Tag: cardigans (page 2 of 3)

Nieces and Nephews

Nieces and Nephews
Last weekend I managed to finish off two small knitting projects that had been languishing. The first is a matinee jacket for my yet-to-born niece (assuming that she does, in fact, turn out to be a girl). The pattern is from Debbie Bliss’s Baby Cashmerino book, and I substituted Sirdar Snuggly DK for the yarn (going up to a 4mm needle). I just need to get a bit of ribbon to go around the waist.

Matinee Coat   Pirate Vest

The second item is a vest for my three-week-old nephew Isaiah. I spoke to my brother on the phone the day of the birth, and I said I wanted to make something for the baby. “Do you think you guys will want to dress him traditionally?” I asked. “Or would it be okay if I did something more modern, like something with a skull on it?” “I think that would be pretty bad ass!” my brother said. Sweet. This vest is based on the “Pirate Jumper” in Zoe Mellor’s Adorable Knits for Tiny Tots. I just used random 8ply wool from my stash. I think it’s pretty appropriate, given that the baby’s dad works at a Harley Davidson shop!

As always, more details are over at Ravelry. (I can’t wait until the site’s open and I can directly link to stuff there…)

Baby Surprise Jacket

Baby Surprise Jacket
I’ve been slacking off on the first week of the Southern Summer of Socks, mostly because of all the babies y’all keep having! As previously mentioned, my cousin Tony and his wife Molly just welcomed their daughter, Bailey, into the world. As this is the first GIRL I’ve had the opportunity to knit for, I jumped at the chance to pull out my pink yarn. I was gifted some glorious hot pink Manos del Uruguay Cotton Stria by my Secret Pal last June, and I decided it was just begging to become a Baby Surprise Jacket. I had just enough to squeak it out. I also found the most perfect big pink button in my button box:

Baby Surprise Jacket Baby Surprise Jacket Baby Surprise Jacket

It’s all ready to send off, along with some pink Tim Tams! (Thanks to Amy for the suggestion.)

Baby Yoda Costume

Baby Yoda Costume
It’s finished! I’ve got everything ready to send off to Alexander this week. After felting the hat last week, I then soaked the ears in watered-down PVA glue and propped them up on newspaper to dry. They took a lot longer than I expected (nearly four days), but they look great. I sorta pinched and pulled them to make them a little more curly and Yoda-looking. The pattern is here. I knitted it out of Naturally Alpine 14ply on big needles, and I had plenty left over from a single hank. I’m just making a bit of i-cord now to tie under his chin if necessary.

Felted Baby Yoda Hat Baby Yoda Sweater Baby Yoda Socks

The second piece of the costume is the Baby Yoda Sweater, which I knitted on 4mm needles out of some completely random yarn from my stash. (The two sleeves are actually different yarns, but they’re so close you can’t tell. I figure Yoda probably wove his himself, so any variation is probably a good thing.) There’s an i-cord tie on the inside as well as the outside.

And the socks are just the pièce de résistance, aren’t they? I started knitting just plain socks out of the leftover wool, thinking Alexander would need something to keep his feet warm, when the Snook pondered aloud, “You know what you should do? Put three toes on the end!” BRILLIANT. So there’s no pattern here; I just made them up as I went.

I can’t wait til Kristen posts a picture of him wearing it!

Violet’s Cardy and GVH Socks

Finished Objects Report!
Violet's Cardigan and BootiesAs I mentioned before, my friend Brigita had a baby (named Violet!) and I wanted to make her something. So last week I cracked open Debbie Bliss’s Baby Cashmerino 2 and cast on for the “Cardigan with Moss Stitch Edging.” It’s a very quick little knit, especially when you modify it to the knit the body on a circular up to the armholes. I had three balls of Baby Cashmerino in colour #340010, but when I finished I found I had at least half a ball left over. That means booties! These are from a pattern I had in my Ravelry queue called “Saartje’s Bootees.” (It’s a free download on that site.) Again, very quick to knit. And aren’t the little wooden buttons just perfect? We actually had them at the shop and I couldn’t resist. I’ll be sending this off to Brigita today… I hope Violet likes it!

GVH Conwy SocksNext up are my “GVH Conwy Socks.” Conwy is a pattern from Knitting on the Road, and while I still like the look of it, it wasn’t that fun to knit. The little twisting cables just get really, really boring. I used Colinette Jitterbug in the Velvet Damson colourway on 2.75mm needles. And as you will remember, I ran short. I couldn’t bring myself to frog them back though, so I used some leftover Sirdar Town & Country to finish the toes… Hence the “GVH” (i.e. “Graft Versus Host”). They’re a little bit Frankenstein, aren’t they? I still love the Jitterbug colour though, and I’m definitely going to wear them.

