Done: Purple Stripes Overload Cardigan (Delancey Cardigan by Alexis Winslow)

You could NOT buy a cardigan like this in the store. Not with these stripes in JUST my favorite colors and with just the right amount of negative ease (5 inches! More on that below)...

Or the pop of color hidden under the garter stitch shawl collar...

Plus the chevroned back:

And these purple flower buttons of awesomeness:

Because when you make something for yourself, it doesn't have to be strive to be "as good as" ready-to-wear... it can be BETTER than that. Because it is your size, your colors and YOUR hands that made it.

A sweater (or any project, really) that takes this long (almost a year! but that includes a six-month knitting break) is like a slice of an ancient tree—like the rings in a tree, each row is from a certain moment in time.

Like the moment in time I accidentally left one skein of discontinued bright purple yarn I was using for the third stripe on a plane... and had to change my stripe repeat from a "bright purple/light purple/gray" pattern to a "gray/light purple/gray pattern:"

What mass-produced fast-fashion garment has a "flaw" or a story like that?

The details

• The pattern: Delancey cardigan by Alexis Winslow of Knit Darling (available in regular and plus size). I think it is fair to say Alexis Winslow is my most favorite knit designer ever stripes ever polka dot ever. I loved making the Delancey as much as I loved making Georgina, and I'm pretty equally pleased with the results and sure I will wear her as much as possible (weather permitting—this wool Delancey is HOT). The construction was unusual and varied enough to be interesting, but still easy to memorize and knit while riding a subway, chatting with friends or giving my kid a bath.
• The yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style — a discontinued but very soft and lovely to work with merino DK weight yarn that had been languishing in my stash for YEARS.
• Sizing notes: I knit the 33-inch bust size—which SOUNDS like a bad idea since I have a 38.5" bust—but wasn't at all. Remember the power of negative ease and the tendencies of many yarns to grow when blocked! I had actually emailed Alexis for her advice and she told me the bias handknit fabric was EXTREMELY stretchy. And because of the chevron design, this is a straight up and down piece—there's no way to create waist shaping or definition except by making it snug. When I was knitting I kept second-guessing this decision, but now that she's blocked the fit is PERFECT and not at all tight or uncomfortable.
• Notions: Purple floral buttons from Pacific Trimming.
• Mods and construction notes: I knit the shorter version as instructed here. As per Alexis' email advice I tacked down the shawl collar back to keep it from rolling up. And I used the Back Join to change colors while striping.
• Raveled with more info here.

Of course now it is over 80 degrees F here in New York... so I'm hoping for a few more brisk days to enjoy my cardigan joy before summer really comes rolling in. Where's a chilly rainy day when you need it?

Matchy Matchy + Sewing Machine Sadness + Delancey Progress

Z and her new doll on Christmas, with polka dots in abundance.

My Amazing Mom was having sewing machine issues recently, but took prompt action, got her machine serviced, and all is well. She's been making some ridiculously cute matching outfits and accessories, all drafted from scratch with paper patterns of her own design.

Z and her doll "Howie Bowie Wowie" out for a winter's stroll in matching duds

My favorite so far is this beautiful original design with matching headband—I believe this is an African wax print fabric my mom picked up at Sew-Fisticated Discount Fabrics in Boston.
 

Christmas outfit designed and sewn by my mom: the girl version

And the doll version...

And there's a lot more! Each of these has a girl-sized equivalent, though I don't have all the photos handy:

She's also been sewing matching outfits for Z and her 3-month baby cousin, R:

My own sewing mojo is not so strong at the moment, however...

Goofy and overly confident late-night sewing selfie, right before sewing machine disaster struck

 So right before I got my carpal tunnel last October, I was about to make a Cake Red Velvet knit dress (naturally) but first I wanted to finish my third Cake Hummingbird. I was tired, it was late on a work night, but I had my spelunking sewing headlamp on (one of my favorite non-sewing sewing tools) and I was in the sewing zone and...

