what a tassle!

What is it about finishing? Why do I have such a mental block about it? I love making things, these tassels were great fun to make once I actually got around to it. And I certainly love to finish a project.

But these tassels, and the cords that they are attached to and the casings that the cords thread through, have taken me weeks to get around to. Actually, I have actively been putting it off. Why?? Is it a reluctance to let go of a project, even though I am simultaneously desperate to finish? Is it a fear of not creating a perfect project? Motivation fascinates me.

I realise that I have also completely neglected to mention these sweet little hats that I am knitting (actually have knit, have completely knit and finished and will showcase shortly). I started them way back in March ...

ziggy

I am entering a finishing phase, so many projects hovering at 90 per cent complete. But not fast enough for how baby b is growing!

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Ziggy Zag by Carol Feller.
Size: Three years, supposedly for baby b.
Yarn: Dale of Norway/Dalegarn Baby Ull (100 per cent wool) in 5775 (dark blue), 2.4 skeins; and Patons Australia Patonyle (80 per cent merino, 20 per cent nylon) in 1009 (red), 0.3 skeins.
Needles: 3.75mm for the body and 2.75mm for the cuffs and hem, although it may have been 2.25mm but it was knit over some period of time and I didn't make a note and then I forgot ... the collar was knit with 2.75mm needles. I know this because that was the last thing I did.
Start to finish: 25 October 2011 to 31 August 2012.
Stash/recycle content: Yes, all from stash.

Comments: I started knitting this for baby b, who is nearing three, but he's a sturdy boy and there wouldn't have been much wear in this for him. So it was a two-year-old birthday gift for a friend's son instead - perfect! There are a few, ahem, 'design features' included like the red showing through in the change from blue to red yarn. I know that there's a way of avoiding that but I recall not having the oomph to get up and look it up at the time I changed yarns. So, design feature. I knit extra rows on the neck edging to help balance it up with the cuffs and hem. I am normally not one for colour blocking at all and now can't remember why I decided to use the red. An Estonian friend told me though that red at the cuffs is one of the oldest protective magics and I do like the idea of that. The cuffs and hem were knit flat and seamed because I don't mind seaming but I do mind that jog when you cast off in the round. I also decided not to sew on a button closure at the neck because by the time I finally had all the knitting done and the ends woven in, well, I made a design decision not to.

Verdict: Not quite the garment I had hoped for. It's very difficult to adequately block garments that are knit seamlessly. I tried a steam with the iron and maybe a few wears will help it along. The proportion of the yoke depth and underarm measurement also look a little strange to me. I'll be interested to hear how it wears.

august reading

Spiral Jetta: A Road Trip Through the Land Art of the American West by Erin Hogan - I really enjoyed this book. Just the right amount of art history and theory mixed with a candid account of driving around in the middle of nowhere, facing up to your fears of being alone and trying to find meaning in art.

delicious, a smorgasbord

New socks for Tim, with a secret ingredient:

Pink stripes!

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Delicious Knee Socks by Laura Chau.

Size: Oh, can't remember of course. I think I ended up with 72 stitches, realised that they would be too big for me and decided to make them for Tim instead.

Yarn: Six of them from the toe up: Fiber Optic Yarns Foot Notes (80 per cent merino, 20 per cent nylon) in 'Black coffee no.9'; Grignasco Strong Print (75 per cent merino, 25 per cent nylon ); Zitron Trekking (XXL) (75 per cent wool, 25 per cent  Nylon) in 126 and then later in 81; Schoppel-Wolle Crazy Zauberball (75 per cent wool, 25 per cent nylon) in 'U-boot'; and Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock Yarn (50 per cent alpaca, 30 per cent merino, 10 per cent nylon, 10 per cent silk) in 'Blues in the Night'.
Needles: 2.25mm.

Start to finish: 10 June to 30 August 2012, so two-and-a-half months. Considering that the last pair of socks took me some two-and-a-half years, I feel as though I am making real progress here!

Stash/recycle content: All of them - the Foot Notes I previously used for the Honey Cowl, the Strong Print for a pair of socks, the Trekking (XXL) were both used in Babette (and came from the thrift store originally), Crazy Zauberball from Kerchief and Babette, and the Hand Paint Sock Yarn I got in a stash swap and used in both Daybreak and Babette.


