Last April (what?! So I didn’t blog it til now? Whatevs. I’m a slow poke blogger I guess) I finished Cirilia Rose’s Double Decker sweater from Knitting It Old School. Now that we’re back into sweater weather, I can confidently say that this is one of my most worn handknits. I love the way it turned out and I’ve worn it everywhere this fall.

I didn’t knit it exactly to pattern, as I wanted the bust purl line to hit below my bust instead of right across it.  I knew I could adjust it to more of an empire waistline type deal, I just had to work out how to do that. I mean, mostly it was just increasing the length before the underarms, but I also (on Amy Herzog’s advice) threw in some bust darts.

Bust darts! Honestly? This part intimidated me at first, but I have to tell you they were so easy to do.

I followed Amy’s advice and knit a size smaller than I usually do using my overbust size instead of  my actual bust measurement size. For bust darts I increased an inch worth on either front working the increases on each right side. I knit straight for a bit and then decreased more slowly on every other right side row.

Honestly. Why did I think bust darts were going to be hard?

The buttons I found at Seed Stitch in Salem when we did a trunk show there and I love them. They’re a little heavy for the sweater and probably add 3lbs of weight, but look at em! I think they’re perfect.

And can I just say how happy I am that I can officially knit the smaller size in everything I make now? Less yarn! Less knitting! Better fit!

The Berocco Lustra has gorgeous drape and is super warm but is a single ply, so holy doodle this thing pills like crazy. I’m not sure that I’ll knit with this yarn again, but as long as I’m willing to hit the sweater with the shaver every day, I’m fine.

Full details on Ravelry: Double Decker

The most exciting thing has been the travel for what has officially become Splityarn Photography. Every weekend this fall I’ve been shooting and editing. I am LOVING it. Want to know what I’ve been working on?

Knitty! 3 shoots in the Deep Fall issue including the cover (!!!)

Takoma from Julia FC:

Ann Weaver’s The Candles:

Amy Herzog’s Vignette:

The Charles Collection for BHK Cooperative (going live this week, but you can see the photos on the BHK facebook page)

Kate Atherley’s forthcoming book (I did the how-to shots)

AudKnit’s forthcoming book

Photos for some of Mad Color Fiber Arts colourways

Flint Knits Pam’s newest sweater she debuted at Rhinebeck: (Sneak peek only for now but this whole shoot is fantastic, as is the sweater.)

Fun, right?

I will eventually put up a proper page with all my pricing details, portfolio and how it all works, but for now if you’re interested, shoot me a note. I’m happy to talk on and on (and on) about it. I travel heaps too, so it’s possible I might be in your neighbourhood! Eeeee! I find it all so exciting!

I’ve been working on a few projects shop-wise. First on the agenda is Sock Summit in Portland, Oregon. It’s fewer than 3 weeks away! (Gulp!) I’ve been bundling and tagging inventory to ship to the conference at the end of the week. So many wee pouches! And boxbags! And camera straps! I’ll have a TONNE of stuff for the booth. Since the goal is to pack it all up and ship on Friday, there will be slim pickings in the shop after the weekend. If there’s a bag or a strap that you’ve had your eye on, snap it up now! I can’t guarantee how much I’ll come back with. (Last year I came home with just 3 boxbags and a few wee pouches.)

I’ll be sharing a booth (#518 on the map) with Stitchy McYarnpants this year, so we got one of the bigger 10×10 booths. We’ve both been sewing like mad so we’ll have heaps of bits and bobs for sale. It will be a relief to have a partner to look after the booth when I have to hit the loo or take 5 minutes to sit quietly alone to recharge too. What’s also exciting is that I’ll be able to take credit cards much more easily with my new Square card reader. The ipad app that goes with it is rockstar. I’m adding in my inventory now, so when you buy something, I can email receipts. AND! The receipts will have pictures of what you bought. It’s seriously the greatest free point of sale ever.

I’ll also have some time in Portland to arrange a photoshoot or two, but more on that Friday. Exciting times around here!

And remember, if you want something out of the shop, get it now!

We usually organize a swap of some sort for our weekends of tomfoolery (I’m just throwing names on the wall here people) and this year was no exception. Hats!

Heather (ADDKnitter) was in Paris and couldn’t join us, but she still knit for the swap. Lucky recipient? ME! I have all the notes about this hat, (pattern, yarn and all that) but they are somewhere in my suitcase and if I dig it out, the cats will think I’m going somewhere an freak! out! so you’ll have to ask Heather for now.  It’s a perfect fit and exactly my kind of toque. Thank you, Heather!

I was knitting for the always delightful Specs and she requested slouchy and dark purple. After looking at almost every fingering weight slouchy hat pattern on Ravelry I finally settled on Slable, from Wooly Wormhead. Add in some Mad Color Sock Options Good Harbor in Black Cherry and tada!

I love this hat. And will definitely make another if only to photograph it better! The mosquitos were bitey and swarmy and awful, so we didn’t venture outside much. I forgot to get proper FO shots!

As I finish up one knitterly weekend, I roll straight into another one this week. TNNA! If you’re going to be there, shoot me a note and we’ll try and grab a beverage!

When Futurama hit Instant Netflix, the husband and I watched full seasons at a go. Episode after episode,  day after day. I hadn’t seen most of it when it was airing, but I caught up and HOW. After watching Volume 5, episode 4 (Proposition Infinity) I had this image in my brain that I couldn’t shake.

(Oh Bender, I love you.)

