Larch cardigan- finished!

It look a bit like the hem is uneven in this picture but it isn’t really I promise!

I’ve finished my Larch Cardigan by Amy Christoffers. I am very pleased with it indeed. So pleased in fact that I was happy to wear it for pictures on a day that is far too hot to need a cardy (I took it off straight afterwards).

I used Garnstudio DROPS Alpaca for this pattern and once again I loved it. It’s cheaper than most other alpaca, lovely to knit with and really soft to wear. I used some of the wool I had left over from making my Bridgewater Blanket which felt like another money saving. I really like the colour and think it’s great for a summer cardigan.

I used 3.5mm needles for a lovely open fabric.  I really like the way this has turned out in the final cardigan. It was a little tricky with the bind-offs as I had to make them really loose to stop the fabric from puckering around a really tight bind-off. Before blocking it looked a bit dodgy where I’d cast off around the neckline (before picking up the stitches) but now it looks fine.

If I was making it again I would add on little pockets like annabear2005 has done here. I think it looks really cool and I love pockets. However, it’s too late for that now so my only option is patch pockets. I have a little bit off wool left so I might give it a go.

As you can see I haven’t put any buttons on yet and I’m not sure if I will.  I tend to think that buttons just at the top emphasise your tummy and highlight any sign of a gut (this would particularly bad after lots of cake and I am very partial to cake).

The pattern was really well written and easy to follow and over all this was a very simple knit. Picking up the stitches for the collar was a bit annoying but I got into the rhythm of it in the end. It took me a little while to figure out that I needed to stop picking up stitches at the end of the curve before the straight cast off stitches. The twisted rib became very tedious in the end but it looks nice so it was worth it.

All in all I am very pleased!

Peony dress – progress so far

I’ve made a start on my Peony dress. I am trying not to get too excited about it as my sewing ambitions don’t quite match my skill (yet-although I’m working on it!).

I suspect that this dress may take me a while (while I go wrong and then have to redo things) so I have chosen a very pretty fabric that I won’t mind looking at for a while. I like the fact that it works both ways up so I didn’t have to fiddle about too much when cutting out the pattern pieces.

I really like the butterflys and the little plants

I managed to make a mistake before I’d even started and cut the pattern pieces out on the right side rather than the wrong side. However I’m hoping it won’t make too much difference so I’m ignoring it and carrying on.

The last time I had a go at a Colette pattern the waist was far too big but the hips were a good fit. To try to get around this I’ve cut a smaller size for the top which should fit (if the measurements on the packet are to be believed). I have my fingers crossed that it won’t ruin the line of the dress…….

Now that I’ve started sewing it the waist is looking very small. Maybe I was having a very thin day when I was measuring…. It does fit but I’m a bit worried that it might make my bottom half look huge because it goes in so much. I suspect I might have to take the waist darts out a little on the front. I’m thinking that I’ll need to tack the skirt to the bodice and try it on to know properly.

I’ve tacked the sleeves in but I haven’t got them quite right yet. I think I need to take them out again and then redo the gathers closer in and then have another go. I haven’t helped myself with my mistake in the cutting out as the notches are in the wrong place. I’m determined to make it work though….

Hélène by Veronik Avery – Finished

My Hélène by Veronik Avery is finished!

I think my hopes for this one were slightly too high….I was really excited about it and was sure that it was going to be a new favourite. Now it’s all sewn up I’m really not sure about it.

Knitting the front and back wasn’t too bad (although it was fiddly to get them to match exactly) but it was a total pain to sew up. I messed up the shoulder seams and had to do them a couple of times. In the end I did the three needle bind off the wrong way around which seemed like a good idea at the time but now I think looks a little odd and bulky.

Another dubious picture taken in the mirror with my messy bedroom in the background I'm afraid.....

In the end I just wanted to get it finished so I rushed through the final sewing up. I picked up too many stitches on the neckline so it’s quite baggy. It was a little too baggy to stay on my shoulders so I had to stitch up the sides for half an inch or so. I tried to be neat but it looks a little messy…..

On the plus side I love pattern on the jumper and the wool……

Cushion cover with button fastening

A few weeks ago I finally got myself a new sewing machine (well, when I say ‘ I got’ I mean ‘my mum helped me to get’). I love my old machine but it isn’t terribly modern or indeed practical. It is an old Singer from the 70s that used to belong to my Nana. It looks very pretty and has a lovely retro feel to it. However, it has one speed and that is ‘very fast’ with the pedal offering no opportunities  for slowing down. The tension is a fine art and is prone to altering itself if the table is accidentally knocked. It has two stitches; straight or zig zag. It’s awesome if you want to sew straight stitch in a straight line really fast but not very good for anything else (unless you are much better at sewing than I am!).

While my new sewing machine isn’t nearly as pretty as my old machine it works about a million times better. Anything it lacks in style it makes up for with an automatic button-hole, needle threader (this is the most exciting thing for me..), bobbin winder that works every time you try to use it, ability to sew as slow as you want, 26 stitches, a selection of non broken feet, huge variety of stitches……I could go on but suspect you are very bored by now.

