Wool Cardigan

The poor child got shown this yarn when I first bought it in July 2011. That is SIX AND A HALF YEARS AGO! She waited so patiently for her cardigan, dear love. Luckily she still likes purple.

This Hayfield Bonus Aran is only 20% wool, but it feels as though it has a much higher wool content. It feels wooly and soft, but not poly-soft. The yarn comes in the most enormous ball: 400g at once. The good part is that there are no joins between balls, and you never leave your spare balls behind. The bad part is that the ball gets in a bit of a mess as you knit with it because it falls apart as you go along. A lot of re-winding was necessary. But... no joins!

I eventually started knitting it up in January 2016. That is TWO YEARS AGO! I used the same pattern as a previous cardigan for her, the Lace Panel Cardigan from Fabulous Knits. I cast on for the 6-7 year size again, expecting that it might be a size or two larger in the Aran weight wool.

It was absolutely enormous! Larger than the ball of yarn. It was massively large on me. So I put it aside for another YEAR AND A HALF and re-cast on for the size 2-3 this summer.

I did a rib waistband. I should have stuck with my original 2x2 rib and a thicker band. This one is 1x1 and only about 1 inch deep so it is prone to flipping up - which is something I hate about home knits.

I had to re-think the raglan sleeves so that I could join them to the body and keep knitting. I should have left a stitch between the decreases to make a thicker seam, rather than a row of eyelets, but otherwise it worked well. I had to re-knit a section because I was decreasing too fast and I needed the height of the shoulder to be taller. I think I switched from decreasing every second row to every fourth row, but we tried it on as we went along, and it is pretty quick by the time you get to this part of the shoulders. My actual notes are on Ravelry.

I seamed the sleeves rather than knitting in the round. My rounds show where the needles break the pattern and never look as nice as flat knitting. So I chose to have one seam under the arm rather than four breaks all around.

I am in two minds as to whether I think the seamed on button bands are necessary or not. On the one hand, they allow you to stretch the bands into place, making the edges firmer and giving a good finish. They also allow you to place the buttonholes evenly, especially if you are making up the size as you go along - as I was. I suppose, on reflection, the seaming is worth it, albeit painful at the time. I very nearly didn't finish because of this seaming.

I only had six of the metal buttons so I couldn't add any more, and had to make do with the button placement as it is. One extra would have been perfect. I sewed them on to the first button band and left the knitting of the second one to match up the buttons with the buttonholes as I knitted up. This is the edge that I nearly didn't finish. Luckily, I am not one to allow myself to get going with a new project until the old one is finished.

I did make an exception of a PussyHat, in case Baby Donald showed up in town and I needed to go to a protest at short notice. I also needed a de-stress knitting project and this was the right sort of mindless knitting that is just what the doctor ordered.

A Bamboo Cardigan

I love the feel of this bamboo knit fabric! It is so soft and silky. It drapes beautifully too. Now that I have an overlocker, I am knocking out knit garments as fast as I can cut them out.

Actually, this cardigan took me over a year to make. I first bought only one meter of this from Fabricana in Vancouver. I hadn't realised that my last knit cardigan used more than 1 meter. More like 1.5m. I considered another cowl neck top, but deep down, I knew I wanted a cardigan. When I went back to Fabricana this summer, I looked out for the same bamboo so I could get another meter and make a cardigan. Luckily, they had it. I can't tell any colour difference between the two, so I was lucky indeed.

I used the same pattern from iCandy Handmade, the Boyfriend Cardigan. But I added the shawl collar from the Seamwork Oslo Cardigan. I considered a whole Oslo, but I like a more fitted shape and the Oslo has a dropped shoulder and a lot of ease under the arm.

I stupidly didn't read my own pattern notes from the Boyfriend Cardigan. I needed to add a seam allowance. I didn't until the front pieces. I also forgot the length I needed for the hem and the sleeves. I made another serious boo boo on the cutting out. When I lengthened the sleeves, I cut the left one in too far and it is tighter than it should be.

