Writing an intro for a finished project is always nice, but my words feel clumsy today so it’s straight to the photo.

Cropped Tryst Vest by Kristen TenDyke
1.75 balls of Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 12 ply, Elm
4.50 and 5.00 mm needles
Start: January 2009
Finish: March 2009

I feel funny calling it Tryst Cropped Vest, because out of those three words, only ‘vest’ is still valid. I thought elm would be a nice colour for the vest, so I was going to make Rustic 12 ply work, but hook or by crook. Luckily, I got gauge straight away. Twelve ply is a lot bulkier than what I normally work with, but it’ll be good for the cooler months.

The vest was also lengthened so it ended at the hip rather than at the ribs. There is some shaping in the cropped version, so I mirrored that shaping in the rib to hip section. With the lengthening, there’s now eight buttonholes rather than four.

The only thing I’m a bit funny about is the buttons. The buttons used are the best ones I’ve found so far, and happily are ones I had stashed away after a buttonmania button sale frenzy a few years ago. However, I just don’t know if they look right.

The vest is my most heavily modified knit to date, and I’m pretty happy with the results. It’s entirely wearable, and it’s given me more confidence to modify other patterns. Look out hefty stash of vintage leaflets.

Lately I’ve been trying to keep myself busy by finishing off projects that have been lying around adding to the general untidiness of my house. I’m quite proficient in starting projects, but not so good at finishing them. As a result of slowly chipping away at things each night, some projects that were only just started are now nearly finished, and some things that were nearly finished are now in my cupboard, ready to be worn.

Simplicity 3835 (a Built By Wendy pattern)
Random green fabric from Spotlight

This really is a great pattern, pretty easy to put together, and hides sewing flaws quite well. The only modification I made from the last time I made this top was to not put elastic in the sleeves. I find the red one is a bit restrictive because of the sleeve elastic, and in some ways I think the top looks better without it.

I cannot for the life of me remember what this fabric is, I bought it a little while ago and only just got round to making something with it. However, it does have a tendency to fray, so I used zigzag stitch on the edges as I don’t have pinking shears or an overlocker (note to self, buy pinking shears). I hope that will be enough to stop the fraying.

It’s such a satisfying feeling getting projects finished, no matter how big or small they are. It seems a shame that it’s something I don’t indulge in that often.

My dear partner’s birthday happens to fall right near Christmas, which means that most knitted gifts aren’t immediately useful. Despite this, I still made him Henry for Christmas. Well, it was intended as a Christmas present, but I didn’t get it finished in time for either Christmas or his birthday.

Henry by Mareike Sattler
1.75 balls of Grignasco Tango, shade 211
4.00 and 3.50 mm Addi circulars
Start: November 2008
Finish: January 2009

I made a few modifications to the pattern, starting with the yarn. I thought tweed and herringbone would go together nicely, but struggled to find a 4 ply tweed in a suitable colour. Opting for a slightly heavier weight yarn meant that I could reduce the number of cast on stitches… to 416.

Before starting, I had read some criticisms of the pattern in regard to the cast on and cast off not matching. To try and get around this, I knit the ending rows a little differently to the pattern, knitting one row less, and finishing with a purl row rather than a knit row. This made it look a little more even, however I suspect that the stitch used in the scarf is just not conducive to looking identical at the cast on and cast off edges. I think this is largely due to the slipped ‘bars’ of yarn that form the herringbone pattern settling at the bottom of the stitch, making the space above the ‘bar’ larger than the space below the ‘bar’. This all makes perfect sense to me, but I’m not sure if it will to anyone else!

I also opted for a cable cast on, rather than the tubular cast on. This was largely due to my eagerness to get started on the project, as I feel that the tubular cast on is a bit fiddly, and wouldn’t add that much to the look of the scarf. Because I opted for a cable cast on, I cast off by knitting two together, then slipping the resulting stitch back onto the left needle. This made the cast on and cast off edges close to looking the same.

All in all, I am (and most importantly, he is) happy with how the scarf turned out. All indications suggest that when cooler days are upon us, the scarf will become useful. I also see another version of this scarf in my future, using some Malabrigo Worsted I have squirrelled away. I cannot say that it’s the easiest knit in the world, but the effort that goes into it pays off handsomely.