It’s finished…

And with eighteen minutes to spare, the Argyle Kitty Kat Cardigan is finished!

Later: Pattern notes have been added after the jump.All done!

Okay, now that she’s been safely turned in at the Easter Show, I thought I’d better record some pattern notes. This cardigan was knit out of Eki Riva Superbaby Alpaca. I probably used about six balls all together. I started by taking the measurements of a fitted hoodie that I already had. Then I knitted up a tension swatch and used my gauge to figure out about how many stitches around this thing was going to be. Since I’m still pretty inexperienced with shaping, I hunted through all my pattern books to find a garment with a similar gauge and fit. I found Dotty by Kim Hargreaves from Rowan 28. It wasn’t exactly perfect – it’s entirely in moss stitch, for one thing, and it’s a v-neck – but it was close enough.

Then there’s the matter of the argyle colourwork. I started by generating some knitter’s graph paper and then transferring it into Photoshop. Then I began scouring the Internet for argyle cardigans to get ideas. My first impulse was to do a “skull-gyle” like this one, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I’d rather be unique. So the Snook and I brainstormed other designs. I thought about the mudflap girl silhouette, but she wasn’t the right sort of shape. We finally found a neat retro looking cat head while browsing at Faster, Pussycat. I set to work graphing it out and playing with colours. I then sent it ’round to Amy, Bex, and Fee for advice. Finally, I broke out my trusty 3.25mm circular and cast on.

The knitting of the body was relatively straightforward, and the only tricky bit was positioning my graph so that it didn’t get eaten up by the neck or shoulder shaping. I used moss stitch for the bands, opting to ignore the buttonhole issue completely for the moment. I finished the bodice eight days later. The shoulders were joined and I picked up around the neck for a moss stitch collar band. Then came the magical puffy sleeve epiphany. I spent a day or two conferring with Bex (who’s a much more experienced seamstress) and scribbling pages of calculations. Basically, I measured around my upper arm, multiplied by my gauge, and was pleased to see it lined up with the number of stitches in the “Dotty” sleeves right before the armpit. That meant I could use the sleeve cap shaping from Dotty. I worked out that the cap was 65 rows high, which meant that all my added stitches for puffiness would have to be decreased over that distance. So I planned, and then I knitted, and then I looked it over. It seemed to be working! After knitting both sleeves, I began work on the embroidery. The white lines (along with the kitty eyes and noses) were done with duplicate stitch, while the eye outlines and whiskers were done in backstitch (with the wool split in half to be thinner). I’m really happy with how cute it turned out!

So then I just had to put it all together. I sewed in the sleeves and started thinking about buttons. With time running out, I went with a simple small black plastic shank button that I hoped wouldn’t compete with everything else. I considered using Elizabeth Zimmerman’s “afterthought buttonhole” technique, but I literally had less than two hours and the idea of snipping holes at that point just wasn’t happening. So I decided to see if I could simply enlarge a gap between two stitches enough to get my button through. It fit, but only just. So I again split my wool down to 2ply and used it to overcast and enlarge each hole. I only put five buttons down the front, and I think if I had to do it again (with more time) I’d have put more. I doubt I’ll wear it fully buttoned much anyway. And that’s it!

As for publishing, I’m really not sure if it’s worthwhile given that so much of it was inspired by other garments. It’s practically a “collage” of other pieces, really! But I’m happy with how it turned out and it’ll be interesting to see what the judges make of it…

Cabled Jacket of Doom – FINISHED

Finished jacketCabled Jacket of Doom… FINISHED
It’s done. It’s really and truly done. After an aborted attempt at sewing in the zipper last weekend, I hit upon the idea of sewing down some ribbon along the inside of each front to hide the cut edges and provide a more stable foundation for the zipper. So I got four meters of ribbon from the shop (which turned out to be the perfect amount) and got to work. Unfortunately the Cursed Nature of this project meant that first I had to do things completely wrong. I sewed down one ribbon with the sewing machine (without pinning), then sewed down the other (after pinning). I’m sure some of you can see the problem already. I tried it on and groaned. The side I hadn’t pinned had stretched at least an inch or so in the process of sewing, so it was all ripply and crap-looking. Why the hell didn’t I think to measure and make sure the two pieces of ribbon were the same size? Because of the Curse, obviously. So I ripped out the ripply side and then wet it down for the night, hoping it would spring back into shape. (It did.) The next day I measured out the ribbon, pinned it down, and sewed it into place. It looked good! I then used the rest of the ribbon to face all the seams inside the garment: around the arms, the shoulders, and the hood/neck steeks. Lastly, I sewed in the goddamn zipper. It’s done! This sucker took me exactly SEVEN MONTHS to finish. I learned so much along the way! I learned how Debbie Bliss patterns can SUCK; I learned how photos that don’t show vital parts of the garment – like the collar – are a big ol’ WARNING SIGN; I learned that steeking saves you knitting time but doesn’t necessarily cut down on finishing. And you know what? After all that, the bastards will probably reject it for the Show. That’d be just my luck.Didn’t Snookums do a good job of taking Interweave-esque photos?

