Tag: retro

Penny dress and the inevitable FBA

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A few weeks ago I made my first dress, the Penny dress from Sew Over It.

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It’s made from a light viscose fabric, it has the elasticated waist and three buttons. I left the hem long, below my knees. I like it a lot, but I did make a lazy mistake.SOIPenny2

I didn’t do any alterations to the pattern, I hoped that the loose fit would accommodate for my larger bust size, but it did not. This causes the waist to raise in the front, creating more of a babydoll dress silhouette than a cinched waist, and also creates an high low hem that I did not want.

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I wear it though! It’s light and breezy, long enough for me not to worry when sitting or bending down, easy to wear, and so on. I count this as a jump up on the learning curve, and next time I won’t cut corners.

 

 

2018 in da house!

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Dear 2017, I will not miss you. You can shit in your hands and clap. Sorry, I know, language.

I learned a lot. About myself, about people around me, about my crafting. I don’t like to wear cardigans, for example. I’ve worn Blaster twice and Salal still have no buttons. I don’t like to wear thick, heavy sweaters. That puts Aiken on the shelf. I don’t like all stockinette positive ease sweaters – the Puntilla by Joji Locatelli I cast on in October 2016 has seen very little daylight this year. I don’t like socks. So what do I like? Close fitting, fingering weight, cropped sweaters like the Tongue Tied. Sweaters/blouses/tops with some interest on top, with shorter sleeves and stockinette bodies. Headpieces, 2017 delivered two, almost three(I have one tie left), turbans, three hats and one beret. One pair of  fingerless gloves and one pair of colorwork mittens. My first colorwork! I still love lace, my first knitting love.

14 finished project in 2017 resulted in 5 gift knits, 4 garments for me, 4 headpieces for me, and the colorwork mittens were also for me. I’m glad that I finally decided that my hobby is for me, and I hope that 2018 will continue in this self-knitting spirit.

If I can dream, I would like to knit this in 2018:
Frenchy blouse/sweater by Amy Appel/Poisongrrls
Arboreal and Vintersol, colorwork sweaters by Jennifer Steingass/Knit.Love.Wool
Gudrun mittens by Maria Lärkäng/Asfaltsflickan
Chains of Love turban by Amy Appel/Poisongrrls
Dream a Little Dream sweater by Triona Murphy/Triona Designs
Mystery of Light colorwork cowl by Pia Kammeborn
(And I’d love to sew Agnes and Cleo from Tilly and the Buttons, too!)

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Other goals:
Friends are expecting – so I’m hoping to knit a lot of baby clothes. So. Darn. Cute.
Try a vintage patterns – Just for fun. I have a pile dating from around 1930-1935.
Try cable knitting – Chains of Love will probably be the first, then Dream a Little Dream.
Journaling – in a way that fits me and I can keep up with.
Socks for my brother – because he asked me and I love him.
A yellow Princess Dress blanket – crocheted. Because my dearest friend loves Beauty/Belle and I love her.

The most important lesson 2017 smacked in my face is that I don’t have to be reasonable and practical about my knitting(or sewing). I can knit things just for fun. It hurts no one if I don’t wear or used that thing I knitted. It is not a waste of time, nor money. It was not for nothing. And. I. Don’t. Have. To. Finish. Things. IT’S OKAY to have things laying around for as long as it takes for me(and you!) to want to work on them again. I knit for ME. For MY enjoyment. Not to produce, not to deliver. I don’t have to force myself to knit on thing I don’t enjoy, just because I should finish something. I don’t have to keep myself from casting on things I want to knit, just because I should only have a few projects on the needles. “I should” can go fuck itself. I hope to take that more than anything with me into 2018.

Finishing Aiken

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Remember that I didn’t hit gauge? Well, I only counted the stitches, not the rows. And the rows REALLY didn’t hit gauge. Sleeves and body are fine, I just ended early. But the armholes. Lord. My poor Aiken looks and feels like a bat wing, over sized sweater rather than the chic and stylish top it really is. I also didn’t size down enough so I ended with positive ease rather than negative, but somehow my boobs shine through anyway. You live and you learn, I guess. It is so dense and thick that I’m lucky I live in Sweden where the winters get cold as heck. I should get some wear out of it despite its many flaws. I do want to make another one in the future, my Aiken journey cannot end like this.

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A change of KAL plans

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My gauge came out at 16 stitches/10 cm(4 in) on 4,5 mm needles, which means I will not be making the Marilyn sweater(21 st), and neither will I go shopping for the Tongue tied(26 st) right now. I’m surprised it knit up so largely, according to the WPI’s it should be more like a sport/DK weight. I have decided to knit the Aiken sweater by Andi Satterlund instead, it’s a long time favorite of mine. My gauge is still 2 stitches off, so I’m sizing down to compensate. It should work out fine.

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That is only a few hours of knitting, the whole back lace panel finished. It’s knitting up crazy fast. I’m hoping to have it finished by the first week of October. 

The Vintage Sweater KAL

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I’m participating in the Vintage Sweater KAL on Ravelry, hosted by Hannah of the Craftea Chat podcast and Meg of the Bad Wolf Girl Sits and Knits podcast. Plan A is to knit the Marilyn sweater from Interweave spring/summer 2016. I have found some lovely dark red wool yarn that I hopefully can hit gauge with. If that fails, I will probably buy some fingering weight yarn from Onion and knit the Tongue Tied sweater by Amy Appel/Poisongrrls. Both are lovely sweaters that I will knit sooner or later, KAL or no KAL.

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The yarn is 100% wool from a mill here in Sweden. I bought it at an auction and I believe it is about 20-30 years old. Luckily, Swedish wool(well, any wool really) holds high standards and after a good soak the yarn is as good as new.

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