It’s cooled down a bit since my last post, but it’s still a bit warm to be even thinking about, let alone knitting, beanies. However, I wanted a break from Christmas knitting and I knew this would be a quick project, so I went ahead and did it anyway.

Star Crossed Slouchy Beanie by Natalie Larson
0.75 skein of Malabrigo Worsted, American Beauty
8.00 mm Addi circulars
Start: December 2008
Finish: January 2009

This is also an unusual project for me, as I knit this for myself and I don’t see myself as a hat person at all (even though sometimes I would like to be). This seemed like a good way to ease myself into maybe wearing hats in the future.

This project was a good way to revisit cabling without a needle, which I learnt to do a couple of months ago. The cables in this were a little more fiddly, as I needed to drop three stitches off the needle as opposed to one stitch last time, but it still worked fine and it still seems to be less fiddly and quicker than using a cable needle.

It’s the first time I’ve used Malabrigo, and it’s really a lovely yarn to knit with, and creates a lovely soft fabric. My only fear is that the attributes that make it so lovely will also cause it to pill a lot. Only time will tell.

Next up, the girl who knit a scarf in the middle of summer!

I was keen to blog over the Christmas/New Year break, but being away from my computer meant that I had to save my enthusiasm until my computer and I were one again.

These are the socks I gave my sister for Christmas. I was aiming for retina burning, and retina burning is what she got.

Generic toe up sock pattern by Wendy Johnson
0.75 skein of Noro Kureyon Sock, colourway 180
3.00 mm dpns
Start: November 2008
Finish: December 2008

The skein was split into two, and knit alternating stripes of three rows from each skein half. I could have made them a bit longer, but due to time constraints, I chose to leave them a little shorter. It was for the best anyway, as it meant that the Elijah twins could have scarves from the scraps.

There seems to be a bit too much twist to the Noro sock yarn, as it had a tendancy to twist back on itself no matter how careful I was with it. I’ve worked with non-sock kureyon before and didn’t notice the twisting issue. Besides that small annoyance, it was fine to work with. I must admit, I’m a bit funny when it comes to Noro. I’m not really into variegated/self striping yarn, but I like Noro’s long colour changes. However, having said that, my favourite uses of Noro are when the colour changes is broken up by stripes or entrelac.

The gifts I have knitted for Christmas this year are slowly starting to make their way to their recipients. The first ones to go were 2 Elijahs. They have both been renamed, I suspect inspired by an epic trilogy of movies an actor called Elijah had a major part in. Although I know they will be well loved and cared for, it was very hard to let them go.

The first Elijah (let’s call him One) was made around Christmas time last year. However, as I couldn’t get the other Elijah (Two) made in time for Christmas last year, One stayed with me all through the year, waiting for Two to be made. The only photos I have of One were taken soon after he was finished, terrible photos taken under incandescent light. When I meet up with One’s new owner in the new year, I’ll take some hopefully better photos.

Elijah by Ysolda Teague
Approximately 100 grams of Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 8 ply in Earth
Scraps of Noro Kureyon Sock, colourway 180
Scraps of random 8 ply black acrylic

Both One and Two were comfortably made from one ball of Rustic. I think Earth is a perfect elephant colour, being a nice mix of light brown and grey. To distinguish between the two, I knit small garter stitch scarves from scraps of Noro Kureyon sock yarn, left over from another Christmas present which is currently blocking. I had real trouble with getting the french knots to look even for both One and Two’s eyes, so I opted to embroider (in the loosest sense of the word) small rectangles using scraps of black 8 ply acrylic.

It seems that in the intervening period between knitting One and Two, my gauge had become a bit looser, as Two turned out a little bigger, despite using the same yarn and needles. I also think I’m knitting a little faster these days, as Two took a smidge over a week, which seemed a lot shorter than the time needed to knit One.

I shall end with my favourite part of Elijah: his hands and feet. I think it’s a lovely pattern, and very easy to follow, but doing the arms and legs were my favourite part, both times round. I find them almost too cute to deal with.

It’s been ages since I got my sewing machine out, but true to my word, a wrap skirt was my second project.

I promise I ironed it before I put it on, although it’s quite clear from the photo my ironing prowess isn’t up to scratch.

