Finished: Fall Hats!

Um, are you guys tired of me posting about knitting stuff here instead of sewing? Because I'm tired of it. I'm sorry.

But this is the last knitting post for awhile, and I know I have some knitters on here so I just wanted to share.

I designed 4 different hats over the last month or so, and I'm super proud of them. They all use Lion Brand Wool-Ease yarn and they all use US size 11-15 needles, depending on the pattern.

It hadn't even started to cool off when I started thinking about these, so I was instead imagining what my idealized fall is like: bonfires, back to school shopping, apple picking, and lots of cables.

So with each of those things in mind, I designed hats around those themes, and I just love them.

Arosa Slouchy Lace Hat

Chutes and Ladders Hat

Wild Bramble Hat

Adirondack Basket Hat

AND I mostly wanted to post now because I'm hosting a Knit Along for the Arosa Slouchy Lace Hat. Like it? Want to make it? Want to make it with me?

Check out my post here for all the details, grab your supplies, and sign up to be a part of it. We're starting Monday, September 28th, and all level of beginners are welcome. (I'm even doing some video tutorials for the newbies!)

Otherwise, go favorite the hats on ravelry or add them to your queue. I hope you guys love them as much as I loved making them!

(Also, for the non-knitters, I also make these on etsy!)

Finished: Rockaway Cardigan!

So I'm officially all moved out of NYC. I still have a few things back there, and I plan on visiting, of course, but it's really great to be out of the city. It's not so great to everything on boxes, but hopefully unpacking won't take me too long.

Earlier this year, I came up with the Rockaway Cardigan, and it's one of my favorite pieces in my wardrobe!  It's cotton, so I wear it all the time in the summer and even more now that the temperature is starting to dip. I really love it.

I took these pictures on Coney Island, right before I left and I think they turned out so beautifully. Remember when I used to only model things on the roof? Haha, I really like branching out and finding (unpopulated) locations.

Here's the ravelry page if you want to heart it or queue it up. And if you buy it before the end of tomorrow, you can get 30% off with the coupon code 30FOR30.

OH, so I'm offering the 30% off coupon because I turned 30 a few weeks ago. I've just been so busy that I didn't really have time to celebrate and I kind of forgot about it until just now haha. So the code works for everything in my shop.

Anyway, if you're not into knitting, you can buy it finished in my etsy shop. The 30FOR30 works there as well!

Finished: Catalina Beach Sweater (And a Giveaway!)

So I'm moving in a few weeks, and I've packed away my sewing machine in my mind already, which, oddly enough, makes me really sad, even though I haven't sewn in a few months. I guess the good news is that I'm itching to sew so I should have new objects by the end of September. Maybe.

Anyway, I've been knitting.

This is the Catalina Beach Sweater, and I am so in love with it.

I apparently have a thing for chevrons because that's all I've been knitting lately. This is clearly no exception.

I designed it at the end of July, and I probably unconsciously made it a sweater so I could still wear it for fall. Although, seriously, it's 95 degrees today - it has been for awhile, and I feel like I'm going to die.

But I managed to make it to the beach anyway!

Designed to be worn on those cooler, summer nights, the Catalina is knit with cotton yarn and designed with lace eyelets and chevron.

It’s oversized, with enough ease for you to slip it on easily over your swimsuit – or your button down.

The shoulders are dropped, giving it a casual vibe, and the sleeves stop at the elbows – perfectly cool for all seasons.

You don’t have to retire it at the end of the season. It’s perfect for layering in the spring or fall, over a t-shirt or a button down, and it’s perfect for school or work.

And even though it's 95 degrees, I dressed up like it's fall and modeled it, just for you. I hope you love it.

I'm giving away one copy of the pattern, designed by We All Knit Here (aka my knitting blog), so if you love it as much as I do and you want a copy, leave a comment below saying so!

If you just want to buy a copy and get started today (or bookmark it, whatever you do), here's the ravelry page. Use coupon code CATALINA50 for 50% off until August 25, 2015.

If you don't knit and you want me to make you, I will! Here's my etsy page for that. Use code NEWCATALINA for 15% off your custom sweater until August 30, 2015.

The giveaway ends August 22nd at midnight EST - and I'll contact the winner on Sunday so make sure I have a way of contacting you. Winner contacted - thank you to everyone who entered!

Finished: Siren Seafoam Beach Top

I finished this when it was still chilly out, but the weather is (almost) perfect now!

So in the spirit of stashbusting, I went through my yarn to see what new projects I could begin working on, and I found a large stash of Wool and the Gang cotton. It's been hanging out in my stash for over a year now because I couldn't see the point of cotton yarn... I mean, how is it supposed to keep you warm if it's cotton?

Then I remembered a season called summer (that's been getting rarer and rarer around these parts), and so I decided to make a fun top for the beach.

One of the things I dislike about summer tops is all the skin showing. I know, I KNOW. I just made a top with holes in it. But I'm rather self-conscious about my body so I love that this top has some structure and the skin peeking through is more of a peek-a-boo type thing rather than large cut-outs.

The top is cropped, which is perfect since I wear it with high-waisted skirts. I'm still a little shocked that cropped tops are a thing because I never thought I'd see them come back into style after the 90s - but I also never thought the 90s style would come back either. I now understand what my mother meant when she said, "I refuse to wear bell bottoms again. Once you live through it, there's no going back."

