Sarah's Delight

I've come to the conclusion that I should only knit for myself, because I suck at knitting for other people. 

I promised my great-aunt a vest, chose a pretty pattern - Sarah's Delight - and cast on for a size somewhere in between the ones in the pattern. 
My aunt wasn't here for me to test if I had the right size, so I just went with my gut. And knitted on, even when I had that little nagging feeling that it might be too small. Turns out that nagging feeling was right - the vest should have been shorter and wider. It's still wearable, there is a little strain on the buttons when she buttons it up, and the length reaches practically the half of her thighs. My aunt is of course delighted, she would never say anything bad about the vest, but for me this was a total learning experience. Namely - if you think it will be too small, it's probably too small. 

 

Oh dear...

... almost three months since my last post. Ooops.
Time for another catch up post. I promise I'll try not to make this a habit and I will post regularly. 

Stuff I made since the last post, in no logical or chronological order:

Paulie

 

 

Paulie might be the best cardigan I've ever knit. It's done in fingering weight (Ispe Padova Serenada, 50% merino, 50% acrylic) took forever, but it's light and a pleasure to wear. I love the i-cord bind off and the fact that I managed to find buttons that exactly match the color of my contrast yarn. Shawl collar included short-rows, and as always, they turned out all messy, but the bind-off managed to hide them almost completely so it's all good. 

Julissa

 

Julissa is a great pattern. I love the cables and the lace on the front. It also has cables going down the arms - super amazing design detail. Done in ONline Linie 170 Kim, merino-silk combo. I'd like to say the yarn is great, but it's not. Sure, it's very soft and springy, but it pills. So badly in fact, that my sweater already looks old. And I only wore it about 4 times. Very bummed about it. 

Mont Royal 

Hat done in sock yarn. Never occurred to me before to knit a hat with sock yarn. It's probably my favorite hat right now. 

Random other stuff

So there, now we're all caught up. I'm going back to my knitting. I've got a deadline - to knit a vest for my aunt and a cardigan for a friend before the end of March. Haven't even started yet.

Stuff I made but never posted

Whoops, seems like I've been neglecting the blog lately. I've got a good excuse - I've been to busy knitting. So let's make this a catch-up post. Here's all the stuff from the past month and a half. 

Middlefield pullover (from the book New England Knits)

Gafunkel

Bella Lana Reversible Cable Scarf

Hermione's Cable & Eyelet Hat
 

Adventures in felting: Before

And after 1.5 hrs in the washing machine on 60 C.

Manuel's Quilt

The baby quilt for a friend's little boy is finished! There are a few mistakes, a couple of weird bunching up of fabric, but all in all, I'm pretty proud of myself. I kind of want to keep it ;-) But alas it's too small for me, the finished measurements are 85 x 113 cm (34 x 45 inches).

I used six print cotton fabrics for the squares, and solid white for the sashing. The back is also cotton, one of the fabrics I used for the square. 
When choosing the fabrics, I was going for soft blue palette, boyish colors, but still something soft (and pastel - somehow when I think of baby stuff, they're always in pastel colors). I'm not so sure I managed to choose the right colors for a boy, with all the red bits it kind of looks girly. What do you think? 
 

Sewing the blocks was really fun, even tough it took a couple of test runs with scrap fabric and a lot more math than I expected. Each row has the same block, but in different fabric combinations. Since I chose really similar fabrics, their colors sort of blend together into one. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, perhaps I should have added a little more contrast? I spent at least an hour at the store trying to match up the colors. Who knew choosing a color palette would be so hard? I should probably do some research about colors and contrasts before my next fabric purchase.

The batting is thin polyester I bought in a roll. I still have some left, just enough for a little couch quilt. That's going to be my next project.

It's quilted using free motion stippling. (Check me out using the quilting lingo ;-). Way harder than it looks - thank God the front of the quilt is mostly white. I find it really hard to control my speed and to maneuver the quilt under the needle at the same time. What can I tell you, my arm/leg coordination was never really good. As a result, some of my stitches are extra long, while others are tiny. But apparently practice makes perfect, so I'm estimating by the time I make my 10th quilt, I will have mastered the stippling. Stay tuned ;-)

On a couple of places I pinched and sewed the backing fabric, creating stupid little folds of fabric. I later unpicked those stitches and tried to fix it by hand the best I could. It's far from perfect, but still way better than it looked before. Advice for this problem: Sew slowly and make sure the backing fabric doesn't wrinkle as you move the quilt under the needle. 
 

As for the time spent sewing - I managed to sew all the blocks in two days. I was on a roll. And also on vacation. Adding the sashing and basting and quilting took another two days. One more day to attach the binding and an eternity to sew it to the back by hand. Just kidding, it was more like an hour each day for four days.
 

