SewStylish

WIP Wednesday - Beads!

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000Z

I had a choice when it came to picking a WIP to showcase and work on this week. There is something about January that makes me want to start every project all at the same time. So I've been working on my dress, my quilt, and my sweater amongst other things.

However this week I decided to work a little more on my beaded denim bag. It's another WIP that has been hanging around far too long. My issue with this pattern is that all the beading makes for slow work. In the winter evenings, it is tough to see the dark stitches and in the summer the overdyed yarn seems to stain my hands that much easier. I know I will love the finished product as I love beads, denim and bags. But getting to the finish line is not going to be easy!

If you love beaded knitting, you may be interested in Debbie Abrahams Bead club for 2012. Every other month, members will receive an exclusive pattern and the beads used to knit that design. The yarn is not included, which makes it a great opportunity to use up stash yarn! I'm tempted but I seriously don't have the time!

Lacy wrap - WIP1 complete!

2012-01-23T19:40:00.000Z

This whole "committing to finish your WIPs" thing has yielded one good result so far. Once I got on with the knitting on my lace wrap, it turned out that there wasn't that much left to do. I was about halfway through the second ball and just wanted to keep knitting until I ran out of yarn. This pic on the left shows it stretched diagonally over a king size bed. The finished wrap is over 2 metres long! But being Kidsilk haze it is still light as a feather and scrunches up nicely to be worn around the neck if you wish.

Let's skip over the fact I cast this on in 2009, ok? :) It only took that long to complete because I got bored and I probably hadn't touched it in about two years before this month...

I used Rowan Kidsilk haze in Jelly (2 balls). The pattern was given to me by a Rowan rep and has long since disappeared into the depths of my stash. Good job I committed the 2-row pattern repeat to memory!

On a different note, if you are near a Lidl this week their specials are knitting and sewing related. Here's a link to the Lidl website - I stopped by my local branch to pick up some sock yarn. Amazingly, considering the prices, the yarns are not all acrylic!

But back to the wrap, and I'll leave you with a gratuitous close up of yummy yarn and lacy stitches. Just because. Happy Monday!

WIP Wednesday - Amnesty!

2012-01-18T09:00:00.000Z

My knitting group have suggested that this year be the year we pick up any WIPs that have been lying around too long, and encourage each other to finish them or frog them. I find that I tend to focus on one project at a time, if I get bored of something I put it away and start something new. Because of that approach I have a few projects stashed in tote bags in the spare room. A quick count-up shows I have a beaded bag, a lace wrap, a 4 ply sweater and a crochet blanket. Ooops.

This week I have been trying my hardest to pick up these projects every so often in an attempt to get them finished. This simple lace wrap has been on the needles for over two years. Gulp. That is a long time.

I got bored of it because the pattern repeat is so simple. I also find I prefer to knit on thinner needles these days - and this pattern uses 8mm to get the lacy effect. Over the weekend I rented a few movies and sat down to knit on it a little. "Hall pass" was ok, "Bridesmaids" was much funnier and it distracted me enough to get some knitting done!

Stitching the community together

2012-01-17T21:08:00.000Z

I was able to get a few hours to myself on Monday evening and slipped away to a new Knit and Natter night that has been set up in Willow Tea House in Wirral. Although it was only the second scheduled date, the place was packed with local crafty types, representing many aspects of textiles and papercrafts.

I spent a lovely evening, knitting, chatting and eating great cake. It was fabulous to see what talents and interests there are in the local community, and many people were keen to share and inspire the others present. The only downside to such a great get-together is that I was tempted to try a few new crafts. Given that there aren't 25 hours in every day, I may just have to cut back on sleep and other non-essentials tasks!

The next get-together will be held on Monday 6th February at 7pm.

Image: savit keawtavee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Random musings

2012-01-15T23:11:00.000Z

...I have barely had a moment to sew this week. DH is on leave so we are doing family stuff and jobs around the house...

...Part of me is looking forward to him going back to work so I can spread my sewing stuff all over the place and get back into my usual routine...

...I hung a blind in the bathroom. It took way longer than I thought it would...

...It really feels like January today. It is so cold and frosty. I thought I would get to sew tonight but I just want to sit by the fire...

...We spent an afternoon at the dinosaur exhibit at Liverpool museum last week. It was really interesting and the animatronic dinosaurs were fab...

...I'm a little worried that my toddler wasn't scared at all and just tried to out-roar the biggest dinosaur...

...I finally found a UK stockist for Kona cotton who had the "Snow" colourway in stock. Quilt me happy. And they were having a flash sale. Can't wait to get started on my Craftsy quilt...

...There's a new Knit night tomorrow night at a really cute tea house. I hope I can make it. They make great cake. And I might even knit too...

WIP Wednesday

2012-01-11T09:00:00.000Z

This is Moonlight Frost - it is a sweater pattern from a recent issue of Knitting magazine, using two colours of King Cole Galaxy DK. The yarn is pretty budget-friendly, considering it is pre-strung with sequins. The pattern is for a basic hip-length v-neck sweater. I decided to keep things interesting by converting the pattern to top-down. I'm doing this so that I can add extra length - I want to make this a long sweater for wearing over leggings and boots. I'm hoping this one won't be a WIP for too long as I really want to wear it now!

Stash diving

2012-01-09T22:44:00.001Z

This week I have been going through the fabric stash, looking for pieces to use in the Craftsy block of the month class. I was actually quite surprised to find that my fabric remnants are pretty co-ordinated! There is quite a lot of Amy Butler and a little Michael Miller (the majority from the remnants bin at Abakhan ) in shades of turquoise, green and pink. I don't think I have any excuse to go buying more fabric right now!

WIP Wednesday - a quilt!

2012-01-04T18:00:00.000Z

I've been thinking recently about ways to reinvigorate the blog. I want to spend more time on quality garments, which will probably mean more time between "finished object" posts but I don't want to let the blog lie dormant in the meantime. So I'm going to trial a new (to me) idea - WIP Wednesdays. I'll post photos and updates on a project which has a long way to go before becoming a finished object. And that couldn't be more true for my first WIP of 2012 as I decided to start a quilt! This is going to be a loooooooooooong project!

While watching "Limitless" last night, I started cutting fabric for a snowball block quilt - there are photos of the finished block and a tutorial here. I picked this design because it looked easy to sew and I thought it would be a good way to showcase some lovely fabrics. The photo above shows the colours I'm going to use for the centre of the snowballs, I also have a semi-solid dark purple for the corners and borders.

I decided to launch into a lap-sized quilt after seeing Craftsy's latest offering - a free "block of the month" class. If you are interested in quilting, definitely check it out here. I've signed up, although it looks like its probably not for complete beginners. I'm going to have a go at some of the more complex blocks using stash fabrics and leftovers from this quilt (hence the need to get it all cut out so I could see what leftovers I have!)

Happy New Year!

2012-01-02T14:34:00.001Z

Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2012 has started on a positive note for you all. We had a very low-key New Year, with a glass of bubbly in front of the TV. It was lovely to chill out and relax.

I've been enjoying reading everyone's year-end round-ups and plans for 2012. I've updated my "Completed projects" tab for 2011 and I'm quite surprised to realise that I managed 6 sewn projects this year and 13 knitted projects. When I think that I've knitted something every month and sewn something every two months, it seems quite respectable, if not hugely productive.

Simplicity 2560 Cranberry cables Senlis Elegant Coat-Gloves

Here are a few of my favourites from 2011. I've worn my Simplicity cardigan a lot because it is easy to throw on over jeans. I've worn my fair isle gloves pretty much every time I've left the house since I finished them! I am also really pleased with my Cranberry cables cardigan and my Senlis cardigan.

In the past I have written lists of things I want to complete but this year I think I'm going to try another approach. I want to focus on quality not quantity. I want to catch the sewing mojo when it appears, to enjoy sewing and create better garments, rather than tick boxes on a list. I hope to spend a bit more time on the blog too as it has been a little neglected this year.

My focus for 2012 is to move forward and improve. You'll have to stay tuned to see how that happens as the year progresses.

Final sewing project of 2011

2011-12-31T16:17:00.001Z

I know some of you were expecting this to be a dress (Sorry Fofo!) but the Butterick dress I was working on simply got the better of me before Christmas, I was tired, frustrated with it and in danger of losing my sewing mojo. When I found a piece of turquoise wool in the charity shop, I decided to whip up a quick skirt using a pattern I had already fitted.

I have sewn Burda's Jenny skirt before in a grey doubleknit and loved the fit and the style. The front and back darts make it easy to fit. I had previously halved the depth of the waistband as I found the original pattern too high-waisted for my liking.

My charity shop fabric was a pretty small piece - less than 1 metre in length in fact. So an above-the-knee pencil skirt was pretty much all I could squeeze out of it! This is a label that came with the fabric. I love how it shows a maxi skirt and a pinafore as sewing options! Perhaps for a child! I had such a tight cutting layout I had to cut the inside of the waistband from a different fabric!

Since I had nothing to lose with such cheap fabric, I machine washed and steam shrunk the wool (with no negative consequences) and altered the skirt pieces to a more A-line shape. The A-line thing didn't work (it just looked shapeless) so I quickly cut the pieces back down to the original Jenny skirt pattern.

If I had planned from the start to make a pencil skirt, I would have added a vent for walking ease, rather than the slit you can just make out in this back view. A vent looks so much sleeker, I think.

I used some Amy Butler cotton for the inside waistband. I used basic poly lining and lace along the hemline. For me, one of the fun parts about making your own clothes is adding little hidden finishing touches. The only thing I had to purchase (n addition to my £2.99 piece of fabric) was a zipper as I had everything else in the stash.

The turquoise fabric is bright -much brighter than the photos suggest. I started referring to it as my Pan Am skirt as it kept reminding me of the cute uniforms the stewardesses wear on the show. I have been "pinning" lots of fashion shots online showing turquoise with black and white, and with brown and blue so I'm sure I have things in my wardrobe which will work with it.

Giving up on my Butterick 4443 dress was actually the best thing I could have done. Without a dress to wear for Christmas I went shopping, trying on a number of RTW dresses which I hardly ever do these days. I tried one on in Oasis (which I now can't find online) I loved it but it only took me a split second to realise it was so similar to the Butterick dress with a better skirt silhouette and that is something I could easily adapt in my pattern. I'm going to go back to my dress now and try it with a shorter half-circle skirt. I will also underline the skirt for extra body.

So that pretty much sums up my sewing for 2011 and leads nicely into my first project for 2012. I'll be updating the "Completed projects" tab when I get chance but I already know there was more knitting than sewing last year. In 2012 I hope to re-discover a little balance but more importantly to continue to learn new things and to enjoy it!

Cranberry Cables

2011-12-30T17:58:00.002Z

or my almost-Christmas cardigan...

I desperately wanted a new cardigan to wear for Christmas and I tried so hard to knit fast enough to get this one finished. Technically it was, as I sewed the last button in place at 11.55pm on 24th December. However the finished cardigan needed blocking again so it sadly wasn't ready for its debut on Christmas Day.

The pattern is the Lady's Jumper cardigan from A Stitch in Time vol 2. It was a lovely pattern to knit. I was drawn to it because of the cable pattern and the square neckline. This is a design where the tension is crucial as the pattern uses different needle sizes to grade up for some of the sizes because of the large pattern repeat. I found that my knitted pieces grew significantly when they were blocked. At first I was worried my tension was too tight but the knitting really opened up once it was wet and pinned out to dry.

The recommended yarn is Excelana but I used Rowan Pure Wool 4 ply in Port (discontinued colourway) as I already had it in the stash. I got 10 balls for £18 in the sale a few months ago. I think I used 8 balls, maybe a little of the 9th.

Here's a little close up of the cable pattern and the buttons. I have lightened this photo slightly so you can see the pattern a bit more clearly.

The buttons were from John Lewis and cost £4. I knew I was unlikely to find a good colour match so I planned to use plain black buttons. However this dark silver looked so much better. And I felt that they seemed a little more in keeping with the vintage style.

Post-Christmas lull

2011-12-29T15:47:00.000Z

It is the post-Christmas lull around here. The fun and excitement and overindulgence of Christmas is over but it is still officially "the holidays" for me until January 2nd. All of the little one's usual activities are on hiatus and DH has some extended leave from work leaving me with two bored individuals to entertain! We attempted a bracing walk around the waterfront of Liverpool yesterday which was almost impossible due to high winds. After the little one's hat ended up in the Mersey (thankfully not a handknit!) we decided to take refuge in John Lewis haberdashery section. I had planned on avoiding the sales but somehow ended up buying a sweater's worth of Rowan Kid Classic in a lovely teal shade. There was a sweater dress in the latest Knitting magazine which I think I will knit.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Lets talk about Christmas itself. I hope yours was filled with happy times. We have visited with relatives, made long distance phone calls to those who are too far away, eaten and drunk far too much and unwrapped lovely gifts. It sounds cheesy to say but I know I was very blessed to have all that. Christmas was also full of knitterly goodness. Firstly I won a prize in Knitting mag's 12 days of Christmas giveaway! I was so thrilled to received my parcel in the mail... ripped off the paper....

and unwrapped the most gorgeous set of Rosewood crochet hooks with Swarovski crystals in the handle. If they don't inspire me to finish my crochet blanket, nothing will!

I was also lucky enough to receive two fab books - Ysolda Teague's Little Red in the City and Debbie Stoller's Superstar Knitting (It goes to show that good things happen when you let enough people know about your Amazon wishlist!)

I have two FO's to share with you - one knitting and one sewing - so I plan to get some more posts up before 2012 and then I can start the year afresh with new plans and new projects.

Another quiet blogging week

2011-12-18T21:20:00.000Z

Another quiet blogging week. I guess that is just the way it goes at this time of year as I am busy busy busy! Christmas parties for the little one, shopping, baking, trips to Santa - I love this time of year.

Sewing wise: I wanted to make a dress for Christmas. I started on Butterick 4443 and it took 3 bodice muslins to get a decent fit. I did a quick muslin of the skirt to check the length adjustment I made and I hated the silhouette. I didn't want to give up on the sewing mojo so I decided to knock up a quick pencil skirt. It is almost done, bar a little handstitching. I'll post separately about that later in the week.

Knitting wise: I started a cardigan from A Stitch in Time vol 2 and had wild ideas of wearing it for Christmas. Well surprisingly this might actually happen as I only have the sleeves left to knit with a week to go! I'm off to buy buttons tomorrow. Here's a quick pic - the piece on the left has been blocked and the one on the right hasn't. The pattern totally opened up and looks great.

Senlis

2011-12-05T21:20:00.000Z

There was an awful lot of plain old knit and purl in this cardigan which made it great for TV knitting but also makes me pretty pleased to have finished it! I was both impatient to wear it and impatient to move onto something a little more challenging!

The pattern is Senlis from Petites pièces et petits plus signés: la droguerie and it is written in adult, teenage and child sizes. It is a pretty simple pattern, the back and fronts are just rectangles with ribbing for shaping. The pattern is knitted conventionally - each piece is knitted separately from hem to shoulder and then seamed but I changed things around, knitting from the shoulder down to the bottom of the armscye and then joining the back and two fronts to knit it seamlessly down to the hem. Each front piece is as wide as the back to allow for the long collar to roll back on itself - so that made for some pretty long rows! But as I bought the yarn on holiday and couldn't easily get hold of more, this method allowed me to knit until the yarn ran out. I also added a few rows of garter stitch at the bottom hem as I did worry that the stocking stitch could curl.

The yarn really makes the pattern in my opinion as it is soft and has a beautiful drape. It has a soft haze without being overly fluffy. I used one strand of La Droguerie Alpaga in Lichen and one strand of La Droguerie Plumette in Fog sur la Tamise. I really like the greenish-grey hue that these yarns create when they are knitted together.

This cardigan is quite casual but I think that it will make my "daily uniform" of jeans and t-shirt look a little more chic.

