Selbu Modern Beret

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Quick post for a quick project:

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I planned this to stashbust leftovers from my Natsumi and Arabella sweaters, and I still have some leftover yarn! What to do?

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I knit this exactly as written except for adding 10 extra rows (half a repeat) before beginning with decreases. I find that to get the kind of slouch I like,  I need to knit the hat straight till it is the length of my palm, from base to fingertips, before the decreases.

Details
Pattern: Selbu Modern
Yarn: Madelinetosh Merino Light; Pecan Pie and Dusk
Needles: 2.5mm for ribbing; 2.75mm for colourwork
Ravelled: here

Breaking the Mould

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I’ve been a busy little bee, sewing up a moulage for myself. And it worked!

Longtime readers may recall that ages ago, frustrated with sizing in commercial sewing patterns, I had applied the principles of knitting to sewing — draft a Back and do an FBA to get the Front. This actually worked surprisingly well, and I used this pattern to make quite a few pretty things.

But it was never quite right. Woven fabric behaves differently from hand knits, and there was always a little gaping here, a couple of diagonal drag lines there, some falling shoulder seams too, meaning the garments looked nice, but not stellar like some of my best hand knits (yes, modesty isn’t really my thing).

So finally I took a class on Craftsy, The Bodice Sloper, to draft my own sloper. People, it is a fabulous class, well worth the full price (and even better if you get it at a super discount like I did). The instructor, Suzy Furrer is very clear, articulate and competent, and the lessons are full of little nuggets of information: did you know, the front neck is 1/8 inches larger than the back to prevent gaping and pulling? And that if you’re over a C cup you should fold out half your armscye dart in a sleeved garment to have ease for sleeves and yet create additional cupping? That there is even a horizontal dart-like ‘waist shaping’ which needs to be dealt with to avoid wrinkling in the torso? That there are actually two points on the front, from which darts can radiate? I certainly didn’t, and I am so grateful I took this class.

You start off by measuring yourself and drafting a moulage which is a skin tight mould of the body in woven fabric. The theory is that once you draft a perfect moulage, you can then add ease to it to create a sloper, which is a basic template of a garment. So why not start with a sloper? Because the ease built into it will not allow you to correct fit problems. But by starting with a body mould (the moulage), you know that whatever slopers you create off it (with small positive ease for blouses, greater positive ease for jackets and coats, negative ease for knits) will fit exactly as intended.

I admit to having my reservations — I wondered if I should measure my front and back circumferences separately. But I followed instructions exactly, and yeah it all worked out! The only place where I went off script was to follow the instructor’s answer in reply to a question from a body type similar to mine. It was a minor adjustment to the side seam length, but it was necessary to get a good curve at the armhole.

Once my moulage was perfect (only took two tries, and the process was quick and exasperation-free), I drafted up a blouse sloper. What freedom that no further fitting was needed!

Here’s the Creature critically inspecting the moulage…

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I’ve already made a couple of blouses from the sloper, one sleeveless and the other with sleeves (which requires a further, small modification to the sloper), and will be posting about them soon.

Now, finally, I’m going to reanimate my plans for a Cambie and Parfait. I had dreaded the amount of adjustments required, but now I can just copy the style lines and draft to exactly my own shape!

 

As Beautiful As I Imagined It

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It is done! I think this is my most well travelled knitting, started in London, knitted in Bangkok, finished in Johannesburg and photographed in Nairobi. It is everything I imagined it to be, elegant and casual, warm and light. And beautiful!

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I wanted a non-baggy drop shouldered pullover, with gentle side shaping and a hi-lo hem. With saddles starting at the  shoulder …

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…and running down the sleeves.

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I’m planning to write up a pattern eventually, so watch this space if you’re interested!

Details
Yarn: Lana Grossa Chiara, 7.5 skeins
Needles: 3.0mm for ribbing; 4.0mm for the rest (held lever style for effective needle size of 3.5mm)
Ravelled: here

Wearing Handknits – UK

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And we’re back with the second instalment of a series on how I’m incorporating my me-mades into a practical wardrobe, without doing anything special to feature them (let’s face it, most of us style blog photos to make the handmade garment shine!).

Temperature
These are the clothes I packed for a trip to the UK in late summer. The weather was pleasant — the daily range averaged for the duration of my stay was 22C to 13C — with a couple of warmer days where the maximum went up to 26C.  Of course, temperature controlled indoors make a huge difference! I find I need at least one layer less, both indoors and outdoors, when my skin gets the frequent respite of warmth indoors. I’ve spent the same temperatures in eastern Africa, northern India and Brazil and needed thicker sweaters, simply because there is no indoor heating and your body is constantly trying to beat the chill (however slight).

