Lovely Orkney Cardigan, Part 2

Now a shocking discovery to report. I made a major error in knitting the bodice of Orkney: I forgot to make button holes. I was drawn to Orkney for its clean front edge without button bands, yet I forgot to knit button holes! I realized this error when I was decreasing stitches at shoulders. Too late, I said. I need to figure out how I could force button holes.

I recalled reading about button holes can be made after completing by manipulating yarns around a stitch. That’s what I decided to do. I was worried that ‘manipulation’ and ‘coaxing’ of yarn might cause too much wear and tear. In order to provide some support, I decided to use petershams for facings instead of knitted ones.

Here is what I did. I used 1” wide petersham tape for the left front, and two stripes of ½” wide tapes, sewn together except for button holes, for the right front. After the petershams were applied, I gently forced button holes on the knitted bodice. Ah, when I was applying the petershams, I realized that my steeks was too wide since the button hole had to be made through steeks as well. This was to be avoided. So, I had to re-work crochet anchoring and cut off excess.

The photo below shows the left front facing sewn on, and the right facing being assembled.

The right facing sewn on the right edge with button inserted in the button holes. 

 

And, here is it.  Finally done!  All the buttons are sewn and corresponding holes are made.

 



 

One more note on the project. The color Mineral was used in sleeves only. I have a lot of it leftover. The yarn amount was all sufficient even though I added steeks. The least amount left was in Billberry.

It is too warm to wear Orkney now.  Must wait for some cooler days to come back. 

Lovely Orkney Cardigan, Part 1

First of all, I love the colors in Orkney. The colors of Rowan Felted Tweed yarns are so well coordinated that any combination of the muted hues seems to be pleasant and beautiful. I also love the clean front edge without button bands. Since the magazine came out, I was in love with Orkney.

One thing I did not like about the design was its instruction, written to knit pieces in flat, back and forth. Like many knitters, I dislike knitting Fair Isle designs flat. I decided to add steeks to bodice and sleeves. Yes, sleeves. Since knitting in circle with small circumference is not my forte and I have tension issues, I decided to knit two sleeves together with steeks added between them.

So, I began knitting sleeves as I often knit them first as a swatch alternative. I was lucky this time and stitch gauge was spot on. My row gauge seemed okay as well. I knitted two cuffs flat first so that steeks won’t show at the cuff edges, and placed them together on a circular needle with eight-stitch steeks added. It so turned out I could have used six- or four-stitch steeks since there are edge stitches. Instead of following the pattern instruction in words, I followed the chart. As I could not see the line for the size M clearly in it, I ended up with having six extra stitches, three on each end, for size M. In order to accommodate this addition, I increased the armhole depth somewhat.

Fronts and beck bodices were also knitted together with an eight-stitch steek added between the fronts (this should have been a four-stitch steek so as not to have too much fabric at front edges). I cast on 248 stitches for the ribbed edge and knit: k3, k2 p2, repeat * to , k3 (the first and the last stitches are edge stitches). On row 1 of the Fair Isle section, add two stitches to front bodices and one stitch to the back bodice, with the total of 253 stitches for bodice. I placed markers after 65th and 188th stitches to indicate the side seams. Also I marked the center back stitch to aid anchoring the motif. When the Fair Isle chart was inspected, I noticed that the center back is not necessarily the middle of each motif. I shifted motifs as necessary to remedy this defect. I decided to make the cardigan longer and chose to knit 35 cm before armhole shaping began. Also, the armhole was lengthened to 21 cm.

Here are bodice, left, and sleeves before cutting steeks. 

Sleeves alone.

 

And after sleeves were put together.

 

I found the sleeves to be just right in tightness and the cuffs are nice and snug.  Some knitters mentioned sleeves being tight and I am wondering if it was due to knitting them in round in small circumference. 

I just adore the colors of the garments!  Now, the next post will be about a disaster and how I overcame it.

MMM'13

It is already June 8th!   I cannot believe it. I'd better write up my reflection on MMM'13.

My goal and hope in participating the group was to get back my creative thoughts through fellow MMM'13 participants.  Given this goal, the best thing I accomplished is that I did write about my creative activities, albeit those in the past. Let’s face it. It takes a chunk of time and efforts to maintain a blog: photos must be taken and materials must be considered.

Another accomplishment is that I got inspired to sew through members of MMM’13. I am planning a new sewing projects. I have had difficulty with sewing projects for so many months. Thanks all for inspiring me!

Although I have not looked through all the photos as of today as there are six thousand plus photos, I was hugely inspired through all that I had seen. I am glad to know there are so many of you out there sewing, knitting, and crafting every day.

So, thank you, Zoe, and all the members of the group. I am looking forward to be more creative.