Christmas goodies

2011-12-03T22:29:00.003Z

There's no sewing to share with you so far this week as most of my sewing time has been late at night which makes for really poor photographs! I spent today at a Christmas food fayre and tomorrow will be a trip to the Arts market (and possibly Abakhan for some supplies and notions too).

As I don't wish to leave you with nothing, and since it is just three weeks until Christmas, I just wanted to remind you that there are free Christmas patterns on Amy Butler's website which you can download here. She has a lovely tree skirt pattern which reminds me that I promised to sew one for somebody last year....

And not forgetting the knitters out there, these mini stockings are small enough that you could still get them knitted and hung on the tree this year.

Have a good weekend!

Winter solstice shrug errata

2011-11-23T20:55:00.000Z

There has been progress this week but not all in the right direction. You might recall from my last posts that I was working on two patterns and I was particularly excited about a lacy Kidsilk haze top. One week later, that excitement is somewhat diminished. After emails to the magazine and the designer, I have established that there are many errors in the printed pattern. So if you are knitting the Winter Solstice shrug from Knitting magazine, please read on.

Errors in right and left side: When working the right and left side, you are told to work a certain number of rows before and after the short row shaping. The number of rows is incorrect. You need to work in pattern until the piece matches the measurements given. This will mean working more rows than the pattern tells you. Then work the short rows. You then continue to work straight in pattern. There is only a row count here - I think this is wrong too and I think you should work straight for the same length as prior to the short rows.

Secondly the paragraph starting “neckband casing” had the wrong stitch count in places and was missing some making up instructions. It should read:

NECKBAND CASING
Using 3.25mm needles pick up and knit 49 (54:61:68:77) sts along cast on edge of right body, 17 sts from sleeve top, 49 (54:61:68:77) sts from stitch holder of right body, 49 (54:61:68:77) sts from holder of left body, 17 sts from sleeve top and 49 (54:61:68:77) sts from cast on edge of left front. 230 (250:278:306:342) sts.

Next row (WS): K4 (14:18:20:14), * k2tog, k8 (8:8:9:11), rep from * to last 6 (16:20:22:16) sts, k2tog, k4 (14:18:20:14). 207 (227:253:281:317) sts.

Next row: K4 (14:18:20:14), * k2tog, k7 (7:7:8:10), rep from * to last 5 (15:19:21:15) sts, k2tog, k3 (13:17:19:13). 184 (204:228:256:292) sts.

Beg with a P row work 6 rows
Next row (WS) ridge row: Knit.
Beg with a K row, work 8 rows in st st.
Using 3.75mm needles cast off loosely.

Fold neckband at ridge row and slip stitch in place on WS of garment.
Feed ribbon through casing.

Join back seam for approx. 7 (7:8:8:9)cm from neckband.

If that isn't clear, please contact the mag so they can provide you with the full errata. I don't want to reproduce the whole pattern for copyright reasons.

The good thing I learned from this is that if you are going to frog mohair, it really helps to put your knitting in the freezer for an hour or two first. Apparently the grabby fibres "retract" instead of clinging to one another. I was able to frog the whole right side of the shrug, with the yarn only snapping once. It doesn't look as pristine as it did before I knitted and frogged it but it is still usable and not totally wasted.

To give the magazine and the designer their due, they both responded pretty quick to my questions. I have also knitted patterns from this magazine and this designer before and been very happy with the results. I have lost enthusiasm for this pattern right now - I may give it another go in future but for now, I'm just gonna chalk this one up to bad luck and move on to something new.

Do you tweet? Do you pin?

2011-11-15T09:00:00.001Z

I have recently joined Twitter and Pinterest. If you use these sites, you can follow me by clicking the links in the left sidebar.

I was really in two minds about joining any more social networks as the internet already takes enough of my time but so far I'm finding both sites to be fabulous sources of information, both in crafting and in my other interests. I have just joined a Twitter book group @BookGroupTwit. The basic principle is that a book is announced each fortnight and participants are invited to tweet their thoughts along the way. The first book was announced on Sunday - Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde. I picked up a copy at the local library yesterday and I'm going to give it a go. At the very least, it is nice to have someone suggest books which I might not have otherwise thought to try.

This week's makes

2011-11-14T09:30:00.002Z

This week I have two fairly labour intensive knitting projects on the go. I started knitting my Senlis cardigan (on the right of the picture below). It is perfect for TV knitting as it is just stocking stitch and rib - but there is tons of it as it is a long cardigan!

I also started a tension square for a more intricate project - I cast on the Winter Solstice shrug from the latest Knitting magazine. I'm using some red sparkly Kidsilk Night which I have had for ages (it is a discontinued yarn - like Kidsilk haze with built-in sparkle). You can almost see the sparkle in this photo.

As often happens around here, my "tension square" was in fact a sleeve. I'll admit that unless I feel a yarn swatch needs to go through the washing machine, I will often just cast on a sleeve first, particularly if it is a short sleeved garment. Surely a short sleeve is just a larger tension square with a bit of added shaping?

It was slow-going at first and eventually I had to pop to Abakhan to pick up some bamboo needles. I was finding it hard to knit laceweight kid mohair on metals. It's funny because I know some people are the opposite but with slippery yarns like Kidsilk haze I find I need to use bamboo. With the right needles in hand, the fabric grew quickly.

Lest we forget

2011-11-11T14:04:00.000Z

Hedera socks

2011-11-09T18:02:00.006Z

These socks were technically finished ages ago but after grafting the toes and putting them on I noticed a mistake. I'd worked the wrong lace pattern over half of one row but once I noticed the error, it was all I could see. So I put them away and tried to forget about it but I knew it would keep bugging me. So eventually I ripped back to the mistake and set about reknitting the last few inches of the foot. I got out the second sock to check how many rows to knit and, yes you guessed it, I had made a different mistake in the same place on the 2nd sock. There was no excuse apart from lack of concentration as the pattern is simple enough to memorise and looks far more complicated than it actually is. So with the first sock corrected, I set out ripping back the second sock and making that one right. It's a good job I enjoyed knitting these and I love wearing them because otherwise I would have given up!

The pattern is Hedera which is free online from Knitty.com. The yarn is Rowan 4 ply soft. I had 2 balls leftover from another project so it was a perfect little project to use them up. This yarn is now sadly discontinued. If I remember correctly, Debbie Bliss Rialto 4 ply is a good substitute as it knits to the same tension, has a similar fibre content and slightly more yardage, and even feels like it is plied the same. Despite my little issues with this project, which were all of my own making, I am tempted to make another pair or perhaps try out some other Cookie A designs as there are some lovely ones out there.

A Stitch in Time vol 2

2011-11-03T09:51:00.004Z

I've been quiet on here recently as I have been casting on lots and finishing nothing. I had some socks to finish, a big stocking stitch project and a lace shrug I wanted to get started on. I wanted them all on the needles by this week as I knew I would soon be distracted by lots of lovely pattern. You see, my copy of A Stitch in Time, vol 2 arrived yesterday. Knitters around the country spent the day curtain-twitching, and squealing with delight as the courier's van pulled up outside (or at least I did...)

So the book is finally here and it was well worth the wait. 80 patterns (yes that's not a typo - 80!) ranging from 1930 to 1959, resized and reworked in modern yarns, beautifully photographed with both the original and the modern patterns printed and bound in a stunning hardback tome. I was desperate to get my little girl into bed last night so I could digest it properly.

When I have a book this big, I read it with post-it notes by my side. I mark the pages of my favourite patterns, and jot down yarn ideas for easy reference. After just my first reading, there are 10 pattern marked as "absolute must-knits". I think I'm going to be busy!

The patterns are starting to be catalogued on Ravelry here. You can also see photos of many of the designs here. I love the gathered neckline with a bow which is knitted in cobweb yarn. There are also some photos on the author's blog - this post features Kasha which is so gorgeous!

And that's not all, with information about knitting trends through the decades and a techniques section to help you achieve the vintage look, this book is a must-have if you like knitting or vintage clothes. At £35, it is worth every penny. The book is available to order from the knitonthenet shop and also through Amazon.co.uk

Knit today, wear tomorrow

2011-10-27T22:07:00.001+01:00

Strictly speaking I knit this yesterday and wore it today, but you get my meaning, right? After the colourwork gloves, I wanted something that I could knit without thinking.

The pattern is the Bandana cowl which was recently released as a freebie on Purl Soho's blog. There are already over 100 projects on Ravelry so I think this has been a popular one. I used two balls of Rowan Cashsoft Chunky which knitted up to totally the wrong gauge but the pattern was easy to adapt - I simply cast on fewer stitches and worked until I had the length I wanted. Do bear in mind that the point is created with short rows - reducing the number of stitches also reduces the number of short rows and therefore the length of the point. If you are working to a different gauge, there will be a bit of trial and error here but it doesn't take long to rip out and re-knit if you aren't happy with the results.

This cowl sits really nicely at the neck, it is shorter and so less bulky at the back while the pointed front section looks cool and helps keep out draughts! A quick knit and a stashbuster, this would be great for Christmas gifts. Even if you don't cast on until December, you should still have it wrapped and under the tree before Christmas Eve.

Elegant Coat Gloves for winter

2011-10-23T20:52:00.003+01:00

I am so pleased to have finished these gloves. I started them in January but lost all motivation once the weather started to warm up so I put them away until just last week. A couple of evenings worth of knitting and I have gorgeous new gloves to keep me warm this winter!

The pattern is the Elegant Coat Gloves from Vintage Gifts to Knit by Susan Crawford (you can purchase the book or the single pattern as a pdf through Ravelry.com). I used Jamieson and Shetland 2 ply jumperweight yarn which is perfect for fair isle as the fibres cling to eachother and create a lovely piece of colourwork knitting. I chose colours that would compliment my purple winter coat and some of the other accessories I knitted previously.

I knitted the pattern exactly as written, except that I knitted the fingers in the round to minimise the amount of sewing up I had to do. In RTW gloves, I would usually need a women's large size but these fit perfectly. I noticed that the second gloves is very slightly bigger than the first - obviously as I relaxed into the fair isle knitting, I stopped pulling everything so tightly and this had a small effect on my gauge. The good thing about this is that I knitted the glove for my dominant hand second, and this hand is slightly bigger than the other. So my little tip for those of you knitting these gloves is this - knit the glove for your dominant hand second.

Now - what to work on next? The Bandana cowl from Purl Soho's blog? My Droguerie cardigan? Or perhaps some sewing?

Hibernating

2011-10-20T20:08:00.003+01:00

I have been longing for cooler weather so I can get out my knitwear and it is finally here. I wanted this weather to arrive but at the moment it just makes me want to hibernate. DH has gone back to work so I can reclaim the dining room table for sewing now that it is no longer covered in computer pieces and paperwork. But in reality my days are focused on toddler daughter (of course), packing away summer clothes, washing and airing winter gear and cooking warming comfort food. (I made a variation of this veggie stew and dumplings last night which was surprisingly good) The evenings are for TV and knitting. I started some fair isle gloves last winter but lost interest when Spring arrived. Over the last week I have picked them up again and am making good progress. They may even be finished for the weekend.

Since this is quite a short blog post, why don't you head over to ebay UK for a minute or two? My friend is selling super cute knitted cakes to raise money for Breast Cancer Care. I think they would make lovely decorations for a craft room or even your Christmas tree. I am posting this link because I have already ordered mine. I'm not silly - I know they will sell fast once people see them.

La Droguerie, Bordeaux

2011-10-11T10:31:00.003+01:00

Sorry about that - the weekend kinda got away from me. But I'm back now with the yarn pictures from Bordeaux. When I visited Paris earlier in the year, I visited La Droguerie and was overwhelmed with the choice of yarns and trims. When we decided to go to Bordeaux and I discovered there was a branch of La Droguerie there, I had time to plan my little shopping trip a bit better.

La Droguerie is located in the centre of town, just off the main shopping street. I did need a map to find it as it was tucked away at no 8 Place Puy-Paulin. As I may have mentioned before, the shopping experience at La Droguerie is different to what I'm used to. You queue to wait for an assistant and they then take you around the shop, measuring out fabric and trims, counting out buttons and winding yarn before taking you to the cash desk to pay. It might seem intimidating if you speak little French but I visited twice and on both occasions the shop assistants were friendly, helpful and not at all put off by my difficulties with the French language!

I bought a book and a CD-rom of a book which is now out-of-print.

At La Droguerie, yarn is purchased by weight and hand-wound into a big yarn cake for you. I knew I definitely wanted to knit Senlis - a long waistcoat - which is knitted with one strand of "Plumette" (a laceweight kid mohair) and one strand of "Alpaga" (a 4ply Alpaca). I had picked out my colours only for the assistant to discover they were running short of that particular shade of Plumette. She searched high and low in the shop for more, took yarn off the display and even rang other stores and the warehouse to try to arrange a delivery later in the week. When it became clear there was no more left, she helped me choose other colours, and went to find the shop's sample garment for me to try on so I could be sure I was making the correct size. And all this before she had to wind off over 400g of beautiful green/grey yarn for me!

Later in the week we were passing by again and I decided to treat myself to a little more yarn for another design from the book. I think I'll make Compiègne which is a short sleeved cardigan with cables along the sleeves and front edges. This time I chose blue/grey tones and the shopping experience was just as good.

La Droguerie in Bordeaux is open Monday to Saturday, 10am-7pm and I would highly recommend a visit if you are in the area.

Bordeaux days

2011-10-05T19:44:00.005+01:00

It's been a more than a week since we got back from Bordeaux and the tan is starting to fade. I'll admit we chose this holiday for more practical reasons (a 1 1/2 hour flight time from Liverpool airport makes it a relatively short journey, which is important when travelling with a toddler). But what a lovely place it was!

The centre of town is pedestrianised which makes strolling around town a pleasure (just remember to watch out for bikes and trams!)

All the history, culture and life of a big city, but smaller and calmer than Paris. I would definitely go back again.

DD (now 18 months old) loved the trams - we had to stop to wave at every single one!

We actually stayed a short distance from Bordeaux, in a little village near Lacanau so we were able to have some chill out days as well as some sightseeing days. We hired a car (which was indispensable) and drove around the Bassin d'Arcachon to explore the lovely towns and beaches in the area.

The good bit about travelling in the off season - a beach just for us.

I did get chance to spend some time (and some birthday money) at the fab French store La Droguerie. I'll share more about that tomorrow.

Baby bunting again

2011-10-04T19:35:00.005+01:00

I looked at my camera and only have pretty poor pictures of my latest baby bunting project. But that's what happens when you try to snap pictures on a grey Sunday morning two minutes before you leave the house....

Anyway onto the details... The pattern is from One Yard Wonders - which has tons of lovely projects (and I'm in it too... so I am biased). I've seen this book re-titled as "101 Great ways to sew a metre" for the UK market. As far as I can tell, they have exactly the same content.

The bunting was a gift for my friend's daughter, who loves pink. So I used half a yard of Amy Butler print cotton in pink, pink bias binding and pink felt (can you tell the baby's mum is happy to have a girl?!). I could squeeze nine flags (front and back) out of this fabric with a little creative cutting. I found two decorative iron-on motifs in Abakhan - a pink flower which I added to the first flag and a cute little mermaid for the last flag. I thought the mermaid was particularly appropriate as my friend loves to swim and has taken her babies to the pool from a very young age.

The bunting itself was quick to cut and sew, and was very well received by my friend.

Catching up

2011-10-03T20:24:00.004+01:00

It's been way too long since my last post but with very good reason! First up I had a birthday and got very spoiled with lovely gifts including a new camera and tripod! So that should make blog photography much easier.

I went on holiday and spent a fab week in Bordeaux. I'll post about that separately as I have some gorgeous photos and knitting goodies to share.

