State of the Project: Fleuriste cardigan, part II

Time for yet another "This project must be cursed because I'm an airhead" update!

I have pretty much finished the right front side of the cardigan and I still have one buttonhole to go (on the neck band, which is made separately), but I decided to order some nice buttons already (and, tbh, a set of 3.5 mm double pointed KnitPro Karbonz needles which are 20 cm long, because the 15 cm ones I have are too short for making the sleeves). And guess what? The city where I live has several parcel lockers and three of them are located in stores that have very similar names. One of those three is just across the street from where I live and it's the one I usually get stuff delivered to when I order something online. But my finger must've slipped when I was placing my order, because I got a text the next day, saying that my parcel had been delivered to a locker that is on the other side of town! And yes of course it's in the store that is next to my regular store on the drop down list of parcel lockers. But getting there and back would take me about 1.5-2 hours because I don't drive and the public transport here is not the greatest. 

Luckily I have a colleague who drives past that store on her way to work every day. I asked her if she wouldn't mind dropping me off there after work, but she did me one better and was kind enough to pick my parcel up for me and save me the trip home. I can't wait to be far enough with the project to need to use the needles and the buttons!

State of the Project: Fleuriste cardigan, part I

Being obstinate pays off y'all:

The cardigan has grown nicely and is now measuring approximately 28-29 cm. I also finally got to the fun part: the lace, which was obviously the part that made me want to knit this cardigan in the first place. 

I have to say I was a little intimidated at first when I saw that the 20 page pattern file comes with a 16 page supplementary file with 14 charts, but I soon realised that the patterns for the front part on either side of the button row are mirror images of each other and thus require two separate charts. Also the font is pretty big, which makes the charts easy to read. 

I am nothing if not obstinate.

Despite the knitting gods telling me not to do it, I decided to cast on the Fleuriste cardigan again. I've managed to knit about 9 cm so far and I am loving how I'll be able to hide myself on my couch once this cardigan is ready :D

Okay so my next project must be cursed or something.

Ugh. I'm a little annoyed at myself right now because I've been such an airhead again. 

The yarn I ordered yesterday arrived today and I immediately grabbed it and started casting on stitches for making the Fleuriste cardigan when I realised that the weight was all wrong! I had ordered it thinking that one skein of approximately 210 metres was 50 grams, but it is in fact 25 grams. I rushed to the craft shop in the nearest shopping centre an hour before closing to find a yarn that was the right weight and preferably also the same content as the yarn that is suggested in the pattern, Baskerville by Kettle Yarn Co. I didn't have much luck finding a fingering weight yarn in a colourway I liked, so I decided to go with Drops Flora, which is the right weight, but does not contain silk. Unfortunately Flora doesn't come in the exact same raspberry red as Kid Silk, but it does come in a colourway called petrol mix that I found really pretty. 

Here are the two yarns side by side:

I will try to return the Kid Silk, because I honestly don't know what else I would do with it. 

And as if that wasn't enough, I spent two hours knitting the hem when I realised that I had picked the wrong size (and thus, stitch number) for me. I had settled on the smallest size, but my bust and biceps are actually a bit bigger than the specs, so I should've gone with size 2, which meant I was 24 stitches short. Needles to say I ripped up the hem.

Either I'm an airhead or the knitting gods are telling me to finish up a few more items before starting a new project.

The only upside? I discovered the designer, Sari Nordlund's Youtube channel, which she mentioned in the pattern and watched her "Sweater Chronicles" playlist where she talks the viewer through the whole process of designing a sweater and writing the pattern. 

More projects, more yarn!

Well, that didn't take very long.

Having been content with just looking at the lovely patterns I mentioned in an earlier post, I finally caved and placed two orders for yarn and buttons recently. I ordered two skeins of Drops Sky to make the lovely Rose Blush vest from the Drops website, and also six skeins of Drops Kid Silk to make the Fleuriste cardigan by Sari Nordlund. I also bought the pattern for the Fleuriste cardigan. I'm very excited! 

KAL's I have participated in.

I usually start projects when something catches my eye that I really want to make, or when I want to make a present for someone, but I have also taken part in a few KAL's over the years. Knitting along with other people is fun, because you get to see everybody's progress and creativity and keep each other motivated. 

