City Skyline Sweater

The colorwork sweater is finally done. I finished it with a ribbed yoke and contrasting color edge on collar and sleeves. The city skyline colorwork is modified from this mittens chart. The yarn is sports weight acrylic knit on 4 mm needles. The size is 8-10 years.

It has been hard enough to knit in the current heat wave, our temperatures are well up to 110F (43 C) this week, but it was harder to get a modeled picture. The late afternoon photo shoot was not bright enough.

I have no idea what to start next, but I am thinking of lace.

Cookbook Cover

 

I really like to cook. One year ago, I would have vehemently denied this statement. Then, I was the person who went into the kitchen, threw together the ingredients in a pan and called it a meal. Basically, I could not wait to get out of the kitchen and get on with life. I scoffed at the food channels and felt uncomfortable/bored with any sort of food talk. I did have a small diary with a few recipes jotted down, because like it or not, I had to cook for my family and needed some help with that.

 

Then, last year, every thing changed. I am not sure how, but I started noticing the finer points about food, like taste, texture, color, presentation. Cooking became less of a chore. All of a sudden, I was planning menus, looking up new recipes, even tuning into the food channels. I started understanding and relating to the food talk. I am sure my family appreciates the change. Our food has become more balanced and there is a lot more variety to it, as I continue to try new dishes and master new techniques.

 

In line with my new interest, I needed to new binder to store my cook book and a cover for the new binder. I sewed this over the. The embroidered part is from an old shirt which I embroidered while in college. The rest of the fabrics came from my stash. It took two load shedding filled afternoons to get this done. Cannot wait to fill it up with recipes!

In other news, the colorwork sweater is progressing nicely. I am at the sleeves now, so hopefully it will be done soon, inshaAllah.

Another Start

After the sizing problems with the first design, I thought I was going to try something different in monochrome.But I could not get colorwork out of my head. So I looked around and found this chart for mittens. A little adaptation later, I was able to put it into my new pullover.

 

This chart was just the thing to get my interest back into knitting. I am enjoying this sweater and already planning ahead for my future projects. And I must replenish my stash too, so I'll be shopping for some yarn soon!

Spring Sewing Part 2

 It has been ten days since my last post. Looking back, I know I indulged in some sort of craft activity, most of those ten days, still there is not much to show for it. I did sew a couple of my shalwar kameez but that does not make for interesting blog content. I also sewed a dress and a top for my five-year old:

Both have almost identical draft, just variation in length and placement of elastic gives different results. 

  Sadly, on the knitting front, my color work project did not go very well. I had started Dance of Robots for my son. The pattern is for 3-7 year olds and my son is eight. I was hoping to get the right size with larger needle size but my optimism was unrealistic. It makes me sad, because I quite loved the pattern.

 So I have ripped back and will start with something quite different. No color work this time, unless someone has any suggestions?

High Street Vest

Things have been dull at knitting front, hence my lack of posting. But finally, I have managed to finish this vest. All stockinette stitch in fingering weight, so the going was slow and not very exciting, but I am happy to use up some of my stash and have a nice layering piece for the winter. The yarn is Brown Sheep Nature Spun (grey heather) knit on 3.75 mm needles.
  Next I am moving onto more interesting stuff involving a bit of color work.

Summer Crochet Bag

Not so long ago, I saw this lovely bag on Pinterest. It looked like a great accessory for the Summer. And I had just the right cotton thread at hand to crochet it. The pattern is in Russian but there are some charts too. So armed with a Google translation and the charts, I set about making one for myself. There were a few ambiguous areas where I had to improvise and try out various options, until I got the right results, but it was totally doable.

 I used white cotton thread size 8, held doubled, on an unknown hook size. Again, our thread balls do not have yardage printed, but I used about 12 balls of local Coats Anchor Cotton Thread balls.

I did not have large enough beads for the handles, so I only dangled some smaller ones at the sides.

The lining is double, solid white cotton, with interfacing with a magnetic closure.

Thus, my quest for the right bag is finally over. I love this bag and can't wait to use it!

What's Up

I am done with the crochet part of the second bag in the last one month. I am pleased to report that this bag is turning out much closer to my expectations than the last one. I am working on the lining now and should have photos of the finished bag in a few days. Meanwhile, I am having a mild flare-up of an old eye inflammation. That means headaches if I do a lot of near work, causing me to slow down with my crafting activities. I also have a building pile of books I want to read. And rest of my summer sewing is also on the hold. Hopefully, I will be back in the thick of things in a few days, inshaAllah. For now, I have some free time to plan ahead for my future projects.