knitting

Knitted Hats

February 24, 2015 By Chie

When it comes to knitting, I am a beginner. This winter is the first winter I attempted to knit DPN (Double Pointed Needles, in case you are wondering!), and I was dying to get used to the new way of knitting, so I kept knitting hats. I ended up knitting six hats in total, most of which I’ve given away as gifts. The process of knitting is so soothing and it is a great activity to do when I watch movies and shows (currently finishing up White Queen). I’ve started knitting Kiko’s sweater, but I am less motivated as I think I made a wrong yarn choice. I hope I can put it together before the winter ends.

This Cable knit hat pattern is from Lion Brand. It is an adult hat pattern, but kiko modeled it for me.

No pattern used for this one. I just made it up as I went along. This was a gift for my friend’s new born baby.

Slouch Hat Beanie pattern from here. It’s simple and quick! I added jewel buttons with clear elastic.

Pattern from No Home Without You, amazing Finish blog about knitting and interior design.

Some more fun knitting hats ideas…
– Triangle stripe hat from Charlotte’s Fancy.
– Knitted in super chunky yarns.
– Bright orange and pink color block hat.
– Colorful kids hat inspiration. Good way to use left over yarns.

MADE | Polkadot Button Up & Pom Pom Beanie

January 8, 2015 By Chie

This is my third Archer Button Up shirt by Grainline Studio. You might be sick of me talking about this pattern, so I will keep this blog post short. When I use commercial patterns, I try to make more than one garment from the pattern so as to get the maximum value out of paying for the pattern, printing out the pages, and assembling the A4 paper puzzle which can take a while. Because I am a big fan of this pattern, I had to make more than a few.

The inspiration of this shirt came from a YouTuber, Mimi Ikonn. I enjoy watching her videos and in one of her videos, she was wearing a polka dot button up, skinny jeans and red blazer and looked really cute. I like this polkadot, it adds a playful element to the outfit yet not like a Minnie mouse.

The fabric is from the sale’s section of Nippori Tomato (トマト). It was only 100 yen (1 USD) per meter, and I bought two meters for this button up. It is most likely synthetic mix (rayon and cotton it seems like). Compared to my silk Archer, this one is much easier to care for. I can throw it in the washer and no ironing is required after each wear. I love my silk button up but, it is certainly not fitted for my daily life, which involves running around with a three-year-old.

Again, I added the sleeve tabs, which will come in handy for warmer months. I also extended the length by 5cm. It gives more butt coverage than the last two (here and here) Archer shirts I made.

I made this shirt last year and finally took pictures today. Sometimes it’s hard to find a time that the weather and my mood work together (Did you read Rachel’s post about How to feel confident behind the camera lenses?)

Outfit details | Shirt made by me, old H&M faux leather shorts (similar), Cardigan from Andy’s grandpa, Sam Edelman Petty Suede booties, Alexander Wang tote,denim DIYed (blogged here), Beanie knitted by me.

Grainline Studioのシャツまた作りました♪
これで３枚目です。今回はレーヨンとコットン混合のような布（生地表示がなかったので詳しくはわかりませんが）で作りました。

洗濯機でじゃぶじゃぶ洗えるし、アイロンがけは不要だし、とても気安いシャツです。

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MADE | Chunkeanie by Woolly Wormhead

November 10, 2014 By Chie

As a sewer, I had stayed away from knitting. I thought knitting was not productive, as it takes hours to complete one project, whereas you can sew up a piece of clothes in a few hours, especially for easy items like a t-shirt or a simple top. If it takes 6, 7 hours to knit up a simple hat, it makes more sense to buy one!? But my friend gave me a book on knitting in exchange for a can of pumpkin (bought during my recent Hawaii trip since they don’t sell a can of pumpkin in Japan..You have to mash them yourself) recently, and convinced me that I should knit. So when I picked up three balls of wool yarns for this simple knit hat project, I wasn’t the most excited. However, when I started the simple motion of knit, purl, knit, purl while watching the Tudors, I was hooked. Something about the simple repetition was so soothing.

Another reason why I had stayed away from knitting was because the knitting patterns confused me. For instance, the pattern I used, Chunkeanie by Woolly Wormhead read, “Rnd 1: *ssk, P16, k2tog; rpt from * to end [72 sts]”. I had no idea what it meant. Learning English was enough for me and I wasn’t ready to learn another language. Thankfully, we have a wonderful thing called Google and by just searching “ssk knitting”, I was able to find videos on youtube to explain what I should do.

I made the largest size in the pattern (the one starts from 80 stitches), and it fit Andy’s head perfectly. Every winter, he wears the ugliest black rib knit hat. I don’t even know where he found it. He said it wasn’t particularly comfortable so he agreed to let me replace his hat with this new one.

This was my first time knitting circle in DPNs. The end stitches are a bit loose, but it ended up being not noticable since the whole hat stretches out when you wear it.

I’m knitting another one for my friend, and thinking of embellishing the hat with some Swarovski crystals. After that, I might try Benton sweater by Brookyn Tweed. Jen’s version looks so good.