Wavy Line Sweater by Sarah Dallas
Around 225g Grignasco Bambi in total, using light blue, chocolate brown and cream
3.75mm and 4.5mm needles

Start: April 2011
Finish: March 2012
Modifications: added about half a repeat (20 rows) to the body, adjusted stripes on sleeves to match
Ravelled: here

Huzzah, Wavy Line is finished and I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I like it! It doesn’t feel like it’s been a WIP for nearly a year, but Ravelry says I started it in April 2011, so it must be so. It was one of those projects that I worked on in dribs and drabs; projects that use four colours aren’t particularly conducive to commute knitting so it had to stay at home for the most part.

Over the last few years, I’ve managed to collect quite a few different colours of Grignasco Bambi. This pattern was a good way to put a dent in the collection. It took a bit of mixing and matching to come up with a combination of four colours that weren’t too loud, but I think I succeeded.

One of the drawbacks of using four colours in a pattern is all the ends it generates. I know I made work for myself by only carrying the two main colours, light blue and chocolate brown, up the side, but I felt that carrying all four colours could affect the tension on one side and make it a bit bulky. These are only some of the ends that needed to be woven in:

I didn’t keep a count of how many ends there were in total and I’m glad I didn’t. If I’d known how many ends needed to be woven in before I started, it’d probably still be unfinished. Sometimes it’s best just not to know.

The fit is a bit different to what I expected but I’m still happy with it. As I was knitting it up, I imagined wearing it with pencil skirts, but now that it’s finished and gone through the process of being tried on with other things from my wardrobe, I think it looks better with A-line and fuller skirts. The fit around the armpits is a little funny because of the unusual construction of the sleeves and armscyes. There is only a little bit of shaping at the very top of the sleeve and all armhole stitches are cast off in one lot, rather than gradually. This construction made setting the sleeves really easy, but the fit was probably not as good as a more traditional set in sleeve.

If you are considering knitting this pattern, I highly recommend checking out this great post comparing the two patterns. It gives a really good rundown of the pros and cons of each pattern. For what it’s worth, I found the Sarah Dallas Vintage Knits version of this pattern pretty clear and easy to follow. It had a pretty big drawback in that the pattern only came in one size, but luckily it was the right size for me. It wasn’t the most enjoyable project I’ve worked on, but I’m pretty happy with the result and I can move onto another WIP that’s been kicking around for far too long…

This year’s Labour Day long weekend snuck up on me. Instead of willing time to speed up so the long weekend was upon us, I only realised on Friday that Monday was a public holiday. Surprise! Even with such short notice, I was able to quickly assemble a list of things to get done over the three days. The list only contained two items and both of them knitterly; to finish off my (unblogged) Wavy Line Sweater/Allouette, and to get to the armhole decreases on the front of my Jan Sweater. Now that the calendar indicates that Autumn is here, I really need to get a wriggle on and finish the two short sleeved tops that have been on my needles for a little while now.

I only managed to cross off one of the items on my list, which was to get to the armhole decreases on my Jan Sweater. The back is already done, so that should mean that I’m not too far away from finishing it. It’s been a fun knit thus far and expect (nay, demand) it’ll remain fun right up until it’s finished. It’s easy enough to work on while watching Mad Men, but the periodic yarn overs make it interesting.

Even though I didn’t end up finishing my Wavy Line Sweater/Allouette, I’m still pretty happy with how it is coming along. One side is completely seamed up, and I’m about half way through the other side. In theory, this means it’s even closer to completion than the Jan Sweater. I can’t say I’m enjoying the process with this project like I am with Jan; it’s been on the needles since April last year and I think when it is done, I’ll just feel relieved. It’s a bit of a funny pattern in that I originally saw it in Sarah Dallas’ Vintage Knits as ‘Wavy Line Sweater’, but then subsequently saw a slightly modified version, also by Sarah Dallas, in Rowan’s Vintage Knits. Even though I’ve been working on the Wavy Line version for nearly a year, I’m still not sure how I feel about a very similar design by the same designer in two different publications. It’s one thing for a designer to have favourite design elements which they use in a number of different patterns, but in my mind this skates rather close to recycling the pattern.

