first time and it was high on my re-knit list because it’s so darned wearable. I love a traingle shawl – that’s definitely my favorite to wear. Don’t worry, I’ve picked out a lovely little traingle shawl for the gold yarn, we’ll consider that a stretch goal for my make nine.
There you have it, friends. Number 5 in my make nine is all done! I’m going to need to get sewing, I’m running through all the knits on the list!
Last week, in the deep dark of a long summer night, a precious human joined our family and we call him Oak. He brought with him my entry into aunt-hood and I can’t really put into words the joy that is in my heart.
I was fortunate enough to be able to take some time off and be there with my brother and sister-in-law to visit and lend a hand where I could. Mama and baby are healthy and all three of them are doing well.
This is one of the few pictures from this child’s first 48 hours of life in which I’m not about to cry but I sure do get a little misty looking at that sweet face. The keen-eyed among you may notice that my poor nephew has on a ridiculous hat, which of course, I made.
When we were at the baby shower a couple of months ago, there were many cute jokes about Oak being our little acorn. I promptly asked my sister-in-law if it would be too much to make him an acorn hat… and here we are. The pattern here is Acorn Child by Melody Rogers which I knit in two colors of Plies & Hellhounds Traveler Worsted held double to get a nice bulky weight. The dark brown is Leatherbound and the lighter brown is Book Cart. I highly recommend this pattern, it was easy to follow, quick, and came out oh so darling. But enough about that, back to cute baby pictures.
What a face! I love these little serious faces that pass over him while he snoozes.
In other news, the littlest pair of socks fits! I love seeing his tootsies all warm and cozy in the socks that I made for him. That’s an extra special knitter x aunt joy right there.
To be honest, I knew I was excited to become an aunt. I thought and thought about having this little baby here and in our lives. What I didn’t expect out of becoming an aunt was the joy in seeing my brother, someone I am so close to and have gone through so much with, become a dad. I’m ten years older than him and so I remember him being this little too and to now see the man he is today and watch him start this journey with his amazing wife and partner just fills my heart to overflowing.
So, welcome to the family little dude. You are already a son, a grandson, a nephew, and a cousin. Mostly though, you are you and that is special.
Let’s just get right out and say it – you know it, Kevin knows it, heck even my kids know it! I like to knit socks. I love to knit socks. They are my favorite project among all crafts and my comfort knit. When I found out that my sister-in-law and brother are having a baby – well, Aunt Cortney settled on socks without much fuss.
To be honest, Kevin helped me pare things down to just socks with the calm reassurance that I could craft for this kid for the rest of my life. Also he’s being born in July so probably won’t need too many teeny sweaters right off the bat.
Once I settled on socks, I hemmed and hawed for quite a while about yarn, pattern, how many pairs – when the ever helpful Kevin suggested something else – what about a box of socks? A fine idea that, and suddenly I was off and running. I dug through my scraps and stash to put together some ideas when I realized that I had leftovers from socks I’ve knit over the years! I mostly used scraps from socks made for my brother with a few others thrown in.
One of the very first pairs of socks I knit was for Joshua in this yarn and pattern. It’s the Hermione’s Everyday Socks by Erica Lueder and XrayAnn yarn in Butternut Squash – sized down to fit tiny feet.
Up next are some leftovers from socks I knit for this little guy’s dad, my little brother Noah. This is Patons Kroy Cadet Colors using the stitch pattern from Blueberry Waffle Socks by Sandy Turner.
I decided to make a variety of sizes so nephew can grow into them over the next 6 months. This is the Perfect Newborn Socks again, I just used a larger needle to make them a bit bigger. This is also new dad leftovers – Patons Kroy Grey Brown Stripe.
Oh I just can’t with these! This is the Perfect Newborn Socks, this time in the cabled version. The yarn is leftover from Mom’s and my advent socks from a couple of years ago – it’s Woolberry Fiber Co. MCN in Snow Kissed Mountains. I just want to say this kid has cashmere cabled socks before even I do.
Next is the Beekeeper Socks by Jenn Emerson – a pattern I’ve wanted to knit for myself for a long time, so I decided to try out a bite size version. I used leftovers from one of my favorite pairs – Stress Knits Yarn in Sunflower.
These make me chuckle, I think the ribbing and cables on the others make them pull in and look a bit more “normal” while these just highlight how little and chubby baby feet are! This is Rye Light by tincanknits in some leftovers from a pretty old pair of my socks, Marigoldjen Yarns in Lazy Days.
These look a little funky because I didn’t quite have enough of the leftovers so I ordered more of the colorway, thinking I’d knit myself a pair since the original pair was for Noah. I’m not sure what happened – if they changed the colorway completely of if there is just that much variation. I figured that nephew won’t mind too much, so I just used every scrap of the original and finished off with the lighter new yarn. Perfect Newborn Socks again in Patons Kroy Clover Colors.
