This cardigan has been finished since the 9th of Jan 2018. Due to the Australian summer, it had been stashed in winter storage. We are having some cooler autumn days and it's time for this beauty to say hello to the world!
I am very happy to introduce Salal - pattern by Andi Satterlund. It's a top down cardigan knitted in the round. Sleeves are picked up and knitted down as well. The lace pattern is delicate AND balanced on each side. The 4-row repeat is easy to remember. A wonderful design detail is how the lace starts behind the top centre line of the sleeve. It gives a nice wrap-around feeling. The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash in Hunter Green. Oh, it's so beautiful. Gorgeous to knit with, smooth, not splitty. The result is a fabric that has great stitch definition but is not scratchy. Mods: Lengthened the sleeve to wrist length/long sleeves. 3/4 sleeve are great, but I have lots of jumpers/cardigans like that. Was time for a long sleeve cardi! To achieve that, I repeated the decrease pattern 1 more time and then just the length again. (i.e.: K5 rounds, decrease 2 sts in next round, K5 rounds, change to K1P1 rib). Top down sleeves are finished so quickly, they are a dream to do. Usually I drag my feet when it comes to doing sleeves. Straight and narrow pieces with lots of seaming = eh. But top down?! I smash them out in a few days. I have another Salal planned in a soft girly ballet pink. Should be cute! Note: Looking at these images, I think the button band needs the ribbon reinforcement (like this tutorial here)
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2017. What a year. It's been a stressful year with changes at work. Glad the the year is ending! Work aside, I did get a bit of creative time in. I was the Choreographer for The Producers at Strathfield. It was a great show and there were three full tap numbers. That's always fantastic! Also started the choreography for Rock of Ages down in south-western Sydney in September-ish. It's been nice to stay creative in my dance realm. Lots of clothing was sewn and knitted (or 'knat' as my Lovely uses as the past tense). This year I kept a small diary of my completed makes and the finish date. I must say, it has been pretty useful. Most months I made two items. The three most productive months were March - 6 makes; July - 5 makes; October - 4 makes. Total: 36 Knits: 25 Sews: 11 Let's have a look at the completed projects! If there is no link, then there was no blog post. Only a few items don't have pictures - they were a gift or perhaps too badly fitting to ever make it to photos stage. January: 1. Simplicity 3688 - tried and true skirt! Though, I should size up from now on. 2. Simplicity 1609 - never worn February: 3. Mustard waffles (here) (gift) 4. Wine waffles (gift) 5. Wine Tilly & The Buttons Coco (here) March: 6. Apricot Ferns (here) (gift) 7. Gertie's Knit Pencil Skirt (donated to charity) 8. Black Beatnik Tilly & The Buttons Coco (here as well) 9. Black long sleeve Jennifer Lauren Handmade Gable Top (informally part of this post) 10. Green Sew Over It Cowl Dress 11. Blackberry Waffles Cowl (gift) April: 12. Tartan Sew Over It Pencil Skirt 13. Black Simplicity 1609 with neckline bow May: (Me Made May pledge was to wear something me-made everyday. Achieved!) 14. Blueberry waffles II (gift) 15. Stripe Sew Over It Cowl Neck Top June: 16. Mustard Waffles II 17. Sangria Blankie (gift) July: 18. Jan Sweater II (here) 19. Black Corduroy Simplicity 3688 (also here Jan) 20. Poppy Butterick 6285 (here) 21. Grey Wool Simplicity 3688 (here) 22. Pink pillbox hat October: The Month of Green 27. Green New Look 6000 (here) 28. Green Butterick 5032 29. Green Vogue 8789 ( here) 30. Green Polka Dot Necktie December: I'm knitting Christmas Presents Instead of Sewing 33. Saucer Hat DIY (here) 34. Secret Santa Bowtie Gift (sadly, no pictures) (gift) 35: Black floral Vogue 9075 jumpsuit (photos in the New Year) 36: Lots and lots of little handmade face washers (gifts) Final Thoughts2017 has been good on the kitting and little-crafty-things front. I've enjoyed making small knitted/sewn gifts for children of friends, birthday presents or Christmas presents. Slowly, I am moving towards having a mostly vintage wardrobe.
Vogue patterns have been a dream for me this year, whether current or vintage. They fit my torso shape nicely straight out of the packet. I should probably tinker with the bodice a little bit, but it's fine. The Vogue 9075 jumpsuit needed and epic 4" of added crotch length! Now it is a very comfortable and sit-down-able jumpsuit that I really enjoy wearing. My knitting game needs to be picked up next year. I have a lot of projects on my needles that should be cast off.... hopefully. I don't do New Years Resolutions, but I do want to try my hand at colourwork. Maybe a vest, or a beret. I have a lot of summer sewing plans in a list and I hope to work through them and replenish my pretty summer dresses. Thanks for sticking around this year. It's been fun! Look at that collar! I spent a lot of time making sure it was even and pressed and flat and gorgeous and... it is! Very happy M. To make it so lovely and flat, I followed Gertie's collar tutorial for this pattern here. I shall use that tutorial for any collar that needs to be attached in a similar way. The collar is made in the same fabric as the dress. Mostly because I wanted to be able to rock a cute cardi with the dress. I didn't put the buttons down the front of the dress for the same reason. I really like it. The cardigan is my wine Hetty (by Andi Satterlund). It was a nightmare to make, but it's great with the solid sleeves. I decided the follow the pattern instructions to insert the zipper. Regret. I should have done my usual centred zip method (machine baste the seam, pin the zip, hand baste, then machine stitch, then unpick the basting stitches). The pattern says press under the seam allowance then line up the zip and the pressed edge. WHAT A PAIN! So much regret. It ended up being so messy that I hand picked the zipper. I'm really happy with how neat the zip is after controlling it with the hand sewing, but it was tedious. Especially when I ignored my better judgement. This is my third version of 1609 and I think I might be done with it now. I would only make it again if I had small yardage of wool, as it would be a good little winter dress. Please excuse the horribly wrinkly-ness. These photos were taken after a full day of work. Cardigan: Hetty (pattern by Andi Satterlund) Dress: Simplicity 1609. Tights: Heattech by Uniqlo Shoes: B.A.I.T My Lovely has been asking for another knitted jumper. He claims the other one I made for him took over two years! That's not entirely untrue. It only took me about 6 months to make, but I suppose we did take 18 months to pick a pattern and yarn. The first one was a 1940s pattern, and so is this one! I love knitting vintage things. The yarn is from Bendigo Woollen Mills and is a dream to work with. Like every other yarn I've used from there.
So I've finished this beret! It's my second attempt at this pattern, and might I say I'm much happier with this version than my first. It's very cute, simple to make, and looks suitably vintage for me. The whole beret is in garter stitch which means it was great for all the flying I've been doing for work.
I used some leftover stash yarn of mine from an old cardigan I made. However, still have a ball of it left. Annoying. Got to find something else very small to make. Maybe a baby thing? |
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April 2023
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