Moonrise Kingdom Inspired Knitting

Over the weekend we went to see director Wes Anderson's new movie Moonrise Kingdom. It's really good, very pretty with many things I could obsess over. I've started with the Narrator's mitts. I haven't found any great pictures of them yet, but they were fingerless, black and white, and stranded color-work knitting. And I think they did have a floral motif, while still managing to look masculine. I loved that his costume gave him a back story; I imagined his wife at home knitting elaborate gifts for him while he explored the island. I was inspired to pull together a collection of Moonrise Kingdom knits today. Most of these are free patterns, with the exception of the amazing & adorable raccoon knits at the bottom. But they are so cute!:

 

Narrator:
Pressed Flower Mitts by Meredith Ramirez  http://www.aknittingblog.com/2011/01/pressed-flower-mitts.html
Red Hot Sweater Jacket by Lion Brand Yarn: http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/20061127Sweater.html

 

Suzy Bishop:

Drops 112-5 by Drops Design: http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/us/pattern.php?id=4105&lang=us

All day Beret by Debbie Stoller: http://www.stitchnationyarn.com/Patterns/free-pattern-all-day-beret.html

 

Khaki Scouts:

Raccoon Mitts by Alison Stewart-Guinee: http://alisonguinee.blogspot.com/search?q=raccoon Knitted Neck Scarf from Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/how-to/knitted-neck-scarf?autonomy_kw=knit%20scarf&rsc=header_6#slide_0

Knit Wedding Accessories

 

My cousin got married last month & we went back to central Ohio for the first time in several years. More on Columbus & the wedding later, but first we wore some hand-knit accessories! When I told Chuck he had to wear a tie he said he'd prefer a knit one. I showed him some yarn in my stash, but nothing seemed right to him, so he decided to  buy my some yarn. We went over to Knit Purl & he picked out some very nice Rowan Creative Linen yarn for me to play with! And then we had some beer at Bailey's Tap Room.:

 

I wore a leafy headband, which can maybe seen in the picture above (from my cell phone/twitter) a little better. It's a prototype, I'd like to start making some to sell in the shop but I still need to work out some small issues. Maybe by this summer I'll have it figured out!

Finished Knit: Trellis & Vine Pullover

 

Pattern: Trellis & Vine Pullover by Carol Feller, Interweave Knits, Fall 2009

Yarn: Knit Pick Shine Sport in Silver Sage (which I think they've discontinued)

This is my first major finished object using yarn I picked up at the Knit Picks warehouse sale last fall. I only managed to grab 8 balls of this color since the bag had been broken open. We looked (yeah I took poor Chuck to a yarn warehouse sale, he was useful) but couldn't find the balls that had fallen out. That ended up turning out okay, I just had to cut a few corners here and there. The main one was the sleeve length; I just didn't have enough to get away with full length sleeves with the cable and lace that the pattern called for. Even so, these are actually the longest sleeves I've done for myself yet! Yay.

 

My shaping ended up being a bit different than called for in the pattern. This was mainly to get a nicer fit to my measurements but it had the added benefit of using up less yarn. I also didn't do any increasing in the bottom set of cables and lace. I'm am pleased the fit turned out as planned.

The Knit Picks yarn was pleasant to work with and feels great on, very soft. Since it's mostly cotton I expect to get some wear out of it this spring. Chuck says it's his favorite of my projects so far. He quite liked the last one too. Maybe I'm improving slowly but surely. 

Finished Knit: Bottoms Up Top

 

Pattern: Bottoms Up by Alice Bell (Ravelry link, it's free there)

Yarn: Elann.com Lara in Burgundy

This is possibly one of the first projects I added to my Ravelry queue, back when I got an account in 2008. I first saw smelinda's version in Euroflax Sport Weight, and then the designer's version in a yummy emerald blue. Between the two I knew I had to make the pattern, and for a long time I was putting it off until I felt like splurging on some Euroflax. But the Elann had a bag sale, and I saw this burgundy yarn, and it just seemed like a great color for this project. I will have to find a new plan/excuse for someday splurging on Euroflax, but it will happen, I am determined!

I was very good about doing all the things you're supposed to for a big knitting project, since it's been in the queue so long I really wanted to get it right. I made 3 swatches to determine the best needle size, and even washed and dried them. And then while I was working on this project, I did math! After reviewing the other projects on Raverly it looked like the length was coming out smaller than most people wanted. I calculated that the size I was making would only be 11" long from the underarm, and that seemed too short for my liking as well. I wanted it to turn out just right so I tried to increase each section of ribbing in a way that was very similar to the original design. More details about this are in my description for the project on Ravelry.

