Blueberry Hill Crafting

Camber Dress

The end result of an amazing class I took at Merchant & Mills in Rye, England. Read all about it in By Hand Serial Lookbook #12!

Pattern: Camber Dress

Size: UK 14 (this size fit well in the shoulders and bust, but I had to take it in at least 1″ on each side from below the darts to the hem)

Fabric: Merchant & Mills Frontier Grey (143 cm wide, 60% linen / 40% cotton) – 2.1m

Mods: Finishing the sleeves as instructed would have left them too short (almost no sleeve at all at the underarm), so I just clean-finished the edges and then hemmed the edge under 1/2″

I love linen/cotton blends – the perfect mix of drape and structure, softness and form. The perfect fabric for all sorts of apparel!

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Wanderer overshirt

A new pattern I have in the works 🙂

Fabric: Merchant & Mills Aerial Grey (soft Italian wool, 70% wool / 30% mohair)

Fabric: unknown (maybe a silk noil?) from my stash.

I love how differently the same simple silhouette looks when sewn up in two fabrics with radically different fiber composition 🙂

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Winter Woods Cardigan

Pattern: Pascal

Yarn: de rerum natura Cyrano – 5 skeins of Poivre Blanc, 1 skein of Granit, and 1 skein of Pavot

Needles: US 9s and 10s

Size: 44″ (no waist shaping)

I liked knitting this one – beautiful, soft yarn to work with, quick knit (due to the bulky yarn), just enough colorwork to keep it interesting. The only knitting problem I had was that the suddenness of the decreases on the yoke results in a weird bulge on my back right above the armpit – you don’t notice it because of the bulky yarn, but it seems like a design flaw to me. The only other problem I ran into was that the red color ran when I blocked the sweater 🙁 Not too bad, luckily, but I would have used a color guard solution, had I known that might happen.

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Fiber Art

Experimenting with new ways to play with yarn, in large-scale installations.

I used raw wool roving for the cores, then wrapped Holst Garn 100% wool yarn around to create each ball. I put the balls into panty hose, knotted between each ball.

I had to run the balls through the hot cycle in the washing machine 3-4 times to get them to felt enough, then a final run through the dryer.

Secured to foam core board with tacky all-purpose glue.

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Purple Twilight Cowl

Pattern: Improvised combination of knit and purl rows in the round

Yarn: Long Island Livestock Company Alpaca Silk Merino Worsted (60% alpaca, 30% merino, 10% sari silk) – 4 skeins (100 yds/ea) in Purple Twilight

Needles: US 8s

This was my one impulse purchase at Rhinebeck this year 🙂

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Leaf Imprints

Created as part of my “make something every day” goal, and a chance to free my brain up from pattern writing and complicated math with a little fun with clay.

I love autumn and I’m always looking for ways to preserve fall colors, because they’re so brilliant but so fleeting.

I used Crayola Air-Dry Clay – at first I tried leaf imprints, but no matter how firmly I rolled them into the clay, the detail was too fine to make much of an impression. So, I decided to experiment with leaving the leaves in the clay.

After they air dried, I sealed them with Mod Podge.

The 2mm rawhide cord is from Etsy – I think it adds the perfect finishing touch.

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Mason jar sleeves

Photo credit: Lucinda Frachtenberg

I made these for the By Hand Makers Retreat in September and I love how they turned out! Simple but effective 🙂

Materials:
Leather (English Chestnut from Springfield Leather on Etsy)
Matching thread and contrast thread
Leather sewing machine needle
Branding iron and brand
Pinking shears

Instructions:
1. Cut leather into pieces 2 1/2″ wide x 13 1/4″ long.
2. Fold in half and scratch a line 5 1/8″ from open short end on both sides (this is to mark where the stitch line will be).
3. Brand across one short end.
4. Stitch zigzag stitch with contrasting thread from the scratched line on one end to the scratched line on the other end (along the long side of the leather strip). Repeat along the opposite long side.
5. Cut both short ends with pinking shears.
6. Fold leather strip in half, making sure the two short ends match up. Hold in place with craft clips. Using matching thread, stitch two ends together along scratched line.

Photo credit: Lucinda Frachtenberg
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Gallatin Wraparound

This was my third version of this pattern – I love how it creates garments that look so different, just by changing yarns!

Pattern: Gallatin Wraparound (my design for Issue #10 of By Hand Serial)

Yarn: Tot le Matin:
Tot MCN (70% SW merino / 29% silk / 10% cashmere) – 1 skein (437 yds/ea) in colors Anna, Perle, and Quimper
Tot Kidsilk (72% kid mohair / 28% silk) – 1 skein (431 yds/ea) in colors Anna, Perle, and Quimper

Needles: US 6s

Size: M

I created the subtle striping effect by alternating using the Tot MSC, single-stranded, the Tot MSC and Kidsilk double-stranded, and the Tot Kidsilk double-stranded. This yarn is unbelievably soft and light – it’s like wearing a cloud 🙂 I love the colors, and how the stripes run vertically (and diagonally, when buttoned across the front).


