Knitting AND Sewing

9:00 PM , , 0 Comments

I have discovered that I have non-normal dimensioned girls.  This is a real pain when trying to buy clothes.  All my girls have no bum, are average height for their age and slim everywhere.  As an example of what I mean - I took BigMiss' measurements and her waist is size 5, her hips are size 4 and her leg length is size 6-7.

BigMiss was desparately in need of a new skirt and J promised her on Monday that she would have a new one by Sunday or he would personally take her shopping (forgetting that he was going to be too busy until then anyway).  So I went to every shop in town that sells kids clothes in her size and could barely find one or two skirts per shop and all too short.  Obviously the fashion is either pants/leggings or short ra-ra style skirts with footless tights etc underneath this winter.  In one shop I found a 'knee-length' skirt that I would've had to buy a size 4 or 5 to fit her in the waist (she's coming up 7 this June).  So my only alternative was to either spend a day in the city (we get the choice of either Palmerston North or anything 'over-the-hill' - Wellington etc - being centralised here in the Wairarapa) and maybe still come away empty-handed, or I could be aventurous and try make a skirt for her.  (My last two attempts at skirt making last year for BigMiss were too big and still don't fit her yet).  I have a small collection of Ottobre pattern books so decided to take some decent measurements and work out what I could make her that would actually fit for a change.  And, starting only on Friday afternoon, here is what I made:

Please excuse the crinkles - she'd left it dumped on her bedroom floor

And here's a close-up of the embroidery I did on it:

This was done with a varigated embroidery thread with a standard reinforcing stitch.  I put beads around the outside and centre of the flower.  This was just drawn on with washable fabric pen (you can see I forgot to wash it off at the bottom).

And this got me so much in the vibe (I haven't done any clothing sewing for ages!) that I decided to make LittleMiss a skirt also.  Not that she really needs one, but I had material and she was home to measure so I did:

Opps, needs an iron

This was some baby cord I'd got through TNN a while ago and some burgundy twill I got off Trade Me ages ago.  The only thing I had to buy for it was the ribbon.

Of course, when the other two get home from school today I'll have MiddleMiss demanding her one next so have to start looking through my patterns to decide on what to make for her.  Except there's not much point til I know her size as she is my most awkward.


In my last post I talked about the Eden I was knitting for LittleMiss.  I decided to do the duplicate stitch design I was planning even though I didn't really like the singlet.  And I've changed my mind on the singlet now and actually really like it:

This is knit in Utiku Baby Merino 4ply in Cream with Pink duplicate stitch.  I got the design out of a library book.

And to show you how much LittleMiss likes both her new clothes:


I'm about half way through my next Eden for BigMiss (or MiddleMiss if it fits her better) and have a design in mind to dress it up.  I've modified the neckline a bit as I find it a little high at the front.  I think I probably won't get it done in time for the end of the competition though.


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Completions Finally!

9:57 PM , 0 Comments

Here's some of my latest:


Spring Butterfly in Utiku Watermelon and Peony Rose trim for a friend's new (well in December she was new) baby girl.  I knit this in 3mth size and I'm not sure it'll fit her anymore as I only gifted it yesterday.  I had it sitting around needing ends sewn in and blocking done, but I never really liked the ruffled hem.  So I finally changed the hem, sewed in the ends and blocked it last week.


My other finally finished project I nicely forgot to photo before gifting so I'm waiting on my SIL to send me a photo or two to update on here and Rav with.


And my other latest FO is one I managed to get done in a timely fashion - it's always good to have deadlines!



This is a test knit for Celia on Rav.  It's called Salsa Verde and is a really neat scarf/stole pattern in either 8ply or 4ply.  You knit the scarf starting from each end and meet in the middle where you graft it together.  The pattern is in both written and graph format.  I'm not too sure when she's hoping to release the pattern, but I suppose sometime next month.
This was really hard to get a nice photo of (or maybe I'm just useless at getting nice pictures).  There are three different lace patterns and a small amount of stocking stitch in the middle (to keep your neck warm).  I knit this in Vintage Purls Denim Love.