There were a couple of little distractions which meant I didn’t get Wavy Line/Allouette finished on the weekend and all of them revolve around the weather. It was perfect timing really, three lovely sunny (but not hot) days for the long weekend. You can never be sure if this is the warm weather’s last hurrah for this year, so I made sure I spent at least a little bit of time outside. Instead of seaming up my knitting, I did a wee bit of gardening:

Went for a little pootle on one of my bikes:

And started a ginger beer plant. I’ll spare you a photo of the yeast/sugar/ginger/water mix. It’s not particularly attractive (or at least, less attractive than toilet paper rolls and potting mix) and I don’t want to scare the yeast into dormancy by taking photos of it. Making ginger beer really should have been something I did, or started, during Spring or Summer, but when your mind says ‘make ginger beer’, sometimes you’ve just got to go with it.

I often wonder whether there’s a use by date for writing about ‘new’ FOs. For example, the vest mentioned in this post was finished in mid January. Now that it’s March, it feels strange to be writing about the vest, particularly when there was nothing stopping me from writing about it back in January (unlike Manu, where it was a gift that I needed to keep quiet about). I guess the moral of the story is to blog more often so I don’t have to ponder these things. Anyway, here’s a new/not really that old FO:

Tummy Warmer by Angela Tong
175ish grams Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury 8ply, pink
3.75mm and 4.5mm needles

Start: January 2012
Finish: January 2012
Ravelled: here

In January a friend of mine had a baby girl. To celebrate this occasion, I wanted to knit a little something for the baby. Although I have knit a couple of things for babies in the past, I’m not really attuned to the patterns that are out there, so when I started looking at baby patterns this time round, the selection was slightly overwhelming. After some deliberation, I finally settled on Tummy Warmer from Petite Purls. As an aside, if you’re in the market for babies’ and/or kids’ knitting patterns, I recommend checking out Petite Purls, there’s some cute stuff there.

Knitting in pink feels a bit foreign to me. To be honest, knitting anything that isn’t grey, blue, red or brown feels a bit strange. What is probably even more strange is the fact that I had pink yarn in my stash. It was left over from my ‘selling knits at craft markets’ experiment, and even though it was a heavier weight than what was called for in the pattern, I thought it would work well as a nice warm vest. As it turns out, I made the 3-6 month size with no alterations to the stitch or row count, and the vest came out with more or less the same measurements as it would have been using a 5 ply. It’s definitely too big for her now, but I’m hoping that when the consistently cooler weather comes, it’ll be the right size.

The honeycomb stitch used for the body of the vest makes it thick and warm, and adds a nice bit of texture. However, I found it a pretty tedious to work up. The yarn and needle combination just didn’t seem to suit the stitch pattern; whenever I had to knit into the front of the stitch, I needed at least two attempts to get the needle through cleanly. I suspect that the relatively unpointy needle, the looser twist on the yarn and the tight twisted stitch created a perfect split stitch storm. If I hadn’t been so good at splitting stitches, I think it would have been an even quicker knit than it was.

My favourite part of the vest are the buttons. They’re not necessarily the world’s prettiest buttons, but they do suit the vest well. The thing that makes them my favourite part is the fact I accidentally happened across them during the Pransell Declutterathon 2012™. I have no idea when or why I bought them, but I had exactly the number of buttons I needed, they were exactly the size I needed and they matched the vest. Serendipity.

It’s really quite a cute little vest, and these photos don’t do it justice (my age old excuse for not taking good photos of something). I find taking photos of baby items quite difficult, as I don’t have a small person to model them for me, and I’m not a fan of using dolls or soft toys as models. I could possibly go down the Posie Gets Cozy route and use a little person’s clothes hanger… Any suggestions would be gratefully received, as I highly doubt this will be the last time I knit an item of clothing for a baby.