What little sewing time I have had this week, has been spent sewing a Christening gift (pics to come) or online at patternreview.com as I have been taking two sewing classes - bust adjustments and underlining. They were both taught by Sarah Veblen who was lovely, so helpful and has answered lots of questions. I still have some practical work to do for my underlining class but I can already see how this new knowledge will help my sewing. Although I was only able to participate in one chat room session I would highly recommend Patternreview classes, particularly those taught by Sarah.

And finally in my relaxation time, I have been knitting socks ready for winter! I finished these:

They are Shazaam socks from Easyknits, using Easyknits Deeply Wicked yarn which is super-saturated hand-dyed yarn from the UK and the colours are just amazing. More info on my Ravelry page here. Currently on the needles are some Hedera socks which I cast on while we were on holiday. I may have been quiet but I most certainly have been busy!

Simplicity 2560 cardigan

2011-09-12T13:20:00.000+01:00

Simplicity 2560 was next on my list for Autumn sewing. It was the first time I've ever sewn with cotton jersey and the first time I've ever constructed a garment completely on the overlocker. I had to dig the manual out, of course and spend a little time playing with the settings but it went together remarkably smoothly.

The pattern is Simplicity 2560 - a stretch knit cardigan with length, sleeve and neckline variations. I made View A which is hip-length and has elbow length sleeves. This would be a good pattern for beginners, or those new to sewing knits; as the loose style requires little fitting and was pretty simple to construct. The sleeves are cut on to the bodice. I made no changes to the pattern but I wish I'd made the sleeves a little longer. In the end I did a band hem finish - I cut a strip of fabric twice as wide as my desired band plus seam allowances, folded it in half and serged the long raw edges of the band to the bottom of the sleeve. It looks like this from the outside:

and like this on the inside:

It was a very neat finish using the basic overlock stitch and allowed me to maximise the length of the sleeve. This finish would also look good in a contrasting fabric or a complimentary print.

If I sewed this top again, I might change the order of construction so that the side and underarm seams were sewed last, as this would allow me to tweak the fit a little. As I said before I would also lengthen the sleeves by at least 2 inches, if not more. I would also consider removing some of the gathers from the lower back. I think I read that someone on Patternreview.com converted the gathers into an inverted pleat which looked much sleeker. If you keep the gathers, you definitely need to use a lightweight fabric. Cotton jersey was great but anything heavier might look bulky at the back.

I did a narrow rolled hem around the neckline drape and lower edge. Yes I actually figured out how to do a different stitch on my overlocker! And I messed with the tension wheels and stitch settings which I have been too scared to touch since I bought the machine! It was surprisingly easy and I was a little annoyed with myself for not trying this before!

I didn't remove any of the hem allowance first as I wanted to keep as much length as possible too. I'll probably wear this top with jeans and I wanted a relaxed draped top that would hit low on the hips.

This top definitely falls into the "weekend wear" category however I think it looks pretty cute - and much smarter - when it is belted too. Here's the finished cardigan styled with my Burda skirt.

Burda's Jenny skirt

2011-09-05T21:11:00.000+01:00

I finished some sewing! Today I want to share my Burda pencil skirt with you. This is one occasion where it actually looks better on me than on the dressform as my dressform is a little skinnier around the hips. The fit is much better in real life! But I have no photographer right now so this is the best I can do.

The fabric - a ponti knit from Abakhan. I paid £4.28/metre and bought 1.5 metres. I used a small piece of interfacing and a 12" invisible zipper. I didn't line the skirt as I couldn't find any lining fabric with the same stretch. I'll just wear a half slip underneath if I need to. The total cost for materials came in at under £10.

The fabric had an obvious diagonal pattern. I cut the skirt on the straight grain and I cut the waistband on the bias so as not to bother with pattern matching. The fabric has a nice weight to it, enough stretch to hug the body and be comfortable to wear without making it difficult to sew. Or so I thought... My sewing machine did not love it. Despite playing with the tension, and stitches, changing needles and sewing slowly, I was unable to totally avoid slipped stitches. It seemed as though the needle was meeting with some resistance from something in the fabric.

The pattern is the Jenny skirt which can be downloaded from Burdastyle. It comes with 3 skirt variations and a dress option. Seam allowance are included on this one. I cut a 40 and was able to get a good fit by tweaking within the seam allowances. Mainly I needed to redraft the hip curve, taking it in and letting it out a little in places. I added seam interfacing along the zipper opening and around the waist to stop it from stretching out with wear.

Alterations I made: I added 3 inches to the length so it would fall to the knee, and reduced the waistband to 2 inches deep as I am short waisted. I also changed the back slit for a vent based on Sunni's tutorial. It was super-easy to do and I do prefer it to a simple slit. Coincidentally, Sunni did a whole sewalong for this skirt which is very useful to read through if you want to sew this pattern. You can find links to helpful posts here.

I would definitely make this skirt again. And I would consider making the dress variation that also comes with the pattern. I think it would be really cute in something like a ponti knit on the bottom half and a georgette on top so it looks like a skirt and blouse.

Festival time!

2011-08-28T20:07:00.004+01:00

My sewing plans are progressing nicely and I just need to get some finished project photos! Instead I have taken a little break today to go to my local Food and Drink festival which is held annually at a farm near my home. After the thunderstorms last night it was rather muddy underfoot. I definitely needed these:

Luckily there was also plenty of this:

The rain held off long enough that I could perch on a bale of hay, watch a few cookery demos and sample a few of the lovely refreshments produced locally by Brimstage Brewery and Peerless Brewery.

I saw dancing sheep courtesy of the Sheep show (and learned that a farmer can earn £1.80 for a jumper's worth of wool. But it costs £2 per sheep to shear it in the first place...)

I stocked up on some of my favourite produce - chilli pickles produced in Cumbria by the Chilli Pepper Company. I simply cannot make curry with their coriander chilli pickle!

(There was also handmade fudge and yummy lemon cake but that strangely disappeared before the camera came out...)

I do love a good festival, particularly one which celebrates local food and drink producers. And when it is walking distance from my house - well - that's definitely a winner. The Wirral Food Festival is held each year on the August Bank holiday weekend, and if you're local, it's still on tomorrow.

Two good deals I wanted to share with you

2011-08-23T22:28:00.003+01:00

For UK sewists: Simplicity patterns are currently half price. I popped into John Lewis to pick up a retro pattern - 3688 - as I have seen lots of bloggers sew these trousers with great success.

For knitters: The digital edition of Interweave Knits Accessories 2009 is available for download for just 10 cents until 29th August. That is 7p at the current exchange rate! There are over 60 patterns for socks, gloves, wraps, scarves and hats so it is well worth it

Autumn sewing plans - dresses

2011-08-21T22:07:00.000+01:00

Thanks for the positive comments on my plans for separates. My sewing plans for the next few months also include 3 dresses, ranging from sensible to spectacular. Two of the dresses are quite sensible and will get a lot of wear and the third - well - like a lot of bloggers, I couldn't pass up on Gertie's Craftsy sewing course so - I'm sewing a bombshell dress too!

First up Butterick 4443 in a sensible grey wool/poly blend from Abakhan. I've splashed out on some bemberg lining too. The pattern gives instructions for a lined bodice but I'm going to line the skirt too as I think that will be quite easy to add. The bodice will take some fitting - I'll definitely need a full bust adjustment and I have never done a armscye princess seam FBA before. Luckily Patternreview.com are offering a bust adjustment online class in September which I have signed up for.

Next up, a semi-fitted shift from Prima magazine's May issue in subtle purple Liberty tana lawn. I'm pretty sure I will need to underline the Liberty lawn, so it's lucky I'm taking Patternreview.com's underlining class too!

Thirdly, the spectacular! I'm sewing a bombshell dress following Gertie's sewing course using this spectacular Japanese cotton with 3% lycra. I found it at Calico Laine. It is a vibrant floral print - just the kind of thing I am attracted to when I go fabric shopping. After all the sensible dark colours I decided to splash out on something pink and purple! I know this isn't really a dress for cooler weather, but I think it will make a great "special occasion" dress with a plain shrug or cardigan on top.

I'm hoping that all this planning (and committing to it all here!) will keep me on track, so I'm off to cut come fabric. Ready, set, sew!

Autumn sewing - separates

2011-08-19T21:34:00.005+01:00

I think I've finalised my sewing plans for the next few months. I'm trying to (a) use up some stash and (b) sew things that I actually need in my wardrobe. I've picked 3 separates and 3 dresses. Here goes with the separates. I'll post about the dresses tomorrow.

1) A Sorbetto (no tech drawing to share but I'm sure you've seen it on a million other blogs already!) I'm using black poplin and a grey animal print bias binding. Finding this binding at MacCulloch and Wallis was the starting point for this top. I think I'll do an inverted pleat and possibly add a fake placket. I've already made a muslin.

2) Simplicity 2560 cardigan in a dark grey cotton jersey which I found in Abakhan a few months ago. This will be a relaxed layering piece in a neutral shade which will work with jeans and skirts. The fabric and pattern were both in my stash already and it requires no notions other than thread.

3) A Burda Jenny pencil skirt in a black/grey ponti knit, also in my stash and also originally from Abakhan. It's a smart style but in a fabric that will allow me to move. The only notions I need are a zip and a little interfacing.

I may add in a pair of trousers since I live in trousers but I am yet to decide on a pattern. I picked up a remnant of black linen for £7 at Abakhan (well, it was in the remnant bin but it measures 2.5 metres!) and some pongee lining for just £1.85/m which I have never seen before but it is super lightweight drapey lining in 100% polyester. It feels a similar weight to voile. Fabric.com are currently selling some and list it as a lightweight lining for trousers and jackets. But that is all I have been able to find out about this fabric.

When a stash is a blessing in disguise

2011-08-14T20:56:00.002+01:00

Most sewists have a stash - a hoard of fabric, a collection of pieces that were either too beautiful or too good a bargain to leave in the shop. But recently I have come to wonder if having a stash is a good thing. When I want to sew, I feel I should be using what I already have, instead of buying what inspires me right then. And in the end, I just don't sew.

It seems that my stash is made up of two types of fabric. The good stuff - fabric that intimidates me - it's too pretty, I bought it on holiday, it's difficult to sew - and so I never cut into it. And the rest - fabric that I have simply "gone off". Goodness knows why I bought it but the print is "too much" or it doesn't work with the patterns I want to sew etc.

So what happens when you have a stash, yet you don't want to sew with it? The answer - use it for muslins. If the fabric no longer works with your wardrobe, don't leave it there taunting you, instead make use of it to iron out your fitting issues before you cut into the good stuff.

This week I have been gathering together some sewing plans for Autumn - digging out patterns I want to sew, matching them up with good fabric and then muslining the patterns in the fabrics I no longer like. Once I got past the idea I had to use all the fabric in my stash for something wearable, I made so much progress. So far I have "muslined" Burda's Jenny skirt and the Colette patterns Sorbetto top. I have also traced off Butterick 4443 and begun to make the necessary adjustments to the pattern. I have been shopping for notions - stocking up on zips, thread and interfacing so I have no excuses and nothing to slow me down! I even spent time threading my machines, changing the needles and cleaning the iron. (Did you know that a simple paste of bicarbonate of soda and water will remove sticky interfacing residue from the sole plate? Magic)

First up on the sewing agenda - with the pattern adjustments made, I can cut into some ponti knit for my Jenny skirt. Not tonight though, I had a few glasses of wine at a friend's birthday dinner and I never drink and sew! But the scissors and sewing machine are all ready for tomorrow!

Japanese butterfly top

2011-08-04T21:49:00.006+01:00

This is definitely the last of my summer sewing. I was pretty much over this top before I finished sewing it. Don't look too close - I snapped these photos before I finished hemming it because I wasn't sure if I was going to bother (I eventually did).

The top is from my Japanese-book-in-French. I've seen the title translated into English as "Feminine wardrobe". It is a loose-fitting tunic top, with 3 large pleats in centre front and centre back and a double-layer sleeve. I should have known that a loose-fitting pleated top would not be flattering on my figure type but I really wanted to sew something from my Japanese book and use the remainder of this lightweight cotton fabric from my stash.

I cut an XL as that is where my measurements put me. I could probably have made a Medium! I hoped it would be floaty, light and cool. In reality I resemble something close to a hot air balloon. There is just so much fabric! The neckline is also too high on a fuller bust. I saw a version of this tunic on the Japan Couture Addicts blog where the neckline had been lowered, the pleats sewn down and a belt added. It looked way better than my version!

I like the double sleeve and it's a feature I might use again on a more flattering top.

The lower sleeve is cut on the bias while the upper sleeve is cut on the straight grain. They are basted together and softly pleated over the sleeve cap. In a lightweight fabric like this one, they hang really nicely.

I'm glad I didn't cut into new fabric to make this. I won't be making it again without major modifications. This top is wearable but only just, and only with a belt. It's going to be relegated to "running around after toddler"-wear.

I'll be wearing it over skinny jeans with a big belt at all times! If I even think about leaving the house without a belt, remind me, eh?

Mariposa shawl

2011-08-04T21:27:00.003+01:00

I finished my Mariposa shawl last week, blocked it and wore it the minute it was dry. It is knitted from one skein of Noro Kureyon sock using 3.5mm needles. The pattern is from The Knitter issue 33.

I wasn't sure how the multi-coloured Noro would work with the pattern. But I really love the crescent shape of the shawl and the way in which the colour changes sweep from one end of the curve to the other. It's very wearable - both as a shoulder shawl or as a neckerchief.

The pattern is published in both written and chart form. . The pattern repeat is only 6 rows long, and you have to remove all the stitch markers and reposition them every 6 rows. I was using pretty much every stitch marker I owned by the end of the shawl. Although it is relatively straightforward to knit once the pattern is set, I did have to write myself a crib sheet to remind myself how much garter stitch and how many lace repeats to do on each repeat.

I used a different yarn to the one specified and ran out at the very end. I used some navy Rowan Pure wool 4 ply to cast off which took over half an hour as there were over 300 stitches by this point.

As much as I love it, I think I'm done with shawls for the next few months. I have tons of patterns I want to knit as well as some Autumn sewing ideas.

A meeting of minds - with fabric!

2011-07-30T22:59:00.010+01:00

This week I had the pleasure of going fabric shopping in London and meeting a group of sewists whose blogs I read and admire. I rarely get chance to go to London, so when the opportunity presented itself, I grabbed it with both hands. I even looked forward to the 2 hour train journey - 2 hours uninterrupted Ipod and knitting time, with the bonus of fabric shopping at the end of it! Woohoo!

Arriving in the capital at lunchtime, I browsed John Lewis's fabric department and the nearby MacCulloch and Wallis before heading to Liberty's to meet up with Elizabeth, Eugenia, Claire and Catherine. We chatted over lovely Liberty fabric and purchased a few pieces before heading over to Berwick Street to continue the fabric fest.

We were joined for drinks later by Karen and Melissa. Karen's post pretty much sums up our "interesting" surroundings but as she says, sewists will talk about sewing anywhere! We talked about fabric, patterns, workshops and courses. We swapped tips and shared ideas. I felt inspired by sewing again, by the fabulous garments and the shared passion of a really lovely bunch of sewing bloggers. Check out Claire, Eugenia and Elizabeth's posts for photos and more. I got so carried away by the sewing talk that I forgot I had a camera in my bag! Spending time with people who "get" sewing is such a rarity and such fun. (Thanks ladies!)

Back home, I've been spending time at the sewing machine and loving it. My Japanese blouse is coming together well - I'm using leftover fabric from this top (which I also wore to London). The Liberty fabric (left) which I purchased on my little trip has been pre-washed today.

At the moment I'm thinking about using this pattern (right). It is from Prima magazine's May issue. I want a fairly simple dress to show off the fabric in all its glory. I'll need to do an FBA and I'm hoping the vertical darts will give it a decent shape around the waist. But as I've never used a Prima pattern before, I'll need to make a muslin - Liberty fabric is way too pricey to cut straight into!