In terms of my current projects, I have been planning a couple of skirts in a teal green cotton fabric. This idea came to me as I was taking photos for MMM'13. I though I needed a skirt in dark green. I am mildly excited about the project.  I also finished knitting Orkney cardigan. All I need to do is its assembly which involves a bit of inventing. I made a major error in knitting the bodice: I forgot to make button holes. You see, Orkney does not have button bands. That was one of the features I liked in Orkney, yet I forgot button holes. How I managed to deal with my mistake will be another post.

A post without a photo seems sad. So, here is what I put together with flowers gathered from my garden.

Fifth Week of MMM'13

My fourth and fifth week of MMM’13 went rather poorly due to illness and subsequent medical appointments which were too many for me to handle. At any rate, I managed to do one more MMM day.

Day 30

I made this pair of pants in 1984 with one of the first Vogue Issey Miyake patterns, 1257, with black summer wool.  It became too small at waist soon after that, and sat in my closet for a long time, twenty plus to be honest.  I finally removed the waist band and waist tucks last year and replaced it with an elastic band.  I feel as though I now have a brand new pair of pants.

I made four garments in 1980's out of the above pattern: a black shirt, a black wool blend jacket, a white cotton/linen blend jacket, and the black pair I just fixed.  The shirt got rotten long ago, but the jackets are still in good shape.  My 17-year old daughter loves the jackets and wants to borrow from me.   She has a good taste.  Ha, ha. 

Lastly, but not the least, Zoe, thank you for organizing this fabulous event!  I will post on what I learned shortly.

Third Week of MMM'13

The last week started with a temperature typical of New England and ended with the same condition: colder than it should be.  Thankfully, there was a few days with warmer temperature. 

Some of you may already know, but I have knitted many wool jackets and cardigans in the past and I do not pull them all out each winter season.  In the middle of the season, I put some back into the back of the closet and take some others out.  At this time of the year, I do not want to take out more since Summer is coming soon.  Hence, I am wearing the same things over and over again.  It better get warmer next week. 

Day 13

Our radiator was working Monday morning.  So, I wore the same Vogue dress as Day 9 with Jo Sharp's Origami Bolero and a sermon pink wool gabardine coat (RTW) from my younger days: i.e. 30 years ago.

Origami Bolero was fun to knit for several reasons.  The yarns were all so gorgeous, especially Alpaca Silk Georgette.  I have some more in my stash to be made up into a sweater or two.  Also the colors are very nice with subdued hues, very sophisticated in my opinion.  I think what was most striking about this project was the color combinations and stitch patterns.  You would mix yarns with different weight ranging from Aran to sports in the same stitch pattern as if they are of the same weight.  It created interesting fabrics  

 

 

Day 14

Practically the same outfit as Day 4, except for the top under the green Aran jacket.  I was wearing Thia Tee by La Fred I made in 2002. 

 

 

 Day 15

The same outfit as Day 2, RTW black skirt and knit top, but with a long vest on top.  The vest was knitted in 2003/2004, Elizabeth of York Vest from Tudor Roses by Alice Starmore. 

 

 

 Day 16

Finally warm weather had arrived here!  I wore an orange cotton pullover, Jasmine from Kim Harvreaves’ Nector and a pair of poly/rayon pants, Vogue 7301.  I’ve made four pairs of pants/capris from this pattern in 2005/2006.

 

 

Day 17

Me made the blouse, Vogue 7935 blouse view C made in 2005, that I wore on Day 3, and the skirt, Vogue 2558 Montana pattern from years ago made in 2003. 

 

 

Day 18

Me made the jacket, Vogue 1522 Perry Ellis pattern I made in 1986 with very thick black linen, and the top, Textile Studio Monaco Shell 1209 I made in 2003.  The capris are RTW.  I love this printed stretch lace fabric.  The top is backed by light blue stretch knit.

 

 

Second Week of MMM'13

This week went by faster than the last.  We had mostly chilly and wet days with some warm afternoons.

Day 6
Monday's outfit was very special to me and it deserved its own post (the last one).

Day 7

Tuesday was still chilly in the morning and I put on a cotton pullover, a wool cardigan, and RTW cotton pants.  The pullover is Jan sweater from 'A Stitch in Time' by Susan Crawford.  This book contains vintage designs from 1930 to 1959.  I am eyeing on several designs.  I wore the same cardigan last Saturday.  I love this design so much that this green one is the second one I knitted.  The first one was the yellow one.

Day 8

Initially I felt it was still chilly as it was drizzling when I woke up and put on a wool cardigan.  After the breakfast, it began to warm up quickly and I had to change into cooler top.  The tank top and the pants are RTW. 

