Stripey contiguous jacket

Of course, I had to try this new top-down construction. Top-down or bottom-up raglans so far are the seamless methods I mostly use although those set certain limitations to designs. So I was keen to find another way to knit seamlessly. I really liked contiguous method, in spite of the first not-so-successful jacket I made using this method. I should have done some more serious calculations before starting, especially regarding sleeve increases. As always, urge to start project was stronger than fear to face mistakes afterwards.

Ah, and this project is made with recycled yarn. I frogged my wool blend mittens, hat and scarf set to reuse the yarn. I realized I wouldn't have ever worn those again and colours were just right for my little miss wardrobe.

Traditional run-away shot at the end of pictures ;)

Version of Herbivore

My version of Stephen West's Herbivore shawl. Used Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga! sock yarn scraps, total about 100g.

Red Berry Cardigan

This cardigan is knit with twisted knit stitches in most part of the back and throughout the sleeves. A bit tricky on wrong side rows, but easy in sleeves which are knitted in the round. Construction is top down raglan with a bit of modifications in shoulders.

Cardigan is completely seamless. Thanks to a lot of ribbing used and cables it is really stretchy and would fit a child for a long time, several seasons for sure. In the pictures it is modelled by almost 3 year old and nearly 5 year old. Fits well both just have to adjust sleeve length.

Used Bendigo Woolen Mills 100% wool Classic yarn, shade Red Berry, a bit less than 2 balls. I start to like Classic yarn despite it is crepe not plied construction I prefer. It is soft yet durable and machine washable. Good for kids garments.

Crocheted spring hat

I tried to crochet spring hat using yarn that has been in my stash for almost a year now, Ornaghi Filati 100% cotton Malaga . I never know how to use multi colour yarn, especially variegated or self striping with short colour step.

Independently growing stash

Well, not totally independently if have to confess honestly. I have had a lot of fun browsing stores and buying yarn for Not So Sure What To Make need. Fills up the corner of my bedroom just nicely :)

Summer comes and I am sure I will eventually find use of all the beautiful cotton in pastel shades and white and olive green linen. Dark eggplant and creamy merino wool in the back might have to wait for a season change.

Vacation time

I haven't been online for quite a while. Not much knitting either. Here come some pictures of the places where I have spent my time.

Sea breeze summer cardigan

Small summer short sleeved cardigan. I knitted it sideways in short rows with organic cotton.

Cranberry red cabled vest

I just love this pattern. I like to knit it and I like the fabric it creates. Star stitch pattern itself is my recent times favourite and cables are always nice to knit and look at.

I still plan to make pattern notes and put together charts for cables. Haven't got anywhere further than some chart designing at the moment. I won't have time to deal with it for another couple of weeks but I really hope to make .pdf then and put it available here.

Hair bow in pink

By request I made this hair bow. Did crocheted square and tied with crochet chain and joined at the back on three strands of crocheted chains. Pink and girly is all that matters to a 2 year old.

Obsession with details and re-knitting

I hate details and love them at the same time. It's unbelievable how much time I am able to spend on such simple things as sewing in zipper or choosing, selecting, arranging and sewing buttons. I like to do that but I wish I could take those things easier.

Another issue is re-knitting. While knitting I continuously improve the piece in my head. Often those thoughts about ways how this or that could have been done better become impossible to ignore. The only option then is to frog back and knit from the start (or middle if I'm lucky).

I ripped back about 15cm of the dress knitted in the round (5 yr size) only because I thought ssk would look nicer than k2tog tbl. That part looks as this now instead of zig zag k2tog tbl would create.

I often knit and sort of design as I go along. Sometimes (if not always) I have knitted pretty large piece until I realized I had to do something different (usually at the very beginning). For this top I knitted, ripped back and re-knitted again cabled yoke part several times until got cable allocation and proportions as I wanted.

I knitted hood for this cardigan once and was not satisfied how increases in side parts turned out. At first I had done them symmetrically and in the centre of hood side sections. Ripped back and started again with increase lines allocated closer to the outer part on the each side of the hood. Then to finish hood with sideways knitted edge I had to do it three times until it looked smooth enough. Too many slipped and knitted together stitches and too many techniques to choose from. I guess I could have knitted another cardigan in the time I devoted to hood improvements :)