The automatic button-hole is particularly exciting as you just pop the button into the foot and it works out how big the button-hole needs to be and sews it for you. Literally no skill or thought required! Rather than wait for a project that requires button holes I decided to make a cushion cover with button fastenings to try it out.

I got this lovely fabric ages ago. It was going to be a top but I didn’t actually remember to take the measurements with me and didn’t actually buy enough fabric. As I’m a bit lazy rather I just got the old horrible brown cushion cover and used that as a template. I added on a little extra for a seam allowance, hems and button band. I hemmed the sides (so that I didn’t have any fraying edges on the sides or the edge of the fold at the top) and folded it in (half leaving 10cm for the fold) and sewed up the sides.

After a little bit of practice on scrap fabric the button holes were super simple and as easy as I’d hoped. All I had to do after that was dig out some buttons I had lying around (I have a lot of buttons lying around…….I love buttons) and sew them on. I think the pink looks pretty cool with the navy stripe.

I’m very pleased with my finished cushion cover. I didn’t have to buy anything and it’s approximately 100 times better than the old one. I was a bit worried that it would be really obvious that I’d used grey thread (I didn’t have either white or navy and couldn’t be bothered to trek out into the rain to get any) but you can hardly tell.

While I was taking pictures of my new cushion cover I was reminded of this awesome one that my sister made me for my 30th birthday. She has some amazing cross stitch skills and , as you can see, a lot of patience!

The perils of picking up stitches

I was very pleased when I finally finished the front and back piece for my Hélène. I still love the colour, the wool as been a treat to knit with and I was excited to see what it would look like when put together.

Rather than sewing up the front and back pieces the pattern calls for you to pick up stitches and on each side of the shoulder and side/underarms seams and then join them together with a 3 needle bind off. I like this approach as it should be nice and neat. Most of the joins are across purl stitches and, while I can get a lovely invisible edge with a knit stitch, I can never make a purl edged seam invisible.

Picking up the stitches on the first sleeve went fine mainly because I was able to start with cuff. The problem came with the second sleeve. It was the second piece I’d made and I totally forgot to mark the start of the neckline. I made a little guess when I noticed but it became apparent, when I started picking up the stitches from that point, that I’d guessed wrongly.

I tried to go back and work out exactly where the marker should have been. It’s very tricky given the pattern and the small stitches. In the end I gave up and started to pick up the stitches from the cuff. To do that I had to pick them up backwards (picking up stitches on the wrong side with the right side facing me). This seemed to go okay but because I had the wrong side facing me I couldn’t really see what I was doing. When I finished I realised that the previous attempt to pick up stitches had caused the stitches to stretch and left me with a huge ladder all along the seam.

Rather than stopping and thinking of a different approach at that point I decided to press on and finish the 3 needle bind off. That was a bad idea. Despite my optimism it didn’t look better once I’d finished and I wasn’t able to sew it up and fix it. I also realised that if I undid the 3 needle bind off I wouldn’t be able to catch the picked up stitches on the side that would work and would end up with a ladder on that side too.

Uncharacteristically, I wasn’t massively annoyed by this minor stitch picking up disaster.  In a last ditch attempt to get rid of the massive ladder I have blocked the pieces out. This hasn’t quite worked. On the plus side the pattern has blocked out beautifully. I now have two options:

1. Try and create ladders on the other shoulder seam so that they match.
2. Pick up stitches from much further in and risk a bulky seam.

I am going to go for option 2. I am determined that I will make this project work as I want to wear it!

 

Larch Cardigan by Amy Christoffers

While I’m fiddling around with lace and counting repeats with my Hélène by Veronik Avery I need a simple project when my brain needs a break. The Larch Cardigan by Amy Christoffers fits the bill perfectly.

I”m making it with Garnstudio DROPS Alpaca in grey. I’ve used the exact same wool and in the exact same colour before and I really liked it so I’ve decided to use it again. I’m after a really loose fabric so I’ve used 3.5mm needles.

I’m very please with progress so far and I’m very excited about finishing it!

Should you give up on a sewing project?

urgh this is not my finest work (or my finest photo)!

Several months ago I started to make the Colette Ginger Skirt. I like the style of the skirt and it looked to me like it would be flattering for a pear shaped girl like myself and also go with most things. I was also keen to try another Colette pattern as I really enjoyed making the Sorbetto.

I was very excited when I started. I got myself some lovely grey fabric and made a start at cutting it out. All was going well while I was sewing the seams and the waist band. Then came the zip….. I was very frightened of the invisible zip so I put the skirt back in the sewing pile until I worked up the courage.

This weekend I finally got started again. I put in a passable zip (thanks to this Colette tutorial). Technically the zip isn’t quite as ‘invisible’ as I might have liked but it’s in the skirt and looks alright so I gave myself a pat on the back and carried on.

When I tried the skirt on problems became apparent. There are several:

a) The fabric isn’t the best choice. It drapes nicely but it’s a little too clingy on the hips. My hips are not my best area so this is a very bad thing.

b) The waist band isn’t level all the way around. I’m not entirely sure how I’ve done that…

c) The waist band is too big. I have smaller waist than my hips so I should have anticipated that this would be a problem.

d) My under stitching is too far away from the seam making the top of the skirt bulky and emphasising the fact that it is too big.

one side of the waist band is bigger than the other.....