Comments: I started off knitting these for myself but even though I seemed to be getting gauge they were going to be too big for me. And once I had finished the toe, I couldn't bear to pull it out so I knit them for Tim instead. Inspired by various projects on Ravelry, I really wanted to use up all the odds and ends of sock yarn that I have floating around from various shawl projects mostly. And really, woollen socks get worn under boots mostly so it doesn't really matter if they are multi-coloured. I followed the pattern up until the calf shaping started and knit ribbing after that instead. If I knit another pair, and I think I will, I might try for knee highs for myself. Oh and cast-on was my new favourite, Judy's Magic Cast On.

Oh, and I knit these two at a time, toe up! I'm very proud of myself. They did drag on a bit but there was certainly no second-sock syndrome difficulty. It might make it more fun to change yarns more often, although that would mean more ends to weave in ...

Verdict:  Deliciously happy. They are a great fit for Tim, of course, because I knit them that way! It was also fun to see the self-striping come out on the Trekking (XXL) which I had only previously crocheted with.

summer

Wow, summer seems to have gotten the better of me. Routine totally out the window, sporadic knitting, hot weather that just melts my brains, limited internet access and a trip to the lake.

Back on track soon!

the patient

I am patiently stitching away on Cladonia. I removed one 'blanket fort' stripe, unpicking one row and then unravelling the second. Replacing it with 'truffle hunt' required knitting one row and then Kitchener stitching to graft that row to the next across many hundred stitches. Tedious, and nerve wracking.

The second row I am approaching somewhat differently, unpicking the 'blanket fort' and following up with the 'truffle hunt' stitch by stitch. Also incredibly tedious but not so nerve-wracking and with less chance of mistakes (I had to actually undo my Kitchener stitching a few times where I had lost the rhythm), especially when it comes to incorporating increases, and infinitely neater. Then every hour or so, I get to knit a few dozen stitches with the  yarn that I have salvaged.

Yes, this is nuts but I have decided to finish this with the yarn that I have and I am stubborn.

m2818 AA v.2

Palmer Pletsch for McCall's 2818
Alma Aguilar version 2

And here is version 2, with a differently cut yoke and the same gaping problem.

Again, fits very nicely across the bust - hooray! I cut the yoke across the princess seams just above the bust apex and the neckline even deeper and wider and it does sit ok if allowed to sit very wide on my shoulders (much wider than I would like, strapless-bra required wide) and I haven't done the understitching on the neckline yet and it doesn't have sleeves, which do tend to pull things into shape, but I have run out of fabric until I can find another French Connection butterfly print top on ebay and ...

It also occurs to me that this is a semi-fitted pattern. I'm wondering if that doesn't lend itself to a deep neckline. Anyway, I'm going to put this one away for (maybe) later.

(Final lesson learned - maybe those late-night dressmaking sessions are not such a good idea.)

m2818 AA v.1

Palmer Pletsch for McCall's 2818
Alma Aguilar version 1

This is what I have spent a lot of time working on recently - a lot of time adjusting the pattern with a full bust adjustment (fba) (it took me four tries but I got it right), then sewing a toile, then altering the neckline, then cutting and pinning and sewing and facing and interfacing.

And, I'm afraid, it has not wholly been a success. I have a litany of little woes to recount about this project; oh where to start? With a positive - the fba turned out very well and now that I am confident with that I will not hesitate to do it again. Hooray! This Palmer Pletsch pattern includes all of the lines upon which you need to cut in order to make the adjustments and it is really easy. Double hooray!

The greatest problem that I encountered here was with the neckline and I must note that I altered it in an effort to emulate the Alma Aguilar dress of my dreams and perhaps that is where it all went wrong? Anyway, the neckline gapes (see fuzzy middle image), that is, doesn't sit flat against my chest. This may be an issue with the original pattern, unfortunately I never completed my toile of that far enough to assess the neckline, I was too focussed on getting the fba perfected. I cut my neckline a lot deeper than that in the pattern, not sure whether a deeper neckline calls for tightening up elsewhere - would need to make a toile again to assess that but I am very over this sewing pattern. I also made some mistakes with interfacing and sewing the yoke and I had a lot of trouble with the facings and the sleeves aren't finished because I absolutely ran out of steam and ... in short, I've had it with this one.

