Handmakers Factory

I put my hand up to be a guest blogger on Handmakers Factory and I've just had my first post published. So exciting! You can find it here. And there will be more to come!

Tea and Cables

Teacup from Louisa Harding's Queen of Hearts knitted in Filatura di Crosa Golden Line Superior. This yarn is a beautiful mix of cashmere and silk and held double knits up in this pattern really quickly and is so soft and light (the whole garment without buttons weighs less than 85 grams!

The pattern is very easy and I think I might make a few more, one in orange, one in grey and one in bright blue...is that wrong?

Yes, cotton stripe knit top (Sew U Home Stretch boat neck top by Wendy Mullins) and blue stretch denim skirt (Vogue 8604) are from Tessuti.

Teva Durham's Asymmetrical Cable Pullover looked a daunting project, but was really quite easy. I don't like reverse stocking stitch which the pattern specified for the whole garment, so I knitted regular stocking stitch, leaving one purl either side of each cable. The yarn is a silk/cotton mix called Birch also by Teva Durham; it's great to wear and washes beautifully in the machine. After knitting this I ordered more from kpixie.com for another Louisa Harding project.

Wednesday

Yes, it is and so is this Louisa Harding vest from Blue Monday in Willow Tweed. Sadly it makes me itch, so I'll be giving it away, but it was a really interesting, fun and easy knitting project!

Getting what you knit to fit

Mrs Burris asked me to explain how I adjusted the fit of the two Louisa Harding garments from my last post for my broad shoulders, so here goes...

I have broad shoulders and largish upper arms from work and although I have a bust, my shoulder measurement is greater than my bust, but about the same as my hips. I used to think I was a pear shape (based on my bust/hip ratio), but nothing recommended for a pear shaped figure looked any good on me. When I started sewing my own clothes, I had to pay more attention to fit than I did on my knits (which are pretty forgiving) and I worked out how to adjust for my figure which is somewhere between a hourglass, an inverted triangle and a column. I'm also tall for my size with long arms, a shortish waist and a very broad rib cage (now you know why I make my own clothes), so I always have to fiddle with the length as well as the width.

It's the same as adjusting the fit of a multi-sized sewing pattern, but there is one caveat, you have to have the correct tension/gauge for the pattern, or know how your tension/gauge varies from the pattern, so that you can make the calculations. I generally think there's often a bit too much ease in knitting patterns, and that fitted garments look better on me than loose, but you also need to be aware of how much give - or not - your yarn has.

I use my tension/gauge to measure length, so if I'm knitting a DK with a tension/gauge of 30 rows to 10 cm and I want to knit an arm scythe (arm hole) that is 20 cm I knit 60 rows from the first cast off row.

And I always knit from the bottom up and generally in pieces as I think the seams give you structure (just as in sewing) and stop the garment from twisting too much. I use mattress stitch to sew up all my seams; with practise it's easy and gives a great finish.

Louisa Harding's Breaker (from Ondine)

I take my actual bust size (91cm) as the size I use for the pattern. Working from the pattern schematic diagram I start with the finished size that is the closest to my bust size plus the amount of ease I want (not necessarily what the designer recommends). In the case of Breaker I chose a UK size 10 which is just 1cm smaller than my bust.

I add length to the body (below the underarm) as required. The schematic can help you here also. Deduct the arm scythe measurement for your size from the overall length to calculate the length under the arm and work out where it's going to finish on your body. For my body, finishing somewhere around my hip bone is ideal. If, like me, you need the extra length below your waist (I have a short waist), start your waist shaping later, if you have a long waist, start your waist shaping as directed by the pattern, but put extra rows between the increases.

Once I get to the underarm decreases I reduce the amount I cast off and decrease to blend the garment up a size or two to get the width across the shoulders I need. For Breaker I cast off 3 and then 3 stitches and then did the number of decreases to give me a width across for the next size, UK size 12. I then followed the pattern direction for that size from there, knitting my arm scythe to 20 cm (to fit my upper arms without cutting off the circulation).