Final verdict on quilting: fun. Can also be used as a workout program, since you have to press every seam you sew. That means pin the fabrics, sit down, sew, get up to iron, repeat in an endless loop. But the finished quilt makes you feel very accomplished, so it's worth it.

All that's left to do now is to wash the quilt (and pray that no seams come apart in the washing mashine) and to send it to the new mom! I hope she'll like it as much as I do.

Random practice pieces

I generally don't like to make practice pieces. I'm more the 'let's do it and see if it works out' kind of girl. But my latest hobby is quilting, and I wanted to make a baby quilt for a friend who's expecting. And a quilt is a pretty big thing to mess up, especially if it's a gift. So I decided it would probably be a good idea to practice on smaller pieces first. 

I dug into my fabric stash and pulled out some odd pieces and went online to find tutorials for quilt blocks. Sewed a bunch of squares before I decided I could probably make something useful. So I made a potholder and a placemat.

Pinwheel block. The points of the pinwheels should be pointier.

Star block.

I started with the center block and then pretty much just added more fabric around it, until I used up all of this blue leaves cotton. The evening star block was a lot of fun to make, even though I didn't manage to match up all my points perfectly. But this was a practice piece anyway. I quilted it 'stitch in the ditch' style. Learned that I should also probably practice sewing a straight line. 

Great Youtube tutorial for the Star block can be found here. 

A friend asked if I could knit her niece some baby booties. So I practiced that as well, since I've never knit anything baby sized before. I just need to present them to the friend and see if she likes this style before I knit the real thing.

OK, so that was it for the practice pieces, I'm going back to working on the actual baby quilt. I started the thing back in July, I'm almost finished now, just hand sewing the binding to the back of the quilt. It's taking forever. I'll probably bomb you with tons of pictures once I finish it completely. For now, just a little sneak peak: 

Meine Nähmode 1/2011

I got this magazine a year ago from a dude who sells old Burdas, Cosmopolitans and computer magazines on the street. The sewing patterns in Meine Nähmode are pretty much old Simplicity patterns with instructions translated into German. That's great, because Simplicity has really detailed instruction, which are great for beginners like me. Lots of diagrams illustrating almost every step. Super great. What's not so great are the the double sizes. Lots of patterns are listed as 36/38. Or S/M. How can a fitted blouse be 36/38? 

I finally decided to try one of the patterns. This one comes in smallest size 36, which according to the 'Maßtabelle' is pretty much my size (give or take a centimeter here or there. Mostly give.). It's a simple jersey top, the kind that's pretty much all over the stores now. 

I was very careful to cut everything out just right, and followed recommended seam allowance. But I think I either messed up the sewing, or there is no way this thing is size 36. It came out slightly too big. I think. Because the bust darts aren't exactly hitting my bust. But the material is viscose jersey, it falls nicely and the print is so loud it pretty much distracts from everything else.

Things I would have done differently : moved the darts a bit and made the neckline less wide. Omitted the pleat on the sleeves. You can't really tell from the pictures, but there's this pleat thing going on on the sleeves. It was supposed to look cute, but it kinda doesn't. 

 

 

Also, let me just say: Sewing with jersey sucks. I managed to make a very neat bias binding neckline with a twin needle, but when I tried to do the same on the sleeves, I failed. So much puckering. Eventually I went crazy, cut the whole bias tape off the sleeves and hemmed it normally with a zig-zag stitch. 

Hemming the bottom hem was a complete nightmare as well. I ended up putting in that no-sewing seam tape thing, and top-stitched with a twin needle. I'm guessing I need to work on my tension adjusting, but my Elna sewing machine only allows me to adjust the top thread tension. 

The more I sew the more I realize I have so much more to learn. Bummer. So much in fact, that I have resorted to knitting therapy. 

 

Mostly hats

So, after wanting to knit Eastlake for what seemed like ages, when I finally got the pattern book and the yarn, and started knitting, I somehow lost all interest in it. Instead I switched to hats. 

A rasta hat, for the son of this lady I work with. Done in mostly acrylic yarns of different weight, this hat gave me hell before I figured out how to make it look decent. What saved it was the fact that I increased a lot of stitches after I passed the ribbing on the brim, so the stockinette doesn't stretch that much. That way you can't really tell that it's knit with needles to large for the yarn weight. 

Next up, a DROPS hat pattern. Looked great on all the other people on Raverly, on me - no so much. The yarn is a bulky 80% wool, and even tough it's knit with 8 mm needles, the hat came out a bit stiff. When seen from the front, it makes me look like a mushroom. So I did something I never ever do. I frogged it. The yarn was just too expensive to be a hat that I wasn't ever going to wear.

