Wha? Another FO?!

Apologies knit fans, I've got more sewing for you today. I'm at that stage with my Lady Kina where my stitches appear to be falling into a black hole because it just is not getting any bigger. I'm on my last ball of yarn, however, so that means it will be finished soon one way or another! This is the reason I took up sewing in the first place, sometimes knitting just moves too slowly and it's nice to have something that can be completed quickly.

That was totally the plan with this top. The pattern came in the latest Great British Sewing Bee companion book, Fashion with Fabric. I loved that it looked really simple, quick to complete, could probably be squeezed out of very little fabric and be a pretty good wardrobe staple. Well stick a tick in all those boxes because this did not disappoint at all.

This took hardly any time at all, I'd have finished it all in one day if I hadn't twisted something when I sewed the final side seam and decided to call it a day before I did anything else dumb. It was an easy fix and I'll just be extra careful not to do it again next time. Despite the pattern stating you'll need 1.5m of fabric I got quite a lot of change out of 1m. I'm not sure how wide it was though. The fabric itself was a random metre I got on sale and I've got no idea exactly what it is. It's definitely pretty synthetic judging by the way it statics itself to my skin if I wear it without another top underneath. I almost always wear a tank under everything while I'm still breastfeeding, so that really isn't a problem.

I'll definitely be making a few more of these, it takes so little fabric that I can choose something a little bit special without feeling like I'm splashing out. I really like the mullet hem, it's a nice detail that doesn't look as bonkers as I'd feared. I like that this is quite loose and floaty, I can get it on and off without opening the button so I might not bother with that next time or I could size down for a more fitted look. Next up though I'm going to attempt to make a blazer before I brave returning to a jeans muslin with some serious fit issues. And you never know, maybe I'll finish that Lady Kina sometime this century too!

 

FO: Sureau Dress

I hope that everybody had a lovely Easter weekend. We had a really great time, we saw both of our families, amassed an enormous pile of chocolate which I will be rationing out over at least the next few weeks, met my MILs new puppy and I even found some time for a bit of sewing.

 

I'd long had my eye on a few of the patterns from French designer Deer and Doe and I finally decided to drop some of my Christmas money on two of their patterns, Sureau and Belladone. Because it's still not entirely warm yet and because it looked really simple I used the long weekend to sew up a Sureau.

I honestly would totally recommend this pattern, it came together really quickly and the only problems I encountered were entirely due to my own stupidity. My sister and SIL are both learning to sew at the moment and I would happily let either of them loose on this pattern. I was a little concerned about the amount of gathering that needed to be done, I know gathering isn't at all difficult but I seem to suck at it. It was no problem though. There are a couple of areas where I've ended up with slight tucks but I decided that I don't really give a monkey's. I'm also mostly pleased with the fit, it is a little loose in the shoulders and perhaps a bit long there too. There is plenty of room in the rest of the dress, but not as noticeable as in the shoulders, so before I make another I'll have to work out whether to cut the next size down or just adjust the shoulders a little.

The fabric is a light and fairly floaty viscose, despite this being a sleeved dress I can see me wearing it well into a British summer. I will have a go at making one without sleeves before long though.

The only problem with this dress, and it is currently a bit of a big problem, is that I can't actually wear it. I put it on yesterday thinking how cool I was in my super dooper handmade dress and then it suddenly dawned on me that there was no way I'd manage to nurse in it, so I just took a few pictures and reached for my current uniform of jeans and two tops! So disappointing, but I guess I've learnt my lesson and my next big project will be a wrap dress or a shirt. Obviously I will be able to wear this soon, Lissy is 15 months now and I will be slowly weaning her before long, but it was a bit of a disappointment to not be able to wear something right away when I finished it. This may explain the fact that I have a major case of bitchface in all my photos. Apologies for that, I'm very nice really!

 

FO: Looking for Spring

Have you seen this hat?

The Christmas before last I gave my sister in law a handknitted hat, the pattern was Snowbaby and it was one of my earlier colourwork projects. I'd originally meant it for me but, much as I loved it and was proud of it it just didn't look that great on me. I've since realised that beanies don't work for me, I need a bit of slouch or my head looks weird. However, I immediately had a feeling that the hat would look awesome on Rachael so I gave it to her. I was, of course, totally correct, the hat suited her perfectly and she loved it. Because she is an awesome human being, and totally knitworthy, she not only wore it but took a photo and put it on Facebook for all to see.....and then it was never seen again. Rachael duly called all the places she thinks she could have left it, but sadly had no luck and she asked if I could knit her another. Which I have gladly done.

I wanted to make her something similar without actually knitting the same hat again. Although the weather is warming up a bit, Rachael and my brother are heading up Ben Nevis next month in aid of Monkey World (sponsorship page here if you feel compelled or want to know a bit more) so I wanted to make it reasonably warm. I settled on Looking for Spring by Jolene Mosley In two different shades of purple and I'm glad I did. This hat looks really professional and the colours are subtle but striking. I was a bit concerned because it did not fit me at all a when I tried it on. It was snug, although not too too tight but came down well over my eyes. By a total stroke of luck it fits Rachael perfectly, she says she has a long but thin head, so that worked out well! Hopefully I'll get some pictures of her modelling it up the mountain to share because that would be really cool.

