Quietly working away

I have been I promise and you can tell that I knitted these jumpers a while ago because they've already started pilling! That's the problem with cashmere, but I'm prepared to put up with it for the softness and warmth.


This is Kim Hargreaves Ripple from Nectar knitted in Naturally ME a 80% wool and 20% cashmere yarn that's machine washable! Some of the yarn was recycled from my Glint (from the same book) which was gorgeous (I wore it on my wedding day!), but which was never really going to be practical for me. As you can see it's already well worn! I'm wearing it with a shirt I made from a remnant from Astratex sort of following a Sew U pattern by Wendy Mullins and my organic denim jeans made from Tessuti, pattern Vogue 8131.




Also made from a 80% wool and 20% cashmere Karabella Margrite, this is my Kim Hargreaves Still, from Thrown Together. Some of this yarn was recycled from my Louisa Harding Fitted Sweater which was too short. I'm wearing my organic denim skirt (yes, I had enough left over!) made from McCalls 5590 a fabulous easy pattern which fits perfectly. My two favourite outfits!

I'm taking a break to do lots of sewing and to finish my other knitting projects!

Winter Woollies!

An enforced weekend on the couch was very productive! Finished is Haven, started and finished is my cable hat and a matching pair of cable fingerless mittens, the perfect wear for outdoor photographers in winter!




All undone by the arrival of some Jaggerspun DK for Lousa Harding's Sabine from Nouveau.

WHAT?!

My stash of knitting yarn and material has exploded! For the first time I have three projects on the needles at once (it was four!) and quite a few garments cut-out, but not sewn up yet! Yeeks!

But first the finished objects. Sloppy Joe by Sarah Hatton from Rowan Studio 12, quite my favourite at the moment!



And then my Habu scarf...I've been wondering what to do with these yarns which are so beautiful and yet so simple...a scarf seemed the most appropriate, however knitting it on 2mm needles took forever. The scarf measures 12cm by 250cm and is lovely under jackets where a bigger scarf would be too bulky.



On the needles and more than half finished is Haven by Kim Hargreaves from Heartfelt. The yarn, Karabella Margrite Bulky was on sale from kpixie.com.



A bit of a story with this, I ordered some more Margrite DK for Still by Kim Hargreaves (from Thrown Together), but they send the wrong yarn, some charcoal Margrite Bulky. When they re-shipped the original order I managed to include the green sale yarn as well! The charcoal is going to be made into a hat and some mittens!



For both Still and Ripple, also by Kim Hargreaves from Nectar, I'm pulling out two of my finished projects. For Still, the green V-neck jumper by Louisa Harding I knitted last year which is too short in the arms and the body, and Glint by Kim Hargreaves which is just too small really, and as it is made from my favourite yarn, Naturally ME, too good to waste.



Also on the needles, but much neglected at the moment in the rush to knit winter woollies is the Bow Cardigan by Sarah Hatton from Rowan Studio 12, also being knitted in Filatura Di Crosa Superior. It is a very boring knit, and something I will wear in the warmer months. I'll come back to it after I've knitted all my jumpers, scarves and hats I guess...



Also about to be cast on, and needing to be knitted to a deadline, are a couple of jumpers for a short film being made by an friend. Because she has no budget, she's bought disgusting acrylic yarn from Spotlight, but as I'm only knitting for a 10 year old girl, it shouldn't take too long. I have to knit a jumper which can unravel from the bottom and then one that is unravelled to a certain point. I thought I'd do a provisional cast on and knit the jumpers bottom up without the bottom bands and then knit the bottom band down to aid the unravelling. At least the colour is fabulous!



Also waiting to be cast on, but probably not until Spring is this beautiful Habu non-twist cotton boucle for Clemence from Louisa Harding's new book Nouveau.



I've also just ordered some Jaggerspun Wool Silk DK to knit another pattern from that book, Sabine. And there's a jacket from Thrown Together that I have to knit for Mum...

The sewing is more pressing as I'm close to running out of clothes! Here is my stash!



A jacket and a coat, a pair of lined wool pants, three woven shirts, a knit dress and three knit tops. Whew! Then I went to the new Tessuti shop in Flinders Lane run by friend Lisa and bought more! Madness!



