Category: Crafting

Knitting, Reference

A different approach for Continental purling

While learning how to do a skill (picking up stitches for the button band for my black Hyss?) I found a new way of purling Continental style!  I can’t find the original video that describes the original technique, but I’ve found another example to share.

The lady in the video wrapped the yarn around the needle by just lowering fingers on her left hand. No difficult twist or anything like that – just down and then back up. You can see a good example at 1:04 in the video:

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Hannah SwainLeave a comment
Crafting, Knitting, Sewing

Fall/winter 2015 wardrobe plans

Wow…it seems so odd to be planning for a fall wardrobe. It feels so odd to be planning a wardrobe at all! Normally I just browsed stores and when I found something that I liked, fit and had a reasonable price, I bought it. Plus – it’s the beginning of August. It’s really still summer, or at least as much summer as we have seen in Sweden this year. Having written that, though – I love fall!

So, let’s start from the requirements – I’m a consultant, after all. What would I need in general for fall/winter?

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Reference

Threading the Brother 1034D overlock/serger

I got my Brother 1034D overlocker/serger back in the spring and I’ve been having a blast with it. What an awesome tool! One of the things that I’ve spent the most time on is learning how to thread it. Unfortunately, the resources that Brother sent with the machine are not that great – they’re low quality and don’t really show enough detail. I have now found … Continue reading Threading the Brother 1034D overlock/serger

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Sewing

Muse Jenna cardi: my new favorite sweater

I’d been eyeing the Muse Jenna Cardi for a while, but really wasn’t sure if it would be flattering on me. I wasn’t too sure about the contrasting color versions that I’ve seen around – I prefer simplicity. Also, I’m avoiding anything I need to add a FBA to, as I haven’t successfully done one of those yet. But it looked very cute and I wanted a simple, cropped cardigan so I decided to give it a whirl.

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Knitting

Hyss shrug: the black edition

I’d had my eye on this shrug pattern (Hyss) since last summer – I just ran out of time/interest to knit it. Then again, last summer I was still on the sock kick. So this spring, when Drops had their sale on wool based yarns, I went ahead and bought a ton of yarn (actually, about 1000 SEK / 115 USD worth of yarn), including some black Cotton Merino to knit this up with. How hard could it be?

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Hannah Swain2 Comments
Knitting

Trillian scarf: subtle and sweet

For a while there, I was on a Hitchhiker shawlette kick. They were just so easy to make and looked so cool, especially with the interestingly dyed yarns. Fred asked me if I would make one for his mother. I suggested Malabrigo sock and he chose this gorgeous Lotus colorway.

I cast on a Hitchhiker with the yarn, but I had used a 2.5 mm needle – I was hoping for a more drapey look. This is supposed to be a summer scarf, light and airy. I was also looking for an excuse to start a Trillian, because it just looked so classy. After a few weeks of debating, I frogged the Hitchhiker and cast on the Trillian, this time with a 3.5 mm needle. The results are absolutely gorgeous.

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