Sunny summer Sunday

2011-07-24T23:16:00.002+01:00

I spent a lovely afternoon at the local village festival. I scored some great little belt buckles (not photographed yet) at the Vintage fair and then strolled in the sunshine eating handmade fudge.

Craftwise, I have a Mariposa shawl currently blocking and I have actually been sewing too! I've been playing around with the Colette patterns Sorbetto top and tracing some patterns from my Japanese sewing book. I think the Sorbetto needs a few more alterations to be flattering on my body type - so while my motivation is high, I think I'll switch straight to the Japanese book and try to keep the sewing momentum going.

The I-want-one-in-my-size cardigan

2011-07-20T20:47:00.002+01:00

I got my Phildar cardigan finished last week. And I love it so much I want one in my size. It is pattern no 31 "Cardigan" from Phildar's Tricotez Calin no 48 magazine. I made the 18 month size which is going to fit my little girl for ages! It will work as a lightweight cardigan in summer and a layering piece when the weather gets cooler. I used 4 balls of Phildar Lambswool which is a sportweight wool/acrylic blend. The colourway is called "Crocus" - a lovely vibrant purple/pink.

The yarn was lovely to knit with and I've heard reports that it washes well too. I also love the pattern. The turned hem detail makes a change from ribbing or moss stitch. And the pockets just look so cute! The instructions have you thread elastic through the top of the neckband which I haven't done yet. I presume this is to help it keep its shape with wear.

Knitting in French was not as hard as I thought once I got going. Of course, being able to read in the language did help a lot! I also found the way the pattern is written to be very clear and easy to follow. For example, the instructions for each size are colour-coded, while both the stitch and row count is given several time throughout the pattern. There are resources online to help you translate knitting-specific vocabulary. If you want to give it a go, you could try Tricotin.com or Chez Plum .

This week I have been...

2011-07-06T19:57:00.005+01:00

...Working hard in the garden to keep the weeds down and the plants hydrated. After spending many an evening outside with the hosepipe, I caved and bought a cheap sprinkler. Of course it has not stopped raining since!

...Listening to the new Fluffy fibers podcast. If you like knitting, sewing, reading or cooking, check it out!

...Knitting a Phildar cardigan for my little one. It's almost done. And I found the perfect button in my stash, which is the exact size and same shade of purple!

...Watching the Kings Speech (at last!) which was so good I might go and watch it again!

Parisian goodies

2011-06-29T22:46:00.003+01:00

So here goes with the Parisian goodies...

My first purchase was a little unexpected as I was on the hunt for yarn and actually bought a sewing book at Lil Weasel. I was totally taken by the front cover project which is a dress with a bow detail at the neckline. There are also some really cute tunic tops in this volume. The book includes full sized paper patterns, however I think I will be an XL (the top of the sizing chart!), given that this is Japanese sizing! You can flick through a selection of the pages here at the publisher's website.

Next up at La Droguerie I was overwhelmed by yarn! I bought one of their own knitting kits. It is a simple striped scarf using 3 shades of a mohair-type yarn. Packaged in a metal box, the kit includes the pattern and a piece of co-ordinating Liberty fabric to back the scarf. Once it's made, this will be a lovely souvenir of Paris - far better than a plastic Eiffel tower!

And finally I splashed out on Phildar. From the Phildar No. 048, Tricoter Calin, Collection 0 à 24 mois magazine I have already cast on for a cardigan using Phildar Lambswool and I am making good progress. The yarn is a sportweight wool/acrylic blend.

From the Phildar No. 050 Printemps/été 2011 magazine, I have selected this crochet top, to be made in Phil crochet using shades of grey and black. I may be a little ambitious in planning to crochet in French but so far I am finding the knitting patterns fairly easy to read.

Knitting in Paris

2011-06-27T19:35:00.009+01:00

It's taken a while to get this post together as I couldn't decide on the exact format to take - one post per shop or one long post about my trip. I decided to go with the second option as I was too busy buying stuff and didn't take tons of photos to justify lots of posts. But as this post is still pretty picture-heavy, I'll show you my purchases later this week.

We had a five day break in Paris, having rented a small apartment in the Marais district (3rd arr.). It was in a central location and very "Parisian" in character. You entered via a small interior courtyard into a charming space - old beams and large windows with Juliet balconies. But no one goes on holiday to rave about the accommodation. So let me tell you about the good stuff! During this short break with the family, I managed to visit 4 yarn stores and I'll share a little bit about each of them with you now. Sewists - do not despair! All the shops mentioned below also sell haberdashery so there's something for everyone here.

Entrée des Fournisseurs

First up was Entree des Fournisseurs, situated in a small courtyard at 8, rue des Francs Bourgeois, also in the Marais district. It was a lovely shop to browse, selling a large variety of buttons and ribbons as well as yarn (mostly Fonty and Debbie Bliss) and Liberty fabric. There were also some books and knit kits. I'll admit I was very taken with some large mother-of-pearl buttons but I couldn't justify the 6 euro price tag! So I left empty-handed (it was the first shop after all). If you can't get to Paris anytime soon, their website looks relative easy to navigate and they do ship internationally.

Métro: Saint Paul or Chemin Vert

Lil Weasel

The next shop I found was the lovely Lil Weasel at 1, passage du Grand Cerf. It's a beautiful shop with sample garments on a washing line in the window. They had a wall of yarn, arranged by colour: Cascade, Spud and Chloe, Debbie Bliss, Fonty and perhaps more that I missed. There was a cute selection of ribbons and buttons as well as a fabulous supply of patterns and books. I succumbed to a Japanese sewing book (in French translation) as I'm sure my French is better than my Japanese! Only after my return home did I discover (via their website) they also have a sewing workshop upstairs and offer various courses.

Passage du Grand cerf is a covered passageway lined with shops, the precursor to the shopping malls of today. It runs between rue St Denis and rue Dussoubs.
(Métro: Etienne Marcel / Réaumur Sébastopol / Les Halles)

La Droguerie

Later the same day I found myself at La Droguerie. If you are a knitter in Paris and can make only one stop, GO HERE! It was amazing. The shop sells its own brand yarn, Liberty fabric and all manner of haberdashery including buttons beads and embellishments. With the wooden shelves and glass-topped cases, it has the air of the traditional haberdashers. And their buying system is a little different too. First up, you queue to get a sales assistant. Once an assistant is free, they will take you around the store to select what you want, writing the prices on a small piece of paper as they go. You then take your purchases and your little piece of paper and join the queue at the till. I went on a weekday morning and it was busy. I dread to think what Saturday is like! The yarn hangs from the wall in skeins, arranged by colour. The information on the labels is scant at best (fibre content and skein weight, perhaps yardage if you're lucky) but once you have an assistant with you, they are helpful and knowledgeable, if you can overcome the language barrier. La Droguerie produce their own patterns to support their yarn ranges. I will admit to being overwhelmed at the choice and purchased a knit kit for a striped scarf with a fabric backing.

Métro: Les Halles or Etienne Marcel

Le Bon Marché

If you only want to sample La Droguerie's haberdashery, this is also for sale at the 3rd floor haberdashery department of Le Bon Marché, which was my next stop on the trip. Yarnwise they stocked Anny Blatt, Rowan, Noro, Debbie Bliss, Bouton d'Or, Plassard, Phildar and perhaps more. There were also sewing supplies, and other crafts such as cross-stitch. This was the only shop where I had a plan! The lovely Isabelle had sent me some Phildar magazines and there were one or two yarns I didn't think I could substitute. The Phildar saleswoman was chatty and keen to help, running to find me a basket so I could pile up the yarn. I bought some crochet yarn for top for me and a wool/acrylic blend to knit a cardigan for the baby.

Don't forget to sample the rest of this grand department store on your way up to the third floor!

Metro: Sèvres-Babylone

The almost-5th yarn shop: Huguet and Cie: I also visited a shop called Huguet and Cie, located on Rue Réamur in the 3rd arr. No photo as there was a truck and some building materials in the way. Unfortunately, the day I visited there was a note on the door saying they had closed early (although there were no opening time visible in the window) so I can't say too much about it either. The window displays looked a little unusual and perhaps dusty but when I pressed my nose to the glass, I could see yarn hanging on walls and boxes on the floor. A quick search of other blogs suggest this place divides opinion. You may find some good stuff or you might not. If you do, it will probably be at a good price. If they are open.

Métro: Arts et Métiers

I did a post on fabric shopping in Paris several years ago and it remains one of my most visited pages on this blog. Please be aware that I don't live in Paris and the information I've given may change in future. I've given weblinks wherever possible so check for opening times before you make a visit. Monday seemed to be a difficult day to shop for yarn with many shops closed or opening very late for just a few hours. And be sure to search "Paris" on Knitmap.com for tons more options and reviews!

Guess where I've been...

2011-06-19T19:54:00.001+01:00

It was fab! There was sun, there was wine and there were yarn shops! More details to come...

Travelling woman shawl

2011-06-12T20:19:00.005+01:00

Finished another knit! I actually cast this on before I finished my Capri cardigan as I didn't have the press studs to hand - which was a great excuse to start something new.

This project was really a joy to work on. The combination of my rosewood needles and Babylonglegs Semi-precious yarn, a merino/silk blend, was just lovely on the hands. I've had the yarn since last year's trip to Fibre and Clay in Knutsford and knew it deserved to become something special.

The pattern was a winner in my eyes too - Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante. It is available free on Ravelry or as part of a (paid-for) design collection e-book. I knit 4 repeats of Chart A (2 more than specified) before starting the edging chart in order to use up as much yarn as possible. I think the shawl would have been a little small had I not done these extra repeats.

Based on the recommendation of other Ravellers, I also used Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off which was exactly as described. I could stretch the edging into nice points when blocking it to really let the lace pattern shine.

I really like the semi-circular shape of this shawl. I find it more wearable than a triangular shawl - it can be worn around the neck or draped over the shoulders.

Although I had plans to knit a few cardigans for the little one and even dust off my sewing machine, the latest issue of the Knitter just arrived - with another 4 ply semi-circular shawl pattern, called Mariposa. And I have stash yarn which will work. So I think you know what's up next!

Capri

2011-06-08T19:27:00.007+01:00

First we had the Blogger outage (in which I lost a post and comments, although all is now restored) and then I had log-in issues which prevented me posting or commenting on other blogs. So I'm finally back and I have a finished garment post for you.

This cardigan is Capri from Rowan magazine no. 43. It is another Sarah Hatton design, I seem to gravitate towards her stuff. It is knitted in Rowan Calmer in Tangerine. I bought the yarn on sale and although I was a little dubious about the colour at first, it was too good a deal to

pass up (£1.60/ball instead of current RRP of over £7). I've knitted with Calmer before and really like it - it washes well and the stretchiness of the yarn makes it comfortable to wear.

Thankfully I decided I love the colour too. I even have stuff in my wardrobe that works with it, including this white, red and orange skirt (right) which I sewed way back in 2007. So I guess I should learn to be braver with colour in future!

The one thing to note with this pattern is that the yarn requirements appear to be way off. Most people on Ravelry have made the same comment. In my case, the smallest size is listed as needing 7 balls of yarn. I made a combination of the small and the medium and used just 5.5 balls of yarn.

I made a combo of two sizes because I know from experience that a Rowan "small" (32-34b) is too small but a "medium" (36-38b) is too big. In this case I knitted the two fronts in the medium size up to the armhole, then added extra decreases to take the pattern back to a small at the shoulders. I knitted a small for the back and sleeves. This gives me a nice sleek fit, while the stretch in the yarn is quite forgiving.

The design has no buttonholes and is fastened using snap fasteners or press studs. I used three 18mm fasteners at the top of the garment as I know I would never wear it fastened all the way to the bottom.

It is a simple round-neck cardigan which is sure to get a lot of wear over the summer. The stocking stitch body is patterned with regular purl "bumps" for texture. I would consider making this again, although I might make it a teensy bit longer below the waistline. It is perfect with skirts and trousers that sit at the natural waist or 1" below but it feels a tiny bit short for my hipster jeans, which I'm living in at the moment.

Kimono sweater

2011-05-11T12:19:00.000+01:00

Over the last week or so, I have been working on my Crochet club pieces (my aim is to be no more than 1 month behind!) and occasionally knitting on my Capri cardigan - so I have nothing finished to show you, except an older project I nearly forgot about.

According to my Ravelry page, I cast this on at the end of last October and finished it in early January. I didn't get around to sharing it with you at the time and it seemed strange to post about a warm sweater with the unseasonably hot weather we have been having recently.

It is called "Kimono sweater" and it is a Sarah Hatton design, from Knitting magazine number 81. It is knitted in Rowan Alpaca Cotton, I used the Rice colourway. I was attracted by the design and the fact the yarn was supposedly machine washable. I say "supposedly", because it is machine washable if you take care to wash your swatch and knit the garment based on your post-wash measurements. My tension was slightly looser than the pattern specified before washing and slightly tighter afterwards. The swatch did shrink in the machine. it also felted slightly. But I actually prefer how the washed fabric feels. Before I washed it, I thought the sweater would bag and sag with wear. Now it feels firmer but in a good way.

Here is a close-up of the central swirl design on the body, you can also see the zigzag pattern around the collar.

The pattern has tons of ease (6 inches or so) and no waist shaping so I think it is important to choose your sizing carefully. My measurements put me at a 36 or 38. I usually knit a Rowan 36 but in this case I did a 34 back and sleeves with a 36 front for extra space over the bust area. I worked a 36 front up to the raglan decreases but then I added extra decreases at the armhole and switched back to the instructions for the 34 around the neck area.

I also used an extra ball of yarn than specified for the size 36, even though I only knitted a 36 front with 34 back and sleeves, so I would advise you buy at least one extra ball of yarn!

Despite the few little issues, I absolutely love the finished garment. It is light, comfortable and warm.

Zoo days

2011-05-09T13:36:00.000+01:00

We went to the zoo this weekend. Aside from a few sun showers, it was a lovely fun-filled day. Apparently Kate and Will's adopted a penguin - or should I say they were gifted the adoption of a penguin as a wedding gift. I wonder if their penguin was amongst this little gang?

Staying with the wedding theme, my Royal wedding yarn also arrived this week and it is gorgeous. I'm going to use the specially designed pattern from Anniken Allis to knit a wedding shawl. It will no doubt take me some time to complete!

Bravo to Purl City yarns who are almost a local store for me, being based in Manchester. Not only did they send my lovely sparkly yarn super fast and free postage - but it was wrapped in pink tissue paper with some little love heart sweeties inside. It's like getting a present by post - even if you have ordered and paid for it yourself!

2011-05-03T14:18:00.005+01:00

First up, I want to thank you for still reading, especially all those people who take the time to leave really useful comments.

Maureen has experience of machine washing dry clean only wool (on a cold delicate wash) and can report that it worked out just fine. So maybe I could avoid the drycleaners in future

Lyn suggested Ottobre design for good kids clothes while Sandy suggested turning sleeve cap ease on those tiny garments into pleats which seems like a really nice idea to try out.

Both Vanya and Anna had great advice about the marathon t-shirts. It appears my suspicions were true and American Apparel runs small. This may be an issue given that all my runners are over 6 feet tall! I'm gonna have to look at my options again.

Unfortunately two... yes that's right, two four-day-weekends have gone by without a stitch being sewn. It's a pretty shocking state of affairs! But I have been spending time on the garden, going to some craft fairs and hanging out with family so it's all good! For royal wedding day, we had a picnic on the living room floor so as not to miss a moment of the TV coverage. I didn't expect to be as excited as I was about the whole thing but it was really lovely. There is nothing left to say about The Dress that hasn't already been said before but I thought it was just stunning. And I will admit to buying a souvenir copy of Hello magazine this morning, as well as the Fyberspates royal wedding yarn. But that's as far as my memorabilia buying goes!

But back to those fairs... there was one each weekend in the next village to here. I probably got the best haul on the first week: a hem marker, folding wooden ruler and 3 vintage knitting patterns for £6.