While I am confessing mistakes, I also sewed the front pieces on with the wrong side out!

I stabilised the shoulder seams, using the sewing machine, with pink ribbon. Overlocked the sleeves in place (easing the shoulder), side seams, and shawl collar. I should have used the sewing machine for the lower hem of the collar, because it needs a smaller seam to give it more drape. 

I used my twin needle for the lower hem, but it never seems to work with the walking foot. Without, it stretched out and you can see a lot of rippling along the lower hem. I hand sewed the hem of the sleeves instead. 

Costs: 
 

 Fabric: £19.84
 

 Thread: (new overlocker colour) £7.50
 

 New tools: (stretch needles and twin needle) £8.92


Total: £36.26

Knitted Heart Shrug

I had time before Christmas to knock out just one more project, a shrug to warm up a party dress.

This yarn was given to me last Christmas, by my mother in law, with the suggestion that I might make shrugs for the girls. The yarn is lovely, Berocco Vintage DK, and I made 1 cardigan and 1 shrug instead.

The pattern is on Ravelry, the Heart Party Shrug, and guess what? The designer has added my picture to the pattern page! How very flattering! Thank goodness for a Christmas tree to use as a lovely backdrop.

When I was browsing the pattern gallery, there were almost no pictures of how it looks from the front. I know it is a shrug, and all the yarn is at the back, but it is still good to be able to see it from all sides. So I made sure I posted the front as well.

In truth, my girls are the same chest size so the cardigan and the shrug fit them both. But they are not keen on sharing their wardrobe.

Baby Knits

There's been a lot of knitting happening around here recently. Partly due to the Rugby World Cup, partly due to the darkening Autumn evenings and partly due to being unmotivated by my current sewing project. But Christmas is coming, so I'd better get on and finish the sewing so I can move on through my queue.

I am really pleased with how this baby cardigan turned out. It is the Sunnyside Baby Cardigan which comes in two versions and four sizes. I made the cable version which is more unisex and used the newborn size.

I have made this pattern before, where I made the lace version in a 3-6 month. This yarn is DK weight so I made the smallest size. I estimate it has come out at about a 6 month size. But, as Elizabeth Zimmerman puts it so beautifully, "knitting stretches and babies vary" so the finished size is not that big of a deal. The only variation I made was to continue the row of purl stitches beyond the cables and down the sides of the body.

I used exactly two full balls of yarn, Rowan Cashsoft DK, which is a discontinued yarn that I got on sale in 2011. I got it knowing it would be a good baby-gift-knitting yarn. The colour is a faint, eau de nil green, but in some lights looks quite creamy and almost oatmeal. The softness is lovely and Rowan does a good job of copying Debbie Bliss Cashmerino at a slightly lower price.

I got the bamboo buttons from The Button Lady, a tiny stall in Hampstead.

I finished in the nick of time - the intended recipient was born today!

Girls Lace Panel Cardigan

I got this scummy yarn for Christmas last year. My mother-in-law thought I could turn it into party shrugs for the two girls. She was right, but big sis has a very small selection of clothes and was desperately in need of a smart cardigan, so I used up two of the three skeins on a proper cardigan for her.

I didn't find anything I particularly liked in Ravelry, so I had a look in the few pattern books and magazines that I have. I notice that the quantity of patterns for children's knitwear is boundless for newborns, plentiful for toddlers and adequate for small children, but that as they get older, it peters out significantly. There is going to be quite a knitwear wardrobe gap from age 8/9 until she can fit adult sizes.

What I did find was one that made me very happy. I was given this lovely magazine, Fabulous Knits, for Christmas the year before, and while there are many beautiful things in it, I hadn't got around to using it. I checked the sizes carefully and decided to take a chance with this Sirdar pattern. It took a bit of convincing that: no, the bonnet is not automatically knitted with the cardigan; and ok, you don't have to have the collar.  I think is kind of sweet, and would have looked lovely. But I agreed to leave it off and do a crew neck instead. I do like it when she gets involved in the design choices.

