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.