All posts filed under: making

designing a hat in five days

Published by fairfaxhill

About a week ago, I got an email from Clare from Sister Mountain announcing her new workshop: “Design a Hat in 5 Days”. I’ve been curious about knitwear design for a long time and signed up for Clare’s sweater design workshop introduction a few years ago, but decided not to go ahead with the full course, since I didn’t feel like I had enough time to design a whole sweater. But a small project like this one could be the perfect introduction I was looking for, so I signed up! Because we would only have five days to complete the project, our homework before Day 1 was to draw a quick sketch of the hat we intended to make and to knit, wash, and dry our swatch sample. My first idea had been to use a sport-weight yarn and to try to incorporate some pretty cables, but when I realized how long it was taking me to knit my small swatch, I changed plans and opted for a bulky yarn instead. I also picked a …

learning to sew and loving my new pajama shorts

Published by fairfaxhill

Today I thought I would show you what I made a few weekends ago… I am quite proud of my little project. At first glance, my new p.j. shorts may not seem all that special. Making pajama shorts must be one of the easiest projects in the world — especially if you know how to sew. I have watched several videos on YouTube, where, in a matter of minutes, people cut, sew, boom, done! A perfect pair — just like that. My original plan was to sew pajama pants, but as I prepared to cut the pattern pieces, I realized I didn’t have enough fabric. (I also didn’t think of folding the fabric in a different way; something I learned later that day.) So, I decided to make the shorts. In retrospect, I wish I had made the pants, even if they had been a tad shorter than they were supposed to be — I love this fabric. The pattern I used is McCall’s “EASY” M8056. It’s funny that I even own this pattern. There …

a pink shawl

finished! twists & turns shawl

Published by fairfaxhill

Oh my goodness, you guys, I did it! I completed the @westknits mystery knit-along and I am now the proud owner of a crazy, bold, stripy shawl! This was my first-ever Stephen West MKAL and I must confess, it was tough! The knitting itself was not super difficult, although I did learn some new techniques (more on that below), but the amount of knitting needed to complete each section (the different clues) was way more than I’d EVER attempted in my life in a single month.  As much as I wanted to be on track to complete the shawl in 4 weeks, I fell behind from the start. The first clue was published on Thursday, October 6, but I wasn’t able to start until Sunday, October 9. I spent the next three days knitting at my fastest speed (and what felt like around the clock) for the first clue, but I quickly realized there was no way I would finish part one by the following Thursday, when the second clue would be revealed. That was …

have you heard? westknits’ mystery knit-along launched today

Published by fairfaxhill

Not too long ago I mentioned how much I love Stephen West’s colorful shawls, and this year I have decided I absolutely need one in my closet. So, this morning, just a little after 7 a.m. San Francisco time, I joined the 2022 MKAL and selected my yarn. Now I’ll sit here patiently and wait until my kit crosses the Atlantic and reaches my mailbox all the way from beautiful Amsterdam.  Last year, the MKAL (short for mystery knit along) was a pattern called Shawlography, which might be my favorite @westknits design – so far! I love all the different textures and colors. I have been dreaming of making one exactly like the one Stephen West is holding in this photo, but this morning I ran into this one by Domic, and well, I might need both! photo credit: @westknits It makes me wonder what this year’s pattern will look like. It’s called the twists & turns shawl and there is a cable needle included in the kit, so I guess there will be some …