LunaKnit

Yesterday I wrote about the Brooklyn Tweed Lace KAL, but that wasn't the only Make-Along I took part during the summer. I briefly mentioned the Summer of Basics MAL in my previous post, and thought I could share a bit more about it today. Karen Templer from Fringe Association started a 3-month long Make-Along running from the beginning of June until end of August. The initiative was to knit 3 items for your wardrobe. They could be anything, and done with any technique as long as they fitted your own personal interpretation of "basic" (hence the name, Summer of Basics). I had great plans about learning to sew and making a shirt and pants (oh how ambitious!), to be paired with a knitted cardigan or a pullover. That never happened. Instead I ended up knitting all three items, of which one is the Selune scarf featured in the previous post. I didn't really have a clear plan what I was going to make when I started out, but I was quite happy to notice that...

Before my preganancy I started to read about capsule wardrobes and decided to try and minimize my own pile of clothes. During these past two years I've been trying to define my own stye by really focusing on which clothes I wear over and over again, and which ones are just taking space in my closet. And the results have been a bit surprising. I have always thought of myself as a colorful person and I thought I loved a bit quirky clothes. But the fact is I don't actually dress the way I imagined I do. I mean, I own(ed) those kind of clothes, but I seldom wear (wore) them. In the reality I kept reaching for the same basics over and over again and feeling the most comfortable wearing them. I do love colors, just not wearing them.   It meant I had to redefine my style, my "uniform" and also my knitting queue. I cleaned away everything I didn't really wear and started to buy good quality basics instead. I also cleaned my knitting queue, replacing things that I...

Koto pullover , by Olga Buraya-Kefelian , published in Wool People 9. Yarn: Drops Merino Extrafine #2 black. Lately I've been trying to conciously choose classic everyday staples for my next knitting projects rather than just knit anything on a whim and not really what I need in my wardrobe. This pullover wasn't the most inspiring to knit but I love wearing it and I'm sure it's one I will reach for over and over again. The sleeves turned out too long for me after blocking. I hadn't realised that the shoulders would drop as low as they did, so I ended up with sleeves that are about 5 cm too long. The sleeves have cuffs that are folded double and joined by three needle joinery. I wanted to keep that detail, so I fixed the length by picking stitches from both the cuff and the arm, and then using kitchener stitch to join the two parts back again. This worked fine because the increases start higher up in the sleeve, so I didn't have to worry about the...

Despite feeling quite unproductive lately (these last weeks of the pregnancy have been quite tiresome) I've actually finished something and I'm pretty pleased with the result as well. I've been knitting the Woodfords cardigan from the Brooklyn Tweed Wool People 8 collection using one of my favourite yarns, Garnstudio Drops Baby Alpaca Silk. I love how lightweight and summery the cardigan is! And now I have a lovely white cardigan that has been missing from my wardrobe. I loved the construction of this cardigan, which is quite unlike anything I've knitted before. It's totally seamless and you pick up stitches for different parts as you go. You never know what is going to happen next, and the pattern is definitely keeping you on your toes. (The hem started to get a bit boring and monotonous though, it seemed to go on for ever!) The instructions are however very well written and even though this requires more attention and concentration than your basic car...

For a while now I've been on the search for the perfect basic cardigan pattern. You know the kind of cardigan that works with everything you have in your wardrobe and in every occasion and you just keep reaching for it day in day out. I already found one perfect cardigan pattern - the Exeter by Michele Wang - and you've probably read me praising it on this blog already more than once. However, I think the Exeter is a bit too "busy" with all the cables and lace, to be considered a "basic" knit - it takes the attention away from everything else you wear (in a good way that is). It's more of a statement piece than a basic, despite the gray shades I knitted mine with. When I saw the Yuki cardigan by Lori Versaci , I immediately knew it could be the one . The original design is knitted with two colors and two different yarn weights held together, but I decided to make mine monochrome black and substituting the yarns for just one strand of DK weight...

