Luxury yarn for a luxury hat for my luxury hair

We've all been there. Bought that really expensive top or shoes (or yarn) and just left it in our closet, not wearing it out of fear that we will ruin it, that no occasion is worthy of it. 

This is what happened when I finally succumbed to the softness and shine of the Fyberspates Scrumptious yarn at the Ally Pally Knitting and Stitching show last year. Should this be a cowl, I wondered, or perhaps fingerless gloves? But is it wasted if I make gloves, which tend to felt and pile as you wear them? And so it sat in my drawer, unused and unloved for a full year.

But my year of making my own clothes has taught me to show them my love by wearing them rather than admiring them in my closet, and I decided that the time had finally come to make something out of this lovely yarn. And here it is.

The yarn is obscenely expensive (I think I paid £15 for one skein of 100g), but it is AMAZING! Definitely the most beautiful yarn I have ever worked with. Ok so it isn't very highly twisted, which made it hard to do all those k2tog and ssk that lace needs, but it is truly a joy to wear. The silk means that it is super super soft and not scratchy at all (something that I struggle with with 100% wool yarns unless they are merino), and also it has a beautiful shine that makes it look that extra bit special. And surely the silk will help stop my stupid hair from going frizzy?!

It helps, of course, that this was a really nice pattern to knit. The pattern is called Schwimmen, and I found it while looking on Ravelry for inspiration based on what other knitters had used this yarn for (which also convinced me that it was ok to use such a luxury yarn for a hat). It has that really good combination of being interesting to knit because of the lace, but at the same time not so complicated that you have to take copious notes and can't do anything else at the same time for fear of distraction. 

Close-up of the lace pattern

I did change it a little bit though. It calls for casting on 110 stitches, but that seemed like far too many so I decided to cast on 100 and then increase after the ribbing panel was done. I couldn't be bothered to calculate how to change the rib based on my number of stitches, so I just did a k1p1 rib instead. And I don't have 3.75mm needles (for the ribbing), so I used one 3.5mm and one 4mm - unorthodox, I know, but I figured it would probably average out somehow! 

The end result is also meant to be quite slouchy, but I was worried it might end up a bit too slouchy, if such a thing exists, so I started the decreases after round 25 of the second round of lace pattern. 

All in all, a huge success for my first fall accessory. Maybe one day I will I deserve something incredible extravagant and buy myself enough of this to make a cardigan or jumper. Maybe.

Of trees and owls: Henriette and Akita

I've been incredible lazy and slow at posting, apologies to anyone who actually follows the blog. I have been crafty, just not really had time to write about it, promise! Here's a bonus picture of Dr Jenner mid-lick, with a hint of the project below (if you are not interested in knitting, you can probably stop here).



Let's start with the Henriette cardi by Andi Satterlund. Remember I said I wanted to get some cotton yarn that behaves more like wool and was thinking of trying Blue Sky Alpacas? Well, I did, and I tell you, this yarn is awesome! Its soft and squishy like wool but also non-itchy and light like cotton. I managed to find some on sale from Mrs Moon so it wasn't horrendous, and it turned out that I bought a whole skein more than I needed (I think I bought four skeins but I only used three) so this wasn't as expensive as I thought it was going to be.

So, back to the cardi. Simply said, this was complicated. Andi does call it a challenging knit, to be fair to her, but I feel that perhaps it is written in a more complicated way than strictly necessary. I essentially had to take notes on what  I was supposed to do for every single row and have at least two if not three sheets of instructions in front of me at all times. I tried to knit some of it during a long drive to Cornwall to use the time for something useful, but the complex instructions along with me getting car sick (apparently knitting on the bus and the car have a different effect) meant that it was impossible.

I didn't deliberately make any modifications, but I completely misunderstood the instructions for the lace/cable trees in the bottom back of the cardi so I think I basically ended up with one giant tree in the middle and two bushes on each side. Oh well!

For anyone interested, the back has three consecutive sections of the lace/cable pattern and the instruction is to start the first and third at row 11 and the middle one at row 1. What I did was to stick to 11-20 for the ones on the side (the 'leafy' top of the tree) and 1-11 for the middle (hence the long bark). Whereas towards the end I realised that I was meant to just keep cycling through the pattern instead (eg the middle column would go from 1 to 20 and then back to 1). The instructions towards the end also got a bit confusing, where you are decreasing and thus loosing bits of your tree lace/cable, but I have to admit that I forgot what I did there. It definitely had an element of improvisation as I didn't understand the instruction.

