Gathered Front Tank

This is one of my favourite summery knits.  It's knit out of a wool/silk blend that I bought at my LYS years ago.  I don't have the ball bands so I don't know any more than that.

Pattern: Gathered front Tank published by Interweave Knits.

I love the look of the front with the gathers.  I had difficulty with the straps.   I went back and re-did them 3 times before I was really happy.  The first time they were too long.  The second time they were the right length but too narrow.  I wanted to be able to wear this to work and it needs to be 2-finger widths wide to fit the dress code (I'm a teacher!)  I made it in 2011.

It can also work to be worn over a tank top but mostly I wear it just on it's own.

Twisted Scarlet

Pattern: Twisted Scarlett
Yarn: Sweet Georgia Tough Love Sock

The pattern is from one of the ladies in the new knitting group I joined.  We meet every other Tuesday night in Pickering, Ontario, if anyone is local and looking for a knit group to join!

Anna also dyes her own yarn and sells it in her Etsy shop, Mythic Yarn.  She brought some yarn to the Knit night and it was too tempting.  I picked up these lovelies. Anna doesn't have anything in her shop right now but I know she is dying up some wonderful new yarns!

 Back to my wristlets.  The cable detail is a nice thick chain. The pattern is for fingerless gloves.  I knew I didn't have enough yarn for those and that I would mostly be wearing these inside when I am wearing a 3/4 length sleeve sweater and want a bit more warmth.

 The pattern took a while before it became intuitive but I like it!

I really like how the ribbing flows into the cables at the top and the bottom.  I wish mine were a bit longer, I started to run out of yarn so I had to stop.  I still like them.  They are the perfect extra bit of warmth on a cold day.

Curling Sweetheart

 I love to watch to watch curling. I've only curled about twice in my life but I love to watch curling and knit.  I think I like it because it is a slow paced game but there is always something to listen to. Perfect for doing while knitting so I decided to call this my Curling Sweetheart.

 I started knitting this at the beginning of the Canadian Women's Curling Championship, called the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.  I knit through the Men's Championships, the Brier and continued to knit through the Women's World Championship and finished up before the end of the Men's World Championship.

Pattern: Sweetheart Pullover
Yarn: Swish Bare Bulky by Knitpicks

 I think my favourite part is the neckline.  I like how wide it is and the details.

 It's really comfortable.  I love the yarn.  If I was to make it again I might add an inch or two in length but overall I really like it.

I made some modifications for the edgings and raised the neckline.  Here's my Ravelry page.   I thought it would be too warm to wear at this time of the year but actually with the 3/4 length sleeves it's just the perfect layer.

This is sweater number 4 that I've finished this year. I think my favourite thing to knit is sweaters? Anyone else love to knit sweater?

Snow and Rainbows Toque

Snow and Rainbow toque for my daughter!!  She loves it.  It's perfect for this cold Canadian Winter we are having.

Pattern: Frosted Alpine Hat by Tanis Lavalee

I love this pattern.  My son already has one.  I will be knitting this in different colour combinations for my kids each year.

The yarn is the rainbow yarn I dyed for my daughter's sweater.  I love how the striping showed up so well in the toque.

What's your favourite hat pattern?

10 Sweaters - 10 months

 I started out the year with just 2 handknit sweaters in my closet that I actually wore.

I had several sweaters knitted that I didn't wear because they weren't quite right so I frogged all of those ones and started out to rebuild my handknit sweater wardrobe.  I didn't intend to knit 10 sweaters in 10 months but somehow it happened that I averaged a sweater a month.  Some took longer than that and others less time but here I am in a new year  with 12 new or re-knit sweaters that I love.  I'll link to my Ravelry Project page if you want to see more details and I'll list the yarn if I remember what it was.  I wasn't very good at keeping yarn labels.

January

En Pointe Pullover, a fingering weight yarn I bought several years ago.

February 

Icy Blue Cardigan , Swish Bulky Yarn, dyed with Kool-Aid

Spoked Cardigan

 

March

Long Sleeve Grey Cardigan  Americo, copeto medeo

April

Grey Star   Knit Picks swish worsted

May

Regatta Tee , ** cotton/wool blend worsted weight

June

Gathered Front Tank: pattern from Interweave Knits - hand dyed yarn bought at my LYS 

(This one I only fixed the straps on, I didn't re-knit the whole thing)

July

 Sweet Tee, ** Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino

 

August

Coral Rose Cardigan, Sweet Georgia Yarns DK

This is my third favourite sweater.

