Category: Knitting

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November & some…

How is November already over? Anyway, here’s some stuff I’ve been making.

Another Yellow Lakes

I started the Lakes Cardigan a couple weeks ago and it’s knitting up pretty quickly. I’m making a size M (the size I always make for Ozetta patterns) and using Noro Madera yarn in the color Shogi #30. Here’s the yellow Lakes Pullover I made in 2023.

Initially I planned to use leftover mohair from this sweater, which created an interesting marled effect, but it really muddied the yellow. I then thought about not using mohair at all, but ultimately decided to since my last Noro Madera project didn’t.

So I ordered two skeins of Knitting For Olive soft silk mohair – one in ‘dusty honey’ and my wildcard color ‘quince’. I ended up going with quince, even though the swatches looked almost identical. I made so many swatches, yet didn’t block a single one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I planned to use these ceramic buttons on another cardigan, but they look so good with this yarn! They’re made by my studio buddy, Animated Earth. Also my travel mugs made it through the glaze firing! I’m keeping this ‘pumpkin’ one, gifting the ‘blue jeans’ one, and trashing the one I accidentally glazed with a non-food safe glaze. I’m excited to make more.

I am using US 9 needles for the body, US 8 for the ribbing, and did include the short rows on the back hem. I purchased 6 skeins of Noro and 6 skeins of mohair – I think I will have a decent amount leftover… Hoping I can finish it in December!

Big Plate

It has been a challenge to make big nerikomi plates. One so far has made it through all the stages and one has a sizeable crack. I made this checkerboard plate a few weeks ago, but it’s been too wet outside to sand, so it’s sitting on the shelf at the studio. Wishing for a break in the rain so I can have two big plates at home.

Stretchy Pants and a Knit Tee

I have been trying to work through my fabric stash and finally sewed up this lovely linen I bought ages ago from Stonemountain. I have no idea if they carry it anymore, or what it is, but it’s very nice!

I made the Elizabeth Suzann Clyde Work Pants in size 10. I just love how the waistband looks. After one wash, it was already perfectly worn in.

And I finished my summer knitting project last month. It’s totally fine, I think it’ll be much too warm to wear in the summer anyway.

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August Makes

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Baggu Dupe

I’d been wanting to knock off my Baggu visor for a while because I thought it would be a fun project and because they stopped producing them. I liked its line of hats, so it was inevitable that they’d disappear.

Inspiration finally struck when I found some Kokka canvas that reminded me of my grandparents’ bathroom paneling. The colors go great with most of my wardrobe!

Overall, I’m quite happy with it! It was fun to puzzle out the construction and what inner workings were needed to emulate the Baggu version.

For my memory, here are the construction steps:

  1. Right sides together, stitch brim pieces together along the long, curved edge.
  2. Fuse foam to one wrong side of one brim piece and turn unit right side out.
  3. Mark 10 lines spaced at ¼” intervals along the brim and topstitch.
  4. Fuse interfacing to both band pieces.
  5. Right sides together, align band pieces along one long edge and stitch. Press seam allowance open.
  6. Align one unstitched long edge to wrong side of brim and stitch in place. Press remaining band edges in at ¼”.
  7. Stitch velcro pieces to band.
  8. Fold band to right side of brim. Hand baste band in place. Topstitch and remove basting stitches.

More Sewing

These Pomonas have never quite been right. For one, the khaki leg became about an inch longer than the other. The canvas weight is also too heavy for a wide leg cut, so the fix was to turn them into shorts.

And I tested Klum House’s soon to be released Alberta bag. It’s smaller than the Fremont I just finished, making it a great everyday bag.

Ceramics

Finally hung this piece and even though I totally bonked the french cleat epoxying it at an angle, it’s level on the wall! I love it and I want to make more.

I’ve been making lots of plates too!

Knitting

And finally, I started the Ozetta Air Tee. It’ll probably be done by the end of summer…

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Coping With Crafts | June-ish 2025

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Sewing | Summer Outfit

I have been wearing this combo a lot lately. It’s perfect for gardening, dog walks, potting at the studio, and everywhere else.

I had a pair of thirfted shorteralls (I refuse to use the word shortalls) that I outgrew a few years ago and have been missing ever since. Then I saw True Bias’s Riley pattern and knew the white Carhartt denim in my stash would be a perfect combo. I’m also wearing a hacked Seamwork Orlando.

A hummingbird took a shower.

They came together pretty quickly and I excitedly used some vintage feed sack cotton for the pockets and tags. I especially love the back pocket detail.

