Tag: yearofstash

One to go.

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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.

Happy making!

Hinterland, revised.

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It’s been a while since I actually made a dress and it didn’t actually go all that well. A couple of years ago, I made a Hinterland and…

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.

Happy making!

Sweet summer time.

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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.

Happy making!

Canopy 2.0

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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!

Happy making!

In which I knit some wee socks.

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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.

Here they all are in their precious little glory (specifics like counts and amount of yarn used is all detailed on my Ravelry page):

These little cuties were my first pair! I used leftovers from some socks I knit Mom, this is Stress Knits Yarns Mountain Mama, and this is the Perfect Newborn Socks by Tabitha Gandee, ribbed version.

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.

Happy making!

Make four.

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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.

Happy making!

Summer break.

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It’s wild to think July has come around again and the first half of 2023 is done. I’m on break from work for a few days so I think it’s a great time to do a bit of recap. I’ve finished a few things, started something fun and fuzzy, and made some progress on my make nine for this year.

I’ve been making a few pairs of socks here and there:

A cozy, moody, squishy pair all done! The yarn is a sock set from Woolberry Fiber Co. in Moody Pumpkin. I used the Blueberry Waffle pattern – I’ve only knit a one other pair of these and it’s just such a good pattern!

I’ve not been able to get anyone to settle into the next LOTR movie so I’ve just worked on these socks anyway. The yarn here is Hobbitses by A Homespun House.

As I’ve been working on my make nine knits – one was heavy colorwork and the other was knit bottom up – I’ve just been daydreaming about a simple, top-down sweater. I got inspired by a scrappy No Frills sweater that I saw on instagram and decided to do a little stash diving.

I came up with this pull – all Stress Knits yarn (my favorite hand dyed yarn) – and really loved the soft palette. I decided to go for it and cast on this weekend.

I am really loving this knit! I want a soft, scrappy, sweatshirt feel to this one and I think we’re headed there. This is Stress Knits favorite base in the colorways (top to bottom) Dried Lavender, Eloise, Dusk, and My Jam held with undyed mohair silk. I can’t wait to see how this one turns out.

Finally, I finished two handknit tops, a dress, and a skirt from my make nine list for 2023 – but that one will need it’s own post. Here’s a sneak peek of my new favorite outfit:

I hope you’re having a lovely summer. We’ve actually gotten a fair bit of the smoke and a lot of rain here in Maryland so I’m spending more time indoors than I’d prefer but that’s giving me time to do a lot of knitting and reading.

In the spirit of my year of stash, I went through my whole book stash a few weeks ago. I destashed some to our neighborhood little free library and then pulled out all the books I’ve had since last year or before and challenged myself to read them this year. I had 30 so it’s quite a bit – I’ve read 7 so far.

Anyway, that’s a little bit of what I’ve been up to. Have a great week!

Happy making!

The most wonderful time of the year.

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Happy May, y’all! Spring has sprung for real around here. I’m finally planting my back porch containers planted and I’ve been enjoying beautiful evening walks after work. May is one of (and might just be) my favorite months. The weather here in Maryland is perfect, everything is in bloom, and of course the month culminates in the birthday of one of my favorite people. School is winding down and the anticipation of summer is at it’s peak. Mother’s day was last weekend and my sweet child treated me to the nicest evening with a fun dinner out and a lovely walk around the lake.

Of course, not to be forgotten, the first weekend in May is the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. On Saturday, I went with a dear friend:

We had a blast talking, petting sheep, and just generally enjoying a sunny day surrounded by fiber friends. On Sunday, I went back with Astra:

We had a blast too! I think we looked at every stall!

This is Astra’s haul – yarn for hats, some charms, custom made earrings (the lady made them right there in front of us!), and of course, some goodies from The Bee Folks. The yarn here is – (pink/black) A Hundred Ravens NTOA base in the Styx colorway and (blue/black) Canon Hand Dyes William Merino DK base in the Neon Rainbow: Poolside & Black (2 color stripes) colorway.

And here’s my two day yarn haul. I also picked up some honey from a few local apiaries – The Bee Folks and Snyder’s. The yarn is (left-right) Canon Hand Dyes Bruce Yak Fluff in Naked Bruce and Beatrix Alpaca Silk in Fuzzy Bunny, Feederbrook Farm Entropy DK in Qu, and Bumblebee Acres Fiber Farm Squishy Sock in Longbottom Leaf. The grey and purple are all destined to be a Rad Plaid Cowl – a fun new pattern by Andrea Mowry that I can’t wait to cast on.

