Cotton Cardigan nearly done

What a busy crafty weekend! I made the fine-tuned fitting changes for the mom-of-groom dress, and made the lining, attaching it to the dress. It is now ready for final fitting and hemline adjustment. I also made a new dress for another friend. A lovely royal blue stretch knit, made with a cleverly designed pattern that includes asymetric shaping, and lining. This one is now ready for first fittings tomorrow. I also made a stunning jacket for myself. The pattern is a Marcy Tilton Vogue pattern and features custom embellishments that make it one of a kind! You can check out more about the sewing on my other blog.

The cotton cardigan has been on the backburner, and I have ended the days with a few hours of relaxing knitting. I have now the back, two fronts and half of the first sleeve done. I really love this cotton yarn. It is one of the few I have found that does not split. Hopefully it does not sag too much as well. The swatch blocked nicely, but of course it is not big enough to get a real feel for the sag-potential. I will report again after finished and blocked and worn for a bit!

Felting Party (workshop)

Last night we had the first (of many I hope) felting workshops. A gang met with me and we made felted balls, and beads, and bangles, and bags and flowers, and a shawl. Lots of fun and a bit of wine, and lots of hot soapy water....



Check out more at my sewing blog HERE.

Green Sweater and Green Bird

Last weekend we bird-sat for our daughter and her husband. Cosmo was so much fun, alternating between yelling at us for leaving him alone, and running up our arms to play on our shoulders. He like my husband best, because he is the tallest tree in the house, and eagerly hopped from my shoulder to his as he walked by. I had some fun playing soccer with him, as he likes to push a small ball around with his beak and feet, and watch as I picked it up from the floor after he knocked it over the edge....

The newest project is a cotton cardigan, hip long and a bit loose, in an eyelet stripe pattern that is very easy. The yarn is Elann's Sonata in tarragon.

I also have a new felted item to show..

a little felted bag, done in one piece with a resist in the center. After felting, but before fulling (shrinking) the handles were cut and the upper flaps were created. One flap was turned inside the bag and needle felted to make a pocket inside, the other flap closes the bag. A snap and pin were sewn on and the handles were stitched into a tube shape.

I think I will be making more of these. It is so cute and fun to make.

Nuno Felt Coat

Take some of this........

Then layer the silk with the batting and the roving, then embellish with yarns and other rovings, then rub and roll for hours and hours, then let dry and make another table full of this fabric, then roll for hours, then let it dry, then make one more full piece and roll for hours, then let IT dry, then cut the pattern pieces, and sew together, and needle felt the last details...

and you will end up with this....
totally worth the week of work!

Green Market Bag

OK, so it's not actually green. Kind of yellow and blue with orange... but it is green in spirit, as you can stuff it into your purse and tell the checkout gal that you DO NOT need a bag! This one is made using leftover ribbon yarn, but any sturdy cotton or blend that knits up as worsted weight or chunky weight should work just fine.
Yarn: about 360 yards of of worsted weight or light chunky cotton or blend.
Gauge: not important here. 

Needles, 6mm (US 9), straights to start, then double points, then short circulars when large enough to use them!

Bottom of bag: on straight needles cast on 25 stitches. Knit every row (garter stitch) for 24 rows. Change to double points, knit across the row, then pick up 15 stitches down the left side of the bottom rectangle, pick up 25 stitches across the other long side of the bottom, and finish with pick up 15 across the final side of the rectangle (you have completed a circle around the four edges of the garter stitch bottom of the bag. Place a marker to show start of the row. Working around and around, begin the open lace pattern like this.... Row one: knit every stitch. Row two: [yarn over, knit 2 together] repeat until end of the row. Repeat these two rows, knitting the yarn over like a stitch on the row one round.

Continue to do this pattern until the bag is as big as you want... mine is 12 inches from the start of the lace pattern (gently stretched).

Finish: Garter stitch for 8 rows: (row 1: knit around, row 2: purl around)..

Cast off all stitches.

Handles, cast on 6 stitches, work in garter stitch for 14 inches, cast off. Make two handles and sew in place evenly spaced around the market bag.

Go shopping... you have earned it!

Happy Mardi Gras

happy mardi gras!

I have lots of this stuff.....

And I will turn it into an amazing one-of-a-kind COAT! Just wait and see!

Meanwhile here I am with my Mardi Gras beads rock'n'rolling my nuno-felt.....

eat lots of pancakes and through a few beads today!