I decided to exorcise that image this weekend. I sketched, I cut up some Kona cotton, I sewed, I basted.

By the end of the day, I had my Bender mini-quilt.

I loves it so.

The backing was pieced together from a fat quarter of circuit board fabric (Cogsmo from Andover Fabric) and some strips of Kona. I used the hanging pocket idea from Oh, Fransson’s book, The Practical Guide to Patchwork and it works like a dream.  I didn’t have a dowel or stick kicking around the house to stick in the pockets, but a piece of super stiff cardboard did the trick.

After starting the day with no plans to sew whatsoever, I think it turned out rather well.

(Oh! And! There’s a few new camera straps and biggie boxbags listed in the shop too)

Basically the way an online quilting bee works is that each person is assigned a month. When it’s your month, you pick a quilting block that everyone will make and then you mail each person in the group a bundle of your chosen fabrics to work up a couple blocks. (usually two, KBeeC does three.) Each person then has a month to make your blocks and mail them back to you along with any scraps. At the end of your month, you have 24+ blocks lovingly made by your friends to sew into a quilt top. Repeat until the year is finished.

This is all well and good when you’re at the top of your time management game, but with the book coming out last fall, I fell behind. Like, 4 months behind. In 2 bees. By the end of December I was about 17 blocks behind. Ay yi yi! I’m almost caught up now, but I thought I’d share some of the ones that I worked up for the gang.

It’s been so fun to do these blocks and learn some new techniques. I just wish I had more time to devote to bee’ing. Lesson learned, I’ll only do one bee at a time going forward. Make me stick to that promise!

The yarn is Berroco Seduce, which is a Rayon, linen, silk and nylon blend. It’s so slinky, it’s amazing. I don’t quite know how to describe it, because when you’re knitting it it’s soft enough, but your gauge will feel super super loose. When you get it wet to block it, it firms up and gets very wirelike, but is still pliable. The beauty though, is when it dries. The stitches all smooth out and it softens and blooms slightly so that you just want to pet it or run it through your fingers. It’s pretty cool.

I knit my version of Apocalypta as an XXL for the bottom prior to the waist shaping and then knit the top bit as an XL. I knit it with zero ease, but I gotta tell you, I wish I’d made it smaller.

It fits nicely when you first put it on, but within the hour the yarn will soften more and the whole thing grows. Like, grows a LOT. And not in length like you would expect. For kicks I tried on the medium sample original and it fits perfectly on my arms and chest. The sleeves are a bit short on that version, and it stops mid-belly on me, but it goes to show how the side to side stretch with the loose stitches can really alter the shape.

I love it though, and I’ve worn it to a whack of book signings. Paired with jeans and kickass boots? It’s a sexy feeling top.

If you see me at a trunk show, I’ll make you try it on. Once you have it on, you won’t want to take it off. Beware. It’s the fastest way to accidentally buy a sweaters worth of Seduce.

It’s a really quick knit though and if you make it with heaps of negative ease and add a little length? It will be absolutely perfect and you’ll love it too.

All the details are here on Ravelry.

The shop is updated! Heaps of Biggie Boxbags this go ’round too. Woo!

Enjoy your weekend!

I think I’ve found a solution though. If I’m remembering correctly, it’s something that StashKnitRepeat Amy tipped me off to two summers ago. I used it to sew in a zipper on one of the Knitting it Old School
sweaters and then I used it again last week finishing Pump Jockey.

Hold on while I blow your mind at the simplicity.

Blocking wires.

They hold the knitted fabric in place and stablize the whole deal. It’s so simple, yet so effective. I’m already looking at knitting another sweater that needs a zipper. That’s how well it worked.

Here’s how I did it:

I started by weaving in two blocking wires on each side of the sweater fronts. One right along the first set of stitches right on the edge, the other about 4 or 5 stitches away.

With my small rotary mat inside the sweater, I placed the zipper underneath the sweater fronts taking care to center it directly under the edges.

While it was still laying there all correctly positioned, I pinned one side of the zipper tape down between the blocking wires

Starting at the bottom, I began backstitching the zipper in along the teeth edge first, and then once more along the edge of the zipper tape.

I came up through the zipper tape, into the sweater between two columns of stitches.

And then back down a row or so, taking care to stay in the same column of stitches. This puts the thread in the ditch between stitches and is invisible from the front.

It will look like this from the backside when you’re done with the first side of the zipper

Leaving the blocking wires in, I put it back down on the mat and pin basted the other side.

I then opened and separated the two sides of the zipper to sew in the other half. Obviously this step needed feline assistance. Thanks, Mother!

And that was it! I took the blocking wires out as the last step and had a zipper installation that was painless.

Crazy easy, right?

Let’s see if we can’t shove off the winter blahs with some pretty new biggie box bags! I finished up a dozen or so bags this week and while the plan was to wait and release the full suite of products in each of the fabrics, eff that. I threw the camera straps up the other day, and the biggie box bags yesterday afternoon.

Once the remaining zippers get here, the regular boxbags and wee pouches will get listed, but I’m sick of waiting!

The other fun thing I’ll be doing to shake things up a bit is taking a trip out to Northampton on Sunday. Stitchy and I are honoured to take part in the giant Author’s Event at WEBS! We’ll be there with the Knitting it Old School trunk show and we’ll be keen to chat, so come on by! Even if you don’t want to talk to us, we’re in fabulous company, so if you’d rather see Kate and Courtneyor Melissa and Cecily, you can. Sunday, from 1-4. Be there or be L7.