My So- Called Handmade Life

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Episode 42: A Less- Traditional Christmas

Monday, December 9, 2019

Episode 41: An Explosive Sequel

This is where I record the eleventy billionth knitting podcast.

On my blog: www.myso-calledhandmadelife.com
On Ravelry as mamatronic: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/mamatronic?set=&columns=&view=thumbnail&page=&sort=status%20completed_%20status_changed_&search=
On instagram as @mysocalledhandmadelife: https://www.instagram.com/mysocalledhandmadelife/
On flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mamatronic/albums

Remember I am finally starting #scrappyblanketmakealong with @theknitpicky !! Join us on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/scrappyblanketmakealong/

My question for you: How can I decorate for Christmas in a time of flux (home repairs, evacuating, etc.) ? Thanks in advance for your ideas because I'm bummed about not being able to decorate right now.

Stuff I mention in Episode 41:

The explosion: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/12/05/port-neches-plant-explosion-prompts-evacuation-order-one-week-later/

Fully Spun Vintage Christmas: https://fullyspun.com
Wool of the Andes in Tranquil, Aurora Heather, Blossom Heather, Holly Berry, and Bare: https://www.knitpicks.com/yarn/wool-of-the-andes-worsted-yarn/c/5420103

Good for your brain stuff we're digesting:
Isle of Dogs: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5104604/
The Weight of Ink: https://www.amazon.com/Weight-Ink-Rachel-Kadish/dp/0544866460
The Indigo Girl: https://www.amazon.com/Indigo-Girl-Novel-Natasha-Boyd-ebook/dp/B072L2N87W/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=the+indigo+girl&qid=1575925411&s=books&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyTEY1NzI3S0cxRUdOJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTkzNDUyMUdHQ0pLUk0zMFJVUSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzkzNzA0MUFKN1VRTTFGRjNTVCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
The Iliad edition I'm reading: https://www.amazon.com/Iliad-Homer-Richmond-Lattimore/dp/0226470490/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=lattimore+the+iliad&qid=1575925436&s=books&sr=1-1
Won't you Be My Neighbor: https://www.focusfeatures.com/wont-you-be-my-neighbor/

cotton candy/slowly rot your brain TV :) :
90210 Reboot: https://www.thewrap.com/bh90210-finales-season-2-jennie-garth-tori-spelling-beverly-hills-90210-reboot/
Riverdale: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5420376/

Mel Brooks inspiration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnF1OtP2Svk

Twice as Nice book by Knit Picks: https://www.knitpicks.com/twice-as-nice-modern-traditional-holiday-decor/p/33541
Main Attraction stockings: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/main-attraction-stockings
Fair Isle and geometric Stockings: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fair-isle-and-geometric-stockings
Triangles Stocking: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/triangle-and-reindeer-stockings

#scrappyblanketmakealong on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/scrappyblanketmakealong/

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Episode 40: The Sweater Experience

If you were ever interested in my older knitting projects, this is the episode for you. Your hunger for details will now be satiated to the point of turning into gluttonous nausea. 117 sweaters/upper body garments may be overkill. This is my sweater knitting history.

Laborious as this episode was to put together and then trim to a manageable length, it was fun to look back at old makes, re-read blog posts, and remember my life at the time. If you were one of these designers mentioned, THANK YOU!! Everyone else, thanks for tuning in.

This is where I record the eleventy billionth knitting podcast.

on my blog: www.myso-calledhandmadelife.com
on instagram as @mysocalledhandmadelife: https://www.instagram.com/mysocalledhandmadelife/
on ravelry as mamatronic: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/mamatronic?set=&columns=&view=thumbnail&page=&sort=status%20completed_%20status_changed_&search=
I have a ravelry group: https://www.ravelry.com/groups/my-so-called-handmade-life
on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mamatronic/albums

A new makealong!!!
Don't forget to join myself and @theknitpicky in the #scrappyblanketmakealong on instagram if you're interested in knitting or crocheting a blanket of some sort out of scrap yarn.

Stuff I mentioned in the episode:
It's ridiculous how much stuff I mentioned. But you can find all of my sweaters on my ravelry page (via the link above) and each project page there has a link to the blog posts on the sweater, where there are detailed notes and lots of photos.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Episode 39: A Very My-So Called Handmade Life Camping Trip

This is where I record the eleventy billionth knitting podcast.

On the blog: www.myso-calledhandmadelife.com
On ravelry as mamatronic: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/mamatronic?set=&columns=&view=thumbnail&page=&sort=status%20completed_%20status_changed_&search=
On Instagram as mysocalledhandmadelife: https://www.instagram.com/mysocalledhandmadelife/

My Question for you: See last episode. Also have you ever camped solo? Where would you like to go?