The sizing only went up to age 6-7, but she is quite petite so I took a chance. She also has a younger sister that I could pass it on to if it really didn't work. It only just fits her. It is a great fit now, but probably won't last another season. The body is perfect but the underarm cuts in a bit. If I could figure out how to do just a few extra increases in the raglan sleeves, it would be ideal. 

The raglan sleeves are knitted separately and then seamed on to the main part of the cardigan, which is knitted as one piece. I honestly don't know why they don't have you join and then do the raglan decreases all in one. These are the perfect style of sleeves to knit with no seaming and no knitwear pattern designer should imagine doing anything else! That is probably my only beef with this pattern. It worked up really nicely, even if I couldn't commit the lace pattern to memory, and had to check the instructions every single time! The crew neck is just picked up and a few rows of garter stitch. Since it is a baby cardigan, the shaping at the waist is flared, which suits a chubby baby, but not so much a growing child. It also rolls a bit, even after blocking. A deeper, ribbed waistband might be more suitable, but less delicate. 

The buttons are salvaged from an old shirt of my husbands. I think it might even be the one that got subjected to the pink dye two years ago. (Here's how it looks now.) It keeps on giving and I used all 10 buttons from it. They look lovely and natural against the cream tones of the yarn.

My Ravelry notes cover yarn, pattern, needles and time. My self-imposed reduced knitting time means it took me three months to knit this.

Apparently, one has to pose for blog photos, and here is how to do it. I wonder where she learned that?

Matching Doll Dresses

Some doll clothes, made to match dresses previously made for the birthday girl.

I imagined a cute photo shoot: the girl and the doll in matching outfits, perfect hair, inspiring scenery, gorgeous lighting. Not going to happen. At least, not on this blog. This blog is my quick and dirty posting of finished projects. Get it done, release it on the internets. My own public archive of what I’ve made. 

In that vein, the finished objects are: a Popover Sundress, a “regular” doll dress and a Top-Down Doll Cardigan. My three favourite doll patterns. Dolls were willing to model, but only after I brushed their hair. Why, oh why, does their unbrushed hair bother me more than my own children’s unbrushed hair?

The Popover Sundress is the free pattern from Oliver & S, which I have made three times before (Apple Dresses and Red & White Flowers). No changes to the pattern. This pattern is perfect for showing off a really pretty fabric and/or using up a tiny amount of scraps of fabric. Both of which applied here. The fabric is the scraps from the single yard piece I used to make her a self-drafted dress for her 4th birthday – which still fits! This is one of my all time favourite fabrics and she still gets compliments when she wears is. I managed to get both the front and back pieces with butterflies lined up and centred. I still have a tiny piece left and I am contemplating making another by piecing a butterfly as the bodice with the accent plain as the skirt. Maybe the other pattern would work better for this. The yoke and straps are cut from a man’s shirt, of which I have a bountiful stash. Any colour, as long as it’s blue. I like this bright blue though, and this girl has it as her signature accent, featuring as the lining in her Oliver& S sunhat, teddy bear carrier and scooter basket. I think I’m out of stock of this now.

The “regular” dress is designed to match the first dress I ever made her. It is half of the pair of daisy dresses. Which also still fit. Either I am not feeding my kids properly, or I make their clothes enormous. These dresses are also super cute and still turn heads. Being the smaller size, and significantly shorter than her sister, there was quite a lot of orange fabric left from the dress. More than enough for the doll dress. I even had some leftover orange bias binding to make the piping at the waist seam. This is my go-to doll dress pattern. Modified originally and made up 5 times before: lame dress, pink floral (twice), pink ballgown, and on, anon.

Finally, a knitting project, my favourite pattern, the Top-Down Doll Cardigan, also made three times before. Here and here. I made this one up with no decoration at the hem, and long sleeves, also undecorated. I found the sleeves much easier to knit flat and then seam afterwards. Doll sleeves in the round are an exercise in frustrating knitting. The yarn is from my Ruby Tuesday cardigan but it is the button that really makes the cardigan special and much more American Doll-like. It’s a Scottie dog, which happens to be one of the AGD dogs. I think it came from the button stash that my mother picked up from the nature strip during a council rubbish collection! (Side note: I have re-worked Ruby's button band to include buttons down the whole front, also salvaged from the council pickup! That was a great haul.)

