Ski Sweater Stash Bust

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Here's another wintery knit that I've been wearing all the time.  It's the classic Elizabeth Zimmerman round-yoke sweater formula with my usual hip/bust/waist shaping and an experiment with the neckline.

I wanted to really curve the fairisle yoke into a flattering frame for my face rather than allow it to settle in a horizontal line across my broad shoulders.   To achieve this effect I set aside all the front neckline stitches above the bust (just after attaching the sleeves) and worked short rows in one stitch steps to build up the back and across the arms to the recommended half-way point.  Then I picked up all my stitches, made my first set of decreases, and started the fairisle yoke.  I just made it up as I went and used scraps from my stash.  I love how it turned out!

I've been skiing in this sweater all the time and enjoying several compliments.  I love wool.  :)

P.S. Thank you, Tom, for taking these nice photos for me!

The lovely Hetty

 Before winter abandons the Northwest completely (Did she ever really arrive this year?), I'd like to show you the sweet snow queen of my lacy cardi collection.  Yes, she'll work as a frosting over spring dresses for a few more months, but she is Warm.  Hey, Alpaca.  And she's sooooft, with a halo of luxury.  I love her!

This is Andi Satterlund's pattern, Hetty, knit in the Indecita Alpaca that I import from Peru.  I especially like to knit Andi's patterns because she's in my neighborhood knitting group.  She's such a talented knitter!

 Because I adore cables in cream, I couldn't resist adding my own twist to Andi's design.  Since Hetty is knit from the top down, I worked the pattern as written until casting on stitches for the neck.  Ok... sorry, actually, I rarely follow instructions.  This is why I don't test knit.  I fudged all the shaping, roughly moving the arm hole inwards and scooping the neckline much lower. 

When I cast on for the front neckline, I always add extra stitches to accommodate my mountainous topography.   In this case, instead of simply adding repeats of the Hetty lace pattern, I used the extra stitches to incorporate a 2x2 cable down each front edge.

Hetty then got my usual shaping over the bust with short rows and side shaping.  In this construction, after the short rows, I just needed decreases below the apex to reduce the stitch count I cast on at the front neck.   I maintained the side-"seam" decreases to whittle my waist circumference with 4" negative ease.
 
 My original intention had been to only add the two vertical cables along the button bands.  I think that also would have been very lovely.  If I knit another Hetty, I'll do just that.  However, I got excited about the lovely cream cables and decided to add more.  Ah, cables!  Cables are my favorite thing to knit. 

To create the wide cabled band, I put all the body stitches on a holder except for one of the cabled panels.  Really, just leave all those stitches on their needle and grab a new needle for the little cabled panel.  Ok, really, I just did it all on one needle, but... It makes more sense to think about all the body stitches being on hold while you work the bottom band across them in the perpendicular direction.
So, anyhow.  I worked just the one cabled front panel, plus and extra stitch added for selvage, down to the desired length of the cardigan. Then I picked up stitches for the cable panel through the selvage stitch.  I believe I picked up the right number for just the cables and then increased immediately to create the 2-stitch purl columns between them.  This was to compensate for the compression from cabling.  As I worked each row, I'd K2tog (or could have been SSK depending on direction, don't recall) the last stitch together with a stitch from the body.  In this way I worked the band across all the body stitches until I reached the other front cabled panel.  In the last row of the band I decreased all the purl stitches to match the first side.  Finally, I worked that remaining front cabled panel down, using a decrease to combine the last stitch with a stitch from the band until I reached the end and bound off. 

I then picked up and knit all the ribbed trim as usual, including along the bottom of the cabled band.

What else can I say?  How about the buttons?  Choosing the buttons for my Hetty was a fun challenge.  I'd initially envisioned inconspicuous cream buttons, but all the contenders I found were too white and made my cardi look dirty in comparison.  I considered wood or metal buttons but found the effect to be too Hansel and Gretel.  I'd nearly conceded to the alternative of contrast buttons when I found The Perfect Buttons for my sweetheart.  I think they give a lovely vintage aesthetic and allow Hetty to pair with a variety of outfits. 