This was my second time taking part of the Me Made May challenge - and the first time officially participating. I wear something me-made almost daily by default - I don't own store-bought knitted hats or woolen socks for example - but usually I just grab something on my way out or from the sock drawer and seldom really think about what I'm wearing. This year I've been trying to concentrate more on a functional wardrobe and knit more things that I need and love to wear, rather than just random stuff on a whim - things that aren't necessarily essentially my style even though I would adore the color of the yarn or have fun time knitting the pattern . So this challenge has been a good opportunity to see which pieces of clothing I keep wearing over and over again, and which ones are left on the shelves. During this challenge (and the pregnancy) I've noticed the shortcomings of my wardrobe even more evidently than before. There is a clear shortage of the so call...

Here is my wardrobe update list aka knitting queue for the next months: 1. A lightweight white cardigan. Can you believe I do not own one? I really like these two designs: on the left Woodfords by Elizabeth Doherty and on the right Breckon by Amy Christoffers 2. Basic black cardigan that works with everything (no pressure finding the perfect pattern, huh?); the lack of one is another huge shortcoming in my current wardrobe. 3. A lightweight white cap suitable for transitional seasons. And a black one as well. 4. Flowy light grey scarf, again: something simple that works with everything. Such as Tissé by Julie Hoover. 5. A loose knitted top for the warm end of the summer days after I've given birth (I hope I'm not being overly optimistic about the length and warmth of Finnish summers...). I really like the Azalea pattern by Pam Allen. 6. A few relaxed summery pullovers, also loose enough for my post-baby body - I was thinking about knit...

While waiting for the spring weather to get back on track I've been embracing the change of seasons by knitting a couple of light-weight hats. My quest for a - I dare not say perfect but - more functional, wearable and easily mix-and-matched wardrobe has made me take a whole new approach to my knitting. Previously I only had one ( my Hutchin ) light hat suitable for transitional seasons, like late spring or early autumn, and everything else is thick and woolen and way too warm. This year I've been trying to concentrate on the so called "wardrobe basics" and staple knits, to really focus on what I need to have in a functional wardrobe rather than what I find just fun to knit or quirky. I've already finished my first "essential" piece: my Exeter cardigan and casted on for another similar one but in a lighter shade of grey. The first hat is a dark grey lace hat with striped inside which makes it reversible and very multifunctional,...

As I've been going through all my clothes and tried to empty my closet of everything I don't actively use I've noticed that even though my wardrobe was full of clothes I seem to lack the basic things everyone should own. For example: I do not own a black cardigan. (Or actually I do but the one I have is an expensive one and I only use it at parties and other special occasions.) Nor do I have a grey one either except for my Fuse but I don't really count it as a basic cardigan. I dress quite casually and wear the same clothes at work and in my free time. My "uniform" consists of knitted sweaters or cardigans with plain t-shirts or simple blouses combined with jeans (usually black), a scarf and ankle boots. I mostly use black, grey and muted shades of green and burgundy. But despite these preferences my closet was full of clothes in almost every shade and color there is. No wonder I never used over half of them! Still, my wardrobe lacks a dark grey pullover...

Lately I’ve written about trying to get rid of all the unnecessary stuff filling our closet (read about it here and here ). I ended up recycling about half my clothes and for the first time I could actually even part with pieces that I knitted myself. They have held a sentimental value to me – there’s something about spending hours and hours creating something that makes the pieces more than just mere clothes – that has stopped me from throwing them away, even if I never used them and all they did was take up space in my closet. Why some pieces become instant favorites and others are left unused is a bit of a mystery to me. When you buy a piece of clothing in the store you see immediately how it fits, how the fabric drapes and how it really looks like. But when you choose a pattern to knit, all of this is left to be seen. Sometimes I have picked a beautiful pattern and carefully chosen the yarn and the color to match, but the end result is nothing like I imagined in my head. Even...

It started with my wardrobe but I just couldn't stop there. The more I looked the more I found stuff we didn't use or need. It started to irritate me and little by little I begun to go through all our cupboards and closets and to empty them from all the clutter. We moved here over a year ago, and we still have boxes that haven't been opened even once after the move. It made me wonder if I would ever use those things again in my life. So why not recycle them? I keep wondering one thing: I try to buy groceries and such that are ecologically produced or at least fair trade (preferably both) even though they would cost double the money. We try to minimize our household waste by only buying what we eat and trying to use even the leftovers, and I'm glad to tell you that we throw very little food away compared to the nationwide average (in Finland the numbers are now sad 20-26 kg of food per person every year). We also strive to recycle our waste, save water and elect...