At the moment the buttons I have on there are too small so it doesn't look great closed, and I am hoping that the look will improve once I replace them. It does, however, seem to be a little big on the shoulders (it sort of slides down), and I am not entirely sure how to fix this, perhaps picking up fewer stitches for the button band would help? It would also stop it from puckering, which it does at the moment when buttoned up. I think I would also make the sleeves longer if I made it again.

And as another bonus, I have a sewing project to share that I can't be bothered to write a separate post for (now that I am on the roll and all). This is the seamwork Akita top, which came for free with the first issue I subscribed to (although now the seamwork team has decided to let you pick whichever pattern you like every month, which would have been handy last month for me instead of paying for the Astoria). And yes, this top has owls, woo hoo! (or hoot hoot!)

I read lots of people commenting that this is an odd one as it is one giant piece sewn together on the sides, and to be honest, I am not sure it really works, at least not on my frame. It looks quite baggy at the top but then it is too tight around the hips, to the point where I had to make the side slits longer. I also have a sneaky suspicion that I cut it against the grain (still struggling a bit with this), which may explain, first why the owls are sideways, and also how it hangs. But, I have worn it once already and it is quite comfy so I'm not giving up on it.

I also decided to add a little label so that I can tell which is the front and which is the back, which for some weird reason is making me very happy.

Ok, that's it for now, hopefully I won't take ages to write again.

Quickie makes: the Seamwork Astoria jumper and Gertie's mini skirt

My knitting has stalled thanks to a new addition to the family, Dr Jenner, which interferes with my balls of yarn (yes, the rumours are true, cats do have a yarn obsession!) He wasn't exactly helpful with sewing either, but it was a little easier to get him out of the way and sew some quickie projects.

On a whim I signed up to Seamwork, Collete's monthly online sewing magazine that also comes with two free patterns which are meant to be beginner-friendly and doable within 3 hours at the most (a bargain at $6 a month, but I suppose only if you fancy the patterns). Of course instead of making the ones that came with my subscription, I decided to buy the Astoria , a boxy cropped jumper made in knit fabric - still, that was only $5! that's nothing! Especially because I've already made two.

What's interesting is that this is a perfect demonstration in how using different fabrics can give you completely different results. The first Astoria I made using some sweatshirt fabric, as recommended by the pattern and, frankly, because I had some lying around. I cut the size as measured, yet it turned out fairly tight, to the point where its a bit of a struggle to put on and take off. And when I wore it the other day I felt a little suffocated by it (even though it wasn't touching my neck, must have been mostly psychological).

The second one I made using some Hacci sweater knit fabric from Girl Charlee - I had no idea what that meant until my parcel was delivered, but let me tell you, this is the softest, most comfortable fabric ever! It was, however, a bit of a bitch to cut and sew, not because it curled, mainly it stretched a bit too much and the layers kind of stuck together. No matter, its such a joy to wear, and I'm sad that its so thin I'm unlikely to wear it for much longer (weather in London has taken a turn for the worse).

I don't know if you can spot the different when worn (eg, the neckline on the black one is much higher), but here is a close-up of the two together as well.

Oh, and the skirt is another quickie make. This is from the Gertie Sews Vintage Casual book, the pencil skirt modified to a mini A-line skirt, made in a Ponte fabric. To be honest, this is not really my best work, I made it a bit too short (because I didn't read the instructions properly) and so to compensate for that I adjusted the elastic so that it would sit quite low, but I didn't do a great job so its still a little big. Its a cute little cover-up for the days I fancy wearing leggings though so I'm happy enough with it. 

Dipping my toe into intermediate territory - The Pauline Alice Cami dress

I've wanted a shirtdress for a while now (like the Colette Hawthorn and the Sew Over it vintage shirt dress) but they are all intimidatingly tagged as intermediate or advanced.

But when I came across the Cami dress by Pauline Alice, which was very cheap as far as sewing patterns go and involved only printing 14 pages, I decided to give it a go. I figured I could brave an intermediate pattern if I don't rush and just carefully work each step. My fabric was also pretty cheap so it wouldn't seem like such a huge loss if I messed it up.

And it has pockets!

