I’m putting the finishing touches on my latest sweater design, and with a forecast with temperatures only in the 80s I might even be able to model it! More about that sweater tomorrow.

First we’ve got finished July sweaters galore!

River Tweed Cardigan

Ksana knit this beautiful River Tweed Cardigan (every time I try to type tweed I type tweet. Addicted much?) as a test knit. I love the flattering cables on the sides and the corresponding cables on the collar. So pretty!

Anney

Robin knit this super seasonally appropriate and adorable sweater Anney.  I’m a sucker for ribbon details and cables becoming figures, so when I saw this FO I knew it was for me! So cute!

Miss Dashwood

She also knit this super cute shrug, Miss Dashwood! I love the color choice. Most shrugs are knit with safe neutrals so they are super wearable, but this simple lace shawl is a knockout in the lime green! Way to go out on a limb and rock it hard, Robin!

Corvallis Cardigan

Clara finished this fun cardigan, the Corvallis Cardigan, which is the perfect pattern for Clara because it has sizing for all 3 of her kids! This picture is a work in progress; you can see the ends and it needs some buttons, but you can see it’s going to be super rad! Great job Clara!

And we’ve got another two for one! Rachel finished two sweaters:

Corona Camisol

The Corona Camisol is one of my favorite patterns from this last issue of Interweave. The front detail is cute and the sweater is totally wearable! Summer sweater win for sure.

Emmaline

And this is the second Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge appearance of Emmaline from the summer Knitty. The more I see this pattern the more I like it! Those little sleeves! Another amazing example of a summer knit. Way to rock it out Rachel!

Didn’t think there were so many summer knitting patterns available? Where have you been?! Email me if you have questions about finding a summer sweater pattern or yarn choices. I’m here to help!

Keep the finished sweaters coming ladies!

Related Sweatshop Love:

• June 22, 2010 -- Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge, June Week 4 (3)
• March 30, 2010 -- March Week 5: Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge (2)
• March 2, 2010 -- March Week 1: Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge! (2)
• July 7, 2010 -- Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge, July Week 1 (3)

I finished up my second DinoSweater so I’ve got July in the bag!

Other Knit a Sweater a Month Challengers are on the ball as well:

Off the Shoulder Cabled Sweater

Cindy at A Sparkle A Day not only wrote a lovely guest post for me last week, but she also finished this beautiful sweater! She says it is too sexy to wear to work, and that she wants to tighten up the top ribbing, but those cables are top notch and so pretty! I love the texture in this sweater and she better post some pictures of her wearing this sweater soon!

Mulberry Grid

Lin knit this scandalous cardigan (put a shirt on, lady! That cardi is SEE THROUGH!) in a beautiful checkered stitch pattern. The Mulberry Grid sweater, which doesn’t have a picture on the rav page, but if you click on on the link you can see the picture that was in the magazine. I’m loving this sweater in gray! It gives it a much more modern look.

Egret Pattern

Amy finished this stunning cardigan. I’ve never seen this sweater before, but Egret is so unique that I did a lot of searching around and ravelry studying when I saw Amy’s FO.  You can’t quite see what is going on in the sweater in Amy’s picture, but by clicking on the pattern page you can see that it’s a cardigan with a diagonal ruffle closure! I’ve never seen anything like it!

Scallop Edge Dress

Ksana knit this lovely little Scallop Edge baby dress that makes me wish my new nephew Nolan was a little girl! How cute is this dress?! You are looking at the back of the dress, so it buttons in the back, which adds a little surprise bling bling that every baby girl is looking for. I’m going to keep this dress in mind for the next baby girl that pops up in my life. Those strawberry buttons are a lovely touch!

Box 96 Pullover

Kathy finished up this really beautiful summer sweater from Interweave Knits Summer 2010 issue. It’s Box 96 Pullover, from the cover of the magazine, and a sweater I didn’t look twice at because of the magazine’s terrible styling of it. Over a billowy white collared button up? Come on. Kathy saw the design for the summer sweater it is and helped me see how cute it is, too!

Lets keep this up, y’all!

Related Sweatshop Love:

• April 6, 2010 -- April Week One: Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge (3)
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• February 16, 2010 -- February Week Three: KaSaMC (1)
• February 2, 2010 -- February Week One: KaSaMC (1)

Umm… remember the Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge?

