Blueberry Hill Crafting

Smitten by mohair

My second go-round knitting one of my new patterns from By Hand Serial Lookbook No. 9. This time, I wanted a completely different look, so instead of a rustic, “sheepy” yarn, I used fingering weight, knit at a fairly open gauge, double-stranded with mohair. The result is a soft, warm yet light pullover that drapes beautifully and looks like a soft spring morning 🙂

Pattern: Mahone Bay Pullover

Yarn: The Wool Barn Cashmere Sock 4-ply (80% super wash merino / 10% cashmere / 10% nylon) – 2 1/2 skeins (383 yds/ea) in color Smitten, knit double-stranded with La Bien Aimee Mohair Silk (70% mohair / 30% silk) – 1 1/2 skeins (547 yds/ea) in color Bois de Rose

Size: M

Needles: US 8s and 7s (ribbing)

Notes: I used a small bit of stash yarn for the CC (unlike the original, I knit the ribbing in MC and used CC only for the garter bump accent).


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Cardigan blues

Pattern: Lunenberg Cardigan – my design, published in By Hand Serial Lookbook No. 9

Yarn: The Wool Barn Cashmere Sock 4-ply (80% super wash merino / 10% cashmere / 10% nylon) – 4 skeins (383 yds/ea) in color Favourite Jeans

Size: M

Needles: US 4s and 3s (ribbing)

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The coast of Maine

To me, there’s no place in the world more beautiful than the coast of Maine – even when the spring has been unusually cool and slow to arrive! My oldest daughter and I spent a week exploring to celebrate her successful completion of her freshman year of college 🙂

Owls Head Lighthouse, after the fog cleared
Rainbow over Curtis Island in Camden Harbor

Scenes from Rockport Harbor:

Hiking in Acadia National Park:

Scenes from Cape Porpoise:

Egg Island Lighthouse
Sunrise at Kennebunkport beach
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Spring sewing projects

My luck is hit-and-miss finding store-bought patterns that fit me well, so I’ve started hacking my own patterns from ready-made clothes in my closet. I recently bought a boxy linen pullover that I thought would make a good model for a tunic. I drafted the pattern and first experimented on some apparel fabric in my stash, bought years ago – I thought I’d use this just as a test subject, but I liked it so much that I ended up adding it to my wardrobe! Unfortunately, I have no notes on what the fabric is or where I got it.

Next, I used the “main event” fabric – 2.5 yards of Japanese yarn-dyed cotton that I purchased recently at Fiddlehead Artisan Supply in Belfast, Maine.

For both tunics, I used the neckline and sleeve fit from the ready-made inspiration piece, but I lengthened the body, loosened the cuffs on the sleeves so that buttons weren’t necessary, and added pockets (because what tunic doesn’t look and wear better with pockets!) I was really pleased with the fit and how both of these (very different) fabrics.

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Just Peachy

Another summerweight mohair shawl from By Hand Serial Lookbook No. 9, this one is knit by alternating lace weight merino (held double stranded) and adding in a strand of lace weight merino/silk (for a total of three strands).

Pattern: Just Peachy triangular asymmetrical shawl

Needles: US 7s

Yarn: HW Woolworks merino lace (1 skein/ea of dark and light peach) and mohair/silk (1 skein in light peach)

For this second version, I used a single strand of fingering weight merino/silk instead of two strands of lace weight:

Yarns: The Farmer’s Daughter Fibers Foxy Lady (2 skeins in My Auntie’s Grape Kool-Aid) and The Farmer’s Daughter Fibers Mighty Mo (1 skein in Walking the Steel)

In this third version, I used the same pattern, but without double and triple-stranding — all yarn is held just single stranded – and I changed colors as I worked through the pattern.

Yarns: Chmurka Goat on the Boat – 1 skein/ea in colors Mahogany, Old Letter, Sealing Wax, and Attic

Finally, this fourth version is single-color, single-strand – beautifully simple, it showcases the yarn and let’s the pattern’s texture shine:

Yarns: Hinterland Dusk – 2 skeins in color Ash

Needles: US 5s

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Summertime mohair shawls

Two new shawls, designed for By Hand Serial Lookbook No. 9 – both use a combination of mohair/silk and fingering weight yarns to create a soft, beautiful fiber that is both light and warm. I love how mixing different yarns in the same color family results in a color that has so much layering and depth to it!

