orange – Yards of Happiness

FO: Freestyle Fade

I have to start this post off by saying, despite it being fall it was 86 degrees in the late afternoon when I finally took photos of this sweater. I waited forever because it was just too hot to put on a sweater. Global warming, ya’ll. But I braved the warmth and put on sweater weather clothes to show you my latest FO.

On Ravelry I’ve got this listed as my Neutral to Neon Raglan but in reality I’ve been calling it my Faded Freestyle sweater. This really was a make it up as I go along sweater to just see what I felt like it should become and in the end I love the results.
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I decided to make this sweater because I put Madelinetosh dk in Snowcone Shack next to Neon Peach and thought this could be a nice pairing. I added in my leftover Miss Babs Yowza in Oyster to help stretch out the yardage but as I knit I realized my Neighborhood Fiber Co yarn I dyed in mint would be another pretty addition. It just kind of came together organically. I used my notes from when I made my last improvised top down tee in the spring and new I wanted to work on making a better scoop neck.
Faded freestyle
This was is still a bit deep (I have yet to perfect my scoop neck) but I made up for it with a considerable amount of ribbing along the neckline. And when I finished the body I decided why not pick up the little dark flecks in the Snowcone Shack and I used the last of the Druid Hill colorway I had in my stash – I like! Since I loved the i-cord edging and the sleeves from my Angelina I thought I’d bring those elements to this too, I really wanted it to be a more relaxed tunic style. And I love a loser bell sleeve, so I added a few increases to give the sleeves more flare. I love the end results and it’s so soft and has a nice drape to the fabric. These are all dk/light worsted weight yarns that work together as seen in other projects, so I knew what I was going to get.
Faded freestyle
Whenever I post sweaters like this that don’t have a pattern I’m inevitably asked to write patterns – but I’m just not there yet. Sweaters like this are me learning and growing as a knitter. I like to experiment, build on my skills and play around with what I make for myself – before I turn my work into a pattern. There’s still a lot I don’t know and I can’t even begin think about making a pattern in multiple sizes. Right now I just selfishly knit for me. So I won’t say never to pattern writing but I will say not right now. I’ve still got a lot of work I want to do before I share that with others. Now if only the temps would go down so I could wear my knits I’d be much happier.

Stitching Status: Quiet Weekends

Between errands and brunch with friends, I spent a nice chunk of time knitting in the evenings and binge watching The Good Fight on TV. If you ever watched The Good Wife and miss it, all 10 episodes of the spin-off The Good Fight are on CBS all access and you can subscribe for free for a week. I’m already up to episode 8 – it’s so good.
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And the girls have been happily tangled up in my knitting. We are getting a new couch this week so we took the old one out and put in a bench for the girls to look out the window in the meantime. That means I haven’t had the best seating options (sitting in a chair with two dogs is not comfortable and they don’t like to share my lap and I don’t love sitting in the husband’s man cave in the basement). For the most part I’ve been sitting on a pile of pillows on the floor with blankets and have been playing fetch with Jellybean while Cher goes between the bench and a blanket next to me.
Mischief
On occasion they’ll play nice and share the bench together and stare out the window occasionally barking at dogs and their owners walking by. And then occasionally they bark at nothing at all and scare the crap out of me.
Sisters 😊
But despite the barking and sitting on the floor I’ve made great progress on my improvised sweater. I finished the body and decided to do an i-cord bind off for the end instead of ribbing. The scoop neck is pretty deep so I added about 2 inches of ribbing to the neckline to bring it up a bit – I’ll still need to wear a tank top with it but that’s how I typically wear my v necks. I decided to use the leftover darker yarn I paired with the lighter top color on my Colorblocked Boyfriend Cardigan. It picks up the dark flecks in the other yarn. I kind of love that this is all bits and pieces of leftover projects coming together. I love it when you can use every last drop of yarn on the skein.
Sunday night progress
I’ve been kind of just making this up as I go along and making decisions on the fly. Adding in a new color and just having fun as I go along. It’s kind of nice to not follow any pattern. I’m down to the sleeves and I’m thinking since it’s a deep scoop neck and it hits me at the hips, with not do a bell sleeve? I just feel like a fitted sleeve wouldn’t look right but who knows, I may not like it and can always rip it back but that’s also part of the fun of creating this with colors I just love. Here’s hoping I finish up this week!

September 18, 2017September 18, 2017 by IamDWJ Categories: Cher, Color, green, Jellybean, Knitting, Madelinetosh, Miss Babs, multi, My Dogs, Neighborhood Fiber Co., neon, orange, Stitching Status, Sweaters, YarnTags: #yardsofhappiness, knitting, sweater knitting, The Good Fight, Yarn 16 Comments

Stitching Status: Preparing for Fall

Fall is coming. I can feel it in the air.
Burrito
Mornings are getting crisper. Cher has been snuggling deeper and deeper into her blankets. I pulled out my fall/winter clothes to transition my closet and said hello to all my yummy sweaters I packed away in the spring. Over the last few months I’ve been knitting away for myself. It started with a Happy Little Sweater, then my charcoal grey Trail Jacket and then my Four Color Fable. I took a break and did some summer knitting but then dove into my super fun Technicolor Dream Coat (I’m dying to wear that a lot), then my rainbow Teazel, then the Pink Professor, then my Angelina and lastly my Mint Madness. I’m building a warm wardrobe that I love. But that also means putting other projects to the side and sometimes I feel a slight pang of guilt but then I remind myself that they’re my two hands and my yarn budget…so I’m not obligated to make anything except for what I want right now. A little harsh but so true. I have a few child sized things and toys I want to make for friends for fall but I accidentally stumbled upon this awesome yarn pairing that distracted me from that.
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Madelinetosh Neon Peach – top, Miss Babs Yowza in Oyster – bottom left (as seen in this cardigan) and Madelinetosh Snowcone Shack – bottom right. I was saving these for other projects and somehow I picked up Snowcone Shack and thought, if I could blend this with Neon Peach it would be awesome! So I weighed what I had of each and decided to do another improvised top down raglan. I started knitting and realized there was one more color I could pull from my stash to add to this – the remainder of my mint yarn leftover from Mint Madness! And that’s how I ended up here.
Faded raglan in progress
It’s such a pretty blend of colors. I know it’s a super soft palette and very neutral up top but when I finish it with the Neon Peach it will feel like a DWJ knit. The neutral helps balance the neon that’s coming. It’s not a super fitted sweater so it has a touch of ease to it that I think will make it an awesome throw on pullover with jeans or skinny pants if I wear it to work. When I get excited I just don’t want to stop knitting! Now if it would just get a little bit cooler so I can just wear cardigans in the morning I’d be happier. What are you making to get yourself ready for fall?

September 15, 2017 by IamDWJ Categories: Cher, Color, green, Knitting, Madelinetosh, Miss Babs, multi, My Dogs, neon, orange, Stitching Status, Sweaters, YarnTags: #yardsofhappiness, color fading, knitting, top down sweater, Yarn 10 Comments