And I don't think my attempt is that bad for someone who has been sewing for only a year! I love the colour and the fit of the bodice from the front - the back has my usual pooling of fabric, which I think I should finally try and sort out next time I make a dress. Its not as bad as usual though because I made the shoulders one size smaller than the chest and waist, which helped a bit. The waist could have been a little smaller too, it was not as fitted as I had hoped so I increased my seam allowances further to tighten it up a bit.

I had to make some crazy, thrifty pattern placement when cutting as I discovered that I didn't have quite enough fabric. I ended up cutting the pockets from a different fabric, but the collar was a bit of an accident. Essentially I was being my usual self and not reading the instructions properly so I didn't see that I had to cut two of each collar pattern piece. By the time I realised, I had thrown away the tiny scraps  I had left over so I had to use a bit of an old duvet cover. We are going to pretend that this was a design decision though!

I suppose what makes shirtdresses not friendly to beginners is the collar and the buttonholes/button placket. But to be honest, they were not that hard. I had already done buttonholes for the Arielle skirts, and although I got a bit confused with what I was meant to do with the collar, Pauline Alice's instructions and a video I found on youtube were very informative, so it all worked out fine.

Where I had real trouble was gathering and attaching the skirt to the bodice. My first attempt was a bit of a disaster, as my gathers were not even so it looked like I had a huge hump on my right hip. I ripped it and tried again, and I am still not 100% happy with them and I can't work out whether it is my technique or the skirt just doesn't really suit me. I like it a lot with the belt but I think it looks a bit weird without it and that's because of the shirt. So next time I make this I think I am either going to make a less voluminous skirt or switch to a circle skirt or an A-line skirt.

Belt-less and a bit weird?

The zipper was another disaster. I haven't had great success with zippers so far, and this wasn't helped by the fact that the zipper I bought doesn't have teeth on the inside, which meant I had to attach it from the outside, and it kept moving around and just being annoying. The fact that this was a side zipper complicated matters further, as I had never done one before. I intend to try and do it again, and possibly even replace it with an invisible zipper (no idea I didn't use an invisible zipper in the first place, definitely next time!)

All in all though I am very happy with it. When I was trying to decide whether to make it or not I looked at all the blogs I could find to work out whether I would be able to do it but all the bloggers were quite experienced (and thus could not offer this info). So if you have come across this post and are an adventurous beginner trying to decide whether to make this, I say go for it!

My Made Up Initiative pledge: Arielle skirt(s)

I am fascinated by the fact that there is such a thing as an online sewing community and delighted to be part of it now, along with my online knitting community on Ravelry and Google Plus. One of the blogs I follow set up the Made Up initiative, relying on the sewing community to pledge finishing a project and raise money for the National Literacy Trust. And as a bookworm myself, I couldn't help but join in, pledging to finish not one but two Arielle skirts.

You see, I realised that I have a ton of dresses, store-bought and now handmade, and a ton of t-shirts. However, I have little to pair them with because I don't have that many skirts and I don't like wearing jeans (even though I have way too many pairs of jeans!) It was time to make some skirts, and the Arielle just seemed perfect.

This denim one  (photographed in Cornwall on its first outing) is the first one I made. When I tried it on before sewing on the buttons I thought it was too small so I changed the seam allowances to 3/8. It turns out it would have been fine, the problem must have been the fabric, which although was tagged as medium weight on the Minerva website, it was labelled as heavy and was actually heavy (the pattern calls for a medium). Making the buttonholes for the first time was also a breeze, although I had trouble opening them up (possibly because of the thickness of the fabric?).

The buttons are super-cute little ladybirds but having worn the skirt now once I think they were a mistake as they have been a pain to slot through the buttonholes! I foresee having to sew them back on several times in the skirt's lifetime.

I also made a black cotton sateen one that creases like crazy and seems to attract all the dust and dirt around - I washed it together with a cordroy fabric I bought at the same time and it picked up a ton of fluff! For this one I left the seam allowances as they were supposed to be and it fits fine. There is something weird about it though, can you spot it? Its the wrong way round! I have no idea how that happened, but anyway, I'm not too bothered about it. Again, the buttonholes are not great (had trouble opening them) but I'm hoping this will improve with practice. At least these buttons are a bit more practical despite also being quite pretty. No fancy backdrop here I'm afraid, just my living room!

Oh, and I made another Lady Skater. Number three is slightly customised, with a sort of pleated sweetheart neckline (following the instructions on my most recent purchase, Gertie sews vintage casual). I also decided that I didn't really like the colour of the fabric I bought for it (I thought it would be a deep burgundy but its more of a rust), so I used some black fabric for the bodice to break it up a bit. I didn't like the join of the top and bottom though and decided to add a belt to cover it up.