I ordered some vintage French laundry initial tags a while ago and have slowly been adding them to my makes. They are a lot smaller than I thought they’d be, so I used some of the feed sack cotton again. I machine stitched this one on, but will hand sew all future tags because the P got a little obscured.

I LOVE this shirt. After making this version, I knew I needed another one. The denim is light weight, maybe 5 oz, and it’s the perfect layering piece. I changed the construction on the bottom placket edge a bit to reduce bulk.

I took a Procreate workshop a while back and decided my iPad needed a better travel case. This quilted fabric was originally going to be a wall hanging that sat unfinished in my stash for a few years.

Wildcraft workshop | Weave a Sunhat

Textile Indie teaches really fun and rewarding basketry classes at Wildcraft and this sunhat was my third workshop with her. I managed to take only a few process shots, all of which include me trying it on. The construction was way more complex than I thought it would be, but it was so much fun to try a more involved basketry project.

While this hat fits my giant melon and was woven pretty neatly, the shape is not quite right. It’s too square at the top and really accentuates my big head. I’m pondering ordering supplies and trying to make a more rounded one at home.

Glaze Fun

The pottery studio I have a membership at only has paint on glazes available, so I decided to turn these pots into “test tiles,” which made the process of glazing way more enjoyable. Three nerikomi pieces have made it through glaze firing. I’m waiting to share them once more are finished.

Knitting | Port Jacket by Ozetta, plus an oldie refashioned.

I started this jacket in January and have been slowly working on it, trying to manage hand and wrist pain. Most of it was knit using the Portugese knitting style where the yarn is held around your neck. I think my flat knitting tension is a lot more consistent with this technique. I want to focus on adding a few more cardigans to my wardrobe and now feel pretty confident they won’t have obvious knit and purl rows.

The way the button band is knit is straight up magic – how does this even work?! I really waffled on my button choice. I planned to use the vintage buttons on the left, but didn’t like the combo of dark brown yarn and yellowy wood. I bought these too big toggles (right) in New Zealand, which if they’d been like a 1/4″ smaller would have worked pretty well. Then I found these vintage dark brown buttons in my stash and loved the way they looked.

I just wove in the last end this morning and now the whole thing is drying. I’m hoping I’ll get to wear on chilly mornings this summer.

In other knitting news, I’m still working on this duplicate stitch project. I also redid the collar since I hated my first attempt. Here’s what it used to look like. A really kind fellow knitter fixed the shoulder I accidentally unpicked while trying to redo it. I could not make sense of the stitches, but she fixed it in a couple of minutes!

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May Update (plus some other months)

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It’s been a minute. I’ve still been making, but sharing feels kinda weird. Here’s some stuff that I’ve been busying my hands and mind with…

New Zealand Possum Scarf

A person holding a knitted swatch in olive green yarn, seated on a wooden surface with a patterned fabric in the background.
Close-up of knitted pieces in progress using olive green possum yarn on a patterned blanket.

While in New Zealand in March, I bought this possum yarn in the most perfect color. If you want to learn what the hell possum yarn is, here’s a pretty thorough blog post.

Graphite Ingrid Top

A person with curly hair smiles while sitting on a couch, gently petting a small, shaggy dog beside them.
A knitted black top with a textured pattern laid on a colorful patterned surface.
A close-up of a knitted top in progress, draped over a couch, next to a blue bag and knitting needles.

I finally finished this knitted top. Good grief, this pattern. You can read more about why it was such a slog to finish it here. Some additional notes on this pattern are that I redid the neckline picking up every 2 out of 3 sts instead of as instructed and used a different cast off method for both the neckline and hem. The first neckline attempt flipped out at the back and the thought of having to sew the entire hem this way made me want to light it on fire. I used a stretchy knit bind-off method from an Ozetta pattern instead.

Some Ceramics

A handmade ceramic mug with a textured, brown and yellow glaze, sitting on a wooden shelf among other pottery and colored pencils.
A green ceramic pot holding various art supplies like pencils and markers, placed next to other decorative pots on a wooden shelf.
A close-up of a textured orange ceramic mug held in a hand, with a patterned cushion and a colorful blanket in the background.
A handmade green ceramic mug filled with tea or coffee, sitting on a textured teal surface beside a patterned cushion.

I think I’m finally finding a rhythm at the pottery studio. I’ve made several mugs, pots, and bowls, all while using new-to-me clay bodies and paint-on glazes. I even made my first nerikomi project.

A pottery workspace featuring a wooden table with various clay materials, a bowl of black clay, a sketchbook with floral designs, and a digital scale.
A workspace featuring a small bowl made of grey clay filled with black powder, accompanied by a jar of liquid and a dropper, with additional clay objects in the background.
Four different colored clay pieces on a wooden table with various pottery tools and materials in the background.

