Category: finished object

sniffle. guh.

It would seem that I have a touch of the hay fever today. Sniffle, sniffle. Ugh. Just took a Benedryl, in the absence of anything non-drowsy, so we’ll see how long I last before I need a nap! I suppose it isn’t the ideal time to start cutting pieces for a dress, but oh well.

Yes, I’ve actually been sewing!

(Can I say how glad I am that the light has returned? Hurrah for better photos.)

I proclaim my first sewn top a success! Pattern is the fabulously easy and wearable Simplicity 3835, a Built By Wendy pattern that everyone’s been sewing up for ages in blogland. I did the top in size 14, with the slightly longer sleeves of Dress A, minus the sleeve elastic. It fits great and is super comfy – I’m definitely going to be sewing up a few of these for the spring and summer!

The fabric, pictured in my last post, is Chocolate Lollipop “Cartoon Flowers”. A little loud on its own for me, maybe, but with some jeans and punk-ish accessories I think it’ll do me just fine.

Did I mention that it was really easy? Oh, one other thing I did – I cut out a little patch of the fabric, and sewed it to the inside of the back neck so I can tell which way is which.

I think it’s really cute.

Upcoming: more sewing, knitting, rather tardy book reviews, and more. I’m really feeling inspired these days – maybe it’s the return of spring, the snow melting and having my window open. I love it.

April 6, 2008
an FO and a new ‘do

Lush and Lacy is finally done!

Lush and Lacy
Pattern: Lush and Lacy from Sweaterbabe, size M (36 1/2)
Yarn: 7 skeins Classic Elite Lush – 50% angora, 50% wool
Needles: Knitpicks Harmony, 5.5 mm

Notes:
I love this sweater! When it started popping up on the blogs, I just had to have it. I actually had the called-for yarn in my stash! I really love the peplum in the back and the gathers on the sleeves. The knitting was extremely fast, but I stalled out in the finishing.

My mods: no pockets on the front, longer sleeves. I wanted the bell part of the sleeve to fall below the elbow, not above, so I just worked even longer before shaping the cap. No buttons or clasps yet (mostly out of laziness) so I use a kilt pin to hold it closed in front, or just wear it open.

I’ve worn the sweater a few times already, and the angora’s halo is really coming up just from being worn. It doesn’t seem overly sheddy yet, but we’ll see. It’s soft as all get-out, though!

In other news, I got a funky (for me) new haircut – it’s really quite short in the back, with longer pieces angled toward the front. The longer pieces around my face make it feel like I have longer hair, but it’s really short in the back! Nice and light. Definitely the shortest my hair’s been in a long, long, long time, and I love it!

March 22, 2008
FO: Tree Jacket

Quite a few of you picked out the tree jacket from the Gretel photos yesterday – so here’s the official report!

Tree Jacket
Pattern: Tree Jacket from Zephyr Style
Yarn: The Fibre Company Terra in Acorn, every bit of 8 skeins
Needles: Denise US 8

This one took less than a week to knit! Now that’s a quick sweater. The yarn’s definitely captivating, plus the pattern’s simple and chunky enough that I was able to get it out really quickly.

Modifications:
As I posted about before, I was pretty short on yarn. I had seven matching skeins, plus the one pinky one – it seems to have worked out fine! I could’ve done the smallest size, as it turns out (and I’m 36″, so it was a gauge issue) and then I might’ve been able to make the sleeves longer or something.

I knit the second size and it’s a bit baggy under the arms. I do love the garter stitch yoke, and I even love the jog at the beginning of the round.

The biasing of the lace in the body is really flattering! That was a nice surprise. I ended up using three skeins of yarn for the yoke, another 2.75 for the lace in the body (plus a bit of the pinky one for the ribbing) and then the remaining 1.25 skeins for the sleeves.

It was a bit hairy – I knit the body long enough, and added a couple extra rounds of ribbing to make sure it wouldn’t roll. Then I weighed the remaining yarn and knit both sleeves at the same time (okay, alternating every couple rounds) and decreasing right away – the pattern has you do quite a few inches straight before decreasing. I managed four decreases before running out of the matching yarn.

Then I switched to the pinky skein and to stockinette, and just kept going until I was out of yarn. The sleeve length actually works really well for me, so I’m happy. And no leftovers!

I loved knitting this sweater, and it turned out great. What more can a knitter ask for?

January 29, 2008