Knitting help!

 I've been knitting away and finished a sweater. It's a 1930s sweater pattern from A Stitch in Time Volume 2.

It fits pretty well in the front. It's supposed to be a bit blousey and there's not shaping between the arm hole and the ribbing on the bottom.

But just like my last sweater, the back (and neckline) mysteriously grew when I blocked it. So I reblocked it and the back was smaller for about 5 secs then it stretched out again. This sweater is knit in three pieces and then sewn together so I'm seriously tempted to unsew it and unravel the back and knit it up in a smaller size. I really can't see myself wearing it as is. The neckline is huge and my bra straps keep peaking out. Plus if you look closely at my right shoulder, it's a slightly different color. I ran out of yarn had to go get more, but they were out of my dye lot and this was the closest match I could find. So if I reknit the back, I'd probably have enough leftover yarn to reknit that part of the sleeve too. And I could knit the neckline in a smaller needle to make it tighter.

*sigh* But that'd be a lot of work. Advice would be appreciated.

In other news, I have a Dressing Downton piece almost done and I'm itching to size up a pattern from The Edwardian Modiste (probably a chemise or slip to start with). And tomorrow is set aside for party dress sewing!

Have a lovely weekend!

Workin' On It

 Sarah is trying to show more works in progress this year and I thought that sounded like a great idea, especially since I plan on sewing slower over the next few months. (Also I have four projects I'm working on and another dozen or so that are in the active planning phase.) So here they go.

1. The not so much to look at yet jacket

Oh, I finally decided what to do with my blackberry cord. The Simplicity 3688 1940s retro jacket won out. Jackets are great wardrobe staples. I do already have a corduroy Beignet (which I actually wore today) and I think if I do want to make the cape, I'll go the whole nine yards and make the entire matching set.

I lined it with this lovely plaid quilting cotton from my stash. I was going really good on this project until I realized that I didn't have any good lining for the sleeves. Actual garment lining instead of the quilting cotton will make it much easier to take on and off. So I had to go to Jo-Ann's and get some lining. (I choose green to match the little green stripe and because I like green.) Hopefully, I can make another dent in this project tomorrow.

I did bound button holes. It's been a while since I've done them but they came out pretty good. I'm using some pretty silver buttons to go in the holes.

#2 The Ceylon Shirt Muslin

 

I have a particular version of Colette Pattern's Ceylon that I want to make but I was worried about the fit of the bodice as it's kind of complicated and it's an empire waist. (Empire waist + having a large chest = underbust seam not under the bust!) So I decided to whip up a blouse wearable (hopefully) muslin in some more quilting cotton from the sash. I picked up some nice red buttons to go with it. This will not be getting bound button holes if my new machine decides to play nice.

#3 A Stitch in Time 30s mustard sweater

I decided not to do the 3 hour sweater and to switch over to this lovely 30s sweater from A Stitch in Time Vol. 2. I did a lot of knitting during the holidays as you can see. I just hope I have enough yarn! I have exactly the number of balls as the pattern calls for so I should be ok, but I am a bit nervous as I would have picked up one more if I had purchased this yarn for this project from the get go.

 

I also picked up this book from a used book store after realizing that I'd spent two hours knitting part of this sweater (and my entire Cadence) wrong. Apparently, I've been knitting Ktbl instead of K. Whoops! I did rip out the part of this sweater, though I think my Cadence looks fine. So, I thought I could use a an actual knitting book. I'm not too thrilled about the B word on the cover but I have heard good things about this book and it was cheap.

#4 Gettin' Snoody

Almost all of the knitting projects in A Stitch in Time Vol 2 use tiny needle and tiny thread so I thought I could use a practice project (or two) to get used to them before I commit to a big project. The first of these practice projects is a lovely snood I'm making up in a red wool blend.

What have you been working on this new year?

P.S. Edith's black floral blouse should be coming your way tomorrow. Yay for nice weather for outside pictures!

Newbie and the Knitter Knit Along: Finished!

 Here is my finished Cadence sweater!

Tada!

And the back.

The lace came out really nice too.

I learned a lot knitting this sweater and it came out really nice! I love the color too. It's pretty baggy on me but still wearable. I know the pattern is meant to be loose but there's a bit much ease for me. Reblocking helped but it streatched out again after just a few wears. If I knitted this pattern again, I'd probably knit the ribbing on the collar on smaller needles to make it tighter. I'd also knit the back a size smaller. I've read that that's kind of how you do a knitting FBA and the back is pretty baggy.

Ok, so now on to the good bits of the sweater. I learned how to knit with circular needles, read a lace chart, use double pointed needles, modify a knitting pattern, blocking, starting a new skein of yarn mid-project, and finishing techniques. The body of the sweater is very even and pretty. I didn't have to rip out hardly any of the sweater and it didn't become a UFO. Yay!

Hopefully there will be more lovely knits in my future!