The last piece of the outfit - summer infinity scarf

Summer is not exactly the right time to making scarves, but my Miette and Birdy Skater outfit wouldn't be complete without a little infinity number for those slightly chilly London summer days (or for sitting in the office being blasted by frozen air).

This was made using the rest of the King Cole  Bamboo yarn from my Castle pullover, which I thought would be ideal as it is light, shiny and very very soft. As this is DK yarn, the 7.5 dpi heddle that came with my little loom seemed appropriate, although at some point I feel I should buy a heddle for thinner yarns to make finer scarves and fabrics.

I opted for a thin scarf width-wise, and calculated the length based on the two infinite scarves I have from Fat Face that I wear all the time. Unsurprisingly, I worked it out wrong. Not only did I measure the scarves incorrectly, I didn't add enough length for the inevitable wastage.

But no matter, this just means that the scarf goes around my neck twice rather than 3 times, and given that it is a bit thicker than my Fat Face scarves, 3 times may have been a bit too warm for summer.

The next challenge was to 'infinitise' the scarf by sewing the ends together. It took me over a month to do this, but I got there after finishing Birdy Skater. Sewing was obviously not an issue but then I wasn't really sure what to do with the ends, I tried using the mock overlock stitch on my machine but the threads were a little to big for that.

So, if anyone reading this can offer tips on how to finish edges, I would be so so grateful! 

Summer crafting with Miette and Birdy skater

Despite appearances, I haven't been lazy. To prove this, I'm posting two - yes two - projects today: the Miette cardigan and the Birdy skater.

Summer is definitely not the time of the year for knitting, but after finishing my Castle Pullover, I decided to make a summer cotton cardi. I wanted something cropped and with short or 3/4 sleeves to wear over dresses as an extra layer. Andi Satterlund's designs are super cute, to the point where I couldn't really decide which one I wanted, so naturally I went for the free one.

The pattern is really well-written and well-designed - I particularly liked how it all comes together through the addition of the button-band and collar. The only modification I made was to made the sleeves a little shorter, which was a good thing because I almost ran out of yarn (7 skeins of the Drops Paris). Annoyingly, I didn't write down what I did for the first sleeve so I almost ended up with mismatched sleeves, but thankfully noticed the discrepancy soon enough. I also skipped the ktbl in the rib and stuck to plain k2p2 rib instead (out of laziness, I will admit).

I wish I had made it a little shorter though, but that might be the cotton rather than the pattern. The cotton yarn also means that it doesn't lay as nicely (the lace detail around the button-band and collar doesn't lay that flat and is not so obvious) and the whole thing is a little big, probably due to the lack of springiness.

Even so, I have already worn it twice, so it clearly serves its purpose well. But perhaps there is a cotton yarn out there that has a bit more springiness (I'm thinking Blue Sky Alpacas, which is meant to behave like wool, although it is very pricey). Or I should just stick to cardi patterns that don't have any lace.

Underneath the cardi, you will notice a new version of the Lady skater, or in this case Birdy skater.

I loooove this fabric! I got it from GirlCharlee after much deliberation, and its certainly exactly what I wanted when looking for a t-shirt-style fabric as well as being very soft and very pretty. However, it certainly had all the qualities of knit fabric that make people scared of it. It curled quite a lot while I was sewing it, the pins kept falling out, and I think I may have stretched it in a few places.

After last time, I got the Colette Guide to Sewing Knits, which had a few good tips and made me think that I should explore the other stitches in my machine that may work better than a simple zigzag. I discovered that I have a knit stitch that does indeed give it a fake-overlocker (and therefore more professional) look. It did, however, eat a lot of threat, was slower and needed a bit of help to move along right at the start of a line of stitching. Also, like with a real overlocker, picking stitches when making a mistake was a pain. But it definitely feels sturdier so I think its worth using.

I also tried a stretch straight stitch for my hem (which I think just back tacks while sewing straight), and it gave it a nice edge, probably one of the best hems I've sewn. But I'm not sure its good for knits despite being a stretch stitch, as the hem ended up being a bit curly.

The ladybird skater

I've enjoyed my first year with my sewing machine, and I still can't believe that I have been able to make dresses that I wear and love. But, like most people, the bulk of my clothes are made with knit, not woven, fabrics. Which meant that, if I wanted to make clothes that I love wearing, I had to attempt sewing with knits.