Cashmere Hoody

Cashmere Hoody

I made this pullover with 100% cashmere that I found on eBay. I do not know the manufacturer, it was on industrial cones, so you won’t be able to duplicate the sweater, but working to gauge you can use your own DK yarn for this loose, casual sweater. I won’t tease you by saying that it feels incredible (oh, I guess I just did) but at least you can see that it looks pretty cool.... Yarn: DK weight that knits to gauge **** Check!  Approximately 1700 yards.  (14 balls of the yarn I used at 130 yard per 50 grams)
Needles, 3.5 mm (US 5), 4.0 mm (US 6) & Circular 4.0mm for finishing the hood
Gauge 17 sts and 26 rows = 4 inches in stocking stitch. *** you could knit the whole thing in stocking stitch if you are not comfortable in the eyelet stripe pattern*** gauge is the same either way!***
Finished measurements: chest 42 inches, length 29 inches, sleeves ¾ length.

Seed Stitch Pattern: Row 1: [knit one, purl one] repeat across all stitches. Row 2: purl the knits and knit the purls for the whole row.

Eyelet Stripe Pattern: Rows 1 – 11 : stocking stitch (knit the right side and purl the wrong side)
Row 12: ****Knit all stitches
Row 13: k3, [k1, yarn over, knit 2 together, k3] repeat until less than 3 remain... work any leftover stitches in knit (not every row will work out as an even amount of stitches! No worries!)
Row 14: purl all
Row 15: [ knit 2 together, yarn over, k4] repeat until a few remain, knit the rest.
Row 16: purl
Row 17: repeat row 13
Row 18:**** knit all stitches
Repeat rows 1 – 18 for the whole eyelet stripe pattern, paying attention to the *** rows, these are reversed to make a purl ridge to outline the eyelet section.


Back: With smaller needles, cast on 98 sts. Work in seed stitch pattern for 2 inches.
Change to larger needles, and begin the eyelet stripe pattern. Work this pattern over the 98 stitches until 19 inches has been done from the cast on edge.
Cast off 4 stitches at the beginning of next 2 rows. Continue in pattern until whole piece measures 29 inches, cast off all stitches.

Front: Work the same as the back until 23 inches have been done.
Begin placket neck: Right side facing, work 41 stitches, attach another ball of yarn, cast off center 8 stitches, and work the rest of the row. Working both sides at once, continue in pattern until piece measures 28 inches. For neck shaping: cast off 7 stitches at the neck edge of each half, then decrease one stitch at each neck edge 4 times. Work even until piece measures 29 inches, and cast off the shoulders.

Sleeves: With smaller needles, cast on 40 stitches and work 2 inches of seed stitch. Change to larger needles and work in the eyelet stripe pattern. Increase one stitch each side every fourth row until a maximum of 80 stitches. Work even until desired length of sleeve (mine is ¾) – about 13 inches. Cast off all stitches.

Sew shoulder seams. With circular needles, pick up 56 stitches evenly spaced around the neckline (leaving the placket opening for later). Place a marker at the center of these stitches. Work in plain old stocking stitch back and forth for 1.5 inches. Increase one stitch on each side of the marker every 6 rows, 9 times. Work even until hood measures 12 inches. Bind off all stitches and seam the top of hood.

Hood finish: Using circular needle, pick up 18 stitches along right side placket, 50 along right edge of hood opening (to the top of hood), 50 down the other side, and 18 to the bottom of the left placket opening. Work these stitches in seed stitch pattern, for 10 rows, then bind off all stitches. Overlap the seed stitch band in the placket opening (at the bottom edge) and stitch into place to finish.

Sew the sleeves into the armhole, and sew the side and under-sleeve seams.

Quick Projects

I have been working on a couple of quick knits, while waiting for some new cotton yarn to come from Elann. This one is a fast knit market bag.... all the rage with the shops no longer supplying plastic. I wanted one that takes up little space in my purse, but will hold lots of groceries (or yarn, fabric and roving!)

I also made a thin wool cap from sock yarn that will fit under a ski helmet. I have decided you are NOT too old to learn to ski, and have been out three times this winter with my patient husband, but after the last outing, he bought me a helmet. You see, I spend a lot of time falling down the slopes instead of swishing down the slopes!

So now I owe this blog three patterns! I am knitting too fast to keep up with the posts! I promise to get to them tomorrow and early next week!