Yay for weird garments!

When it comes to style I wouldn’t say I have rules like “never match pink and red!”. Of course you can do that if you want to. I do however have some guidelines for myself and even if I don’t always care about dressing good and stylish, I always have opinions about it.  Something that I always come back to is that there has to be a balance for everything to look good. If there is lot of  texture, there should not be lots of color and so on. If I have one colorful piece of clothing, I wear it with black jeans.

For me the goal is to find those weird garments that catch peoples interest, without the reaction being; look, the circus is coming to town!

Me being all serious and Lab-Coaty even with my fancy hair.

Here’s a little story about social signals. I like to dye my hair really colorful, and that will always generate a reaction from some people. I can say it really helped me get over social anxiety in my teen years, but I grew tired of it at times. Especially “older” people did not often see me for my personality, it was either: “She’s some scary punk and I will be rude now” or: “Oh how nice, you’re one of those manga/cosplay people, my granddaughter is also into that”.

It was exhausting at times, because I had to be much nicer and more social when meeting new people, to show that I was a reasonable person. I’m sure it’s like this for every situation where you are in minority and at risk of being wrongly judged.

I’m sure the colorful hair will be back at some point soon because I can’t keep away from it, but it’s often nicer to choose for myself when I feel like getting positive attention and socializing, or when I prefer to be left alone. And for that purpose, clothes are a really good social signal since you can change them every day!

To get to the subject of weird garments, I’ve found quite a few that i actually would like to knit! Many are in the category shawl/shrug/sweater.

• Amalgam is a “mini poncho/skirt” that was recently released in Knitty. It also has an interesting construction.
• Delirium is a “multi-garment” named after and inspired by a Neil Gaiman character. I will surely knit this at some point!
• Boko-boko is strictly just a cowl, but just look at it! It’s so weird and has a very japanese look. I love that you can even knit such a textured thing in one piece.
• Kappa is a garment by Veera Välimäki, who I totally adore. I once thought I had invented the idea for this type of garment, until I found this pattern. I imagine wearing this as a scarf when you’re on a hike, and when it’s time for fika break and there’s a chilly wind coming – bam! Kappa time! And there you have this awesome tube thing keeping you cozy. The reason I haven’t knit this is that it’s listed in lace weight yarn, and I just don’t do miles of stockinette in anything thinner than sportweight. And lace weight I don’t do at all. So I guess I’ll do the math for a heavier version at some point.
• Diplodocus dinosaur scarf or really any scarf out there that looks like an animal. (Why are these things so often only available in kids’ sizes…)
• Garlic because I love to eat garlic and this thing has a really unique shape. I recommend everyone to look out for the designer Chantal Belisle in the future, she is so cool and seems to be full of good and unique ideas!
• Outer Space by Stephen West is an asymmetric, over-sized sweater. It’s the chunky weight version of Enchanted Mesa, and for some reason I think the chunky version is much cooler looking. I also like the colors of the sample sweater.
• Pearl Clutcher is a cardigan with a classic shape and quite normal color choices.
• Hoodie Shawl cardigan is a hoodie that starts of by knitting a shawl. So clever! And Shawl shrug is based on the same concept. Shusui shrug by the same designer is also cool.
• Feather weather by Beata Jezek of Hedgehog Fibres  is a sweater designed for you to be fabulous in. Just imagine it flowing behind you in the wind, making you feel like a superhero knitter wearing your cape. I will knit this some day when i have the right yarn for it, and when the city needs me.

 

That was all for today, happy weird knitting! // Nelly

Some shopping

I posted a while ago about my Eyeball shawl. It will be too warm to wear during summer, but I sure would love to have it finished until autumn because I think it will turn out really good. But I figured out a while ago that I would need one more skein of the white main color. I wouldn’t blame the pattern for that though because the yarn that I used for the main color is on the heavier side of fingering weight yarns compared to what is suggested in the pattern so it’s no surprise that it ran out faster. I bought 200 grams as suggested in the pattern and it would have been just enough for the main color but not for the brioche edge.

Anyway, ordering one skein felt a bit silly and I thought I was good for the summer when it comes to my stash… But then again I am a fan of shopping, so of course I had to order yarn for all of my other plans and also come up with some new, to reach the limit for free shipping ;).

