I'm on a roll! Bandana cowl

I've been even more productive, making a second knit in the same week. This is the Bandana Cowl that I knit for a friend (after, once again, spending hours browsing Ravelry for patterns, and also starting and frogging a few).

Don't ask why there's a weird glow on my face, no photo editing could get rid of it! 

I used some of the Colinette Zero I had left over from the Under the Cover of Midnight cowl, and I can now say with some certainty that I don't really like this yarn. Its frizzy (and I have enough of that in my life already), and heavily textured (which means that the thick and thin bits complicate making anything with lace or with any sort of defined border). The colours are beautiful, its nice, snuggly and warm, but its just a pain. 

This was quite a nice little pattern that I might well make again when knitting gifts, pretty fast because of the short rows, which are used to knit the 'point' of the bandana (another yarn issue here, because of the multiple colours and weird thicknesses, I couldn't quite see the wraps so I had to use a marker as a reminder).

Also, if I were to make it again, I would probably opt for a worsted or aran weight yarn. The pattern calls for bulky yarn  but my gauge was way way off - I decided to go for it with the 6mm needle even though it was not quite right because I was worried it would be too dense with a smaller-size needle. 

So I was basically winging it. I followed the pattern until the wraps, then lost track because of the yarn but then got into a bit of a rhythm. When the short rows were done, I did not follow the decreases as written because the cowl was getting a little too long (wrong gauge and all). I only knitted one row in between for the first three decreases and then did three more decreases consecutively. It worked, somehow. I feel that this is a recurring theme in my life!

Link to Ravelry here

Autumn instant gratification: almond comfit

Autumn is definitely here, despite the random rays of sunshine we seem to be getting. And although its not yet warm woolly weather, I really felt like making a hat just to get myself back into knitting mode. I still intend to finish baby corn, I just needed a bit of an instant fix first to get me there.

I have had a skein of Manos de Uruguay wool classica in various shades of purple (surprise surprise) for almost 2 years now, and it was always going to be a hat. I just hadn't made up my mind about which hat. So in search of a pattern I went, browsing through Ravelry for probably hours until I came across Saturday Treat by Ysolda Teague. 

Now, I'm a big Ysolda fan, so I was quite surprised that there was a collection out there I had never noticed before. This was apparently published in January 2012 and must have gone a little under the radar because the knits have few projects on Ravelry. There are six patterns, in the style of Whimsical Little Knits (so hats, gloves etc), designed and published in collaboration with Fyberspates.

I was immediately drawn to Walnut Whip, but the sport-weight yarn is not exactly compatible with instant gratification. Instead, I opted for Almond Comfit, a beret-style hat with a lace flower shape at the front. 

The construction is weird and can be confusing: it is knitted more like a shawl than a hat, starting with the lace flower and gradually increasing in a sort of triangular shape, which is then decreased and finally joined through a kitchener stitch. I guess think of it a bit as a bandana wrapped and tied at the back of your head?

I was prepared, as everyone on Ravelry had already noted that its confusing, and mainly recommended to follow the instructions without thinking about it. And its true, you just need to follow the instructions. And remember that you are NOT knitting on the round and instead knitting back and forth (that's where I went wrong anyway). I didn't bother with the kitchener stitch, I did a three-needle bind-off instead, which I have decided is my favourite kind of bind off.

Once I understood what I was doing, it just flew by, and by the end of the weekend I had a hat. Yay! Of course the next day it was 22 degrees celcius, but no matter, I am sure it will be here soon.

I have to say, its a little slouchier than I expected. I picked the medium size (yes, it comes in three sizes!) and was a little worried it would be too small or beanie-like, but actually its very much a berret, made a tiny bit slouchier because I got confused in the decreases and knitted an additional two rows by mistake.

Here is the back, to admire the pretty colours!

I tried to take a photo of the flower but for some reason it is really out of focus and almost impossible to see the flower because of the colours. Perhaps this would work best with a solid colour instead to ensure that the lace is clearly visible.

Link to Ravelry here

My week in sewing - cushions, and the Margot pyjamas

While I am still knitting my Baby Corn (albeit in a slower than snail-like pace), I have been experimenting further with sewing. Making cushion covers. Lots of cushion covers. The plan is to eventually replace all the sofa cushions with new, hand-made ones. We have thoughts of replacing the sofa cover as well, but I think I should leave re-upholstering to professionals.