Speaking of knitting – I’ve got a few projects to share! I’ve finished two of my make nine projects so far and only just taken nice pictures of them – look for posts on those projects soon.

My next make nine start is the Mount Pleasant top. I’m knitting it in Backyard Fiberworks Prairie in Shell. This is my second attempt. I decided not to swatch because I’ve recently knit two sweaters on the same weight yarn at the same gauge. I got about 3 inches into the body before realizing it was coming out way too big, so I frogged it and started over. I’m now only a few inches from the sleeve separation – I can’t wait to wear this over the summer!

I’m on the home stretch of these sweet little socks – I used the Blueberry Waffle pattern (a fantastic free sock pattern) and this is a Woolberry Fiber Co. sock set in Moody Pumpkin.

Last but not least, we watched The Fellowship of the Ring and so I cast on a pair of socks for movie knitting. you can tell that we haven’t watched the next movie yet because there isn’t much done on this sock. This is A Homespun House yarn in Hobbitses. Fitting, right?

There you have it, a peak into what I’ve been up to this spring. I hope you are having a little sunshine wherever you are in the world.

Happy making!

Mindless knitting, mistakes, and other thoughts.

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I hear crafters talk about it often, the joy of a mindless project. It’s often hard for me to slow down with making, I am so often squeezing it in while I do something else. A big favorite during the winter is hanging out on the couch in the evenings and knitting or sewing. Some projects require more focus, some require less, and some need more focus than I give them.

After I finished the Pink Fizz sweater, I decided to knit my January baby siblings some socks. For some unknown reason, I cast on the later birthday gift first but many they flew. After all that lace and alternating skeins and carrying the mohair, I just couldn’t put these down – the joy of stockinette was strong.

The yarn is from Bumblebee Acres Fiber Farm in the Gathering Eggs colorway, which came as a set with the contrast color, Golden Hen. The finished socks are just beautiful. I know I knit socks all the time, but some pairs stand out as particularly well done and these definitely fit that bill.

Since I started the earlier birthday’s pair second, I was putting a bit of pressure on myself to finish them fast, just like the first pair. I cast on the first sock and knit the whole thing in about a day. I don’t really recommend that, but sometimes the mood hits. The next day, I eagerly cast on the second and got rolling. Something felt off, so I decided to slow down and give myself some breathing space. I worked on it the next evening and finally started comparing the socks – they were definitely different sizes! It took me forever to realize it but I had used the wrong needles! I knit the fist one on a 2.5 mm and the second on a 2.0 mm – big difference!

Once I figured that out, I pulled that cuff and leg out and started again. One thing I really try to practice is to rip back or fix the problem as soon as I find it. It’s really tempting to put the project on hold, but I try to fix the issue first and then pause it if I’m still frustrated. More often than not, by the time I’ve corrected the problem I’m back in a good mood with my project and will continue on.

A few days later and ta-da! new little brother socks. This is Patons Kroy in the grey marl colorway. It’s so simple but I adore how these turned out. It’s a heavier weight yarn, closer to sport weight, so I like the texture better on a 2.5 mm needle, 2 sizes larger than my usual sock needles.

After finishing all of those socks, I found myself in a really stressful time with work and struggling to focus properly on my Zelda Crop. That colorwork definitely needs attention. So, I did what I love to do, I cast on some more socks.

I’m trying out a fully ribbed sock – it looks so funny and skinny! This is Dark Side EPV #9 from Must Stash Yarns, very very deep stash.

I had a bit of a lull while I was deciding the contrast color for the Dark Side sock’s heels so I started another pair of socks. I’m thinking about trying to work through yarn scraps and already balled up skeins – maybe that’s 2024’s year of? Anyway, I am digging textured socks at the moment so I started some Blueberry Waffle socks in Woolberry Fiber Co’s Moody Pumpkin sock set.

After all of that, I have been plugging away at my sweater. It is not a quick knit by any means, some of the 3-color rows are a slog. As so often happens, I really started flying once I got past separating for sleeves. As you might pick up with this theme, flying meant I made a mistake.

