Happy Halloween!
Happy Halloween!
Introducing: Zienna
Over a year ago, my cousin was having a baby. I asked what kind of stuffed animal she would like for her little girl. She said something jungle-ly. And so, Zienna was born.
This softie is made for babies.
The high-contrast black and white grabs their attention, but the slightly antique tones of the Berocco Remix yarn, keep it looking classic. The zebra is seamlessly knit from head to tail, meaning that it can stand up to all those babies can dish out. I know my little one is a fan.
The pattern is available from the shop or Ravelry for $5 USD
Introducing: Honeymaker
I'm pleased to announce the release of Honeymaker, my newest design for Quince & Co. A feminine take on the traditional aran sweater, with a bee-inspired twist, the Honeymaker pullover features stitch patterns inspired by netting, hives, and, of course, the honeycomb. It also comes with directions to include an optional bee inset into your honeycomb, if you like.
The cables really pop when knit in Quince's Osprey aran-weight yarn, particularly in the less saturated shades, like the faded brick-colored Clay used here. The collar can be worn popped for a face framing effect, or folded for a more-traditional shawl-collar look.
The pattern is knit in the round from the bottom up, with subtle waist shaping. The collar/shoulders are knit back and forth (cabling on right side only) with raglan shaping and the collar ribbing is picked up and knit back and forth for a seamless garment.
The pattern is available for download for $6 USD from the the shop or you can queue it up on Ravelry.
Modeled photos courtesy of Quince & Co.
Blessed Days
Come Friday, Little Miss Cleaver (LMC or Miss C.) will be a month old (well, four weeks). It's hard to believe a) that it's been a month already and b) that's she's only been in our lives a month. The nights are long and the days are short and we couldn't be happier.
I've managed to get in a little sewing, and Miss C. went to her first knit night last week and got tons of cuddles and mom got to use two hands at once. I spend a lot of time just looking at her and thinking how beautiful she is and how amazing it is that she's ours.
I love being a mom to this little wigglebottom.
Introducing: Latitude
My final design in the Strata and Line Collection is Latitude, a cozy and simple sweater coat.
The coat is worked from the top down with round yoke shaping and a bit of waist shaping. The buttonholes are worked with the rest of the body, while the oversized collar and cuffs are picked up and worked after in the striped pattern (though you could always knit separately and seam on if desired).
The sample features Quince & Co's Puffin yarn in a range of seaglass blues. This fluffy single-ply yarn makes the coat super warm and cuddly.
As a sweater coat, Latitude was designed to be worn with approximately 2" positive ease. The modeled shots show the coat with about 4" of ease. For comparison here's a shot or two of me wearing it over a 38.5 week baby bump and 1-2" of negative ease.
Latitude $6 USD
If you want to queue it up on Ravelry, the collection can be found here.
A Confession
I have a confession to make. I’ve become addicted to sewing baby clothes.
Teeny tiny adorable baby clothes.
When I started my sewing for the Wee Baby T, I avoided clothes as I didn’t have a good idea of what size babies actually are (still don’t really).
So I made other practical things: some bibs, a carrier, a nursing pillow, a toy or two.
But then Made by Rae came out with the Geranium dress pattern and I was overcome with the cuteness. I downloaded the pattern the day it became available and set about to sewing it shortly after. It sat finished except for the closure for a while (I made several failed attempts at snaps, but need to purchase better snaps methinks), before I finally added some buttons. In the meantime, my addiction lay latent, as yet unknown.
I had intended to sew some more baby clothes, in fact the weekend after we found out the gender I went and bought a bunch of fabric and some patterns for that express purpose, but still I held back.
Then a few weeks ago I was hit hard by the nesting instinct.
It started simply, an envelope tee from Growing Up Sew Liberated. But there was something thrilling about it. The tee was so little! It took such little time to sew! And I had successfully sewn something with knits for the first time!
I started digging through my stash, pattern books, and pinterest to see what else I could make. I came up with the fabric for another tee and started planning for my next projects.
A few weekends and a few trips to JoAnn’s later (and a new found appreciation for sewing multiples assembly-line style), we have all this:
Patterns from top to bottom:
Envelope tees from Growing Up Sew Liberated.
Geranium Dress from Made by Rae
Reversible baby pants from Growing Up Sew Liberated.
Baby Tights from Made by Rae
Basic Newborn Pants from Made by Rae
And I have more fabric! And more patterns! And more plans!
