Tag Archives: Elevation cardigan

Apr17

Itching to sew…

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With my crocheted Elevation Cardigan off the hook (photo above, it took 4 months to get finished) my knitted Sporto hooded sweater still on the needles (but at the point where I should decide what to do on the colourwork section) I just wanna sew!

Two evenings ago, I got home from work and after dinner ended up falling asleep on the couch before 9pm. Not really wanting to do the same thing last night, I went down to my sewing room and continued to work on a zipper pouch idea based on one I saw in a YouTube video. It has pockets inside, across both sides, to hold crochet hooks and interchangeable needle tips. I’m making mine with a zipper pocket on the outside too which can hold cables etc.

It’s nearly done and I’ll show it off next time.

This is a small drawstring bag that I made from more scrappy fabric. It’s nice to use scraps that would otherwise have gone in the trash. (You can probably see a bit of Olaf the snowman from Frozen in there).

And this is a “thing” that I made which is similar to a commercial case for an interchangeable needle set. The pockets were a bit loose so I added the nonslip vinyl but I don’t know if it was a good idea.

I really feel like booking a week off work and creating a sewing retreat…at home!

Feb24

Knittin’ the knits

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Knittin’ the knits

I present to you my WIPs or, if you prefer, PIPs or MIPs (works/projects/makes in progress).

The green Sporto sweater hasn’t changed much this week because I’ve been focusing on the grey/neon cardigan.

Said cardigan is machine-knitted on my somewhat old Bond. I used keyplate 3 to give me a nice gauge with the Craft Smart acrylic from Michaels.

Making a gauge swatch is awesome on this machine because it literally takes 5 minutes. Once that was done, I drew up a schematic so that I could figure out stitches and rows. The back, fronts and pockets were easiest as there was no shaping. The sleeves were a little slower as I had to decrease every 4 rows to the cuff and on the second sleeve I forgot to change colour halfway down and so there was much cursing as I took the work off the machine, frogged some, and rehung it at row 50 to start the neon.

It only took 4 hours over a couple of days to make all the pieces. It probably took the same again to add the handknitted ribbing, bindoffs, and seams.

It’s at the point now where I can try it on. I would have preferred it to be a bit bigger widthways but I’m not redoing it. Next, I’ll add the handknitted ribbed bands around the front and weave in the ends. And sew on the pockets, which I don’t even want to attempt while there is still so much curl in those front sections. The dropped shoulders look a little bulgy when wearing, but I’m hoping that a trip through the washer and dryer will smooth and relax things.

As for the crocheted Elevation cardigan, I have now received the two extra skeins of I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby in Burnt Pumpkin.

Tonight I’m frogging the sleeves so that I can remake them with the new yarn because I just wasn’t loving the look with the lighter orange for the sleeves. I’ll get an up to date photo of that another time.

One last thing…a camping themed quilt for display at work. Quick and simple, just to show off the fabric. It’s small, 24 x 36 inches. The first of many I’d like to make.

Have a good weekend!

Jan20

Happy Friday!

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It’s a gloriously sunny day today. The last couple of days of sunshine have been very welcome after the fog and cloud of the previous couple of weeks.

Work was quiet today and I got to leave early so I unexpectedly have a free afternoon.

So, how should I spend it? I guess I could add to the Elevation cardigan which has a sleeve and a bit left to do.

I think that each time I change to a new colour I have to get used to it and get over the thought, “Does this work or does it look terrible?!” So I don’t always want to crochet on it.

I could go for a walk in the sunshine. My logical brain is saying that’s what I SHOULD do.

I could go downstairs and play with fabric.

Or lift some weights.

Before I make a decision, I’ll show you what I made with the coffee-themed fabric from the stash.

Each bag has two coasters, a bag of coffee beans and a bar of chocolate inside. I had to fussy cut the fabric just right so didn’t bother looking up a tutorial. I’ve made a lot of bags like this before.

Looking forward to a fun weekend. We are going to a hockey game for the first time in years. And friends are coming for a potluck on Sunday. Hope your weekend is awesome!

Dec29

No man’s land

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Yes, we’re in the no man’s land that is the period between Christmas and New Year, when many people are off work and the rest of us wish we were!

Christmas Eve dinner worked out great. We had the Vegan Wellington recipe from The Happy Pear, but with homemade shortcrust rather than commercial puff pastry, accompanied by roast potatoes, roasted parsnips, carrots and Brussels sprouts, gravy and broccoli.

I finished opening my yarn Advent, and officially gave myself the Hobbii yarn that I bought a month ago!

The sparkly cake is Hobbii Universe Christmas, and the other two are massive 200 gram cakes of Järbo Cookie.

Christmas Day was easy and relaxing. I cut out the pieces to sew a new coat. And we all went to the movies to see Avatar in the evening.

We’ve had milder temperatures so there has been some melting on the roads, but at around 4pm today it started snowing again!

My view from the sewing room downstairs is semi-obscured by snow now.

The Elevation Cardigan (from Make & Do Crew) is coming along nicely. I’m up to the upper body sections, so have split for the armholes. It looks like I may have enough yarn after all. I have a lighter shade of orange still to use, plus a yellow. Once the shoulders are seamed, it’ll just be sleeves, front bands, and pockets left to do.

I hope you all are having a good end to 2022 and I’d like to wish you a happy and healthy 2023.

Dec21

Winter Solstice

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We are having a cold snap! Minus 20C today and expected to get even colder tonight. I am so grateful for a warm house!

Yesterday it snowed all day and in addition to the roads being hairy scary we had to deal with whiteout conditions on the highway. The visibility was down to 50 metres at best. I ventured out to see a friend for a short visit then went back home. There was a lot of snow shovelling and some soup-making.

I made some awesome ‘cheesy’ vegan scones without a recipe. Best scones ever! (I used a snowman-shaped cutter.)

Here’s one of my fruit cakes complete with pecans, dried apricots and apricot glaze.

Some days that’s all I’ve eaten for lunch! What? It’s OK, it has fruit in it 😉

We’ve also been indulging in a few vegan marshmallows with our evening hot chocolate. And some mornings I have made a pot of tea, rather than a single mug, just because it feels good.

In yarny news, I have fallen behind with opening my little yarn bags.

And I’m adding to my Elevation cardigan tonight.

I’m up to the third colour (of six). I still think I may need to get more.

So it’s the 21st and I still haven’t decided on the menu for our Christmas Eve dinner. I’ve done my last pre-Christmas Costco shop but I do need to go back to the regular supermarket for a few more things. I’m working the next couple of days so it looks like it’s all going to get done at the last minute.

It’ll probably be some sort of loaf, roast vegetables, gravy, something green, some mince pies and a secondary dessert for the weirdo in the family who doesn’t eat dried fruit 🙂

Dec6

More yarn and lots of hiking

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Two more balls of Advent yarn (above) and an FO below (from DK acrylic that I brought with me).

Here’s the Ravelry link to the pattern https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/succulent-plant-amigurumi

We enjoyed a beautiful, level, sunny walk along Skaha Lake yesterday morning. Two hours total following which we spent the rest of the day at the Airbnb relaxing and enjoying the hot tub and sauna.

Today was cloudy, still in the region of minus 8 Celsius, and the two hour hike involved an uphill trek to a bluff with a view. There were signs of bear but we only ended up seeing a deer and a few birds!

Again, the hot tub was welcome after all that exertion!

And finally, the start of my new WIP https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/elevation-duster-cardigan The Elevation Duster Cardigan is a long crocheted cardigan which looked like a good option for my six shades of Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn. However I am wondering whether it’ll be enough. I may have to figure out how to get more of the yellow. Time will tell.