The challenge took a back seat to the ebook release this month, but I was so relieved to pop over to our Ravelry group and see that I wasn’t the only person to put this challenge on the back burner.

I was knitting something… don’t really remember what that was… and it surely isn’t going to come back any time soon. I’m cool with it. And I did finish my June sweater! More on that tomorrow.

Cable Car Sweater

Ksana is at it again with this super fancy baby cardigan! The Cable Car Sweater was a test knit but luckily the super cute pattern is already available. It looks super simple and fun to knit.

Buttercup

Vicki jazzed up this simple tshirt pattern, Buttercup, by using some different shades of blue throughout. While she doesn’t know if she is crazy about it, I’m digging the natural tie-dye effect on this flattering tee.

Test Knit Babt Tank

Ksana also knit this adorable Baby Tank as a test knit. Those buttons are great and I love those colors! This girl is just knitting up a storm over here!

Hearts Baby Sweater

Lin finished this sweet baby sweater, too! Those little hearts on there are so cute and unique. This is the Heart Sweater, clearly There are going to be a lot of lucky little girls getting beautiful sweaters this week!

Cardigan Neutral

Becca at Nutmeg Knitter finished up her Cardigan Neutral and it couldn’t have turned out better! I love this cardigan – it’s super easy to throw on over anything and Becca picked a beautiful color. The edging detail is subtle and lovely.

Emmaline

Clara finished up this Knitty pattern, Emmaline, in a beautifully wearable dark red color that looks so easy to dress up or down. This little tee is already a popular pattern and it was just released a few months ago. Great job, Clara! I bet you will be rocking this tee out all summer.

Not Really Animal Print Cardigan

Kate had to take a few shots before getting this fun cardigan into existence. I can’t speak for her of course, but I would be thrilled to get this fun striped cardigan no matter how it came about! See the process here. The original pattern is the Animal Print Cardigan, which makes me want to cry just looking at. Bobbins! Torture!

Juniper Hand Knit Shrug

THEN she turned around and pumped out this cute shrug! I always love when your have a knitting failure and can make your next project something you love.

The Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge is fun! I’m glad it made it’s way back in the rotation

Related Sweatshop Love:

• July 20, 2010 -- Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge; July Week Three (3)
• July 7, 2010 -- Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge, July Week 1 (3)
• May 24, 2010 -- Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge: May Week 4 (1)
• April 6, 2010 -- April Week One: Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge (3)

The Dykhuizen family is counting down the days till Baby Nolan arrives. He will be the first of the next generation for our family, so he is bound to get a lot of shit.

So far Nolan has racked up a DinoSweater, Baby Bobbie Bear, Sheldon the Turtle, and a Socktopus, all before he is even born.

What else does he need? Onesies! But you know me. I can’t just give the kid some onesies. And you know I’m not going to buy fancy onesies I know are just going to be puked on a million times.

Solution? Buy cheap-o onesies ($8.99 for a pack of 5 at Target) and snazz them up.

Ready To Start!

How To Make Personalized Onesies

1. Get some fabric paint in basic colors. They are between 45 and 99 cents a tube and can be found at any craft store. Make sure you don’t buy the puffy kind! It’s really ugly.

Fabric Paint

2. Cut a piece of cardboard to slide inside the onesie. You want it to be snug so it’s holds the fabric taunt to make an easy painting surface.

3. Find an image to copy! Do a google image search for anything. I like searching ‘cartoon’ or ‘coloring book’ along with the object I’m looking for so I get a clean, easy image.

Dinosaur!

Dinosaurs are fun and a great way to use silly colors. You can see I searched ‘dinosaur coloring page’ to find this little guy.

4. Print the image and trace it onto your onesie, or just eyeball it.

Image Outline on Onesie

My printer is really annoying to hook up, so I just eyeball it. I like to start in the center of the image and built it out from there.

5. Start painting with your main color. If you are right handed, start at the top left and work your way down diagonally.

Start in Top Left Corner

This way you won’t be laying your hand in paint! If you are left handed, start in the top right corner.

Taking Shape!

It's Almost a Dinosaur!