The studio I’m a member at doesn’t allow dry media like mason stains, so I had to do this in my garage with a respirator on. It was messy, but I’m definitely getting better at wedging!

A handmade ceramic mug with a patterned design, resting on a wooden surface beside a yellow sponge and tools for pottery, with plastic wrap in the background.

I’m really hoping this little nerikomi mug stays together as it dries. I also need to figure out how to clean it up a bit. The clay was really wet, so some of the black clay created a film on the unstained parts. This process was slow, but I’m really excited to explore this technique more!

I’ve been sewing a little too, but nothing is photographed 🙂

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February Update

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Things feel dark as fuck, but I’m still making shit. I hope you are too.

A very stained shirt.

After years of flawless use, my go-to washable marker let me down. On a white shirt, no less. I also used the shittiest interfacing I have in my stash and it has not held up to the numerous stain remover and bleach baths this shirt has been subjected to.

It’s the Closet Core Jenna. It was worked on over a few months and I plan to make a light-ish weight denim version soon. I learned how to do the burrito method on cuffs and waistbands when I was taking patternmaking classes in Oakland, CA but had never tried it on a collar before. IT WORKS SO WELL!

My one pain point in the construction was hem gusset. There’s no way to stitch it down neatly. The white fabric is a little sheer, so there was no hiding that it doesn’t quite line up with the shirt hem. I took them off and I’m kinda mad about it.

A very big bag.

I’ve been toting a lot of things back and forth from the office. Several paper bags have ripped on me, so I made this huge tote out of this really fun Japanese fabric my husband bought me a few years ago. I added a lining too.

A very lumpy mug.

Who doesn’t want to press their lips against ceramic lumps? I’m not sure why I went with this texture, but I did. It kinda reminds me of a corn cob.

And another brown sweater.

I like what I like. Finally joined the fronts and back together – there’s only 7″ inches before I can start the ribbing.

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Last week in making.

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In an attempt to be productive while dissociating, I am prioritizing daily creative acts. And I’m going to try to document some of it too. Last week felt especially creative, so here’s what I did.

Fine Things Community Pottery Studio

I joined a brand new studio and successfully threw two pots! I feel really nervous not having the traditional support of a class, but I’m excited to explore some ideas outside of the scope of local classes. Here are the things I’m planning to work on:

  • Nerikomi patterned pieces (this technique excites me so much)
  • Tiles for my fireplace renovation
  • Chess set for my husband
  • Hand-built plates using MDF forms I eventually make
  • A tabletop lamp?

Painting Workshop

I attended a really lovely painting workshop taught by Allie Yacina at Happy Anyway. I am obsessed with sketchbook artwork and Allie has an incredible practice, some of which is currently on display at the shop. The morning consisted of creating color swatches using a primary palette, thumbnail sketches of a still life, and then a final painting. I left so inspired, I spent way too much money at the art store. Acrylic gouache is a fun medium and I learned just how creamy Caran d’Ache pencils are.

Cast on a New Sweater

Portuguese practice.

In additional to just starting the Port Jacket, I learned the Portuguese knitting style. I wanted to try this method out because I read it can reduce hand pain and give you better purling tension. I’m not getting amazing results doing German short rows with this knitting style, but I’m hopeful it’ll get better with practice.

Shirt Sewing + A Weird New Shelf

And lastly, I made a lot of progress on this button up. All that’s left are the cuffs and buttonholes. I also bought and installed this so-hideous-it’s-kinda-cute towel rack that I’ve had my eyes on for months. I wanted something on the wall here where I could hang works in progress and in-use patterns. I also moved my small “design board” over to this wall too. It’s way easier to access now that it’s not behind a table. You can see I have quite a few outerwear projects planned!

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Feeling ALIVE!

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I had no idea how much health issues had slowed down my desire to play around with materials and make stuff. But now that my thyroid medication seems to be at the right dose and I no longer have a uterus (thanks to fibroids), I’m BACK BABY.

It’s really exciting to feel like I’m actually awake during the day now. And I want to celebrate my newfound productivity by cataloging my recent makes. First up, I just added the binding to this wall hanging I made years ago.

I refinished this “gentleman’s cabinet” which you can read more about here and here.

This thrifted stool got a much comfier seat. The rope basket turned cushion cover was already made, but I added the fabric and drawstring bit to keep everything in place. There’s now 2″ of foam too since the plywood was much too hard of a seat. I finished this project by splattering some acrylic paint on it because why not?

