Clark Knit Cardigan

I finished this Clark cardigan some time ago and finally got around to taking photos. This is pretty much a classic cardigan, although I made mine quite a bit shorter than the pattern's length. The most interesting design element is the lateral braid that separates the ribbed sections from the stockinette and also sits at the base of the standup collar. It definitely gives the cardiagan a more crisp look.

I did have one issue with the front edges. They are done with just slipped stitches so they tended to be a little loose and also a little uneven in length. I thickened and tightened the edges by crocheting some slip stitches on the inside roll of the front edges and that made the front edges much more firm and stable.

The cardigan has quite a bit of ease which I sort of like, but I think the sleeves came out a bit too wide for me. I knew they would be wide from looking at the pattern dimensions but decded to try it anyway, thinking it might be good to accomodate thicker sleeves underneath in the winter.

My yarn for this sweater is the discontinued Classic Elite Arietta, which is mostly merino with some yak. It's a very soft yarn, so this should be a nice and comfy cardigan for fall/winter.

Wide Sleeve Pullover

I knitted this cozy sweater some time ago and forgot about posting it. It's a homegrown pattern that is simply a raglan pullover done with very wide sleeves. I also wanted wide armholes to go with the wide sleeves so I just knitted the raglan increases for a longer length than usual before splitting up for the sleeves. Also, the ratio of front or back stitches to sleeve stitches is 1:1 at the start, so the raglan lines start much closer to the center of the body. The collar is knitted double the height and folded over to allow it to stand up.

I bought the yarn for this sweater at Stitches West, which happened before the pandemic shutdown. It's called Alpakka Lin and it's a great blend of linen and alpaca. The linen keeps it strong and sturdy and the alpaca makes it really warm. I actually haven't gotten a chance to wear this out yet, both because I finished it in time for a warm summer. Winter will come soon enough, and maybe by then I'll be able to go somewhere fun wearing my sweater!

Three skirts

I recently went on a sewing binge during this pandemic and made several skirts from the same pattern. The pattern is self-drafted, but it is sort of copied from a hand knitted skirt that I made back in 2008. I don't think I ever blogged about the skirt, but I did put it up on ravelry. Here's a photo from my ravelry page. I believe the yarn was something I bought at a big discount on yarn.com and it was one of the first things I knitted after picking up knitting again after many, many years. I still have the skirt and I still love wearing it, which is amazing to me. It's a cotton knit so it's not too warm, but it's still a bit heavy for the warmer days. I thought it was finally time to make a pattern for a sewn version using the knit skirt as a guide.

The sewn skirt has an elastic waistband so it needs to stretch a bit to be pulled over the hips. All of mine are made with medium weight stretch woven fabrics. Also, I decided to go with an unfinished hem which is just sewn with an overcast stitch. I had tried other ways of hemming the skirt, but the unfinished hem allows the skirt to drape more smoothly and I like that sort of slightly edgy deconstructed look. Plus, I bought a new sewing machine a few months ago and I was so happy to be able to make good use of the overcast stitch!

The first skirt shown here uses two types of stretch denim. The godet pieces have a wide-striped pattern to give it a bit of contrast. This skirt should be good for fall also since it goes well with many of my sweaters. I think it would also go well with taller boots, except that I never wear tall boots. :)

This one is made of a patterned stretch cotton sateen fabric.

This last one is also a stretch denim or denim-like fabric. I bought this fabric as well as the denim for the body of the first skirt all on some great sale at Joann for $13. Not bad for two (or almost two) skirts!

Vogue V1329

I hope everyone is staying as healthy and sane as possible during these crazy times. We in the SF Bay Area have been doing the shelter-in-place thing for five weeks now and everyone's got a case of cabin fever. We're hoping restrictions ease up even just a tiny bit in May. Knitting and sewing have been good ways to pass some of the time. I finished this nice "dressy" dress not too long ago. It's made from this great abstract-y night skyscraper print that I bought in New York at Mood Fabrics when I went there last spring for vacation. The pattern is Vogue v1329, which I've sewn a couple of times before. I've never sewn it as a color blocked dress, and this still isn't a color block dress :). It's harder to see the pleats in a photo because of the print. I love the fit of this pattern - it's fitted but the pleats give it just the right amount of ease in the mid-section. My print is a cotton sateen that has a tiny bit of lycra which makes it even more comfy. It is lined with a very thin cotton voile and I always cut my linings with a bit more ease than the dress body. I had plenty of leftover fabric, so of course I had to make a matching mask, not that I'll be wearing this ensemble out anytime soon. :)

