Modification Mondays: Welt and Rib Reversible

Original Pattern: Welt and Rib Raglan


Knitter Extraordinaire: Sarah (Rav Id)

Mods: Lengthened the body, added waist shaping and adjusted decreases to create a dart effect in the back. Project page is here.

What Makes This Awesome: I've had a soft spot for this pattern since I first saw it in the winter 2008 issue of Interweave Knits. It looks so weareable, stylish, and comfortable. Sarah did an awesome job of customizing this pullover; adding length where she needed it and adjusting the waist shaping to create a striking detail in the back. This makes me re-think how I do my waist shaping- who says you have to have it all along the side seams?! The result is gorgeous!

Holiday Plans: Stockholm

Now that G can finally travel (thank you, permanent residency!) we are planning on a little family visit to England at the end of the summer. And since we'll  be so close to Europe, it only make sense that we sneak off for a mini holiday, just the two of us......

to STOCKHOLM!! I'm very excited! I've never been to Sweden before, and I consider it very fortuitous that Design Sponge recently posted a Stockholm city guide. And to top it all off, Stockholm was recently named the European Green Capital 2010 by the European Union.How can I not go??

Have any of you been to Stockholm? I'm particularly interested in sourcing some cheap accommodation, fun cafes, interesting little shops, and (of course!) yarn. Got any good tips/leads?

Modification Mondays: Poison Cardigan

Original Pattern: Cameo

Knitter Extraordinaire: Stacy (Rav Id, Blog)

Mods: Changed the neckline to a scooped square, knitted it in stockinette, added waist shaping, and used baby cables instead of ribbing around the neckline, sleeves, and hem.

What Makes This Awesome: I'm always so impressed when someone looks at a knitting patten, and decides to change almost everything every about it. I love the timeless look and style of this gorgeous little sweater, and the generous quantity of buttons. The baby cables are a wonderful detail and are really enhanced by the stockinette body. This is the kind of sweater that just goes with everything! Project page, including details on her mods, can be found here.

Mini FO: Coffee Sleeve

This little project was actually knitted last year, and then I finally got around to embroidering the flowers on it recently.

 The pattern is totally made up on the fly- just a stockinette sleeve with a seed stitch border, and some blue flowers embroidered for a bit of colour and detail. I really love embroidery!

Saturday we had a little party to celebrate Guy's permanent residency visa. I baked up a storm- I made gluten free brownies, maple leaf sugar cookies, Canadian wildlife sugar cookies, mini cupcakes with maple leaf sprinkles, and mini quiches. Then I had to finally cave and buy pre-made nanaimo bars and butter tarts, because I had spent sooo many hours in the kitchen and I was just plain exhausted. I took some photos of the cookies, but I decided to kick back with some sangria and enjoy the party, so sunbsequently did not do much picture taking. But here are the wildlife cookies:

I'm seriously proud of all of them, but everyone loved the foxes the best.

And while we're on the subject of wildlife,  I have to share with you all some of the cutest little photos I've seen in a while:

This is a little orphaned fawn that Taylor's mom (you might remember Taylor from this post) is taking care of, with the help of her pet German Shepard!! Everything about these photos just wrings my heart, it's all so adorable. The second shot even has, inexplicably, gratuitous kittens wandering around. So much cuteness!!!

Modification Mondays: Composed Mitts

 
Original Pattern: Composed Mitts 

Knitter Extraordinaire: Lynn (Rav Id, Blog)

Mods: Lynn used two sections of the original pattern's colourwork chart and knitted up these lovely flowered handwarmers.

What Makes This Awesome: It was such a simple mod, but by paring down the busy colourwork of the original pattern to two key aspects of the design, Lynn created this lovely floral version of the mitts, which just seem so romantic- I feel like I could definitely imagine an Austen-esque heroine wearing these! So gorgeous. Check out her project page here.

Obsessing Over Agathe

In my ongoing love of all things St. Denis, I'm obsessing over my next target from the latest issue of the magazine- the Agathe Pullover.

(photo filched from St. Denis magazine, issue 2)

I love everything about it. The simple silhouette. The stripes. The way it looks fabulous with jeans, on the beach, in the sunshine. I tend to really love classic wardrobe staples, and this sweater is hitting all the buttons. I think this would be a lovely, Zen knit... full of stockinette and some stripes to keep it interesting. Except.... have you seen the colour options for St. Denis Nordique?! I can't bloody decide! These are the colour combos I'm looking at so far: 

So... each row of three is a potential combo that I like. The first colour in the row represents the main sweater colour, while the other two would be the contrasting stripes.  I like the idea of a pop of colour, but I tend to gravitate towards neutrals; they suit my lifestyle (and me, and my wardrobe).I'm leaning towards the top two, but I'm not sure if I have the combo right. What do you all think? I could use some advice.