Unlike adult patterns, where I tend to make new things most of the time, it appears that my doll ambitions are completely lacking and satisfied by being rendered from these same TNT patterns. I wonder if it is because I am usually trying to either match something, use up the last of some fabric scraps or refashion something so I don't need the extra excitement of a new pattern?

Costs:

Butterfly Doll Dress

Main Fabric: used previously.

Accent Fabric: upcycled.

Pattern: free

Thread: Stash

Total: £0.00

Daisy Doll Dress

Fabric: used previously

Bias binding: used previously

Pattern: free

Thread: stash

Velcro: stash

Total: £0.00

Navy Doll Cardigan

Yarn: £2.30

Pattern: free

Button: free

Total: £2.30

Ruby Tuesday Cardigan

An essential addition to my summer wardrobe: a navy cardigan.

This photo looks like Royal Blue, but I had to photograph it in full sunlight to show up the detail. It is actually navy.

This make has been semi-finished for so long now that I am so grateful it is finally done! I cast on last Summer, and got most of it done. Got sidetracked by child's birthday making, so used the yarn for a doll hat and scarf. Then wanted a winter jumper in time for winter. Then took a break from knitting to rest my weary wrist and started to crochet instead. But enough was enough and spring was springing so I got on with it, finished the second sleeve and sewed on the buttons. Done!

The pattern is called Ruby Tuesday. It is a really nice little pattern, knitted all in one piece, from the top down. The eyelet increases in the yoke give a nice definition and a good shape to a really simple garment. I've linked to it from my Ravelry notes.

It only comes in one size, a 34, so I followed the instructions and made that. Because I only added buttons in the yoke section, it has come out appearing a little small. For a cardigan with negative ease,  such as this one, I would do better to include buttonholes all the way to the bottom and stabilise the button bands with grosgrain ribbon. These are stabilised in the button section only.

The yarn is Sirdar Country Style, a 4 ply yarn in a wool/acrylic blend. I really like it. My favourite cardigan is also a Sirdar wool/acrylic and I am a big fan. The acrylic gives it better shape and easy wash and wear, while the wool makes it warmer and generally nicer. The amount I needed was astonishingly small: only 2 skeins for the whole cardigan. I had bought 8, so I have plenty left over for other projects. A pullover for me, or cardigans for the girls would be nice.

One of the reasons I was so long in finishing this was because I bought 3 buttons for it when on holiday in Italy. I had the yarn with me, I went into a tiny little shop in Orvieto and selected 3 buttons with a rope-like motif on them. Seven months later, when I wanted them, could I find them? No, I could not. I held off getting more buttons, because a) they were perfect, and b) I knew they would turn up the second I got a replacement set. Eventually, I really wanted to start wearing the thing so I dutifully trotted off to John Lewis and got 3 new buttons. Not quite as nice, but they were navy and they would do. Sewed them on and BAM! Found the old buttons. Bother! Feeling lazy, I sewed up the buttonholes a little smaller and called it done. Now I have 3 navy buttons in my stash.

Costs:

Yarn: £4.80

Buttons: £1.50

Total: £6.30

Doll Party Cardigan

Another Doll Cardigan to match a party dress. This is my go-to pattern for a cardigan, with short sleeves, I can make it in less than a week, and in this bamboo yarn, it has a lovely drape and sheen.

This time I made the pattern as written but added one more row of rib at the end of the eyelets. Plus a buttonhole. My Ravelry notes and pattern link are here.

Another birthday gift ready to go...

Miette II

I love this cardigan pattern so much! I finished my first Miette and cast straight on for a second as my very next project.