And then this happened. Whatever "this" is:


And it's probably still sitting inside my sewing machine cabinet that way.

And then I got the carpal tunnel. And then after I recovered from that, a newfound food-allergy-free baking and cooking obsession.

I know nobody wants to read posts in which people apologize for not sewing or not blogging, but that's not really my point. My point is: why am I always so scared of my sewing machine? I'm sure it's probably 10 minutes of me tinkering to figure out the issue. Or if necessary, a trip to the shop. But somehow that tiny hurdle seems insurmountably annoying, so much more so than, say, making my own fruit leather from scratch.

Knitting is not so daunting, equipment-wise—in addition to those chartreuse Knotty gloves I mentioned before, I'm finally back to putting the finishing touches on my Delancey cardigan—just have to do the edges, button bands and shawl collar!

I am NOT going to think about weaving in all those ends. And I have made piece with my paltry three sweaters per year knitting average (counting baby sweaters). Can you spot which color of discontinued yarn I lost on a plane?

Sewing pattern fun at the Small Press Expo!

With my cartoonist husband Masheka Wood at the Small Press Expo last weekend, selling sewing patterns, comics and my new children's book, Susan's Mess. (Note: Wearing the Tiramisu knit dress was a good sales move!)

Ok, I'm not sure if FUN is exactly the right way to describe sitting behind a table at a comics convention worrying that no one there will actually be vaguely interested in either children's books or sewing patterns and randomly yelling out "Hi there! Do you sew?" or "Hi there, are you interested in children's comics?" with a perky smile.

Luckily it turned out that many comics and cartooning enthusiasts DO sew, including a number who sew costumes for cosplay, and some of them were interested in learning to sew everyday clothes. They loved that I was wearing a dress that matched the Tiramisu pattern envelope, too.

As I suspected, the Bonny sailor knit top was the hottest seller. Here's Rachel, an illustrator who loves sewing and hockey (hence her hockey-fabric dress, made from a Simplicity Project Runway pattern):

And there were a decent amount of small children about who were interested in my new children's book (more on that later when I have it properly and available for sale on Amazon!)

So despite all my nervousness, we had an amazing day at the convention, bringing in twice as many sales as I'd ever made in all my years of cartooning conventions, and actually more than covering the cost of the table and bus fare. And in the evening, I had the honor of presenting the Ignatz for Outstanding Series at the awards ceremony.

And it was great to hang with cartooning pals from way back like Matt Bors and Robert Kirby.

I even got a little time to finish sleeve one of my Delancey cardigan... the cartoonists around me found it very amusing ("That woman is knitting a sweater WHILE SHE IS WEARING IT!")

Delancey Try-On: Too Snug or Just Right?

Chevrons and stripes both rank high on my crafterly happiness list and this cleverly-constructed sweater has been a joy to knit so far. The big question, though—does it actually fit me?

Pattern: Delancey Cardigan. You may recall that the Delancey cardigan by Alexis Winslow was the winner of my indecisive "Sweater Girl Showdown 2013." Here was my original concept sketch:

Ravelry link with all details: Here.

Yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style (discontinued) in various colors from the stash. A lovely DK-weight merino that I had lying around. Sadly I lost one of the colors I was using midway through (left it on a subway or airplane during a business trip) so you can see that the stripe pattern on the top back is gray/periwinkle/gray instead of gray/periwinkle/purple. Oops!

Size: 33" bust. The biggest challenge was deciding what size to knit—the 33" finished bust or the 36" finished bust. I have a 38.5" bust and 29.5" waist but I like my cardigans snug, with at least 2-3" of negative ease at bust and waist (see my old post on sweater fitting for more on this).

BUT because of the clever chevron pattern, there is no waist shaping here—the bust and waist are the same size. So if I went with the 36" bust, the waist might have been quite baggy. I wrote to the designer and she gave me some fantastic advice—based on my preferences and yarn she suggested I try the 33", as the bias fabric makes the cardigan quite stretchy.

