@livjaa

A few weeks ago I finally finished my first ever crocheted garment: the Joanne Scrace Summer Cardigan. And it’s in what is probably my favourite colour ever: mustard. This has been such a satisfying project to make; the texture of the stitch pattern, the seam-free construction, lightweight nature of it… it’s one I’d definitely recommend! Oh, and the colour is perfect.

The pattern was from Simply Crochet issue 20. I remember at the time of finding the pattern that I was gutted to discover the total cost of the project when I tallied up suggested yarn. It was yarn by Eden Cottage, and it looked beautiful. I didn’t think it was overpriced - when you acknowledge the work that goes into creating such a lovely product - it's just way out of my current life budget. I chose a more affordable 4-ply, the Cascade merino blend, and I’m really pleased with the results:

If I made this again, what would I do differently? Well, I’d try and be stricter with counting (a life lesson in general, I think!). It was so satisfying to be able to treble relatively freely for the main body, that when it came to doing the delicate rib in half-trebles around the waistband, I was almost annoyed that I had to concentrate! I had to go back several times because my waistband started sloping and had got narrower and narrower without me realising. D’oh. Secondly, I might think a bit more about the sleeves. As you can see from the photo, I’m wearing the cuffs rolled up, which I actually quite like, but it’s also to shorten the length. It’s partly my style too I guess, as I usually have my sleeves rolled up. But next time I could tailor the length and shape of the sleeves a bit more to my taste.

It’s a very soft lightweight yarn - which is lovely to wear, although already after a few wears I’ve noticed that it gets a bit baggy. So this yarn doesn’t hold it’s shape amazingly well, but as it’s not a particularly formal garment anyway, it’s not crucial. It’s a lesson learnt, and I’m just going to have to be extra careful with washing it. 

Here’s a picture of the finished cardigan ‘in real life’ - thanks to Rebekah for the photo!

I think it’s time to record another of my favourite crafty things to have happened last year. I need to hurry up because good stuff has already happened this year! I suppose I shouldn’t be so hung up on chronology, but I am.

Last December was a pretty exciting time. Not only was it CHRISTMAS, but as a Christmas present to each other, my housemate/one true love/partner in crime bought ourselves a ‘Learn to Fair Isle’ course at Knit Nottingham. We had been counting down the days for WEEKS and when the day finally came, it was basically just like Christmas (I of course, have this in my head now, yay).

We picked five colours; our favourites, some dark, some light. Naturally my selection included navy, mustard, and burgundy. I don’t think I’ll ever escape that palette, nor would I want to. We were taught how to do a long-tail cast on with two different colours, and then how to knit continental style with one hand, and English style with the other. I LOVED this - I always wanted to learn how to knit continental, but never quite forced myself to move out of my old habits. I still naturally revert to knitting as I taught myself, but if my hands get a bit tired, I enjoy being able to switch. It’s little tricks like this that I’ve been trying to build on recently that are helping me to feel like a more accomplished knitter. I still have infinite amounts to learn, of course (and it will always be that way), but taking my knitting up a level has made me become even more addicted to it than ever. The more you can do confidently, the more freedom you have to choose patterns that you previously considered to be beyond you, I guess. 

Anyway- time for some pictures. I got about an inch done during the course (10.30am-3pm with a lunch break) and the rest was completed over Christmas and New Year. 

Here’s the finished cowl being blocked:

This is the back, as I was sewing in the ends:

And here’s the finished cowl, all nicely blocked, and tucked inside my favourite coat (and featuring my excellent brooch by the even more excellent Amy Blackwell)!

Even though I love making so many different kinds of things, it's definitely knitting which is dominating my time and my brain at the moment. I guess it's normal over the winter months; it goes hand-in-hand with staying warm indoors, keeping cosy and not feeling quite as sociable during the cold, dark evenings outside. The difference this winter though, is that it's not just me who's been taken by the knitting addiction - my closest friends have gotten into it too, and it's been so good to hibernate with them and have other people to get excited about wool with! Because we've been talking about knitting quite a lot, we've also fuelled lots of compulsive reading, searching and sharing. Just this morning I found two really good blog posts that I wanted to share, and I have also recently enjoyed the Woolful podcast, which was passed on to me by a friend all the way over in Perth, Australia. I thought all of these things were worth sharing here!

The podcast is called 'Natural Dye Farming, Partnerships, Domestic Production and Sustainability' - I particularly enjoyed this episode, but there are lots more on Woolful to discover too!

Picture from www.woolful.com.