I am very happy with how it turned out. It's a very neat design, simply in-the-round knitting for the most part, with a Kitchener stitch to finish off the sleeves at the top. One of the things I really like about the pattern is the way the sleeves look, and think that stitch helps give them a little rigidity. It's also a fun project with just enough variety of stitches to do okay knitting & watching TV, though pay attention towards the very top. I wasn't so much and had to frog a little bit twice.  

I do need to remind myself (yet again!) to go ahead and make a sweater for myself with full sleeves though. But I really just had to get this particular project out of my system!

Finished Knit: BFF Socks

Pattern: BFF Socks from Knit. Sock. Love. by Cookie A.
Yarn: Elann Esprit in Coffee Bean

Pretty quickly after I started knitting I gave up trying to hide anything I might knit for Chuck as a gift. Generally knitting happens when we are hanging out getting into some TV or movie together, and it's pretty easy for him to see what I'm up to. But I hid these socks away for a couple of weeks after I finished them, determined to at least wrap them up for gift giving or something, even though I did actually let him try them on right after they were done. It's the thought that counts...and hopefully absence makes the heart grow fonder?

I tried them on myself as well, they are so comfortable, I may have to make a pair for myself too. Chuck got me the book for Christmas, I'm sure with the specific hopes that it would make me more likely to knit him some more socks. This seemed like the most guy friendly pair in the book, and I was please to see sizing options from XS-L that made it easy to adapt to the yarn I was using. I've found that knitting with vegan sock yarn always seems to turn out larger than the pattern, so I started with the XS, and it worked out nicely. I wasn't a stickler on the cable spacing, I figured that would be a bit tedious working on size 1 needles, and it wouldn't really bother me if they were occasionally longer or shorter. I think we're probably the only ones who will notice, and when I do, I kind of like it, it ads a little character.

Since these were for his birthday I suppose I'll spare Chuck the task of modeling this particular project. And I'll do my best not to steal them from his sock drawer...

Finished Knit: Date Night Sweater

 

Pattern: Date Night by Nikol Lohr on Knitty

Yarn: Louisa Harding Merletto in Coral from CloseKnit on Alberta

Although I finished this last week, the majority of the work for on this project had been finished for something like two months. It hung out in around our apartment in various looking like the picture on the right during that time. The only thing left to do was weave in the ends and re-do the bind-off edges. But through the holidays I had Crafty Wonderland & holiday travel keeping me from wrapping this up. Finally last week I found the time to make the last efforts required on this project!

It's a top-down seamless knit, which is such a great project type. You can try it on as you go & don't have as much finishing work to worry about at the end. I was good on this project. I stashed 5 balls of the yarn because it was on sale (and because it's shiny!), knit up a swatch and then looked through raverly for patterns that would work for the amount of yarn and the gauge I had with my swatch. I'm getting better at being responsible about gauge...at least for some of the bigger projects.

So I'm happy with how this turned out & the lace pattern was a fun one, just repetitive enough but not too boring. I especially like the collar. I don't know if you can see it all that well in my pictures, but the lace makes for a scalloped edge. I still love how shiny this yarn is, although it did have a tendancy to be a little too splitty and fuzz up while I was working on it...but hopefully now that I am done that won't be as much of an issue. Of course I plan on hand-washing it just in case! And also probably wearing it on Valentine's day, since it seem appropriate. 

2011 Knitting Project Recap

Sweaters

  

Whisper Cardigan - The construction of this was so neat, making knitting with tiny yarn pretty fun. And it's a really satisfying light sweater, which is sparkly, my favorite!

Lotus Blossom Tank - Accomplishments in Lace knitting! Yay!

Leaf Yoke Top - Two similar color & types of sweaters in a row, but this one was much easier...and sparkly again, yay!

In 2012 I might have to make a point of making myself full sleeve sweaters. I made Chuck one once but somehow I'm always drawn to 3/4 length of sleeveless projects for myself. They do use less yarn, which is handy, but full long sleeve is probably something I could use...

Socks

  

No Sweat Socks & Lindsay Socks and Freshman Cable Socks for Chuck.

Chuck bought me a whole bunch of sock yarn earlier this year and I'm still working through it. And so far all it's gotten him is one pair of socks! I'm working on it, his birthday is coming up soon and I'm a good chunk of the way through a nice pair of brown cabled socks. 

Little Things

  

Magic Slippers
Ribbed Baby Jacket (aka Zoe's Smoking Jacket)
Knot Necklace

Babies to knit for means smaller projects, but I also got interested in some very small quick necklaces this year. Quick & satisfying finished objects for when things are busy.