If you are looking for a little vest to make for a little person, it’s worth considering this pattern. It’s quick to knit up and the honeycomb stitch means that it’s not boring (although I do suggest avoiding non-pointy needles and yarn that splits easily). It’s been a little while since finishing it, but from what I remember the pattern is easy to follow. It’s a winner.

Over the Christmas break, I borrowed my sister’s Manu and added pockets to it. It was one of those projects that wasn’t particularly involved, but it was one where I got to a certain point and thought ‘oh, I can’t be bothered with this right now’ and left it for a week (or two or three).

The sticking point was seaming the sides of the pocket flaps to the cardigan. It wasn’t a difficult job, I just couldn’t be bothered dealing with the rigmarole of getting the pockets lined up. Once I got my motivation back, otherwise known as ‘I’m going to see my sister in a couple of days so I’d better get a move on’, it didn’t take long to do at all.

My opinion of the pockets is not relevant, given it’s my sister’s cardigan, but I’m going to give it anyway. Sadly, I think they muck up the line of the cardigan, and detract from its nice simple lines and details. When I have my hands in the pockets it doesn’t look too bad:

But the pockets sans hands don’t really appeal to me at all.

A lot of this has to to with the yarn I used. Pear Tree 8ply is 100% wool and doesn’t have much drape. A drapey yarn is recommended in the pattern. While the more ‘structured’ yarn, for want of a better adjective, worked well for the cardigan itself, it just doesn’t suit the pockets that well. It bulges where a yarn with more drape wouldn’t.

I am a bit disappointed, though not surprised, by the outcome. However, my Mum reports that she often sees my sister wearing it, so if the recipient is happy, then I am happy. Mostly.

What I should be doing:

• Writing posts about the 1.5 FOs completed in the most recent unplanned blog break.
• Writing a post about how impressed I am with Cleckheaton’s Country Vintage Blends 8ply, which features colourways from a 1965 shade card. I think it’s a great idea and hope it’ll spawn more ‘vintage blend’ colourways from them.
• Finishing one toy turtle, one capelet and one top, all of which are nearly finished.

What I have been doing:

• Working on my Jan Sweater. It’s going pretty well, given it’s knit up in 4ply yarn.
• Re-watching Mad Men, starting from season one, episode one.
• Writing lazy dot point blog posts so I can get back to watching Mad Men and knitting Jan.

For the Mad Men fans out there, this post (featuring spoiler alerts for season four) about Mad Men fashion predictions will whet your appetite for season five, which starts at the end of March. Also, I’d completely forgotten how little Sally Draper was when the show started. So little!

The first post for the year is about my first finished object for 2012. It also happens to be Matt’s first pair of hand knitted socks and the first Nancy Bush sock pattern that I’ve finished.

Oak Ribbed Socks by Nancy Bush, from Knitting Vintage Socks
MadelineTosh Tosh Sock, Twig
2.5mm dpns
Modifications: Lengthened the feet

Start: November 2011
Finish: January 2012
Ravelled: here

So far in my knitting career my Mum, Dad, sister have all received socks made by my hands. Although Matt didn’t let on, I suspected that he was feeling a bit left out. These socks were part of his birthday present for this year, and I think they were a success.

There was a bit of trial and error involved in making these socks. Initially I cast on the Yarrow Rib Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks using 2.75mm dpns because that was the size I had and the swatch was to gauge. The fabric was looking a bit loose, so I had some concerns that they wouldn’t wear that well. After seeking advice from Twitter and SnB, they were frogged and I started again using smaller needles and the Oak Ribbed Sock pattern. As it happened there was a bit of frogging going on at that SnB meet up, as a friend was frogging a pair of socks that were knit up on 2.5mm Knitpro dpns, and the resulting fabric was so firm it could have stopped bullets. Bulletproof socks were apparently not the goal, so the 2.5mm dpns were kindly leant to me.