Aaaaand, the crown jewel. Here and there hat, knit with Malabrigo Worsted. I must admit, I was skeptical before I ordered this yarn. Everyone on Raverly was raving about its softness, and I was thinking: How soft can it really be? The answer: Very, very, very soft. Super soft and very light. The finished hat is also very warm, it might just be my favorite hat ever.

I'm currently working on yet another hat, for my dad. I'm getting rid of some black GGH Merino Soft I have in my stash. After I finish that one, hopefully my Eastlake enthusiasm will come back long enough for me to finish it.

Sara

So, about a year ago I was in the Unitas yarn store and there was this yarn that was calling my name. Literally.

 

Unfortunately, Sara is 100% acrylic. I bought it anyway, it felt really soft to the touch. In fact, I bought two skeins. 

Yesterday I finally decided to use it and make a hat. As with all Unitas yarns, I encountered a gauge problem. The label says to use 4-4,5 mm needles, but this yarn knits too tightly in those sizes. Other yarns of similar thickness always call for at least 6 or 7 mm. 

But here's what I was thinking: The people who made the yarn put the 4-4,5 mm on the label for a reason. So I used 4 mm for the ribbing, cheated a bit and used 5 mm for the rest of the hat. It's thick and not very stretchy, but I can live with that. At least it will protect my ears from the wind. 

The pattern is Bonnie's Cable hat.

The hat itself turned out great, I love the color of this yarn, it matches my glasses. And therein lies the problem.

Sara, being the plasticky plastic that it is, has a squeaky feeling when you rub it in your hands. And when you wear it snugly against your head while also sporting plastic eyeglasses, it makes a sound. Squeak, squeak, squeak. Very annoying. 

And that is why, if you're shortsighted like me, you shouldn't wear acrylic hats. Or if you insist on wearing them, you should probably switch to contact lenses. Or,  you could just walk around without the eyeglasses, and hope you don't get hit by a car or something.

Sea of regret

Few words can express that feeling you get when, having spent hours calculating gauge, sleeve shape and size and many weeks knitting, you realize you produced
The. Worlds. Ugliest. Sweater.

One of those words definitely rhymes with SUCK. Other one could be: WHYYYYYYY? Or even HOOOOOWWWW?

But the fact is, I made a sweater and I don't like it.

The yarn I chose was so wrong for this project. Actually, I'm thinking it's wrong for any project. Marija by Unitas. Even tough I went up the recommended needle size, I still ended up with very a dense, tight sweater. It makes my boobs look enormous accentuates my tiny waist - and not in a good way. I'm pretty sure I calculated a bit of positive ease, but math was never a friend of mine. 

Why yes, that blotch is the place I added a new skein. 

Also, even tough I calculated and calculated, I managed to mess up the sleeves big time. Yup, math and I do not get along at all. The sleeve cap turned out too long, in the end I ripped back and improvised. As it very obviously shows.  

I should have just followed the pattern, used the correct yarn weight and gauge, instead of trying to make it work with this bulky crap-yarn. The pattern is Sea of jeans, and it looks great when knit in DK yarn.

A smart knitter would give up and frog, use the yarn for something else. Not me. I just keep knitting until it's done. And now I have yet another item of 'just around the house' clothing.

I should probably make a hat next, to remove the bitter feeling of a disappointingly looking sweater.

But the plan is to cast on for Eastlake. I actually got gauge this time (unless it turns out I can't count properly, or that my gauge changes when I knit something larger than a swatch – let's face it, the chances of that happening are pretty high). I really hope the Eastlake will come out nice. Because if it doesn't, I might just have a massive breakdown. 

Heart Mittens

The mittens from hell are finally done. 

It's was definitely a learning project for me. Here's what I learned: 

1. I really need a pattern when I knit stuff. Improvisation leads to frogging. 
2. Colorwork with both hands sucks. Or my English method sucks. Weird, distorted stitches. Can't really say I'll ever get better at it. 
3. Different tension produces different sized mittens. Again, yet another reason to dislike colorwork. And I really tried to maintain my tension. Damn the TENSION!!!!
4. I should probably trim my fingernails.

A simple project that was only supposed to take three day tops, and yet somehow it dragged on and I managed to turn it into a hell project, by doing every single thing wrong. 

The finished mittens don't look all that bad, but every time I look at them I just remember all the frustration and the stress they caused me. Maybe I'll learn to love them with time. 

I should probably add that the colors are not so bright in real life.

From Norway with love

A friend's birthday was a few weeks ago, and I decided to make her fingerless mittens. Had to buy new yarn for them, she loves pale blue, and I didn't have anything pale blue in my stash. So I bought one skein of Ispe Padova Serenada and used up all of it. Really, after I bound off the second glove, I only had about 30 cm of yarn left. That was cutting it kind of close. 

The pattern is Garden Trellis Mitts, I really like the mesh detail in the middle of the glove.