Delta Dress

 Here`s another simple dress in a stretchy knit. It`s the Kimono Tee again, this time with a full skirt.  This is now the easiest dress I make.  The skirt is just the width of the fabric gathered on my serger, which is a new trick I learned here.  Amazing!  This is why I really want to become a better blogger -- because I love reading other people`s blogs.  Four Square Walls is one of my favorites.  Another blogger I enjoy, Jolies Bobines, just used a similar fabric for a lovely dress.  Wow, she`s so talented! Anyhow, back to me...

 The sweater I`m wearing is the Maggie Wrap by Robyn Chachula.  My Ravelry page is here.  It`s made with the DK weight baby alpaca I import from Peru whenever I can get my friend to bring it back for me.  I love this yarn!  The wooden buttons are from Etsy. 

 Here`s the dress on its own, front and back.  Can you notice my mistake?

 I didn`t even notice that the triangles were upside down on the upper back until I saw these pictures.  Oops!  I don`t mind.  At this point in my skill-building I`m just pleased that I made a dress I can enjoy.  Slightly random point of interest -- it has inseam pockets.

 Because this fabric has less stretch, although a jersey like the last dress, the bodice turned out a bit snug and shorter as a result.  I fixed it by adding a wide elastic waist band, which I think looks great with the black fold-over elastic I used to finish the neck and armholes.  Save!

Blue Dress

 Here's another sweater and dress combo.  Did I mention that one of the reason's I've wanted to start sewing is so that I can make outfits that utilize all the sweaters I've made?  This sweater hasn't seen much use yet, though I made it about two years ago.  It's the Argo by Svetlana Volkova.  Darn it, why did I change the cute pockets??? My man convinced me that they'd be unflattering.  At least I still have pockets!  I also added the belt.  I knit it lengthwise and didn't bother calculating an intended length at all, so it's quite long.  I like it well enough tied in a bow. The yarn is a delicious wool/silk tweed that languished in my stash for far too long, Queensland Collection Kathmandu.
And here's the strip tease....

 Ta da!  Here's the dress I made.  It's blue.  It's a cotton-spandex jersey version of the Maria of Denmark Kimono Tee, cut down a little slimmer and attached at the waist to a simple straight skirt.  

 

This is a great, easy dress to have.  I've been wearing it every laundry cycle.  More, please!

Myrtle Dress

 I made a Myrtle dress from Colette Patterns.  I'm wearing it here at my friends' wedding at Wilridge vineyard in Naches Heights, WA.  We all camped out afterwards and floated the Yakima river the next day.  Great wedding!

 I loved the design immediately and bought it on the day of its release.  Cowl necks are my favorite neckline, and I love easy, knit dresses. I wanted to find a fabric with a small scale print to hide any sewing flaws for me first try.  I also wanted it to be non-directional because the skirt is a bit of a circle skirt.  This rayon jersey is perfect!  It's from JoAnn's, if you can believe it, and on sale.  How lucky!

I cut out the medium according to my measurements, but I took lots of room out of the bodice once I tried it on.  This size would be best for a woven version, but for the next knit Myrtle I'll re-print the pattern to cut a size XS.  I'll also follow the advice of some other bloggers and line to back bodice as well.  I love the way the front bodice is cut in one piece with its lining.

Here are a few very sunny pictures to show how I like to style it with a red belt and red sandals. 

Thanks for reading!  Love, Meg

Black Dress

 

 Once upon a time, about three years ago, my friend asked me if I'd like to take a sewing class with her.  We sewed plain muslin squares for a month, enjoyed it enough, and signed up for another month of plain muslin squares.  That was the beginning of this dress. 

