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.

Love Potion cardigan

Here is my first finish of 2018...

I have had this pattern for a few years now, I think I bought it when it was first published and it's been waiting patiently for me to get around to knitting it.

In all my years of knitting this is the first thing I've knitted top down.  I'm not wild about it as a construction method in the way that some knitters seem to be, but maybe that's because it's new to me.  I can't see me ever trying to convert bottom-up patterns to knit them top down though, although I may well try and do the opposite!

It was also the first time I used German short-row shaping - this I'll definitely do again.  I followed this little vid on YouTube to teach me how to do them - very straightforward.

I used Drops Merino Extra Fine wool, which is lovely and soft to knit with (although, like their baby merino, is a bit splitty if you need to unpick and reknit) and the cardigan is very warm to wear.  I wasn't sure whether I'd have enough of the mustard to knit the whole thing in one colour, so I decided to do the buttonbands and collar in grey (which I had left over from the winter Breton jumper I knitted for my daughter).

Now, the back neckline, I don't know why the collar sits like this rather than fully covering the part where it joins the back - maybe it's the shape of my shoulders?

I've spotted that it also sits like this on a couple of other projects made with this pattern (possibly more, people don't always take photos of the backs of their garments).  It wouldn't be so noticeable if I'd knitted the collar in the same colour as the body of the cardigan though.  I have no idea how to change the pattern to stop this from happening, and I'm certainly not going to unpick it and try!

I bought the buttons from Textile Garden - I used 8, although I don't think I'll be buttoning up the top two because it pulls the collar in too much towards the centre front.

I don't know why the pattern has the buttonholes on the left - maybe in Switzerland there isn't the differentiation between men's jackets and cardigans buttoning left over right and women's right over left (the pattern designer is based in Switzerland)?  Anyway, I put the buttonholes on the right-hand side and did one-row 3-stitch buttonholes.

Being knitted with DK this didn't take very long to make and, apart from the way the collar sits - which I can live with because I can't see it, I'm pleased with it and have worn it a few times since I finished it.  It's a bit of a departure from the waist-length fitted style of cardigan that I usually knit, but good for wearing with jeans in the winter!

Yellow and grey Hemingway dress

This dress is made with a gorgeous quality Hemingway design fabric from a trip to Brighton three years ago, and I love the print.  It's another Ruby bodice / different skirt mash up - I used the skirt from a vintage pattern which I picked up in the pattern swap at #sewbrum a couple of years ago.

I had to fiddle about with the pleats a bit to get the two waistlines to match up (the skirt being bigger than the bodice), but pleats are really quite forgiving of a bit of adjustment here and there and other than that this was a straightforward make.

Shown here with a petticoat - this dress is one I'll probably wear in the winter with a wool cardigan and boots (and the petticoat for extra insulation).

Olivetti cardigan

Like my Mica cardigan, this is another reverse engineered cardi.  I liked the look of the original, but again, the pattern was designed  for thicker wool than I wanted to use.  I'd bought this yarn a while ago (Uncommon Thread BFL light DK from Loop), it's the same as I used to knit an Audrey in Unst, and it's a dream to knit with.  I snaffled the lace pattern directions from a Drops pattern and the three-stitch cables are, well, three-stitch cables!

I did patterning on the back as well for this cardigan.

The shaping is kinda based on Audrey in Unst, although I made this longer.  Buttons were in my stash, I can't remember where I bought them though.

I'm pleased with how this has turned out, although it's now been put away for a few months because it's not a colour I would wear in the spring and summer.

Plomo jumper

And... finally getting to this year's knitting!  I finished this in early January and it's a vintage pattern from Marriner's.  I can't remember now where I came across it, probably on Ravelry.  I used Malabrigo Arroyo in the Plomo colourway and I got exactly the right tension - this hardly ever happens!

Marriner's 291

I like the look of the rib stitch, although it doesn't have much 'give' in it.

The saddle shoulders are a nice touch too.

As written, the pattern has a 6" zip in the back.  I wasn't going to fiddle about doing that so I altered the neckline, making it lower and wider, and also making the saddle shoulder sections a bit shorter to accommodate this change.  I then picked up and knitted the neckline in the round.

I'm pleased with how this has turned out, the wool was a delight to knit with and is very soft next to the skin.

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!

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 :-).

Me made May week 2 round-up

Moving swiftly on, here's a round-up of week 2's outfits.

