Month: June 2023

week 23 recap: my rosaline skirt, mark bittman’s rhubarb crisp, and the movie I want to see

Published by fairfaxhill

I made a skirt! If you follow my Instagram, you may know that I started a new project a few weekends ago – I decided to make the Rosaline skirt, which is a free pattern from Peppermint Magazine. I love that you can download and print digital patterns at home by just clicking a few buttons, and start sewing (almost) right away.  If you download and print the PDF pattern as I did, make sure you have enough ink in your printer and paper in the house. You should also have some glue. I used one of the many glue sticks I still have at home from when the kids were little. (I’m amazed they haven’t all dried out by now!). You’ll also need enough room to lay all the sheets of paper down after they’re glued, before you can start cutting the actual pattern pieces. (I opted for the floor.) It took me about one and a half hours to print, cut, and glue all the sheets, and then cut out each piece of …

cool stitches – fair isle sweaters with a modern twist

Published by fairfaxhill

Today, I’d like to share with you the work of one very cool maker from Normandy. If you are a Fair Isle sweater design fan, you’re going to love the work of Sophie Ochera. This French knitwear designer combines machine knitting with traditional hand knitting techniques to produce the most beautiful designs. I particularly love her choice of colors, which at times do not seem to fully coordinate, but result in modern, unique sweaters that are sure to become heirlooms. I personally would love to knit an adult version of the Quince pattern for myself, but unfortunately, I don’t see an adult version of it (yet?). Maybe in these colors? I’ll keep checking! Another beautiful sweater I can see myself trying to knit one day is the Noomi sweater. Would you love to knit one of these sweaters, too? Good news! The patterns are available on Sophie Ochera’s website and on Ravelry. If you are not a knitter — or if colorwork still scares you — do not despair! You have the option to have …

week 22:  project updates and plans for the weekend

Published by fairfaxhill

Hi! Season 3 of Ted Lasso ended this week and I’m still dreaming of those biscuits. I saw that @sweetish.co was making them – pink boxes and all! I’d love to try them. I thought this season was a little all over the place, but I couldn’t help watching every episode. What did you think of the show? (That Cat Stevens song always makes me cry.) knitting My APRIL BLOUSE is slowly coming along after a few setbacks, but I rediscovered lifelines and now I’m ready for any mistake. (By the way, I’m adding project notes to my Ravelry notebook in case you are interested.) If you don’t know what a lifeline is in knitting, it’s a way to hold one row of stitches with a piece of yarn or thread. This allows you to unravel your work safely to that point if you make a mistake, and not have to start over. All I can tell you is that when you have 276 stitches on your needles, lifelines aren’t optional! This video shows how …