Show off: Pear Sophie

I used the awesome Sophie pattern for this bag – a very fun and easy felting project. I have done this before with Cascade 220, but used Patons wool for this one. I must say, the Cascade felts a bit nicer, but I’m still happy with the outcome.

To embellish the bag, I whipped up a fabric yo-yo and sewed on some buttons.

Yo-yos are so fun and simple to make — also a great way to use up leftover fabric scraps.

And here’s a pic of the Lemon Sophie I did last year.

Show off: Midnight Cardigan

Hurrah! My cardigan is finally done, and looks good to boot! I wasn’t sure if it would fit (it seemed too long in the sleeves and too short in the body) but blocking really helped and I am happy with the final product.

The pattern is from The Yarn Girls’ Guide to Simple Knits. To be honest, this isn’t my favorite book, but the patterns are very easy to follow (truly written for the beginner). This is knit flat and then seamed together. I don’t mind seaming, and even like it sometimes, except for fitting sleeves into armholes. I hated that part and that would be the messiest part of this finished sweater. I will opt for raglan in the future.

I also ran out of blue yarn, so I did the neck and button bands in some leftover gray. I actually like it better this way; I like the contrast. Also, while I did knit buttonholes I didn’t have any buttons around that I liked with this sweater. Instead, I pinned it closed with a vintage (lucite?) brooch and I think it gives the overall look a little something extra.

Most importantly, it fits, it’s warm, and I like it! Not too shabby for a first cardigan, eh? Molly likes it too…

If you notice all the cat hair stuck to the wool, this would be why. Thank the gods for lint rollers.

Sewing success

At yesterday’s Philly Knitters SnB, I was admiring the sock knitting pouches of our hostesses Sarah and Krista. There are some really cute drawstring bags on Etsy that are the perfect size for sock WIPs. But I thought I’d try making one myself first…after all, I do need to be sewing more.

I found the greatest tutorial online, and I am so (sew) happy with the results. I had all of this stuff laying around in my sewing stash, so the bag didn’t cost a dime.

I love the crazy lining fabric.

It is a bit wee, but can hold one sock in progress and ball of yarn. Next time I will make it a little larger (and yes, I will be making more of these).

Try it out for yourself via the happythings blog.

When yarn makes you smile

I recently started another pair of socks, just a simple rib pattern from the awesome book Getting Started Knitting Socks. (I highly recommend this book for anyone new to sock construction.) I picked up a skein of this yarn from my LYS having never used it before. I liked the combination of blues, ranging from dark navy to medium royal to bright turquoise (with a variegated strip in between). I didn’t realize until I started knitting that it formed perfectly balanced skinny stripes on the leg. Fabulous!

Now I just need to make sure I don’t get a case of second-sock sydrome. One of these days I will learn two socks on two circs. But first I need to knit a pair of socks that actually fit!*

*My last pair came out just fine, except a size or two too large

On a more positive note

My cardigan is 95% done! Finally! All I need to do is block the darn thing and add buttons. Blocking is sort of a procedure at my house, because Molly always wants to lay down on every project – no matter if it’s on the floor, the bed, the living room table. She’s persistent…just try keeping her away! Here she is laying claim to the sweater after I finished the seaming.

I don’t mind the whole seaming process; I actually sort of enjoy it. EXCEPT for fitting sleeves into armholes. I think from now on I will try to stick with raglans.