The pattern is Dana from Fitzpatterns, made with navy cotton drill and lemon ricrac. It is the first skirt I’ve ever made, and it turned out pretty well despite a few wonky bits of sewing on my behalf. I’ve already worn it once, and I’ll certainly wear it again. Only two modifications were made; I decided not to have a kangaroo pocket at the front, and the length of the ties were doubled, so I could tie it in a decent bow at the back.

Mad props have to go to my wonderful seamstress non-blogging friend who helped me out a lot. Without her, it would have taken me weeks of on-and-off work to get it done, rather than just an afternoon and a bit.

I’d like to make this skirt again, but modify it a bit more again, along the lines of making the ties wider. However, I think I’d like to try a few more things first before making this again. I’m not exactly sure what I’d like to make next, but I’m itching to sew again. Knitting’s still definitely my favourite, but the almost instant gratification of sewing is sucking me in.

There hasn’t been a shortage of things to write about lately, but I’ve struggle to actually get on with writing a blog post. This is mostly due to having to get a pair of socks finished by this weekend, so every time I thought about writing a post, thoughts of not finishing the socks in time were enough to stop me from sitting down and writing.

I’m glad I did refrain, because I’m giving these to my Mum today, and I only finished blocking them yesterday.

Snicket (rav link)
0.75 skein of The Knittery Merino Cashmere sock, in Chocolate
3.75 dpns
Start: October 2008
Finish: October 2008

These are the first pair of socks I’ve knit in over a year, and the first pair of patterned socks. It was also the first time I had to worry if I had enough yarn to finish the job. I needn’t have worried, there is plenty left.

The colour pooled a bit, but it looks a lot more severe in photos than in real life. I think the cables draw enough attention away from it to be ok, but to be honest, I just didn’t have time to do anything about it, once I started to notice it on the first sock.

If I had more time to modify the pattern, I would have tried to continue the pattern, in some form, down the back of the heel, as I find the transition from the leg to the heel a bit abrupt. Apart from that, I quite enjoyed knitting them. The knittery yarn, as always, was lovely to knit with.

I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to knit next, as a few of the projects I have lined up will be unbloggable. I guess I can always try to write about something else instead!

The descent into gift knitting season has commenced over here. A couple of birthdays are on the horizon, and I needed to whip up something quicksmart.

Turn a Square
a smidge of blue Lincraft cosy wool, a smidge of Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8ply in Raven and Anthracite and a smidge of Bendigo Woollen Mills Rustic 8ply in Graphite
3.75 and 4.5 mm dpns
Start: September 2008
Finish: September 2008

The hats are for are typical boys, so I wasn’t very adventurous with the colours, but that’s ok, because they were scraps of yarn that weren’t doing anything anyway.

Even though the recommended yarn is worsted weight, 8 ply seemed to work fine without any modification to the number of stitches cast on. I opted for a 3.75mm needle for the ribbing, as I wanted to make sure it fit snuggly around the band. I had a bit of trouble getting used to the jogless stripe technique, but once I got the hang of that, the hats were done in no time at all. In fact, I highly recommend this pattern if you need to whip up a present quickly, and the giftee is a skull cap wearer.

Because it is the gift knitting season, and I don’t know who reads this blog, I won’t be posting about projects much until they’re done and they are in the recipients’ possession. Don’t want to be ruining any surprises!

I’ve been feeling a bit ‘meh’ about the projects I’ve worked on recently. I like them all well enough, but didn’t really feel a sense of accomplishment that I usually feel. This project, however, I’m pretty pleased with.

Vital Stats:
Simplicity 3835 (a Built By Wendy pattern)
Red cotton poplin from Spotlight

Sewing has been something I’ve wanted to try for some time. I’ve made a couple of things in the past, but this is my first attempt at a garment. I didn’t find it too hard to do, even setting the sleeves in was ok. Some of the seams are a bit wonky, but the elastic in the neck and sleeves hide a multitude of sins (I think). Once it warms up a bit more, I’ll definitely wear it, and I’ll use the pattern again in the future, perhaps with some patterned fabric.

Next up, sewing wise, is a skirt. I’m not a big fan of elastic waists, and it might be too early to attempt a zip, so maybe I’ll have a crack at a wrap round skirt.