At the time I didn't realize that being scared of knit fabrics was a thing, but given my general haphazard approach in life and craft, I thought it might be worth taking a class - Craftsy's Sewing with Knits gave me an awesome hoodie dress (that makes me look like I am ready for a pagan ritual of some sort). Since then, I have made three version's of Tilly's Coco tunic dress, some more successful than others. What has really been confusing is the actual fabrics rather than how to sew with them. I just wanted basic t-shirt-style fabric, but because I tend to buy them online, I never seem to get what I am after.

My first attempt was with a Ponte Roma from Plush Addict (that's the grey one), which was thicker and a bit shinier than what I wanted. The next one was jersey from Minerva Crafts (the stripey one), which was perfect - jersey, I concluded, is what I want to be buying. But then the jersey I ordered from myfabrics was much stretchier, a bit like leggings fabric, and not the nicest for a dress (the patterned one). I decided to give it another go and ordered interlock from Tissu, and once again, success (and insanely cheap)! So at this point, and despite reading a sewing book on knits and sewing advice on the internet, I am still confused about the perfect knit, t-shirt-style fabric.

Anyway, here is what I made with my interlock fabric - the ladybird skater dress. The Lady Skater dress is quite a popular one among sewing bloggers, and I can see why, I absolutely love it! It is a good fit (although a tiny bit of sag around the back), with a lovely full skirt and nice finishing around the collar and sleeves; I much prefer the neckline finish of the Lady Skater to the Coco (sorry Tilly!).

I got a little bit confused about what size to cut, as the pattern only notes the bust and waist size, but not the hips, where I normally grade up. I tried to work it out myself and decided to cut a size 2 for the top and a 3 for the skirt. In hindsight, a 2 throughout would have been fine, and I got a response from the designer, who told me that the skirt is full enough to not need grading.

Of course, this wasn't completely problem-free. The dress requires adding some clear elastic to the shoulders and waist, and this seemed to constantly be breaking my thread, which was pretty irritating. I wasn't using good polyester thread (I forgot to buy red thread and just used the thread that came with my sewing box), which might partially explain this. I also managed to break my needle at some point (!), but thankfully I have a full pack of them. I did buy a twin needle to hem the skirt and sleeves, but after the needle-breaking incident, I was a bit too scarred to use it, perhaps next time!

Castle pullover, and the importance of carefully reading instructions

I decided to go through my graveyard of dead projects and make something that I'm actually going to finish and wear. That meant goodbye to the Baby Corn dress from last summer and hello to the Castle Pullover.

I was basically after a knitted top that I could wear alone like the Petrie shell or with a layer underneath, and one that would be interesting enough to knit to make sure I'd finish it (so not too much stockinette!). The Castle Pullover is meant to be a jumper of sorts, made in wool, but I don't know that many people who would opt to wear a wool t-shirt. A bamboo-cotton t-shirt though seems far more appealing.

This is a top-down construction with raglan sleeves, which has the added benefit of allowing you to try it on as you go along, made mostly in lace. It uses a long-tail cast-on, which was a revelation to me and I think my favourite cast-on method so far.

I decided to be sensible for a change and read through the whole pattern to make sure I understood it before starting, I even circled my size throughout to avoid confusion. And yet somehow I missed a very crucial bit of the instructions, which meant that after the endless increases during the raglan shaping, I realised I didn't have anywhere near as many stitches as I was supposed to. It was hit and miss at that point, and if I hadn't paid for the pattern, I may have given up rather that start all over again.

But I persevered, got to the fun bit, aka the lace, got a little frustrated with the fun bit when I started making mistakes and decided to stop 'living on the edge', as my friend put it, and use a life line for each lace repeat. It certainly helped when I started counting out 9 stitches for each pattern repeat, as suggested by another raveller.

Its cute, its cozy because of the bamboo, and, surprisingly, the fit is fine even though I used 4mm needles with a DK yarn rather than the suggested 4.5mm needles with a worsted yarn - I guess this was a little stretchy. There are a couple of mistakes I know I made in the lace, but thankfully they are not at all noticeable.

But there's one major flaw that makes me very very unhappy. I have no idea how this happened but my raglan lines are in completely the wrong place: one is on the sleeve, where it's supposed to be, and the other is in the middle of the top! I am soooo annoyed about this and especially about not noticing earlier.

