Jade green sweater

Here's a sweater I finished recently knitted in Pingouin Melody yarn which I've had for a long long time.  I don't even know whether the French Pingouin yarns exist nowadays.  I suppose I should find out just for interest as for a decade I had a Pingouin franchise knitting shop.

I drafted the pattern using Wild Stitches knitting software.  This is made by Wildginger who also supply Pattern Master Boutique which I use for sewing patterns.

Decapo Jacket

I bought the knitting kit for Hanne Falkeberg's Decapo jacket.  Here's a picture of it from Hanne's website, www.knit.dk mine looks exactly like this and this is a better picture than I could ever take!  It is knitted in one piece with not much sewing up to do.  The edges are knitted as you go too and this makes for an excellent finish.  It is knitted in garter stitch, every row knit, so some people may find it boring, but I read as I knit it so any boredom factor didn't bother me and in any case I just wanted the end result.

Skirt Neue Mode 23434

I made this skirt in a fabric which resembles wool crepe but it isn't wool!  However it drapes nicely for the style of the pattern.  I lined it too.  No problems at all with the pattern though I had to be careful with the bias shaped seams.  I bought the pattern from www.sewingpatterns.com as a download pattern.

Then I  found I had some yarn which was the same colour as the skirt so I found a pattern at www.garnstudio.com and made up the sweater which will be worn over a tank top.

Garnstudio is a great site for knitting patterns.  The patterns are free and you can order the yarn if you want to use the same yarn.

Cynthia

Henley Perfected

I finished this hand knitted top yesterday.  The pattern is called Henley Perfected and I bought it from Knittingdaily.com

I used Patons Crystal yarn, acrylic microfibres, 120 metres to 50 gr, and I used just under 9 balls. 

I experimented with the hem as so often knitted hems have a tendancy to flip up.  For this one I did a temporary cast on on waste yarn onto 3 mm needles.  7 rows stocking stitch starting with a knit row, then k 1 row working into the back of the stitches.

Change to 3.25 mm needles and work 5 rows in stocking stitch starting with a knit row. Place the first row of main yarn onto a needle, and then using a 3.5 mm knit across knitting together one stitch from the hem with every stitch to turn up the hem. I used 3.5 mm needles to achieve the main tension for the top.  No Flipping!

It fits nicely and a liked the pattern, I will wear a vest type top under it.  It looks nice too with some of the buttons unfastened at the neck.

Shetland wool gilet

I finished knitting this gilet by hand recently. It was a pattern in a kit I bought so I thought I would knit it in some 2/10s shetland coned yarn which was a yucky beige colour so I dyed these colours in a slow cooker.  Instructions for dying in a slow cooker can be found on the internet via Google.

I can only dye about 75 grams at a time in the slow cooker but that was alright for this project and I just worked out the stripes according to the colours I had dyed.

It all worked out nicely and it fits well and I think it will be a useful garment.

Socks - Bamboo!

I was tempted by some Wendy Happy sock yarn which is made from 75% Bamboo and 25% Nylon.  I used my well tested sock pattern which was from Cat Bordhi's Socks on Two Circular Needles book.  Knitted on 2.5mm Addi turbo circular needles.  The yarn is nice to knit with, but I haven't worn the socks yet.

Here I go..... first entry

I decided to keep a Blog of the things I make and sometimes I'll outline the details.  I keep occupied with crafts and cooking, in particular sewing and knitting.

Last night I finished a hand knitted sweater for myself.  Last year I was a beta tester for the Wild Stitches knitting Software by Wildginger.  I use Patternmaster Boutique, also by Wildginger for my dressmaking, so I used my measurement chart from PMB for the WS pattern.  I dislike dropped shoulder knits, so I chose to make a set in sleeve style, with a side bust dart and the contoured side seam and long sleeves.

The thing about using software for knitting patterns is that one is in charge of the whole project, you choose the yarn, the needles, the stitch pattern and the style of garment and the body measurements - no mean task really.  You also have to make decisions on the amount of ease you need according to the fabric you will subsequently knit and the style you have chosen.

 

Unlike dressmaking, when you knit a garment you are making the fabric too.  So one of the most important factors is to make a sample of the knitting you aim to use - then measure it correctly. A 4 inch square is the absolute minimum tension swatch I would recommend, and I always remove the needle from the stitches before I measure as knitting spreads off the needle.  Some yarns you might wish to steam press to change to handle of the fabric, for example some machine knitting industrial acrylic yarns, so I also do this at the tension swatch stage too.

I have lots of yarn stored away, no suitable patterns, so making my own patterns lets me use some of my stash.  For this sweater I used Pingouin Sweet'hair, which is 50% mohair, 25% wool and 25% acrylic. 150m to a 50 gr. ball.  It was knitted in stocking stitch on size 4mm needles.  Rather than ribs I chose to do a 6 row moss stitch border, then on the 7th row I twisted the left hand needle anti clockwise every 6th stitch and this puts a twist into the hem, then I continued in stocking stitch.

The sweater fits me nicely, the side bust dart and the contoured side seam add shape taking away the baggy look of an unshaped top, and the shoulder seams sit just right on my shoulders with the set in sleeves.

I now need to try to take better photographs! and find out how to put the pictures where I want them to be in the post!