Knitting and sewing plans for 2019

I started thinking about 2019 plans at the beginning of December and I've been adding to and editing this post since then.  Now, I have my definitive list for 2019, although based on past experience to a greater or lesser extent I won't stick to it!

Knitting
Top of the to do list is to start my Home Fires knitting project which I wrote about here.  I just recently rewatched the two series again (such a shame it was cancelled, I keep hoping that, like Foyle's War and the Great British Sewing Bee, it will be resurrected but there seem to be no signs of that happening sadly).

I've decided the first thing I'll knit is a bunny ears top

and I'm going with the colourway worn by Daisy Badger's character.

I'm going to use Malabrigo sock - I already have some dark brown in stash, and I'll use the leftovers from my Penelope cardigan for the green.   I recently bought enough beige-y coloured Mal sock to knit a cardigan (it was on offer), but I've changed my mind and will use some of it for this and the rest for other ideas.

Another one from Home Fires, I am also DEFINITELY going to knit a Grasshopper cardigan (Madeline Tosh sock colourway Grasshopper).  Knitting a cardigan with this wool has featured regularly in my 'to knit' list on this blog, and 2019 will be the year I finally get around to knitting it up!  (Like using capitals, bold and italic will push me to do this...).  I'll be using this pattern.

Next on the list is this 1930s jumper in pink.  I bought this wool at Unravel festival in February 2018 and have been planning to knit this jumper with it pretty much ever since.  Time to start.

Still with pink, but paler, I want to knit a cardigan with this gorgeous yarn which I bought from a lovely knitter who destashed it.  I'm going to use the same stitch pattern as in this top (although possibly only on the fronts), so that I can wear the two together as a twinset.  I'm sure I'll wear it on its own too.

I'd also like to knit two yellow cardigans - one in DK -first spotted on Keeley Hawes in a Geraldine McEwan Miss Marple - A Murder is Announced.

I'll be using this pattern and Drops merino superwash which I've had in my stash for a while.  This was one of my #2018makenine projects, which didn't get knitted in 2018.

And the second will be this pattern, knitted with Wollmeise lace.

I'd also like to knit a parasol stitch cardi - this is carried over from last year's plan (I used that yarn for something else).  I'm not sure whether I'll use some undyed BFL I have, or Madeline Tosh sock in Porches Be Like.

What else?  A pale grey and neon peach jumper.

Probably the same style as this, but with the neon peach round the hem, neckline and cuffs, and if there's enough, a few stripes on the arms.  I've got two unicorn tails of it, so that's how much I can use.

Also carried forward from previous years' lists, the Icon dress - I think one of the reasons I haven't started this is because it won't be very portable once I've got stuck in to it.  But I really want the FO, so I should just keep it for a home TV knit and let it take as long as it takes.

The navy peplum cardi - I just didn't get around to it in 2018, I suspect the same may happen again, but I know I'll wear it once it's done, so I'm not ruling it out.

Sewing
I plan to continue making more sleeveless dresses, either with straight skirts (like this) or pleated skirts (like this) and making inroads in to my fabric stash - although at this point I'm not going to commit to any particular fabrics, I do have a mental 'I want to sew a dress from this fabric this year' list.

I bought a pdf of the TLC caftan pattern in 2018, and having spent HOURS printing, trimming, sticking it together and then tracing it and cutting it out (and I do mean HOURS - it's why I really dislike PDF patterns), I really want to sew at least one.

These two fabrics are the front runners.  I bought the blue & white paisley print from Dreyfuss in Paris in 2018,

and the white block printed fabric came from FibersToFabric on Etsy, a very tempting shop...

Skirts - carried forward from last year - a turquoise harlequin print pleated skirt (I'll probably use the skirt from a dress pattern and add a waistband)

 and also a pink check wool straight skirt.

Definitely a dress using this 1930s  pattern

and this fabric (seen here with the Porches Be Like wool, which goes rather well)

I spotted the fabric on 1930s cherie's Instagram feed (she has some amazing clothes)

Photo screencapped from Instagram

but also having seen Keeley Hawes wearing this dress in The Durrells, which is a similar style to the pattern I have, but with sleeves

And Rosumund Pike wearing the same dress in an early Foyle's War episode, I rather like the idea of making a polka dot one too if I can find the right fabric.

I'd also like to make a lightweight dressing gown from Tana lawn, probably using the pattern from the GBSB series 4 book.  I may also be inspired by something in series 5 of GBSB, which I'm really looking forward to watching.

And a Regency dress, as well as finishing the muslin one which I've cut out but done nothing with.

Plenty there to keep me busy!

Knitting and Sewing Review of 2018

Well, it's that time of the year again.

Looking back at my knitting plans for this year I have actually achieved quite a bit of what I hoped to do.  The first two knitting projects (Love Potion cardi and the spotty 30s top), are done.

The third (navy Arroyo peplum cardi) is still waiting in the wings.  Project no 4 (ultramarine cardi) got knitted.  Project no 5 - 50% successs rate - I used the yarn (for a different project), but the design idea is still on the to-do list.