6. Let the paint dry a little before adding any additional colors.

Dino Spikes!

7. Let the paint dry to the touch before adding any while or outlines. White paint blends everything and is really hard to use! Your outline colors will look a lot better on dry paint as well.

Dino Face!

8. Let the onesie dry for 24 hours before giving it away or packing it up!

Finished!

Some fabric paint instructs you to iron it once dry, so be sure to read the bottle.

9. Make four more onesies!

Old English D

Nolan will be a Tigers fan. I resisted the urge to paint ‘Yankees Suck’.

Go Blue!

My original design was a buckeye with an X through it.

Lion Fan?

Subtle Lions fan. Like the rest of us.

I Heart Aunt Allyson!

Too much?

10. Add up your savings! Dinosaur Onesie = $15.99. UofM Onesie = $17.99. Tigers Onesie = $9 ($17.99 for 2). Lion Onesie = $15. I Heart Aunt Allyson Onesie = $12.

Bought Onesies = $69.98.

My Onesies = $8.99 (onesies) + $5 (paint) = $13.99

Total Savings = $55.99! Holla!

So get out there and make some adorable, personalized onesies! I can’t wait to see Baby Nolan rocking these cute outfits.

Related Sweatshop Love:

• June 11, 2010 -- The Sweatshop Spin on New Dress A Day (3)

Remember a few months ago when I tackled the making the super cute Charley Harper needlepoint canvas myself? I graphed it myself, marked it out, got my own floss and dug in, saving myself about 50 bucks.

With Colleen’s wedding on Saturday already I thought it was high time I finished her present!

I ended up giving it a little background color. I took Julie’s advice and just did a half stitch around the little birds.

Charley Harper Needlepoint, Ready for Framing!

I thought it added a lot! I went to JoAnn and got some framing supplies.

Charley Harper Needlepoint, Framed?

Lackluster, right?

Charley Harper+Water Color

So I decided I would try to give it a water color wash. I dug around and found some old paints with a yellow and orange I thought would work. I was a little scared!

Testing... testing...

I tested the colors in the corner of the fabric to see how much running there was and what the colors would really look like. Then I just dug in! The half stitches made it easy to not get the paint on the birds and I could play with actually painting the stitches and including those colors in the wash.

Water Color Drying in the Sun

I let the wash dry in the sun when I was finished. The water color adds a fun dimension to the piece! I’ve never seen water color and needlepoint and I love the look of it.

Voila! Charley Harper Needlepoint Finished!

Quite a difference! I love these little birds, I love the half stitch outline, and I love the water color wash. The green frame mat adds focus and the dark brown frame isn’t too harsh for the colors in the needlepoint. I hope Colleen feels the same way!

Total cost of project? Less than $15. Of course this project wasn’t about saving money, and lord knows I spent HOURS AND HOURS needle-pointing that damn thing. I might as well have knit her a damn plane they can use to fly to Italy for their honeymoon.

Never. Again.

But I love how it turned out and I hope Colleen does, too!

Related Sweatshop Love:

• April 5, 2010 -- And She Dabbles in Needlepoint (4)

We are jumping the gun on our regular Tuesday Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge posts because of the HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT coming to you tomorrow. But luckily we’ve got a couple fun sweaters to bring you!

Baby Cherry Blossom

This FO kinda makes me want to have a little girl to make this sweater for. How sweet is this little thing?! Ksana (rav) is on a serious knitting roll lately and finished up the Baby Cherry Blossom sweater this week. Something tells me this isn’t the last we will be seeing of this pattern. It is out of this world cute.

Laughing Carrots... ?

Gloria made me scratch my head this morning! She knit this adorable summer top that I have never seen before, so I followed the link to the Laughing Carrots pattern. Which, if you click on the link, is a pattern for a long sleeved child’s cardigan. And here it is a woman’s short sleeved summer cardigan! Gloria is one talented pattern modifier!

And that brings another month to an end! It will be nice to have a long weekend to finish up any remaining May sweaters. I know I need a little more time!

And did I mention there is a HUGE announcement tomorrow? Involving videos? VIDEOS! It’s going to be awesome. Be sure to check back tomorrow!