I did have some fun with the back though - the pattern calls for a placket up the back and I was planning on using an invisible zip at the side but since I was upcycling a men's shirt I just cut the back pieces from the front of the shirt and incorporated the placket. I left the chest pocket on the shirt and you can (sort of, just) see where that is incorporated into the princess seams.

shawl surgery

I'm not sure whether I have completely lost the plot but my Cladonia remodel has taken on the dimensions of full reconstructive surgery.

I ran out of yarn - the 'blanket fort' this time - and am feeling completely contrary about making the trip to Bainbridge Island to buy some more or paying delivery costs if I purchase it online (two things that I normally wouldn't blink an eye at). Part of it may be that as I was knitting the stripes, after the colour change, it did occur to me more than once that it might be an idea to throw in a 'truffle hunt' stripe here or there (see photo at right). But I couldn't really decide and I was a bit far along and didn't want to rip back the few rows so I just kept knitting; kept knitting until I was the cast-off edging and two-and-a-half rows short of 'blanket fort' yarn.

So last night, having saved myself from previously ripping back a few rows, I cut into my Cladonia, oh yes, cut in with scissors and removed a blanket fort stripe. I am halfway through replacing it with a truffle hunt stripe which is going surprisingly well (but that's because 200-odd stitches to be kitchenered together are yet to come). See photo below of great gaping wound:

And, I'll have to this at least twice more I figure in order to have enough yarn to finish, the triple bypass of knitting surgery.

learning curve

Ah, inspiration. At what point does it turn into obsession? I appear to be on my way to finding out. As soon as I saw this Alma Aguilar dress I became, shall we say, completely preoccupied with recreating the bodice. I think it is just beautiful, not so taken with the skirt shape but I'm busy with blouses at the moment so that's ok (a dress is in the planning stage but that will be later, much later).

So I have been busy sewing and busy learning, mostly about how to sew a curve. It's hard work. The issue with sewing a curved seam (as in the seam between the yoke and bodice at left) is that the seam line (where you sew) is the same length on both pieces but, given the seam allowance, the edges of the pieces are different lengths. They are also different shapes.(You can get a bit of an idea from this Collette sew-along tutorial.)

My original pattern (McCall's 2818) had no such curved seam issues but I had to go and modify it, twice over, in an attempt to mimic the bodice of my inspira... obsessi... preoccupation. There was much clipping and notching and pinning and stitching and puckering and undoing and restitching and ... I'll show you the results next time.

(image credit)

july reading

In the Woods by Tana French  - Hmm, a good read but could have stood on its own without all of the protagonist's psychological trauma. The psychological thriller angle just became too noisy and a bit pointless in the end. 

Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo - Less gruesome than the first two in the series and oddly enough, exactly the same plot device as In the Woods.

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson - Such a good read although populated by all too many unpleasant characters with even more unpleasant attitudes about women.

fifth course

I've been randomly knitting away on Tim's secret pink stripe smorgasbord delicious socks. I'm up to the fifth different yarn and they're coming along nicely. Just stocking stitch in the round for a while now, then ribbing I guess. I don't think I'll even need to do any shaping as they are certainly not going to be knee highs (as the pattern accommodates).

And I am working on the lace edging for Cladonia, these are long rows now:

And I'm still working on my blouse. Here's a snippet of the fabric, upcycled from a men's shirt that I bought in ... Australia, maybe? From the op shop, brand is Blazer, it's a medium-weight cotton with this little dark blue print of sprigs. It looks just like a patchwork print but the material is heavier.


