Tag: crochet

Finished Object – Biased Marie Sweater

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Finished my Biased Marie Sweater by Ila Quinn Designs last week and was able to wear it Saturday. I even whipped up a matching scrunchie.It is perfectly oversized, and perfectly 90s neon. This pattern was so nice to work up, too. My only issues were of my own creation trying to work out the stripes on the fly instead of planning it out from the beginning.

Bonus: The original snow outfit that inspired the color palette of this project – 

Choosing Colors

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A tip for choosing colors, especially colors for stripes or other types of patterns, that I learned in either my color theory class or my first photoshop class: take a picture and desaturate it to black and white.

Five skeins of neon yarn on a light wooden table: blue, pink, green, magenta, and purple from left to right. A speckled black skein sit above them.
Black and white version of the photo above with five skeins of yarn lined up with a sixth, smaller skein above them. The five skeins of yarn are in order of medium, medium, light, dark, dark

A bit easier to do now than it was back then when it involved actually getting out a digital camera, taking a picture, importing it to photoshop, and then changing the color. And I acknowledge that I was lucky to be able to do that a bit over a decade ago. Imagine that same process with black and white film and having to either develop it or take it to Walgreens. Yeah, pretty sure no one would do that.

Five skeins of neon yarn on a light wooden table: blue, magenta, pink, purple, and magenta from left to right. A speckled black skein sit above them.
Black and white version of the photo above with five skeins of yarn lined up with a sixth, smaller skein above them. The five skeins of yarn are in order of dark, dark, medium, dark, light

I was able to make each of these pictures in a matter of seconds right on my phone, and it makes all the difference. This shows you which ones are similar tones and can help you get whatever effect you are going for.

Five skeins of neon yarn on a light wooden table: purple, pink, magenta, green, and blue from left to right. A speckled black skein sit above them.
Black and white version of the photo above with five skeins of yarn lined up with a sixth, smaller skein above them. The five skeins of yarn are in order of dark, medium, dark, light, dark

I wanted contrast in my stripes, so I chose this order. If I had wanted more of a gradient, even with the bright colors, I could’ve rearranged the first group to pull the lightest out of the center and place it to the end.

Another Cross Stitched Beanie

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A while back I tested the pattern for the Cross Stitched Beanie by Ila Quinn Designs. During the test, I made two versions, one in the original yarn and another in a different yarn that was available at the store because I wanted to make sure I had enough time to make the hat. (I’m wearing the hat made from the original yarn in my profile picture.)

When I finished my test of the Trusty Tunisian Tee (coming soon!) by The Graceful Tangle, I had most of a ball of Lion Brand Mandala Ombré left in the colorway Happy. I figured another Cross Stitched Beanie was in order, and I happened to have just enough left to make the hat and pompom with no leftovers.

I had to fiddle with the gauge a bit because I was a little wide on the stitch gauge and short on the row gauge, so this hat was made with the stitch count of the medium size and the row count of the XL. It worked out perfectly, even if it did take a few tries to get the right stitch count attached to the band.

I’m still trying to decide whether I will keep this one for myself or put it in the pile for Christmas, but I do know I really like it in this yarn.