




Curated by Tania Braukämper.
There aren’t too many alpha-females out there and, though she might deny it, Tania Braukamper certainly exudes their qualities. A keen eye, a focused approach, and a wardrobe spanning three rooms have made her one of the savviest of dressers. But it’s not all couture for Tania, earning her fashionista credentials she’ll frequently be seen on the town in a one-off, vintage dress and a pair of Gucci heels.
She says: Vintage will never go out of style
We say: Does that include vintage 80s?
Look at that, I’m back again. Obviously leaving something to be said really does pay off.
I have a few things on the needles at the moment but only two are getting any regular attention.
First up we have the plain socks. They get out a lot, taken wherever and knit whenever time allows. The yarn is Indulgence with aloe from Knitting Fever (second one down on the left) in the 110 color. The color is much more green, with no blue, in person. The pattern is just my standard 64 stitches on a size 1 US needle with afterthought heels. The yarn is soft but feels like it has some strength behind it. I think these will be well worn and loved socks. Hopefully I’ll find the time to knit the heels this weekend so I can put something new in the traveling sock bag.
As promised a bit ago, this is the sweater I’m knitting for H. It is Rogue (ravelry link) knit in Ella Rae Amity (college student using laundromat=washable acrylic yarn with a hint of wool) in the color 59 which is much more a forest green than the teal that it appears to be here. I’m not going to bother to link to the Ella Rae site since their photo looks the same color as mine. The pattern is excellent, very clear, detailed and easy to follow. The cabling is so enjoyable to knit. Even the pocket was a pleasure to knit. I have logged many hours knitting this sweater and watching Dr Who. We’re catching up on past seasons. As you can see at the bottom I did the turned up hem facing in a different color. This is Ella Rae Amity in charcoal gray, leftovers from N’s sweater. It’s little details like this that make this sweater a great pattern.
Here is a not so great photo of the cable on the side of the body. All the increases and decreases for the waist shaping are located in this cable. It’s genius and looks fantastic. Now my only worry is will H love the sweater as much as I do and will she actually wear it. The color looks great with her red hair and the style will be so flattering.
H isn’t so great with the knits. She is what I like to call hard on yarn. Her socks do not hold up at all. She recently wore a pair of socks (ravelry link) I knit for her for the first time. After one wearing the socks were quite nubby but the most shocking part for me was that the yarn had dyed both of her heels the color of the socks. If that isn’t bad enough she brought the Monkey sock (knit in Colinette Jitterbug) photographed home from school and asked if I could fix it. It seems it got caught on something* and now has a hole in the top of the foot. I’m trying to psych myself up to fix it. Normally I just throw out worn out socks but these are like new, except for the hole and a bit of pilling.
*The one sock with the hole was found under her bed at school. It’s mate was at home in her sock drawer. I hate to think of what that poor sock has been through.