I am feeling very grumpy about the whole thing as I suspect that most of the above problems aren’t fixable at this late stage (and with my limited sewing skills). I can’t help but think that there’s no point in finishing a skirt that I can never wear so I may have to abandon the whole thing. I hate giving up on project as it feels like a waste of time and money but I can’t imagine that I will drum up the enthusiasm and time to work on something I won’t wear.

I am doing my best to cheer myself up about the whole thing by focusing on the new skills I have learnt. I’ve  (almost) figured invisible zips, attached a waist band and worked out how to make interfacing work.

That’s not really helping to cheer me up about it so here is a cute picture of Coco instead:

Coco is queen of the castle

 

Hélène by Veronik Avery- progress so far

I spotted Hélène by Veronik Avery on Ravelry a few weeks ago. I really like the pattern and I think it will make a lovely summer top. I’m very excited about it!

I had a look at the recommended wool which is Quince and Co. Sparrow. It looks lovely but it’s not the cheapest and totally out of my price range. Instead I’m trying it out with Garnstudio DROPS Baby Alpaca Silk. As you’ll know if you read the blog regularly I love Garnstudio; the quality is great and the prices are really reasonable.  I haven’t used this wool before but I’m really impressed so far, it so soft and silky and it feels much more expensive than £3.00 a ball! I love the muted green colour as well.

The project is worked in two pieces from sleeve to sleeve. This is the first time I’ve worked with a project like this. The front and back will need to match up exactly for it to work properly so it’s a little bit of a challenge for me (I can be a tad slapdash). The project gives a lot of the instructions based on measurements,  however, as this is lace project and it’s very stretchy it would be hard to be totally accurate.  To be sure that my front and back will match I’ve had to start counting the pattern repeats and making a note of how far I’ve got at certain points. My notes consist of a lot of 0.5 and 1+0.7 so I hope it all makes sense to me when I get to the back!

The lace pattern for this project is really simple and easy to remember. I haven’t quite got it off by heart yet but I’m sure that I will by the time I’ve finished.

I’m making the smallest size (32) and it is looking very small at the moment! The fabric is really stretchy and quite bunches up at the moment though so I’m confident that it will really grow when I block it out.

Boyfriend jumper

I’ve finished the 135-36 Jumper for men with textured pattern in Karisma Superwash by DROPS that I’ve been making for my boyfriend. It’s all blocked and ready to wear. It’s very green….

It was a really easy pattern with no shaping and I made it even easier by simplifying the pattern. I took the needle size down to 3.5mm for the body and 2.75 for the ribbing.  It was pretty quick to make and not too dull as I had the cables every 12 rows or so. There was a bit of sewing up to be done at the end but I actually quite like sewing up, I find it quite relaxing.

I used the wool the pattern recommended Garnstudio DROPS Karisma Superwash. I wanted to give at a go because at £2.25 a ball it’s a bargain for pure wool. It also promises to go in the washing machine which is pretty essential as I can’t see this jumper getting hand washed…

I wasn’t sure about the wool when I was knitting with it. It was much better that the Hjertegarn Lima I made a jumper from at Christmas but still a little bit scratchy. It’s really softened up after blocking and given the price I think I’ll be using that again.

I really like using the DROPS wool, their prices are very good without sacrificing quality. I haven’t found anything cheaper that isn’t acrylic. I normally get my DROPS wool from Scandinavian Knitting Design. They are really nice to deal with and the wool comes super quickly. I tend to have a look on the drops site for the actual colour first to get more of an idea, although when you’re buying wool online you can never quite be sure what colour you’re going to get.

My boyfriend likes his jumper (which I am very pleased about!). I think that it is a bit too big and a bit too green…… I like the pattern though so I think I might make it again in a small in a less bright colour.

Saving a favourite t-shirt with a bit of dye

A couple of years ago I got this t-shirt which I love. Given that it’s white it’s been a minor miracle that I have managed to avoid spilling something on it and creating a massive stain. Unfortunately I wasn’t so good at  remembering to put it in a white wash which has meant that it has faded to a rather unattractive shade of grubby white/grey (it looks surprisingly white in this picture- it didn’t look like that in real life).

I didn’t want to get rid of a perfectly good t-shirt just because it wasn’t white anymore so I though I’d have a go at dyeing it. Often the problem I have with fabric dye is that they make it in very vivid colours and I tend to wear slightly more neutral tones. I wanted a grey but settled for a brown as they didn’t have any grey (do they even do grey?).

 

It’s come out a bit darker than I thought it would but you can still make out the bike on the front so it’s not too dark. Overall I’m pleased with the results and looking forward to wearing it. I really like the way that the stitching hasn’t taken the dye and has stayed white.

In the same load I also put in a vest which was far from the original white. However I didn’t heed the instruction on the packet and wash it beforehand. It’s come out look fantastically 90s tie-dye and not in a good way (if there is a good way to look tie-dyed…)

I’m trying to think of a way that I could fix it but fear it may just have to go in the bin……