I love this dress and I'm hoping to be able to wear it out somewhere (anywhere!) soon. It will always remind of New York because of where I bought the fabric and because of look of the skyscrapers. I love NYC and hope to be able to visit it again after all this coronavirus threat is long gone.

Thick and Thin Pullover

I hope everyone is staying healthy and maintaining their sanity in these trying times. You knitters out there probably know that knitting is a great way to past the time if you're stuck at home. I took time to finish off this thick and thin pullover that is inspired by a sweater I saw on a mannequin at Bloomingdales. My inspo sweater was all white and I think the thicker yarn was more cotton-y than mine. I used Berroco Brielle, which is an alpaca blend, for the thick yarn and a fingering weight alpaca yarn whose name I forgot for the thin yarn. The neck and armhole trim was done with the thinner yarn held double. I'm happy that holding it double also makes it look whiter because I wanted a whiter and brighter look around the neckline. This sweater has a tiny bit of positive ease and I love the fit and drape. However, it does feel a bit on the scratchy side. I'm not sure whether it's one or both of the yarns that's causing the scratchiness. I'm hoping it's not due to alpaca, since I just started a sweater in an alpaca and linen blend!

Frankenpattern sweater

I recently finished this "frankenpttern" sweater. The body of the sweater in terms of sizing and stitch counts came from the Herbsaint pattern. I knitted that pattern at the end of 2018 and it's posted here. I love that sweater and wear it quite often. This sweater also uses the same yarn, which is Batiste by Knit One Crochet Too and one of my favorite yarns. For the stitch motif, I adapted the design from the Moonflower Dolman pattern. I liked the stitch motif but not the fit or gauge of that design. I'm just as happy with this sweater as with the Herbsaint version. For warmer weather, I can wear it without the layer underneath.

Here's a view of the back, which actually has not one, but TWO errors in the stitch pattern - one on the top and one on the bottom. Maybe I should have skipped posting the photo of the back so that you wouldn't see the errors. :) The errors are both in the center and I was amazed that I never noticed them until I was almost finished with back.

Butterick B6525 Dress

I finished this dress last fall but just got around to taking a photo of it. It's Butterick B6525 and I made the single color dress version. This dress has dolman sleeves and it's loose fitting and comfy but oddly enough, it doesn't really look baggy. I think it's because the body of the dress tapers nicely to the hem. I used this great wool blend mystery fabric from Fabrix in SF. It has a backing to it and also has a slight bit of stretch. The fabric has great body and really works well for unlined dresses. I bought another piece in deep red which I'm sewing up for another dress. You can't see it that well in the photo, but I love the topstitched look of the pockets. I liked wearing this dress when I was selling at various craft fairs last winter because it's comfy and because it has pockets. This might be a nice pattern for a cozy stable sweatshirt type fabric.

Two cowls

Happy New Year everyone! I haven't posted much knitting or sewing lately, but progress is being made. It's happening a little more slowly because I've been pretty busy during the holiday season selling my 3D printed jewelry. For anyone who's interested, the website is Tiny Right Brain Designs. I've been slowly working on knitting a sweater, but while I was selling at various craft fairs, I wanted to knit something really simple that didn't require any concentration that I could work on during slow sale times. A fellow vendor recommended the Pivot Cowl from Purl Soho. It's a really simple pattern and you can use any gauge yarn as long as you adjust the number of stitches for your gauge. I made two of them - one in a bulky yarn and one in a DK weight. They're both fun to wear.

On an amusing note, I'm using a mannequin that I found for a bargain price in San Francisco at a store closeout sale. I had to haul it back on an SF muni bus, showing here:

I wanted the mannequin not so much for fitting clothing as for a way to display my necklaces for photography. I've decided to name my mannequin "Jolene". :)