Grace's Plaid Fall Coat

Ah, my new pride and joy. I made it or my 19 month old daughter. It is a size 2T and I added two inches of ease for growing room. I also added two inches to the bottom hem for growing room. This was the longest I have spent on a project. The colorful pattern required a lot of concentration. I had to go back and correct a misplaces stitch or two to keep the pattern going. The end result is just adorable. I love her in this coat!

FEYI THROW!!!!

This was a present for my little sister. She wanted a blanket and I wanted to make her something that was her own. The “Feyi Throw” was born. Just a simple block quilt style with different stitches for each block. I made the letters for her name on an angle to make it more interesting. I went a little crazy with he border perfectionist that I am and about half way through it I began to regret my urge to make everything wonderful. She loves it. and takes it every where. 3 feet wide 3 feet long. The kids love it too…I feel theirs are coming soon.

Reversable Statement Scarf with Stripes

My first attempt at a double knitting project. It took my mind off of a complicated coat I am working on. I got the urge to have a scarf that said something. I am in a transitional point in life we are moving to a bigger house, I am moving forward, "go far" came from that feeling. Simple pattern. Begin with a cast on stranding two yarns of opposite colors. Then make the set up row buy treating each stitch as its own. This doubles the number of stitches and allows you to knit two sides at once. When you knit one stitch, you purl the next. This makes the two sides a mirror image. Fascinating. The scarf is totally reversible, the only problem is finding letters that appear the same backwards and forwards. This limits the words you can use if you are looking for a totally reversible item. Also good for "go team" scarves in school colors, or for a ABC letters for the kids to teach them. Very fun and stimulating project. Wanted to try something new.

Rockefella Sweater

I must admit I was a lot happier with this sweater than with the Twinkle Hoodie. The Yarn I used was not itchy at all, it was merino wool, and it had a faint lovely barn yard smell in it. I enjoyed the pattern, it was more interesting to do, the cables were a nice touch but I feel the lacing around the cables took away from it, it made it look too holey. I feel i went a little light on the gauge as I did not want to but the very expensive twinkle yarn. I managed to get the similar look, but if I had used the correct yarn I feel the weight of it would have made the garment lay better. But honestly, how much more bulk can you stand? I like it for around the house, and on accident I might wear it to the store. Poor Twinkle Hoodie would never be let outside, so all in all I feel it is a better sweater, and yarn for this. But it is now official, I am done with the bulky knits phase.

Twinkle Hoodie

I am going to tell you how I feel about this sweater. I love the yarn but I am finding alpaca to be scratchy, but very soft. Bulky knits seemed like a good idea in theory, but when actually done I found them less rewarding. For one, they do knit up fast, but the stitch size leaves little room for details sans a large cable or to I thought in theory they would be wonderful…a quick way to knit up a sweater in an adult size and practice making sweaters. The design seemed too small, the sleeves were supposed to be 3/4 and I was not happy with that. I ended up altering it, adding ribbing on the bottom to make it longer, and adding on to the sleeves. The yarn does stretch a considerable amount when knit on such huge needles. I had to rip and redo the sleeves because they went over my hands. The yarn was too bulky, to the point of being unattractive, I would wear it around the house, but not out. I feel a more structured and form fitting sweater would make me happier. I loved the experience, but I feel my chunky knits phase is officially over. Laid out it looks cozy and inviting, but when I put it on i felt lost and the fabric stretched out of shape. Its made for less than a curvy woman, in my opinion...bulky does not wear well on an average frame.

Isaac's Tri-colored Pullover

This a simple pullover with a crew neck. The colors really compliment his skin tone. The sleeves were very simple with no arm hole shaping needed. The back was basically a square and the front had neck shaping. The sleeves had a simple gradual increase up to the seams. The gauge was 4 stitches to the inch and I used US 9 sized needles. It made for quick knitting and a fast sweater. I made the entire thing in a week. I felt this was the simplest article of clothing I have made so far. The next one will be more challenging.

Big City Knits

Wenlan Chia, is a real inspiration to me. I bought her book
" Twinkle's Big City Knits" because I felt her designs were truly original. She has shown her line at Fashion Week in New York City and the items she hand knit herself got the most positive attention. She uses a real understanding the stitches and how they lie on the body. Her use of dramatic ribbing around the waist makes very chic and elegant garments. They are all very form fitting and look like a real womans choice. There are many sweaters I would make and wear out. She only uses super bulky weight yarn, hence the title, and the sheer size of the materials make for quick knitting. I chose this book because I felt it would give me quick results for making my first adult sized sweater. The needle sizes range from 13-35 US, and may are circular so you may need to go out and but these sizes especially for these projects. I am currently looking for yarn to buy in the super bulky weight as to get the correct gauge. Keep reading for updates on "Big City Knit" sweaters for mama!