For the Shop

 

 

Triangle Cats, Gadget Cozies, Two-tone fingerless mitts, Knit-o necklaces & more! I finally started knitting up some stuff for the shop and craft shows, and it all went over really well. I'm still recovering from my last bout of knitting for the holiday craft show...but it won't be long before I'm knitting more and hopefully coming up with some cool new designs for the shop too. Meanwhile, I missed knitting for myself so much I've got 3 or so personal projects going on at the moment, but the are all pretty small....so I'll be back on this soon!

Stashed

 

Or maybe not! I did stash a lot of yarn this year, thanks to really great deals at a Knit Picks warehouse sale,and the sock yarn mentioned above. And I've pretty much figured out all kinds of fun stuff to knit up for myself with this stash. That could keep me busy for months! There are at least 3 or 4 sweaters worth of yarn there, plus all the socks. Okay, so I'll have to find a way to balance personal and Etsy shop projects this year, but that's a good problem to have!

Speaking of Wreaths

I wanted to have some Christmas-y-ness for Crafty Wonderland this weekend, so I made up a bunch of these knit wreaths. My grandma has been suggesting for a month or so now that I make some ornaments to sell, even going to the trouble of sending me a few really cool crocheted snowflakes my aunt made a while back. At thanksgiving I noticed a cute crocheted wreath on her tree too, and decided to do my knit version of the idea. Maybe next year I'll try to make some snowflakes if I can figure something out. For now these fit with my current enthusiasm for wreaths. I made a dozen or so, and perhaps I'll make more if time allows!

Finished knit: Two pairs of socks

 

I got so behind on my blogging, I'm going to go ahead and post about the last two sock projects I did together (and right in the middle of Vegan Mofo...uh, sorry to anyone looking at my feet while trying to sort through food posts in the rss feed.) 

On the left is a pair of hot pink (although the colorway was called wine...hm) Lindsay socks from the pattern in Cookie A.'s Sock Innovation. The yarn was Elann Esprit. On the right was a much simpler project, from No Sheep for You by Amy Singer. The pattern was the No Sweat Socks by Kate Atherley, and I knit them up in the pattern yarn, Knit One Crochet Two's Wick.

No surprise, the lacy ones were a bit tougher. I was making it even more challenging by using fewer stitches around and adjusting the pattern at the heel, etc., to accommodate. The lace pattern itself wasn't too bad at all, although I did find the knitting 4 stitches together a bit hard with this yarn/on small needles. I don't think I'd done a heel and toe construction quite like these before (all in garter stitch, and the toes is seamed on the bottom of the foot) so that made it even more tricky. But it seemed to turn out.

The simpler socks were a pattern that had been in my queue since I got that book a few years ago. I mainly just wanted to try out that wick yarn and see how well it works for socks. So when I saw the yarn in this great maizy-yellow at Yarn Garden on sale, I couldn't resist. I've only worn them once so far, but I like them. I actually find that the larger gauge on this pair is nice, kinda like I'm getting a massage from some knit stitches. I don't mind it!

Okay, now I think I'm caught up with my recent finished knits. Most of the rest of the posts this month will be about vegan food!

Finished Knit: Leaf Yoke Top

 

The Leaf Yoke Top by Angela Hahn from Knit.1, Spring/Summer 2009 (incidentally the last issue ever made, though I'm still holding out hope that this magazine comes back some day.) Went into my queue on Raverly as soon as I got this issue. It already calls for a vegan yarn, Tahki Nova. On top of that, the yarn has sparkle to it, and I'm a sucker for that. So I'd long ago decided that I would make this, and I would do it in the yarn the pattern calls for. When I found the yarn marked down at elann, I couldn't help myself.

So I just knit two brown lace tank tops, one after the other. That's okay I like brown. I do remember telling myself while I was trying to decide on colors that green might make more sense since I just finished the lotus top. I don't know what happened, I guess I was just more drawn to the brown.

I am not quite as thrilled with how this turned out, but I knit it up very quickly. It turned out a bit big, for some reason, even though I had gauge. The arm holes, especially, turned out large, which makes it too awkward to wear on its own. That's okay, I suppose, since I intend to mostly wear it over a shirt, like the one pictured above. But it does make me tempted to try this pattern again one day to get the right fit. The more I knit, the more I understand about gauge, sizing, ease, and all that good stuff.

The lace yoke is really fun to knit up. After that it's just plain stockinette, which is a bit boring, but I always get really focused on it, trying to plow my way through to the end.

Anyway, I've got two more projects to post about, socks, and a work in progress that should be finished soon, before I'm caught up with blogging about my latest projects. I also signed up to do the Vegan Mofo again this year, which means there should be lots of blogging in the month of October! Which starts this weekend? Yeesh, how did October get here so soon!