Another funny looking pair, I essentially just omitted the ribbing from the foot. The yarn here is leftover from Noah’s birthday socks from this year – Patons Kroy Grey Marl.
And finally, I had some leftover’s from the sweet boy’s mama’s socks from a few years ago. This is West Yorkshire Spinners in Wood Pigeon. I love how those little stripes came out!
And so there you have it! A wee sock starter pack for my nephew! I really love the fact that someone in the family has had a pair that matches each one of these.
My auntie wish is that these will keep his little feet wrapped in warmth and love.
Buckle up friends, it’s going to be a long one. I’ve not shared my make nine progress so far so that’s what we’re going to talk about today. I’ve completed 4 of my nine projects – 2 sewing and 2 knit – and I’m here to tell you all about them.
The first project I started was the Zelda Crop by Olga Putano. This was a really enjoyable pattern; perhaps except for the 3 color rows, but there aren’t too many.
I’ve loved this pattern from the first moment I saw it and I’m so glad I finally gave it a go. It is very well written, with clear charts and instructions. I used Stress Knits yarn in Dusk (light pink), Mountain Mama (dark green), and Eucalyptus (light green).
I knit a size 3 and my bust measurement is currently 41.5″. That should leave me with nearly 0 positive ease but I’ve noticed that my gauge is teensy bit looser working on a sweater than when I swatch. I usually pick a size down from recommended or something fairly close to my measurement. I’m very pleased with the fit overall.
The one thing I agonized over was the length. No shade on the pattern, I am just quite short waisted. My natural waist and the bottom of my bra are best friends and are surprisingly close. I usually shorten all my sweaters by a few inches and planned to do just that here. I hadn’t really thought through how that might work or not work with the color work.
Honestly, this is a hair longer than I had wanted but it wound up ok. I knit the body (the plain knitting part) to 3.5″ – a full 5″ shorter than called for in the pattern! Definitely something to think about in the future for sweaters with a band of colorwork or patterning at the bottom hem – remember this for later. I’m wearing it here with one of my favorite garments I’ve ever made, this cute little chambray Estuary Skirt (pattern by Sew Liberated).
Next up, I made the Metamorphic Dress by Sew Liberated.
I used two colors of this amazing linen/rayon blend from Blackbird Fabrics. I had in stash 5 meters of the lighter purple, Wisteria, and two remnant cuts of the darker color, Deep Mauve, 1.2 m and 0.9 m. This is just enough of the dark and way too much of the light to make the dress so I decided to try to get a skirt out of it as well.
I was able to get everything cut out, but I did have to modify a bit and add a seam to the back bodice of both sides of the dress. Small price to pay to use up basically every bit of all three cuts.
Anyway, this dress is amazingly comfortable. I cut a straight size 16 and it’s quite a bit too big. I think I need to go down a size and futz with the shoulder and arm holes.
I do plan on making this again sometime, I really like the look and versatility of the two sides.
The skirt I cut was the Gypsum Skirt, also by Sew Liberated, paired here with my brand new Mount Pleasant Tee:
First, the skirt. I used the same linen/rayon in Wisteria as the Metamorphic dress above. I cut a straight 16 and I really like it; the length is perfection. I do think I could have gone a bit shorter on the elastic, it’s pretty loose at my waist but still pretty comfy. Additionally, I need to work on the waistband sewing itself. I don’t know if it was the fabric or my general lack of patience, but it’s not the best. It’s uneven in some places and not evenly gathered all the way around.
Now, onto the top. This is a new favorite, I think.
This is the Mount Pleasant Tee by Megan Nodecker. I used yarn from Backyard Fiber Works in the Shell colorway (they don’t dye yarn anymore). I knit a size L and the fit is amazing. Again, I agonized over the length. This one is knit from the bottom up, so it’s not really possible to try on and truly judge, at least for me. I based my guesstimate off of how the Zelda Crop fits. I knit it about 2 inches shorter than called for and also decreased the shoulder length by a half inch. I was worried that it would be too short, but it’s pretty dead on.
Let’s pause for a second and talk crop tops. I never wore crop tops when I was a teenager and having a baby didn’t add to my tummy confidence. I’m working on that. I have played many body shaming and age related internal scripts to myself over the last 20 years and I’m ready to shut that down. My tummy deserves it’s moment in the sun.
So here it is, my first ever crop top and I’m in love. This little tee is so soft and comfy – I’ll definitely make more of this pattern. I sandbagged a bit on it because I had some gift knitting and major indecision over the length but otherwise it was a super quick knit.
All in all, this is a great start to my make nine and I think these are all good wardrobe pieces. Happy to have used some serious stash and made up some patterns I’ve had in my mental queue for years.
Knit 1, Make 2 