Pattern: Sea Glass rectangular lace wrap

Yarn: HW WoolWorks mohair silk and mighty fine sock (held doubled)

Needles: US 8s

Pattern: Morning Mist arched shawl

Yarn: HW WoolWorks mohair/silk and merino lace (held doubled)

Needles: US 10s

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Creating a dress pattern

After hacking the tunic pattern, I wanted to see how it would look if I expanded it (with a few tweaks) into a dress. I lengthened it further, but also started it sloping outwards in an A-shape from the waist downward. Instead of patch pockets, I added interior pockets along the side seams. I shortened the sleeves (but kept the cuff as edging).

The fabric is another impulse buy from Fiddlehead Artisan Supply – 3 yards of linen Hokkah sheeting. As a facing, pocket lining, and an edging along the hem, I used .5 yards of Galway Indigo linen.

I think that the shape works so long as the hem is fairly high – it’s loose, not overly fitted, but still flattering, and a comfortable, lightweight staple for the summer.

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Lunenberg Cardigan

This is one of my patterns from the newest issue of By Hand Serial: Lookbook No. 9. I think it might be my favorite – it is, in my opinion, the perfect wear-anywhere, wear-with-everything, three-season cardigan! Knit in fingering weight yarn, it can take on just about any look you want, showcase any yarn you love, and it’s never too heavy or bulky. I already have a second one on my needles 🙂

Pattern: Lunenberg Cardigan in By Hand Serial: Lookbook No. 9

Yarn: HW Woolworks Hand Dyed Merino (or any fingering weight yarn) – 4 skeins (365 yds/ea)

Size: Medium

Needles: US 4s (and US 3s for ribbing)

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Spring wildflower hike

Photos from a gorgeous hike in the Columbia River Gorge at Rowena Crest – from the top, we could see Mt. Hood on one side and Mt. Adams on the other!

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Sweet Sounds Bias Wrap

This yarn came to me all the way from Poland – it is created in small batches by a talented dyer named Marzena Kolaczek. Her saturated tonal colors are stunning, and I love how they look so beautiful together, they almost glow! This yarn base is a blend of merino, cashmere, and silk – the result is the perfect drape and incredible softness. This piece has become my new favorite go-to shawl, just because it feels so good around my neck and it was so much fun to knit up all of the different colors.

Sweet Sounds Bias Wrap

Finished Measurements

Width: 18”
Length: 74”

Materials

Chmurka Goat on the Boat (70% superwash merino/20% silk/10% cashmere, 437 yds per 100 g) 1 skein each of five colors (I used Sunny Honey, Valadilene, Cogs, Patina, and Foggy Night)

US 7 (4.5 mm) needles, tapestry needle

Gauge

18 sts and 25 rows = 4” in Stockinette stitch, blocked

Notes

Hold yarn double-stranded throughout.  Scarf is knit on the bias from one short end to the other, with large stripes separated by one garter stitch ridge. Scarf begins and ends with K3, P2 ribbing.

Directions

Using C1, CO 108 sts.

Ribbing:
Row 1 (RS): (K3, p2) to last 3 sts, k3.
Row 2 (WS): K3, (k2, p3) to last 3 sts, k3.
Row 3: K3, kfb, cont ribbing pattern as established to last 5 its, k2tog, k3.
Row 4: K3, cont ribbing pattern to last 3 sts, k3.
Rep rows 3 and 4 until scarf measures 2” from CO edge, ending with a WS row.

Body:
Row 1 (RS): K3, kfb, k to last 5 sts, k2tog, k3.
Row 2 (WS):  K3, purl to last 3 sts, k3.
Rep rows 1 and 2 for a total of 30 rows.

Garter Rows:
Next knit two rows in garter stitch, continuing the increases and decreases:
Row 1 (RS): K3, kfb, k to last 5 sts, k2tog, k3.
Row 2 (WS): K3, k to last 3 sts, k3.

Cut C1 and change to C2.

Rep Body section in C2, work Garter rows, then change to C3.

Rep Body section in C3, work Garter rows, then change to C4.