So readers, what do you think so far? The back looks perfect to me (see top) but the bust area seems to be pulling away to the side (note that I've only knitted one of the side fronts, the other isn't done yet):

And the side "seams" aren't really straight when I pin the cardigan shut in front:

That said, there is going to be a button band and shawl collar in front which will add a little extra front width.

My verdict: Keep going and hope for the best. I think with a little blocking and the bands/collar, it'll be just perfect, and it may loosen up a little with a handwash and wear, too.

Speed notes: I swear I haven't been knitting MORE often than I did last year but I must be knitting FASTER. Not only is my Delancey more than half done, I just finished a baby cardigan for a friend two days ago. AND I just started on a Tulip for my niece-to-be yesterday and I'm already down to the chest:

Hello, my name is Mikhaela and I am a cardigan knitting (and wearing) addict.

I think my new speed is from switching away from plastic to metal needles. I had some serious repetitive stress injury issues with my hands back in 2008 and had switched to using plastic and sometimes wooden needles... and they are just MUCH SLOWER. This year I decided to switch back to metal but just be careful—to knit in small chunks and stop if my hands start bothering me even the slightest.

So, what do you think—too tight or just right?

P.S. By the way, if you're interested in making the Delancey yourself, there was a Ravelry knit-along last year with accompanying blog posts on the Sweatshop of Love. It also comes in a plus-sized version (up to a 58" bust).

P.P.S. In case you're wondering why both Z and I are prancing around in black bike-short-esque things, we were about to go for a family bike ride. We went down to Brooklyn Bridge Park and rode the carousel four times until I got motion sick and had to let my husband take her around for the fifth ride. Phew!

Yarn & Fabric Shopping Overload + 2 Cardigans in Progress

Don't look at me like that, it was a birthday yarn shopping emergency!

Part 1: A Tale of Two Yarn Sprees

I've been TRYING to be a good little stash-buster. The first two tops I made last month were from the stash, as were my TARDIS socks AND the denim Hummingbird skirt I've almost completed.

And I deliberately chose the Delancey cardigan I'm knitting now to use up some lovely DK-weight merino I'd had lying around for over five years. Here's a progress shot (it is SO fun to knit, you start with two triangles and then join them to get the chevron effect going:)

But last weekend while riding the Bolt Bus to Boston with my husband and daughter, I reached into my purse for the Delancey AND IT WAS GONE (left at the office, thankfully, and not at the bus stop!). That meant two five hour bus rides WASTED and LACKING IN CARDIGANS.

Worst of all, it meant NO KNITTING on my BIRTHDAY, which was the following day. My husband came to the rescue, and gamely agreed to take me yarn shopping as a present.

Which is how, on my 33rd birthday, I ended up desperately pawing through the shelves of the...

Hub Mills yarn store (see photo at top) at the Classic Elite yarns distribution center in Billerica, Massachusetts.

When I was learning to knit in high school, Hub Mills (located in a scenic canal-side factory in downtown Lowell) was my Local Yarn Store, but although the new Billerica location isn't as nice, the yarns are still soft, colorful and yummy, there are lovely samples on display and the staff are super-helpful and knowledgeable. I came away with:

• Yarn, needles and pattern to make a Baby Surprise Jacket for my niece-or-nephew to be. This is Classic Elite Liberty Wool, a super-soft machine washable variegated worsted yarn with lots of colors in each ball, ideal for baby clothes:
  

  I've made a Baby Surprise Jacket before for my daughter, so knew it would be a quick fun bus-ride-worthy project.

• Kim Hargreaves' Hearfelt: The Dark House Collection book of 21 patterns.
  

  The book title is a bit over the top, but the patterns (see Ravelry for all of them) are just stunning (SO MANY PEPLUMS), so I'm not going to get too worked up.