I managed to totally muck up the front yoke facing so it wasn't sitting nicely at all. Now that I have removed it, it appears that the front yoke and front yoke facing are completely different shapes ... not at all sure how I managed that. Am trying to maintain momentum in order to actually finish it (rather than resorting to the more pleasant task of cutting pattern pieces out for a different blouse. I've only done one so far).

all that remains

I have finished the striping on my Cladonia (the second version) and this is all that I have left of my skein of Brooklyn Tweed Loft in 'old world'. There's only a few metres there. I truly thought that I was going to run out, so sure that I started canvassing other Ravellers with 'old world' in their stash to see if anyone could spare a gram or two. It wasn't necessary (phew) and now I am on to working the lace section in 'blanket fort' which really is beautiful (only two rows so far so not much to see). I'm just hoping that I'll have enough yarn to finish it ...

key change

Not to infer that 'truffle hunt' is a major colourway and 'blanket fort' a minor (although 'truffle hunt' is the most wonderful brown/grey with a hint of lavender that ever existed) but in the process of reworking my Cladonia I have just shifted from striping in 'truffle hunt'/'old world' to 'blanket fort'/'old world' before working the border in 'blanket fort'.

(Now I am completely unmusical and actually have no idea what a key change really is. Tim and I will be listening to music and he'll say 'there's the key change' and I am oblivious. On the other hand, when Tim asks me what I'm laughing at and I say that it was something in the lyrics, his response is 'oh, you actually listen to the words'.)

I put a lot of thought into where to make the colour change. I decided to stripe half of the shawl's area in truffle hunt' and 'old world' and the other half in 'blanket fort' and 'old world'. To work out which row this meant making the colour change on, I had to rummage deep in the recesses of brain and recall some maths. I based the calculations on a full circle and started by calculated the circumference as sixteen times the number of stitches in each section (448). From there I got the nominal radius of the circle (and from there calculated the area nominal radius (c = 2πr) - I say nominal because the radius of a circle cannot be expressed in stitches). Result was 71(-ish).  

Then to calculate the area of the circle (a=πr²) ... and yes, blah blah blah. I remember in high school maths classes there was always someone who would complain 'when am I ever going to use this in real life?' Not me because I was studious but if someone had told me I'd be using it to calculate how much of my shawl to knit in a different colour I would never have believed them.

attitude adjustment

So after my recent mini crisis of confidence in the sewing field, I took a deep breath and just got down to it. I think part of it is just accepting that it's a learning process and that there are going to (possibly, likely) be a few iterations.

I laid out my front side pattern piece and cut into it, lowering the bust apex, spreading the pattern piece out, closing the resulting dart, inserting extra tissue paper and taping it all together. It was, like most things when you follow the directions, easy.

Then yesterday evening I cut out the front, back and side pieces from calico and stitched it up. It was a bust (pardon the pun but was one ever more apposite?) Didn't fit - I had lowered the bust apex too far and hadn't added enough in the bust and will have to start over again. BUT, even with these shortcomings, I saw the shape of things to come, a top that is going to fit me. As soon as I get a free half hour or so (which really, is as long as it takes to do the fba as per the instructions that come with the pattern) I'll give it another shot.

And I'm delighted that I didn't even cut into or waste a shred of my super-cute fabric, upcycled from a French Connection blouse purchased second hand.

s[e]wing

And then after I have finished a couple of knitting projects, I inevitably find my interest swinging back to sewing.

Part of the impetus for this is the recent demise of a couple of t-shirts. In all of America, or so it seems, I have not been able to find anything as good as my favourite Witchery t-shirts - 100 per cent cotton, scoop neck, and long. I've tried a Gap essential t-shirt in the tall fit - good length, atrocious quality. I've tried an American Apparel u-neck t-shirt - ok, except really limited colour choice. And as I may have mentioned before, I'm really tired of wearing t-shirts all the time and long for a blouse or dress from woven fabric. One that fits.

Will this be it?

I was reading somewhere about full bust adjustment (fba) methods and came across mention of Palmer Pletsch's Fit for Real People which I then bought and read (and really liked) and then looked at their patterns and bought this one (McCall's M2818). Mostly because with the princess seams it has the potential to resemble a gorgeous Alma Aguilar dress that I have fallen in love with.

So, yes, now all I have to do is actually make it. These Palmer Pletsch patterns come with all of the markings necessary for making common fit adjustments, including the fba. And although I found their book very up-beat and encouraging, somehow, faced with the pattern, I feel terribly daunted. Yes I need to adjust the bust but by how much? And how much ease do I want? And is there enough ease in the pattern already if I just lower the bust apex? And ... and I just need to get on with it. Lower the bust apex, do the fba and sew a muslin.