Organic denim for jeans and a Marnie Skillings knit originally for knickers, but I think more for a top!

Time to knuckle down!

Joy and more joy!

Easter has brought me double joy, although there was no time for sewing or knitting. My stashes of both materials and yarn are growing and I'm hoping to settle down tomorrow to start on my winter wardrobe.

The first joy was one of our (well my) wedding presents, a beautiful dress model from our friends Kate and John. Heaven!



The other joy was the result of days of hard graft by Michael and Peter in my studio. What once was green is now white. Really heaven!




There's still a little bit of work to be done, but nothing too difficult.

Here are some work in progress images, first on Good Friday as we prepared the room,



and the later in the day as Michael and Peter repaired all the cracks and gaps.





And then on Easter Sunday just before we started to paint after a day spent in a cloud of dust on Saturday.




And finally another joy! A Melbourne shop for Tessuti, that most fabulous of fabric suppliers to be managed by a lovely friend of mine. Watch out for the opening sometime around mid-May! More joy!Easter has brought me double joy, although there was no time for sewing or knitting. My stashes of both materials and yarn are growing and I'm hoping to settle down tomorrow to start on my winter wardrobe.

You have some good days and you have some bad days...

First the good days. I've nearly mastered the shirt pattern in Wendy Mullin's Built by U and these are the two shirts I've done so far. For both shirts the material is from the remnant table at Astratex, around $20 each from memory.



I cut a large for this one and it was too big, so I took in the waist darts all around.



For this one I cut a medium, but fiddled with the button facings, so the front is a bit tight. I also did the collar without a stand and a little fixed cuff, both made from the white selvedge of the material, loosely based on Burdastyle's Emily Variation.

I'm happy with both of them, and hopefully I get it totally right the third time around!

On the other hand

I've just finished labouring over my square neck cardigan from Rowan Studio 11. The yarn is lovely and soft, but tedious to knit with as it splits very easily. I put it on after I finished it and it was beautiful, so I washed it and blocked it. Now it has grown at least two sizes and falls off my shoulders and is quite immodest at the front!



I'm so unhappy with it. I'm tempted just to throw it out, but I put so much work into it. I even knitted a size too small as I suspected the yarn would grow, but not that much! If I'd wanted a shapeless tent, I could have sewn a much prettier shapeless tent that didn't fall off my shoulders or sag at the front! I've damped it down and blocked it again, but I think it's just growing!

Shopping Bags

I've been madly crocheting shopping bags from my Habu Fique (which is ruining my hands and nails and I'm really happy to see the end of it). I've made five Anyone for oranges? Market bags by Sharon Maher





and one small Elisa's Nest Tote from the Purl Bee.



The trim for all the bags was some left over Jo Sharp DK Cotton. An excellent stash-busting exercise yielding some lovely Christmas presents! I'm going to knit another Elisa's Nest Tote in my left over bright orange Jaeger Aqua just for me.

Finished!

Finally my Jasmine (from Kim Hargreaves' Nectar) is finished and how much do I love it!


The yarn is Habu Tsumugi A-1 2/17 which has knitted up with a loose tweediness perfect for summer. It was worth knitting on 2mm and 2.25mm needles!

Also finished is some of my sewing. Finally I've nailed the pants pattern, first my 'jeans' from Built by U by Wendy Mullins.


I've been trying not to live in them, but they are so comfortable. The material is from Astratex in Richmond and has a bit of stretch which is why they look a little saggy baggy. I had enough left over for an A-line skirt also from Built by U. I've tried not to go over the top with my decorative stitching.


Also finished are my new work pants, made from a pattern I drafted from the Built by U pants with a facing at the waist rather than a waistband. The material is by Hugo Boss and is again from Astratex.


I'm thrilled with these, they are comfortable and light and I've managed to get them to fit snugly in the small of my back so that I don't have to worry when I'm crouched over working in front of people.

I've got an enormous pile of material to sew...four shirts using Built by U (which is great as the book shows you how to make lots of variations), some knit tops from Built by U Home Stretch (I've already made a few and they're all in the wash, that's how much I wear them!),


and a dress from Vogue. That's all before Christmas I hope!

On the needles is the square necked cardigan from Rowan Studio Issue 11 using up my tatty balls of RYC Bamboo Soft