Inordinately pleased

Yes indeed!  The Vogue Leaf Yoke Top is done, and I love it!

And I'm going to enjoy wearing it.  My next task is to finish the jacket which I think it will look good with, and figure out how to slot it into my wardrobe.

But for the moment, let me share with you why I'm pleased with these edges.  The neckline and arm openings are finished with i-cord.  It's devilishly clever (although I followed Vogue's instructions which are slightly different from those illustrated in the video).

I changed the hem, thanks to the very generously shared ideas of others who had made this and posted about it on Ravelry.  Vogue wanted a turned back hem which I thought would be bulky.

10 rows of simple lace & i-cord at the hem

Things I learned:

• Trust the math.  The pattern called for a gauge of 19 stitches and 26 rows in a 10cm square; my yarn swatch showed 24 stitches and 30 rows in the same space.  I realized that if I knit according to the size large, the finished garment would be the right circumference.  
• If it's not right, rip it back and re-knit.  It doesn't actually take very long, and the not-quite-right feature would really bug me.  I think I knit the front just below the lace yoke 3 times before I was satisfied.  I knit the lace and i-cord hem twice. 

My new dress (to be)

I was going to call this post "introducing my new dress" but I decided that would be cruel.

A bit further along than flat folds

At least it's cut out...

This will be the sleeveless dress with the asymmetrical faux-closure from February's Burda.  I'm making it from turquoise wool crepe, which will be underlined with silk organza. The bodice lining is the China silk print and the skirt will be lined with slipperier Bemberg.

Since taking this photo, I finished basting the underlining in place and construction has begun.

"Harmony" knitting pattern
by Nadia Zarrouk - available
on Ravelry

However, again I've been sidetracked by knitting.  My new project is a pattern found via Ravelry.  So far I've done the 2nd cable twist row and it's looking good.  I have some stash fabric lined up to coordinate.  More on that later.

I'm making the top from a silk and linen blend (70-30%) fingering weight yarn, which I ordered from ColourMart.  Oh my, if you are a knitter, you should check out the CM site!  They have lots of really luxurious yarns (cashmere, fine merino, silk etc.) for very down-to-earth prices. Four cones, each about 500 metres of 100% silk yarn for $22 (shipping included), were delivered to my door on Friday.

100% silk DK in maroon

Here's one of them, auditioning with a scrap of a beautiful wool bouclé from stash.  Did Chanel knit?

More about the Teal Triangle

In a comment, okie2thfairy asked if I could show in more detail what I was talking about when I mentioned "improving" the pattern for my Teal Jakku with triangle insets at the shoulder.

To remind you, here is the completed front shoulder.

Below is a picture of the pieces, before assembly, that were made according to the pattern.

The textured piece is knitted as a long curving rectangle (made with short rows so that the outer edge is longer than the inner edge).  After the piece is seamed, it forms a donut-shaped piece.  The short edge is then sewn to the lower edge of the upper back piece (so it forms the lower back), to the armscye of the sleeves, and then up towards the back neck edge where it forms the collar.

The back - I'm hoping that the slight ripples
relax when the sweater is washed...

The pattern, as written, instructed you to attach the piece along the front edge of the sleeve cap to the shoulder point, and then along the entire top edge of the upper back piece, which is a straight line that runs from shoulder point to shoulder point.

marked up with Skitch
a great free app for iPad

If  I had followed those instructions, the collar piece would have had to detour into a corner which would pull it out of shape.  In the picture to the right I show the corner and the direction in which the edge of the collar piece would have to be forced to fit.

In this photo of the front of this jacket on the Finnish pattern site, you can (I think) see the distorting effect on the upper front and collar.  The shawl collar is forced open sideways and the fronts have a harder time meeting in the centre.  I suspect that the jacket would be less comfortable to wear as that piece would be fighting to return to its knitted-in shape.

So I made two little triangular pieces to fill in the shoulder corner, and avoid distorting the collar.  The result is that the collar hugs my neck, is very cozy, and the whole sweater feels wonderfully comfortable.

Two FKOs*

*Finished Knitted Object  (What did you think I meant?)

While the Teal Jakku pieces were blocking I seem to have knit a hat out of my leftover wool.  Please excuse my slightly stunned expression.  I think it's caused by the unexpectedly speedy pace of my production.

This is the Tundra Toque, designed by Carolyn Doe (available on Ravelry).  I love the asymmetrical shape.  I'm not completely fond of inside-out stockinette stitch, and the fact that you can see the increases and decreases between the lacy cables on the brim.  And I think the crown of the hat is too pointy.  (I am trying to block it out.)

Here's another shot that shows the shape of the brim better.  There are 5 cables that join in the centre of the crown.  It goes pretty well with the resurrected Burda 7731 coat.









