Complete: An Imperfect & Loved Sombra

According to my usual practice, this is a make that should never see the light of day. This really is one of my shoddier projects, and you know what? I actually don't care :)

This is Sombra, by Elanor King, and my goodness I made a bit of mess of it!( I'll explain later) It's knitted with Patons Embrace 2 ply (lace weight).

This was published in last summer's edition of Pom Pom magazine, and it's the first summer weight jumper I've ever been interested in knitting; to me knitting is a winter sport, thank you very much. But this one swayed me for a few reasons. Firstly, a dolman silhouette is my new favourite for tops. Secondly, Having knitted a few bulky sweaters recently  I'd been wondering about attempting a whole jumper using a lace weight yarn. Finally, I found the construction of this really intriguing.

It's knitted from the bottom up, beginning with one strand of yarn. When you get as far as the beginning of the first "V", you pull in a second strand of another colour, knitting more stitches with both colours the further up you go. Once you get to the second "V", you start using a third colour/strand. Not only does this give you a great marle effect, but it means that the thickest part of the jumper is at the neckline and shoulders, so it sits beautifully and means the lightest-weight section isn't taking any strain.

The sleeves are knitted from the top down in the round, using double pointed needles, and with just the one strand. The pattern recommends a cotton yarn, but I'm a bit fed up with cotton doing its diva-stretching-out-thing, so chose wool instead. Embrace is really, really lightweight to wear, but surprisingly warm. I'm wearing this a lot lately, and apart from the very coldest days, it's been ample to counter winter weather.

 

 Here's something I didn't know - lace weight yarn goes a long way. I used two 50g balls of cream and one each of the light and dark pinks. Actually, no - two balls of the dark pink, but only because I used lt pink + dk pink + dk pink for the neckband, rather than one of each colour as per the pattern. But there's almost a full ball left, and the second cream ball could have covered it easily.

 

 The back has the same pattern as the front, which I liked both in aesthetics and in terms of knitting interest. And yes, there are two different days of photo taking here. I forgot I'd already taken some. (it'd been a while...) In the newer (sunnier) shots you can that I finally took the plunge and got my hair cut - really cut. I've always secretly wanted a pixie cut and have never been brave enough. (Although strictly speaking this is slightly too long to be a genuine pixie...) Response: 98% positive, except for my youngest son who didn't speak to me for two days, and a woman at work who immediately reassured me "at least you know it'll all grow back..." :D

 The neckband, like the waistband and cuffs, are done in reverse stockingette. I like the way the neckband curls under itself.

So, I love the structure, the scooped neckline, the dolman shape, the lightness of it, the colourwork, and perhaps most of all, the way it's one of those garments you wear and kind of forget you're wearing because it sits just right and never needs fiddling with or adjusting. It really is one of my favourite things I've ever made. And yet... the workmanship is pretty dreadful, actually. I don't know if all lace weight yarn is hard to keep even, but I really struggled. It used 4mm needles, which are quite thick for such a fine weight, but is supposed to make for a really airy, almost mesh-like fabric. But there's mesh, and then there's just mess, and this teetered on the edge of that line. Blocking helped a bit, but didn't fix it completely. It's worst on the sleeves where, in addition, my decreases actually left gapey holes. (you can see them in the second photo from the top, too). And my double pointed needle technique definitely needs some refining - you can tell exactly where each needle started and ended. Maybe it is partly the yarn's fault - the two and three strand knitting doesn't look uneven at all. C'est la vie, I suppose...

But overall for me the positives more than outweigh the negatives. I guess it's a bit like the story of the Velveteen Rabbit...except that he started perfect and became less so. But the bit about loving something despite imperfections holds true, anyway!

How about you? Do you have any Perfectly Imperfect makes? And what are your thoughts about the pursuit of perfection in sewing/knitting?

Complete: Damask Jumper

Hello all! Time to start whittling down my sizeable backlog of unblogged projects. I thought I'd start with this jumper, since it got a bit of love during MMM. This is one make I'm really happy with and, incidentally, one that reminds me that the things I make don't have to be perfect to be loved!