8 May - This is an rtw dress, I absolutely love the print and have bought some of the fabric which I have yet to make up.  Once I've done that I'll probably either turn this dress into a skirt, or maybe pass it on.  The cardigan is an Emelie which I made in 2013.

Day 8 - Home Sewing is Easy dress and Emelie cardigan

9 May - Here we have my grey and yellow birds Emery, and Little Grey Cardi, which I made back in 2011.  I should wear it more - I've got quite a lot of clothes that it would go with and I wore it a lot when I first made it.

Day 9 - Grey and yellow birds Emery and Little Grey Cardi

10 May - This cardigan is the same pattern as the one for day 9, but in blue and made a year later.  The dress is my Antoine et Lili-ish Cambie

Day 10 Antoine et Lili-ish Cambie and Queen Anne cardigan

11 May - Red daisy Emery dress and an rtw cardigan.

Day 11 - Red Daisy Emery and rtw cardigan

12 May - Vogue repro pattern 8728 in floral fabric which I love, and an rtw cardigan.  I think I've got enough of this fabric left to make a blouse - it's very soft and has a lovely drape - so that's added to the ever increasing list of things I want to sew!

Day 12 - Mustard yellow Vogue 8728 and rtw cardigan

13 May - An rtw dress which I bought in Sainsbury's last year after seeing it on Sarah's blog and a work colleague telling me the same week that she had seen a dress in her local Sainsbury's which she though was very 'me'.  It was obviously meant to be mine!  The cardigan is one I've knitted this year and yet to blog about.

Day 13 - Lemons dress by Tu and Primroses for Spring cardigan

14 May - another freezing cold day - wearing an aran weight cardigan in the middle of May is just not on!  I finished it in early 2013, so it predates this blog.  The dress came from People Tree a few years ago and is one that I've worn a lot.

Day 14 - People Tree dress and grey aran cabled cardigan

Well, that's two weeks caught up now, only one more to go!

In the land of grey (leaves) and pink (birds)

Two dresses here, one (the grey one) I actually made in November last year, but have only worn once because of an accident with the pinking shears.  It's a combination of two New Look patterns - 6824 skirt & 6723 bodice and why I decided on that particular combination I really can't remember now.

Grey leaves dress

As I was trimming the back seam I managed to snip the dress - arrrgghhhh!  I decided to fix it with some fusible interfacing - since I hadn't actually cut any of the fabric out of the dress I thought this would be a good way to glue it back together.  Actually, I thought it was a brilliant idea and felt quite smug that I'd thought of it.  And it worked.  No-one would know there had been an accident except me.

Unfortunately... once it had been washed in the machine the interfacing came partially unstuck and took some fabric with it and there was a definite hole in the dress so I put it to one side knowing that it would need a more substantial repair.  And it has stayed put aside for months.  I was really quite pissed off about it because I love this fabric, I bought it ages ago in Ikea and of course they don't sell it now.  I only bought one metre which is why the centre of the bodice is plain grey - there wasn't enough to make the whole dress out of it.  I have got a few offcuts left over and I think I'll have to make a feature patch to sew on top of the offending hole - I haven't thought of any other way of making an invisible repair.  If it had been a gatherered skirt I'd have unpicked it at the waist and just cut the back pieces narrower, but it isn't.  I've ignored it all summer but since it's now definitely grey dress weather I think I need to get creative - maybe I'll cut out one of the leaves and applique it on - the hole is at the top of the back vent so I'm hoping this will look OK.


The second dress is from some fabric that I bought at Ditto in Brighton in the summer.  I nearly bought it in a blue, but then spotted the pink and decided that I preferred that.  This dress is an Elisalex bodice with an Emery skirt although without the pockets because I didn't have enough fabric.  I love it, it's so summery - which means it's now been put away for the winter, but will make me smile when I unpack it next spring.

Pink birds dress

Autumn and winter knitting plans

Originally this was going to be one post together with the sewing plans but I decided to split it into two shorter rather than one loooong post so, here are my knitting plans.


I've got some baby knitting on the go at the moment - a cardigan - and then I have two hats planned and also a cuddly toy, but haven't decided what to make after that - but I will be using the yarns below in various combinations.

The toy will be a lion and I've bought a pompom maker for the tail - I'm now wondering what else I can make pompoms for...