The other piece, of course, is the Teal Jakku.  It took about 3 days for the pieces to dry, and another 3 to sew the thing together and weave in all the ends.  (Am I supposed to sew it together and then block, or block before sewing? Experienced knitters, please advise.)

It has no closure.  I've got this big silver pin that seems OK with it.

Thanks to the clearly explained knitting videos on KnittingHelp.com (also available as a $5 app for iPad - excellent value), the assembly of this project involved my first ever attempt at the Kitchener stitch, which is supposed to be completely invisible but in this case is merely not glaringly obvious.  It was moderately difficult because I was seaming the deeply textured lower edge/collar, so there is a bit of disruption in the pattern.  If you must know, it's mostly located under my left arm, but because of the angle of the pattern it isn't completely hidden by my arm.  This location was suggested on Ravelry but in retrospect, I think the seam would have been less jarring if I'd placed it at the CB.

KnittingHelp also supplied a great explanation of the mattress stitch which I used to sew all the other pieces together pretty much invisibly.

For those of you who think I've gone over to the dark side and are wondering when The Sewing Lawyer is going to resume producing more interesting projects, here are a few sewing-related thoughts on knitting design and construction.

According to some things I've read on the internet, some knitters will go to great lengths to avoid having to actually sew their knitted garments together.  They'll knit a piece entirely in the round from the bottom up or the top down, splitting off at the shoulders to form separate in-the-round tubes for the sleeves, including increases and decreases to build in shaping (where you'd sew darts), and cleverly finding ways to include hems, pockets, buttonholes, collars and all manner of details which are joined by picking up stitches and knitting new details directly onto a completed piece.  For example, the cloche hat brim is seamed at its narrowest point, but the crown is then knitted round and round, decreasing from 100 stitches picked up from one edge of the assembled brim.  It's a new world.

Sewing a knitted thing together with the same wool it's made from, and carefully picking up a row or stitch at a time at each edge of a seam means that even if the thing isn't knitted together, it looks like it was.  The perfectionist in me really likes this fact.

As Sherry pointed out in a comment to my last post, the fact that knitted pieces stretch means they can be forced to go together, but this isn't necessarily a good thing.  Understanding how flat shapes best fit the 3 dimensional human body without distortion (i.e. how sewing patterns work) seems immensely useful to me in knitting.  My decision that I should insert a little triangle at the front shoulder area, instead of forcing a smoothly curved piece to fill in a right angle corner was definitely the right one.  

I have a pair of badly needed black pants cut out; they'll look smashing with the jakku.

Almost done

As mentioned in my last post, my sewing has been overtaken by knitting, which definitely is slower to show results.  However, my teal Neulottu naisen jakku is almost finished only one month after I started it! (The name sounds exotic and unique, but only means "women's knitted jacket" in Finnish, so maybe most knitted jackety items for Finnish ladies have the same name.)


Here's a sneak peek.  I've just pinned the pieces together.  

Teal jakku - almost done!

You can immediately spot the problem.  The donut-shaped piece which forms the lower back and wraps and curves around to the front to become a luscious shawl collar doesn't fill in the upper front shoulder area. According to the pattern, it is supposed to be sewn under the arm, along the front edge of the sleeve cap to the shoulder point, where it must make a right angle turn and then flow along the dead straight upper edge of the knitted back.  


Sure.  My sewing experience suggests to me that even though it is probable that the gently curved edge of this piece can be made to stretch to fill in this corner, it won't sit there nicely and I'd be tugging at it constantly and wondering why the jacket doesn't feel right.  This piece wants to flow up at an angle from the under arm area, angling towards the neck.  As shown to the right.  


Which leaves a little triangular opening, as you can see to the left.  


I am going to knit a little piece to fill it in.  Then I'm going to block the pieces and sew them together.  And then, I'm going to make a dress and a pair of black pants that will go with this lovely sweater jacket.  

Introducing Very Cherry Slouchy ... the hat that knit itself

The Sewing Knitting Lawyer has a new problem - in fact it may be an addiction.

This is such a surprise.  As I have mentioned here before, I used to knit.  But that was (most recently) in the 80s!   A few years back I thought I'd make a little sleeveless shell and bought some yarn and started ... and stopped.  Not interesting, too slow.  I figured my knitting career was over.

But now, Wow!  I can't seem to put the darned needles down.  What is happening?

Anyway, I am signed up on Ravelry (as Kayyy) and this is my most recent FO.  The pattern is one of the thousands of free ones, and it is a fast project.  I bought the yarn (Diamond Yarn Merino Superwash Aran) last Sunday afternoon.  By bedtime that night the hat was 6" tall.  I finished it on Thursday and wore it Friday.