One of my goals for 2014 was to try colourwork in knitting. When I went through my knitting inspiration ideas on Pinterest I noticed that most of the colourwork images I'd pinned were only two colours, rather than the multi-coloured fair isle styles. The idea for this jumper came out of that observation. I didn't really want a striped piece this time; I was intrigued by the idea of doing a more "fluid" kind of design. As I thought about patterns in fabric that I like, I wondered whether a damask design would work. Unfortunately I couldn't find any knitting pattern even remotely like what was starting to form in my head.

My daughter has been getting into cross-stitch lately, and it occurred to me that gridded cross-stitch patterns are actually the same format as gridded knitting ones. Googling "repeated damask cross-stitch pattern" yielded me a pattern that I adored - this stylised floral one. I didn't want an all-over pattern, just a feature on the front, preferably with raglan sleeves. (Aside: I can't believe how hard it was to find a simple crew neck, raglan sleeved jumper with no side shaping! Every designer seems to want to put some twist on the basics...)

Anyhow, here's the end result:

 

And an close-up shot of the front:

 

The yarn is Cascade Heritage Silk (fingering weight), which I already had loads of after I unravelled my Still Light horror. (So this is technically a refashion!) I was able to get a skein of the same in black to do the colourwork in. I debated doing the ribbed hems in black also, but decided to keep it just to the damask in the end.

The yarn knits up into quite a drapey fabric, which I'd forgotten, but since I wanted a looser fit anyway that was fine. Here's one thing I learned - after I'd done one sleeve. If you're reusing yarn you've unravelled from a previous project, it knits up much more nicely if it's first wound into a skein, soaked and dried, then rewound into a ball; that gets rid of all the crimping. Thus one sleeve here is noticeably neater than the other.

The cross stitch pattern worked just as well as I hoped, although there was a lot of working out how to centre it and where to start the pattern before knitting began. And the front was assuredly not TV knitting! Silence and solitude were the bywords here. Painstaking note-taking was also vital, so as not to forget where I was up to...

 

The pattern I ended up using was the Simple All Age Raglan Sweater by Elizabeth Lowick, which is a useful one to have, accommodating 15 sizes (really!) from 24" up to a 66" chest. This had the straight sides (didn't want to have to worry about shaping as well as the colourwork...) and raglan lines that I was after. This polo neck I thought would be an easy modification to a crew one - just don't knit as much. Although I wasn't as happy with the sleeves. I'm not nearly as confident changing knitting patterns as I am sewing ones, so even when I found that the sleeve increases seemed to be happening very quickly, I wasn't sure whether I should adjust them or trust the pattern. As it turned out, I probably should have trusted my gut instinct:

 

The sleeves ended up with a really pronounced angle, and really looked awful on (think chicken wings...). I could have unravelled and started them again, but instead I took a very deep breath - several, actually - and researched steeking. Steeking, in my admittedly limited experience, seems to be used mostly for cardigans knitted in the round (especially ones in a detailed pattern). Once the garment is knitted, a sewing machine is used to sew down either side of where the opening will be and then the garment is cut open between the stitching lines. In theory, the stitching stops any unravelling. In theory...

Someone had written that you can't spell "steek" without "eek!", and that's true enough! I tried the jumper on and pinned the arms to the width I preferred. Then I sewed down that pinned line, first in a straight stitch and then a zigzag to be sure. And then to be surer, I overlocked. It seemed to work ok, but it took a little bit of care to ensure the sleeves didn't stretch and ripple along the seam line. The insides of the sleeves aren't nearly as neat as a tidy mattess stitch would have been, but the jumper is wearable now, and that's the point as far as I'm concerned!

So it's not perfect, but I really do love it. It's a garment that - design-wise at least - came out of my own head and was exactly what I wanted it to be. When I wear it, I'm not only reminded of how satisfying making my own clothes is, but also that I can trust my own instincts when it comes to experimenting. You don't get that with RTW!

What's your most satisfying sewing or knitting experiment? Do share!

