Knitting Blues

 

 

 

Knitting needles have been busy.  This is Traveling Buds Cardigan, a free download from the Cascade Yarns website.  I have not knit all that much, but so far my favourite yarns come from Cascade. I prefer to knit with 100% wool. This was a superwash sport weight wool; it is a wee bit soft for my liking. The concern will be how this will wear.

 



 

 

After completing an Aran cardigan, I needed something simpler to knit while watching TV. This pattern was just the ticket. The majority was knit and purl with a pattern that became fairly easy to remember after a short while. 

 

I would like to become more proficient at seaming knits. When you are a garment sewer for the most part, seams are important. And my not-so-pretty seams in knits leave much to be desired.

 

I found a wonderful tutorial on Susan Crawford's blog.

 

http://justcallmeruby.blogspot.ca/2015/04/finish-long-sewing-up-seams-on-my-land.html

 

Her knitting is lovely, and if I can learn to knit and sew knits like she does, I will be one happy camper. As they say, practise makes perfect. So another sweater has been cast on. I have sweaters that I haven't even worn, I seem to just like knitting them.

 

A sewing friend of mine once said that she sews for the love of sewing, she has many things she has never worn. Then she said that her husband fishes for the love of fishing and he is an advocate of catch-and-release. I guess I can count myself a knitter who casts off and releases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Creating

Whew, it has been quite a long time since I posted anything here. Not that I haven't been sewing or knitting. Actually I have been quite busy with my fingers.

I made a shirt dress in a cotton plaid, no pics of that yet, a cotton skirt plus some knit tops. But I have been knitting more than sewing. I think this is because I have turned into a news-junkie and the news is not available in my sewing room.

Since I can't just sit and watch television, I have picked up the needles and wool and have turned out two sweaters, one to be sewn together, a very long cowl (which is proving tremendously useful as a head cover in the blistery January weather), and am currently knitting a complicated Aran sweater.

The long cowl, probably 50" in length, then joined into a circle; it can be wrapped around my neck twice and I can pull one wrap up over my head as a hood.

The beginning of a sleeve in Cascade 220, sport weight wool

The pattern is Plaits and Links by Kathy Zimmerman. I seem to like everything this woman designs; she loves the look of cables and textured stitches, and that is exactly what I love about knitted projects. I haven't knit anything this complicated since I was a teenager, when I knit an Aran pullover for a friend. I can't believe I actually completed that, given my inexperience as a knitter, but perhaps when one is young, things don't seem as advanced or difficult as they do to the older mind.

I had almost the exact shade of green yarn on hand from a sweater I knit last year, that I then ripped out. It just wasn't right. When I saw this pattern in a magazine, I knew exactly what to do with that apple green yarn. This will be a long project, probably taking most of the winter months, but I am not in any rush to finish as I find it is the process that I enjoy, much more than the actualy finished result.

Link to the pattern on Ravelry

What's been happening

I have been absent for quite a few weeks. Here is the main reason.

Grandchild #9 arrived on June 7, one day before her parents' tenth wedding anniversary. Sarah Elena weighed in at 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and is a very welcome sister to Hannah (9), Jacob (9), Ben (6), Joe (4) and Isaac (almost 2). Her mom is still getting used to having a second girl after four boys.

I was with them for three weeks, helping out with cooking and entertaining the kids, and drove back home over the weekend. The car's air conditioning was malfunctioning, so Friday was an extremely hot day. Thank goodness, the weather became overcast and rainy for the remainder of the drive, otherwise Teddy (my dog) and I would have been prostrate from heat exhaustion.

I have been sewing, just not posting any photos. I made another summer shirt in navy linen, and a pair of cream pants using Katherine Cheetham's pattern for Pull On Pants. Smart patterns, those Petite Plus Patterns. No alterations needed. I should sew up more of them.

Also knitting. I finished the red sweater and it is blocked, now lying in pieces waiting to be sewn up. And I started another sweater, this time knitting in the round from the bottom up. Plus I knit baby blankets for Sarah Elena. Not that she needs them; everyone got blankets for this new baby. I will post some pictures later.

Jean Jacket Complete - Next?

I finished the corduroy jean jacket yesterday. This is a nice pattern, just one puzzle with it - why are the cuffs so big?  I cut off at least one inch from these cuffs, and then put a pleat in the back of the sleeve to make it fit. They are still huge and I overlapped them by about 3" when putting on the buttons. These sleeves are meant to be 3/4 length; on me, they hit just at the wrist, but even so the cuffs are still too big.  Check that if you use this pattern and adjust them shorter, then taper the sleeve or put in two pleats to make it fit the cuff. 