I don't know if anyone else would notice, especially because if I strategically shift it (as in the photo above) the line can somehow be in the middle rather than running diagonally across the chest. But it sort of spoils it for me, hopefully I can look past it and enjoy the cozy top despite its flaws! 

Starry Crepe (the wearable kind)

I have spent the past month trying to decide what to sew next - this is turning into a serious obsession! I seem to be possessed with the idea that I have to make all of my own clothes, at least the fun things like dresses, as I get some much pleasure out of wearing my handmades. And yes, I have been knitting as well, its just that knitting progress is quite a bit slower.

The winner of my endless browsing of sewing patters was the Colette Crepe, a wrap dress that had the benefit of no zips or other closures, and the benefit of pockets, pockets! I bought the pdf pattern because of the instant gratification but also because of the bonus of having a digital copy of the pattern in case I cut the wrong size, tear it, whatever. It seemed like a good idea at the time anyway. Not so much while I was sellotaping together 58 pages of pattern. I think it took me about 2 hours (!), and I'm pretty sure I went a bit crazy (but didn't learn, I have since bought another pdf pattern, but at least that one is only 22 pages).

While I was researching the dress I saw that there had been a sew-along on a popular sewing blog, with tips on sewing, fitting etc, and I had all the best intentions to read through it, but I didn't. I also didn't try and fit it on a muslin/toile first either. I just can't deal with the extra effort yet, as I said before, I see the first copy of the dress as a wearable muslin that I can learn from and improve on next time.

Anyway, enough talking. Here's the dress. I had to combine a size 2 for the top and a size 8 for the bottom, which seems crazy but the sizes are actually very close together.

And, surprise, surprise, it's a little big. I mean, its a wrap dress so its not especially noticeable, and I probably wouldn't have expected a better fit from a store-bought dress, but if I don't tie it tight enough around my waist, the back sags a bit. So I am tempted to cute the bodice in a size 0 next time and maybe decrease the skirt one size as well, its quite a full skirt so it can probably handle it.

Even so, its really cute, especially with this fabric. I really like the back when its not saggy and I think its a much better way to do a wrap dress (the ones that wrap in the front always seem a little frumpy to me).  I also loooove the pockets, its so great being able to carry stuff around without a bag or even to simply rest my hands in them. I hadn't really understood how the whole thing would come together while I was sewing it, so one of the pockets is inside-out, oops! But its so simple, I think I could add similar pockets to other dresses as well quite easily now.

A nautical Megan dress

Exams are over, which means I can stop pretending I'm revising (while actually wasting time on the internet) and can instead take full days for crafting. I also felt in need of some new clothes, but in the spirit of handmade, I treated myself to some fabric instead. Let's just pretend it was a reward for finding a tiny bit of motivation to revise and for having to sit down and write essays, by hand, for 3 hours (what was I thinking?).

I was going to be lazy and make another Francoise, possibly a sleeveless version for summer, most probably without trying to modify the size at all. But I feel there has been too much laziness recently so instead I decided to experiment and make the Megan dress from Tilly's Love at First Stitch book. There was always the risk it might be a disaster, in terms of fit, sewing experience etc, and in the spirit of experimentation, I embraced it!

It actually turned out to be not that bad, in fact I am rather keen on it - and I totally love this fabric, I was so glad I bought it. The cotton weight and style of dress (short sleeves) means that it is perfect for spring weather (and, realistically, summer weather in the UK as well!).

Here I am getting ready for a night out at Ultimate Power Ballads!

Of course the fit is not great, and that is completely my fault. I kind of screwed up combining different sizes and initially made the hips far too big and a little too soon, but I was able to fix that by taking in the seams a bit - that much I can handle. Part of the problem in this case is that I got confused while adjusting because the dress pattern comprises separate top and bottom pieces, and I went a big crazy with the tracing. The collar also seems to be too big and gapes at the back a bit, I thought I had done better than my Francoise dress by using the darts for the smaller size in the back to take it in a bit, but that wasn't enough in this case. I do wonder whether I'm cutting too big a size every time out of fear of the dress not fitting? I am debating whether I should go to a class that specifically focuses on alterations for the perfect fit, as I am not able to work out myself how to fix these issues...