This yarn is quite different from the first. It is Sirdar Denim Sport Aran, an acrylic/cotton/wool mixture. I had made a cushion cover previously so I knew I wanted a finer knit using a smaller needle size. I upsized the pattern to the 42 to compensate. The sizing turned out ok, the negative ease is forgiving, but the bust darts are too high. Moving them to the side would be more forgiving but their placement is one of the reasons that this pattern looks so nice when worn. 

I did full length sleeves again. I kept trying on and considered everything from cap sleeves to elbow length to three-quarters. But the yarn is heavy and bulky so full length sleeves make the most sense to me. It is nice and warm on.

I omitted the lace at the sleeve cuffs and skipped the row of purl that segues into the rib. I just started the rib immediately and I prefer the smoother finish it gives.

I found the sleeve decreases to be too severe and gave a lump. I changed the decreases to work over 6 rows, not 4. Two normal rows in between each decrease row. My Ravelry notes are here.

I messed up a bit of the lace around the neckline and got the buttonhole placement quite wrong in the middle, but I'm going to keep it as is.

Costs:
 Yarn: £7.44
 Buttons: £3.50
Total: <£11.00

Doll Cardigans

The dollies have new cardigans ready for the summer.

I am delighted to have found a use for this Noro yarn, Yuzen, which I do not like at all. It is perfect for this project, since no human skin has to wear I such a scratchy yarn. I do love the colours and I love the way they keep arriving throughout through the knitting. A small project like this is great for showing it off because each colour section is a good size, rather than being a small stripe.

I used a great pattern, the Top Down Doll Cardigan, (Ravelry link) I can see this being useful again and again in many different variations: for example a long sleeve, or a coat.

I changed the design of the second cardigan slightly. I made the collar and hem out of seed stitch. This stitch shows off a variegated yarn like no other and makes a stable edging. I went for a single button closure and I skipped the eyelets, because the don't show up in this yarn. The eyelets of the first cardigan are a little different from the pattern too, I went for alternating rows.

With the short sleeve style, these two cardigans used up exactly one skein of yarn for both.

Knit Grandpa Cardigan

This fabric took a while to tell me what it wanted to be. I first admired it as exactly this cardigan, in miniature, on Craftiness is Not Optional's Blog. So I got some. It is a cotton interlock and is quite thick and stable, but it does show bumps underneath. For a long time, I considered a dress. But, as you can see, it turned out to be a cardigan.

I used a pattern and tutorial from iCandy Handmade, the Knit Boyfriend Cardigan.  I have called mine the Grandpa because that is what we call this loose style here in GB.

I made quite a few changes to the pattern. I added 1cm seam allowance to the side seams of the bodice and shoulder seams and 1.5cm to the sleeves. I lengthened the sleeves to wrist length and omitted the bands at the  cuffs, as well as at the hemline. Instead, I hand hemmed all with a 1cm hem. I added 3cm to the hem to compensate for the loss of the band. I also increased the size of the shoulder seam by bringing the front bodice in at the neckline. I brought this in by quite a bit so the final cardigan covers the bust, rather than skimming over the top.

I'm very proud of myself for stabilising the shoulder seams with a strip of ribbon. I should also have added some stabilising tape to the seam at the front band. It is a bit puckered. I didn't follow the instructions for the finishing of the band at the front hem. Instead, I sewed it at the bottom hem, right sides together, before attaching it through the front.

I didn't have too many of my usual problems sewing a very fine jersey. Because this is more stable, the needle didn't skip so many stitches and I did not have to do my usual fix of sewing through computer paper. This time, I just went over each seam twice, once with a 2.5 stitch length and once at about 2.1.

I really like the finished result. I'm surprised how much I love it. It is comfortable and the colour is bright without being overwhelming, I can see myself wearing it lots. My only disappointment is the quality of the fabric, I suspect it is going to pill and look old very quickly. I will definitely make this again, I think I'll try it in a Breton stripe. They are stocking a great range at The Village Haberdashery.

Total costs:

Fabric: £5.13/yd with shipping

£7.70 Wow! I call this a sewing bargain.