The hem marker is of the orange and cream plastic variety, rather than a nice wooden one, but it is useful all the same. This folding ruler (below) is a lovely wooden item. Unfolded it is 24 inches in total but it fold in 3 places for easy storage.

Two of the patterns are from the 1950's and the green cardigan is 1970's. My "rules" for buying vintage patterns are that they should be things I would actually knit, be close to my size and in a yarn that is easily substitute-able. These all fit the bill. The blue top is slightly larger than my size but the pattern is actually beaded so it was too nice to leave behind.

The following week, the fair was labelled as an "antique and collectors" fair so the prices were a little higher. I still came away with 3 knitting patterns. I'm finding it harder to date these.

From the prices, I'm guessing the colour patterns are approx 1950's. The black and white pattern in the centre may be as early as 1930's, judging from the design. At the same stall, I was tempted by a handcrank sewing machine. It wasn't a recognisable brand name (Alexander? I think. Made in England). They wanted £40 for it, even though it hadn't been used or serviced in 25 years. I've seen Singers cheaper than that recently so I walked away.

2011-04-22T00:00:00.000+01:00

DH has just signed up to do a marathon later this year. It is such a big deal for him and I have been brainstorming ideas how we can show our support at the finish line. I was thinking the usual - banner, balloons etc - but then I read that Cafepress were moving into custom clothes. And it seems they make them in everything from adult right through to baby sizes so we can create some matching, or possibly co-ordinating, outfits for the family (whichever is the least cheesy!).

Over the last day or two, I have been playing around with their design tools to try to design a t-shirt to really show our support on the big day. Although I love the creative process I am no good at all with stencils and fabric paints so I much prefer the idea of getting someone else to do the messy bits. As there are a few guys running together, perhaps we can even create some team t-shirts! I am undecided whether to upload a photo or try to design a logo, but it’s been fun to play with the online designer and try out a few ideas. Anyone ordered from Cafepress and got any advice on sizing? I think I read somewhere they use American Apparel shirts and I have heard they run smaller than average?

Project - wadder!

2011-04-21T23:47:00.002+01:00

When I had my little girl, I had rosy ideas about sewing cute little kids clothes, but the reality is not so simple. The last thing I attempted to sew was a total disaster. I used this 70's pattern which is a simple vintage dress with a pleated front and centre back zipper. I picked it up in a charity shop for a few pence and I’m glad I didn’t pay too much as the pattern pieces for the coat were all missing. I was inspired by cute girls clothing that you find online but is harder to track down on the high street. You know the kind? Those pretty little print dresses with a retro vibe.

I attempted the view with short sleeves in a crisp cotton. Euurgh. Trying to ease in tiny sleeves to a tiny armscye was not easy. If I tried it again, I would set in the sleeves before sewing the side seams, and then sew the side seam and sleeve seam in one go. I added extra width at the centre back to create a button placket instead of a zipper. My second issue was the fabric choice, the cute strawberry print on a blue background looked gorgeous but in reality the cotton was too stiff to help with easing issues and the needle left punched hole marks where I had ripped out stitching. There is no finished proejct photo as I gave up! That project was a wadder!

Lost and found

2011-04-20T22:35:00.003+01:00

Lost - one sewing mojo.

It vanished weeks ago and, despite much cajoling, has not yet returned. It's disappearance has been linked to my daughter's decision to stop sleeping for more than two hours at a time. A choice which lasted for several weeks this time around. A busy day followed by a disrupted night with a fretful baby does not make for good sewing. Or in fact, any sewing at all. This week she seems to have decided sleep is good again, so my dear sewing mojo, feel free to come back at any time!

Found - thrifty sewing finds.

I often read blogs where the writers are excited to have found fabulous vintage fabric and patterns for rock-bottom prices at second hand shops. I sigh and know I will never be that lucky. Until last week, that is. First I stumbled upon a big bag of thread for £2.50, it looks a bit of a jumble but there are actually almost-full spools of branded thread in some pretty decent colours. Purple gutterman silk, you say? Yes, please! The following week they had some more but it was being sold at 3 large spools for £1, still a good price but clearly the person doing the pricing that day had a clearer grip on how much this stuff can cost brand new.

And just days later I found this:

Pure Scottish wool, listed as a "skirt pack", it measures 1m x 1.5m which I hope will give me enough to sew a pencil skirt. Still in the original packaging with the original price tag of £12.99, I paid £2.49 again. I took it to the drycleaners today, where the person behind the counter looked at me as if I had two heads when I told him I needed it cleaning before I sewed something. I didn't think that was such a strange request but I guess there can't be many sewists in my little town.

Please don't think I'm being wasteful with what little free time I get these days. When my brain feels like mush, I have been putting my feet up with a cuppa and this knitting project. It's a short sleeved cardigan in a cotton/acrylic yarn which will be just right for summer.

Home again

2011-03-17T19:45:00.005Z

I'm just back from sunny Mallorca. It mostly looked like this:

This was taken on the sunniest day; the rest of the time, it was a little greyer and definitely cooler than I'd hoped. But still, when the weather improves that patch of peaceful seaside will be filled with tourists which is not my cup of tea at all. As it's the off-season, and we went to the quieter East coast, it was probably a little too peaceful, with many businesses not yet open for the summer season. There was very little fabric/yarn activity. We went to one market and DH spotted the fabric stall before me. Unfortunately it was mostly furnishing fabric so we passed by quite quickly and contented ourselves with an al fresco coffee in the town square instead.

Although it was nice to get away, it's nice to come home -and to read your kind comments on my previous post, including some new commenters! Thanks for reading!

After the hectic last few weeks (preparing for both my daughter's and mother's birthdays, and packing for a holiday with a one year old were just the highlights), it surprises me that I have projects I have completed and not yet blogged. But I do!

I'm particularly proud of this baby bunting as I made it to adorn the living room at my little girl's first birthday party. I used the instructions for the Festive flag banners from the One Yard Wonders book and some remnants of Amy Butler fabric.

I drew out templates for the felt letters, keeping the font as bold and simple as possible. I used odd buttons, rather than cutting a "hole" in letters like this:

Because I used two different fabrics for the flags, I felt it needed to be balanced by having an odd number of flags, which left me with one flag more than I needed to spell her name. For the final flag, I used a leftover felt dove shape from a craft kit and again added odd buttons as the eye and the wing.

It was an easy project and it looks very effective. All the fabric used is left over from other projects I have made for her bedroom, so after the party I moved the bunting to its permanent home above her cot.

MeMadeMarch... or not

2011-03-07T22:36:00.005Z

I started March with the best of intentions, of participating in MeMadeMarch. I got up, put on a self-stitched cardigan and photographed it.

But I was seriously floundering by Day 2. I probably could have pulled it together with at least one self-stitched accessory each day but it felt like cheating to wear the same handknit gloves every day and call it participation. I didn't have time to plan or sew a few basics which could have definitely lifted my wardrobe. Instead, I'm enjoying the posts from the other MMM11 participants and using this month as an opportunity to think about how I need to add to my wardrobe to make it more well-rounded. Already I can see I'm lacking trousers and basic knit tops so these projects are now at the top of my must-sew list.

It didn't help that I had some knitting to finish that wasn't for me. This is the Jasper Diamond hoodie (Ravelry link) from "Vintage Baby Knits by Kristen Rengren and also in the Knitter issue 21. I knitted it in Sirdar Snuggly for my little girl. I only had a certain amount of yarn so I had to get knitting before she grew too much! Luckily this is still on the large side for her so it should last a while! I chose a turquoise blue yarn and found flower buttons that were a perfect match for the yarn in the same shop. I love it when that happens.

Finished! Pics to come...

2011-02-18T22:29:00.003Z

I have finally finished my trousers. If you'd have stopped by earlier in the week, you would have been met with angry muttering and hushed swearing after some of the trials and tribulations I had. It took me four attempts to get my invisible zipper in successfully. Of course it went in perfectly on the third attempt, only for me to discover I'd ripped the zipper tape previously and the slider would not pull past the hole without catching. So I had to rip it out and make an emergency run to Abakhan for a new one.

In the end, I eliminated the lining. The trousers felt heavy and bulky when it was added, and the wool lost its lovely drape. As these trousers are "for best" rather than daily wear, I think they should hold up without lining. I also added kick tape to the hemline after I found a good colour match in Abakhan (going back for that second zipper did pay off after all!). The Sewing Divas wrote a great post about it here so there's no need for me to repeat it - but basically kick tape is a type of ribbon that is sewn to the hemline of trousers to protect them from wear and tear.

I hope to get photos of me wearing the trousers in the next few days - they look like nothing on the hanger but really "come to life" on the body.

Love is in the air

2011-02-14T14:18:00.002Z

I was hoping to have a post up about my lovely trousers from the sewalong. But when I basted in the zipper and put them on, they seemed too big! I am not sure if I added too much to the muslin or if I have lost weight in the last few weeks but I am so frustrated! So I am currently taking off the waistband and taking a pinch out of each side seam – I think I am basically removing what I added during the muslin fitting!

So the other thing I am thinking about today is of course Valentine’s Day. It is so hard to come up with good gift ideas for your boyfriend or husband – especially when you’ve been together a while like we have! S is working away this week so we will be celebrating a little later than everyone else which gives me a little more time to plan! S likes football t shirts, especially American football and maybe I’ll bake some cute cakes.

We don’t go crazy for V-day – I was planning on cooking a nice meal at home, but S says he’s booked a dinner somewhere special, which gives me good reason to get back to my new trousers and get them finished!

Finally!

2011-02-08T22:31:00.004Z

I am finally at the construction stage of my trousers, after spending most of this week just on the cutting out -one night for the lining, one night for the fashion fabric and a whole evening just figuring out the bias waistband. I had very little fabric left to play with and it took me a couple of attempts to get it right. But tonight I was able to start sewing!

The most difficult thing about sewing since my little one was born is finding the time! Before she came along, I had the luxury of sewing all weekend but those days are gone! I know some people work on the premise of sewing for 30 minutes each day. That would be great if I had a dedicated sewing space but I cut out on the living room floor and sew on the dining room table so everything has to be laid out and packed away each night. Sewing regularly for short stretches of time is new to me - I'm finding that I need about an hour and a half to make any significant progress and clean up afterwards. "Stealing" that hour and a half from my schedule means being super-organised - cooking dinner and getting in my pjs by 8.30pm, sewing til 10pm, cup of tea then bed (usually with a sewing book under my arm - this week, it's been "Pants for Real People"). How do you fit sewing time into your busy lives?

Tonight I worked on prepping each piece of the pattern - stitching and pressing darts and pleats, attaching pockets, fusing interfacing, and assembling the waistband. Apologies for the poor phone picture but I'm pretty pleased with the bias feature on the waistband. I'm so glad Sunni came up with this idea because there is no way I'd be able to match the pinstripes!

Trouser progress and other projects

2011-02-01T21:18:00.003Z

I'm pleased to report that my experiments in steam shrinking appear, at this early stage, to have been successful and I have actually made some visible progress on my Burda trousers by finishing the adjustments to my pattern pieces and cutting out the lining. There was nothing on TV to distract me last night, I reviewed Sunni's posts and I was still seconds away from cutting the front leg lining without incorporating the pocket piece! Seriously, if I was sewing these trousers alone, I would have messed up and/or given up long ago.

Tonight I am neither pressing nor cutting my lovely wool fabric as I want to give my full attention to the first episode of Boardwalk Empire. I don't want to miss any of the lovely 1920s costumes. So instead I'll leave you with some photos of other projects I'm working on.

First up, my current progress on the Crochet Club looks like this. I need to work two more of the small squares and two new pieces in a wave and chevron design to complete the sections for this month. The cotton glace is fab to work with and despite the fact I have followed relatively few crochet patterns prior to this, I'm not struggling with this. I just make sure I have my crochet reference book next to me at all times!

I also cast on a pair of gloves as it was sooooo cold and I had hopes of getting some wear out of them this winter. The pattern is the Elegant Coat Gloves from Vintage Gifts to Knit by Susan Crawford and the yarn is Jamieson and Smith 2 ply jumperweight which comes in the most amazing range of colours. I chose a deep purple to match my winter coat, a heathered pink for the main shade and a bright fuchsia for a splash of colour. But the project that I seem to be working on most often is a cardigan for my little girl. This one is the simplest pattern so I can work on it while catching up on movies. I'm a on a bit of a deadline for this, given the fact she grows so fast! But I think this size should be big enough for a good few months yet. The pattern is the Jasper Diamond hoodie from a recent issue of the Knitter magazine and I'm using Sirdar Snuggly because it knits up nicely and washes so well.

Almost sewing

2011-01-26T21:16:00.002Z

So it's the final week of the trouser sewalong and Sunni has just posted about cutting out your fabrics. I'm not quite at that stage yet as I have been procrastinating about pre-treating my fabric. Ideally I wanted to use a machine washable wool blend but there was nothing in the shop that grabbed me. So I ended up buying a yummy soft wool woven.

Here's what I chose: a mid-grey pinstripe (on right) with a light grey lining.

The fabric labels at Abakhan are sparse to say the least. In this case "100% wool dry clean" was all it said. And I bought it even though I really hate drycleaning. I'm hoping I'll be able to handwash the finished trousers and so this week I've been washing some samples of my fabric to see what happens.

I machine washed one sample at 30 decrees C with a short spin and handwashed the other sample in cold water with minimal agitation. Neither sample shrank significantly.They did both ravel at the edges so I'll have to be careful to finish all seams well. Both looked quite crisp after a steam press.

So my plan is to wash the fabric, using the "handwash" setting on my machine (25 degrees C/minimal agitation), leave it to dry flat and then steam it. I will handwash the finished garment using a washing liquid designed for delicate handknits. So the initial treatment of the fabric should be the harshest it ever gets. If you have experience of treating wool and think I'm way off base, please shout out now! Otherwise, I have serged the raw edges of the fabric and will wash tomorrow!

It may be a few days before I'm ready to cut but I'm eager to get going. Construction-wise I plan to work with the stripes by cutting the waistband on the bias and I will insert a handpicked lapped zipper in the side seam - both new techniques for me but hopefully it will add to my sewing repertoire.

Tweaking the muslin

2011-01-17T15:05:00.006Z

My copy of Pants for Real People arrived in the post on Friday morning. I had a glance through and immediately made myself late for my lunchtime appointment. I picked it up again that evening for a quick read and proceeded to burn the tea. I have pretty much carried this book around with me all weekend. Without it, I would have given up on these trousers. Now I feel I have a muslin that is a much better fit and comfortable to wear. This book is awesome.

This online document was also useful: Making Perfect Pants as it made me realise that it is not just the waist and hip measurements that are important but the curve between the two points on the body (click the link and scroll to Fig. 2 for a diagram). My hip curves out immediately below the waist, meaning I had to let out the side seams to accommodate this. The tightness I was seeing in the side seams was not because I'd chosen a size too small but because the pattern's hip curve was more gradual than mine.

Here's the technical drawing for my pattern. It is Burda 07-2010-127 High Waisted trousers. The waistband sits 1 inch above the natural waist and it is sized as a Tall pattern.

Summary of muslin tweaks so far:
*Let out side seam from waist to hip
*Added to back crotch length
*Removed several inches from the length (I am not doing the turn-ups so I need a smaller hem allowance). I've left myself at least 3 inches to play with for a good heavy hem.

Still to consider:
*There is some excess fabric where the back darts finish - I may need to lengthen these darts.
*Look at leg width - Sunni has just posted another great fitting tutorial so I will continue to tweak the fit over this week too.

ETA: lengthened darts and scooped out back crotch curve a 1/4 inch (for a full/low derriere)

In it for the long haul...

2011-01-13T21:37:00.003Z

I just reviewed my muslin photos and... well... what can I say? Except I won't be subjecting you to them at this stage. I used an old bed sheet as my fabric and it's thinning a little. No one wants a photo of themself wearing ill-fitting see-through trousers to exist in perpetuity online.