Regardless, I may look at this one day and think its poor, but for the time being, loving the new dress :)

Lazy lazy winter, and my Liesl cardigan ready in time for summer

I have been a little slow both with crafting and with posting lately - somehow not having a job and a routine seems to disrupt everything for me, I seem to waste all the free time I have doing I'm not sure exactly what. I have sewn a few bits and bobs that I haven't bothered to blog about out of sheer laziness, and on the knitting front I have been working on one cardigan, Liesl, incredibly slowly!

Don't ask me what exactly happened. I think I started working on this in January, and pretty much finished the body in a couple of weeks - its a pretty easy and fast knit once you get going with the lace pattern. I even bought some buttons in anticipation of finishing it.

But then, I left it for maybe about a month before I did the first sleeve (which took me one evening to finish). Then, unexplainably I left it for a couple of months, pretty much forgot about it to be honest, until I made plans with a friend, who suggested we go for coffee, cake and knitting. Now, I forgot to take it with me to the date, but I did become motivated to finish the last sleeve. Hurrah! A woolly cardigan ready, just in time for summer!

I've made Liesl twice before (definitely got my money's worth!), once as a tiny little crop thing out of cotton for summer, for a friend, and once for me in a sort of cropped version, mainly because I couldn't get hold of more of the same yarn to make it longer. This time I was determined to make it a full length cardigan with 3/4 sleeves to make it a bit more wearable.

I also added a picot bind-off , although whether this was successful is debatable. At the very least I think it adds a bit more texture and interest to the edge.

It's fairly straightforward as the lace pattern is really easy to memorize, and the fact that it uses biggish needles means its fast too - the perfect project for all the rowan silk twist I bought at a bargain at the knitting and stitching show (and I have a ton of it left still, lots of Christmas presents in green silk this year!).

Lab Story mitten (or having fun being a student)

Student life has many perks, although I never expected that as part of my course (which has nothing to do with craft or fashion), I would be doing some knitting. Yes, one lovely Thursday afternoon a few months ago, my coursework was to design and knit a mitten while watching Gilmore Girls. Bliss!

The mitten is part of a group project that involved exploring an aspect of science communication and philosophy. I won't bore you with the theory, but we decided to do something to highlight the important, and overlooked, role of objects in science. Somehow, this idea became http://labstory.co.uk/ , a 'scrolly'-style website where we pretend that the lab equipment do the experiments at night to correct the scientists' mistakes.

Where is the knitting, you ask, and what does it have to do with it? Well, the 'what does it have to do with it' took a while to figure out, but we knew we wanted to do some knitting. I also knew I wanted to do double-stitch to try it out and add it to my list of knitting skills, as I don't think intarsia and I will ever meet again (the sweetheart jumper is still in progress and is probably going to be frogged very soon as I doubt I'm going to pick it up 2 years later).

So this gave birth to the Lab Story mitten (apologies for the poor quality of the photos, I have no idea why they turned out so fuzzy...).

In case you didn't get it, that is a PCR tube, complete with googly eyes and a smile (maybe I should have called it PCR tube mitten?), and if you try really hard maybe even a little cap (the tube lid). What is very cool about it, however, is that the mitten has conductive thread to allow the wearer to use a touchscreen - no more taking your gloves off to use your phone! In a frenzy of excitement, I bought quite a lot of this thread, although my flat apparently ate the rest of it and it has now disappeared.

I have written a rough pattern for it, which is not really worthy of being published on Ravelry (I don't think it is original enough to warrant it), but if anyone is interested, here goes:

Yarn: Tiger Aran (very cheap, which was perfect for this project, but I would not recommend it)

Needles: Erm, I seem to have forgotten to make a note of that, but was prob 5mm. Oops!

Cast on 30 stitches, join in the round

1. Knit 18 rounds on 2x2 rib (knit 2, purl 2)
2. Knit 2, place marker, make 1, place marker, knit to end
3. Knit 2 rounds
4. Knit 2, slip marker, make 1, knit to next marker, make 1, slip marker, knit to end

Repeat  steps 3 & 4 until there are 11 stitches between the markers

5. On the next round, knit 2, split 11 stitches onto waste yarn, join to continue knitting on the round
6. Knit until the tip of the little finger ( around 20 cm)
7. *Knit 4, Knit 2 together, repeat from * to end - 25 stitches
8. Knit to end
9. *Knit 3, Knit 2 together, repeat from * to end - 20 stitches
10. Knit to end
11. *Knit 2, Knit 2 together, repeat from * to end - 18 stitches
12. Knit to end
13. *Knit, Knit 2 together, repeat from * to end - 12 stitches
14. Knit 2 together to end - 6 stitches
15. Cut yarn, thread through remaining stitches to fasten