I do actually have another FO that I just blocked today, but haven't got a photo of yet.  I love competitions and Tikki was having one for her newly released pattern, Eden.  I thought it would be a good excuse to make some nice winter singlets for the girls.  I've knit my first one in 4ply but I'm not that happy with it.  I knit it straight off a knitted top I hadn't frogged yet in Utiku Merino Baby 4ply and probably knit it up too loosely.  It knit up really ugly and kinky as you'd expect from unravelled wool but I thought it would flatten and improve with blocking.  It has flattened but it still has the holey look from being knitted on too-big needles for the yarn weight.  I was hoping to work a design in duplicate stitch on the front but don't think it'll work well over the loose stitches.  I might give it a go anyway, though I have started the next top in two strands of the Utiku 3ply (mixing white and cream so this will be interesting also).  At least LittleMiss really likes it and it is nice and soft and fits well so it will get good use for warmth as intended - I just don't think it's competition entry material, that's all.


And here's a sneak-peak of my first attempt at designing:


I'm trying to go for a unisex design with the cables and rib as there seems to be a lot of girl stuff out there and not much boy stuff (can you tell I'm starting to think about boy stuff now - just in case?)  Though LittleMiss (when trying it on her) said the collar wasn't as nice as the one on her (store-bought) knitted cardigan/jacket which made me think I might be able to do a jacket version of this too as more specifically girly.

I'm not sure what to call it?  When it's knitted is it a jersey, a pullover, a tunic, or what?

And I already have my next design in mind too, more suited for boys...



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No Photos

1:12 AM , , , , 0 Comments

I think the main reason I'm rather slack with posting is I feel that a post with no photos is a boring post and I'm terribly lazy at taking and uploading photos!

But really a post with no photos is better than no post at all isn't it?

So, an update on what I've been doing...
(And maybe there will be photos next time.)

I've decided that I liked the look of a pattern in a book I got from the library the other day but of course it wasn't quite something I'd actually knit to the pattern.  It's seamed to start with and I'm really terrible at actually finishing things like that (I have a nice jersey I knitted for my #3 that was completely finished except I just had to sew in the last sleeve and she could wear it - it's still sitting in my craft chest in the shed - size 1 and she's 4 now).  It's a saddle shoulder/drop sleeve style which I really don't like as they always look so homemade and ill-fitting very quickly.  The back and front are knitted the same - which means a high neckline which my girls won't wear.  And the pattern's only a size 1, 2 or 3 which none of my girls are anymore.  So anyway, I decided to make my own version, knitted seamlessly, top-down, shaped neckline, and in 10ply to make it go faster.  It's proving to be a fun challenge so far - I'm starting top-down with a collar...

Hopefully, if all goes according to plan I should be able to write up the pattern in a future post!


What else I've been up to is finishing the test knit for Celia I was doing - just have to block it now then I'll take photos and put it up on my rav project page.  I've also been (forcing myself to) finishing the two baby gifts I've had sitting around for ages.  One is a Spring Butterfly for a friend's baby - I just had to block it and put on buttons, but decided I didn't really like the ruffle hem so undid it and redid it in the 'little arrowhead' lace pattern off the rainbow dress pattern.  It looks lots better and (still) just needs blocking then I can gift it.  The other one was a Rainbow Dress for my niece which I did actually finish just the other day but didn't like either.  I did the 'little arrowhead' lace hem but was a bit short on the contrast wool I had and had to do the garter finish in the main body colour.  It seemed to make it look too long and just wrong so I undid it and did a 6-row garter with a picot cast off and it really looks good now.  Just hoping SIL likes it as she's rather fussy with things like that.

And I've also picked up my VP sock club sock again that I started ages ago - Heart of Glass and have done a bit more on it now.  I love the last installment so I'm forcing myself to finish this one first before I start that one.  (Heart of Glass is the first installment and I haven't even thought about starting the second one yet!)
I'm thinking about doing the Winter club too...


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