Occasions
I needed smart casual; luckily I don’t work in a sector where stuffy business suits are required.

Favourite Worn Outfit
Definitely this one (two handknits, and they work together!):

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Other Notes
All the pictures below are exported from the Stylebook app on my ipad. I find it such a great resource for planning, packing and logging! There is a very tedious bit at the beginning when you have to log all your clothes, but once that necessary step is over, you’re good to go. I didn’t upload all my clothes in one go, just a few at a time every day till they were all done.

Because the pictures of the garments were taken under different light conditions, some outfits appear not quite right, as if the garments don’t really gel together. But in real life they do  :)

Some items, like socks, don’t appear in any outfits at all. But they were still used — at bedtime or when lounging — just as not part of an outfit.

And finally, because of the unusually warm days (well, for the UK anyway!) there are several days in there where I needed no sweater at all. But I’m still including them for the sake of completeness, because I packed sweaters that could have been worn with those outfits — for example, the rust coloured Milk Maiden was meant to be worn with the red top.

Packing List
Screenshot from Stylebook. I’m only linking the handmades here, if anyone has burning questions about the RTW stuff, please ask!

London (1)

  1. Rocaille, blogged here
  2. Border socks, blogged here
  3. Ginger, blogged here
  4. Zick-zack, blogged here
  5. Milk Maiden, blogged here
  6. Natsumi, blogged here
  7. Burrard, blogged here

Flying
My only consideration is to stay warm, hence the fugly colour combinations!

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Meetings / Outings

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Lessons Learnt
I am so glad I knit all those socks, they were very useful! Also, lightweight pullovers are the best. Should sew lightweight jackets. No need to carry boots for the UK in summer.

Wearing Handknits – US

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A while ago, I promised to share how I’m incorporating my me-mades into a practical wardrobe, without doing anything special to feature them (let’s face it, most of us style blog photos to make the handmade garment shine!).

Here’s the first instalment of what, I hope, will be an ongoing series!

Temperature
These are the clothes I packed for a trip to the east coast of the US in early summer. The weather was slightly chilly — the daily range averaged for the duration of my stay was 20C to 12C — with a couple of warm days where the maximum went up to 28C.  Of course, temperature controlled indoors make a huge difference! I find I need at least one layer less, both indoors and outdoors, when my skin gets the frequent respite of warmth indoors. I’ve spent the same temperatures in eastern Africa, northern India and Brazil and needed thicker sweaters, simply because there is no indoor heating and your body is constantly trying to beat the chill (however slight).

Occasions
I needed smart casual; luckily I don’t work in a sector where stuffy business suits are required.

Other Notes
All the pictures below are exported from the Stylebook app on my ipad. I find it such a great resource for planning, packing and logging! There is a very tedious bit at the beginning when you have to log all your clothes, but once that necessary step is over, you’re good to go. I didn’t upload all my clothes in one go, just a few at a time every day till they were all done.

Because the pictures of the garments were taken under different light conditions, some outfits appear not quite right, as if the garments don’t really gel together. But in real life they do  :)

Some items, like socks, don’t appear in any outfits at all. But they were still used — at bedtime or when lounging — just as not part of an outfit.

Packing List
Screenshot from Stylebook, apologies for the blur! I’m only linking the handmades here, if anyone has burning questions about the RTW stuff, please ask!

DC trip 1

  1. Chestnut Knee Highs, blogged here
  2. Knotty or Knice, blogged here
  3. Natsumi, blogged here
  4. Thermal, blogged here
  5. Dusseldorf, blogged here
  6. Nightblooms and Seedpods, blogged here
  7. Oshima, blogged here
  8. Arabella, blogged here

Flying
My only consideration here was to stay very cozy because spending 27 continuous hours in air conditioning is hideous.

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Meetings / Outings

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Lounging Informally

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Lessons Learnt
I think I could have done with two less sweaters less. And probably skipped some of the necklaces! But otherwise, good multi-use items, leaving more space in my luggage for yarn. Because that’s the whole reason we travel, right?!

The Vision of a Pullover

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I’m joining in the #fringeandfriendskal2016, are you? It’s the first time I’ve ever done a knit-along, and it came about because there is absolutely no pressure. There is no specified pattern, yarn, or designer, no Ravelry group or email list to sign up on, no pre-conditions of swatching. In other words: my kind of knit-along. I may have just mentioned here and there that a demanding job requires my knitting life be exactly the opposite. As soon as there are conditions attached to any knitting, I lose all interest. So this KAL is perfect! As long as it’s a sweater, worked top down, within the time frame, it’s a valid entry. I’m in!

What I really love about this particular KAL is the little condition that no existing patterns may be used. Knitting allows so much creativity and scope for customisation, it always dismays me to read of others who are too intimidated to modify a pattern. It’s just yarn! Make it do what you want to do!