Drops Baby Merino

For myself I really want to knit the Icon dress.  I love this and bought the pattern and yarn at Unravel in February 2013 after having seen the dress on the Purl Alpaca stand  and tried it on.  I started knitting this last autumn but ground to a halt because of a hemming construction issue, but I think if I start soon I should be able to get it finished in time for Unravel next year.  Since it's knitted from the bottom up the most time consuming knitting will be at the start and then it should, theoretically at least, get quicker.  And no sleeves, yay!  I don't like knitting sleeves, for me it's the worst part of cardigan knitting.

Purl Alpaca Icon dress and Purl Alpaca yarn

However, I do want to knit several cardigans, but realistically am unlikely to make more than a couple simply because there aren't enough evening and weekend hours to get through all the knitting and sewing I want to do.  In my head I can knit much faster than I can in reality.  So, I'd like to make one or more of the following  Paulie, Love Potion and Funky Grandpa

Paulie, Love Potion and Funky Grandpa

and I've sorted out the following yarn combinations as possibilities...

Handmaiden Casbah

Malabrigo Sock

Handmaiden Casbah again

Then I'd also like to make Audrey in Unst in some lovely mushroom coloured wool which I bought in Loop,

Audrey in Unst and The Uncommon Thread BFL light DK yarn

I'd also like to make a green cardigan and a grey cardigan in the wools below, I have ideas in my head for how I want them to turn out, I just need to work them out on paper.

Madelinetosh sock in Grasshopper and Drops baby merino grey yarn

I just need to pick a final stitch pattern for each one from one or other of these books - they are a great resource, which would be even better if the lace patterns were charted - although it doesn't usually take me long to write out a chart it would be nice if I didn't have to!

Barbara Walker Treasuries

And finally on the cardigan front, I bought the mini-skeins below at Unwind in Brighton back in July, and would also like to use these in combination with probably either some grey (again) or maybe navy wool for cardigans too.  Although not all the same cardigan.  They may end up being used for one of the stripey patterns above...

Madelinetosh Unicorn tails and fivemoons mini skeins

Then finally finally, I also really want to knit this jumper in Excelana Land Army Green, but with long sleeves.  I can't see the point of a short sleeved jumper for me, my arms would get cold and I've got enough wool for long sleeves so I just need to work out the shaping and away I go (yeah right - loads of enthusiasm too many other calls on my time at the moment!)

Pattern in A Stitch in Time Vol 1 and Excelana yarn from Susan Crawford

 
I'm also kinda missing lace knitting, so a shawl or two may end up on the needles as well...

And just like the sewing plans I know that this is a hopelessly over-ambitious list...

Emery no 2, and Me-Made-May

Yes, another bird print dress and my second Emery, although this time with sleeves.  I saw a dress made up in this fabric towards the end of last year, although for the life of me I can't remember whose blog it was, and knew that I had to seek out the fabric and make a dress from it for myself.

I love yellow and grey in combination with each other and, as I think is kinda obvious by now, I also have a thing about bird prints.  So, I found the fabric at Hawthorne Threads, and while I was there another bird print fabric somehow found its way into my shopping basket as well.  I think that is going to end up as a shirt dress, quite soon I hope.

Not much to say about this dress that hasn't already been said by other bloggers - it's a great fit, this fabric has a bit of stretch in it - and is easy to sew.  And I love it :-)

Grey and yellow birds dress

 I've decided to sign up for Me-Made-May this year and this is my pledge - I Helena of libraknitsandsews.blogspot.com, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-May '14.  I will wear a me-made dress to work every day during May and will aim to finish a cardigan I started knitting last month.  I would also like to make a dress with buttons, or more accurately, buttonholes!

Wearing a me-made dress to work every day during May won't be difficult because I'm not actually working that many days this month due to the bank holidays and me deciding to take extra days off next to them.  I think I've already made enough dresses to wear something different every day.  But I do need some impetus to finish the cardigan I'm knitting - if I don't get it done this month I can see it languishing unfinished until the autumn.  I've knitted the body up to the armholes, so about a third of the way there.  I need to finish the body, add the button / buttonhole bands, finish off the neck and then do the sleeves.  If I lose the will to live over any part of this it will be the sleeves - knitting sleeves is just plain boring as far as I'm concerned.  But I want it to have long sleeves, so I'll persevere.  And the yarn I'm knitting it with is lovely, and that definitely helps.  If anyone reading this is on Ravelry, it's this one. 

Now I think I need to go and decide which pattern-with-buttonholes I'm going to make up, and start cutting out fabric.