So, without further ado, here are a few things I made as part of a KAL:

1. Valentine's Day socks by Niina Laitinen:

Niina Laitinen, whom I've mentioned several times before on this blog, is a Finnish designer who has published 3 books and frequently works with Finnish yarn manufacturer Novita, creating KAL patterns for them. In the last few years, they've collaborated on a sock/stocking KAL for most bigger holidays like Valentine's Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day, and of course Christmas. A piece of the pattern is published each day during a roughly 10 day period in the designated FB group where people share photos of their progress and ask for advice. The Valentine's Day KAL was the first time I became aware of Niina and I made these stockings for my cousin (who I think still hasn't worn them).

2. This baby jumper by Anniki Leppik: 

This is a cute, very quick KAL that I participated in early 2017 because the yarn shop that the designer of the jumper owns had a contest on FB where you could publish a photo of the finished work and there was a prize (some yarn I believe) for the photo with the most likes. Needless to say I didn't win.

3. These fingerless gloves: 

This would've been around the same time as the jumper and the stockings. I used leftover pink yarn from the stockings to make them. The pattern was published in two parts on a craft forum that is now unfortunately inactive. It was a quick, fun knit, and I especially like the fake cable pattern.

4. These lace socks from Niina Laitinen's Christmas KAL 2018: 

For Christmas, Niina has published two patterns in the recent years: one for long colourwork stockings that use a thicker yarn, and one for unicolour lace socks. This sock pattern is called "Sparrows" ("Varpuset") and it was part of the Christmas KAL in 2018. I couldn't bother to do the colourwork stockings that year, however...

5. Christmas stockings 2019 by Niina Laitinen:

Aren't these pretty! I even bought a pair of warm leggings for wearing in the colder weather so I could show them off. I did actually also make the lace socks last Christmas, but I don't have a picture of them because I gave them to my aunt as soon as I had finished them. 

So, what have I done with all the yarn I've ordered?

I used to love going to craft stores to look at yarn, but in recent years, I have become much more partial to ordering online when the mood strikes me to make something. For one reason or another, I have become pretty loyal to the Drops brand (probably because their website has so many patterns that inspire me and it's easiest to just use the recommended yarn; plus their prices are fair and they have several sales each year) and there is a local online store that I order them from called Must ja Roosa, which is designated as a Drops Superstore, meaning that they have pretty much all different yarn types and colours in stock. Also, their delivery is super quick.

So for this post, I thought it would be fun to go back and take a look at the orders I have placed with them since creating my account on their website, and to see what I made with that yarn. This post cold be a longer one, so buckle up.

1. The 31st of May 2017, and then another order on the next day, the 1st of June: I ordered Drops Merino Extra Fine and Drops Paris to make these for a dear friend of mine who had a baby that summer: 

I found the pattern for the crochet bird in a book by Mari-Liis Lille called Cuddly Amigurumi Toys, and the pattern for the baby blanket came from the Drops website. I was very pleased with myself when I completed that project. 

2. Next, on the 1st of November 2017, I ordered some Drops Karisma in natural white and chocolate brown, as well as a crochet hook and let's just say that is still a work in progress. 

3. After a long break, I placed another order on the 5th of December 2018 for some Lima because my mom asked for some mittens to go with her hat, which is black and has pink and red flowers on it. Um, let's just say there was an attempt:

I'm not too happy with how these turned out, I can't fault the yarn, although I probably should have used something finer. The pattern came from a craft group on Facebook. 

4. On the 20th of March 2019, I ordered some Drops Paris and Nepal, as well as a crochet hook, because I got happy news about another baby and made these: 

The Lovey is from a pattern by Featherby and Friends, the jacket is a Drops pattern. Drops even featured my photo on their FB feed after I posted it in the Drops Workshop FB group!

5. On the 21st of May 2019, I ordered a bunch of Drops Cotton Light, which I originally wanted to crochet into a top, but ended up using to make the Clara sweater which you can see in the previous post. 

6. On the 9th of November 2019, I took advantage of the Alpaca Party Sale and ordered some Drops Air to make a hat and Drops Lima to make a pair of felted mittens: 

I really like how the mittens turned out, even though the weather didn't get cold enough to warrant wearing them. The pattern is from the Drops site and it's called Icy Paws. I also like the idea of the hat, and it was a very quick knit, but Drops Air is - true to its name - very light and airy and I always worry that the wind is going to blow it off! I might use a sturdier yarn to make it again. The pattern is called Wild Berry Crush and it's also from the Drops site. 

7. On the 30th of November 2019, I ordered some Drops Nord to make these mittens which by then I had been eyeing for a while: 

The pattern is simply called Kukkalapaset (Flower mittens) and it was made as a KAL for a Finnish craft store by Niina Laitinen whom I've mentioned before. I ended up giving these to my mom. Drops Nord feels delightful to the touch.