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Waffle jammies

I couldn’t resist sewing new jammies with this “PJ-perfect” fabric!

Fabric: Knit Thermal by Robert Kaufman – 4 yards (57″ wide) in color Natural

Bottoms: Hudson Pant by True Bias in size 12

Top: Lark Tee by Grainline – size 12-14 (graded in between)

I chose both sizes to be nicely oversized, but I may have gone a little overboard! On the plus side, they’re really comfy 🙂 I thought about dyeing them in Rit Dye, but for now, I’m going to just enjoy them as they are – maybe if they get too dingy at some point, I’ll try for a faded indigo look.

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Violets pullover

Pattern: Niamh by Isabell Kraemer

Yarn: The Wool Barn Cashmere Sock 4ply – 4 skeins in color Violets

Needles: US 3s

Size: M1 (37.75″)

I picked a smaller size because I was getting a little bigger gauge, and I was hoping for an oversized pullover. In retrospect, I wish I had stuck with my usual size (M2) – the pullover fits me perfectly, but it’s not the slightly oversized, baggy look I was hoping for.

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Turks & Caicos in July

I was surprised how much I loved TCI, even in the height of summer – yes, it was warm, but warm at the beach with a light breeze is really wonderful! I especially liked being able to dive without wetsuits, and to walk into the ocean without feeling like it was the least bit chilly.

Our stay at Amanyara was perfection – beautiful grounds, a lovely and peaceful pavilion as our room, and beach bikes to ride along the quiet roads. Plus, probably the most beautiful (and largely deserted) beach I’ve ever seen, with some pretty fabulous snorkeling right off the sand and around the rocky point.

We had a great day diving and cliff jumping with Big Blue, the very best ecotourism and dive company on the Island!

Most of all, it was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with my youngest daughter 🙂

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Gather Cardigan

A different variation on my Candy Stripe Cardigan pattern, perfect for showing off the natural hues of A Verb For Keeping Warm’s beautiful Gather yarn.

Pattern: Candy Stripe Cardigan

Yarn: A Verb for Keeping Warm Gather (75% Rambouillet / 25% alpaca) (sport weight, 200 yds / 50 g per skein):
— MC Quartz (5 skeins)
— CC Doe (1 skein)
— CC Smoke (1 skein)
— CC Lighthouse (1 skein)

Size: Medium

Needles: US 6s

I used broken rib on the cuffs and increased the buttonband ribbing to 2″, but otherwise made no modifications. This yarn is wonderful when knitted up, light and bouncy but warm 🙂

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Oslo Hat

I love this hat pattern (although I feel a little silly modeling it in the middle of the summer!)

Pattern: Oslo Hat

Size: Women

Yarn: Polka Dot Sheep Iron Horse (75% merino / 25% mulberry silk) – 1 skein (438 yds) in color Fathom

I love this yarn – good structure and bounce, but still soft and silky. The color is deeply saturated, with just a little bit of shine. Because it’s fingering weight, I knit double-stranded. I ran out of yarn before I even began the top shaping, so I finished it up much more quickly than the pattern called for, completing all of the decreases in just a few rounds. I love how it turned out, but I’d also like to finish off the pattern as written (next time I find two skeins of fingering weight yarn that I can’t resist!)

Needles: US 3s (16″ circulars and DPNs)

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Mahone Bay Pullover

This is my second sweater pattern in By Hand Serial Lookbook No. 9. It is a beautiful way to use rustic, woolly yarn in natural colors, and perfect for a summer afternoon out boating on the water!

Pattern: Mahone Bay Pullover

Yarn: HW WoolWorks Downeast Woolly – MC Natural Grey (5 skeins) and CC Natural White (1 skein) (200 yds of worsted weight yarn per skein)

Needles: US 8s and US 7s (ribbing)

Size: M

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Bridesmaid Mauve Cowl

The name was inspired by my oldest daughter, who took one look at the soft, lovely color and commented that it was the iconic color for bridesmaids’ dresses 🙂 Knit double-stranded with a yarn comprised of baby alpaca, silk, and cashmere, it’s no wonder that this is just about the softest, yummiest thing I’ve ever worn around my neck!

I love this stitch pattern both front and back, which makes the cowl completely reversible.

Yarn: Bleu Poussiere Noble (70% baby alpaca / 20% silk / 10% cashmere) – 2 skeins (400m/ea) in color Amulette, naturally dyed with madder and hibiscus

Needles: US 4s 16″

Notes: Knit with yarn held double-stranded throughout.

DIRECTIONS:
Cast on 136 sts. Join in the round, being careful not to twist.
Garter stitch (knit one round, then purl one round) for 9 rounds total.


Begin four-round stitch pattern:
R1-3: Knit
R4: *Sl 1 purl wise to cable needle and hold in front of work, k2, slip st from cable needle to RH needle, k1. Rep. from * to end of round.

Work until ” from cast-on. Starting with a purl round, work in garter stitch for 9 rounds. Bind off loosely knit-wise.

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