Wye Valley Jumper

It was a long and winding road (valley?) for this jumper. 

It started with a subscription to The Knitter at the end of 2015. Issue 95 was my favourite, and I immediately queued lots of the patterns. I made the Stride Socks first, but this jumper, Wye Valley, was always my favourite.

I even went ahead and bought the right yarn for the pattern - a first for me - Rowan Kid Classic. It is a lovely yarn. Kidsilk Haze sized up to an Aran weight. Since I love kitting with Aran yarn, and don't enjoy lace weight much, this is perfect for me. It is soft and slightly fuzzy and works up beautifully. Rowan do beautiful yarns, I'd have to say they are probably my favourite major yarn brand.

I chose this teal colour and ordered 10 balls, since the pattern called for 9-10. I used 5.5 for this project.

The reason I didn't come close to needing all that yarn is because this project came out way too small...

...I planned this for me! #fail 

Luckily, in my household, my girls are getting to the age that, if something doesn't come out quite the right size, there are plenty of other takers for it. In this case, Big Sis was happy to oblige. Luckily, teal is one of her favourite colours too. The model in these photos is Little Sis. (Big Sis was too busy.)

For sure, the sizing was my fault. Firstly, I went down a needle size. I did this knowing that in every single thing I knit, I have to go up a needle size. Had I done this, it would likely fit me. I went down a size because I liked the tighter, more saturated fabric that the size 4mm needle gave me. But my Ravelry notes tell me that I even knitted a gauge swatch and got perfect gauge with 5mm.

I made the back first. I wanted to make sure I was happy to knit the lace pattern before making the rest of the pieces. The bobbles didn't give me too much trouble, but there were no instructions for making them in the pattern. Just "MB": make bobble. Thank goodness for the internets and You Tube. As I got into the top half of the back, I sized down the bobbles by one stitch.

The rest of the jumper didn't cause me any dramas. But I didn't spend a lot of time on it. I hardly knit a stitch during the summer, and I didn't spend many nights on the sofa in the Autumn and Winter. 

But I did little bits here and there and eventually it was mostly done.

Since I made the sleeve length to fit me, but the rest of the jumper has come up child size, I was left with long monkey arms. They were comically long. I could have just rolled up the cuffs, but that is a waste of lovely yarn, so I looked up how to shorten the sleeves properly. Tech Knitting came up trumps. What a great website. 

I only had to pick up the sleeve side of the cut stitches. There is no cuff on this pattern. I used the Super Stretchy Bind-off to finish the cuff edge.

The hem and the neckline do roll. I know this is part of the pattern, but I don't think it is great feature at the front. The back is supported by the columns of lace stitching, so they only roll slightly. The front is a different story. I suspected this from the pattern photographs. The model is working hard to push the front hem down. I did a row of double crochet around the neckline and it worked to stop the rolling and bring it in towards the neck. I haven't done the front hem.

Coco Liberty Sweatshirt

As lovely as Liberty Tana Lawn is, to sew and wear, it is not that practical in our cold, wet climate.  Liberty print, in a sweatshirt fabric? Now that has potential! Until I move to the Far East, fleecy fabric is most welcome.  Inspired by Charlie's lovely Liberty print sweatshirt, I combed the internets to find some Liberty sweatshirt fabric of my own. 

The fabric is lovely and snuggly, the outside has stood up well to washing, no pilling at all, and it is a dream to sew. I have no trouble with skipped stitches, which I usually struggle with in knits. It is kind of strange in the stretch: there is almost no stretch side to side, but it does stretch a little along the warp. It is almost a woven in terms of low stretch, and I have had a bit of strain on the seams when I take it off.

Pink brights secured, I had to decide on the pattern, it was between Tilly's Coco and the Grainline Linden. I chose the Coco for 3 reasons: 1. the set in sleeve is less casual than a raglan, which is more "me", 2. the dress and top are both part of the pattern so I wouldn't have to guess when switching between the two, and 3. Tilly is a UK-based designer and buying local makes me feel good.

The pattern was very simple, I only used 4 pattern pieces, including the roll neck. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough fabric for the dress version. (I should have, but my 1.5m piece was cut very crooked and came out at a true 1.1m). The top is probably more versatile, and I did (sort of) want a sweatshirt.

The fitting is absolutely fine, I made my two usual pattern adjustments: 1 inch off the waist and 1/2 inch sway back.  I didn't have quite enough fabric so I took about 1/2 inch off each sleeve and this length is more than long enough for me. I kept the side splits, which I need with such a low stretch fabric, but I took about 1 inch off the hem length.

I didn't need to sew with a zig zag stitch, I used an ordinary stitch on the sleeve hems.  I was finally going to use my twin needle for the hem, it worked beautifully on the scrap fabric, but I broke it on the final run. No more twin needle. I just used two rows of straight stitch. 

I increased my stitch length to 2.75, but I didn't use a walking foot because the bulky fabric didn't fit into the lower clearance.

I am very happy with my finished sweatshirt. I have worn it a lot, it does everything I want it to: keeps me warm and looks interesting and not sloppy.

