sweater no.1

so, i've knitted a sweater..

that's kind of funny

as i just rediscovered knitting

and never made anything more complicated than shawl

or a beanie

..

this rust colored mohair/acrylic yarn

was a birthday gift from tea (thanks tea! for the yarn
and for taking these pics)

and the moment i saw it i knew i want to knit a sweater from it

..

and, as i do not like being told what to do

i chose to freestyle it, instead of following a pattern

..

sweater is made in fingering weight yarn

(using 5mm needles instead of recommended 3mm)

it's knitted from the bottom up, in round

and looks like a gigantic rectangle with small sleeves added to it

..

i'm not really into lace or cables 

don't mind knitting them, but they are not really my style

so i went for  really simple design -  knit stitch 

with occasional rows of double wrap stitch

and usual 2x2 ribbing for hems

..

i'm pretty happy with how it turned out
and it was a really fun knitting
so i'm already planning new sweaters and blouses

..
leggings are just another fake riding pants
variation of my favorite pattern from burda
..
mokosha

winter bits and pieces

this february

nikola and i spent few magical days in bosnia

climbing mountains, with bunch of friends

..

we also visited sarajevo for the first time

and spent all our time there trying out all sorts of delicious local food

so i have no pics of sarajevo to share with you..

but i did bring a piece of sarajevo home with me

in form of royal blue 3d chiffon fabric

that is on it's way to become a blouse

and i totally plan to take some pics of that blouse

once it's finished

..

year four

 year four was about maxi dresses

midi dresses

and mini dresses

kimonos

netties

crazy pants

and less crazy pants

jumpsuits

swimsuits

workout gear

odd silhouettes

coats

new skills

bunch of unblogged items

and mountain views

feeling ready for the year five

..

mokosha

boneyard

shawl - boneyard, west knits

last few months i'm crazy about knitting..

made few hats and shawls,

my first ever sweater is almost finished,

and i have bunch of new knitting projects on mind

..

i chose this simple pattern

as my knitting was a bit rusty

and because i wanted to practice a bit

to get tension right, before i dare to knit a sweater

..

my boneyard turned out a bit wonky

as i had to switch to different needles halfway through it

(i was so impatient to start knitting

and used regular needles to start my shawl

because i did not own circular ones in right size..

and then i kept knitting with them

until there were too many stitches for them to hold, 

when i finally got circular needles.. 

but those i got were one size bigger)

..

wonky or not, i really love how it turned out

i like how simple it is

it drapes beautifully and is really warm

..

wool i used is 60% wool and 40% cotton

(white strand being wool, and deep purple one cotton)

i got big cone of it 

so there is enough left to make few more shawls and hats or even a sweater

..

i'm quite impatient when it comes to sewing

and hate sewing anything by hand

so it's a bit strange to me that i enjoy knitting so much

especially those simple repetitive patterns..

but from some reason, i really enjoy making same moves 

over and over and over again

..

i've also tried cross stitching last autumn..

my grandma thought me some embroidery techniques 

some 20 years ago

(i still own a pillow case with few embroidered cherries and leaves 

i did in satin stitch, ages ago)

but i haven't tried anything similar since..

well, not until few months ago

when i realized i really enjoy embroidery too..

and that's how this cute little skull came into being

..

mokosha

b&w

dress - burda 09/2012, #107

made this dress back in november

but it took me ages to take pics

(even those crappy phone ones)

..

had only 1.1m of fabric

and somehow squeezed dress out of that..

i managed to make front symmetric

back is a mess

but i can live with that

..

dunno what the fabric is supposed to be used for

wouldn't be surprised if it's upholstery 

it's quite stiff..

but i loved the print

(and it hides seams pretty well..

so you don't get to see my freestyle back double pointed darts

that are everything but symmetric)

..

mokosha

coat time

coat - burda (08/2012, #101)

shirt - burda (05/2012, #104)

pants - burda (07/2011, #102)

bought this houndstooth wool boucle few years ago

with idea of turning it into a cape,

but that never happened

..

last winter i planned to turn it

into burda's coat from one of the 70s issues,

and even traced billion pattern pieces

but winter never came

so i abandoned that idea too

..

this winter i thought i might use the fabric 

to make burda's oversized coat from 2012

but that would probably end up as another forgotten plan

if it wasn't for my friend tea

..

one day last month

we were having one of our usual never ending talks 

probably fueled with too many beers

and the idea of coat challenge was born!

..

we choose february 15th as a deadline

and while tea finished her coat on time

and even managed to finish another one in the meantime

i was late, as usual

..

i finally managed to finish it yesterday

so tea and i met to take pics of our coats together 

(well, not really together, as there is not a single pic of two of us together)

we barely had time to take any pics at all 

since i was so late, that we had only last moments of daylight to shoot them,

and that's why there are no any details pictured

no lining shots, and the coat is not buttoned in any of the pics

..

it's fun to have a new coat finally

as i'm constantly wearing the one that i've made 5 years ago

and even though it still holds up pretty well

i kind of got a bit tired of it

..

now go check out tea's amazing coat

..

mokosha