So what's next? Seeing as how I am not the fastest sew-er in the west, I plan on fitting a summer dress pattern. I have kept to my New Year's resolution of only buying fabric when I have sewn two items from the stash. Since I actually sewed three items, I felt perfectly fine picking up this cotton at the store the other day.

100% cotton, very fine, perfect for hot weather. I have always had a weakness for this type of plaid and black and white just couldn't be better. It was on sale too and I got this piece (3.5 metres) for just under $20.  I plan on using it with this pattern, Simplicity 2215.

I will add sleeves to this; at 62, my upper arms should not be bared. This should be fairly easy to do; the armhole is quite deep-cut, as the photo shows the model wearing a blouse under the dress. I made this pattern last summer for my daughter Elena, and it is a lovely pattern. In fact, almost all of Cynthia Rowley's designs appeal to me.

The plaid will be a trial dress; if it works, all well and good; if it only serves as a muslin, I am fine with that too. Because what I really want to make this dress out of is this:

A cross-dyed cotton, one thread is bright turquoise, the other is midnight blue, almost purple and it gives the most wonderful toned-down turquoise, one of my favourite colours. I had forgotten about this fabric until I cleared off a shelf and found it hiding under something else. I bought it in May 2011 from Fabrics in Vogue. I had no idea what I would make with it then, but bought 4 yards just in case it was meant to be a dress. I would rather have some left over than not enough.

Now, knitting, I've been doing that too. The green sweater I was knitting was all done and ready to be sewn together. But I was not that keen on it. And when I found that the sleeves were not long enough in the cap to match to the body, that was a perfect excuse to unravel it and start something new. I used to be retentive about that sort of thing and feel I had to finish it. But life is too short, to spend on things that you don't really like.

So, from the stash comes this red wool. Even my husband said, that colour will look good on you. I don't think he liked the granny smith green of the other one.  It took me four tries to figure out this lace ribbing and I was going to switch patterns, but I gave it one more try and figured it out. Since it is the most distinguishing feature of the sweater, it is kind of important to have it right.  This will be this sweater by Jeannie Chin.

If you haven't discovered www.ravelry.com, and you are a knitter or crocheter or embroiderer, you have to go there and sign up. Amazing things for you to make. And the photos of some of the members will blow you away. Gorgeous gorgeous sweaters. I hope to be able to knit like some of them one day. Till then, I will go with fairly simple designs like this one; I think it will be a perfect topper for summer dresses. 

I have several ideas in mind for dresses; I never wear skirts or dresses in the cold weather, because I hate stockings and tights. But when you can wear bare legs, then dresses have to come out.

Sweater Blocking

I finished knitting this sweater a couple of days ago, and then began the rather lengthy process of threading in yarn tails and sewing up seams. I understand why people prefer to knit on circular needles, so they don't have much of this to do. But the weight of a sweater on circular needles is not something I enjoy, so I will have to sew up the seams on all future sweaters.

Having read a little about blocking, I thought I should do this with this sweater. It is advisable to block the pieces before they are sewn and I should have done this. But I shall see how this method works. I covered a styrofoam board with 1/4" gingham, thinking that I would use the gingham to measure the sweater. Not at all, I took out the tape measure and pinned the sweater to the dimensions written on the diagram. Now I will mist the sweater with water, get it fairly damp and cover it with a towel for a few days until it dries completely.

I am not sure how this yarn will behave, as it is a new kind of yarn and acts very much like rayon fabric. It feels wonderful in the hand, but is heavy and drapey when made up. The finished sweater may grow in the wearing, we shall see.

Knitting, Not Sewing

I haven't posted here in ages, for two reasons. One, no sewing going on, due to illness and my "mojo" has vanished. Second, I have developed a fondness for knitting.

First it was the flu, then came viral bronchitis, which is still plaguing me. This saps all energy; this morning after raking leaves, I was done in and had to take a nap. And I am not someone who takes naps.

Hopefully this bug will be gone soon, although the doctor said her patients are complaining of 6-8 weeks to get rid of this thing. Much coughing is done, particularly at night, which means broken sleep. But enough of complaining.

I finished the sweater above and the pattern calls for knitted buttons. I made them but don't like them, so will look for some pretty ball buttons at the store next time I go. It is a very easy pattern, done in garter stitch and knitted on circular needles. I have decided that I won't knit on circular needles again, it is too heavy and bulky to be enjoyable. I much prefer smaller pieces on straight needles. And what's the difficulty with sewing up a side seam anyway?

If anyone has advice on blocking sweaters, please let me know. I am hesitant to do this but I know it needs it. I just don't know how much steam I should use and how much I should press the sweater. The yarn is a wool/acrylic blend - mostly wool. And I guess I can call this jacket #7.