After three cushion covers I decided it was all cushioned out and ready to try something a little different and possibly a little scarier. So I went for project number 2 in my Love at First Stitch book - both of my sewing books are arranged as sort of workshops, with projects increasing in difficulty and different skills introduced in each workshop.

Anyway, back to the project, which was the Margot Pyjamas, an actual item of clothing, even if intended to just be worn at home and not seen by the public. I set off, all eager, first ironing my giant piece of fabric (I guess the recommended length is not for shorties like me), then tracing the pattern onto this transparency thing that I picked up at John Lewis and, after cutting the pattern, tracing it again onto the fabric for cutting.

Yes, a lot of faffing was involved, partially I guess due to inexperience. It took me ages to work out what size to pick (damn you small waist and giant hips), and then the various steps of tracing and re-tracing were so time-consuming, makes me wonder whether the tracing method Tilly recommends might be more efficient. At least now I have the pyjama pattern already traced so one step would be cut if I were to make them again in the same size.

The assembly and sewing itself were fairly straight-forward, apart from the fact that I didn't understand how to join the two legs together and ended up sewing them onto each other (this might not make sense but basically was unwearable and needed picking).

I love them because I made them, but there are some issues with the size. They look big - they are pyjamas after all. But I had to pick a bigger size than I needed to fit them through my hips. The ribbon helps them stay on, but I wonder whether a smaller size with an elastic waistband might work better. At least the length I somewhat arbitrarily picked seems right, they are sort of 3/4 to ankle-length, which is what I wanted.

I also can't decided if I like the fabric. I felt a little overwhelmed when I was at John Lewis and everything just seemed incredibly expensive - who pays £30 for pyjamas, especially badly made ones? (perhaps that is not the right frame of mind though). So I picked up one of the few that was on sale and had colours (purple) that I liked. But it is not the snuggly-type affair you would want from your pyjamas, and I don't even know if I like the pattern anyway.

Anyway, I am still happy with my first ever item of clothing - if you can call pyjamas clothing. I am wearing them right now in fact! 

Learning to draw straight lines - sewing the foxy cushion

Yet another abandoned project you ask? The Baby Corn dress has had a bit of a rough summer, first when I tried it on half-way through knitting it, only to realise that it was gigantic and I would probably never wear it. At that point I decided that I should rip it back to the bust and decrease the number of stitches to make it narrower, and then convert it into a top - something a bit like the Petrie shell, which I wear quite a lot. And then I was on holiday for 2 weeks and had to put it down. But I am determined to finish it eventually!

Poor Baby Corn - back to square one

Summer is apparently the month when a lot of knitters I know pick up their sewing. I was in a bit of a confusion as to whether I wanted a loom or a sewing machine for my birthday, so I just didn't decide and the decision was made for me - a sewing machine is now mine!

When I opened the box and took it out, I was terrified - so many buttons and dials, some many bits and pieces that I could break or lose. My friend, a seasoned sewer (or sewist?), reassured me that it is easy once you to grips with it, so when we got back from holiday I decided to brave some sewing.

After the initial terror of not having a clue how to use it, I managed to experiment using cut-offs from a dress that was in my charity bag, learning to sew in a straight line, and hemmed (very badly!) a pair of tracksuit bottoms that I had cut into shorts a while back.

At that point I felt ready to start a real project - I picked an envelope cushion cover from Sewing Machine Basics, the book I bought to teach myself. As the book suggests, this is a good first project because all you need to know is how to sew in a straight line and how to do a double hem.

The cushion is made in three pieces, a complete front piece and two back pieces that overlap to form, as the name suggests, an envelope. After ironing the fabric (advice from the other book I bought, Love at First Stitch), I drew the cushion measurements and cut them up.

That was lesson number one. After I hemmed the pieces and assembled them, I realised what a terrible job I had done in measuring and cutting, as they were nowhere near properly aligned and overlapping! Apparently using a ruler does not guarantee that your lines will be straight. Apparently, also, it might be a good idea to do all of this on a table instead of the floor.

This is where my impatience rises up and makes itself known. Of course what I really wanted is to get the sewing machine and be able to make beautiful dresses and accessories immediately. So clearly I'm not there yet. But no matter, the cover may not be perfect but it still fits the cushion and the dodgy stitching is either hidden inside the cushion or not visible because of the white on white background.