I still have some substantial scraps left over. I'm thinking I can pair one of them with navy for a raglan sweatshirt, and another can probably fit a child as a cosy skirt.

Costs:
Fabric: £40
Pattern: £9.50
Thread: stash
Notions: none
Total: £49.50

Afmæli Christmas Jumper, in January

I have no idea how to pronounce this, but I was able to make it!

The pattern is Afmæli from Istex, the Icelandic wool manufacturer. I used the yarn it was written for, Létt-Lopi, ordered from Iceland.

Although it is not perfect, I am delighted with this jumper. I love the vibrancy of the colours, I love how warm it is and I really love how accomplished I feel as a knitter, having done all that colour work - with no ripping out!  Whoo hoo!

The down side is that, I am sorry to say, I made the sleeves too short. I made the child size, 10-12 years. The measurements were the same as the ladies small and I liked the pattern better, so I went with it. No modifications, apart from going up a needle size, which is normal for me. The small sizing is my own fault, rather than a problem with the pattern. I should have carried on for another 7cm in the sleeves, and perhaps a few more centimeters in the body. I'm a bit worried about washing it, any shrinkage will be the end of this fitting me. You can really see the short length in this photo of the back.

I do have this weird riding-up through the front yoke effect. I am not sure if this is common with this kind of jumper. There is no difference between the front and the back neckline. With no scooping out of the front neckline, it seems to be pooling in my upper chest. Maybe I just have really hunched shoulders, but I suspect it is because there is not quite enough ease through the underarms. My own fault, again.

I love the fact that this yarn really did come to me from Iceland. I have wanted to visit this fascinating country for ages, but I fear that this might be the closest I will get. The yarn is really light and incredibly warm. I bet it is extremely good at repelling water, but I haven't put that property to the test. It is really scratchy though. It is not soft to handle and I have to wear it with a turtleneck underneath. I don't want it touching my skin anywhere, and I really would not recommend this yarn for children. However, it is affordable, the balls are a generous amount, and the colour choice is huge. I used way less than the pattern called for, which is nice change from running out before the end, as I often do. There was even a tiny bit of Icelandic grass that I pulled out of the fibres as I went along! 

Check out my floats! I used to be in awe of colour work floats and did not ever believe that my knitting would be neat enough for innards photos. It just goes to show that practice really does make perfect!

The total cost, including shipping from Iceland, was £23.13. You wouldn't even get an Acrylic jumper on sale for that.

And here I am, 15 months later, wearing it in the Lake District:

Cashmerino Raglan Pullover

 

I've had these 10 balls of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky in my stash for three years! They were one of the first yarns I bought when I got back into knitting and it has taken me this long to use them up. I won them in an eBay auction for £24.00, figuring £2.40 per ball for Cashmerino is a good price. Then I stashed them while I figured out what to do with them. I find 10 balls a difficult number (especially Debbie Bliss, which I find a little ungenerous): too few for an adult jumper, too many for accessories. I used a bit as a trim on a baby boy gift, then I sat on it for 3 years while I wore a lot of grey co-ordinates.

I had a few ideas on and off. First I was going to make this vintage cable vest, but I wasn't that into having a vest, nor a brown one. Then I really wanted to pair it with a yellow hand dyed yarn as an accent collar but I knew that I would get tired of it fast. Then Sewaholic saved me from myself with her perfect analogy of more cake, less frosting: I need to make more of the type of garments I would buy in a store, not what catches my eye in the yarn store. The yarn is a perfect chocolate brown, the full sun in these photos makes it look lighter than it actually is.

Taking three years to decide also helped me understand how to get the best possible finish I am capable of producing. This means choosing a pattern carefully, based on the design elements, so that I can avoid having it look too handmade. For example, sleeves: I never manage the right gauge, so seaming pieces together and setting in sleeves, never works out for me. Raglan sleeves save me from needing to match pieces and I may never knit anything with a set in sleeve again. I'm also not very good at picking up stitches (although I am willing to work on this) and having no seams/very few seams is also very important to me. Modifying a pattern to knit in the round, instead of seaming at the sides is an easy alteration to make, and one that I always do.

I've also learned a few other things along the way, like I am rubbish at joining a new ball and I have to sacrifice a few scraps of yarn to make the join where a seam would be. The other key element I liked about this pattern was that it was knit from the top down so I could carry on until I ran out of yarn. I figured if I only had enough for a cap sleeve / 3/4 sleeve / cropped waist I would just knit until it was all used up. I was delighted that I got to full length sleeves (which I always wear on the short side) and the body finished exactly where I wanted it to.

I love knitting large items on chilly evenings - my knitting becomes a lap rug while I'm watching TV! It was fast for me: one month, including a week spent ripping out the rib and re-knitting on smaller needles. Usually anything I make takes at least two months. I didn't modify the pattern very much. The pattern link and my notes are here in Ravelry. £24.00 for a cashmere/wool pullover, I'd buy that!

 

(Photo credits: 6yo daughter)