Related Sweatshop Love:

• July 7, 2010 -- Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge, July Week 1 (3)
• June 22, 2010 -- Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge, June Week 4 (3)
• April 6, 2010 -- April Week One: Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge (3)
• February 23, 2010 -- February Week 4: KaSaMC (4)

Summer is in the air and in all our finished sweaters this week! There isn’t a sleeve in sight and we couldn’t be more excited about it. Looking for more summer knitting ideas? Look no further:

Little Black Blouse

Alexandra (rav) knit AND designed this Little Black Blouse. How perfect is this top for summer? It looks so nice and airy. Check our her project page here.

Coachella

Robin knit the very popular Coachella, a pattern featured in Knitty a few years ago. It’s another perfect summer tank! A lot of knitters had trouble with the armhole size and bra straps showing, and Robin talks about her mods on her project page. I think the key with this sweater is to wear a bra you don’t mind people seeing! But Robin has some good tips on her page.

Imagine Peace Vest

Ksana has been knitting up a storm and shared two FOs with us for May! First up is the Imagine Peace Vest which I’ve loved since the first time I saw it. Any time you can put such a simple, hopefully message on a baby is pretty awesome.

Test Knit Cotton Top

She also knit this top using Debbie Bliss cotton as a test knit. I’m floored by that perfect bust shaping! It fits like a glove and is super flattering.

Now if only the weather would cooperate! I keep gazing longingly at my summer knits as I throw on my huge winter sweaters.

Everyone keep up the good work and I can’t wait to see the sweaters the last week of May brings!

Related Sweatshop Love:

• July 20, 2010 -- Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge; July Week Three (3)
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You ever get a bad feeling about a pattern right off the bat? The Bamboo Diamond Shell from Boutique Knits, my May sweater for the Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge, is not going well.

Bamboo Diamond Shell Start

It’s basically a top down sweater knit from the bottom up. I. Don’t. Get. It. The worst part? I’m pretty sure it is just wrong.

It says to start by working the diamond pattern 3 times for the bottom portion of the sweater.

Bamboo Diamond Shell, Pic from Book

The book clearly states that the Shell is shown in the small size. I am knitting the small size. There is no way that there are only three rows of the diamond pattern before starting the sleeves. It looks like five to me.

But, I’m trying to do this thing where I trust the pattern. So, I work the diamond pattern three times and start working on the sleeves.

Bamboo Diamond Shell Sleeve

Which is annoying, to say the least. It’s a lot of putting sts on a holder, add sts per side a bunch of times, repeat for other side, join sleeves. But then when you join it’s hard to knit around the sleeve hole. You either have to stretch it out to knit it, creating a really hard angle to knit around, or,

Sleeve: Annoying

scrunch it all down, making it really hard on your hands to control all those stitches. My wrists hurt from dealing with those sleeve holes.

And WHY? When you could have just a really nice top down sweater. Then I could put it on and see how many diamond pattern repeats I want to knit for the bottom so I’m not constantly worried it’s going to be too short.

It is going to be too short.

Diamond Shell Start

But I’m trusting the pattern. With my hands. My brain is pissed.

It’s hardly a Bamboo anything since I’m using Bernat Satin Acrylic in Admiral. The color is lovely and it’s knitting up just fine. It’s been a while since I worked with acrylic yarn but it works with the pattern. It’s kind of a pullover crop jacket. Not a lot of skin contact and no real need for a lot of fitting.

That is, if it works out. I’m loving the diamond pattern, but if I have to swing some kind of big bottom band thing because the pattern steered me wrong I am not going to be a happy camper.

Do you stick with a pattern if your gut tells you it is wrong?

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• No Related Post

May is moving right along and I haven’t started my May sweater yet. I got super nervous about starting the Lace Tunic after reading all the comments from knitters who dove into this project and were having huge problems. They froze me! I was thinking of finding another sweater to start, then I thought about just doing it anyway and seeing what happened, and now it’s May 11th.

Have you ever fallen in love with a pattern then got nervous because other knitters were having problems with the pattern? I’ve got to commit or find something else really soon!

In the mean time I’ll be content to gawk at the lovely sweaters finished up this week by fearless knitters undaunted by a few negative comments!