No 6 (Judy in Disguise) - yes, done.  No 7 (vintage v-striped top), carried forward.  No 8 (green Wollmeise lace vintage cardi) - yes, knitted.

So 5.5 yes vs 2.5 no - a resounding success in my book - possibly my best since I started writing these planning posts - I don't think I've gone beyond 50% achieved before now.  I do wonder though whether this year's achievements are partly down to setting the bar at a more realistic level than I have done previously.

There are also still quite a few items outstanding from previous years.

From autumn 2014 (and therefore also into 2015) - Purl Alpaca dress and Grasshopper cardi.  From 2016 - of the two Excelana cardis I planned I knitted up one this year here, although I didn't use the pattern I'd originally intended, and I destashed the wool for the second, so that's never gonna happen now.

The rust cotton DK cardi is also still pending - possibly because if it's warm enough for a cardi I want it to be wool, if I only want a light layer in the summer then DK is too thick.  So... not sure what will happen with this yarn/pattern combo.  The Grasshopper cardi appears here too... must get round to knitting it!

I also destashed the wool I planned to use for the Wallis cardigan, so that pattern is in hibernation at the moment - I still like and hope to knit it, I just don't know what with now... or when.

From 2017 -  two Kate Davies Buachaille patterns are still outstanding, the Purl Alpaca dress popped up here again as well.

In addition to the planned projects I knitted a cardigan for my granddaughter which I haven't blogged about - it's a Drops pattern (this one) which I modified because I wasn't going to knit squirrels.  I finished it back in February and surprisingly it still fits, although I think the sleeves are getting a bit short now.

Back view

I also knitted two cardigans and a top from vintage patterns,

two cardigans which I designed myself

and two shawls.

I've just done a quick totting up - yarn bought this year  - 27,285 metres, (eek...) yarn destashed 21,070 metres, yarn knitted 12,777 metres, so I've ended the year with about 6.5 kilometres less yarn than I started with - hooray!

The sewing hasn't been quite so much as planned, although I have made quite a few dresses from fabrics that I've had in my stash for a while (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. 11, 12), which I'm pleased about.

Here are the non-maxi ones

I finished the denim skirt (and made another one),

I didn't do anything with the Dreyfuss dress, or the Vogue irises dress.  Shirtdresses and 40s dresses are also a big fat fail.  Regency dress - I've cut out a muslin (actually using muslin which was a pain to cut out because it's loosely woven and was therefore rather slippy) but can't remember which pattern I used now, and also I think I changed the bodice slightly, although I can't remember how...  this will end up being a nightie, because I'm not leaving the house in a white see-through dress.

The two skirts and two Coco tops are still unmade (although I did ask a work colleague who has used the Coco pattern if she had any tips / advice, and had intended to get at least one made before Christmas, but ran out of time).

Maxi dress yes (no 8, above), and another one for the Outfit Along challenge

Seaside print dress no, which was daft really, because we had such a glorious summer this year... dress for granddaughter, no, vintage dress yes (no 12, above), Colette Rae, Marilla Walker Isca, coral stretch all no.  However, the last entry, although I haven't used those patterns or sewed that fabric yet - yes, quite a few!  Two dresses were from fabric which I bought this year, but the rest were stashbusters.  I have a few as yet unsewn other fabrics I've bought this year, but if I include what I took for the swap table at this year's sewbrum this year there has definitely been more fabric out than in, which pleases me.

All in all, a very satisfying year on the creative front.  Roll on 2019 for more of the same!

Joshua Tree cardigan

I wasn't sure whether I'd get this finished this year, but I finished the second sleeve last night and so it's in under the wire for 2018.  I bought the wool this year, so it's not a stashbusting project - I don't often buy wool with an immediate project in mind, but this was one of those times.

Standard construction for cardigans I knit without using a pattern - first pick a stitch pattern -  in this case two - the cable pattern is from the first Barbara Walker Treasury and is called Reverse Plait cable, or Branch cable. It’s easy to work, and is the second time I’ve used it (the first time was on an aran-weight cardigan I knitted in pre-blogging days).  The eyelet pattern is the column lace from the Honeybee pattern, (and is also in Barbara Walker’s second Treasury - called Honeybee Pattern with Faggoting).

The body is knitted in one piece up to the armholes then separated for fronts and back (at which point I make fake side seams), shoulders are seamed and sleeves picked up and knitted top down.  The button band is knitted on and I did seven three-stitch one-row buttonholes.  The buttons are vintage from my stash - I can't remember where I bought them though.

Knitted with Madelinetosh Sock yarn (one of my favourites, but has become very expensive so I only ever buy it when it's on sale now).  This wasn't an easy colour to photograph - it's definitely more of a yellow-green than blue-green, and I love it.

Cloud Illusions x 2

My sister asked me to knit her a scarf for Christmas, and even though she chose the wool and the pattern, and knew she was getting it, I've held off publishing this post until after she's received it.

Before and after - the magic of blocking

So, this one is for her, knitted in Malabrigo sock which she chose from my stash.

Front view

Back view

And this one is mine, knitted in Skein Queen Wisp which I bought five and half years ago at Unravel and just haven't got around to knitting up until now.  It's lovely yarn, like wearing a soft, fluffy cloud.