Ready to knit the I-Cord

I love the way the pattern spirals up to the pointy top of the slouchy hat, and turns into a perfectly tubular I-Cord.  For someone who had never knit I-Cord before, doing so was ridiculously satisfying.

There is supposed to be a bead on the end of the I-Cord but for now, I've just tied it in a little knot.

My very cherry slouchy hat keeps my ears warm.  And it doesn't look too terrible on either.  The colour is more accurate in the other pictures.

This afternoon I bought some Cascade 220 (100% Peruvian highland wool) to make this sweater. It's a delicious turquoisey-blue colour.

It promises to feed my new addiction for more than a week.

PINK

Remember the pink zipper?  There is a tiny bit of method at work.  The Sewing Lawyer has a new pink top to match.  Actually, it makes the zipper look a little ... dull.

For anyone who was at PR Weekend Montreal, the pink fabric was purchased at Suzie Stretch.  It has a nice smooth jersey face and a loopy wrong side.  I'm hoping that makes it a little bit warmer than simple jersey.

But will somebody please remember to remind me to check the direction of most stretch BEFORE cutting?  This top (Jalie 2682) has a double layer upper front and it's straining a bit.  I think it would have been more comfortable cut on the crosswise grain.  Since I have two more vivid colours of this same fabric (turquoise and bright yellow!) there is a chance that I'll get to test this theory out.  I like this pattern a lot.

Gusset

The jacket got retrofitted with a little underarm gusset to help with the mobility problem.

It went curling on Wednesday.

I'm pleased to report that the gusset works and the jacket was cozy warm.

I'll try it with the pink top this week.  Maybe the vivid colour will psyche out the opposition!






In the meantime, The Sewing Lawyer finished this lacy scarf and is itching to try a new knitting project.

What do you think of this sweater/jacket?  I love its texture and structure.

Making fabric takes a long time

Lace scarf in progress 

I wanted to see if I could do it.  Evidently I can.  (However, see if you can find the mistake.)

I'm on the fence about whether I want or need a yellow wool lace scarf.  However the yarn was in stash (and is a lovely colour) and the pattern is easy enough.  

And now ... back to my regularly scheduled craft.  Sewing.  I'm testing a pattern which I traced more than a year ago as a possible alternative to the Material Things Fearless Jacket pattern, when I was having so much trouble with it.  But then I persevered and this one got left behind.

I've got it cut out in a strange quilted knit which might (or might not) make an interesting jacket on the curling rink.

It might also tell me whether I want to commit to this pattern for my brick red lamb leather.

Stay tuned.

Once upon a time ... I used to knit

I have not knitted for a very long time.  It's because I'm too impatient.  It takes SO long to make the fabric,  in the very shape of the (untested) pattern.  It fills me with dread and despair.  What if it the fabric isn't all that great AND it doesn't fit, or suit the intended wearer?  Ack!  I content myself with buying the fabric, ready-made, which reduces the variables and the likelihood of abject failure.  My oldest (by far) UFO is a knitting project. It has been "almost finished" for over 25 years. 

It wasn't always so.  Once upon a time I did knit.  My husband and I spent a year in the UK, during which I was mostly without access to a sewing machine.  And in the UK then, great knitting yarn, and fabulous knitting patterns were easier to find.  The activity of knitting suited those long nights (Cambridge, where we were living, is WAY farther north than any city in Canada where I have ever lived so has WAY less daylight in the depths of winter) in front of our little electric "fire".  I found fabulous vintage knitting patterns, including some gathered into book form and updated.  I still have The 30s Family Knitting Book and The Man's Knitting Book - classic patterns from the '20s to the '50s (both edited by Jane Waller).  Fabulous.  I even made a couple of items out of each.

I was recently reminded in the nicest possible way of my past prowess as a knitter.  Thirty-two years ago I made a little sweater and matching hat.  The set was intended for a first baby about to be born to a relative.  I went all out.  The sweater was mainly ivory, with a Norwegian-type snowflake border that had repeating blue snowflakes (approximately 2.5" wide) with a little red border.  Along the lines of this sweater, only change the colours, and it was a cardigan:

I even knitted the little spots in the body of the sweater (they were blue on the ivory background).  The snowflake border was repeated in a little hat with ear flaps and a pompom.  SO cute!

Well I finished the set before the baby was born and presented it to the parents-to-be, then waited for the blessed event to occur.

You can hardly imagine the mixed emotions which came along with the news that the expected baby was born, beautiful and healthy and ... there were two of them.  Identical twin boys.  I gritted my teeth and made a second sweater set, exactly like the first one except a different snowflake pattern.

Last year, one of the twins became a dad.  They sent a link to some photos on Picasa.  His little daughter looks adorable in the sweater I made for him 32 years ago.  Such a nice surprise to find out they had kept it (and its twin) for the next generation.