Cardigan

Another old draft that I hadn't posted yet - the reason why completely escapes me. Here goes:

As of December 2016:

I am improvising a cardigan from a pattern I saw in one of the Brooklyn Tweed pattern collection books.  It is a while back so I don't remember which one.  I liked the colour and general impression of the cardigan but I didn't think the actual design lines would look good on me: the back shoulder and waist area was strange. So I made my version up as I went along.

I very much liked the idea of a pattern at the front edges (don't know if the original was reversible, as in the same on the right and on the wrong side). I wanted one that could flip over, and still look good.  Even if the pattern wasn't the exact same thing on both sides.

I had seen a cabled pattern on Ravelry called 'Lucky Ribs cable cowl'. It looks pretty easy to knit but I couldn't quite figure it out myself. So I searched "the internet machine" and found it. I even found the website again: it is called Cable with Segments stitch on a website called Craft Elf.

The stitch pattern isn't complicated: it is a K2 P2 ribbing for however many rows you want (I think I went with 12 rows before the first twist row, a bit more below) - and then the pattern said to twist four stitches containing P1 K2 P1 with the next group of four stitches that are: P1 K2 P1.

The reverse of this then doesn't looks quite the same as the right side appearance. The 'central' stiches are just two knit stitches wide, whereas on the right side it is four knit stitches.

For some reason I got that "wrong".  I twisted groups of K2 P2 with K2 P2. Guess what the reverse looks like?  Exactly the same!

I lucked into a variation of this that is truly reversible. How lucky is that?

I am so pleased that by getting a part of the instructions wrong I ended up with a version that I like a lot better. So of course I'm sticking with it!

The only thing I have to watch out for is that if I twist K2 P2 with the next four stitches, then I need to mirror that at the other edge: I need to twist groups of four stitches of P2 K2 with P2 K2. Otherwise the edge doesn't look the same and one side will look really off.

I love the way this looks

This is the back: to avoid the ballooning out blouson effect and get the cardigan to mold a bit more to my swayback, I decided to cinch this in at the small of my back. We'll see how that goes.

The original had a weird tapering line at the back of the top of arms. I didn't like the way it looks and I don't understand the function. So I am going to go straight up. I will make sure to strengthen the shoulder seams so the cardigan doesn't pull the sleeves down.

My problem now is: how do I fit sleeves into armholes that have K2, P2 ribbing at their edge? You can't see them properly in the above photo because the circular needle is pulling the back down - the armholes are to the immediate right and left of the front pieces.

Should I knit them to normal dimensions (in stockinette, not in ribbing) and see where I need to place stitches to keep the ribbing 'ribbed'?  Or what?

Maybe I'm making more of a problem out of this than it'll turn out to be. I should just go for it I think.

This photo shows the cardigan body folded up so you can see the front edges better. The smooth piece on the left is the first sleeve. In stocking stitch, not ribbed.

This is how far I got. Fingers crossed that I'll pick this back up soon. I think I am making more of the sewing together of sleeves and body than it should be. I'll need to seize my courage!

(To be updated. I managed to finish this in late 2017!  I just need photos and then I can write the update)

Spiral flounces!

Oh dear, I haven't posted in too long. I have been crafting but just not blogged about it. Still, there's lots ot catch up on then!

Just to show you what I'm working on right now, i.e. a little taster:

Spiral flounces!

I already pinned the two layers together. The outside curve is not perfect in so far as the distance between them meanders in and out rather a bit but I don't care.

I reckon they're pretty good for a first attempt. And it wasn't even as difficult as I feared:

This is what spiral ruffles look like when you straighten them out:

The top part will follow the curve of the neckline to begin with, starting from the shoulder yoke:

And the bottom part will then run alongside the blouse's button band:

 

I wasn't able to straighten this out completely for the photo, but you get the idea.

This is traced off the Oxfam blouse that I bought and liked a lot, expect for its pasty light blue colour and the fact that it is rather baggy under the arms. That the bust darts didn't point in quite the right direction didn't help either - all issues I can solve in a traced off pattern!

I will re-visit the paper pattern pieces and check about the outside curve. I hadn't thought to superimpose them to check how they would look one on top of the other. Now that I think about it, that would have been the obvious course of action! But you live and you learn.

I'll adjust the pattern pieces for the event that I want to make this again in another fabric.

I must say that I really adore the shapes that this spiral ruffles make. I wonder how big you could go? Must try that.

One red top: modified!

I am so very pleased!  I altered a red top that I had for some years and I still love, love, love the colour, but the fit is much too tight over the bust and I got bored with the overall look.

My good friend Tash unwittingly gave me a great design idea.  She was going to use a scallop hem tutorial and this made me think about what other shapes you could do.

This top makes a great project to try out my shaped hem idea. If it works then great, but if it doesn't then I can either chop off the hem and straighten it back out, or just let this go.

It worked out well!

This is what I started with:

It was only when I looked that I realised that I already had to do a repair job on the top of the side seams.  I hadn't worn this in a while so I didn't recall that there were holes, - and my hand sewing wasn't all that great either:

I machine basted the hem to turn out and press (I pressed to the inside first but realised that this wouldn't work. Lucky escape!).  Then I drew the pattern on and started to v-e-r-y slowly stitch it. It wasn't as easy as I expected:

My shape is a bit overly complex.  But I like it a lot.

I then turned this inside out and prodded and poked until all the little corners and peaks looked okay.  Again not as easy as I blithely assumed:  my scissor tip method did end in a couple of frayed tread ends poking through.  I ruthlessly cut those off.  This isn't a high value item - I just want to enjoy it while it lasts.

Then I edge-stitched this to retain the shape when I wash this next time:

No idea why this is upside down

I also ripped the long sleeves out and inserts wedge shaped gussets into the top of the side seams. This way I could make the top big enough to fit at the bust, and it also had the added advantage of getting rid of those pesky holes. Win-win!

I scooped the armholes out a bit to make a pleasing shape.  That ended up being a bit of a problem: the armholes probably gaped before but this emphasises it.  So I sewed bust darts in, longer ones at first but these looked awful, then shorter ones.  I am still not over the moon with this area, but I think top is wearable.

Here it is:

I think this is a successful project that I hope to get lots of wear out of in the summer!

Thank you Tash for the inspiration!