Knitting and sewing review of 2019

Knitting

Well, I managed to knit only from stash and not buy any wool at all this year apart from some Drops Baby Merino to knit a Christmas jumper for my grandson (and a couple of other colours to make the order up to value for free p&p), and I justified that because I didn't have the right colours in stash.

So this year's tally is
yarn bought = 2,275m
yarn knitted = 11,021m

Overall 8,746 metres less in my stash than at the beginning of the year - hooray!

I knitted quite a few things from my plan for the year which I'm pleased about - I got stuck in to my Home Fires knitting project, I blogged about the individual knits here, here, here, and here, and wrote a general update on patterns and my visit to Bunbury (where it was filmed) here.

I also knitted two jumpers and three cardigans from my 2019 plan and one other, a baby cardigan for my newest grandson

and a Christmas jumper for his older brother (I ran out of time before I could knit one for my granddaughter, so if she'd like one she can have one next year - the Rudolph jumper was specifically requested!).

The cardigan is from a vintage pattern that I've used before.

Although I didn't knit the dress (again), and two cardigans are carried forward to Spring 2020 - by the time I got around to thinking about knitting them autumn was well on its way and I knew I wouldn't wear them for months if I started them in September - I'm very pleased with the total output.

Sewing

This year's sewing has consisted entirely of sleeveless dresses all of which, apart from the navy daisies one, were sewn from fabric I already had.  And all except one (Anya) had a pleated skirt.

Bodice patterns used
Sew Over It Betty (10)
Butterick 5748 (3)
Simplicity 2444 (3)

Skirt patterns used
Simplicity 3749 (7)
Butterick 2248 (2)
New Look 6824 pleated version (6)
New Look 6824 straight version (1)

It turns out the most popular combo was Betty bodice and Simplicity 3749 skirt - I made five of these,

closely followed by Betty and New Look 6824 pleated - four.

These two both have Butterick 2248 skirts - only suitable for 56"+ width fabric (Betty bodice on the left, Butterick 5748 bodice on the right)

And here are the rest - the three dresses with Simplicity 2444 bodices (bottom left and the two on the right) and the other two with Butterick 5748 bodices.

I bought 5.5m of fabric this year - daisy print poplin which quickly became this dress, and some bee print corduroy which I have yet to sew up.  I also took quite a few metres of fabric to Sew Brum for the swap table, so much more out than in!

Overall I'm pleased with what I've sewn, having made good inroads in to my stash, although the output bears little resemblance to the original plan beyond the first paragraph!

Grey jumper

Another stashbusting jumper which I have now crossed off my '2019 to knit list'.

I used the same pattern as for this jumper and this really didn't take long to knit at all, just over a fortnight in fact.  The grey is Drops Baby Merino and the sleeve contrasts are Madeline Tosh Unicorn Tails in Edison Bulb and Neon Peach.

Once I'd knitted the first sleeve (the peach one) it became obvious that I wouldn't have enough wool left to do the second one the same and so tried striping the two colours together, but I wasn't very taken with it.

So I overcame my 'but if I do them different colours they won't be symmetrical' feeling and did the second one entirely in the Edison Bulb.

And I'm perfectly happy with it.  I know I'll wear this as a weekend jumper over the winter - it's a wool equivalent of a sweatshirt.

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!

Baby knitting

Along with knitting for myself, this year I have been knitting for my new granddaughter (actually it's last year as we're now in 2018...).  The first thing I finished was this vintage cardigan (bottom left).

I love this pattern, I think it's so pretty and I knitted one for her mother when she was a baby.

Then I knitted a quick bobble hat to go with it - this is a pattern from Debbie Bliss Baby Knits book which I bought when I was first pregnant.

This is actually the same shade of wool (Drops Baby Merino) as the cardigan, the lighting must have been different when I photographed it.

And most recently a pram set - again, another vintage pattern which I'd knitted for my daughter.

I changed it slightly though - no criss-cross stitching, I just did plain  moss stitch, and an i-cord neckline.  The grey is Drops Baby Merino and the yellow was some I had left over from this cardigan.  The little flower buttons came from John Lewis.

This also got a matching bobble hat.

And I also made one exactly the same (minus the button) for one of her friends.

Green stripey jumper

Inspired by two similar striped jumpers that crossed my Ravelry radar, I decided I wanted to knit my own version.  The pattern I used is basically the same as I used for this jumper, although the neckline might be very slightly different - perhaps a couple of rows lower - I don't really remember now!

Anyway, I'm very pleased with how it's turned out, I really like this pattern as a go-to sweatshirt alternative.  I may well knit another one next year, I have rather a lot of leftovers of this particular yarn (Drops Baby Merino), in lots of different colours so will have a play around with different colour combinations at some point.

I probably won't wear this one until next Spring though...

Me Made May 2017 week 2 summary

So, week two.

On Monday I had the day off work and as it was 8 May, which was VE day (also it wasn't particularly warm), I decided to wear my Suffragette City top with black leggings.  I did get some sewing done - I had a pair of curtains which needed hemming - I'd cut and pinned them weeks ago and then put them to one side, so I got my act together and finished the hemming.  Bonus is that now I have plenty of pins available for dressmaking use!  I then cut out a denim skirt, but haven't done any more to it than that yet.

On Tuesday I wore my Anna La Paloma dress and an rtw cardigan.