I've tried a few minor tweaks, including letting them out over the hips which seemed to have helped a little. When I first tried the trousers on, I just wanted to give up and choose another pattern but instead I've ordered the Pants for Real People book from Palmer Pletsch as there is definitely more than one alteration required here. It's coming from Amazon so hopefully will arrive over the weekend and I won't fall too far behind with the sewalong. I am in this for the long haul - I will not give up! (Please remind me I said that when I hit the next hurdle!)

Luckily I had some easy relaxing knitting to turn to which I could chill out with. This free pattern is the "First fairisle cowl/headband" (Ravelry link) which used up one ball of Rowan Scottish Tweed DK from my stash and just over half a ball of Noro Kureyon. It is simple stranded colourwork which makes it great for beginners.

The ball of Noro had such a long stretch of red without any other colour changes that I actually knit half of this before I decided to frog it and start knitting again from the other end of the ball to get a wider variety of colours coming through. I cast on an extra 12 stitches (2 pattern repeats) as the designer notes it was a snug fit over her small head. I followed the pattern as written, working 6 colourwork repeats and then changed it slightly by working 8 rows rib at the top (instead of the rib and stocking stitch I worked at the bottom) as this gave it a firmer edge that is less likely to curl. I had about 6 inches of Scottish Tweed left when I finished the cast-off. Phew! Disaster averted, successful project complete!

This will sit nicely around my neck, snuggled up to my chin to keep out the wind chill. The yarn is not the softest but that does give the cowl some body and prevents it from flopping down. Any DK yarn would work for this pattern - a variegated yarn would give the colour changing effect with the smallest amount of effort, but equally you could use up small scraps of different colours.

Notes on trouser muslin #1

2011-01-10T21:28:00.005Z

Thanks to lovely DH cooking dinner 4 nights in a row, I've managed to steal a little time each evening to working on my trouser muslin for the sewalong. This week the focus is on fitting issues and I am pretty much on target for that, having finished stitching the muslin together about an hour ago. I was anxious to try it on but haven't had chance to take photos so haven't analysed the issues yet.

Things I've learned so far:
* I need to be super accurate with my marking of notches and stitching lines - especially around the pocket area to make sure this section is constructed accurately.
* I can say for sure that my muslin will need some fitting, most likely relating to the hip area and/or crotch length.
* After transfering any changes back to the pattern, I will need to double check my tracing accuracy and seam allowances, and true seams.

The camera is coming out tomorrow. I'll wait to see the results before I decide if they are suitable for posting unedited!!!

But since I try to avoid too many picture-less posts, I'll leave you today with some yarny goodness.
My supplies for the Crochetalong arrived at the weekend - beautiful jewel-toned Rowan yarn and sparkly Debbie Abrahams beads. The first set of patterns is due next week so I've been a good little crafter and done my tension square - I'm ready to get going as soon as possible!

2011 is upon us!

2011-01-05T22:48:00.002Z

The Christmas decorations have been taken down and packed away in the loft. The snow has melted and been washed away by the rain, revealing the New Year in all its glory. And I am all set to go on my new projects! I'm not making sewing resolutions as such, but I do plan to push myself to try new things and to spend more time on obtaining a quality finish. And so to help me towards that aim, the Cupcake Goddess's trouser sewalong begins this week. I'm using the Burda pattern she has picked out which is number 127 from the 07/2010 magazine. It is also available as a (paid) download on Burdastyle. Having printed and then traced my pattern and added the relevant seam allowances, I'm just about ready to cut my muslin.

This is the planned schedule, as noted on her website:
•January 3 - 8 ~ cutting and constructing your muslin
•January 9 -15 ~ muslin fitting and pattern adjustments
•January 16 - 22 ~ preparing and cutting your fabric, lining and interling
•January 23 - 31 ~ trouser construction

There's still time to join if you're interested!

Of course my crafting ADD means I'll be working on other little projects here and there too. I currently have a lovely Alpaca Cotton sweater blocking and the tiniest bit of finishing to do on a pretty little 4ply jumper. I am determined to get those garments into my wardrobe before I cast on anything else!

A round up of 2010

2010-12-31T19:41:00.004Z

So here goes with my annual round up of projects completed this year.

There's a definite bias towards knitting until the end of the year, and considering my virtual lack of free time now that I'm a SAHM I'm pretty glad to have achieved so many projects that have become a regular feature of my wardrobe.

Baby things (knit)

Knotty gloves (knit)

Lacy leaves shawl (knit)
Lacy top (knit)
Plain talk mittens (knit)

Fabric pictures (sew) and a tutorial for creating your own.

Toasty shrug (knit)

Baby cloche (knit)

Matinee jacket (knit)

Frock camisole (knit)

Vorticity socks (knit)

Last days of summer skirt (sew)

Peggy Sue cardigan (knit)

Another baby cloche (knit)

Triton socks (knit)

Milly doll (knit)

Pink baby quilt (sew)

Simplicity 4500 skirt (sew)

Simplicity 2451 skirt (sew)

Christmas tree skirt (sew)

Quick Christmas bunting (sew)

Baby soft book (sew)

And I was published again in the PatternReview tips book!

Looking forward to 2011, I really want to improve the quality of my garments and stretch myself in areas I tend to avoid. I want to sew pants, I want to sew knits and I want to crochet more. So I've decided to take part in the Cupcake Goddess' trouser sewalong (you may have noticed the button in the sidebar) and I've also signed up for Jane Crowfoot's Crochet-a-long both of which start in January.

Happy New Year!

A belated Merry Christmas

2010-12-29T19:27:00.004Z

I meant to get online and write a pre-Christmas post but things don't always happen the way you plan. Luckily for me, this was for only good reasons. Having totally psyched myself up for DH to be working away over Christmas, we got the very welcome (and so last minute news) that he would be given earlier leave and was actually flying home on Christmas Eve. Seriously people! it was the stuff of cheesy Christmas movies - you know the type - where the protagonist will do anything to get home for the holidays and despite so many obstacles, the happy reunion takes place at a snow-covered airport just hours before Santa takes to the skies.

So my days have been filled with food, family, presents and all those things that I know I am so lucky to enjoy at this time of year. Unsurprisingly sewing and knitting have been on the back burner. I didn't get to cut out the grey pencil skirt I planned to sew for Christmas and even the quick-and-easy pyjama pants I cut and sewed one evening are waiting for elastic and a hem.

I hope you enjoyed a fabulous Christmastime with your loved ones. I'll be back to sewing in the New Year. Roll on 2011!

One last gift

2010-12-20T13:02:00.004Z

I finished up one last present for the baby - a Winnie the Pooh soft book. It was made from a printed panel with cut and sew instructions. I used the scraps of batting left over from her quilt.

It was pretty basic and so not an exciting project to work on. But it's a nice bright picture book and there was space on the back cover to embroider her name which I liked. That's definitely it on the present front now - 5 sleeps until Santa!

Super-quick handmade decorations

2010-12-15T15:00:00.005Z

There has been a lot of Christmas-ing going on in my house. But I'm thrilled to say that the cards have been written, the presents have been bought and (mostly) wrapped and I feel like I can now relax and enjoy the holiday season!

And believe it or not, there is still time for Christmas crafting! I felt my living room was looking a little plain so I whipped up some Christmas stocking bunting in no time at all. The secret to it is this:

It's a card hanging kit, comprising of some gold string and mini gold pegs. I got it for £1.50 at the supermarket and I used it to hang 12 mini stockings for a really cute look over the fireplace.

I drew a basic stocking shape to use as a template. I folded my fabric in half, right side out, and cut out 12 stockings. As your fabric is folded, you will end up with 24 pieces - or in other words a front and a back for each stocking. I sewed around the stocking shape, again with right side out. I left the tops open in case I ever want to put sweets inside but you could just sew all the way around if you wish. I finished the raw edges with pinking shears. Then all you need to do is hang your gold string wherever you wish and peg each stocking in place.

I used the leftover fabric scraps from my Christmas tree skirt so the living room looks very co-ordinated for quite little effort. My finished bunting looks like this:

And I think it's pretty cute!

Christmas decorating

2010-12-10T20:59:00.001Z

I kinda got distracted last weekend. As well as sewing my skirt, I got out the Christmas tree and all the decorations and set about making the house look pretty. I'm lucky enough to live near to a large floristry wholesalers who get tons of Christmas decoration in at this time of year. They have some really cute stuff, like this gingerbread man and wise owl.

I haven't really gone with a theme as such but I did try to restrict the decorations I bought to red and gold. The tree is a rather nice 7ft artificial tree however it did have a rather unsightly metal stand. And then the lovely Lori posted about a tree skirt that she sewed and I was totally inspired. So I dug around in the stash and found two fabrics - both a holly design but one on a red background and one on green.

The dimension of my tree skirt was based on the amount of fabric I had left, I cut as big a circle as I could from my red Christmas fabric, and then cut the same size circle from an old bedsheet (as this will be underneath and never seen). I cut what was left of the green fabric into 4 inch wide strips, joining them in one long strip which was folded in half right side out and used this piece to create a pleated ruffle. I basted the ruffle to the right side of the sheet fabric before I sewed the patterned fabric to the plain sheet (with right sides together) and so I only had to sew around the circle once and turn it right side out for the skirt to be virtually finished.

I didn't add ties or any kind of closure as the skirt just wraps in place. Et voila, you can't see the stand anymore.

The tree in all it's glory! It feels a lot more Christmassy around here!

Simplicity 2451

2010-12-08T20:24:00.004Z

I haven't had much time on my hands this week but I've found this skirt went together relatively quickly, with only an hour spent on it here and there. I made Simplicity 2451 View B, adding about 5cm in length as I am 5'8. The style is flattering and the fit is good, although I possibly could have graded down slightly over the hips. The skirt does look too big on my dressform but that's because I eat more pasta and chocolate than she does...

I went for a casual look - using a navy lightweight denim with a little stretch. I machine topstitched along the yoke, pocket and hem in a rust coloured thread to stick with the denim look. It's not perfect but I'm pleased. If I were to make the skirt again, I might do two rows of topstitching, as my RTW jeans have that design feature. But I only thought of that when it was too late. And I wasn't unpicking decent sewing just for that. I used a navy polka dot cotton for the pocket facing and the waist facing. This was also an idea I "borrowed" from my favourite RTW jeans.

Although it is an "easy to sew" project, things didn't always go swimmingly. It is the law of sewing that your topstitching will be perfectly straight and your needle will slide effortlessly through multiple layers of fabric when you have set your stitch length way too tight. It is also the law of sewing that, when you attempt to re-stitch the same section at the correct stitch length, that very same needle and thread will point blank refuse to go through more than two layers of fabric without tangling threads and skipping stitches. I really wanted to do a topstitched hem but when my machine started playing up and it was the last task I had to complete, I decided to take another approach. I marked my hem length and then topstitched along the marked line. I serged the hem allowance to finish it off. Here's the right side of the fabric at this stage:

Then I flipped it under once, pressed the hem so the topstitching was a scant 5mm from the edge and stitched it in place by hand using a blind hem stitch. Here's the finished hem:

It has the look I wanted and I just couldn't risk my machine chewing the skirt up at the last moment. I'll be wearing this skirt this weekend, with warm boots, a plain tee and a cute little cardi. I can see this one becoming a regular feature in my wardrobe.

Snow day!

2010-11-30T13:27:00.005Z

Once upon a time, I would have loved a snow day. It would have meant a whole day at home to sew, knit or watch good movies. But once you have a kid, it means a whole day stuck in the house trying desperately to think of ways to entertain the little darling while dreaming about your next project. Still, once she heads off to bed tonight I can get back to the sewing machine to work on my next skirt. And here's an idea of what I'll be working on:

I couldn't decide whether to make the pencil skirt or the flared skirt first - the flared skirt won as my serger is already threaded up with the right coloured thread which means I don't have to spend time re-threading it. I'm making View B which is the main picture without the tabs at the waist. I'm using a dark lightweight denim from Croft Mill with a navy polka dot cotton from Chawla's for the waist facing and pocket facing. I'm also using a rust coloured topstitching thread in keeping with the denim look.

This skirt has done the rounds of the blogs - I made myself wait until a pattern sale before I purchased it - and everyone seems to be very positive about the design. So far, it is coming together well and that is keeping me motivated to work on it, even when I only have the odd half hour to spare.

Kenwood blender - CSN Stores review

2010-11-26T20:32:00.005Z

It has been so cold today! There's nothing for it except to stay home, get cosy and cook. Luckily the Kenwood hand blender I ordered from CSN stores arrived quickly and it's just perfect for whipping up a quick pan of soup to warm up on a cold day. My current fave is yummy broccoli and stilton - you can find the recipe here if you'd like to try it too.

The blender has a decent motor, easy-to-use controls, and it also comes with a measuring beaker and lid which is just the right size to puree ingredients as you cook.

I chose this one over any others because it has a stainless steel shaft, meaning I can blend warm soup while it's still in the pan and it won't get stained the way plastic might.

Using the site was easy, I rang the freephone customer service line for advice and it was answered promptly even at 10pm. With the order placed late at night, it was dispatched the next day and arrived by courier a day later. So all in all, I had a pretty good experience with this site. I have no reason to use their 30 day return policy, but even that has been extended over the Christmas period so you can shop throughout November and December, safe in the knowledge that you have until the end of January 2011 to return any duplicate gifts.

www.csnstores.co.uk

Abakhan Winter preview sale

2010-11-25T15:03:00.004Z

I managed to stop in at the Abakhan preview sale today. At previous sales, I have found some amazing bargains (fabric at £1/m, a rotary cutter for less than the price of a replacement blade...) Today nothing caught my eye that was significantly reduced (say 50% or 70%) but the fact that you got 15% off your final bill was a nice sweetener.

I went with the intention of buying ribbon for a knitted sweater I'm sewing up right now, but they didn't have the right colour. Somehow I ended up leaving with some craft felt, topstitching thread for my next skirt project and (after a little rummage in the remnant bins) some brushed cotton and tee shirt material for pyjamas. I need to conquer my fear of knits so the plan is to sew some simple pyjama tops. It's not like I have to wear them in public so they can be as much of a learning experience as I need.

But that's just another project to add to my list. Right now I'm prepping the pattern for my next two projects - I'm making both views from Simplicity 2451. I'm making the pencil skirt in a dark grey wool blend and the flared skirt in a lightweight denim. I just can't decide which one to start first!

A better skirt shot

2010-11-23T19:26:00.004Z

After yesterday's post, I remembered to get the camera out at midday today. Even at the brightest part of the day, I managed just one or two usable pictures. So here's the best shot I managed to get of the skirt. The plaid is varying shades of grey in daylight, but under electric light and on camera the central stripe takes on a purple shade. Yummy.

I'm off to cook a casserole and curl up in front of the TV (you can tell that a sewing project is complete, as I'm doing a little cooking and cleaning again!). Kirstie's Homemade Home is on tonight and while I know Kirstie Allsop is not everyone's cup of tea, you have to applaud the woman for getting craft on prime time TV. We've had crochet, sewing and cross-stitch over the last few weeks and I'm loving her enthusiasm for it all.

Channelling Peggy Olsen

2010-11-22T21:02:00.006Z

I've been wanting to make a full plaid skirt for a while. Mad Men's Peggy Olsen is often seen wearing plaid and I find the full skirted silhouette of the late 50's/early 60's to be very feminine. I'm well aware it's all been done before! There have been tons of bloggers before me who have taken fashion inspiration from the "Mad Men" TV series. And check out Louis Vuitton's Fall 2010 show -plaid circle skirt, anyone?

Photo from www.style.com

So I guess you could say that when I went fabric shopping, everything was pointing in one direction. I had the pattern and luckily found the perfect fabric - a machine washable wool blend with great drape. It was £10/m but too beautiful to leave behind.