To make the thumb:
1. Pick up 11 stitches from scrap yarn, plus 2 additional ones, knit one row, joining in the round
2. Knit up to 4 cm
3. *Knit 2, Knit 2 together, repeat from * to last stitch, Knit 1
4. *Knit 1, Knit 2 together, repeat from * to last stitch, Knit 1
5. *Knit 2 together, repeat from * to last stitch, Knit 1
6. Cut yarn, thread through remaining stitches to fasten

The double-stitch was somewhat improvised, so I can't offer anything beyond more of a close-up of the tube. Its a fairly easy technique (as usual, I had to look at a bunch of youtube videos to get it), and once you get the hand of it it goes pretty fast. This will certainly be my technique of choice when it comes to adding patterns!

Fun times with arm knitting

I have been silent but not lazy in the crafts department, in fact I have had so many projects on the go, I have now lost track of what I need to write about! But I thought I'd start with my latest discovery, arm knitting.

Yes, I know, arm knitting is so 2014, I am totally late in the game. I randomly came across it through another blog (knitted bliss), and being my usual shopping-impulsive self, I bought the latest (and apparently most comprehensive) book on arm knitting. The idea is essentially what the name suggests: knitting using your arms instead of needles to create a rather open fabric, mainly using bulky or super bulky yarn. Other than just liking the look of this open fabric, the appeal here is that you can knit stuff insanely quickly, which is an excellent skill to have for all those last minute presents.

The book has a range of projects, some better than others (the beanie hat is a little weird and unattractive, for example), and detailed instructions on how to arm (and finger) knit - although I will admit that, as usual, I needed the visual help of youtube to fully understand what was happening.

Being, again, shopping-impulsive, I bought a ton of chunky yarn to make the vest that is on the cover of the book. And I made it, and it looked nothing like the pictures, nothing, it was a hideous mess of holes. I am not entirely sure where I went wrong, but it was a disaster. So instead, I decided to try the cowl (and there are tons of free patterns on the internet if you want to try this). It took around 30 minutes. If you are one of the people I make gifts for for Christmas, you might well be getting this next year!

I also tried finger knitting, which, again, as the name suggests, involves using your fingers (sometimes 3, sometimes 4, depending on the width of the project) to knit a fabric that looks a little like an open I-cord. This was a lot more straightforward that arm knitting (no youtube help required), and gave me a matching headband to my cowl in about 20 minutes (again, be warned, this may be coming your way!).

Anyway, its definitely worth exploring this if you haven't yet by trying out one of the free cowl patterns on the internet, and the book might be an investment if you think you might want to try a few more things. 

Peruvian scarf adventures

This Christmas brought me a new crafty toy: a loom! And with this, I think I have now completed my set of toys (she says...). Either way, I have officially run out of space and time to learn new crafts (she says, again...).

I had been toying with the idea of getting a loom since I did the weaving course last year, not one of the fancy ones I tried out during the course (which cost a fortune and are really fiddly to set up), but a little rigid heddle loom. Although it may technically be limited to stripes and checks, I think that is probably enough for me (and they do have the potential of more complicated patterns with a bit of improvisation apparently).

The (not-so) amusing thing is that setting up my little loom has been the worst part of the process so far, so I am very very glad that I did not even consider a proper floor room! Its pretty time-consuming, a little painful on my back and ideally done with a partner for ease and speed. Moreover, if you mess up the set-up in some way (for example, uneven tension), that can screw up the whole project, at least for an inexperienced weaver like me - that's what happened with my first project.

The picture below is quite forgiving, but there are many places where the two threads are not woven together, and the edges (the selvedges) are not that great. It also isn't quite long enough for my tastes. Not bad for a first attempt though.

So after a few weeks of procrastinating the second attempt, I finally set it up yesterday, with help this time to avoid any major mistakes.

And even though the set-up is a bit of a bore, once you get going, you get into a rhythm and voila! only a few hours later you have a beautiful scarf to show for it.

This second attempt was far more successful. I am very happy with the colour and the yarn is really nice. I used a plain wool yarn for the warp (the yarn that is threaded through the loom) and, for the weft (the yarn woven horizontally as you go along) the baby alpaca yarn I bought in Peru 2 years ago but had never quite figured out the best use for it. Which seems rather fitting given that I was first exposed to weaving in the weaver's colony in Peru.