 As this is skinnier than the Mal sock I knitted it on smaller needles (3mm and 3.5mm as opposed to the 4mm and 4.5mm for the purple one) and decided to knit it straight after the purple one while the rhythm of the pattern was still fresh in my head.

Neither of them took very long to knit - I do like this pattern, I've made it five times now!

50s print dress

I bought the fabric for this dress from Hammersmith Vintage Fair 3+ years ago and it's been sitting patiently waiting for me to make up my mind which pattern to use it for ever since.  I decided it was high time I stopped prevaricating, because I love the print and wanted to wear it.

So... it's another Simplicity 5510 / New Look 6824 combo.  It's also one of my #2018makenine challenge items.  I've actually only made three out of the nine this year - four if you count the Merlot cardigan (used the yarn, but not for its originally intended design).  Once again my enthusiasm exceeded the time available, but never mind, it did focus my mind on knitting and sewing from stash this year, which is largely what I've done.  I'll write more about this in my end-of-year round-up.

I love this dress and am very pleased I finally got around to sewing it!  And that's it now until after Christmas...

Merlot cardigan

I had originally earmarked this yarn for a different project (photos five and six in this post), but having done a sample swatch of the stitch pattern decided that I'd prefer to use wool (this is an alpaca/silk blend) for that design idea.  It hasn't left the starting blocks yet, but I'm hoping I'll get it knitted next year.

So... I decided to knit this up in a simple design, which is all stocking stitch, and added stripes to the ribbing.  It didn't take long to knit and is very soft and warm.  The buttons I'd originally planned to use, which looked fine when the yarn was skeined, didn't really 'go' once it was knitted, so I had a root around my button stash for some different ones - in the end I went with the ones on the left.

And here's the finished item

Ember cardigan

This cardigan was inspired by a photo posted on Emmydesign Sweden's Instagram account - I loved the colour combinations - there are currently more photos on their website here (Autumn/Winter 2018).

Photo screencapped from EmmyDesign Sweden's Instagram account

This was my first time knitting with this wool (Cascade 220 Fingering) and I bought it specifically for this project (I already have quite a bit stashed for future fairisle projects though).  I knew I wanted to put some cables in, but not across the whole of the cardigan otherwise it would have taken me too long to knit - I wanted to wear it this year!

I bought the buttons from Birmingham indoor market during this year's SewBrum trip.

I'm really pleased with how it's turned out - I'm actually wearing it as I write this post and it goes really well with my mustard denim skirt.

Viva Frida dress

A few weeks ago I went to the Frida Kahlo exhibition at the V&A museum in London.  I had three lots of Frida fabric in my stash, the one I used for this dress being the one I bought first and visiting the exhibition was the incentive I needed to get it made up (I really like it, like so much of my fabric stash there was no reason for it languishing, I'd just not got around to sewing it).

The pattern combo is the same as I used for the the bamboo batik dress here.  This version took 2.7m of fabric, because I did do a bit of pattern placement although I can't remember now exactly what that was!

Now I just need to get the two other Frida fabrics made up...

Mustard denim skirt

This is another version of Simplicity 1246, a vintage pattern from 1955 which I first made here.

I wanted to replace a mustard corduroy rtw one which can partially be seen here and which is wearing out.  But could I find either an rtw replacement or any mustard cord to make one?  No I could not, so I decided denim would be the next best thing.

This is heavier weight denim than the first version I made so it hangs very slightly differently, but is none the worse for that.  Like its blue forerunner, I've already worn it a fair bit and it's been a really useful addition to my cool weather wardrobe.

Bamboo batik dress

In a quest to find a 'go-to' pattern for autumn dresses I started with this mash up of the bodice from Simplicity 5510, a vintage pattern from 1964 which I had made back in the summer of 2015 (here), and the trusty pleated skirt from NewLook 6824.  This was back in September and I haven't yet moved on to an alternative!

I bought the fabric from The Cotton Patch in Birmingham en route to SewBrum 2015 and it's a lovely cotton in shades of yellow, purple and green on a black background.

I modified the bodice - moved the darts and changed the seam allowances - from my 2015 version, to get a better fit (I've since passed on that dress) and used the pocket pieces from Simplicity 2444.  This took all of the 2.5m which I had of this fabric, and because the print is small and busy I didn't bother with any kind of pattern placement other than lining up the centre fronts of the bodice and skirt.

Rather than turning up the hem twice I decided that since I've got an overlocker I should really make use of it so I overlocked the raw edge and then just turned it up once and machined it - much quicker.  I also didn't faff about for ages trying to get the sleeves in without any puckering.  I don't enjoy easing seams and since this is a dress for autumn / winter when I will almost certainly always be wearing a cardigan over it, no-one is going see this bit of short-cutting.

I'm pleased with how it's turned out, and the fact the bodice has facings rather than a full lining works in favour of it being a cooler season dress, because I need to wear a slip under it to stop the skirt from sticking to my tights.  A lined bodice as well might be a fabric layer too far in a centrally heated office!