Secondly, I came across the Craft Sessions blog this morning. There's lots to read, but it was the two-part 'Incidental Craft in Europe' post that led me there (Part 1 here; Part 2 here). I've often thought about how I could combine my love of languages and travel with craft, and these were two posts that really struck a chord. It made me want to re-visit Bosnia so much, and go back with the knitting knowledge that I now have and find the places that Felicia Semple writes about here. There are some lovely photos too, and I definitely recommend checking out this blog if you haven't done so already!

Last but not least: a blog post that I came across through trail of followers on Twitter. It's called '57 Useful Sweater Knitting Resources' and was compiled by Helen Stewart on  the blog of knitwear brand and podcast Curious Handmade, Like the last, there is so much to be discovered on this blog, and I am seemingly late to the party. But that's what I love about craft blogs - there is always more to be found! I was also completely sold on this because the front page currently houses an article on Cirilia Rose's 'Magpies, Homebodies and Nomads', about which I am in full agreement: it's a beautiful, inspiring book!

Where to start? It's been a while since I have had the time and the inclination to catch up on what I've been making. There's been more inclination than time, but still not quite enough it would seem! Last term was quite an intense one, with lots of work to get started on, and a big conference in Texas. I extended my trip and went to New York afterwards, and have got lots of things to share from that trip! One of the things that I have been wanting to document for so long now is the wonderful Summer Dress Weekend that I went to all the way back in July 2014, deep in south west Wales. It now seems like a distant dream, having all that time to dedicate to sewing! I'm determined not to be melancholy about it though; I have lots of exciting projects to see me in to Spring, and I want to share some of my favourite crafting times from 2014! This is the first of several. 

The Summer Dress Weekend was a two-day sewing course run by Thimble, also known as the lovely Camille and her independent sewing business. We had two full days in a beautiful space, which had been converted into a sewing haven especially for us. We had lovely food and hours of uninterrupted sewing time. So. good.

We were  taught how to make a summer dress, taken from a beautiful Japanese sewing book, in French translation (Machiko Kayaki, Jolies robes toutes simples). This is partly why I was so excited about this course; I love Japanese sewing patterns, but they can be a bit daunting. The patterns that I have already don't include a seam allowance (extra work, sigh), and also the sizing is slightly different. Before I attempted any Japanese sewing patterns by myself, I knew it would be great to have Camille there to teach me how to do it properly!

There was a choice of three patterns. Amusingly, everyone on the course picked the same dress, which in a way made things easier... except everyone picked the most technically challenging garment. We were given beautiful hand-made information packs and Camille talked us through all the various tools that were layed out. The first day was spent learning how to choose the correct pattern size based on our measurements, tracing the pattern and cutting out the pieces.

I brought three fabric options with me, but I knew which one I would probably go for. It was a beautiful striped linen blend from Ray Stitch in London, that I had bought with this course in mind. It had been waiting on my fabric shelf since May, after I'd been down and made a special detour to Islington, before going to the Real Wine Fair (really tough weekend). I love this material! The stripes were a nightmare though. I knew they would be, but I decided I'd be cool about it... and then I could NOT be cool about it. I had to go outside for a breather at one stage! Aligning stripes is not for the faint-hearted (or for perfectionists with time constraints).

On the second day of the course we got down to the proper sewing, and we certainly did work flat out. Camille took us step-by-step through some new techniques, such as french seams, sewing mitred corners for the neckband and sewing perfect pleats. The pleats were trickier than I anticipated; it was one of those tasks where if you over-think it, and stare at the lines for too long, it all becomes very confusing. But I did it! We had lovely long work benches, and it was such a good communal atmosphere, as we all learnt new things and applied them to our dresses.

In amongst all the sewing, we had some lovely breaks outside, with food and cake aplenty.

Looking back at these photos is making me really want to be there all over again! That weekend - and the whole summer for that matter - went so quickly! It was brilliant though; it was hot and sunny, I met lots of new people down in Wales, and I really enjoyed having time to work on my sewing and knitting. I think that this focused time really helped to take it up a level, and since then I've taken on more challenging projects (well, at least maybe for knitting - I have been crying out for more sewing space and time!).

So the finished dres... excuse the fact that it desperately needs an iron (I know, I'm sorry Camille!). I decided to take advantage of the photo opportunity one afternoon at sewing club, after I had finished sewing on the buttons to the sleeve tabs. Amy's amazing wall of pictures is an excellent backdrop, but unfortunately the creases can't be hidden, even amongst such colourful artwork...

... and here is a close up of the sleeves. The buttons are also from Ray Stitch, and I love them! 

I'm really looking forward to some warmer weather so I can start wearing this dress, now that I've added the finishing touches!

More completed projects and craft discoveries to come!

I was over the moon to discover a new website recently yarnsub.com that suggests a range of alternative yarns based on a wide range of important factors. I know this website is going to be a great ...