Although the KAL does not allow an existing pattern, it certainly doesn’t dissuade you from having a plan — as detailed or on-the-fly as you like. Here’s mine:

Concept
I wanted an elegant pullover, with subtle patterning. Something neutral enough to wear incorporate into my existing wardrobe of colour, but not so boring that it looks like it came from RTW. Most of all, this needs to be a working sweater, not matter how beautiful, hence long sleeves (because if it’s cold enough for me to need woollens, it’s cold enough to need long sleeved woollens) and a scooped neck (I’m busty).

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Yarn
Longtime readers will know that I love colour. Although I am (grudgingly) ceding to the need for a few neutrals to tie my colourful items together, I still cannot bear to wear a neutral colour, in a basic silhouette, which is also unfitted. Something’s got to give, and in this case it was the yarn. Yes it’s black/grey. But what a black/grey! A core of molten, metallic rayon, surrounded by a halo of mohair. It’s fluid and supple, yet warm and cosy. It’s good for winter parties and work meetings. It’s plain enough for the day but special enough for evenings. Basically, it’s perfect. (It’s also my first yarn love and the reason I joined Ravelry).

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Design Details
I love modern dropped shoulder silhouettes. No ugly, bulky, 80’s shapes here — the fabric is drapey, shoulders are shaped and drop only a little bit past the shoulder, the neck is scooped, the sides are slightly flared and  the hem is hi-lo. It is, in fact, to the exact dimensions of my Natsumi which fits perfectly, but this one is worked top down instead of side-to-side.

But a stockinette sweater still looks un-special, so there will be three narrow cables down the front, spreading apart gently. And once I’d decided that, how could I not have narrow saddles, with the same cables running from neckline to cuff?

Secrets of Structure
All great knits have structural secrets doing behind-the-scenes heavy work, while still looking effortless. Like gymnasts. Or great underwire bras. Or cantilevered bridges. My sweater will have:

– Increases, decreases and increases on the front. One set of paired increases and decreases will rapidly widen the triangular wedges between the pattern strips, without changing the overall stitch count. Another set of increases will gradually widen the sides, to match the back. In the exploded view below, the turquoise dots show the paired increases and decreases that separate the pattern strips. All orange dots show increases to shape the sides and neck openings.

I thought of having a single set of increases  on the front do the double duty of widening the triangles and forcing the sides out to match the back, but was stumped by my deeply scooped neck which had a very small flat area at the bottom of the ‘U’. Barely 20 stitches, which was not enough to contain the pattern strips and their separators. So my pattern strips start out with only a single purl stitch between them, but rapidly acquire knit and purl separators; matching decreases ensure that the stitch count does not change. Meanwhile, the sides slowly flare out matching the back.

The pink dots along the sleeve seams show shaping decreases.

– So many short rows. This is meant to be hi-lo, not ridiculously-hi-somewhat-lo. So there will be bust shaping short rows to add length to the front only, just below the neck. Yes, right there on the front with the two different rates of increases and decreases going on already. All the short row points are yellow dots: they shape the shoulders, curve the front and back, and add extra length to the front only.

– Tubular BO. Because binding off ribbing in pattern is just ugly.

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Knitting Process and Direction
1. and 2. Work saddles, centering a single pattern strip on each.
3. Pick up and knit one back shoulder, short row to shape. Increase for neck. Repeat on other side, CO stitches for the centre of the neck and join to other shoulder. Work down with increases and short rows.
4. Do the same on the front, except keep track of way more things.
5. and 6. Pick up stitches from back, knit across saddle, pick up stitches from front. Work to cuff with shaping.
7. Pick up and knit stitches around neck, rib for a couple of inches.

Of course, pretty pictures aren’t much help in the actual knitting. Here’s what the hardworking diagram looks like, before being converted to actual stitch counts:

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Whew, better return to the knitting!

In Colourwork this Time…

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… Yes, I proudly present another pair of socks:

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But! This is the first time I’ve participated in the Ravellenic games. After the series of socks I’ve been churning out, this project might not be considered enough of a personal challenge; but I decided that all the travelling and meetings I had to do added a time challenge. And so they did, except that I was stuck in a metal tube for 12 hours; a metal tube, moreover, with an outdated and limited section of videos, and the long stretches of ribbing went very fast.

I also like how the eye of partridge stitch on the heels and balls of the foot look like jute sacking in this colour:

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I think I have one more pair in me for this year. And then back to sweaters!

Details
Pattern: Border Socks
Yarn: Too many to list, see project page on Ravelry. I tried to make this a stashbusting project, but I still have some yarn left in each colour.
Needles: 2.5mm dpns for the colourwork, 2.25mm for everything else
Ravelled: here