My husband (man knows what I like) also got me a gift certificate to a local yarn store for Mother's Day. So today I went to:

La Casita Yarn Shop Café in Brooklyn.

This tiny little store and café/bar is just blocks from my home. It's jam-packed with all kinds of beautiful yarns from budget to super-fancy-expensive, some of them tucked into cookie jars and little baskets just to find space.

I especially love that they are so kid-friendly and even have kids' knitting classes and a kids' summer knitting camp. (I say this because I've had some unfortunate experiences with staff in another local yarn store that I won't name who were really rude to me and my daughter even though she hadn't touched a single skein).

Anyway, after some deliberation I bought:

• Enough yarn for my NEXT cardigan, Cherry by Anna Bell.

  I decided to make a candy pink Cherry, with a coral for the body and a slightly brighter fuschia for the ribbing and belt. The yarns shown are Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK, a mostly merino superwash wool blend with a hint of cashmere and silk, and Filatura di Crosa Zara, a soft merino superwash. (I'm going to knit it extra-small to combat the growth properties of superwash).

  

Part 2: Mood Print Madness

Oh, and the fabric. Yeah. So I already have quite a bit of knit fabric, but I have a lot of summer tops and dress plans, and I'm getting a little sick of just solids, stripes and polka dots. So last month I went on a printed knit binge at Mood and got:

• A lovely monochrome purple-and-white rose print rayon/lycra jersey:
  
• Pink and purple chevrons! (also rayon/lycra jersey):
  
  The print of pure color chaos... I'm thinking a sleeveless Jalie scarf-collar top (I know, AGAIN).

  

• Not to mention the Hummingbird-esque fabric I used for my second Hummingbird top:
  
• And for slight balance, some soft stretchy double-knit (or ponte?) RPL for a Bonny top:
  

Phew! Confession time over. I think I have a lot of stash-sewing in my future before I can justify setting foot in a yarn or fabric store any time soon...

TARDIS sock disaster + swatching my Delancey cardigan

It seems the Doctor and his TARDIS have landed on a planet populated by gigantic adorable toddlers...

Yeah, so, if you've watched any Doctor Who at all (latest episodes available on iTunes if you don't get BBC America), you know that the Doctor's time-traveling spaceship—aka the TARDIS for Time and Relative Dimension in Space—has a curious feature. On the outside it appears to be a small blue wooden British police call box...

But it's MUCH, MUCH bigger on the inside:

Which brings me to my TARDIS socks (full details here, including some mods I made), which, unfortunately are bigger on the OUTSIDE. See how they slouch and bag around the ankles?

They fit fine while I was knitting them (just the right amount of negative ease), but after I gave them a gentle bath, they started to grow...

And now they look good for a second when I tug them up...

But quickly slouch back into saggy baggy land within moments:

I really don't know what's going on here. I used a non-superwash 100% merino wool yarn, and knit them on the smallest sock needles I have (size 0). I've never had baggy socks before but they always had a bit of nylon in them, so maybe it's because these socks have no nylon content?

Anyway, all hope is not lost for my Time and Relative Dimension in Socks—the excellent Tech Knitting blog recommends a fix using elastic thread or an elastic garter at the top of the sock, so we'll see how that does!

Meanwhile, I swatched for my Delancey cardigan by Alexis Winslow. Here's the sketch (on bottom right) as you may remember from my Sweater Showdown decision post:

And here's my gauge swatch:

I'm using stash yarn, so my color scheme is based on what I have available. The main color is going to be the eggplant, and the sets of triple stripes will be in the gray, periwinkle and light purple. The aqua will be for the shawl collar and sleeve cuffs.

I'm going to knit a 33" bust size (even though my bust is 38.5") as I'm not getting exact gauge. I'm hoping it'll come out around 35", giving me 3.5" negative ease. I'd much rather it be a bit on the tight side than loose and slouchy (see my Not-Goldilocks and the Three Sweaters fitting post for more on this).