Complete: Stripey Jumper

Hello all! I'm back after a week of no internet access - having realised in that time just how much more I use it since I started reading sewing blogs! After this I plan to spend a very happy hour or two catching up on a week's worth of inspiration from all of you :)

Before that though, here's my latest make. It's bit of a departure for me - I usually like my knits chunky and cosy. But I really liked the look of this openwork sweater for warmer, or at least transitional, weather. I found it in a Patons pattern book - another departure actually. I don't usually make yarn-specific patterns either. But I was really drawn to the texture of this yarn, Sorrento. It's a cotton/viscose blend with a boucle kind of texture when it's knitted up. Here 'tis:

Once I got going it was a pretty easy knit; every row is yarn over, purl 2 together, and stripes are a nice way to feel like you're making good progress. But getting going was a pain. I think I started and unravelled this six times. I'd wanted to do it in the round, because in the book's photos the side seams looked a bit sticky-outy. But the pattern kept coming out wrong. Once I'd accepted it wasn't going to be a seamless project and started following directions it actually started working...

I think it's meant to be a bit slouchier in fit than it turned out here, but I'll chalk that up to the fact that I accidentally followed the instructions for one size smaller than I meant to knit. It turned out to be a happy accident though in the end, because after wearing it for a day I can report that this yarn/pattern relaxes quite a lot. I guess that's the cotton content - every cotton jumper I've ever had has done that.

Above is just one of the ways I discovered how not to knit the pattern...

It's not really warm enough for the weather we've been having to wear on its own (well, with singlet!) but I think it's going to lend itself well to layering. Which bodes well for my MMM pledge of trying to combine makes more often! 

I won't be posting daily during May - I'd never be able to keep it up! I think the weekly round up post and a few days at a time on Flickr will be enough to be going on with. 

But in the meantime, I'm off to visit Bloglovin'... 

Talking Gifts...

Not Christmas gifts - unlike many of you inspirational people out there I didn't make a single Christmas present in 2013. No, these are all December / very late November birthday and birth gifts. And they were a nice way to relax during an extremely busy month!

I haven't had a chance to give most of these out yet, but I'll assume that my nephew and nieces aren't reading this... First up, my version of Eva's Hat by Mary Ann Stephens in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. My experience of DB patterns has been a bit mixed, but the yarn itself is glorious!

This is knitted in the round from the bottom up, and then stitches are picked up at the hem to knit a contrast band for the inside, which is then sewn down. This helps the hem to sit flat rather than curling up and hides the strands of the colourwork on the inside. Plus it amps up the cozy factor!

This was my first experience in colourwork (other than stripes, that is) and I loved it. I've been wandering around Pinterest and Ravelry and have a few plans for me.... More on that another time though.

Next up, another Hermione Loves Ron in stashed Rowan Bamboo Soft. I've written about this in a previous version here. Love this pattern. My daughter's hoping there's enough stash left for one more...

Slightly more challenging - finding a hat for a fourteen year old boy. Enter Graham, a slouchy beanie in broken rib. It looks a bit odd lying flat - no hanger appeal there - so I got my boy to try it on for the camera.

It got a thumbs up from him and my twelve-nearly-thirteen year old girl, so I figure I'm on the right track :) Good pattern - AND (drumroll, please) I knit a gauge swatch! Giant leap forward in personal growth, that. I used Cleckheaton Country Naturals (8 ply/DK instead of 10 ply/worsted, so gauge test was unavoidable), which is pretty much my go-to yarn for male knits.

Our friends had a gorgeous baby boy on Christmas Day, so I dug out my Old Faithful Sirdar children's knits pattern book and made my favourite basic V neck. The neck looks small here, I know, but it stretches over a grapefruit with room to spare. (Don't ask.) This was in Bendigo Classic 8 ply, and was actually from stash. Woo hoo!

My brother-in-law- and his partner had a baby boy in late November, and since they live in Darwin there didn't seem to be much point in knitting anything! I hadn't done any quilting for years, and even then it was pretty basic, so I kept this simple too.

The batting (is that what it's called??) is a cotton, so it's really lightweight and breathes nicely. Plus it's not bulky at all, which is a plus since they travel around a lot. It'll probably be more use as a playmat, but it's a good size for that. It's all machine done except for the bound edges at the back. I don't remember ever machine quilting before, and I'm glad this was relatively thin, because it got tricky in the middle there. A few lines show up some uneven stitch lengths, but I'm pretty sure only a proper quilter would notice that. I got a look from my husband when I asked him, so I'll take that as a yes!

It took a bit longer than I thought it would (blind optimism fails me yet again...) but I enjoyed it. I'm not ready to become a regular quilter any time soon - although I'd like someday to make one for our bed - but it made for a nice change. Thank goodness for rotary cutters, though!