I used Simplicity 4500 which is now out of print. The skirt is a full, knee-length skirt with a yoked waistband and side zipper. Construction-wise, I took the time to meticulously match the plaid, and only had to re-cut one pattern piece - the back yoke - and only the once. As the skirt is unlined, I serged all raw edges. I switched a lapped zipper for an invisible zipper and was happy with the insertion on only the second attempt. I left the skirt to hang for a few days before doing a narrow hem using Gertie's video tutorials which can be found here and here. I'm not sure if the error was mine in tracing and cutting out but I found the side seams to be a little short. Luckily I had added extra length at the start and could get around this by turning up the minimum hem at the side seams and finding my level from there.

Unfortunately for me, the lighting was terrible for photos today. These shots were taken outside, mid afternoon with flash! However, poor photography aside, I am really pleased with this skirt. I am reticent to wear styles that are very full from the waist as I am a little short-waisted. I feel that the yoke gives a sleeker silhouette over the waist and moves the fullness down to the hips.

Since I couldn't get a shot of me wearing it today, I've tried to style up the dress form a little. I envisage wearing this skirt with long boots, a vintage style sweater and a nice brooch. This sweater is Trillium, a design by Erika Knight for Rowan which I knitted in May last year (and I don't think I ever blogged about it!) and the brooch is a recent charity shop find. It's silver-coloured in the shape of sunflower head. It's not vintage but it was only £1.99!

Simplicity 4500 skirt progress

2010-11-18T21:15:00.003Z

My skirt is coming together and I'm really pleased. But since it's practically impossible to photograph fabric properly in this light, I'll have to leave you with this picture for today. At least it gives you a better idea of the lines of the skirt - the pattern photograph really didn't show that much at all. I've had a few issues along the way - I had to re-cut the back yoke as the plaid was way off. But luckily it was a small pattern piece and the cutting layout left me with plenty of fabric to spare. A late night sewing session on Tuesday yielded both good and not so good results. I completed most of the construction and finishing. But I got tired and didn't put the invisible zipper in correctly. The plaid matched up at the top and bottom of the zipper but not along it's length. I'm not sure how I managed that! So tonight's job was to rip it out and re-set it. I have some hand-sewing and finishing to do, a hook and eye to add above the zipper and then it's on to the hem. Which I'm really not looking forward to. As the pattern instructs me to leave the skirt hanging for a while before hemming, at least I can procrastinate on that a little longer!

2010-11-15T11:37:00.001Z

We got lots done in the house this summer, including finally finishing the bathroom and totally landscaping the garden. Of course, jobs around the home never end and now these tasks are complete, I’m turning my attention to the next project. It’s either a mini makeover of the spare bedroom or a total overhaul of the kitchen. Let’s see what the finances look like after Christmas and maybe we can move forward with the next thing...

Speaking of home improvement, I’ve been checking out the CSN Stores website after they approached me about writing a review for one of their products. There’s so much to choose from - kitchenware, lighting, and even furniture. With my kitchen and bedroom projects in mind, a new saucepan set or a nice chest of drawers is sure to be on the menu.

2010-11-13T22:10:00.004Z

Today has been a lovely day. It started with a stroll down to the local church hall where all the local charities had got together to stage a little Christmas card fair. With several packs of cards bought, I took a drive to the coast for a wander around the shops and a walk along the beach. It may be November but it was bright and crisp (rather than freezing cold as of late). And then home to sew my skirt!

I've managed to fit in a couple of hours sewing over the last few evenings so things are progressing well. I cut out my skirt and fused the interfacing on Thursday and began sewing last night. I am taking it slow because I want all the plaid to be as perfectly matched as possible and because I'm serging all the raw edges to give it the best possible finish. So far I'm pretty pleased.

And because I try not to avoid posts without any pictures, I thought I'd share a recent sewing find. I'm a sucker for anything sewing themed. So when I saw this lap tray in Lakeland, it had to come home with me. It's a bit too nice for TV dinners but I find it really useful for mini craft projects and reading too.

Moving onto Simplicity 4500 - a winter skirt

2010-11-10T22:23:00.004Z

So here's the fabric and pattern for my next sewing project. I'm using Simplicity 4500 which is now out of print and has been in my stash for ages. I don't usually go for their sportswear/wardrobe patterns so I guess I probably picked this up dirt cheap when the stall in Warrington market was closing down.

You can't really see the pattern shape too well on this photo but it is an almost-circle skirt with a yoked waist and a side zipper. The pattern calls for a lapped zipper but I'm going to use an invisible zipper. It is a simple skirt shape which is why I feel able to tackle plaid fabric. And I was feeling very inspired after I saw this beautiful creation over at the Cupcake Goddess's blog.

Although it's the simplest of the skirt patterns I want to sew this winter, it's the most expensive fabric I've bought recently - and certainly at the top end of what I usually pay at £10/m. It's a wool blend, machine washable at 30c, feels super soft and has a lovely drape. And for some reason, I'm a sucker for plaid. The plaid pattern is uneven, with the bars and strips in various shades of grey forming large rectangles.

Last night I serged the raw edges of the yardage to stop it unravelling when I washed and pre-shrunk it in the machine. Having the fabric sit over my legs as I sewed was lovely on a cold November evening so I feel confident it will make a warm winter skirt.

This evening I did a quick and dirty muslin for the yoke, chose my size and prepped the pattern. I'm going to add 2 or 3 inches to the overall length. The skirt appears to be knee-length on the model and I don't want it any shorter - as I'm 5 ft 8, I'm gonna need a little extra length.

Note to self: Gertie posted a great tutorial about using horsehair braid at the hemline. I'm not sure if this will be appropriate for my skirt yet but I want to save the link just in case.

2010-11-08T22:53:00.002Z

There's little point sharing my latest sewing project as it was so mind-numbingly boring - I needed new curtain lining for one of the bedrooms. Unfortunately that's the sum total of my recent crafting efforts, because it just seemed to take ages to do and then I had tons of other little jobs to complete around the house. Sometimes it's not your actual to-do list that takes the time, it's the procrastinating that demands your effort.

Getting back to more fun projects.....

I just have the sewing-up and neckband to complete on a 4 ply jumper. But it needs blocking first - which means clearing the spare room so I can pin out pieces of knitting.

Because I need something to work on in front of the TV, I started an aran-weight sweater in Rowan Alpaca Cotton. I hardly even use heavier weight yarns so I'm enjoying how fast it knits up.

Sewing-wise, the cotton shirt dress I muslined a few weeks ago didn't get past muslin stage. The problem with sewing when you have a new baby is that by the time you get chance to work on your garment, your muslin doesn't fit because your body has changed again. And now the weather has turned cold and icy this week so I need warm stuff, not cotton garments. I am definitely going to make the dress, but just not right now.

And so I've been fabric-shopping for more seasonally-appropriate fabric. The one good thing about being away from sewing for so long, is that when I went to my local fabric shop everything was new to me and left me feeling inspired to sew again. I'm gonna break myself in gently with a couple of skirts and a loose fitting cardigan. I'll share what I bought and what patterns I plan to sew just as soon as I can snap some photos.

Pretty pink baby quilt

2010-10-25T20:11:00.003+01:00

So here's the finished quilt; a pretty pink baby quilt, made especially for my little girl.

I used a cot panel and two co-ordinating prints from the Windham Simply Baby range. The flower print was used to create a simple border to the cot panel while the animal print was used as backing. I used quilters dream wadding as it is 100% pure cotton, can be hand or machine quilted and can be stitched up to 8 inches apart.

I did some very simple quilting, using the sewing machine to quilt parallel to the borders and around the 6 squares on the main panel. I then hand-quilted around the animals within the squares.

It looks like it could use a good pressing but there was sunlight this morning so I rushed to snap some pics before it disappeared!

I used cotton quilting thread that was supposedly suitable for hand and machine quilting, however I did find it dragged through the machine on occasion. There were no problems with the tension or the bobbin, just the top thread seemed to stick at times. It even tangled itself around the "cap" which holds the thread spool in place; removing that did help somewhat - and the weight of the spool kept it in place without the cap - so I will have to remember that for next time.

This week's progress

2010-10-24T22:18:00.000+01:00

Although I haven't been online, I have managed to make some progress on two big projects. Firstly the baby quilt needs to be pressed and then it is done. I just need some good daylight to take photos. I'm really pleased with the results. It's not perfect but I did learn more about my sewing machine through working on this project. So hopefully I can keep improving.

Secondly I've spent some time knitting a lovely vintage jumper. It's "Enchanting in Black and White" from a book called "A Stitch in Time." I had to re-knit one section but once I figured out what I'd been doing wrong, it all went along quite quickly. The upper bodice and sleeves are knitted in Rowan Kidsilk Haze so I'm not looking forward to the finishing. Sewing up will be fiddly!

Photos to come as soon as I have a clear day to snap some!

And at last, the needle was threaded...

2010-10-14T22:13:00.004+01:00

I've taken a little detour this week and am working on a quilt. I found a cute cot panel from the Windham Simply Baby range in my local fabric shop and managed to get the co-ordinating fabrics online to make a simple border and backing for a cot size quilt. I could really do with taking a quilting class as I don't really know what I'm doing! But I'm treating this project as a learning experience as I need to practice keeping my stitching straight and even.

So having added a floral border to the cot panel (right), I'm concentrating on quilting the top to the wadding (I'll back it separately afterwards). First I machine-quilted around the squares on the panel and around the border. Despite using good quality quilting thread, a walking foot and checking my machine over, I'm finding the tension a little temperamental.

Now I'm working on hand-quilting around the shape of each animal. I have to concentrate in order to keep my stitching as even as possible but I'm finding it strangely relaxing. And I'm definitely interested in trying other more complex quilting projects, although I think I'll keep them on a small scale until I figure out what I'm doing!

I didn't get much done tonight as I've been doing a little blog-housekeeping and adding the pages feature to organise my link lists. Please bear with me while I clean up and rearrange some of the links.

1000 Clever Sewing Shortcuts and Tips - a review

2010-10-12T19:18:00.004+01:00

I had plans for a post about Autumn knitting, but then the sun shone so brightly this weekend that we ended up lighting the BBQ and spending time in the garden. Quite unbelievable for mid-October! It hardly seemed right to think about warm woollies while we were enjoying summer sunshine.

And then my latest Amazon order arrived, bringing a lovely new sewing book to read so today I have been enjoying the Patternreview.com book - 1000 Clever Sewing Shortcuts and Tips.

It's a great mix of tips submitted by patternreview.com users and masterclasses from well-known faces in the sewing world. I know this one has been doing the rounds on the sewing blogs but I had to post about it here as my tip is featured on page 53! It was exciting to be involved in such a project but now that I've had chance to see the finished book, I actually think it's a great reference text. Not only do the tips cover all aspects of sewing, from pattern preparation to embellishment, but they also offer different ideas on dealing with the same situation. I think that even the most experienced sewers would find a new idea to try; I have learnt a lot already.

Milly's dress

2010-10-06T12:03:00.008+01:00

I thought I'd take a moment to write up my modifications to Milly's dress from Knitty.com's Sally the Eco Fairy pattern. The changes I made were to create a fuller skirt with bodice, to remove the drawstring neckline and to add a reverse stocking stitch neckline. I wanted the dress to have no removable parts to make it safer for babies. In order to make it easy to take the dress off, I added a centre back split in the bodice, fastened at the back neck with a bow. I used DK weight yarn and 2.75mm dpns for a firm fabric. So here goes:

Skirt: This section is worked in the round.

Follow the Sally the Eco Fairy dress pattern to the end of row 19. (Alternatively cast on 90 sts, join for working in the round and work an edging pattern of your choice followed by stocking stitch to a total of 19 rounds)

Continue in stocking stitch to a total of 54 rounds from cast on edge, at the same time working the following decrease rows:

Row 20: (K8, K2tog)
Row 25: (K7, K2tog)

Row 30: (K6, K2tog)

Row 35: (K5, K2tog)

You now have 54 stitches on the needles.

Divide for armholes: This section is worked flat.

K27, front is worked over these stitches. Leave the remaining 27 sts on a holder (these are for the back). Work 11 rows stocking stitch. Do not cast off - leave these 27 stitches on a holder.

Rejoin yarn to 27 back stitches on a holder. K13, leaving 14 stitches on a holder. Right side of back is worked over these 13 stitches. Work until right back is same length as front. Leave these 13 stitches on a holder.

Rejoin yarn to remaining 14 stitches. Cast off one stitch then k 13. Work until left back is same length as front.

With right side facing, purl across the 13 stitches of left back, 27 stitches of front and 13 stitches of right back, joining the 3 sections to continue to work flat. 54 stitches on the needle.

Next row (WS): Knit

Next row (RS): Purl

Next row (WS): Cast off knitwise.

Stitch one length of yarn (crocheted chain, plaited string etc) to each side of centre back neckline in order to fasten in a bow.

May I present Milly...

2010-10-03T19:42:00.005+01:00

Thanks to Penny, the doll-with-no-name now has one. Penny suggested Millicent and since I live in the north-west of England where it seems that virtually everyone's name is shortened, she has become Milly (trust me, my name is Helen and I grew up being referred to as Hel or even H! The pattern is Sally the Eco fairy from Knitty.com and I used a variety of different dk yarns knitted on 2.75mm dpns to give a nice tight tension which stops the stuffing from poking out. The specifics are all on my Ravelry project page but as I didn't use an entire ball of anything, this would be a great little stashbuster project. I changed the pattern slightly to make the doll as baby-friendly as possible. I knitted the head, body and legs in one piece, changing yarn colours so that she has permanent underwear and shoes. I didn't use the hair pattern as someone on Ravelry had written great notes on their version and I liked the square bob look much better.

I modified the dress pattern by doing the decreases lower down the body because I didn't have much yarn left. This version has a fuller skirt and tighter bodice than the original. I finished knitting it with about 30cm to spare!

2010-10-03T11:15:00.002+01:00

It’s funny to think that just a couple of years ago, I didn’t have a home computer, a smartphone or regular internet access. Internet cafes and libraries were my friends, and stopping by to log on twice a week or so was more than enough for me. But back then I didn’t blog, use Ravelry or download patterns. Now that I’m used to having constant access to all that info, I’d really struggle to be offline for just a short while. So when the pc started playing up, I panicked and started looking for a backup before it bit the dust. As I usually leave the techie stuff to S, I really don’t know where to start looking. A quick google search for budget laptops led to a few interesting sites, including this one about cheap laptops. And since it's good to save a bit of money, I also found a couple of links for HP promo codes and Dell computer coupons. Although a lot of the info appears to be US-based, a couple more clicks and I'd found the UK versions too. Luckily S sorted out the pc problems so I'll be back online later with some finished project pictures but I’ll be keeping those links for future reference just in case!

Visit to Fibre and Clay

2010-09-28T19:36:00.007+01:00

I had a lovely day trip today over to Fibre and Clay in Knutsford where Susan Crawford was doing a trunk shop and book signing for her books - A Stitch in Time and Vintage Gifts to Knit.

I've never been to the shop before but they had a lovely selection of yarns and buttons which made it well worth the visit in itself. But the main reason for my visit was the chance to see and try on the garments from Susan's books. I've procrastinated to such a degree when choosing what to knit from A Stitch in Time, because there's so much choice but more so because I've been unsure on sizes. Many of the vintage styles are knitted with negative ease - but I was undecided as to exactly how much ease would look good.

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The following list is just an aide memoire for me of what I tried on and any fit modifications:
A Stitch in Time:
It cannot fail to please - as knitted
Cable bolero - as knitted
Such a debonair little jumper - as knitted or smaller
Sun-ray ribbing - as knitted or smaller
Other designs:
Elegant Coat-Gloves - as knitted
Jessica - as knitted or bigger
Dilly - as knitted
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I forgot my camera so don't have any photos to share. There's a sneak preview of A Stitch in Time volume 2 on Susan's blog. Check it out here. I saw the cover garment today and it is even more spectacular "in real life".

