New Knitting Pattern: Twilight

Twilight started as a thought experiment on an unusual, but versatile layering piece. I was looking for something more interesting than a classic cardigan, but definitely more warming than a classic shrug or bolero. I finally opted for a unisex shape with an extra large hood and doomy vibes. This oversized, open front cardigan with exaggerated, elbow length sleeves is knit sideways in one piece. It has folded hems on all edges to keep the details simple due to the dramatic shape of the garment. You can wear it on top of simple a dress, to add that special something to an everyday jeans and t-shirt look or style it with other statement pieces in your own unique way.

My sample is knit in Austermann Alpaca Star (Ravelry link), a surprisingly decent, sequined, fluffy yarn. The composition is 36% alpaca, 35% nylon, 15% silk and 14% cotton. The sequins are really tiny and add just a bit of sparkle in direct sunlight. Of course, you can easily substitute this yarn with a worsted weight yarn or 2-3 strands of a lace weight mohair and silk blend of your choice that meets gauge.

Due to the garment’s construction, the pattern is available in a limited number of sizes only, ranging from an intended bust size of 32” to 50”. I am really sorry for this, I promise to think about possible construction issues earlier next time.

How to Get the Pattern

You can buy the pattern in my Ravelry store and on payhip. For more pictures, check #twilightcardigan on Instagram to see the stunning garments of my gorgeous testers! Enjoy the pattern, I’m looking forward to your interpretations!

New Knitting Pattern: Opulence

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When I was given some Rowan Island Blend samples at last year’s Rowan Roadshow, I instantly knew I would turn them into a very special hat. I had experimented on an unusual shape before and was sure that this soft and drapey yarn was the perfect choice for my idea.

I wanted a hat that can be worn either as a beanie or as a tam. There also was this idea of three-dimensional segments that add dramatic volume. Voilà, Opulence was born. The hat looks extra spectacular when worked in different colours, but due to its unusual shape, it also looks stunning in one single colourway without the colourwork. Opulence is worked bottom-up in one piece using intarsia in-the-round if you opt for the multi-coloured version. A folded hem contrasts the opulent crown.

My sample uses Rowan Island Blend (70% Falkland merino wool, 15% baby alpaca, 15% silk; 137 yd / 125 m per 50 g) in Empire as main colour and Jet as contrasting colour. The DK weight yarn is very soft and drapey, light enough to wear the hat in spring, yet warm enough to also wear it in winter. However, if you prefer another DK weight yarn, just make sure you meet gauge and surprise me with your interpretation! The pattern comes in six sizes to fit to fit 14 (16, 18, 20, 22, 24)″ / 35.5 (40.5, 45.5, 50.5, 56, 61) cm head circumference. As usually, you can buy the pattern in my Ravelry store. I am looking forward to all your colourful Opulence hats!

New Knitting Pattern: Jewels

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When I first started to experiment with stacked stitches, a technique Xandy Peters is quite famous for, I was fascinated by the endless possibilites that opened up to me. One of them was using stacked increases for shaping, so I created an unusual edging for an otherwise pretty classic, cap-sleeved, slightly cropped tee. This included contrasting bobbles to add that little extra something. Jewels was born and already is my favourite top to wear this fall.

If you have never worked stacked stitches before, the technique may seem a bit intimidating, but I found it quite easy to learn. It allows to create wavy structures without any short rows or a gazillion of individually attached pieces. Nonetheless, I recommend to take a test run with some scrap yarn to get used to it.

Jewels is part of The Fibre Co.‘s yarn support programme and uses their wonderful Road to China Light, a luxury blend of 65% baby alpaca, 15% silk, 10% camel and 10% cashmere. The sport weight yarn is very soft, warm yet light and gives extraordinary drape. Jewels is worked top-down in one piece with set-in sleeves. It is slightly cropped and intended to end at the top edge of a medium-waist pair of jeans. Jewels comes in 17 sizes from 28” – 60” bust circumference. You can buy the pattern on Ravelry. I am looking forward to your interpretations!

Please contact me in case you need a larger size, I am sure we can work it out.

New Knitting Pattern: Nightshade

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The idea behind Nightshade dates back quite a while to when my aunt asked me to knit her a cropped summer sweater. It should be ridiculously wide and boxy but at the same really short to just cover the breasts. The sleeves were intended to look like long sleeves, but in fact should just reach from the wrists to the elbows and be super tight. Sounds like a challenge? Well, here is the solution!