The grey skeins of cashmerino aran was actually a christmas gift, I just brought them out for a photo with their new yellow friends! I haven’t used them since christmas because I wanted to use the yarn for some sort of scarf, and then two balls were not enough. The yarn is really soft and therefore not really suited for mittens or anything that has to go through a lot of wear and tear. I think they will have to rest until autumn and then I will come up with some sort of colorwork cowl pattern.

The other skeins are all Stylecraft dk, which I have seen recommended as the best cheap acrylic yarn out there, and I am willing to agree. It’s almost as cheap as those supermarket yarns  but much more soft, fluffy and without that plastic feel to it. Of course it still feels like an acrylic yarn but it’s really nice to my hands when working with it. Also it comes in a ton of different colors! The grey skeins are for the shark bag that i wrote about in my last post, the color silver grey I found to be a nice shark color.

For me since I as a student have a limited budget, I enjoy having a go-to acrylic yarn at home. Especially when it comes to buying a sweater amount of yarn, cheap wool is not an option for me because of the itching, and I don’t want to waste some really nice yarn until I trust myself with being able to knit totally flawless sweaters… An acrylic yarn sweater can look just as fabulous, and not having to worry about your nice sweater being ruined in a washing accident is of course nice. The burgundy skeins will therefore become a sweater, inspired by this project. Probably I will use another pattern, but I was inspired to knit a sweater in the exact same color.

Burgundy was actually my favorite color for a long time as a kid, I guess I was an old soul because it’s not really a “kids’ color”, is it? Nowadays I would probably list teal, pink and black as my favorite colors… But I think the reason that having a favorite color is not really a grown-up thing is that you understand that there are too many shades of one color to describe and some of them you will always consider to be awful. If I were to give a proper answer it would end up like: Whats your favorite color? -Blue, but I would say C.I. 77510 rather than 73000, you can google that if you want to know what I’m into!

I have a plan for those three skeins to the right as well, but I will actually keep that a secret until I’ve started the project so you can see for yourselves. But I can at least say that the lovely color combo is inspired by this crochet pattern which I found in my ravelry favorites, it’s cool isn’t it?

As for me I will be studying for exams, but after next week I will probably be blogging and knitting more throughout summer.

Enjoy your knitting!
//Nelly

Crochet

I’m not that into crochet, however I have done a few things in the past, lots of granny squares, dog toys and such but it’s been some time. Now however I’ve started on the Shark Bag because of course there is no better way to carry my valuable stuff to the beach this summer. I love it when these cute and silly things come in adult size as well. Grown-ups also want to have fun!

Here’s the Shark coming along nicely, crochet is so fast!

I also stumbled upon a crochet blog, not your average crochet, which seems nice with lots of nice crochet projects,  free patterns and also some knitting. I also love the name of the blog, that’s some nice attitude right there. The reason I found it was that someone linked to this Navajo 3-ply technique, sounds really fancy doesn’t it? You make a loop with three strands of yarn when you crochet, so that you can make your thin yarn thicker and still only use one ball at a time, neat! I can imagine that it would be nice to be able to switch back and forth between one and three strands, so that you could do some freestyle crochet where some sections have thicker structure.

Something that is usually crocheted are different sorts of mesh carrying bags, but this one, the weightless produce bag is actually knitted which makes it more lightweight, and compared to the ones I’ve seen before it looks more “shrinkable”. These bags are quite popular right now for those who are already trying to not buy plastic bags to use from the store, and also want to stop using those bags that you put fruit and vegetables in. I really don’t like those because they’re not sturdy enough to re-use so they often go right in the recycling bin. I know what you’re thinking, just when will some citizens get “level up” badges from the government for doing all this?? Lately what I’ve been doing is buying say, 10 potatoes, without any bag at all and I can imagine that being mildly frustrating for the cashiers in the future… Anyway, thats the point of the bag not weighing much, that you can just throw it on the scale with no panic about the price. This pattern is also available in Swedish so that’s why there’s a bit of a hype at the moment. That is one thing that I love about us Swedes, how excited we get over saving the world with knitted produce bags! I guess they would also be a nice gift since you can give them away with their content (maybe chocolate and fruit instead of 10 potatoes) and then your friend can also join in the world-saving.

Enjoy your crocheting and knitting!

Over and out, Nelly

 

Summer patterns

Hello!