I’ve actually been finishing some sewing projects outside of work! I made a dress out of fabric that’s been in my stash for YEARS, a quilt coat with fun yarn ties, several new machine covers (also using old stash fabric), these amazing mellow yellow Cloud Sweatpants, some basic tees, and I batch cut out like ten more projects. I’m planning to share more about some of these makes in upcoming posts.

I finished two sweaters in December and started playing around with duplicate stitch.

I got out my tufting gun and was a total beginner again. This process is so challenging and I hate not being in control, but I’m willing to keep going! The ultimate goal is to make little rugs for all the steps leading upstairs for Otis.

And I’m trying super hard to reestablish my logbook practice. In 2018, I captured a trip in one of these sketchbooks and I’ve missed so many travel adventures since. This practice is one of my proudest accomplishments and I’m determined to pick it back up.

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Hysterectomy Recovery Project

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As I mentioned here, I had an almost overwhelming amount of knit WIPs. My goal was to finish at least two of them before the year ended, and I did! One of them was this sweater that I started about 3 weeks post-op.

PATTERN: Seaway Pullover by Ozetta

YARN: Purl Soho Linen Quill, colorway Baked Earth (discontinued)

SIZE: M

NEEDLES: US 7 needles for the body and US 6 needles for the rib

The pattern calls for a DK weight, but I had this worsted yarn in my stash that I thought would look really good with these understated cables. It’s such a pretty color and the drape is lovely. I’m kinda shocked it was discontinued.

I have some tension issues on the right front that was knitted flat. My purl rows were a little loose for some reason. Maybe I can blame it on the surgery? Thankfully I feel like it’s only really visible in photos. I’m pretty pleased with this sweater and learned that cables are quite easy.

I had a lot more yarn than the pattern called for, so I decided to make it a turleneck. I still have one whole skein leftover that I’m pondering how to use.

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Made a really good sweater.

I am a huge Ozetta fan and when she posted a sneak peek of this pattern back in 2023, I knew I’d make it. I even used the same yarn / colorway because it was just SO GOOD.

I started this sweater in February of last year, but didn’t work on it from April to December.

PATTERN: Clay Sweater by Ozetta

YARN: WoolDreamers La Rinconada (DK) purchased from Close Knit

SIZE: M

NEEDLES: US 7 needles for the body and US 5 needles for the rib

The body knitted up really fast, but then I took a break to work on a portable summer project. I finally picked it back up in December and finished the sleeves in about two weeks.

The sleeve decrease instructions confused me, so I just repeated the size M sleeve instructions 4.5 times, ending on row 8 and did a bunch of K2togs to get down to the correct number of stitches.

I love the “stripe” that runs up the sides and down the sleeves to hide the jog in the the purl rows. Ozetta always includes little details that just make her patterns so beautiful.

This yarn is absolutely great in sweater form, but my hands hated knitting with it. I think it’s minimally processed so it’s kinda sticky and gripped even my metal needles. This sweater is 100/10 and I’m going to wear it all the time.

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A LOT of Knit WIPs

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After finishing my Seasons Cardigan, I immediately started this Clay Sweater. It’s a pattern I knew I wanted to knit the minute the pattern was released. I even bought the same colorway of yarn as the photo sample because it’s so perfect.

It almost flew off my needles, but then the weather started to warm up and an upcoming international trip convinced me I needed to start a more portable summer project.

Knitting in Amsterdam

So I set aside my sleeveless Clay, picked up some cotton yarn, and stared knitting a tank top. This design is simple, but the instructions were hard to interpret sometimes and I made mistakes that required ripping back a lot. After knitting the front, I started to suspect the fit would also be weird. But I persisted because I didn’t have a way to try it one while traveling and I couldn’t not knit on the plane.

When I got home and tried it on… it offered up so much side boob. I was frustrated and for some reason, my solution was… to make a second one? I actually bought enough of the same yarn in a different color to make it again! I felt I needed to have the original to reference, I guess? On this version I started the armhole shaping immediately after completing the neckline shaping and I’m much happier with it. However, it is currently waiting to be bound off, summer being very much over.

And even though I clearly have THREE other knit wips, I started a new one. While I was recovering from major surgery, I wanted to start a fresh, new project that had no baggage!

The theme this year is definitely texture, and these subtle cables on the Seaway fit right in. This yarn is so nice. It’s the Purl Soho Linen Quill Worsted in the “Baked Earth” color. It’s unfortunately discontinued.

I’m trying to loosen my death grip on this project and am getting some striping in the parts that were knit flat. I’m trying to be okay with it.

Anyway, I’m hoping to at least finish the Seaway and the gray Ingrid before the year ends. Or maybe I’ll start another project 🙂

New book by Anna Husemann (gifted). Excited to learn intarsia!