Stuff I mention in Episode 39:

Brady Tabu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh9dRcga8YE
Best Brady Camping episode that I do my best to imitate, only with an alligator cutout instead of a bear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFa-MSro9S4
A Very Brady Renovation: https://www.hgtv.com/shows/a-very-brady-renovation

The Caddo of East Texas: https://www.legendsofamerica.com/caddo-tribe/
camping Trips on my blog: https://www.myso-calledhandmadelife.com/search/label/camping
Basket sold by A Homespun House: https://ahomespunhouse.com/product-category/handmade-baskets/
Color Craze by Tamy Gore: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/color-craze
Bluebird progress keeper from Cedar River Knits: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CedarRiverKnits
Dirty Lace by Libby Jonson: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dirty-lace
slipped stitch socks knit in Regia Pairfect, Cinamon: https://schachenmayr.com/en/yarns/regia-pairfect
Ready Player One socks: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/mamatronic/smooth-operator-socks-9
Twice as Nice by Knit Picks: https://www.knitpicks.com/twice-as-nice-modern-traditional-holiday-decor/p/33541
Fully Spun, Vintage Christmas: https://fullyspun.com
Wool of the Andes in Holly Berry, Aurora Heather, Blossom Heather, Tranquil, and Bare: https://www.knitpicks.com/yarn/wool-of-the-andes-worsted-yarn/c/5420103

@ardently_jeca has also made a MATH hat: https://www.instagram.com/ardently_jeca/
Guthrie by Caitlin Hunter: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/guthrie
knit in SpinCycle Dyed in the Wool, Mississippi Marsala: https://spincycleyarns.com/collections/dyed-in-the-wool-sport-weight
Cascade 220 sport in natural: https://www.amazon.com/Womans-Guide-Wild-Complete-Handbook/dp/1632170051/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=woman+guide+to+the+wild&qid=1571684543&s=books&sr=1-1

Woman's Guide to the Wild: https://www.amazon.com/Womans-Guide-Wild-Complete-Handbook/dp/1632170051/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=woman+guide+to+the+wild&qid=1571684543&s=books&sr=1-1

My Julia Sweater by Wool and the Gang: https://www.ravelry.com/projects/mamatronic/julia-sweater

Friday, October 4, 2019

Episode 38: A Couple of Non-Knitting Confessions

Monday, September 23, 2019

Soldotna Crop

I finally knitted a cropped winter sweater and managed to actually make it cropped. In the past, every attempt at a cropped sweater is thwarted by one of two things: 1) I like what I'm knitting and don't want to stop or 2)I'm hesitant because I don't not know if I'll like the cropped style on me. I do lean to the oversized and comfy.

As far as the hesitancy thing goes, I just had to get over it. Avoiding experimentation on your first several sweaters makes sense. Back then, just finishing a sweater felt novel. But after 100 plus sweaters (yeah, I realized I crossed the 100 mark. Insane.) experimenting on number 101isn't such a big deal. Having a kit designed with only enough yarn for a cropped length sweater helped too.

I have knit cropped tops before, but they were always summer sweaters or tank tops, never one thick enough for full blown winter. And Soldotna, by Caitlin Hunter, is thick. It's three different strands of dk weight yarn held together for Fair Isle knitting over body and sleeves. I don't know if you can tell but I was about to pass out when taking these photos. I'd saved up a sweater, two shawls, and two pairs of socks to photograph. It was one big giant photo shoot in early September heat and a real professional process involving quick costume changes and the wiping of my sweat mustache.

My yarn kit came from Mockingbird Fiber Co. Won't they just love their company name being mentioned directly after my sweat mustache? Sorry, guys.

Okay! Wipe your minds of everything I just wrote. Now, imagine the following colors all together in one garment. Aren't they lovely?

I think I could've come up with a combo involving Natural Woman (the natural one, duh), Night Mauves (the pink), and Dust on the Bottle (the burgundy). But I don't think I would've ever thrown the Drops of Jupiter into the mix. It's the Main body color and one of my favorites that they dye. It's not like any colorway I've used before, but it is the main reason I chose this kit.

If you watch my podcast, you know that I'm not sure how I'll wear this sweater. I have seen lots of great looks, but either I don't own the right pieces in my wardrobe or they aren't the right color. You can see here that my immediate solution was to just wear a loose t-shirt underneath it to get some FO photos. I don't really like the baggy guy jeans with it. But I do like wearing baggy guy jeans, so....

Details: I used size ) needle for ribbing, 3's for the heavy stranded yoke, and 4 for the rest of the body and sleeves. I thought, and rightly so, that the dotted stranded portion wouldn't pucker as much and might appear too tight. That is what happened with my Sunset Highway.

The yarn was the Drops of Jupiter Soldotna kit, plus one extra skein of Drops of Jupiter, from Mockingbird Fiber Co, as I discussed earlier and it was the most fun to watch the colors work together. As everyone said, the yoke knits up fast, possibly because it's incredibly addictive. I took it everywhere with me.

I decided to follow WoollyBear99's directions for modifying the neckline so it would be wider. Then, I promptly forgot and didn't follow it. So instead of omitting the first set of decreases in the yoke, I omitted the last set. I cast on 120 stitches, knit 7 rounds of rib, then performed the short rows for a size 3XL. Since I didn't omit the first increase, but the last instead, I ended up with 18 more stitches than I should have had. Since I'd been knitting it a bit tighter than I planned, because "eyeing it" is the new swatching, this worked out fine. I gave more of the extra stitches to my sleeves because my very muscular arms need the flexin' room.

Hmmm, I can't think of anything else that might be of interest, if knitting is of interest to you. I did use the Simple Stretchy Bind Off from this Very Pink tutorial. In the sleeve above, I had to use a bit of another burgundy tweed yarn for the Bind Off round because I ran out of yarn right at the end, which is completely obnoxious, but I don't think it really shows.

I knit this as part of the Mockingbird Sweater KAL and Summer Sweater KAL 2019. Both had a lot of inspirational projects. I am completely ready to knit Caitlin's Ghost Horses sweater soon, but first I need to finish Guthrie.