Rep Body section in C4, work Garter rows, then change to C5.

Rep Body section in C5, work Garter rows, then change to C1.

Rep the same sequence with all 5 colors.

After completing the second C5 section, continue with C5 and rep Ribbing section. 

BO all sts in pattern.

Finishing

Block scarf to measurements.

Abbreviations

BO      bind off
CC       contrast color
CO cast on
k          knit
kfb       knit into the front and back of the same stitch
p          purl
rep       repeat
RS       right side
St st     stockinette stitch
st(s)     stitch(es)
WS      wrong side

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In The Gloaming wrap

Pattern: Coming soon! This sample knit is a variation of a pattern in the soon-to-be released Issue #9 of By Hand Serial.

Yarn: Hinterland Dusk woolen spun fingering weight (70% Rambouillet / 30% alpaca) – 2 skeins (395 yds/ea) in color Ash

Needles: US 5s

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Kapsel Cardigan

I love how this one came out – so soft and snuggly, what a warm and wonderful cardigan! I think it’s likely that the yarn is going to pill – it’s not spun very tightly – but I’m going to enjoy it as long as it lasts 🙂

Pattern: Kapsel Cardigan by Shannon Cook

Yarn: La Bien Aimee Merino Aran (100% superwash merino) – 8 skeins (181 yds/ea) in color Yellow Brick Road

Needles: US 6s

Size: 38″

This was definitely not a quick knit – the all-over textured pattern takes more time, but it’s not a difficult stitch, and it’s fun to see how it develops.


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Blush cabled socks

Yarn: bleu poussière Aries in color Blush – fingering weight (80% merino / 10% cashmere / 10% nylon) – 350m

Needles: US 3s

Pattern: Irish Oats

Notes:
* I had plenty left over, so I should have made the leg several inches longer – I see the appeal of toe-up socks, you can just knit until you’ve used up half of the skein! These are too short for my liking (as it is, I did two extra 4-stitch repeats on the left, but it is still too short).

* The fit is a little small overall, as well (I swatched for gauge, but it’s always possible that I ended up a little off!) The yarn is fingering weight and the pattern calls for sport weight, but it seemed like a very plump, round and relatively heavy fingering weight, and I was able to get gauge when swatching, so I hoped that it would work. I wouldn’t advise going up a needle size, because it would make the stitches too loose – probably just not the best match of yarn and pattern.

* I love this yarn and would definitely knit with it again – the structure is wonderful, and the botanical dye creates such a soft, beautiful hue. However, the yarn dyer doesn’t sell directly – only through yarn stores – and almost all of her retailers are in Canada and difficult to order online. I was lucky to find a few skeins of the fingering weight Aires at Starlight Knitting Society.

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Burnish Shawl

Yarn:  Six and Seven Fiber Alfalfa (80% SW merino / 10% cashmere / 10% nylon) – fingering weight
1 skein (382 yds/ea) in colors Au Lait (C1), Lichen (C2), and Lava (C3)

Needles: US 6s

Wingspan: 76″
Width at spine (deepest point of shawl): 26″

Gauge: 20 sts x 29 rows = 4″ in stockinette stitch

PATTERN:
C/O with C1 – work 11-st garter tab

Set-up (WS):  K3, pm, p2, pm, k1, pm, p2, pm, k3

Pattern 1:
R1 (RS):  K3, sm, m1L, k to m, m1R, sm, k1, sm, m1L, k to m, m1R, sm, k3
R2 (WS):  K3, sm, m1L, p to m, sm, k1, sm, p to m, m1R, sm, k3

Rep Pattern 1 until work measures 8”

Pattern 2:
R1 (RS):  K3, sm, m1L, k to m, m1R, sm, k1, sm, m1L, k to m, m1R, sm, k3
R2 (WS):  K3, sm, m1L, k to m, sm, k1, sm, k to m, m1R, sm, k3

Work Pattern 2 for a total of 10 rows

Cut C1 and join C2

Work Patttern 1 in C2 for 7”

Work Pattern 2 for a total of 10 rows

Cut C2 and join C3

Work Pattern 1 in C3 for 4”

Work Pattern 2 for a total of 10 rows

Knit one more row

Cast off loosely knitwise

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Crossback Apron for my wool& dress

I sewed this up to wear over my new wool& dress (which I love and wear almost every day!)