Finished Knit: Lotus Blossom Tank

Okay, okay, I've heard that there have been some complaints about the fact that I haven't been blogging at all for a few months now...which is something that I never really intended to happen. It was hot, lots was happening and I got a bit overwhelmed with where to start once I fell behind.

Knitting seems like the most natural place to start since I'm now at least 3 finished objects (F.O.s) behind in posting about it here. Starting chronologically with my Lotus Blossom Tank, which I'm thrilled about:

The pattern is the Lotus Blosson Tank by Sharon Shoji from The Best of Interweave Knits. The yarn is what the pattern called for: Southwest Trading Company Bamboo, in Chocolate. I picked it up years ago at a sale at the Fiber Gallery in Seattle, with this project in mind. However it took me a few years, and a few false starts, before I actually felt up to a lace this fancy. I am really happy with the yarn/pattern combination too. With that much effort in lace, it turns in to something with a really lovely drape, that feels fancy to wear. Plus, for some reason, it smells amazing. It was always my favorite yarn in my stash for that reason, and I'm glad it still smells as good now that it's a garment! 

I added repeats of the lace pattern because I didn't really want something cropped. The pattern only calls for 4, and I knit 6. This was no problem; once I was used to the lace pattern it wasn't hard at all. My main issues in previous attempts involved it being my first in-the-round lace work and the fact that that lace pattern was a full ten rows before a repeat. But that seems like nothing now! Bring on more lace!

Anyway, I will be posting more often again, though I'm not sure how often yet...I've got at 3 more posts about knitting, and I may do some about what we've been up to over the blogging break. 

To quickly name a few of the major things we've been doing: Rose Festival,Vegan Iron Chef, Ecotrust concerts, Parents visited, Cannon Beach, Pickathon, Seaside, OR, Knit Picks Warehouse Sale, and MusicFestNW. 

Oh and Portlandia was filming right down the street from where we live! I came pretty close to Fred & Carrie in matching red vests heading toward their trailers while I was coming back from a Farmer's Market...but I just smiled at them like a fool. Should I have yelled "Put a bird on it" ?  (I'm sure they get that too much.) As I recall I was wearing something handmade (probably knit) that did not have a bird on it...maybe I should have pointed that out. Next time...I will probably react the same way.

Finished Knit: Thank You Socks for Chuck

 

Pattern: Freshman Cable Socks by Star Athena from Interweave Knits, Fall 2009

Yarn: Elann Esprit, in Charcoal

This is my first pair with the oodles of Elann Espirt yarn Chuck bought me a while back. I made these as a thank you for the yarn, and also for helping with my booth at Crafty Wonderland! It's harder than I would've thought to find a nice simple sock pattern for a guy. Lace socks are fun, but that's definitely not okay. And Chuck was skeptical of cables but this pattern was nice and simple. 

I did the foot a little incorrectly (I wasn't in the mood to be careful about following the pattern when I did the first half of the pair, I guess) but it still works. I'm sure chuck won't mind. And these were knit on US1 needles...which makes for a very cozy pair of socks. The next pairs I knit will be on bigger needles...that small  was rough on my hands and my new needles. So I didn't swatch and found this out the hard way, but the socks still fit fine, and they are finally done! Maybe the next pair will go faster.

One Evening Knit: Cable Braided Necklace

 

I enjoyed the Celtic knot necklace I made on St. Patrick's Day so much it got me thinking about other quick, one evening knitting projects that might be lurking in my ravelry queue. This one is a free pattern: the Cable Braided Necklace by Olga Buraya-Kefelian from her blog Olgajazzy. (I also got distracted while looking at the instructions by a link to a video for her infinite loop pattern, pretty neat idea!) It's made using two strips which each have many little holes for weaving them together. I really like the all white she used in her version, but I had some scrap sock yarn around. I thought I'd see what two different colors would look like for my first version of this pattern. Yep, I really like this pattern so I'm thinking it's pretty likely I'll make this again. Weaving the pieces together is the best part! While I was making it I couldn't help but wonder if it would work as a scarf with larger, bulky yarn.

The Yarn is Cascade Fixation, in Blueberry and Fern. I used the very last of the scraps, making me very scrap happy this evening!

Oh yeah! My Aunt sent me this ceramic button sometime last year.  I really liked it when I received it, but I have been trying to figure out what to do with it for a while now. I thought it was a really good fit for the texture of this yarn and the colors. I also noticed that the original version used a ceramic button by Jenny Potter, whose stitch markers are lovely.