cozies for everything

Tag Archives: cozies for everything

Pointless Knitting Projects

Hey! We haven’t discussed knitting in a while, huh? I must admit, after spending 3 months knitting up my Agatha sweater, I thought it was time to take it easy for a few weeks. Also, my yarn budget was shot. Boo! I have been knitting in the time since – just easy projects, with yarn lifted straight from my tiny stash.

Let’s take a little lurk, shall we?

First was the Bicycle U-Lock Cozy. WHY. I DON’T KNOW. It was really easy & mindless – just very short rows of garter stitch, yeah! And it matches my bike 🙂

Then I knitted another coffee cozy, because apparently I just get off from coordinating everything.

THEN the Cozy Madness really reared it’s ugly head and I found myself knitting this…

That would be a Poodle Toilet Paper Cozy, knitted in Harvest Gold (acrylic, of course). What? Too much?

I think it’s safe to say that I should probably stop knitting cozies, for the love of everything that is pure & holy (and non-knitted)in the world.

In all seriousness, though, I did start two projects that are actual sweaters, knitted up in lovely yarns.

The first is my second Agatha cardigan – sorry for the Instagram. Also this picture was taken like 2 weeks ago & I’m much farther along at this point. But see my little sheeeeeep stitch markers! Ack so cute! Anyway, this is getting knitted up in another Cascade 220 – a beautiful jet black smudged with a soft gray. I think it will look really great with all the lacework. I’m not really pushing this one to get knitted up too fast, since it’s wool which is kind of deadly to wear during a Tennessee summer.

I also started my Miette last night, in a much more wearable cotton/wool blend:

I had to lighten the picture a lot to get anything to show (the yarn is a deep navy), but look! I got gauge on the first swatch woohoo!

And the other way!

I am really excited to knit up this sweater 😀 The mindless stockinette will be a nice change from all that crazy Agatha lace. I’m going on vacation this weekend – starting with a very long car ride – and I am looking forward to working on this.

Do any of y’all ever knit (or crochet!) totally pointless projects like cozies? Or am I alone in my cozy fascination? What is the ugliest thing you have ever made with yarn?

In the meantime, I’ve dedicated all my sewing time this week to endless piles of mending & refitting. I’ve actually accomplished quite a bit, and feeling very good about myself! Oh, and I’m also sewing up Landon’s Christmas present. You know, the one from Christmas that was like 6 months ago. I’m a shitty girlfriend.

Tags: Agatha sweater, cozies for everything, knitting, Miette Sweater

Comments 29 Comments
Categories crafty things that are not sewing

Completed: Colette Clovers – The Denim Version

2 Mar

Ok, ok – ONE more jab at this pattern! Who is sick of looking at my butt in Clovers yet? 🙂 Technically, I guess, these are the finished version of my polyester wearable muslin, so do they really count?

I bought this denim right before I swore off new fabric purchases until further notice. It’s a great denim – a nice dark wash, a good sturdy weight, and it has a slight stretch factor which makes them perfect for these jeans. I originally intended on make another pair of wide legged trousers with this fabric, but after lurking the shit out of Sallieoh’s Clover makeover, I decided to go with Clover jeans, with little flare legs. Hence, the polyester muslin.

So here’s the real deal!
(I’m sorry these pictures are bad – we are expecting lots of tornadoes today & it was straight up HAILING last night so I’m actually surprised I was able to catch enough sunlight to shoot these this morning)

I’m not going to hash out every single change I made to the pattern – you can check out my other version if you are just dying for the nitty-gritty, but I will share some additional changes I made with this pair. Here’s a list.
– I cut extra seam allowances on all the pieces since my denim wasn’t as stretchy as my poly. This was a MISTAKE. The pants ended up being way too big & I had to cut out all my seam allowances (and then some!) to get a nice fit. Whoops.
– I wanted to try out flat fell seams on the inside legs, but I cut too much SA off (this was after taking out something insane like 1″ of excess, see above), so I didn’t have enough denim to fold over. What you see are mock flat fell seams. Sorry!
– I stabilized the pockets with this awesome trim I found at the flea market – it’s measuring tape! Eeeheheee! I thought they might need some help to keep from stretching out, plus, it looks fun on the inside! The front pocket piece is red cotton, just to keep things from getting too bulky.
– I’m not terribly happy with the waistband – it digs kind of weird, there is some strange twisting going on on one side, and it was kind of tight so the button was pushed way over to the side (instead of in the center, where it belongs). And there is some kind of weird gap thing over the center back – does anyone know what that’s all about? I guess I needed to taper the waistband with a seam, idk. I don’t get plumber’s crack when I bend over, but I think it looks pretty bad. I may end up ripping out the waistband and starting over.
– There is a lot of topstitching on these pants! I used jeans topstitching thread with a more lightweight blue denim thread in the bobbin. My sewing machine was PISSED during some of those layers, gawd. I was able to struggle through, but now I’m wondering how some people with those little cheap hobby machines manage to churn out jeans. My machine is pretty heavy-duty and even with a denim needle it had some trouble, especially on the belt loops. Lots of cranking the handwheel on my end.
– I like how my belt loops turned out. I do not like that they aren’t evenly spaced at all! Haha! Oh well!

I think that’s it. Let’s look at some pictures instead!

Sorry you can’t see the hem in these!

I decided against doing the traditional topstitching in the back since I was not adding back pockets or a yoke. I know jeans are supposed to have the crotch seam flat felled & topstitched, but the idea of having a line of gold stitching running straight up the middle of my butt (with no other stitching going on back there) weirded me out way too much. So they’re simple from the behind!

See what I mean about the button? Haha I’m so embarrassed! I really should re-do that waistband… but honestly, I probably won’t. I mean, let’s keep it real here.

Pockets!

All that topstiching paid off – I think they look good!

Oh, and I finished my coffee cozy last night! It ended up being a really easy/quick knit, so I stayed up a little later than I should have, just so I could put it on my to-go cup this morning 🙂

(before you say anything… yep, that’s a Hello Kitty toaster. I got it for Christmas like 10 years ago hahah)
If you want to see the pattern/details, it’s all on my Ravelry page!