Greetings Gentle Unravelers!
Yesterday, a momentous occasion occurred here in the ‘Burgh… Sweater Weather arrived and it is a thing of beauty! I basked all day in wearing a sweater because of the weather! Please note… this is entirely different than wearing a sweater because the AC is set at 40° below zero, just saying.
It was perfect weather to do some knitting… and yes, even some unraveling! Gah! I had boasted that I was making headway on my sweater…open mouth, drop stitch… in the lace portion…which required me to rip back 10-ish rows. Sigh. So really no headway made… but at least I am back on track however, no knitting has been done because this was not the knit for the Read With Us discussion last night!
I do have some finished/almost finished sewing projects! I have 2 finished sweatshirts or one will be done later today when I get the Steam-a-Seam tape that I need to finish the funnel neck version. But, it is done but for that and a bit of hand sewing! Both are made from a lovely French Terry fabric that I got some time ago from Blackbird Fabrics. The fabric was fiddly in the cutting out portion of the process. It required extra care to make sure it was not stretched anywhere. But once it was cut out assembling it was super easy once I figured out the tension on my serger.
Funnel-neck with normal cuffed sleeve version.
The pattern for these beauties is the Cosmos Sweatshirt from Sew House Seven and it is a great “starter project” if you are new to sewing with knits! The instructions are clear. There are loads of tips for success in the actual sewing of knits.
These cuffs are perfect… not too tight at all.
And the end result is a nicely fitting sweatshirt that does not look very sweatshirt-ish at all. I did one small alteration on the sleeves for the Indigo crew-neck version. I shortened them an inch and a half and used my double needle to hem the sleeves!
Crew-neck with un-cuffed sleeves.
I really love Sew House Seven patterns… their Free Range Slacks pattern is my go to for pants. I have a couple more patterns in the queue from them, so look for some new additions to my wardrobe this fall!
The reading this week has been a bit of a mixed bag. I started The People in the Trees several weeks ago… and I really tried (I read half of the book) but it was just not A Little Life… at all. While A Little Life is about a group of friends and their lives together – one of whom had some truly horrific things happen to him – The People in the Trees was more about a person doing the horrific things to others… and justifying it all to himself. It was not a book for me but your mileage might vary.
I did finish a new children’s book this week… and I highly recommend it!
Magnolia Flower by Zora Neale Hurston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I got this book because I heard Ibram X. Kendi talk about it and I thought it would be a lovely book to send to my granddaughter.
It is a beautiful story with beautiful illustrations. This is a book that you will need to read with your child to answer the questions that will arise in the reading.
If you have children in your life and you want a book to help them grow in awareness that all things are not equal, this is a beautiful start!
I highly recommend!
And with that, I am off to do a bit of practice painting (my new painting class starts next week) and then I am going to work on that sweater and see if I can’t catch myself back up and *not drop any stitches* this time!
As always, if you wrote a post to share please leave your link below and thank you!
Oh… and I will be back tomorrow with a bit of a surprise posting!
Sorry about the dropped stitch in the lace pattern – I hate when that happens (I’ve done it so many times with shawls). I love your sweatshirts Kat. They are great! (good color choices too) Here’s to a better reading week ahead (I gave up on a couple of books this week too).
Those are GREAT sweatshirts, Kat. I really love Sew House Seven patterns. Their designs are simple and classic (well, except those Burnside Bibs, which turned out to be a hard no for me. . . ), and their patterns go together like a dream. So nice! We had sweater-weather here for a day, too . . . but, alas. It’s gone again. XO
Even though I don’t I do admire those who sew and enjoy doing it. Your two sweatshirts look really comfy and would be something I’d wear on those cool autumn days when you don’t need to be bundled up too much
The ‘sewing machine gene’ passed me by – my next sister received it – then it passed the next sister. Two of us are great knitters – the other isn’t. Any idea who??
Those sweatshirts look SO comfortable, and the weather this week is just perfect for them. (I think I might have to wear a long-sleeved shirt for my walk this morning and I am loving it!) I am sorry about the dropped stitch — we’ve all been there! I hope you’re back on track today.
Your sweatshirts are stunning! It sounds a bit silly to say that about a sweatshirt, but these look like they are far above the average, made with lovely fabric and comfortable. Very classy (at least in my book)! (I might need to sew just so I can make one to go with my rainbow Hitchhiker!) I know you’ll prevail with the sweater today.
you had me at sweater weather! It is WONDERFUL!! I’m wearing another long sleeve (light) sweater today, Your sweatshirts are gorgeous, and they look like they could be worn with so many looks.
The sweatshirts don’t look like a little more than a sweatshirt. Very nice sewing Kat. Sunday I wore a sweater to church but that day has come and gone. Hopefully you recoup those lost knitting rows. Alas it happens to all of us.
Lovely pieces of sewing. And cool enough for a sweater. In England it’s long sleeved blouses weather, no need yet to dig out the jumpers. Nothing from me as I’m still reading The Shell Seekers and knitting the back of the same garment as last week, which would have made for a very dull post!
Your sweatshirts look perfect! I am so impressed, Kat. I hope you’re off to the races on your sweater, dratted dropped stitch and all.
I’m sorry that The People in the Trees was a dud for you. I recently read that all of Yanagihara’s books are VERY different from each other, so it makes sense that this one hit different notes for you. I’ve only read A Little Life but have steered clear of the rest of her work because of how difficult it was for me. But maybe I should try something else?
I hope you have a great weekend of stitching and reading!