Tag: spring

april (snow) showers

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It was starting to get springlike around here – well, enough for the temps to reach near 10ºC / 50ºF with lots of sunny days, melting most of the snow. But today brought fresh snow, perfectly normal here in northern Norway at this time of year! Spring comes late. The days are growing long, though (sunset is after 8PM now) and the midnight sun will begin in mid-May. The light here is always changing and it continues to be surreally beautiful. I’m grateful for that.

It’s a bit quiet here on the blog at the moment because April also means I’m now spending a majority of my time working on my course papers, which are due in May, and I also broke my shoulder a month ago, which means I’m on a bit of a necessary break from knitting, obviously. I need a bit more sleep and I’m eating more than normal, but otherwise it hasn’t interrupted my everyday life too much – aside from the knitting. I definitely miss it at this point and I’m looking forward to when I’ll be able to pick up the needles again.

If you’ve ever had to take a break from knitting due to injury (or for any other reason), I’d love to hear about what helped the most when all you could think about was the projects you’d love to be casting on!

lately

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There’s been a lot going on behind the scenes for me recently, and I’ll share more about that soon, but in the meantime, here are some things I’ve been up to lately:

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I started a pair of socks with some of the new Arne & Carlos sock yarn from Regia. I’ve never been one for self-patterning yarns, but this line – and this colorway in particular – totally won me over. The colorways are all inspired by paintings by Edvard Munch with ties to the Norwegian landscape through the seasons. The colorway pictured above is called Summer Night, and I basically want to live in it.

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I’ve been thinking about sewing quite a bit (after all, Me Made May is coming up). I’m so pleased with how this Chardon skirt I finished a month ago turned out, box pleats, pockets and all. I haven’t had a chance to sew anything since, but I did buy a walking foot for my machine so that I can try out sewing with knits. I have a striped grey knit fabric I was originally planning to use for a Linden, but I’ve decided it’s going to be a Hemlock tee instead, because that seems more beginner friendly and still totally fits with my wardrobe. If you have any advice for sewing knits without a serger, I’m all ears!

But back to the Chardon skirt (or Jupe Chardon, as Deer and Doe is a French company) for a moment. This is marketed as a beginner pattern but even so, it was kind of a big project for me. There’s not a ton of guidance on how to deal with pressing the box pleats, and the belt loop instructions are literally just a sentence telling you to sew on the belt loops. I know in this modern age of internet tutorials and craft blogging we can expect a lot of hand holding, but if you’re taking on these skills for the first time, expect to spend some time doing research on the best ways to go about it. Still – the box pleats and belt loops are acceptable, if not fantastic, and the skirt is super wearable!

I used an amazing fabric I picked up at Drygoods Design – this Pickering International organic lightweight duck cloth in grey (which now appears to be sold out). It’s a 45/55 blend of recycled hemp and organic cotton, so it’s going to make a fabulous warmer weather skirt (and it’s been doing great in the winter to spring transition with a pair of tights). I love this fabric and would definitely work with it again. Perhaps it’s the hemp in it, but it manages to hold the pleats well it doesn’t wrinkle anywhere near as easily as a plain cotton or cotton/linen blend would.

If I make this skirt again (and I might, because it’s so versatile) I may add a little bit of length. I have a high waist on a 6′ (182cm) frame, so the hem falls a few inches higher above my knees than might be ideal, proportionally. But I’d love a version of this skirt in a darker color – maybe a charcoal or a navy? Or even black?

You can check out the photos in more detail with some progress notes over on my project page on Kollabora.

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And lastly, the main recent development in my world is that spring has come screaming into Seattle. It came early this year for us (sorry, east coasters – especially you Mainers who I know just got more snow) and the whole city has been in bloom for weeks. I can’t deny I’ve been enjoying it; Seattle on a sunny day in spring or summer is one of the most beautiful places on earth. I hope spring is finding its way into your world, too!

updates and miscellany

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I went to the Ballard Locks today in search of signs of spring and found some early blooms! I may love winter, but I can’t help but look forward to the start of cherry blossom season every year.

I baked some shortbread cookies a few days ago and frosted them with lavender buttercream. They turned out pretty divine! If you’d like to make your own, I used this recipe for the shortbread and this one for the lavender buttercream (just a heads up: you’ll need to infuse the whole milk with dried lavender for 8 hours before you can get started on the buttercream).

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And an actual Paper Tiger update: for legal reasons, my pattern for Brooklyn Tweed Wool People Vol. 6, previously known as Skydottir, has been renamed Sundottir. The old Ravelry link should redirect to the current page, which can be found here. You can read the Brooklyn Tweed blog post about it here.