Yeah. In the meantime, I ordered a few more t-shirts.

in the sink

But not down the drain (phew!).

This is my Attabi Wrap/Cowl/Infinity Loop having a little soak before blocking (so to speak):

And here it is 'blocking', that is, stretching out:

This is how I have had good results blocking a long cowl before - instead of lying it flat and risking creases, I block them in the round:

Step 1 - pad a broom with a couple of towels.
Step 2 - loop cowl over padding and suspend broom between two chairs, or, if the cowl is really long as was the case here, between two lines on the clothesline.
Step 3 - weight it down with a heavy book resting on a bundled up towel.

I have used the most recent Haruki Murakami here - 1Q84 - and I fear that this is the only use that I will have for it. After having waited months for my turn to read it from the library, I don't think there is any way I could get through it in the allotted three-week time period.

Anyway, there is a significant difference in stretch factor between the i-cord cast-off edge and the rest of the cowl, so I concentrated the not insignificant weight of Murakami there. I may use the woven floats to tighten the opposite edge up a bit, or not - will try it on first to see how it sits.

v1196

 I kind of like this Vogue Bellville Sassoon dress. Or rather, I see potential in this pattern for a dress that I might like. The basic shape reminds me of a Ted Baker dress that I own, my 'wear-to-weddings' dress.

Imagine this one all in one colour (including the flounce; actually, particularly the flounce) and certainly without the appliquéd bow. That's what I did and then I ran into some trouble - is the bow entirely applied or is it part of the bodice construction?

I searched all over the internet for any news of this dress and the only relevant item that I found was that this pattern is a best seller. Perhaps not one that actually ever gets sewn. So, in the interests of the sewing public and to record the details for posterity, I bought the pattern.

And here is the relevant instruction diagram. Not evident from the photo is that there is a horizontal tuck just below the neckline. And the bow is indeed part of the construction. I'm not sure what it would look like without the free floating bow ends, and I'm not sure how one would do an fba, and I'm not sure that it would work in a more casual woven instead of a wool crêpe, and I'm not sure that I would ever make it either, but at least my curiosity is satisfied.

i knit a cloud!

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Whippoorwill by Carina Spencer.
Size: Large.
Yarn: Filatura di Crosa Gioiello in colourway 26 (30 per cent wool, 30 per cent mohair, 20 percent nylon, 10 per cent acrylic, 10 per cent cotton); 2.05 skeins. And madelinetosh tosh merino light in colourway 'well water' (100 per cent merino); 0.43 skeins, a present from Di.
Needles: 3.5mm to knit and 4.5mm to cast off.
Start to finish: 8 June to 27 June 2012 (yes, June of the same year).
Stash/recycle content: Alas, no.

Comments: I started planning this shawl at the very end of December 2010. It took me a while to get around to knitting it but once I did, wow, quick knit. I wasn't so lucky on yardage with the Gioiello though - I did need to buy a third ball for want of only about 11 yards of yarn. As it was, the third ball was a different dye lot to the first two (looks exactly the same but curiously a slightly different texture) and I knit the last of the white/gold sections from the third ball, thereby using up a little more than 11 yards of it! The tosh merino light is an absolute dream to knit with and the resulting fabric is gorgeous. As is this colourway, I definitely want to use it again. And there is just enough mohair in the Gioiello to make it sticky so when the shawl is flung around your shoulders, it actually stays there.

This shawl is a lovely design and a great shape. The instructions are, however, a bit confusing for being overly descriptive of how to make yarn-overs. Reading all the extra information bewildered me so I just started knitting and encountered no problems. Where the pattern calls for an M1 increase, I did a yarn-over and on the next row, worked into the back of the stitch.

Verdict: Llovelly. (Get it? Whippoorwill, Gioiello, Well Water.)

june reading

Wicked: the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire - Oh, wicked good. I am no fan of musical theater but will admit to having been curious about this story when it was on stage recently (as in since I had children). So I was delighted to be able to read the story instead. And it is a wonderful story, very complete, very clever, very satisfying. Highly recommended.

V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton - another good read. I didn't enjoy it as much as the previous two but they were very hard acts to beat.