Summer of Basics FO #3

I put off writing this post for a bit, but at the beginning of July I whipped up my third Summer of Basics item!

This is the Fancy Tiger Crafts Fen in dress form, done in some railroad denim also from Fancy Tiger Crafts. Umm...this is perfect. It came out exactly how I imagined it--better, in fact!--and sewing this was an absolute DREAM. I love sewing with woven fabric, I have discovered.

I made my Fen top in a size 4, and thought about sizing down to a 2 for the dress...but then I realized that a size 4 in the top=size 6 in the dress in the bust region, so I did a 4 in the dress. I was mostly worried about having too much positive ease in the waist and having it look more sack-like than 'gloriously casual and comfy summer dress', and am pleased with how the fit turned out. Only issue is that my lats are clearly bigger than I realized and I have to wiggle myself delicately through the waist to get it on!

My plan from the beginning was to do some kind of directional play with the stripes and have them going in different directions for the top and bottom. Again, I can't believe it worked out so well. I hadn't thought about the pocket facings when I first planned my stripe idea, so on the fly I decided to make them stripe horizontally as well and I love the contrast. 

My only mod was to make the neck opening smaller, as the Fen top is a little big for my preferences--it tends to slide to one side for that Flashdance neckline look, which I don't hate but wouldn't work for this dress. I winged this one by moving the pattern piece over a few inches and using the same neckline curve from there. I did all French seams, which is my favorite seam technique so far. You know, out of the two or three I know how to do!

Another item crossed off my Making list successfully!

New Pattern Release: Klystron

Earlier this week I released my Klystron shawl pattern!

All photos by Lindsey Topham

I wanted to play with color and texture in this pattern, so I combined garter stitch, brioche, and intarsia. This asymmetrical shawl is knit end-to-end. It uses intarsia to create a smaller accent panel of contrast color (the purple) which runs along side the main body of the shawl, while regular rows of brioche interrupt the garter stitch fabric. Shaping is worked at the ends of rows and on either side of the off-center spine, to separate out the two colors and to create an unbalanced arrow shape at the end after binding off:

The yarn is Shalimar Yarns Aerie, which is a gorgeous single-ply blend of merino, kid mohair, and silk. Thanks to the silk and mohair, the yarn has a subtle sheen and slight fuzz which really elevates plain garter stitch to the next level. 

Klystron is available for purchase on Ravelry for $5.

A Tale of Two Socks

Last post, I told you about my making list and the projects on it. Here's to my first FO from that list, the Saturday Matinee Socks!

I started these last summer and was about halfway through the first sock...so while it obviously took me a long time to get BACK to this project, once I buckled down I was able to crank them out pretty quickly. I don't consider myself a huge sock knitter, though I like all the pairs I've made so far. Mostly I have other things I want to make more! But I'm totally a convert to shortie ankle-style socks now, getting rid of the leg made such a difference in being able to finish these before I got bored.

I was still in the sock groove once I finished these, so I picked up the other pair of socks on my making list, Leyburn. Spoiler alert: They are no longer Leyburns!

I really love how the slipped stitch design on the Leyburns works with yarns like this--which, by the way, I dyed myself during a dying session with the Kangaroo Dyer once! I just could. not. stand. the Leyburn stitch pattern, and as pretty as it looks, I'm no longer interested in making things when the process is unbearable. Partly for practical reasons (if I hate making it, I'm not going to make it and it will never get finished) and partly because I'm learning more and more that I need to enjoy the act of making as much as I enjoy the having of the finished object. 

Instead of continuing with a sock I didn't enjoy making, I ripped back to the toe and did a simple, toe-up vanilla stockinette sock. The pooling is kind of meh (I wasn't interested in playing around with my gauge a whole bunch to fix that) but they're cheerful and I'm happy to have settled on a pattern I can actually finish. Hopefully I can do something fun with the leftovers, like stripe it with white in a different pair to avoid the pooling. KNIT ALL THE SOCKS!