Modification Mondays: Improvised Skinny Empire

Original Pattern: Skinny Empire

Knitter Extraordinaire: Erin (Rav Id)

Mods: Changed the neckline, sleeve construction, empire waist detail, and added a gull lace stitch to the hem of the pullover.


What Makes This Awesome:  I think that this was such a brilliant idea- she knew she wanted to improvise a pattern that would create a super flattering knit and didn't use a lot of yarn; she knew she wanted to change the neckline and add lace to the bottom. I think by really clearly laying out what you want to change (see her 'goal' box on her project page), it's easier to develop a game plan on how, exactly, you're going to make those changes! And the final result is amazing- the neckline is perfect, the lace detail at the hem adds great interest to the piece. The resulting garment is just so, so pretty. I would wear this with everything!

Her project page, with great details on her modifications, can be found here.

What I'm in to Now: the Alchemy of an Attitude Adjustment

This is the beginning of a new semi-regular feature on Knitted Bliss- What I'm in to Now. The idea is to pull together books, music, movies, and who-knows-what-else into a lovely mood-collage on some unifying idea. For example, today's is the alchemy of an attitude adjustment. I re-watched one of my favourite films recently, Enchanted April.

It was made in 1992, and I hope one day they digitally remaster it for HD or whatever they do these days, because it deserves it. The film follows 4 women who are dissatisfied with their lives in different ways, and they take a transformative holiday in Portofino, Italy. The holiday helps them think about their lives differently, and in their reframing, they find happiness. Next up is this soon-to-be-everywhere-if-it-isn't-already book:

I've been reading The Happiness Project, and all I can say is- WOW. I'm pretty confident that every woman I know over the age of 28 would find that this book speaks right to the very core of everything they think about themselves. This is the chronology of one woman's odyssey to improve herself, her life, and her relationships with those she cares about most. It's fascinating- the way that women take on so much, and then feel guilty or somehow dissatisfied with what they feel they aren't doing. Isn't that so typical of us, though? We do so well, but yet we want to do just a bit better.

While I've been reading, I've been steadily working away on the Athyrie pattern from St. Denis 2- It is the perfect knitting sidekick that keeps my fingers busy while I'm reading.

One of my favourite bands is The National. There is something about the lead singer's voice, it's just... velvet. Let me leave you with a couple videos from their most recent album, High Violet, which has pretty much been playing non stop in my ipod for over a month now.
The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio" (official video) from The National on Vimeo.

Spring Garden Tee

Alana from Never Not Knitting has created a grown-up version of her popular kid-sized pattern of the same name- The Spring Garden Tee. If you see it in your knitting-related travels, you might notice that the model seems a bit familiar....

Those photos represent the first time I have put my hair in curlers since my wedding day, so it was kind of a big deal.

I can certainly attest that the top is super comfortable, and a dream to wear. The sample I'm wearing is knitted in Be Sweet bamboo, and even though it was a scorching 31 Celsius (88 Fahrenheit) that day, so it holds up well under extreme heat! I was completely comfortable. The best part was deciding what to wear it with- the top has such a fabulous classic cut and drape that it honestly looked good with everything I tried on - it even looked really good belted. I'm definitely going to be knitting my own, since it was so clear to me how easily it could become a wardrobe staple. Here's the Ravelry link, if you would like to add it to your queue.

A big thank you to Alana for involving me in her wonderful design!! And if you are not familiar with Never Not Knitting, you need to go check out her blog right away- it's amazing, and she has regular podcasts about all things knitting.

Permanent Residency Visa Accomplished!!!

Exciting news for us here at Knitted Bliss- my husband G, that charming, affable British guy who came into my world and then decided to never leave, was officially made a permanent resident of Canada yesterday; shortly before midnight. We got the visa during the day, and then got so excited we decided to drive to Buffalo and back that night, to validate it. They don't allow photos at Port of Entry Authority, so we took photos in that most Canadian of institutions- the nearest Tim Horton's. Here's G looking super happy:

Here's us being super smoochy:

And okay, I'll admit it- I cried. It started while actually in the Port of Entry office at the Canadian border. They signed off on his visa, handed it back to G and said, 'welcome to Canada.' I pretty much lost it right then and there. Couldn't stop crying for about ten minutes! And it kicked off again in the Tim Horton's, and when I called my mother, etc. We're exhausted, giddy, and so, so happy. We've been in the process for a year now, and this is what we've been waiting for. Now we can look ahead to a rosy future- we can begin to make plans for buying a home, starting a family, and making all our dreams come true.