I missed a whole row! It’s tough to see here but at the top there should be a dark green stitch underneath that pink stitch. I’m not really sure how that happened, I checked it off and everything. I had one little moment where I thought of just leaving it, but I went ahead and frogged the two rows back and fixed it. Much like the socks, I was really in a pique when I found that error but by the time I pulled it back and picked up the stitches again I was ready to knit.

Now, I’ve only got about 20 rows of colorwork and then the ribbed hem left before the body is done. The sleeves are only about 8 or 10 rows or something, so the sweater is really close! As this sweater has been chugging along, I’ve really been thinking about my other make nine pieces – specifically the Gypsum Skirt. I’m excited about this little spring outfit.

I had a bit of free time the other day so I really dug into pattern tracing and cutting out fabric. I’ll dive into more detail later, but I hoped to use the leftovers from the Metamorphic Dress to make the skirt, so I needed to cut that out first, which meant I needed to muslin the dress bodice before that… it was a rabbit hole but just the right kind to keep my mind focused and mindful during some quiet time. I didn’t even listen to music or a book, just enjoyed the quiet rhythm of my hands and the feel of the fabrics.

In all honesty, I love a fast project – I like the comfort of a mindless project to keep my hands moving. I’m working on learning to love slow projects as well. We’ll get there, slowly but surely. Today I’m grateful that crafting provides me the opportunity for both.

Happy {whatever speed you need} making!

Sweet Nothings.

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One thing I’d really like to work on is creating my own fabric pulls over using bundles and designer collections. I’ve made lots of quilts with jelly rolls, fat quarter bundles, specially curated bundles, kits… you get the picture. I love those quilts and I learned a lot from making them now – now I’m ready to flex my creativity even more with fabric choice. I’ve been reorganizing my sewing room lately and I’ve got my stash all organized by color and it is just so very inspiring! Year of stash, indeed!

So back in December, I applied to test a new quilt pattern for Tera of The Quilting Smith. I was selected and spent quite some time on my fabric pull. I went back and forth for days, y’all. Finally I decided that I’d start with my favorite color, pink, and go from there. I pulled out my trusty color wheel and decided on a three color scheme to keep things simple. I wanted the pink to pop, so I planned to use it for two fabrics in the quilt pattern.

This is my original pull – pink, blue green, and yellow green. I edited it down from here a bit to simplify the cutting but this is pretty much it. I tried to have a mix of scales and values to keep things interesting. On a side note, go check out Just Get It Done Quilt’s color series – she’s amazing and I have probably watched most of her videos twice, at least.

With that I got started cutting and even labeled everything! The pattern is so straightforward and easy to follow, I loved having everything laid out like this!

I loved making all these cute green hearts, though in my mind I was calling them apples.

The blocks all came together so quickly! At this point, I was really focused on distributing the pink colors evenly. I had a mix of low, medium, and high value pinks and planned them to be even across the quilt top – remember this, it’s relevant in a moment. Before I knew it, it was time to lay everything out.

I loved how prominent the pink is in the final layout. At this point, I started having a sneaking suspicion that I could have done the layout a bit better. It was a snap to sew up the rows and then I was done!

And there she is! This is one cute as pie little quilt. As this was a test quilt, I’ve had a bit of time to think about the layout and my color choices. The final effect is not exactly what I had in mind. Since I used the same color for two fabrics in the pattern, I wound up losing the contrast between the flying geese and the little checkerboard squares. I could have kept it all pink and maybe done the flying geese in the high value fabrics and made them pop a little more.

I love learning about color, value, and pattern by doing – I’m thrilled with the finished quilt top and now it’s fun to think of lessons I learned along the way. By the way, those green hearts and the teal squares are slaying me right now.

All in all, this is a fantastic pattern that resulted in a lovely quilt. This is the Sweet Nothings Quilt by The Quilting Smith – it comes in two sizes and I made the throw size. The throw finishes at 60.5″ square – I used various scraps, fat quarters, and yardage from stash. I can’t recommend the pattern enough, Tera walks you through every step and explains everything so well. I love how she breaks down the blocks – it made really easy for me to pick it up a chunk at a time during my very busy January.

At the end of the day, I can’t fault myself for incorporating so many beautiful pink fabrics – it’s what I love. I can’t wait to get it quilted and get to enjoying it – it’s so sweet it hurts my teeth.

Happy {learning and} making!