NB. If you have a large bust you won't be able to do this as you need the extra material under the arms for your bust. My suggestion would be to do more increases from the waist so that you arrive at the underarm at the larger size.

You need to adjust your sleeve shaping accordingly. Because of my long arms (36 cm comes just over my elbows) I knit extra rows (12 instead of 10) between my sleeve increases to make the sleeves longer (if you have short arms, just knit fewer rows between increases) and if I think the sleeve is going to be tight (work out the width of the sleeve using the pattern tension and the number of stitches after all the increases have been worked) I often add an increase or two (I didn't need to do that for Breaker). I then do the same decreases I did at the underarm on the body and knit the sleeve cap following the pattern for the size that is closest to the the number of stitches I have (usually the largest) to fit my larger sleeve scythe.

For Louisa Harding's Reef (also from Ondine), which is a raglan sleeved as opposed to set in sleeves, I started with a UK size 12, lengthened the body by three rib repeats before the colour change, cast off two less stitches under the arm on each piece and rewrote the decreases to one decrease row every third row, nine times, plus two rows. That brought me to a UK size 14-16 which was great up my shoulders, but no good for the fit around my neck. So I knitted two more repeats of the rib so that it didn't fall of my shoulders, changing to the smaller needles half way through and decreasing twice (k3, p2tog, k3 p2togtbl) to reduce the number of stitches back closer to a UK size 12.

Looking at Reef in the photos, it could have been tighter (as in the pattern photographs), but as 85% of the yarn is cotton which has little give, I didn't want it to be too restricting under the arms, and it's super comfy as it is (I'm wearing it now).

Mrs Burris, I hope this helps...there are details of the alterations I make to most of the patterns I knit on Ravely.

Weekend Knitting

I went away last weekend and I might have overdone casting on new projects, without finishing anything!

Clockwise from left: Reef from Ondine, Tuesday from Blue Monday, Breaker from Ondine, and the sleeves of Mandarin from Chinoiserie, all by Louisa Harding and all in Adorn Yarns Cotton Cashmere, except Tuesday which is in Adorn Yarns Silky Merino DK. Now I just have to finish them!

Skipper!

Well, it's been a while and I have been knitting, but I've also been doing plenty of unpulling. This yarn started off as Kim Hargreaves' Patsy from Touching Elegance, and I had knitted quite a bit of it, but I just wasn't happy with knit, so I unpulled it. And then I saw the new Louisa Harding books and I fell in love again with her patterns and bought a pile from the UK. The first project is Skipper from Ondine, which took quite a bit of tweeking to get the fit right and hence more unpulling. The body to the underarms is a size 10, the fit across the front and back (the same) is a size 12 and the length of the arm hole is a size 14. I also lengthened the body and the sleeves until they felt right for me. Here's the outcome:

The three big cable up the front and back (I reversed mine to that they were on my right hand side) are very dramatic (and easy) while showing off the beautiful yarn from the Wool Baa (Adorn DK wool/silk mix). 

And for those of you that care that's what a canon 135mm f2L lens at f2 and closest focussing distance (0.9m) looks like. New favourite lens...thanks Roo!

Next project on the needles is Louisa Harding's Mandarin from Chinoiserie, another beautiful pattern and one I've been thinking about knitting for a while. As the body is knitted in one piece to the underarm, the bottom fair isle pattern is knitted in one piece, that's 217 odd stitches of fair isle per row and I'm managing one row a day! Lucky is a cotton cardigan, I should have it finished by summer! The yarn is from Wool Baa, this time DK Cotton Cashmere and taken with that new lens again...

Finding the time...

...to finish both sewing and knitting projects is difficult at present, but here are two I've managed to finish and photograph. First is my favourite summer top (just as it's long sleeved partners was my favourite winter top). The knit is from Tessuti and the pattern is from Wendy Mullins Sew U Home Stretch, called Get the Scoop, cut on the bias (not matching stripes) and without elastic in the neck and waist. I just used the twin needle to finish the neck, sleeves and bottom. Easy!