 

March

We've been fairly busy here since my last post. Work has been pretty tiring, I work in an academic library and exam time is looming is its a fraught time of year for us. We've also all had a horrible cold recently too, which means snot everywhere with two toddlers in the house! There's been plenty of good stuff too. Cassie turned 3 and we had a lovely time celebrating with her.

She was so happy and excited, but also very polite and grateful when receiving her gifts. She made me very proud indeed.

Instead of a proper cake Cassie asked for tiny cakes this year, so I made these cute ice cream cone cakes and simple chocolate cupcakes too. They were yummy and Cassie's attempt to push an entire one into her face will go down in family history!

My brother also had his birthday and we had a nice day out at the zoo to celebrate. It was all of 6 degrees C so we didn't really linger too long by any of the animals, but the girls were pretty interested in what they saw so hopefully we'll visit again when it's a bit warmer.

Craft wise I've got a few irons in the fire. I've been slowly sewing away on a Sureau dress, which I hope will be done in a few days. I've been knitting a bit on my Lady Kina cardigan, but I put that aside to knit a quick hat for my SIL. That is currently swimming in the sink so that I can block it and I'll do a post all about it when it's dry. Really I should now pick up the cardigan again now but I got this big bag of yarn in the post this morning so my casting on fingers are twitching. I wonder how long I can resist?

 

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week 2015 announced

Not sure there is much more to add to the title!  Blog week has been announced and I will be taking part again for sure.  Check out this link for more information.  I always really enjoy the week and end up discovering loads more blogs to add to my reader, never a bad thing during night feeds.  Hope to see you there!

FO: Simplicity 1325

This one is a bit of a meh and I wasn't sure whether I'd bother posting about it. However, I made it and it is a successful garment including some firsts for me so I'm proud of it even though it's kinda not awesome. Also my photos suck because I wasn't really feeling motivated to show this off too much. With that out of the way, let's go!

Simplicity 1325 is one of those pattern I just had to have as soon as I saw it, just for the dress though, I probably won't make any of the other garments. After I cut out the pieces for my Moss Mini I had loads of fabric left so I cut all the pieces for this too. I went for the tunic length of the dress, which in hindsight was my first mistake. It was winter and I could see me wearing it with leggings and boots and the dress length seemed too long for that.

This was pretty straightforward to sew, the bodice is lined so no messing around with floppy facings. Getting the v neck perfect was a bit fiddly and mine isn't quite right, but next time I'll do better. The instructions for the lapped zip were a bit lacking, but as always You Tube was my friend. I'm really pleased with how the dress itself turned out and I'm keen to sew it again soon, but longer and in a smaller size.

Essentially I need to be less lazy, the perfect length for me is really halfway between the tunic and dress length. I need to trace the whole thing again one size smaller, so I'll take the time to get the skirt length perfect. I'll also line the bodice in a matching fabric instead of pink polka dots, because as careful as I was it does show through. Onwards and upwards, hopefully I'll have a really great version of this to show soon.

 

FO: Nymphalidea

I don't knit a lot of shawls because they take forever to knit and it's not worth it because I'll never wear them. Or so I tell myself every time I stick one in my queue. "Hmm, pretty" says my brain," but you know you'll never knit it". Well, take that brain, one shawl done in just over a week and it's super dooper wearable. Ha.

I know I mentioned in my last post that this was a very simple and compelling knit and that held true right til the end. I was even considering throwing in a few more repeats, just for fun (well mainly because I had a bit of yarn left really) but I have lots of projects that I'm itching to start so I didn't. I'll totally knit this again some day and I will probably make that one a bit longer and follow the instructions to make the top edge a little straighter from the extra pattern PDF that I, typically, didn't discover until I'd nearly finished. The blocking instructions are on the same PDF so I vaguely followed those. I could have got the top a little straighter, but I'm lazy and I'll mostly wear this like a scarf so no one will ever know.

Anyways, there's not much for me to add here. I loved knitting this and I love the finished item, it's so bright and cheerful how could I not?

Pattern: Nymphalidea by Melinda VerMeer

Despite having loads of projects I want to crack on with I have actually had a bit of trouble deciding what to cast on next. Really I should be getting on with my first Christmas knit, which was due on 28th Feb. I'd procrastinated about yarn for ages and kept changing my mind but I think I've settled on something from my stash now, so I will start that soon. I considered starting another shawl, Stratigraphy again by Melinda VerMeer, but unlike Nymphalidea that starts with casting on a buttload of stitches and I wasn't really in the mood for really long rows so I actually picked up my Greenwich socks instead and knit on them while I did some more procrastinating. And now I've finally finished the first one. It's only taken me since June! I wonder how long the second one will take?