And since the mitts were done really fast, I went straight ahead on another project. And I used the yarn left from my Caitlin sweater. The From Norway with love hat was in my queue ever since I decided it was time to figure out colorwork.  I can't really say I figured it out, but I certainly developed the most awkward colorwork technique ever. 

I tried holding both yarns in my left hand - that only led to major tangles. I spent more time untangling the strands than actually knitting. 

Then I switched to holding my main color in my left hand, and the contrast color in my right. Knitting with both hands! How exciting! How completely and totally awkward and uncomfortable! 

I can't for the life of me figure out the whole English knitting thing. When I wrap the yarn, I drop the needle and sort of use my whole hand to make one single stitch. I hold the project with my knees so it doesn't go anywhere. It's slow. And creates weird and different tension compared to my Continental knitting of the main color parts. But I did the combo for this hat. And it turned out superfine, if you consider the disaster that it could have been. 

You can notice funky tension here and there, but only if you look real close. 

Not only does it protect my ears from the cold, but my eyes as well ;)

I just messed up the size and made it 2,5 cm too long. Ironic, since most of the hats I make barely cover my ears. But I guess I can fold the ribbing. 

Before blocking this thing threatened to crush my skull, it was that tight. It's amazing how loose it became in a nice Perwoll lukewarm bath. I blocked it on a balloon, so I think that helped too. 

All in all, I'm really satisfied. I love the rows of hearts. I kind of want to make a hat with rows of ducks next, to work a bit on my tension issues. But I think I'll CO for socks instead.

Keeping my feet warm

After catching a massive cold two weeks ago, I thought it's time to be a little more proactive about my health and make sure my feet are warm. Or maybe I just wanted to use up some of my yarn. I doubt warm feet will protect me from the people that cough and sneeze in the bus. 

First up - crochet slippers. Not the same size, because I really don't know how to count crochet stitches. Pattern is here. 

And very short socks, because I only bought one 50 g skein of Regia sock yarn. These were done two at a time on one circular needle. In retrospective, I could have made the toes a little less pointy (by casting on more stitches). 

I'm also not very satisfied with my short row heels. Holes! Holes everywhere! 

Next time I'll do some research first, to see if there's a way to avoid the holes. I'm sure there is, it seems like there's a technique for everything. 

Like the amazing Judy's magic cast on and Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off that I used on these socks. Pure magic. 

The color of the sky

Finished my gray bag. It's about the same color as the sky was up until right now. Terrible rainy days stopped me from using it - I didn't want to get it wet. But now it looks like it's drying up, so the bag deserves a photoshoot before I put it in use and inevitably spill something on it, scrape it against a wooden fence or pull a stitch.  

So here it is, in all its gray glory. 

This bag was supposed to rid my stash of Marija yarn, but alas, I still have a skein and a half left. What should I do with it? Crochet something? Maybe a pair of simple slippers?

Meanwhile, I'm continuing with my stash-busting mission: I'm knitting the Honey cowl, same yarn as my Equisetum hat. So far, my stashbusting busted 8 skeins. That is a terrible result, I thought for sure I used up more of my yarn. 

Is this a bad time to admit that I've been to Zagreb this weekend and bought a skein of Regia sock yarn?

Brainless

I almost forgot how much I enjoy making socks. Well, the first sock at least, I always seem to get a slight case of the 'second sock syndrome'. But making socks is awesome, especially that feeling you get when you pass the heel, try your sock on and it actually looks like a sock. I'm very proud of myself in those moments. 

The pattern is Brainless by Yarnissima.

 

These socks were my first ones done in actual sock yarn. And by that I mean I used yarn that says 'sock yarn' on the label. It's Müller Super Sport Strumpf, this was pretty much the only color they had left. Someone in Zagreb had raided the yarn stand in the Müller drugstore by the time I got there.

Still, this was a nice blend of neutral colors and the yarn is not hairy like some yarns tend to be, so I got a pair of nice, smooth socks.

The pattern was a bit confusing, I must have read and re-read that thing a hundred times before I finally figured out what it wants me to do. But it was worth it, I love the way these socks turned out. Especially the cables that run along the side of the toe, then part in the gusset section and turn back into a cable on the leg part.

Pretty satisfied with the short row heel as well, no holes in my wraps and turns for once.

Next project: Drops bag form Marija (Unitas yarn). I hate this yarn. It's not stretchy, it's coarse, I think the needle requirement on the label is wrong and I just really, really dislike it. 

And in addition to being a yarn snob, I think I also became a needle snob. After knitting with Knitpro needles, the other brands are just not good enough. The ones I'm using here are Prym. Not as smooth as the Knitpro and the cable is not as bendy. Combined with the awful yarn, knitting this bag is making my hands hurt. 

But at least I'm using up my stash.