Then I finally managed to finish Kim Hargreaves' Haze from Misty, a generous boat neck jumper with big raglan sleeves and a lovely trim bottom band. Knitted in Adorn Yarns' Cotton Cashmere DK, it's a cuddly jumper for chilly autumn evenings. 

Catching up

I have been working away on my knitting and sewing, but just not finding the time to photograph what I've been doing (which is especially poor of me as a photographer). Oh, well...

It's been a freezing wet winter in Melbourne and so I had to divert some of my energies to making a warm jumper I could wear immediately. Enter Kim Hargreaves' Briar (sweater length) from Winter Blooms. I LOVE this jumper, hence the already worn look. Knitted in Adorn Yarns Silky Cashmerino 4ply in Aquamarine held double. I dropped my needles to 4mm and 4.5mm to get the gauge made no other changes. While it might have been sensible to add to the wide neckline, it is fabulous just the way it is!

Also finished is my second Ripple from Kim Hargreaves' Nectar. This is knitted in Adorn Yarns Cotton Cashmere DK in Malt. I've worn this quite a bit and washed it twice now and it's becoming softer and softer and warmer and warmer.

Buttons from Buttonmania of course!

I'm still plugging away at my purple Fay, but at least I've finished the front and the back now! Also just about finished is Kim Hargreaves' Embrace from Misty, which is an easy knit with some really interesting short row shaping on the hem. This time I'm using Adorn Yarns Silky Merino DK in Ash.

Finally!

Frankie (from Kim Hargreaves' Breeze) is finished. The yarn is Jaggerspun Zephyr DK wool silk. It's warm, cosy in fact, and soft. Any it washed well in my machine on the gentle hand wash cycle. Perfect!

The buttons are vintage from Buttonmania again (thank you Kate!). The colour is Pewter, a slightly mauvey- warm silver.

Now, I can concentrate (and I mean concentrate) on Fay, also by Kim Hargreaves from Precious. Another Jaggerspun Zephyr project, this time in the lace weight held double.

I love...

two women I've never met! Wendy Mullin and Kim Hargreaves.

(and the borrowed Canon 17mm TSE lens, but that's another story...)

First Kim Hargreaves. Although it has taken me FOREVER to finish 'Lilac' (in coral) from Breeze, finally I have. And I love it. 

The yarn is Rowan 4ply cotton from Wool Baa, the buttons are from Buttonmania in the Hamilton Building. And despite ripping it back several times to get the tension right, I'm glad I didn't give up.

My Lilac teams beautifully with the second dress I have made from Wendy Mullin's Built by Wendy Dresses (not counting the three muslins - one for each basic dress style - I whipped up first). It's a variation of the 'Valentine Dress' in Etro cotton from Tessuti. I added inseam pockets.

The first dress I made was a variation of 'Overall Improvement' in an Armani cotton.

Neither dress is anywhere near perfect (although I do love them)as I'd already cut the material to make other things before I bought the book...but I've managed to muddle through and learnt a lot in the process. 

The button is from my grandmother's button jar.

I'm I huge Wendy fan, this is the third book I've bought and used. Although she doesn't give you lots of information on how to make her patterns fit you, she does show you how to turn her basic patterns into something that's just for you. Here I am in a Wendy shirt and my new summer jeans...

Again the material is from Tessuti for both the shirt and jeans. (The shoes are from Preston Zly.)

Nearly every seam is topstitched, either in contrast of matching thread which I find makes the seams on this stretch denim hold together better. I'm really happy with them all. Thanks Wendy and Kim!


Finally, I've been buying up more of my favourite yarn...Jaggerspun Zephyr...more Kim on the way!

And here it is!

Julia has sent me through a still from her short film for which I knitted all those red jumpers last year. The girl unravels the jumpers to sew up a kelp coat.

Happy Birthday Roxanne!

I've always wanted to be a Jo Sharp fan, and I've knitted a number of her patterns and used a number of her yarns, but always been just a little bit disappointed. Not anymore. I just love the new design aesthetic in Jo Sharp Knit Issue 7, although I knew none of them would really suit me. For Roxanne, however, they are perfect and while looking for yarn to knit a fabulous tunic from Louisa Harding's Queen of Hearts – another fabulous book full of patterns which don't suit me but do suit her – Roxanne saw the store garment in Wool Baa and just loved it. I was thrilled to have a go at putting it together.