Nightshade is a lightweight, drapey, cropped sweater. This perfect layering piece for chilly summer evenings ends above your waist so you can wear it 90s-style to a pair of low-rise pants or in a more contemporary fashion to a high-waist bottom. The body is worked flat, the sleeves are worked in the round. All pieces are knit bottom-up and then sewn together. You can easily adapt the body to knitting in-the-round, but I recommend to stick to the pattern as the side seams add structure.

The shape of this sweater is very bold, so I have added minimalist, rolled edges to keep the focus on the shape. The yarn used is The Fibre Co. Meadow, a luxurious, fingering weight blend of 40% Merino wool, 25% baby llama, 20% silk and 15% linen. The yarn is drapey, soft and rustic at the same time with a beautiful semisolid colour effect due to the different fibre types. The surprisingly good meterage of the yarn makes my size M (36-38” bust circumference) sample weigh only 214g!

As Nightshade is my first graded pattern and I had problems finding test knitters, the sizes currently range from 28-30” to 52-54” bust circumference. If you need a larger size, please contact me and let me know which size you are interested in. I am sure we can work it out together. Please also contact me when you like my style and are interested in test knitting future patterns. I have a lot of ideas waiting to become new patterns!

You can buy the Nightshade pattern on Ravelry, as always. Go, show it a little love! Happy knitting!

New Knitting Pattern: The Hipster

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When I improvised a bum bag last year, I knew right away I wanted to publish it as a pattern. Here it is now, The Hipster!

I have designed it to be attached to your favourite belt. It is knit with Schoppel-Wolle Reggae, an aran weight, lightly felted yarn, at a very tight gauge. The resulting fabric is so dense, you do not need to line it. The body of the bag is knit bottom-up as one-piece in the round, the lid is then knit in rows using short-row shaping. The only sewing involved apart from sewing in the yarn ends is adding the zipper. This may seem difficult, but if you pin it in place with enough pins, it will work out easily.

The finished size is approximately 23 x 16 x 10 cm, large enough to fit your phone, your keys, your purse, a powder compact and a lipstick. At least, this is what I have tested it with and there still was some space left. It is a fun accessory to your everyday or festival outfit and a really quick knit. My version used only 58g of yarn. You can buy the pattern on Ravelry. I am looking forward to seeing your versions! Happy knitting!

New Knitting Pattern: Sleeves

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I like the idea of shrugs to add sleeves to a sleeveless top on chilly summer evenings. The problem I have with them is that the connection between the sleeves covers the back of the top underneath. As it always looks ridiculous when you pair a shrug with a dramatic top, I decided to find a solution to my problem.

What I wanted was a pair of dramatic sleeves held together in a minimalist way. When I was still figuring out the details, I was given three balls of GGH Bambu for free at Yarncamp 2018 which turned out to be the perfect yarn with its wonderful drape. It was clear that I needed more yarn, so I bought seven more balls.

gathered sleeve

The result is a pair of extremely oversized balloon sleeves, held together by a steel chain at the neck and two i-cords to adjust the fit at your lower back:

© ggh-garn.de

© ggh-garn.de

You can buy the pattern on Ravelry. I am looking forward to see your interpretations!

The sample used almost ten balls of GGH Bambu in colourway 012 anthracite. Thanks a lot for providing the photos, ggh-garn.de!

skull cord ends

Testing Schoeller Yarns

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In July, I received a pretty large package of Schoeller yarn samples to try them out and show my results at the Inside Schoeller blogger event. So here is what I made, including three designs of my own:

Alpaca Star

I already have tested this yarn earlier this year knitting my Wrapped in Leaves shawl. I really like this yarn and have bought some more to knit myself a cardigan for next spring.

Mohair Dream

This is a very fluffy yarn with a high meterage (250m/50g), consisting of 30% mohair, 30% cotton, 25% Nylon and 15% wool. I have knit a classic beanie with a folded brim to showcase the mohair fluff better. Sadly, the Nylon content is high enough for me to feel it when I touch the hat. But if you are less sensitive, you may want to knit yourself a super light sweater from it, e.g. Four balls of yarn should be enough.

Chic & Warm

If you like gradient yarns and need to knit on a budget, this yarn might be interesting for you. It knits up very evenly and is pretty soft although it has a 75% acrylic content. I do not really like gradient yarns, so I chose to knit another hat, but this time a spiked one (without short rows!). I am very pleased with the result and am sure I’ll wear it a lot this winter.

