For me, crafting has become a power for good in my experience of dealing with the pandemic. I live in the Bay Area, where there have been forest fires all around us and the number of COVID cases is somewhat high. If you let your thoughts dwell too much on what is actually happening it can be overwhelming. So it is a unique opportunity to channel restlessness and anxiety into creating pieces that illuminate the darkness. So I started seeing the image of a dark garden. The background of the fabrics I will use will be mostly black but there... Continue reading

As my longtime readers know, I have often struggled to find a winning combination where a handknitted sweater shows off a handsewn outfit or vice versa. Even my latest outfit, the Unst cardigan paired with Simplicity 2444, was not ultimately satisfactory. As I looked at the photos later, I realized that the neckline of the sweater did not harmonize with the neckline of the dress. The mismatch looks a bit sloppy. I'm sure blocking the right top edge of the cardigan will help but the two shapes at the neck really don't go together. It turns out that the sweetheart... Continue reading

The above fellow is a starter gnome, looking through the white wooden fence that separates Lucia Lodge from the Big Sur coastline. The starter gnome pattern is designed by Anna Hrachovek of Mochimochiland. I discovered her adorable gnome in this video: After six months of barely leaving home, we decided to go to Big Sur, California and El Gnomo came along. My husband and I had fun photographing first El Gnomo, and then later his new friend Brinkley at Lucia Lodge, where we stayed. Everyone who saw the gnomes peering out of the foliage laughed. And I realized that was... Continue reading

I finally did it! I created an intricate fair isle knit that I am really proud of! And after all these years of eyeing spectacular versions of Marie Wallin’s fairisle knits, it was time to tackle Unst. I've wanted to knit this pattern since the very first moment I saw it. Someone had posted a photo of Marie Wallin wearing her new pattern among a group of knitting designers on Instagram and I was struck by its beauty immediately. I messaged the poster to find out the name of the pattern and then when I had the good fortune to... Continue reading

Phew! It’s been a super busy couple of weeks since I got back from Vogue Knitting Live in New York but I am determined to share my yarn haul with you since I know many were not able to attend in person and might be interested in some of these yarns! First stop at VKL NY: Fuse Fibers studio. This is a small, three-year-old company. I'm addicted to the vintage-inspired colorways but they sell out really fast. My favorite of the colorways is “The Natural Language of Flowers”, the light skeins pictured above, but even though I made a beeline... Continue reading

My one major goal for my sewing in 2019 was to try to replicate a zipper-front skirt I saw in the Chanel Fashion show influenced by computers in the Spring/Summer 2017 show: I just adored these A-line skirts with the zipper in front but had very little sewing experience and was afraid I would completely mess up the zipper. But I kept at it, sewing skirt after skirt, starting with the Hollyburn skirt pattern by sewaholic. After creating several successful Hollyburn skirts, I moved on to McCall’s 7197. This pattern features a central zipper that runs the length of the... Continue reading

Yarn, yarn, as far as the eye can see! The Marketplace at Vogue Knitting Live New York was unbelievable, and I found some wonderful colors there, such as this Green Dragon Colorway of the Merino Yak yarn hand-dyed by The Periwinkle Sheep. It is hard to find a really good green, and when you have an entire market of hand-dyers to choose from the chances go up enormously of finding exactly the color you want! Not to mention the gorgeous yarn art pieces. But the greatest aspect of Vogue Knitting Live is the amazing people that attend the convention from... Continue reading

It’s been swelteringly hot here in California so I’ve been knitting cotton lace. Everyone needs a lace vest for summer, right? It’s a light, cool piece that adds a hint of style to a dress without making you much warmer. I’ve been seeking the pattern for a white lace vest like this for years! “Peaches” by Kim Hargreaves is a free pattern that you can download from Ravelry here I discovered the pattern when we kicked off the Kim Hargreaves-along in the Stitching over the Days group, which I am helping moderate. Our knit-a-long lasts until December and we are... Continue reading

Recently I participated in a knit-a-long of the Soldotna Crop cardigan at my local yarn shop. What a great stashbuster Caitlin Hunter's design is! I used Handmaiden Casbah (blue), (Fibercompany's Road to China and Myak Baby Yak Medium (dark browns), Olann Merino dk (white flecked with pink, blue and brown) and Rowan softyak dk (pink). This top is really versatile because all of us had different figures and different color schemes but we all looked smashing in the sweater! My friend, Sylvie and I had fun finishing Soldotna at around the same time and then we wore them on our... Continue reading

I’ve been knitting Vilma for over a year and a half-- it feels strange to finished it at last! The more stranded knitting projects I make, the less motivated I feel to work on long stockinette sections. But I persevered! The worst moment was last November. I left my half-knitted sweater in the back of a taxi in Paris and it took a while to to start again. Eventually I decided I would be permanently traumatized by Vilma’s loss unless I started over. I had meant to achieve a sweater-girl style look with Vilma, in keeping with Fran Jeffries sweater,... Continue reading

Karen cardigan by Sarah Hatton + my sewn Hollyburn skirt When you knit a sweater to match an item in your wardrobe, there are a lot of advantages. You’ve worn the garment for a while and understand its proportions. Understanding the style and shape you need to complete an outfit is key. I was thrilled that Myrna suited my purchased vintage dress as planned: However, my other project was not so successful. I had originally thought, “How hard could it be to create a sewn outfit to go with my new cardigan?” Because the official design photo of Myrna is... Continue reading

I knitted Myrna to wear with a vintage-style dress I purchased last year. I knew I would wear the dress a lot more if I had something to cover my arms, as the sleeveless style is not appropriate for teaching. Although I had queued Myrna, it was not until I saw CleoCMC’s version that I knew it was the one. Have you noticed how influential it is to see a really beautifully knitted version of a pattern? Seeing a knit on a real-life person, tastefully styled, allows you to imagine that sweater on you more easily. Because Constance wears a... Continue reading

I have finished knitting the boylandknitworks Willowwood pullover in Woolfolk Far yarn. The combination of design and yarn was absolutely scrumptious! I immediately became obsessed with the design when I saw the Pom Pom magazine because I feel it captures the drama and exhuberance of Victorian style but the cropped shape keeps it modern too! The whole theme of the woman warrior with Victorian style in Pom Pom Quarterly 27 is just fabulous. Too often strong women are portrayed as hard-edged but the designs are so sumptuous and elegant! Nightingale by Nora Gaughn I have my eyes on the above... Continue reading

Striving for the Ultimate Chanel Skirt As y’all know, I have long been a fan of Karl Lagerfeld. Ever since I saw his Chanel Spring Summer 2017 collection I have been obsessed with the A-line zippered tweed skirts. Some of the tweed prints were even based on circuit boards, which, since I'm the wife of a computer programmer, particularly appealed to me. I mean, only Lagerfeld could have made a circuit board so fashionable! Anyway, I’ve been pining for one of these skirts for years knowing that I could never afford to even purchase one resale. Considering that new, the... Continue reading