On Wednesday I wore my Paper Roses Cambie dress and Sam Stewart cardigan.

On Thursday it was my pink polka dot Butterick 5748 dress and an rtw cardigan.  This dress changed colour slightly in the wash some time ago and the dots are a now a more vintage-y looking cream colour which I actually prefer to the original white.

Friday was my Cath Kidston birds dress and an rtw cardigan.

Saturday was Bluebirds Emery dress and an rtw cardigan.

And on Sunday I wore another Emery with an rtw cardigan.

And that was week two.  Another not very warm week unfortunately - what is it with the weather?

Starring stripes! jumper

One of the groups I belong to on Ravelry is running a year-long vintage knitting KAL this year which I decided to join -  my challenge is to knit four vintage patterns with a striped design using stashed yarn.  This is the first.

I'm not sure when or how I acquired this pattern - possibly from a work colleague who gave me a carrier bag full of vintage patterns several years ago.  Maybe.  It's a booklet called Two designs by P&B, number 635, and has a black, white and red checked / fairisle design on the front cover.  Anyway, this is a good stashbusting project if you have  lots of part-ball leftovers.  I used Drops Baby Merino for this.

Again, I altered the neckline so that it wouldn't need a button placket in the back, and I also made the sleeves slightly shorter to conserve the main colour.  As it was I used every last scrap for the neckband.

Apart from the multitude of ends to be sewn in this was a quick knit.  I've given it to my sister but I would quite like to knit another one for myself at some point as I really like the style.  I still have enough leftovers to do all the stripes but I'd have to buy more wool for the main colour, so, maybe next year...

Toddler jumpers and 2016 sum up

My final knit of 2016 was this jumper for my grandson.  Yes, his name begins with 'B' ;-).  Despite editing, the colour isn't really right in this photo - the 'B' is navy and the red is a bit brighter, but every time I brightened the red the blue became even further from its original colour.

I used this pattern as a starting point although it has a lot of ease, so I measured an existing jumper and adapted the pattern accordingly.  I marked out the letter 'B' on graph paper and knitted using the intarsia method - my first, and so far only, time of doing this.

Whilst I'm catching up I also knitted him a stripey jumper earlier in the year.

This was loosely based on this pattern (although without the lace design obvs), which I'd knitted for my daughter when she was a tot.  I've been stashing knitting patterns for years ;-).

As I'm writing this in April 2017 I feel it's a bit been-and-gone to do a round up of 2016 really.  An eventful year, I was very glad of the creative outlet of being able to design and knit the ideas I can see in my mind's eye.  In summary, I made four dresses, two shawls, eight cardigans, four jumpers and two children's jumpers. I also ended the year with less yarn than I started with which I'm pleased about - I did a fair bit of destashing as well as knitting.  I'm not so sure about the fabric side of things, I think given that I only made four dresses I probably increased the size of my fabric stash!

And looking back to this post I see I only completed two cardigans and started one jumper from the projects I listed!  The others are still in my queue to be carried forward...

Monochrome Breton

This is another Breton style jumper, similar to my grey and turquoise one but with additional waist shaping in the back.

I tried a few stripe sequences and decided I didn't like the large white stripe.

Wide white stripe was a definite no-no

The colours look different in these pictures because some were taken without the benefit of natural daylight - the trouble with taking photos in autumn evenings!

Also, I only had one ball of the mid-grey colour so that influenced the decision - I ended up using all of it bar a few yards.

I do like this style, it's the knitted equivalent of a sweatshirt in my book.  Also, stripes are good for using up leftovers!

Suffragette City

I'd been wanting to knit another Your Victory jumper for a while but not necessarily in red white and blue.  I love purple and green together so I tried a couple of stripe sequences and decided the one on the left looked better so that's the one I went with.  The name is a nod to both the colour combo and David Bowie.

This is such an easy pattern to knit.  My first version had long sleeves but this colour combination made me think of spring so I decided to do short sleeves this time round.  I had to change the rate of increases on the sleeves to get the right number of stitches at the point of casting off for the armholes, and I picked up and knitted the neckband in the round.  Other than that I followed the pattern.

I really like this and may well knit another one - there are lots of lovely versions on Ravelry with different colour combinations.

Winter Breton jumper

I'd seen a fair few designs for Breton jumpers appearing on Ravelry and decided I needed one!  Initially I'd though about using stripes in different colours, but in the end settled on using just one colour - Madeline Tosh Button Jar Blue.

The style was vaguely based on my Sparks in the Stream jumper, but I put some waist shaping into this one and also the stitchcount was different because this is knitted with skinnier yarn.  I've knitted quite a lot of garments with Drops Baby Merino and really like it - I found this colourway was not quite as soft as the others I've used though.  Only a marginal difference, but still different.  I used Madeline Tosh Unicorn Tails for the stripes and needed just over three.  The cuffs, hem and neckline are finished with i-cord.

My daughter saw me knitting this and asked me to knit her one the same, so this second version is hers.  I already had the Drops Extrafine Merino in stash (DK, lighter shade of grey than mine) but had to get some of the Button Jar Blue in DK to knit the stripes.  Luckily Meadow Yarn came up trumps (and while I was there I bought some Tosh sock yarn shhhh...)

Because this was a DK version it knitted up more quickly than mine, particularly the sleeves were much quicker to knit than with 4 ply.  She is really pleased with it which makes me happy :-).