8. On the 10th of January 2020, I ordered a whole bunch of Drops Nepal to make the Winter Escape jacket, which I have written about on this blog. 

9. On the 25th of January 2020, I ordered Drops Fabel in natural white and Drops Delight in a pink and purple ombre to make the Pride and Prejudice socks that I finished some weeks ago. 

And yes of course I am waiting for another order :D

But more on that in future posts. 

State of the Project: Clara sweater IV, the finale!

Well, there you have it! I love how it came together, though I guess I would have also fit in a size S (this one is size M), and I especially love that I managed to use up the nine skeins of Drops Cotton Light that I had in my stash on a project that I could actually follow through with. 

And speaking of following through: I'm going to head back to my regularly scheduled Haapsalu scarf now. 

State of the Project: Clara sweater III

It seems I managed to finish the second sleeve a bit faster, because I counted out the rows where I had to do increases beforehand and marked them on the pattern before I began knitting it so I didn't have to stress about keeping track while I was knitting. Clever, no?

So yeah, I am currently a few rows into the yoke after having started the first row of the yoke twice, because my decreases didn't turn out to be as evenly placed as I had thought. The yoke is mostly either rows of only knits or only purls, with three rows of ktog + yo in between that create the columns that you can (maybe?) see. 

Hopefully it won't bee too long until I can report that I have finished the sweater and wear it!

State of the Project: Clara sweater II

I am happy to report that the sweater is coming along nicely. I finished the body and one of the sleeves. Now I just need to finish the other one and the yoke and I'll be done! Somehow making the sleeve seemed to take longer than making the body, because I always had to keep an eye on the pattern and remember to increase every 4 centimetres. The piece is getting to look more and more like something that I would actually wear :-)

State of the Project: Clara sweater I

Told you the lace pattern was very easy :P 

Anyway, since casting on the sweater on Saturday evening, I have made decent progress, having watched many, many episodes of Star Trek: Voyager whilst knitting this thing. I have used up most of the yarn from the unfinished Ocean Breeze jacket, as well as an additional skein and as you may be able to tell from the image, I have made it past the initial decreases to making increases around the chest area and am slowly but surely making my way up to the yoke. 

So who knows, maybe I will manage to finish the sweater and the scarf by summer!

Third time's the charm?

Yesterday, as I was once more thinking about how deserted my unfinished Ocean Breeze jacket was looking on the shelf next to my handcraft books where it had been laying for the better part of the last four months, I decided that it was time to admit that I wouldn't be finishing it and that the yarn would be put to better use in another project. Not that I don't like the pattern, mind you, but I don't really see myself wearing a short-sleeved buttoned lace jacket. Plus, always having to remember to make button holes in the garter stitch band is annoying and buttoned tops tend to sit weirdly on me. Just like with the Aphrodite top, which I was originally going to make, the idea was nice but the execution wasn't worth it for me. 

So just for funsies, I searched the Drops website to see what else I could make with Cotton Light yarn and found this lovely sweater pattern called Clara. It's summery, has a very simple lace pattern, and no nupps or buttonholes! And I already have the necessary yarn and needles anyway.

Now I just need to figure out how to finish a lace scarf and a lace sweater before summer. 

Patterns that caught my eye: a pattern creator appreciation post.

I follow several knitting and handcraft related groups and pages on Facebook, and every so often I will come across a pattern that excites me and makes me think I want to knit it. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm going to order the yarn / buy the pattern straight away (though that has also hapened, tbh), but I will make a mental note or bookmark it and then come back to it when the time is right. 

Here are a few patterns that have caught my eye recently: 

• This baby jacket by Ebe Valk, which is inspired by one of the most beloved Haapsalu lace patterns, the Silvia pattern, and was featured on the cover of our biggest craft magazine. 
• Heartbeats baby socks by Niina Laitinen who also designed the Pride and Prejudice and Easter socks that I have written about in this blog.  
• Fleuriste cardigan by Sari Nordlund. 
• Rose Blush vest from Drops Design.
• Gryffindor Pride socks by Ann Kingstone. 

So many talented designers out there, so little time!

Oh, and even though I am not really much of a crocheter, I bought this crochet pattern for a bearded dragon from Planet June. I actually wanted a real bearded dragon, but my current lifestyle would make keeping one quite challenging, so I figured a crochet one would be a reasonable substitute.