Flurry of Finishing

I had meant to make this weekend a Flurry of Finishing (with regards to my knitting) and I guess I was moderately successful.

Argosy Colts Vest Jacket Steek

Okay, first up is Argosy, which is a scarf I started a couple weeks ago as a way to use up the leftover Noro Silk Garden from the Cabled Jacket of Doom. It’s a fun little pattern to knit and it grows pretty quickly. I was nearing the end of it at the TC SnB Thursday night when Kate asked if anyone had any scrap wool to use as a stitch holder. I gave her about a foot-long piece. Would you believe that twenty-four hours later I ran short by EXACTLY THAT AMOUNT? D’oh! Rather than frogging back and making it shorter, I laboriously trimmed down all the tails from my joins and then spit-felted them all together. Yes, I spit in my own hand and rubbed the yarn in it til it joined. This scarf is riddled with my very own DNA. Hence, I’m not giving it as a gift to anyone. It’s pretty though, right?

Next is my entry in the perpetual Best Sister Ever Sweepstakes. My little brother Joey loves the Indianapolis Colts (who just won the Superbowl). So as a surprise, I made him this hooded vest. The pattern is from this great new book and I drew the intarsia graph for the logo and name myself. (It’s here if anyone wants it.) Very cute, huh? I knitted it out of Heirloom Easycare 8ply. Mom predicts he’s absolutely going to love it.

And lastly… I’m thinking of renaming it the Zombie Cabled Jacket That Just WILL NOT DIE. I had planned to finish the damn thing once and for all, but nothing with this project is easy. I did manage to get it steeked though. What’s more, I actually had one whole side of the zipper sewn in and the other one halfway done before ripping it off completely. The little cut ends were poking out, you see. It bothered me. I can’t get them to lie down nicely so I can trap them beneath the zipper. I’m thinking now of possibly ironing on some sort of interfacing just to keep them smooth. Any thoughts?

Rogue – Really and Truly Finished

RogueRogue – Really and Truly Finished
I know I said that Rogue was finished last May, but the sad truth is that it has taken me EIGHT MONTHS to work up the courage to put a zipper in her. What can I say? I had the Zipper Fear. But no more! She’s all done. The backstitching is a little wonky on one side (my handsewing was a bit rusty) and it probably zips a little higher than I’d like, but on the plus side I did a really good job of hiding the teeth when it’s zipped. I’m calling it a win. (For my fellow zipper virgins, this site was particularly useful – especially the tip about basting the edges together first.) Now I just need to steek the Cabled Jacket of Doom and put the zipper in her…

Another Baby Surprise

Baby Surprise JacketAnother Baby Surprise
My sister is, like, officially a week overdue now, and I’m getting nervous. I haven’t had any word from the family this weekend so presumably we’re all just playing the waiting game. (UNLESS SHE’S HAD IT AND THEY’VE ALL FORGOTTEN ABOUT ME. Sometimes I get expat-paranoia.) Anyway, I used my day off today to put the finishing touches on the baby outfit I made her (buttons on the jacket and elastic in the pants) and to finish off another of the Baby Surprise Jackets. This one’s in Zara, which is an 8ply and therefore makes the whole thing a little bigger. Hopefully my little nephew will be able to wear this one through the winter! I also changed the button band to be moss stitch instead of garter stitch, mostly just because I was bored. (Pattern note: I just managed to squeeze this out of two balls of the Zara.)

Baby Outfit

Baby OutfitFinished Object: Baby Outfit
You know, I’d worry more about posting this and ruining the surprise for my sister if I didn’t already know that she hates surprises. (We’re talking about a girl who always wanted to open her Christmas presents the night before.) So she can see it now and then have the fun of opening it when it gets to her in a few weeks! The whole outfit is knitted out of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, which is just really lovely to knit with. The jacket is Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Baby Surprise Jacket (the same one I knit for Rohan a few weeks back), with tri-colour Fibonacci stripes. The pants are from Patons’ Quick and Easy Baby Knits. (I used the 4ply pattern but went up to the 3-month size since my tension is always tight.) The hat is the “Umbilical Cord Hat” from Stitch and Bitch. Now I just need to put buttons on the jacket and run some elastic through the waist of the pants. I’d debated on doing booties as well (and even did a trial run of the “sandals” from the Baby Cashmerino book), but I’m almost out of wool. And if this kid takes after my sister at all, he’s gonna be barefoot until he goes to school anyway. 🙂