This was my first opportunity to try Knitpro/Knit Picks/whatever they’re called at the moment needles. Although there’s little risk of metal dpns breaking, I’ve been put off buying or trying Knitpro needles because of the broken circulars I’ve seen or heard about. After knitting one of the socks, I went out and bought myself a set of metal 2.5mm dpns. They feel nice and solid in my hands, have a decent point and are a good weight for me. I’m unlikely to move away from my circular needles of choice, Addi turbos, but I’d definitely consider buying more Knitpro metal dpns in the future.

Tosh Sock is a great yarn to work with, and although it softened up a lot after blocking, I think it’ll wear really well. The colour way, twig, caused me a few headaches though. It’s lovely in the skein, but even fairly basic patterns kept getting lost in the mix of light and dark brown. Before making these socks, I started a Shaelyn Shawl and swatched for A Thousand Splendid Suns, but it just wasn’t working out. Even with this sock pattern there’s a bit of pooling, but I think it works well enough and Matt is happy. Before casting these socks on I bought another skein of MadTosh Sock but in Graphite. There seems to be less variegation in that colour way so hopefully finding a pattern to go with the yarn will be easier.

I’m very slow on the Nancy Bush sock pattern uptake, so the next paragraph or so will be nothing groundbreaking for anyone else who has used a knitting pattern by Nancy Bush. I remember borrowing Knitting Vintage Socks from the library not long after it was released and was impressed not just by the patterns, but by the sections at the front about the different kinds of heel and toe. Even though Oak Ribbed Socks are just ribbed socks, but little things like the rib ‘seam’ to the bottom of the heel, the welsh heel and the three point star toe made it a fun knit.

These were meant to be finished in time for Matt’s birthday. They were finished the night of his birthday so I was kind of on time and also kind of late. Irrespective of whether they were technically on time, they’re done, he seems to like them, and I don’t think they’ll be the last pair of hand knit socks he’ll get.

It was a funny old year this year, knitting-wise. It felt like I had my knitting needles in my hands at every spare moment, and yet I have only seven finished objects to my name this year. I’m trying to stay rational about it, reminding myself that it’s not a race and at that I’m making things that I’m happy with, but I can’t deny that I’m disappointed that I got so little finished. My productivity deficiency seems to have largely come from misjudging the amount of yarn I had, and pattern/yarn mismatches. This is otherwise known as being a duffer.

Even though I’m having a bit of a sulk about the year’s worth of finished objects, what I did actually finish turned out pretty well. This part of the recap always reminds me of the end of some movies or TV shows, where there’s a still shot of a character (sometimes sepia-toned) and a caption about where they are now…

Golden Hands Vest

Gaptastic Cowl

Lyttelton

Manu

Cornsilk Pullover

The Delicious Knee Socks and Kalajokis declined to be interviewed, still cross they didn’t get a fair showing when they were debuted during the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show weekend.

I’ve been planning for 2012 for the last few weeks. The pattern queue has been set, the stash has been rifled through. All systems are go, and I’m really looking forward to having a productive year with minimal dufferism. What are your crafting plans for 2012?

I’m in a slight state of disbelief that we’ve hit Christmas time already. However, how ever you spend your December holidays, I hope you have a nice, fun and/or relaxing break!

This year’s desiccated coconut stashdown ended with a whimper recently when I realised I had exhausted my stockpile and needed to dash to the supermarket to replenish stocks. However, my pursuit for recipes that use desiccated coconut is unrelenting. A bit like a cop, gone off the rails, who pursues justice at any cost. I’ll be making a pitch for a new TV show, The Desiccated Coconut Avenger, to TV execs in the near future.

This is the latest recipe involving desiccated coconut that I’ve been using. It’s from Green Gourmet Giraffe, a vegetarian cooking blog I’ve only just discovered. Sometimes I can be a bit slow on the blog uptake.