Pattern: Crossback Apron by Purl Soho

Fabric: Purl Soho Watercolor Linen – 1 3/4 yards in Faded Indigo

The pattern was free, and while simple and easy to sew, it had some nice details – for instance, french seams make the interior of the apron as neat and clean as the exterior. I love the deep, angled pockets!

If it was a little less apron-like, I could wear it as a pinafore over the dress – that’s what I was hoping for. But unfortunately, I think if I wore it out in public, people would say, why is she wearing an apron? It is, indisputably, an apron 🙂 So I guess I’ll keep it to wear around the house to protect the dress.

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October Skies wrap

I improvised this simple pattern to take full advantage of the beautiful yarns I had to work with 🙂

Yarn:  Chasing Rabbits Fiber Co Fern (4-ply fingering) (85% SW merino / 15% nylon) – 1 skein (437yds) in colors Ring, Bittersweet Vine, Octobers, and Harbor

Needles: US 8s

Size:  70” x 10 ½”

Gauge:  18 sts x 28 rows = 4” in Pattern 1

Notes:  Yarn held doubled throughout. Rectangular wrap is knit lengthwise. Always slip the first stitch of each row.

Cast on 50 sts in Color A.  Knit 4 rows.  

Switch to Color B.  Begin pattern.

Pattern 1:  
R 1-10 – Knit
R 11 – Sl 1, K2, *YO, K2tog; rep until last 3 sts, K3
R 12-22 – Knit

Change to Color A.  
R 23-26 – Knit to end
Change to Color C

Continue Pattern 1, changing between Colors B, C, and D after the completion of each set of 26 rows.  

At approx. 55”, after completion of R 26, begin Pattern 2:
Color B: Knit 12 rows
Color A: Knit 12 rows
Color D: Knit 12 rows
Color A: Knit 12 rows

Repeat Pattern 2 twice.
Switch to Color B and knit 12 rows, then bind off knitwise.

Weave in ends or tie together and cut even for fringe.  Block if desired.

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Sierra Trapeze Coat

This coat is my newest sewing pattern, designed for Lookbook No. 8 of By Hand Serial. Believe it or not, it’s incredibly easy! There’s only a few pattern pieces, no fiddly or difficult parts to be sewn, and you don’t even have to finish off the seams, thanks to the miracle of Pendleton fabric and blanket binding.

Best of all, this coat is a perfect excuse to use beautiful Pendleton fabric! Or, if you prefer, it would be beautiful sewn up in boiled wool or any other heavy coating material.

I love the big hood – perfect for keeping my ears warm and the rain out of my eyes – and the toggle buttons, which leave the rest of the front open for that flattering, swingy A-line shape to the body of the coat.

I’d love to see photos of anyone’s finished Sierra, and I’m always happy to answer any questions you run into while you’re sewing it up!

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Double Layer cowl

This was a project to use up some Plucky leftovers – I love the concept of knitting a cowl double-layered, because it makes it so much thicker and it bunches nicely around my neck.

Pattern: Double Layer Cowl by Purl Soho

Yarn: The Plucky Knitter Beauregard DK (60% yak / 40% cashmere) in colors Powdered Sugar, Dreamy, and Cheeky – 1 skein/ea (300 yds) held double throughout

Needles: 24″ circular US 10s

Mods: CO 92 sts, joined in the round. Knit until total length was 27″ (2.75″ per segment). Turned so that the “wrong” (purl) side was showing and seamed together.

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Boysenberry mohair wrap

This one was a labor of love – miles of stockinette stitching, but so worth it in the end!

Yarn: Purl Soho Tussock (60% superfine kid mohair / 40% silk) – 3 skeins (328 yds/ea) in Ripe Boysenberry and 3 skeins in Bright Thistle, held double

Pattern: Elementary Wrap by Purl Soho

Needles: US 6s

I think this is absolutely beautiful – warm but light as air, it could be worn in any season. It’s wide enough to wear as a shawl or wrap, but it easily compresses around my neck as a scarf. If only I had a patience, I’d knit more of these in a range of colors 🙂

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