I don't often share much outside sewing/knitting ventures, but I hope you don't mind me being a wee bit self-indulgent for a moment and sharing The Best Christmas Present Ever:

Introducing Sasha. We're all in love...

This first post of the year is also my first blogiversary! I thought I'd commemorate it first by saying an enormous and heartfelt thank you to you all. It's been such a rewarding year, and I've loved being part of this amazing online community. Thank you for all your lovely comments, support and encouragement; it's been so appreciated!

I've been going through my small stash as I've been planning projects for this year, and found a few items that, while I still love them, just don't fit in with the plans. So I wondered whether any of these could find a willing home among any of you? A slightly more tangible thank you, perhaps!

Firstly, a Japanese cotton lawn. This is 112cm (44") wide, and 3 metres (ummm...120" - I don't know yards!) long. It's a navy nackground, with a teal-green, lemon and cream print.

Secondly, a cotton (I'm pretty sure) navy gingham, with 2.5cm / 1" squares. This is 118cm /48" wide and there's just over 2 metres in length.

Thirdly, three skeins of Abuelita Baby Merino Lace yarn. Each skein is 420 yards / 384 metres. This, I'm assured, is fingering weight (4 ply) merino not lace weight despite the name. It's beautifully soft, and I was utterly seduced by it when I saw it on sale 2 years ago - so much so that I ignored the fact that I just don't wear this colour.... Your gain, perhaps!

If any of these take your fancy, leave a comment saying which one(s) and your email address so I can contact you. If there's additional interest I'll draw names out of a hat. Or maybe I'll get Sasha to... ;)

Finally, not as a giveaway, but just because I love it and wanted to Show and Tell - look what my sister gave me for Christmas - the most wonderful tape measure I've ever seen! On the back are these fantastic little drawings of the predominant fashion silhouette decade by decade from 1700 to 1990. It's almost too good to use!

Have a wonderful week :)

Danielle oxo

Roam Tunic (or, My Footy Tipping Tunic)

One morning last week, at about 5am, I was abruptly awoken by the urgent whisper of our seven year old hissing, "Mummy! Mummy! I don't understand ever!" Not being entirely at my mental best, I managed a hazy "Huh?" He explained, "Well, in my mind everything has to have an end. But ever doesn't...and I just don't understand it!" I suggested we discuss it once the sun was up. He happily agreed, climbed into bed and immediately fell asleep. It occurred to me several times over the next two wide-awake hours, that I don't really understand ever either...

Nor do I understand short rows in knitting. But I can do them! Correction: I can do them when I have very clear and explicit instructions in front of me - like the Roam Tunic has. And with that neat little segue, here is is my finished Roam:

I'm really, really happy with this one! I used Bendigo Woollen Mills 12 ply (bulky) Rustic yarn, and it was bee-yew-tiful to use. And quick! I was expecting to need a couple of months at least to finish this, but I think it was about 3 1/2 weeks of not-even-very-consistent evening knitting. That's the great thing about thick yarn, I guess!

This is the first Amy Christoffers pattern I've tried, and I'd recommend it in a heartbeat. It's extremely clear and easy to follow (even the short rows!), and the fit is fantastic The cable panel is easy - just an eight row repeat - but satisfying knitting. (I've got my eye on her Stonecutters Cardigan too - the stitch pattern is just like one I had and loved that belonged to my grandfather, but that I lent out for a school production of Annie and never saw again...)

It's SO snug and cozy, and while I wasn't sure initially about short sleeves on a thick jumper, now I've had it on I'm sold. And if it's really cold, I can always wear a long sleeved top underneath. I'm toying with the idea of making another with long sleeves, maybe in red... It is quick, after all...

Why "Footy Tipping Tunic"? Because I bought the wool with my winnings from the work AFL tipping competition :) We go week by week, rather than having a end of season prize, which I think is wonderful. Even more wonderful is the fact that I can barely tell the teams apart, and won my round by flipping a coin to pick winners. Annoyed certain Alpha Males no end, I can tell you!

So there you are - I finally have my long line grey jumper! Expect to see this one in heavy rotation during Me Made May 2014.... It replaces my first attempt rather well, wouldn't you say?