Featherweight Cardigan

I’m so surprised that this is our first finished Featherweight Cardigan since this pattern is so popular! Vicki knit this beautiful sweater up for a wedding May 8th and got it done just in the nick of time. I love the scalloped edges she did in blocking. It makes it look just a little more fancy. That yarn is heavenly!

Vine Yoke Cardigan

Andrea finished up the very popular Vine Yoke Cardigan! And again I’m surprised this is our fist Vine Yoke because I see this sweater everywhere. You can see why! It’s stunning, and very lovely with the slight and subtle variegation in the yarn.  And how cute are those wooden buttons?! Love it! Great job, Andrea.

Tappan Zee... Cardigan?

Vicki is one of the first knitters to finish up the Tappan Zee Cardigan from the latest Spring issue of Knitty. So clearly she did a lot of mods! It’s not a cardigan anymore, for one. And she changed it to a heavier sweater. The original is lace weight yarn for summer. That yoke is so stunning that it could be on any sweater! Great mods and beautiful FO!

3timesChic

Kris almost let her hatred of seaming delay finishing her 3timesChic sweater forever, but luckily she sucked it up and finished this fun sweater up in time for Mother’s Day. The yarn jazzes up a simple design and makes this sweater really stand out! Click over to her blog for the adorable story behind the picture.

Kaleidoscope

Gloria got a head start on June with this classic little summer cardigan Kaleidoscope. I get asked often how to use eyelash yarn in a way that won’t make you look like a Muppet, and I think Gloria hit the nail on the head with a strand here and there of some similar colored eyelash yarn striping at the sleeves and yoke. And I don’t know how I typed all those sentences without going OMG LADYBUG BUTTONS OMGOMGOMG!!!! Such a nice touch!

And there you have it! A slew of FOs to love. I better get cracking to keep up!

Related Sweatshop Love:

• July 7, 2010 -- Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge, July Week 1 (3)
• April 13, 2010 -- April Week Two: Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge (0)
• April 6, 2010 -- April Week One: Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge (3)
• February 23, 2010 -- February Week 4: KaSaMC (4)

Back on track! I’ve been sewing too much to have even started my May sweater, but after checking out all of these beautiful finished sweaters I want to get my needles moving again!

Cerisara Cardigan

Robin finished her Cerisara Cardigan and don’t you just love that color?! It’s perfect for a summer sweater. I love the lace pattern placement and the simple closure Robin chose. It looks like a seriously fun knit!

Celtic Cathedral Cardigan

KsanaO (rav) knit up this amazing cabled cardigan, the Celtic Cathedral, as a test knit, so keep and eye on her project page for pattern information yet to come. Don’t you just love that name? Celtic Cathedral. It’s so appropriate, with the beautiful cathedral shaped cabling. And the ruffles are so fun!

Summer Cardigan

Lin (rav) knit this fun Summer Cardigan in such lovely colors! Lin’s version really pops, while the pic used on it’s ravelry page hardly caught my attention at all. Simple and fun, it’s a great summer knit!

Tangled Yoke Cardigan

Take a second and pop over to the original Tangled Yoke Cardigan, now look at Kate’s (rav). Could you just die?! This cardigan is so cute! The striping and tangled yoke design in a contrasting color is so pretty I can’t even stand it. I didn’t look twice at the original pattern but I might NEED this cardigan. Great mods, Kate!

Traverse City Tube Top

Cindy was my test knitter for the Traverse City Tube Top and  clearly did such an amazing job! She knit this baby in 8 days and looks super hot in it. And she lives in a hot climate so this top is perfect pretty much all year around… right?! If only Great job Cindy and thanks so much for test knitting it for me!

Whew! I thought the Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge was losing speed and I’m so glad it’s not. I know I’m inspired every week by these beautiful sweaters and would hate it if The Challenge fell by the way side.

Here’s to a great May!

Related Sweatshop Love:

• July 20, 2010 -- Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge; July Week Three (3)
• July 7, 2010 -- Knit a Sweater a Month Challenge, July Week 1 (3)
• July 2, 2010 -- What Knitting Means to Cindy at A Sparkle A Day (2)
• July 1, 2010 -- Ebook Patterns are Now Available Individually! (1)