September

I Heart Purple  Tanis Fiber Arts Green Label

This is tied for my most favourite sweater. 

October

Grey and Sunnyside  Tanis Fiber Arts Yarn Green Label

And my other most favourite sweater.  I wear this all the time!

And that's when I lost steam.  I still can't believe I knit 10 sweaters in 10 months for myself.  My last 3 sweaters are my favourites.  I've learned that I like v-neck cardigans or shawl collar, rather than round-neck cardigans.  I like cardigans.  I like mostly seamless designs.  I like patterns with some detail, but not too much detail.  I am more motivated to knit when I have a pattern to keep track of and rows to check off.

I will be going back to work full-time as a kindergarten teacher in March so my knitting time will decrease drastically.  I'm going to knit some sweaters next year.  A really warm brown one, a lighter brown one, a white one and a blue one.  I have the yarn for all but the white one.  Knitting in those colours will let me mix and match with most of my wardrobe I wear for work or home.

And I will be then only knitting much smaller things, socks, scarves, hats . .  .and sweaters for my kids as they grow.

If you are reading this thank you for following along and if you are a knitter I hope you sneak in a few rows each day. 

Striped Trap

Pattern:  Striped Trap

Yarn: Berroco Folio and Berroco Boboli Lace

 I loved using a busy variegated yarn, alternated with a plain yarn. I find it really shows off the variegated yarn rather than just being busy.  I will definitely be using this technique again for other variegated yarns.

It doesn't look like much when it's layed out flat.  It's a trapezoid.  I got to a point when I was knitting it when I wondered if I would wear it but it's one of my favourite knit scarves.  The ends stay tucked into place and don't fall down. 

 I wear it like this all the time.  With the larger section down to the front and the skinny end wrapped up around my neck.

I could wear it this way with it over my back, as more of a shawl but scarf style is more me.

Cozy, warm, colourful: perfect for winter.  Have you made anything warm for yourself recently?

Fairisle Anything Cowl

I used this free pattern, called Fairisle Anything Cowl on Ravelry.  There is no gauge listed in the pattern but I used 4 mm needles and a worsted/aran weight yarn and my gauge was 7 sts/inch.  

It fits perfectly under my coat as a neckwarmer.  

 The grey I used is leftover Graphite Tanis Fiber Arts Yarn Green Label Aran weight.  The self striping yarn is a Noro Silk Garden leftover from a vest I made my daughter.

Perfect for a Canadian winter.  My mom likes it so much that she's asked me for one . . . and she hardly ever wears anything handknit. Have you knit anything warm recently?

DIY Knitted Boots

I saw these knitted Ugg boot last year on Pinterest and I loved them.  I really wanted them but I couldn't justify buying them.

UGG Australia boots (see more bleach shoes)

I had an old pair of mucklucks that I still wore on occasion but not often. So I into my yarn stash and found this purple yarn that had been a scratchy sweater at one point of time. 

I measured around the boot and the length of the upper part of the boot.  I did a guage swatch to figure out how many stitches to cast on.

Pattern

Yarn: I used 2 strands of worsted weight yarn held together.
Needles: 5.5 mm
 Gauge: 3 sts/inch

Finished Size: 8 1/2" wide by 8"  tall

Cast on 36 stitches.  I knit the Twisted Braided cable pattern according to these instructions from Knitting on the Net  I knit until I had a rectangle that was 8 by 8 1/2 inches.  Then I attached it to the boot by stitching around the bottom, around the top and overlapping the sides.  I picked a few mis-matched buttons and sewed them on over the seam.

Voila!  DIY Knitted Boots that cost me nothing to make.  In a few years I think I will get some blue yarn and make a pair like my inspiration picture.   These would be easy to make with thrift store pair of slip on boots and easy to customize with your own pattern.

Have you ever knit anything inspired by Pinterest?  Follow me on Pinterest Christa Lakeknit