Simple warmer weather sweater

The weather is cooler now, but I did get a chance to wear this earlier in the month when it was quite warm. This is a no-pattern sweater that is just a simple shape with a lacy front yoke and a lacy rectangle on the back. I call the back section my "ventilation panel" because it makes the sweater comfortable in warm weather. The yarn is Zooey by Juniper Moon. It's 60% cotton and 40% linen. This is a comfy yarn for summer, but at 5 sts/inch, it can still be a bit warm because of the thickness of the garment, so the open panel is great.

I've decided that this simple shape works well for me for summer knits. It's not quite sleeveless but cool enough. It has about zero ease at the bustline, so it's almost but not quite fitted. There's enough drape with the cotton/linen to keep it comfy. I can use this sweater template for many styles by varying stitch patterns on the yoke, front, back, etc. Here are my notes on this particular sweater:

• It's essentially knit as two rectangles with decreases and increases for some gentle waist shaping.
• I increased one stitch at each side of the front and back at the point where the armhole starts. This marks the spot and also makes it easier to finish off the armholes.
• I made the neckline as a wide crew, where the front neckline starts about 1" lower than the back.
• The shoulders are slanted with short rows and 3-needle bind off joins the front and back. I believe I had 4 wrap and turns on each shoulder.
• The front yoke lace section starts about 1.5" after the armhole starts.
• The back open section starts about 2 rows after the armhole starts.
• This particular lacy pattern is a looser gauge than the stockinette. For the front yoke, I used one needle size smaller. I used the same size for the back rectangle since it's only 1/3 the width. The top neckline bind-off keeps it scrunched in.

Here's the simple lace pattern, without including any selvedge stitches:
Row 1: k2tog, yo, repeat to end
Row 2: p
Row 3: yo, ssk, repeat to end
Row 4: p

I need to mention that for some reason, this yarn causes a ton of biasing. Since I knit the top as two pieces, the side seams keep the biasing in check. I have 3 more balls of this yarn in another color and I might try another top with the same shape. If I do, I'll do something besides all stockinette for the body and perhaps the biasing won't be so bad. All in all, I'm very happy with this top.

BTW -- There's still time to comment on my magazine giveaway.

Magazine giveaway

My cowl knitting pattern was recently published in the Winter Knitscene. I posted a photo of my cowl here. I hadn't received a free issue from the publisher, so I went and bought my own copy. The day after I bought it, I received my free issue! Since I have an extra issue, I'm giving it away to you, my gentle readers. All you have to do is leave some kind of comment (any thing like a simple hello will do) along with some way that I can find you to contact you, such as a ravelry id, and submit it no later than 11:59PM Sunday November 5, PST. The winner will be randomly selected.

In addition to my own pattern, this issues features quite a few easy colorwork patterns as well other cozy knits for winter.

My cowl pattern is in publication - woohoo!

I submitted a pattern for this cowl to Knitscene back in March and it was accepted for publication. The Winter 2017 issue is out, along with my pattern! Here is the ravelry link. It's named "Hoppers Cowl" and is a very simple colorwork cowl that uses slipped stitches to achieve the pattern. Each round is knitted in one color and there are no extra loose ends to weave it. it's quite cozy and takes up about one ball of each color of worsted weight yarn. I hope you'll give it a gry!

This is my second published pattern. The first was also a cowl for Knitscene and it was for winter, 2013. At this rate, I should be publishing another pattern 4 years from now!

Sewing: Vogue V8574

Summer is over but I think I can still get some wear out of this dress because there are always warm days in October here in the SF bay area. This is Vogue V8574. I used a medium weight printed twill-like cotton that has a bit of stretch. I really like the print that is sort of tropical with the palm trees, but not too tropical in the color.

I love the fit of this dress, but adjusting the fit was a bit more work than usual. With many patterns, I can sew it up and adjust some side seams or princess seams or some darts afterwards to get the perfect fit. With this pattern, the bodice has to be sewn together with the lining and attached to the neck band before it can be tried on, so I ended up having rip apart more of the underarm area to adjust the width. The skirt flares out so the fitting there isn't critical. What is critical is the opening of the in-cut "armhole". It has to fit without any unseemly gaping at the upper side bust area. I ended up adding a tiny slanted dart in front just above the side seam to get a close fit.