Apricot Delight (recipe adapted from here)

125g whole dried apricots, roughly chopped (see note)
125g dried apricot halves, finely chopped (see note)
0.75 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons of honey
1.5 cups desiccated coconut
extra coconut for coating (optional)

Place the chopped whole dried apricots, boiling water and honey in a small saucepan. Let the apricots soak for around an hour. Bring the mixture to the boil and gently simmer, uncovered, for around 10 minutes, or until the apricots have a jam-like consistency.

Blend the mixture up into a thick paste. It was too thick for my poor old blender to handle when I first made it, so I used a stick mixer the second time round. It worked like a charm. Add the desiccated coconut and the chopped apricot halves to the paste and mix well.

Press the mixture into lined small cake tin. The original recipe calls for a 15cm x 15cm cake tin, which I didn’t have. I used a small loaf tin and it worked out fine. Refrigerate overnight.

If the mixture makes it through the night, cut it up into squares or bars. Toss in extra coconut if you so desire, but I found it was fine without the extra coconut.

Note: It’s not necessary to use two different types of apricots. However, the first time I made this recipe I used dried apricot halves and found it pretty tart. Using the milder-flavoured whole dried apricots as the base nicely complements the pieces of the ‘tarter’ dried apricot halves throughout the mixture.

The two times I’ve made this recipe, it’s barely made it through the overnight refrigeration (i.e. it’s delicious). The very short ingredient list appeals a lot, and it’s really easy to make. It reminds me a lot of Apricot Sun Bars which I used to love when I was little.

Even writing this post makes me want to make a batch. Sadly, these TV pitches won’t write themselves…

Thanks everyone for your lovely comments about the Cornsilk Pullover. I’m happy to report that it’s been worn a couple of times since, and given the weather doesn’t know what it wants to do (yes yes, I know, I live in Melbourne), I’ll probably be able to wear it a few times more this year.

The week I finished my jumper was a pretty exciting week, knitting-wise, for the Pransell household. In addition to the jumper, a copy of A Stitch In Time Volume 2 landed on my doorstep. This wasn’t an accidental landing; I’d preordered it some time ago and had been eagerly awaiting its arrival.

It’s a really impressive-looking tome, with its hard fabric cover, dust cover and pages of matte, heavy paper. Volume 2 looks how I imagined Volume 1 would be if thicker paper were used for the pages.

Like the first volume, the patterns are split into chapters based on the decade the pattern was from. Also like the first volume, there are quite a few things I would knit. Some of my picks include this top (which I have yarn set aside for):

and this ruffled top, with some modifications:

I personally wouldn’t make it with the bows. They are a nice feature of the top but just not my style. Instead, I’d make it monochromatic; the body in a dark grey or charcoal and the ruffled stripes in a lighter grey.

I only have two slight niggles about the book. The first one relates to the photography. The photography in general is really nice, but there are a couple of instances where the models’ poses or other bits of clothing get in the way of seeing all of the garment. As much as I think it could make for a nice coffee table book, it is ultimately a book of knitting patterns so the photos need to show how the garment will look when it’s finished. The other niggle, which is even more slight, is that the book itself looks a lot different to Volume 1. As they’re part of a set, it would be nice to have a version of Volume 1 that has the same physical specifications as the second volume.

Another nice feature of this book is the techniques section at the start. It goes beyond the basics that you usually see in knitting books which I thought was a nice change.

It’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but it’s been two and a half years since I wrote a wee review of the first volume, and I’ve not knit anything out of it. There are still a lot of things I’d like to make from that volume, I just have been terrible at getting round to it. In theory it won’t take me that long to get around to knitting something from Volume 2, because I’ve already got yarn lined up for a project.

If you have volume one of A Stitch In Time, I recommend getting Volume 2. If you like vintage knitting patterns, either to look at or to knit, I also recommend getting Volume 2. It’s a beautiful book with an impressive collection of vintage patterns. A real treasure.