Emily's Aidez Cardigan

Greetings, crafty peeps!

Do you know how much I love making sweaters? I really, really do, and I'm pretty picky about how I like to make them--top down, seamless, try on as you go. Seeing Amber and Angelique's beautiful Aidezes convinced me to try this *bottom up?!?* *seamed?!?* sweater pattern by Cirilia Rose. Being a bit stubborn in my ways, I at least had convert the pattern to seamless...and add some shaping...and stuff.

This gorgeous sweater was made from Cestari 2ply Fine Merino in Blue Pansy, which is a lovely squishy aran weight yarn. It was really lovely to work with, although you could also use Peace Fleece, Cascade Eco or Eco+, Imperial Stock 2ply Mulespun, or our very own Fancy Tiger Heirloom Romney!

As per usual for me, this turned into a make it up as you go along kind of affair. After teaching the My Favorite Sweater class for so long I'm pretty comfortable with knitting away from patterns. It's like cooking, you take an amazing recipe and then close the book and make it. Sometimes awesome things happen, and it's a certainty that you will learn a lot. And Cirilia's pattern is amazing. Those cables are all gorgeous to look at, fun to knit, and surprisingly easy to memorize. It makes me so happy when you don't need a row counter as much as you thought because the tiny cables tell you when to cable the bigger ones. You smarty!

Have you ever tried fixing cabling mistakes? Well, I have now become somewhat good at that. Fixing a trellised cable is pretty intense, but makes you feel like you can do anything! Invincible! Ha ha, you silly trellis, you thought you could foil me?!?! Or, you could just leave them in, like I did above. Five points if you can see it.

Oh, and one sleeve at a time--not a good idea when you are making things up as you go. I knit the sleeves two at a time using the magic loop method. Two at a time forever! It's not just for socks, two at a time is pretty much the only way I will knit something that needs to be identical (If that scares you, take a class! You might swear off one at a time too!).

This is definitely my new go-to favorite sweater. I love it so much!

Crewel Kits are Here from Custom House Needle Arts!

Kitschy-cute crewel embroidery is here! These kits from Custom House are printed on linen fabric with nostalgic illustrations of morel mushrooms, whales and all sorts of adorbzness. They come with a palette of wooly floss for you to stitch up these treasures!

Miranda has already stitched up most of her Violet Cortinarius and we can't wait to see what it looks like when she fills in those tiny Bird's Nest Mushrooms!

I plan on stitching up that Morel with ladybugs!

Out to Sea Fabrics are here from Sarah Jane!

Arggh matey! We cain't handle the adorbzness!

Sarah Jane's new nautical inspired fabrics have everything--narwhals, pirates, treasure maps, mermaids, tall ships--all the favorites for seafaring kiddos!

We love Sarah Jane's style! Click the cutie-pie photo below to visit her blog and see all sorts of inspiring projects made with Out to Sea fabrics!

Amber's Lecien Tova

Dear Jenny Gordy,

I am in love with your sewing patterns. I just made the Wiksten Tova and I love it just as much as the Wiksten Tank! (Which is a lot, 'cause I made, like, five of them.)

My sweet new top is made with a tiny red rose on black stripes print from Lecien. This is my first Tova, but I love it so much I've already cut fabric to make another one. It's oh-so cute and easy to wear! I can't wait to make a Tova dress for fall that I'll wear with cute boots and tights!!

Jenny, pretty please make more patterns for me to sew. I ♥ you.


Sincerely,
Amber

FibroFibers Nightfall Sock Yarn: Ombre Goodness!

FibroFiber's Nightfall yarn is here and it's aaaamazing!

Nightfall is a superwash merino sock yarn--each skein is hand-dyed by Jen Hintz of FibroFibers in North Carolina. Jen uses a special process that creates one long gradient of color throughout the skein, beginning with a vibrant color that gradually gradates to a deep almost-black.

We love this ombre yarn and think it is fantastic for stunning shawls! Check out Jen's free Simple Shawl for Fancy Yarns pattern to see how lovely Nightfall works up. We also love the popular Hitchhiker shawl in Nightfall!

This yarn also supports a good cause. A portion of the sales of this yarn from FibroFibers is donated to the National Fibromyalgia Research Association.

Thanks Jen for making such an amazing yarn!

Jaime's Echino Beignet

You probably know that I am obessed with Echino fabrics. Each time a new collection arrives I always plan out a million projects. This time I decided I had to have a bright mustard skirt and this parrot circle print was the perfect candidate.

I have never made a Colette skirt so I was excited to give the Beignet a try. The Beignet skirt is a high-waisted, straight skirt made with lots of panels for a perfect fit.

I took my time with the one and worked on it over the course of a couple of Featherweight Fridays, which is a nice break from my usual frenzied sewing pace. The skirt turned out great. It is fully lined and has pockets. I finished it with some bright coral buttons and I love their unique oval shape.

I was able to debut this skirt at the midsummer farm party for our CSA farm, Pastures of Plenty. So beautiful and summery!

Melissa's Iris Shorts with Red Buttons

Hi, Melissa here! I recently made this pair of Colette's Iris shorts out of the strawberry-patterned French General fabric. When these shorts first came out, I knew I wanted to make them. When I saw Jaime's Miz Mozelle dress made out of this fabric, it was like a match made in heaven. I knew shorts would be the perfect thing for me made with the French General.

I decided to make version 2 of the shorts, but since I wanted to have these amazing over sized red buttons I didn't make the pockets with buttonholes. These are the kind of buttons that need to be seen!

I have to admit I am super proud of my finished shorts. I ran into a few issues while I was making these shorts. Mostly my own fault, not reading through all the instructions first and trying to go step by step. This just doesn't seem to work with Colette patterns. Also there was a certain amount of lack of trust on my part. (Trusting that really, this piece that does not look like it will connect to this other piece and fit, will in fact fit and connect just fine.) A few tears were shed, a few "stupid sewing" and other blasphemous phrases were muttered, but then my friends Amber, Betsy and Jessica helped me along and the cuteness you see here was brought into the world.

If you see me strutting in these shorts, know that it is because I was triumphant in the face of sewing strife. Plus they are super comfy, which can't often be said of short shorts. So don't be afraid of sewing these or any other of Colette's amazing patterns, we will be here to hold your hand.