But I digress. :)

On a side note: You might think it's cute to pose with ice cream on a boardwalk, but it's not. Ice cream melts everywhere, and it's horrible. Also, dudes think ice cream resembles something phallic. Get your mind out of the gutter!

You can read more about it here, and my ravelry page is here.

Are you working on any summer knit projects?  I have one more that I hope to finish soon!

Knitting Updates!

It's time for a knitting update! And more general updates as well, I suppose.

So I started this sweater, Tempting Fate, last December. I knew it was knitted in a tube so I put in decreases, but they were not nearly enough! I had to start over in the smallest size AND add decreases and it generally fits now. I'm ready to start the sleeves, but for some reason I don't have DPNs in that size - or if I did I lost them.

Via Professor Fonz

In the meantime I was ready to begin another sweater, the Sherlock Lives cardigan, but I realized I was missing needles there too, argh. So I ordered a huge batch of needles and now I officially have every kind I can imagine... until I'm ready to start my next project, I'm sure. And then some will go missing or somehow get broken. Maybe a cat will chew on them.

But for now I think I'm ready and I'm excited to make start/finish both of those projects!

Speaking of knitting, I shared with you a few weeks ago that I was taping knitting lessons to put online. I launched basic lessons and I promised that I would have knitting videos soon. Due to quite a few personal crises in my life, videos have been slow in coming - but I have one almost finished (for the basketweave cozy) and I'm filming another this weekend for the XO cable cozy - I'll have free videos up soon on how to do a basic cable, cast off, and weaving in the ends.

I made a little trailer for my two videos so check them out if you're interested. These two cozies are what I usually teach in my private lessons around town so feel free to skip it if you're a regular knitter. :-) (Unless you want to collaborate or something- then by all means, drop me a line!)

If you want to follow along with me in the video and make one or both of the cozies I made, I'm running a promotion wherein if you sign up for my knitting newsletter, you can get one (your choice!) delivered to your inbox as soon as it's ready. I'm running the promotion until July 1 so sign up if you want! I have more details about the promotion and the videos here.

This isn't exactly knitting related, but NYC has a Mermaid Parade every year and I'm determined to go this year. Anyone in the area want to go? I think I want to sew a costume, and in typical fashion, I want it to be costume-y but still acceptable to wear every day. Any ideas? I want to be a mermaid, but maybe I should try something else, like an octopus! But a fancy octopus that goes into the office occasionally. ;-) Is anyone else going or have you gone before?

And finally, on a more personal note, I've mentioned that I've had a lot of problems happening in my life with those around me. I felt wildly confused and wasn't sure where to go for the longest time and doctors weren't super helpful. Luckily I finally confided in my parents and of course my parents have all of the answers. (Don't you hate when that happens?) While things aren't better, I feel like I have a much better grasp on the situation and I can finally see which way is up. While I'm not the one with the problem exactly, I've learned how much I've been affected by taking care of someone who is sick so I'm also working on that. The BEST news about all of this is that I've been rather discontent about parts of my life for awhile and I feel like I'm stripping away every layer and starting over. So far it's much more difficult than I ever thought it would be, but I know that it's worth it and I'm looking forward to the future. I know I thanked you guys last time, but I really do appreciate your comments, thoughts, and good vibes. It means so much to me.

We All Knit Here

Hey guys, remember when I used to sew clothes? I know one of my New Year's Resolutions was to slow down, but I really didn't anticipate slowing down THIS much. That said, I am still working on and finishing up sewing projects and, unlike last year, I am much happier with the finished product. I can't wait to show you - though you'll probably have to wait until next week because I need to find time to take pictures.

I have other fun news to share! Remember when I told you I was starting a blog and couldn't tell you anything about it? I'm sure you forgot because cryptic news is anything but exciting, but I can finally share! I've been working on a new website/blog that's designed specifically for people who want to learn to knit.

I know a lot of you have been knitting since you were 12 and learned from your mother and grandmother and have wonderful stories and memories (which is amazing and makes me so jealous!) - however I tried to teaching myself to knit via the internet and it was awful. When I finally went and got proper lessons, I had a lot of bad teachers as well.

I've been giving knitting lessons in the NYC area and I really love it so I decided to make a set of knitting videos for people who know absolutely nothing about knitting and want to learn from home (or wherever). Here's the link to my first 3 videos that teach the absolute basics. I'm editing another video currently, and I'm filming 2 classes this weekend so beginners can start making projects. Yay!

I tried to make the videos really fun and friendly, like we were just hanging out and I was teaching you to knit. That said, when you have a lot of lights on you and a camera pointed at your face, you tend to freeze up! I mean, I worked in the film/tv industry for years so I thought it would be easy, but nope, it was really hard to get started.

While I'm generally happy with my first 3 videos, I was a little obsessed with my mistakes. I suppose a normal person would learn from them, but I made a blooper reel.



Let me know what you guys think. I know it's not perfect - my editing skills were honed over the last two weeks (after watching a couple youtube tutorials) - but I'm pretty happy with everything and I can't wait to actually get classes up. If you want to learn to knit, check out my website and maybe follow my blog for updates; I'm going to publish articles and/or videos once a week.

So yeah, that's my news. Hope you guys have had a great April so far!