       Still Light Tunic  VS  Roam Tunic
 
            I think we have a winner....








What are you working on at the moment? Any sewing/knitting joy to share?

Have a wonderful week :)

It All Depends On How You Look At It....

It's been a longer time between posts than I intended - I think after all the documenting of MMM I was ready to take it easy on that front for a bit. Plus life got very busy for a few weeks there, nothing dire or crisis-ish, just one of those times where it seems like everything's happening at once.

As a result, I've either been extremely lazy, or rather productive, depending on how you look at it. Sewing-wise I think I've lost my mojo a bit. I have three things cut out (the worst part!) and ready to go, but the last two makes have left me a bit despondent, and so I've been avoiding my sewing machine. When I actually think about it, I shouldn't really feel so blah - they weren't complete fails. But does anyone else ever have something turn out not quite right, and then, even though you know it's only going to take a bit of concerted tweaking, still feel like it's all a bit too much effort? It's not admirable, I know, but I'm not the only one, surely??

I'm curious - what do you do? Do you set it aside and go on with something else? Or do you grit your teeth and wrestle that thing into submission?

Me, I found something else to do. I always feel like breaking out the knitting needles once the weather turns wintry. There's something cozy and comforting about curling up in front of the fire with some woolly goodness. Plus, it lends itself to company better than a sewing machine.

So, here's what I've been up to lately. Mind you, my camera hasn't caught the colour of any of them all that well...

 First up, a little Korrigan cardigan for a friend's baby girl.

The actual colour of this is a lovely soft yellow - the camera's made it look bleached! This is a really sweet little pattern, knitted all in one piece from the top down. I used Bendigo Woollen Mills 4 ply cotton, which worked nicely for a Spring weight cardi, but if I ever knit it again, I think I'd use a wool with a bit of a halo (is that the right term? It sounds more impressive than "fuzziness", anyhow) - some of the increases around the cables look a little bit 'holey'. I think that would be avoided by using wool. Must remember that. This was the last of the four queued projects I pledged to finish for MMM.

Next up, another Merlia scarf, this time in Cleckheatons Country wool. (See previous one here.) I knew this wouldn't photograph well, being at night, but this was a 'true' red, without orange or blue tones to it. This was for my son's teacher, who is as lovely and gifted a teacher as you'd ever meet. She pours so much love, time and effort in her class - way over and above the call of duty - and I wanted to do something for her that reflected that. I think it's the first time I've repeated a knitting pattern - it's so much quicker the second time!

This one could backfire on me. It's the Regular Guy Beanie, done in Cleckheaton Country Naturals. This is for my brother-in-law's birthday, who is extremely hard to buy for. He also says exactly what he thinks, so if he thinks this is rubbish, I'll hear about it! Once I got home from the yarn shop I realised I'd actually bought the wrong kind of wool for this, (8 ply instead of 10) so I had a wander through some other people's Ravelry project notes, and found someone who'd re-written the pattern for 8 ply. There seems to be a lot more fullness in the crown than I expected, but I'm hoping that'll stretch out on his head. Well see!

The actual colour is a bit duller than this, with a bit of a natural fleck to it. Nice for a guy, anyway.

And finally, something for me! This is the Roam Tunic, by Amy Christoffers:

One thing I noticed during MMM was how much I depended on my only knitted jumper, my Beatnik. I've decided I definitely want at least one more before next May, and this is the first. So far I've done the back and about a third of the front, and I LOVE it!. I've wanted a longer light grey jumper for a while, and this is taking the place of my previous, tragic effort. I actually think this would be a really good first cable project; it's just an 8 row repeat with no shaping within the cabled panel at all. Being a thick yarn - 12 ply/bulky - means it's quick, too. Win-win, frankly!

So that's been the last month for me. I think once I get my tunic done I'll go back and try to finish those last two semi-fail sewing makes. (Need that ego-boosting win first!). One of those makes is a pair of slim-fitting trousers, and I'm finding it hard to know exactly how fitted to make them. They're almost there... In the meantime, I'm stalking successful makes by other bloggers. I especially like Fabric Tragic's latest pair of Clovers. 

In the meantime, I'll be in front of the fire clicking my needles...blissful!

Have a wonderful week :)

Danielle oxo