It looks hard, but it's not. There is really only a day or so (or a week of evenings if you don't have the Australian Open Finals to watch on TV) in the knitting and the pieces are woven together with the icords and not stitched. The hard part was getting the colour scheme right. So I knitted the back ribbing four times in different colour combinations and tried many different colours together in Wool Baa to get the palette right. It needs to be subtle, I think, softly toned and dark colours would not show up the different textures as well. That being said, I really don't think you need to buy 10 different balls of yarn, especially as you only use a few meters of some. In the end I settled on six yarns and used most of nearly all of them. The effect is fabulous and Roxanne just loved it. Happy Birthday!

MIA

Well nearly, but not quite...weddings and teaching have kept me busy, but I've still be knitting away...and at least now I have a corner to sew in and keep all my clutter under control.

I have been working away, both sewing and knitting. First of all the knitting. Finished is Kim Hargreaves's Jen from Precious in Rowan Cotton Glace. It was a quick knit despite making a mistake on each piece and having to pull out most of my work a number of times. A lovely summer cardi.

And the buttons are from Wool Baa in Albert Park. Next is Frankie from Kim Hargreave's Breeze. I'm knitting it in JaggerSpun Wool Silk DK and I've run out. I'll have to put it on hold for a while as I wait to order more yarn. It has knitted up beautifully and the colour is fantastic.

Also on the needles and likely to get finished more quickly is Kim Hargreave's Lilac, also from Breeze. I've pulled out the lace edging so many times as I keep making mistakes...but three quarters of the way there now.

And now to the sewing. The top is Simplicity 2934 View C with the capped sleeves from View D in a cotton knit from Tessuti. It is a fabulous shirt, a really easy pattern with some nice touches. It does run on the large size especially in length. I made another one in a Gucci Viscose knit. The skirt is my third version of McCall's 5590 View C with the pockets from View A. This remnant, again from Tessuti has quite a bit of stretch, so it's very comfy to wear.

This little shirt is made from a piece of remnant cotton from Clegs...about 1.2 metres. The pattern is McCall's 5884 View A. This pattern runs really large and taking my lead from some comments on Pattern Review, I cut out a 10 and took two inches out of the back. Also I cut the tie down the selvedge rather than on the bias. Works a treat. I've cut out two more (you can see the material piled up next to my sewing machine in the first picture). One is a white spotted lawn and the other is a blue and coral spotted silk, again both from Tessuti. Maybe before Christmas?

Another remnant, from Tessuti, made it into a cute little shirt with some easy simple detail. The pattern is from Wendy Mullin's Sew U, a medium with bust darts but not the waist shaping. I cut the button facings with the fronts by extending the pattern by the width of the facing less seam allowances and folded the facing outwards to make a placket style detail down the fronts as well as on the sleeve (all suggestions she makes in the book). Perfect with my denim skirt!

I have perfected is tee-shirt...made here from a cotton print from Astratex from Wendy Mullins Sew U Home Stretch. The sizes in this book run really large, so I've made my own pattern for the back and the front and cut down the neck to a shape of my liking. I make the neck band by cutting a piece that is 80 percent of the length of the neck opening and stretching it slightly when sewing it in place.

Hanging out after washing are my work pants...I finally bit the bullet and bought a pants pattern maker pattern, Simplicity 2700 and cut out a curvy 14 as a muslin with inch seams. For this pair (my work pants, that's why they're drying on the line not on me) made in a stretch cotton, I let the seam allowances to 5/8ths of an inch between just above the knee and the waist to give me room to move. The next pair I'm going to make are out of denim with a little stretch, so I'll increase the seam allowance again to make them more fitted. I'll also change the pockets to make them look more jean-like.

I've a very long list of sewing to keep me going, hopefully I'll get a bit done after Christmas!