After much knitterly fun, I came home with quite a modest haul of purchases, picking up a copy of the Vintage Gifts to Knit book and one skein of Babylonglegs semi-precious (silk/merino) yarn in a vibrant teal green shade. I'll have to check out pattern options on Ravelry but at the moment I'm thinking about a little shoulder shawl or wrap.

For the moment, I'm pretty close to finishing the knitted doll. She is missing one arm and some clothes but she is starting to come to life. Now she just needs a name...

Triton socks

2010-09-27T12:34:00.004+01:00

There's a chill in the air this week, the unmistakable sign that Autumn is nearly here and Winter will soon follow. I've dug out a little beret in 4ply wool and beaded wrist warmers from last year's knitting as they are just perfect for this transitional time of year. It makes me glad to be a knitter. And it's a good job that the yummy cosy Triton socks are finally finished, photographed and ready to go into rotation in my wardrobe too. Although I do need to get over the fact I think they are just too gorgeous that I'm scared to wear them. These were not easy socks to knit - the techniques themselves were not difficult but it was just the combination of patterns that required me to be constantly thinking while knitting.

The pattern is from the Knitter issue 19 and the yarn is an Easyknits sushi sock roll in the colourway "Deep sea". I knitted a small as I wanted them snug over my ankles. They fit nicely once on, but are a little tight going over my ankle bone. We'll see if they stretch a little over time? The foot length was fully adjustable within the pattern. I did 5 repeats of the ripple pattern on the leg. The yarn creates a lovely pair of virtually matching socks thanks to the way in which it is dyed.

They are only the third pair of socks I've knitted and this time I think I finally mastered grafting the toes. There was a very useful masterclass article in the same issue of the magazine which helped a lot.

Next up - something a little different. I'm working on a doll for my little girl before moving onto a winter wardrobe for me.

50 Best Blogs for Sewing Students

2010-09-23T11:59:00.003+01:00

I made the list of 50 best blogs for sewing students. I was pretty shocked as there is a lot of competition out there and my blog has been very knitting-focussed recently. Even though my feedreader never has less than 100 blogs I visit regularly (hmmm... maybe that's why I have so little time to sew...) there are still more on this list that are new to me. If you need some more reading matter, you can check out the full list here.

No socks to show - but a hat instead.

2010-09-21T20:45:00.004+01:00

Finally finished my Triton socks so I snapped some pics and logged on to blog them. Unfortunately, having got the photos off my camera it turns out they really aren't that clear so I'm going to have to wait for some daylight to take more pics.

But I won't leave you without anything of interest, as I did have some photos on my camera of another project I recently finished. When the complexity of the Triton socks got too much, I worked on a simple little hat for my little girl. She is growing out of the purple one I made a few months ago so I knitted another in the 6-9 month size using a lovely red shade of Rowan Fine Milk Cotton. The pattern, as before, is from Erika Knight's "Natural Nursery Knits" and is also available free online here. I was going to knit it in the round but I was using my 2.75mm dpns for the socks, so I just followed the pattern to the letter, knitting it flat and then sewing it up at the end. I still think it's super cute and have had a couple of people ask if I can make an adult version.

Bargain finds

2010-09-10T22:30:00.003+01:00

Just chugging along on my Triton socks - I'm onto the foot of the second sock so I'm nearly there. In the meantime, I thought I'd share a couple of recent bargain finds. I often check out the handbags in my local secondhand shops - even if the bag isn't up to much, the handles can often be re-used on other bags and usually cost less than new handles from a craft shop. Like this one: Despite the deteriorating fabric, this was a great find as I can re-use the wooden handles and there are also some lovely embellishments - mother of pearl sequins and wooden leaves. The summer has also seen some great festivals locally. At one festival I found a cute little stall selling antiques and handmade items. I fell for this stool-shaped pin cushion and dressmakers pin box.And finally my aunt had a clearout of sewing patterns and passed on all her childrens patterns to me. They are all for little girls, ranging in size from newborn upwards.

Inside my head...

2010-08-29T20:47:00.003+01:00

...it looks like this:
Sitting on the sofa, I caught a glimpse of my coffee table and thought it was a pretty accurate reflection of my head right now. Knitting and sewing is there - but firmly at the bottom of the pile. Baby things, planning the new garden and neverending to-do lists are taking over! I've barely touched my dress muslins and I've managed a couple of rows on a sock each night if I'm lucky. I did however assemble the new lawnmower and do my tax return (cue a sarcastic "woohoo" at the achievement of boring but necessary tasks!) Thanks to those of you who are taking time to read and post comments. It's so nice to know you are sticking with me!

Peggy Sue

2010-08-15T20:49:00.003+01:00

I had lots of good intentions to sew this week - I made a start on a second dress muslin and ironed all the possible fashion fabrics I might use for the final version - but I'm finding knitting much more relaxing right now! And as a result, I'm getting more done on that front. I've managed to get my Peggy Sue cardigan finished which I'm really pleased about. It's a short-sleeved cotton cardigan so my aim was to get some wear out if it this summer. So here you go: Pattern: Peggy Sue, available free online at Knitonthenet. It's a vintage style raglan cardigan with short sleeves. It's worn with minimal ease to get that nice fitted look. The design is knit in one piece from the top down so it is easy to try on as you're working. The deep cable rib pulls the cardigan in to create a lovely fitted shape at the empire waist - it was a bit fiddly to knit all those cables but it's so worth it in the end.

Yarn: Rowan Milk Cotton DK in Navy. I bought it at half price at the last John Lewis sale. I used 6 balls to make a medium, although I only went into the 6th ball for the button bands so there's lots left. Milk Cotton knits to a slightly smaller tension than the recommended yarn but the medium in this pattern was also slightly larger than I wanted. So I made use of the different tension to take the sizing down very slightly.

This cardigan is me trying to be more focused in what I make - choosing yarns, fabrics and patterns based on what will work with my current wardrobe, rather than just what's pretty. I wanted a summer cardigan to go over a turquoise/navy dress but I wanted something a little more interesting than a basic cardi. This pattern really fit the bill. Love it!

This week I have been mostly...

2010-08-11T21:31:00.003+01:00

...procrastinating; a time-consuming activity which leaves you with little to show for it. Having made a muslin of my Simplicity dress, I don't know why I'm reticent to cut into the good fabric. Maybe it's because I haven't sewn in a while and I'm scared of messing up my nice Amy Butler fabric. Or I'm subconsciously dissatisfied with the fit of the muslin. Or I'm not convinced the fabric matches up with this dress. For whatever reason, I just can't make myself go to the next step.

So instead, I started working on another muslin. If I don't use the fabric for the Simplicity dress, I'm gonna use it for this one.... I picked this pattern up on ebay for a reasonable price (less than £5 with shipping). Maudella is a now defunct UK pattern company and I believe this pattern dates from the late 1950's. It is an unprinted, perforated pattern and the instructions are... well... succinct to say the least. It's an interesting design - full skirt pleated onto the bodice, sleeves cut onto the bodice and a sleeve gusset - I had to get out my sewing reference books to discover that a sleeve gusset - a bias square of fabric under the arm - is used on this style of sleeve to give extra movement. The construction is certainly different from what I'm used to, which may be a challenge!

However testing the fit on this dress will remove one of the obstacles to sewing the other, as I'll use the Amy Butler fabric for whichever I like best. So hopefully I'll make progress soon.

Simplicity 6606 (1974)

2010-08-04T22:42:00.000+01:00

This week, in between all the other jobs, I've been working on a muslin for Simplicity 6606. I'm making View 2 - a short sleeved shirt dress. The pattern dates from 1974 and includes options for long sleeves, as well as a top and trousers. The pattern used to belong to my mum - she think she sewed the top but all the pattern pieces were cut out and ready so that saved me a job!

The pattern is a size 12 (bust 34) which I knew would not fit me right out of the envelope. It did however fit well over the shoulders and upper back. I started by doing a full bust adjustment and continued the extra width into the skirt front pieces. The fit of the first muslin was surprisingly good however the side seams were pulling back a little over the hips. So for muslin number two I graded out 1.5cm at the side seams of the bodice and added 1.5cm to the side seams of the skirt. I'll probably need to reduce a little of the FBA now. I didn't add anything to the length. In fact, I will shorten it to fall slightly higher above the knee. I'd originally bought some Amy Butler "Love" fabric - a large floral print with a deep indigo background (shown above). But while I was working on this muslin, I started to doubt my fabric choice. I think the fabric weight is fine but I'm not sure about the print. The pattern repeat is large and I think it might work better on a dress with fewer seams. I have two other dress patterns I want to sew - including a full-skirted 50's number - which this fabric may work better with. And I have a couple of other pieces in the stash which might work with this dress. If the weather holds up tomorrow, I'll be pre-washing all my fabrics so I don't have to make a final decision until they are dry!

Last days of summer skirt

2010-07-30T20:59:00.003+01:00

We're having the garden landscaped at the moment, making my days even busier than usual. But I managed to finish my tiered skirt this week, by working on it a little each evening. I'm calling it the "Last days of summer" skirt as I'm hoping for a few sunny days in August so I can get out in my new garden in my new skirt.

Fabric: African-style cotton print, bought in Paris several years ago; it was salvaged from an unfinished Vogue dress that just wasn't working for me.

Pattern: I used a skirt yoke pattern from Burda Easy Fashion Spring 05. This is now the fifth time I've used this yoke so could dive into the sewing and know it would fit. I cut strips of fabric for the two tiers, gathering Tier 1 onto the yoke and Tier 2 onto Tier 1. Tier 1 measured 1.4 times the total circumference of the bottom of the yoke, while Tier 2 measured 1.4 times the length of Tier 1. This isn't an exact science, which gave me the flexibility to work with the fabric pieces that I had left. The finished skirt sits below the natural waist and falls to just above the knee on me.

I can tell I've been away from sewing for a while as I struggled with techniques I have previously mastered, like inserting a concealed zipper. I just need more practice! But it was nice to re-work what was otherwise a wasted piece of fabric and to sew with a TNT pattern.

I have some big news...

2010-07-24T15:01:00.003+01:00

Don't go falling off your chair now... you see... I'm actually sewing something. I know, shocking, huh? It has been so long since I even had the energy to get the sewing machine out of its case.

But an evening spent tidying the spare bedroom led me to find a box of dirty little secrets. Us sewists also call them WIPs; unfinished projects that, in this case, had been packed away and forgotten about. Usually, they have been packed away because I hit a hurdle and didn't have the time or patience to rectify the issue. But I thought it was pretty shameful for nice fabric to go to waste without at least a second shot at becoming a wearable garment.

So I'm trying to breathe new life into this lovely print.

I bought it in Paris years ago, it was a total bargain and I really wanted it to become a strapless summer dress with a ruffled hem. Unfortunately the FBA went a bit haywire and I couldn't get the dress to fit and stay up. After realising I didn't have enough fabric to take a second shot at the dress, I took the pieces apart to see what I could do and eventually settled on a tiered skirt using a pattern from an old Burda Easy Fashion magazine. The only pattern pieces are the front and back yoke, the rest of the skirt being constructed from gathered strips of fabric. This meant I could adjust the width and length of the tiers to work with what fabric I had left. I've made variations on this skirt at least three times before, this being the last one, so I had the luxury of just diving into the sewing part and knowing it would fit without adjustment. After just a couple of evenings work, I'm nearly done. And it feels good to be sewing again.

Looking through the box of projects did make me realise that I just give up on projects that don't fit well. So I really need to spend time at the beginning of a project working on fitting issues before I cut into the good fabric. The phrase "more haste, less speed" springs to mind. So from now on, I will be making muslins for patterns I haven't used before. It may take me longer to complete a sewing project, but at least the end result will be less hit or miss.

Works in progress

2010-07-18T22:56:00.003+01:00

So I have two WIPs on the needles right now. However all my subscription magazines arrived in quick succession this month - Knitting magazine, then Threads and The Knitter both on the same day - so the list of projects I want to cast on is getting longer and longer and I'm dreaming about getting the sewing machine out at long last.

But right now, crafting is something done in front of the TV late at night. First up the Triton socks from the Knitter issue 19. The cable row is a bit fiddly but I am loving the pattern. It has enough complexity to make me feel I'm achieving something when I'm sitting with my feet up in front of the TV. I've only just reached the heel on the first sock so they will take a while to finish!

And for an easier, more relaxing project, I'm working on Peggy Sue available online from Knitonthenet. Its a top down raglan cropped cardigan with a cable rib. I'm trying to be a little more organised about my projects - making things which co-ordinate with existing garments and fill a hole in my wardrobe. I picked up a navy and turquoise RTW dress recently but didn't have any little cardigans to wear over it. And then I found some Rowan Milk Cotton DK in Navy half price at John Lewis. The yarn is gorgeously soft with a lovely drape, and when combined with my supersmooth rosewood needles, this becomes a really therapeutic project to work on. Perhaps because of this, I don't want to put it down and it's knitting up quite fast.

I had a lovely afternoon in Liverpool on Saturday, and although we hadn't gone to shop, I managed to find 5 minutes to pop back into John Lewis for a little more yarn before their sale ended today. I heard on the grapevine that Rowan are discontinuing Milk Cotton in the DK weight (although the 4 ply weight will remain). Luckily JL had a garment's worth of Milk Cotton DK in a pinky red shade - Tutti Fruti - so that found its way home with me. After all, once it's gone, it's gone!

Vorticity socks

2010-07-08T20:21:00.002+01:00

Pattern: Vorticity from The Knitter, issue 20. The foot size is fully adjustable but the pattern has only one ankle size and the 10-stitch pattern repeat means it's not easy to adjust yourself. The lace pattern does make it stretchy - ideal if your ankles are wider than average - but not great if you have narrow ankles like me. I would prefer the socks slightly more fitted but they are still perfectly wearable. I suppose I could have gone down a needle size for the ankles but I didn't have any smaller sock needles to hand. And I'm impatient. These are only the second pair of socks I've knitted (and the first pair were totally plain) but I found the pattern really easy to understand.

I found one minor typo in the pattern. Row 3 of the section entitled "Heel turn" should read: Sl 1, P6, P2tog, P1, turn.

Yarn: Strumpfwolle from Schoeller und Stahl, bought in Chester market a long time ago. There is some on Ebay now for £6 but I don't think I paid that much, I think maybe about £3.50. This is colourway 12 which is a variegated yarn containing teal blue, purple, khaki and rust orange. The yarn knits up to a slightly larger tension than the one recommended in the pattern so I went down a needle size to 2.25mm. Here's a close-up of the colourway and stitch pattern.

I'm not quite sure where this sock knitting kick has come from. I think its the fact the projects are small and compact yet still have interesting construction techniques. I've already cast on the next pair of socks, this time Triton from The Knitter issue 19. I'm using the Easyknits yarn recommended in the pattern as the colourway - a graduated colour change from light green to dark blue - looked so perfect for the design. The pattern is much more complicated so I'll be going a lot slower. And I might need to cast on something else that is brainless for those evenings when I'm too tired to think.

Frock camisole

2010-07-05T20:40:00.002+01:00

I kept logging on to blog and then realising I hadn't got around to photographing the frock camisole - oops - but finally managed to get a snap today. So here we go...

Pattern: Frock camisole from Interweave knits, available free via Knitting Daily. I didn't make any changes apart from adding a little extra length (about 2 inches) as I am 5'8 and prefer my tops to be a little too long rather than a little too short.

Yarn: Rowan Bamboo Tape - colourway Storm. I bought a bag of 10 balls in Abakhan for £6.99, I used 8 balls to knit this, making this top a total bargain. The yarn is lovely and soft to wear and has a nice drape to it.

It was an easy pattern to knit - all in the round so there is minimal sewing up. I like the finished top but I do think it looks better on the dressform than it does on me! Maybe I need to walk a few extra miles this week.

Since finishing this, I've gone on a sock knitting kick. Just finished one pair and onto my next already! Pics to come soon.