I cut away about 3/8" at the neckline so my neckband is narrower and the neck opening is wider. The skirt is not lined. For the bodice lining, I used some lightweight crinkled cotton gauze fabric. Crinkled gauze is slightly stretchy, as long as you don't iron out the crinkles before using it. It's also very lightweight and I love cotton linings.

Knited T-Shirt

It seems like it's been awhile since I posted about a finished knitting object. This one took a bit longer than I expected, probably because it's summer and I've been spending more time designing and doing in-person sales of my 3D printed jewelry at a few crafty events. (Tiny Right Brain Designs)

Anyhow, this sweater fits and wears like a t-shirt, which I really like, The pattern is based on the Marie Wallin Jumo design. It's on tbe cover of the Rowan Softyak Collection book, and I really liked the look of it. However, when I swatched the lace pattern, I found that it was just too busy a design for me. I decided to use a simple textured pattern based on the half-twisted ribbing in which I alternated the knit and purl positions every four rows. I used the same half-twisted ribbing for the bottom and trims.

Sizing wise, my version is much shorter than the pattern's length, which is almost a tunic. I did my own sizing for the width and added some waist shaping. I made my neckline wider since I don't like narrow crew necklines. I do love the little hole detail in the front.

My yarn is Knit One Crochet Too Batiste, which is a great merino/linen/silk blend. I bought several sweaters' worth in different colors when I found sale prices. I don't know if it's being discontinued or not. It's a bit warm to wear now, but it's a great yarn for spring.fall and milder winter days. I think I'll be wearing this sweater a lot once the weather gets cooler.

Summer Dress - McCall's M7381

I made this dress earlier in July and have worn it quite a few times during our hot weather days. It's really comfy and easy to wear. The pattern is McCall's M7381 and the fabric is a very lightweight cotton that I bought in the remnants section of Britex Fabrics in SF. The fabric pattern comes in panels but that was fine since this dress has separate pieces for the bodice and skirt sections.

I sewed this pattern once before and I made the same mods as before plus some more sizing adjustments. I changed the front pieces to slant towards the sides to give it the overlapped look and I tacked the pieces together at the top to prevent wardrobe malfunctions. This pattern runs very wide and even with the smallest size, I narrowed it at the front sides and especially at the back sides. Otherwise, the armholes end up just way too big and open. I wanted to keep the bodice really light and airy so I didn't line it but just used bias tape to finish the front and armhole edges. Oddly enough, the pattern did not call for a skirt lining and that's the part that needs it because the fabric is thin. I lined it with very lightweight cotton up to just above the knees. I used french seams in most places and the skirt lining folds over the waist seam. I made this version a mid-calf length, and I have since shortened the earlier one to the same length. I like the look of maxi-dresses, but I find them just too warm to wear in hot weather and the long length can be annoying in everyday life.

New Look 6209 -- Sheath Dress

One can never go wrong with an animal print, that's what I say. Well, sometimes things can go wrong, but in this case, I'm happy with the outcome. This is a sheath dress from New Look 6209. My fabric is a stretchy woven cotton blend. The print is reversible -- one side is black with tan "spots" and the other side is tan with black spots. I decided to do a vague sort of color blocking by using the black background for the top yoke and the side sections. The color transition isn't that obvious, which surprised me.

The stretchy fabric is nice because it allows for a closer fit and I even got away with omitting the back zipper. I cut the pattern a little bit larger to start, especially around the waist area, and I ended up doing a lot of trimming to size it just right. I adjusted each of the seams bit by bit until I got the fit I wanted. This pattern is really good for doing that. The center front panel also has two small horizontal bust darts which I've never seen before. Those two little create a really good fit at the bust line. I think it's a great basic sheath pattern. It doesn't call for a lining, but I didn't need it with this medium weight fabric.