The pattern is from Cascade Yarns, I think I wrote about it in a previous post. If you are making this pattern, be aware that it calls for way too much yarn. I have two full skeins left over and, since I bought it in Maine, I can't return it. Perhaps I will be knitting some scarves or hats in the near future.

I do have some sewing plans afoot. I cut out a pair of pants in black RPL a few days ago, but haven't got around to doing anything except putting them on the sewing table. I hope to get in there sometime this week, energy permitting. Till later.

Sweater sans boutons

I was sure I would have five buttons in my stash that would work for this sweater, but no it's not to be. You would think that a huge container of buttons would yield 5 usable blue buttons. Alas this necessitates a trip to Fabricville tomorrow to get five buttons; the question is can I get out of the store with just the buttons?

I am excited about this sweater. This is the first sweater that fits; I keep knitting sweaters but they all turn out too big. So this feels like a huge accomplishment. I used to be able to knit things that worked, but it has been years since I seriously knit anything. I guess you lose the sense or something. Anyway, this provides a great sense of accomplishment.

Close up of the collar, which is done in a patterned rib that I find really pretty. The cuffs are also done that way. I made some mistakes, but hey I am not a perfectionist and no one is going to look that close.

The pattern is this one, from the book Aran Tweed, published by Naturally Hand Knit Yarns of New Zealand.

This has made me excited about knitting and the purple sweater to be knit on circular needles is up next. The nice thing about having knitting is that it gives me something to do while watching movies. I am not a TV watcher, but over the past couple of winters, my husband and I watch a movie or two on the weekends. We don't watch new movies (don't want to waste my time watching morally bankrupt junk) so we favour British detective series. The latest is A Touch of Frost, great entertainment centred around an eccentric rough widower with a keen sense of justice.
I also highly recommend the series Doc Martin, incredibly funny series of a surgeon who retires from heart surgery after developing a phobia of blood. He becomes the GP in a coastal town in England - if you like weird characters who don't fit regular holes, check it out.

And, if you are into knitting, check out this blog.
Kitty Couture
Isabelle just taught herself to knit a few months ago and she is incredible! Her work is beautiful. I credit her blog with inspiring me to keep at the knitting.

Grandchildren Photos

I have been away for about ten days, traveling with my husband to Maine and then on to Ontario to visit our daughter Elena and her family.
Some photos of the grandchildren:

Jacob is the second from the right, right in front of the priest; Hannah is third from the left in the front row

Joseph, Elena's second youngest child; he is 3 1/2, full of mischief and a real delight; even when he cries, his eyes are laughing

Ben, who just turned five, is the serious child and he wants to be a farmer when he grows up! hence the John Deere cap

The two boys together; they are inseparable and Ben said he wished they were twins too, just like Jacob and Hannah

After a short visit with Elena's family, Nick headed out to do some work and he took the dog. He is a professor of geology and in the summers, he goes out into the field, mapping rock outcrops in Ontario. Algonquin Park, which is a huge national park, has never been mapped for its rocks and it is Nick's intention to get this done before he retires. I flew on to Fredericton, where I spent two days, as I had been asked to be the keynote speaker at their March for Life rally this past Thursday. I got much more out of this event than I gave to it, and I was grateful to meet the wonderful New Brunswick people who welcomed me. We were fortunate to have a break from all the rainy weather and the sun actually came out and shone and it felt warm. You have to know the Maritime provinces to realise that is something we relish when it comes - sun and warmth - all too infrequent, I'm afraid.

No sewing done these past two weeks, but I have been knitting. And in Maine, I visited a delightful little yarn shop in Orono. It is Fiberphilia, a lovely shop and the lady working there was very helpful. Although I learned to knit as a teen, I haven't really done much for years and the new yarns are a mystery to me. She helped me pick out a lovely purple wool for a simple sweater I saw in the Vogue knitting magazine.

This shouldn't be too hard, it is all garter stitch done on circular needles (which surprised me) but what really attracted me to the pattern was the basketweave ribbing.

My husband remarked that I always have some knitting on the go, but he never sees a completed sweater. That's true, and the reason is that they always turn out way too big. Either my tension or the wrong yarn, but they are massive and for some reason, I can't judge this as I knit. With sewing, I know how to measure and alter the pattern, but somehow knitting and the fit escapes me. But I like to have something to do with my hands while watching a movie (Nick and I never watch TV, just interesting British serials) so I make about one sweater per year. And when I sew it up, I find it massive so I give it away.

Which is why I never say I will knit a sweater for anyone, because then they would simply be disappointed. This way, someone gets a sweater that they weren't expecting. Not that I make a lot, but there have been a couple of garments donated to a larger person.

Hopefully, this new one will fit as the lady in the store assured me the yarn was the right one for the gauge indicated in the pattern.