Who knows what my sewing time will be like in the not-so-distant future, but as long as that babe stays inside, she’s getting better dressed by the weekend. [Note to Wee Baby T: this does not mean you should take this as an opportunity to be overdue] ;)
Introducing: Longitude
Longitude was the first design in the collection I came up with and the last one I actually made.
Long before Bristol came to me with the idea for a stripe-themed collection, I had the idea for a short-row shaped striped bonnet banging around in my head as by product of a zebra I had knit for my cousin. (Incidentally, that’s another pattern that I intend to release soonish).
In making that zebra I learned a few things about the possibilities of short rows and thought it would make a great hat. Add in some i-cord edging and a couple of pom-poms and you’re all set!
The yarn for the sample features the wonderfully subtle Berroco Black Tweed in Narragansett (Navy Blue) and Clover Honey (off-white). I’d wanted to try this yarn out for a while, so when it showed up in my LYS’s clearance bin in colors I loved, it seemed like fate.
It’s a wonderfully soft yarn, but my one caveat is that I has no issues knitting with it, but the yarn did tend to break when I tried to use it to tie off the center of the pom-poms, so I ended up using a sturdier thread for that purpose.
Longitude is available for download as a solo pattern for $4.00 USD or can be purchased from my Ravelry store with my other two designs from the collection, Latitude and Lamina for a discounted $12 with the coupon code LINE.
Longitude $4 USD
If you want to queue it up on Ravelry, the collection can be found here.
Introducing: Lamina
For the first of three posts about my designs for the Strata and Line Collection, I decided to start with Lamina.
I wanted Lamina to be one a simple, very wearable sweater . The original idea was do to an all-over stripe (below), but after some design tweaking, I went with a solid body and striped sleeves and collar.
The decision to keep the body solid makes for a slightly interesting, though not difficult construction.
At its most basic, Lamina is knit in the round from bottom up with saddle-shoulder shaping and some gentle waist shaping. The saddles themselves are knit back and forth and seamed from underarm to shoulder and then rejoined to work the cowl neck in the round. Because the stripes are contained to the arms, it’s also a relatively quick knit.
It was also a huge pleasure to work with the yarn on this pattern. The yarn is the Woolen Rabbit’s Grace in Myrtle and Straw. Grace is a beautiful merino yarn that comes in sizable 525 yard skeins. There are few yarns I think I’ve enjoyed knitting with more – it was just so pretty, lovely to work with, and the colors really make this design pop. Tea Leaves/Forever in Blue Jeans would be another fabulous color combo. I just picked up some more Woolen Rabbit yarn at a recent local fiber event so I can work more with her yarns.
Lamina is available for download as a solo pattern for $6.00 USD or can be purchased from my Ravelry store with my other two designs from the collection, Latitude and Longitude for a discounted $12 with the coupon code LINE.
Lamina
$6 USD
If you want to queue it up on Ravelry, the collection can be found here.
Introducing: Strata and Line
I'm pleased to announce the release of my first collaboration with Bristol Ivy: Strata and Line
a collection of four sweaters and three accessories exploring stripes in all their varieties.
Click here to view a lookbook of the collection or you can download the lookbook PDF here.
The patterns are available for purchase individually on Ravelry for $6 USD/Sweater, $4 USD/Accessory or you can use the following codes to get the complete individual designer collections for $12:
For the four Bristol Ivy patterns: STRATA
For my three patterns: LINE
I hope you enjoy the collection and I'll be posting more about the inspiration behind my patterns in the coming days!
Bits and Pieces
The nesting instinct is strong in the Cleaver household these days.
Things are beginning to come together in bits and pieces. The nursery got painted this weekend, we've ordered new carpet to replace the mismatched (and smelly!) carpet in all the bedrooms, and have even purchased (or made!) a few things for the Wee Babe. Once the carpet is installed next week, we'll be able to start setting up the nursery for reals, and not just on paper.
With about 9 weeks to go before my due date, it seems both like time is going by way too fast and not nearly fast enough. I've definitely hit the tired and uncomfy part of the third trimester, but there's still so much to do! That said, one thing I've learned to appreciate about this pregnancy is that it's forced me to just SLOW DOWN and rest when I need to, something I've never been terribly good at.
After all, my most important job these days is gestating, and I seem to be doing pretty well there. :)