Big Flame

Looking at this beautiful black and gold striped i-cord filled with burgundy fibre, I was really looking forward to knit with it. But, as the name already suggests, it has a thick and thin construction and is pretty stiff on the thicker parts. This resulted in two days of pain in my hands after I had finished my project. However, the yarn could be really nice without the thick and thin effect. My project, by the way, is a bum bag with belt loops to put it onto your favourite belt. It is embellished with a rose gold zipper which I accidentally found at my local yarn shop and which adds a perfect detail to the red and gold bag.

Kid Silk Dégradé

I had been thinking about knitting a Striped Esjan by Stephen West for ages, when Schoeller sent me the perfect addition to black sock yarn and white alpaca fluff (in this case a ball of Lana Grossa Alpaca 400 from my stash). The colour gradient is very soft, so it adds some spice to the Beetlejuice body of the shawl. It perfectly meets my expectations of a kid silk yarn although there are more luxurious, softer (and way more expensive) blends on the market. I am super happy with the result, a typical Westknits shlanket. Due to its size, I had problems to find a cat-safe space to block it and ended up using my bed. I still had to fold the shawl and forgot to increase the number of towels underneath, so I had to spend one night on a wet mattress. Please learn from my mistake, it was not comfortable at all. But look at this beauty, it was totally worth it!

Let me add a remark on Lana Grossa’s Alpaca 400, a chain plied Nylon tube filled with alpaca and merino fibres. As I knit with a very high tension which results in a prestressing of the yarn, this yarn cuts into my fingers and loses all its softness. It regains a bit of its fluffiness after blocking, but this kind of yarn construction and my way of knitting do not go together very well.

All in all, I was very happy to have had the chance to test these Schoeller yarns. Thanks a lot for this opportunity!

Sewing for WGT 2018

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This was my first Wave-Gotik-Treffen since I have moved to Leipzig and I have to admit, it also was the first one I survived without a vast lack of sleep. I even did not need to sew the last bits of my outfits during Wednesday night!

As my style is more or less futuristic/ minimal, I can always mix and match store-bought fashion items, sports wear and handmade garments. With the cropped linen sweater still in mind, I improvised a rectangular top from some black viscose jersey. It needs the viscose for drape and the jersey structure for weight. I copied the neckline from one of my favourite store-bought t-shirts. I wore it with a pair of sports leggings with mesh inserts.

My favourite garment this year was definitely the plastic half-skirt. I made it from a seat belt, a heavy buckle, eyelets, snap hooks and an ugly, cheap plastic tablecloth cut in stripes. It is super heavy, but nonetheless I styled it with my YRU Qozmo Hi 2 platform boots to make walking even more a workout. 😉 As the half-skirt is more an accessory than an actual garment, I wore black sports leggings underneath and a black laser cut sports body on top.

I try to see a lot of concerts during WGT, so I do not socialise too much over day which is why pictures of me taken by someone else are pretty rare. However, I have enjoyed the majority of concerts I saw. My top 3 concerts were Beinhaus, whose show is definitely a must-see with lots of scrap metal on stage, three people drumming on it and one of them screaming German lyrics over it, Jo Quail, an electric cellist and composer who plays intricate soundscapes that make my mind dive into it, and the solo concert of Einar Selvik from Wardruna where he also explained a lot about his approach to ancient Norse music and the historical instruments he uses.

Other remarkable concerts in my opinion were Boy Harsher, Mr. Kitty, Wardruna and Teho Teardo & Blixa Bargeld. As always, there was not enough time to see everything I would have liked to. At least, I am happy with my selection. And now it is time to think about the 2019 outfits.

Cropped Linen

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I made this sweater to measure on a request by my aunt. She asked for a white, cropped, oversized, long sleeved, 100% linen sweater to wear in summer. Here it is, a ridiculously wide rectangle with sleeves. I am sure she is going to love it as if it was black, I just would keep it.

The pattern is my own, I have used 414g of Schoppel El Linio, a chain-plied 100% linen yarn. It combines the classic linen structure and feel with a bit of elasticity due to its construction. It really is a pleasure to work with this yarn. Well done, Schoppel!

This sweater also was an item on my WIP Bingo sheet, the linen sweater. One more done!