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!
If you are not a knitter — or if colorwork still scares you — do not despair! You have the option to have a handmade sweater knit to order, especially for you (at a made-to-order price, that is)! Totally worth it, in my opinion. 😉❤️
To see more of Sophie Ochera’s designs and to read her inspiring blog, visit her website.
For an introduction to the fair isle technique, you may want to try knitting a simple square like I did when I joined the Arne & Carlos mystery knitalong a few years ago. Good luck!
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.
photo credit and recipe via food52/AppleTV
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!
To take a break from the blouse I started another project which is knit almost 100% in stockinette, super easy, a small shirt for my newest baby friend – I hope it fits her!
I finally met my niece in person last weekend at a family gathering and she and I got along great. She smiled at me and didn’t cry when her mother asked if I wanted to hold her. (You never want to be that person that makes the babies cry!)
She is my great-niece — and I have a great-nephew, too.
It’s a bit weird to go from being a regular aunt to being a great aunt so early in life, but I’m okay with it; I’m cool with being a great aunt – just not a grandma, please! I’m still recuperating from being called ma’am!
rhubarb
In food news, I made a cake last Sunday – an improvised Swedish rabarberkaka. Basically, I made fyriskaka, another Swedish cake I love, which is typically made with apples, and swapped rhubarb slices (that I dusted with sugar and cinnamon) for the apples. I followed the fyriskaka recipe in one of my old Swedish cookbooks called Hemmets Kokbok
I had bought a few stalks of rhubarb because I was dying to make this crisp recipe, but I was missing some ingredients and decided to make the cake instead.
photo credit: nytimes cooking
Doesn’t it look amazing? The recipe is by Mark Bittman and I need to make it before rhubarb season ends, which is soon!
I think making the cake was probably a good idea because I got Patrick to see how tasty rhubarb can be. (Don’t tell him, but I saw him taking extra bits of the cake when he thought I wasn’t looking.) Now I can safely make the crisp knowing at least he will help me eat it.
The kids didn’t touch the cake. I asked Nick if he was scared of rhubarb. He’s always been wary of “new” foods. (It took me 10 years to convince him that grilled cheese sandwiches were amazing. Of course, now he can’t stop eating them.) And, well, Sarah apparently doesn’t like rhubarb or cake these days.
So my plans for the weekend are making the crisp and serving it with ice cream or perhaps a little vaniljsås (as recommended by my Swedish sister); continuing to work on my knitting projects; swimming some laps at the pool, and maybe watching the new Spiderman movie, which has very good reviews! (95% on Rotten Tomatoes)
cute movie
That reminds me… I never told you about this other movie:
“Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.”
Have you seen it? Sarah and I went to see it together and we loved it. This is definitely a movie for girls. We laughed a lot. You should see it with your girlfriends, sisters, daughters, and mothers. It is funny!
camp along pattern
Lastly, remember how I was saying that the cute fish cutlery pouches from my last cool stitches post could be great on your next camping trip? Look what showed up in my IG feed this morning. I can’t help imagining myself wrapped in this blanket roasting marshmallows by the fire. Maybe someday I’ll make more blankets.
Hello lovely friends! Today, I’m excited to introduce “cool stitches” posts on the blog. These will be posts focusing on cool knitters, crocheters, embroiderers, weavers, textile arts people, clothing – you know, stuff made – or to be made – with needles, yarn or thread.
The goal is to highlight and share the work of other makers that inspire me, or that simply brighten up my days, while bringing you a little joy and inspiration weekly.
cool stitches posts might highlight new knitting patterns or give you a peek into a maker’s studio. cool stitches may also include links to ready-made clothes and textiles that I’d love to have in my closet or my home (and when possible, ideas of how to make something similar, if you are 100% into slow-fashion).
So enough explaining, here’s my first cool stitches post to give you an idea of what to expect:
Meet @momshoo
You may already be familiar with the work of Shu Ning, @momshoo on Instagram. I love her traveling tuna cutlery pouches, which you can buy on her Etsy shop.
@momshoo‘s work is simple and playful — I love how she creates unique pieces using a mix of linen and other colorful fabrics, adding Sashiko-like stitches to complete each design. These pouches remind me of things my grandmother would make; probably the reason they bring a big smile to my face, and why I thought I would share them with you.
I would have loved to have these fish cutlery pouches to send in my kids’ lunches when they were little, and I think they would also be great to take on a family picnic or camping trip, even now that they are not so little anymore!
@momshoo‘s work inspires me to try playing with thread. Check out her account for some more stitch inspiration!
And if you’re in need of a present, now you know where you can get these.
I stumbled upon the APRIL BLOUSE from Sandnes Garn the other day while scrolling Instagram and I immediately knew I wanted one. I loved the light brown color, the loose fit, and all that texture!
I think this blouse will be a nice addition to my closet for when the weather gets hot. And seeing that it most likely won’t be hot in Marin until at least August or September, (I’m still wearing sweaters!) I should have plenty of time to knit mine before the summer ends.
photo @sandnesgarn
Of course, this project will require my full attention, as this doesn’t look like an easy knit – just look at those details!
But, I’m up for it.
Sandnes Garn is a Norwegian brand that I haven’t been able to find locally. So, I was thrilled to find out that I could purchase this yarn and the patterns online in the U.S. through motherknitter.com.
This pattern is part of the SOMMER DAME Collection / 2305. You can get the brochure with all the patterns (available in English) when you buy enough yarn for one of the projects on the Mother Knitter website.
photo @sandnesgarn
There are some other retailers sprinkled around California that carry this yarn, but I’m not sure you can buy just the brochure from any of them.
I ordered all the materials to make the APRIL BLOUSE a few days ago and over the weekend I enjoyed looking through all the pretty patterns and photos.
photos @sandnesgarn
This blouse is worked in the round from the hem up using 100% cotton yarn called Mandarin Petite. I chose the same color as the one in the photos, but there are over 40 colors to choose from!
Unfortunately, I realized I needed some #2 needles before I could get started. Finding a 2.5mm needle in Marin was not easy (I guess it’s not a very popular size), so I spent most of Saturday trying to find one. I found a 24” “Addi” circular needle (metal) that is working fine, so far. I rarely use metal needles, so I’m glad I only need these for the ribbing, although they are growing on me. But I love bamboo.
Another pattern from this collection I want to try is called DAWN SINGLET. This looks a little easier. So, if things get a bit too difficult with the APRIL BLOUSE, I might have to cast this one on sooner than later.
photo @sandnesgarn
I’ll post my progress soon. In the meantime, may you have a beautiful week knitting up something beautiful. Let me know what you think and what you’re working on in the comments!