The wool cardigan is called Rød/Maple Leaves by Marianne Isager in her book 'Japanese Inspired Knits.'  This book also contains several designs I just adore.  The cardigan is supposed to be knitted with intarsia method using yarn bobbins, one bobbin per stripe.  I did not like the idea of having 16 bobbins to deal with every row, and I decided to knit each stripe separately first, and put together by the three needle bind off method.  It took quite a long time to complete, but I am quite satisfied with the result.  I used Isager Spinni in grey and blue shades which was held together with Harmony by Jojoland.  The latter is a self striping lace weight yarn in the shades I picked for Spinni.  For three-needle-bind-off, I used chartreuse green Spinni.  I had to rewrite the pattern for each stripe, which in itself was an interesting pattern reading exercise.  If you are interested in the detail and are a member of Ravelry, you can find more detail here.

The cotton pullover was knit with a super bulky yarn called Samantha, which I purchased at heavy discount from my LYS.   Unfortunately, the yarn is discontinues some years ago, hence discount, and my LYS closed its door last fall.  I am really disappointed with the store closing.  I was spoiled in a way as the store was located in a few blocks from my office.  Sigh.  At any rate, the pullover has very interesting stitch patterns and was fun to knit. 

Day 9

I wore three items of my creation today: The red coat with crazy colorful print lining worn on day 1;  Sounds of Silence cardigan by Irina Poludnenko knitted using exactly the yarn required: Filatura Di Crosa Golden Line Superior and Nirvana in gray; and Vogue 1119 Donna Karan dress in stretch knit.  I made a lot of modification to the dress pattern to fix the gaping armholes, to shorten the bodice, and to shorten the skirt.  It worked out really well, although it cannot be seen much from the above photo. 

Day 10

Again, I wore my red coat.  Under the coat was Blithe tank top by Kim Hargreaves.  I finished it in October 2011 and this was probably the second time I put it on.  What you see in the above is a part of my narrow den where I do sewing.  I am standing between my cutting table, which is too low for the task and I need to do something about it, and the bookcase which is about a foot length to my right. 

A peek at what I am knitting right now.

Day 11



I took advantage of the clear morning to take some photographs of my flowers.  My tree peonies are doing well and the dark pink one is about to bloom (not shown above).  I am wearing a hooded jacket from Classic Elite Yarn's booklet New Harbor.  The original does not have any zipper, but I decided that I want one.  I found a two-way zipper by RiRi. 

Now, it is said that the next several days are going to get colder.  Good thing that I still have my wool sweaters around. 

Happy and Older Creation

The last and probably the only occasion where I was really creative was when I knitted the cut-away boucle jacket in 2005.  I had this beautiful Noro Shinano yarn in mixed green and ivory which I bought on sale with no dedicated project in mind.  I just loved the color and feel of the yarn which is wool/silk blend. 

I swatched with different patterns but I was not happy at all even after using up entire ball.  Then I realized that it needed some more colors, fuzzy colors.  So, I bought several worsted weight mohair yarns in orange red, greens, and blues, some of them were heathered colors.  One of them was a mohair loop yarn.  Instead of striping mohair yarns with Shinano, I made a magic ball: a ball of yarn made by cutting and knotting lengths of yarns.  I think I cut the mohair yarns in about 15” long pieces.  I did not measure them.  Just cut them approximately.  Then tie them into a ball of yarn by selecting different yarns randomly. 

I began swatching with the following stitch pattern:

With Noro Shinano cast on, and knit two rows (garter stitch).  Third and forth rows are knit with magic ball *knit 1, slip 1 as if the purl with yarn in back *, repeat * to * on row 3.  On row 4 slip all the previously slipped stitch with yarn in front as if to purl and knit all the knitted stitches.  Rows 5 and 6, garter stitch with Noro Shinano.  Rows 7 and 8 are similar to rows 3 and 4 except slipped and knit stitches are reversed so that the mohair yarns show in staggered pattern rather than lined up. 

Initially, making the magic ball made me feel so wrong: Cut up yarns and then tie them up every 15”!  But, when I saw the swatch, my feeling of guilt went away. 

The pattern I selected was design #1 from VK magazine Winter 2004/2005 issue, without the back pleat.  I reversed the right and wrong side of knitting along the lapel line in the front bodices.  To finish it up, I added a braided trim along the edges and cuffs.  I used the orange red mohair yarns and a bright red angora yarn I had in my stash for the braid.  After a few wearing, I noticed that the jacket was losing its shape and thought it needed a lining.  I bought beautiful lightweight polyester fabric in hand-paint like print in greens and blues, lined the whole jacket except for the lapels and the collar, and hand quilted throughout.  The lining pattern was made up by simply placing the jacket on a blank sheet of paper and traced it.  I had to make certain that the pattern is symmetric.  That was all what I did. 

This was such an organic project and I love the result. 

The only problem is that it is an orphan at this point.  I had a dark green knitted short skirt, but I have grown a bit since then.  All I could come up with in my wardrobe was the tweed skirt.  It is not too bad together, but not good enough.  So, I should dig up my stash in search of dark green fabric!