I have been really excited about summer due to the nice weather we’ve been getting lately. Therefore I chose some of my Ravelry favorites and created a new bundle for spring and summer inspiration. I have collected some nice short sleeved tops and tank tops because I think that type of patterns can be difficult to find. But even a long sleeved sweater can be a summer garment according to me, if it’s airy enough and not knit in wool. People often state that sheep’s wool is no nice because it keeps you warm in winter and cool in the summer… Maybe those people are just really cold in general or something, because they are wrong. However wearing some actual clothes in summer is always a good idea to block the sun and keep cool, especially if you, like me get sunburnt easily. Even if it might be too late now to start a summer garment and have it finished for this season, it can still be nice to knit in thinner yarns just to have a more portable project and less sweaty hands!

Happy knitting!

//Nelly

Icelandic dreams

Garnr has the feature that you can drag the colors around to see them next to each other! Here are some that i would like for my sweater, with the grey as the main color. I think the best contrast colors would be Lagoon Heather, orange and black. What do you guys think? Why not take a screenshot and share your color ideas in the comments!

My favorite yarn store, Garnr, have started retailing Léttlopi!

I have been planning for quite some time to make myself an Icelandic sweater. At first I thought I could not join the Icelandic sweater craze because I am soo itchy. Around the neck even baby alpaca or merino can be a bit itchy on me! But on the arms it is usually not that bad. I am thinking that I will make the size quite big, and wear it as an outer garment for spring and autumn with something underneath. The sweater will probably be too warm to wear indoors anyway. I will knit the Riddari sweater, which is knit bottom up. When it’s time for the neckline I will finish it a bit sooner to reduce the risk of an itchy neck.

Now you might be wondering, why not use a less itchy yarn with the same gauge? The thing is that the Icelandic yarn has a really special halo to it, and that fluffiness also makes the sweater extra warm. That and the roughness of the yarn gives the rustic look to the sweater. I’ve seen these sweaters knit up in merino yarns and it’s just not the same. Every time I wear the sweater I want to feel like I’m out in the wilderness to collect my horses on the Jökull, or something like that.

See you later! //Nelly

 

Right now

Hi! Right now I’m working on my Eyeball shawl by Stephen West: My eye

Here’s a bit of an unpopular opinion; I don’t really find his patterns that good. I would say that he’s my favorite of the popular pattern designers out there because the creations/garments/whatever are unique, colorful and they always feel fun and modern.

Many of the patterns out there are either classic and stylish but not that much fun, or
too much fun… Try to imagine those girls wearing those things outside of a photo shoot?
If you’re a grandma and give these things to your grandkids you obviously hate them, or the grandkids are too young to have a free will yet or to go to school and get bullied…

Loads of patterns are also really stuck in some age when I was not born yet… the 80’s! Yes drops design, I’m talking to you guys.

Anyways, even though Stephen West’s patterns are fun, it seems that people don’t always find them that easy to understand, and I can only agree with that. What I am trying to say is that a good design and a good pattern is not the same thing! And if I ever become a proper knitwear designer I will do my best to do both. Who has ever complained that a pattern was over-explaining the tricky stuff, really?

Do any of my readers have an opinion on this? Who is your favorite designer, pattern writer, or have you found yourself someone who can do both?

On another note, this week I came back after easter holiday to find that it had snowed. Or I actually got a bunch of videos of the snow so I already knew, but you know, I was thinking it could just be a new snapchat filter, one should always think critically. I’m now telling my radish sprouts to please get back down there and wait for another week! If they survive their first time in life I promise I will maybe post a picture.

I also want to share an online yarn shop that i found, called EatSleepKnit that I will probably never order from because it’s US only and super expensive, but it’s such a pretty webpage with only luxurious yarns. Another shop that I might order from at some point because I think they ship to wherever from New Zealand, is Stray cat socks. I’m not that into knitting socks like some people are, and regardless of that I would never knit socks with such expensive yarn, it seems like such a waste to me. But anyway, look at all of those color combinations, they are all spot on. I will go back at some point and steal them for a project!

Nice color combinations for knitting projects can also be found elsewhere, like this corridor staircase I found last week while I was out and about (which means drunk). I imagine the grey and yellow in a striped sweater maybe? And I guess I would also have to name the sweater Corridor A 20-23. Remember where you heard it first.

See you guys soon!