I ended up taking classes for years -- pattern making, draping, and finally sloper --before I could start making a dress for myself.  From designing this dress to going once a week to pattern making and construction classes, this dress took me over a year.  Add all the build-up, and I'm counting three years to get here.  Ta-Da!!  This is my Black Dress, a major milestone in the curriculum at NYFA.

You can see Casy's awesome Black Dress here.  If I find links to other Black Dresses from school, I'll add them. 

My favorite feature is the back detail.  I like how the scallops continue from the V-back neckline down the row of buttons. I also think the little peeks of skin along the waist worked out well.   

 Here you can see that I have pockets.  Yes, pockets, I love you! Also, you can see the scallops across the front neck-line here.  And then there are scallops, of course, all along the waist.  I learned some things about sewing scallops.
1.  DO NOT use a fabric with any stretch at all.  As you are manipulating your piece to get all those scallops just right it will stretch and be very difficult.  This fabric has some stretch I hadn't noticed, and I had to use excessive hand basting to get it to work.

2.  Freshen up your markings right before you sew.  I drew on my sew line for the scallops and found that it fades noticeably if I waited to sew.   Scallops are fiddly enough without guessing where the line really is. 

3.  Go slowly with a tiny stitch.  I dialed my stitch length down under 2, which helps in two ways.  It made my machine go more slowly, which was easier to control.  It also made me more confident that my stitches would hold after I trimmed the seam very closely for all those curves. 

4.  Don't snip lots of little clips along the curve -- just trim it all down to almost nothing and put an extra clip into each corner.

5.  I've read since that larger scallops are easier to sew and that you should leave a little flat space between each scallop so you don't get a little wrinkle in the valleys. 

If I ever make this dress again, I will review my own advice.  I may also give the next version a scalloped hem.  Too much?  I kind of feel hat if you are going to have too many scallops, you should just go for it.  Over the top scallops, why not?


Here's a shot of the lovely beach where I took these photos on the Washington coast.  Someday I'll get a really camera and actually take nice photos.  This area was lovely, and I wish I could have captured it better.

 Sorry I'm not a pro at formatting a blog post... I wanted to arrange all these pictures better, but I cant figure it out right now.  Anyway, here are some construction details of my dress.  It's rayon lined with more rayon (bemberg).  All the edges have facings that then connect to the lining.  I added a bra-strap holder with a tube of bias.  I used snaps behind the decorative buttons both because I was nervous about making button holes and because it's easier to get off this way, what with the closure being in the back.  The lining is hemmed with the skirt, both bound with a bias strip.  Oh, and the earrings are from my recent trip to San Cristobal, Mexico. 

Thanks for reading! 

Short-Shorts

I made some short-shorts. These are the Rite of Spring Shorts from Papercut Patterns. I made them up as a wearable muslin in some gray cotton from my stash.  I just washed them, and they got even a bit shorter.  Darn it! 

 

There's the back.  The zipper rippled a bit after the fabric shrank in the wash.  It's still wearable -- if I have the courage to flaunt these shorts in public at all!  I'm very proud of inserting the invisible zipper successfully and using piping for the first time.  These were really an easy make.  There are only 4 pattern pieces, and the fit was pretty good out of the envelope.  I like the length in the back, which dips lower than the front of the legs.

 There's the front again.  I made my T-shirt, too.  It's become my favorite quick, little pattern.  It's just two pieces, front and back, from Marie of Denmark.  It's her free Kimono Tee, modified to be a bit slimmer and scooped in the back with the crossed-over detail.  I've made several of these.  It's such a great, fast basic!  It takes me about an hour total to make one.

Here, you can see the waist band of my shorts.  Flashing!  They sit well above my belly button.

 Here's the full back view.  Lucky readers!

 And here's a good pic of that flattering curved seam with the piping.  Piping!  I did it!  It's easy.

I swear these drag lines were no so bad before the shorts shrank in the wash!!  I'm going to add some flare to the front piece next time.  

Thanks for reading. :)