crazed harlequin dress

Here is my latest project hot off the needles - two dresses in one!




I figure this should blow the eyes off the co-workers tomorrow! I was advised on Friday that some of them have started a pool on what colours I will come in wearing on Mondays... ;)

It was actually a surprisingly quick knit... although working with the Suede was rather hot yesterday in the 29 celsius/two million celsius with the humidex and smog alert (did I really need to know that) temperatures - 27 C inside my apartment. Trip to buy an A/C unit scheduled for Tuesday (wish me luck!)

Yarn: Berroco Suede (9 skeins approx)
Colours: hot pink, hot lime, black, dark purple and "tricolour" purple
Needle size: 5 mm
Started: 30 May 2007
Finished: 3 June 2007
Pattern: by me, inspired by Trapeze Tank in Knitters' Magazine Spring 2005 (see my post on 30 May, last photo, for what the actual pattern looks like in "real life".

work in progress - Tomato

so far so good... I just started it at 2 this afternoon and cooked dinner and did some cleaning in between! (it's now 7:30).

This is my stab at the Tomato from the No Sheep for You blog - thought I would jump on the bandwagon.

I am subbing in a chequerboard pattern for the fair isle bit and thought I'd put some on the sleeves as well. The main colour is deep purple, with coral and light teal as the contrast colours.

Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 cotton
Needles: 4.5 mm addi turbos

rainbow dress - no silly self-portraits this time...

Thought I'd break down and get DH to take some photos (I *hate* being photographed...). Glad to see that the dress still glows despite the grey day outside...

travelling knit...

It's official - I have now graduated to the ranks of those who knit while using public transit! It certainly relaxes me while heading to work - and I've ended up having quite a few interesting conversations with other crafters as a result! (despite the odd looks I get from some other people who are perhaps scared of pointy objects...)

This is my first travel project - it will be a tank top when finished. I work on it only on the TTC - started about 3 weeks ago:



Purdy, ain't it?

Yarn: Lana Grossa Elastico (stretchy cotton/scrylic blend)
Needles: 3.25 - 3.75 mm circular.

swing dress - side 1 almost done!

I'm very much liking the colour combo for side 1... and here is the colour combo for side 2:



A couple of glitches:

(a) I don't have enough of either of these colors to finish the whole side... so I will have to sub in some black;

(b) I just realised that instead of two purple Suede, I bought one purple and one tricolour. Oh well. It will make for a more interesting dress, I suppose. LYS has none of the colours I picked originally left and I'm not too big on the colours they had in stock.

I hope to finish this dress tomorrow and start on something else.. hmm... the Bacardi, a Tomato, a "spicy" fitted T-shirt from Fitted Knits, a minidress from a vintage "hostess gown" pattern... too many choices, too little time! (but, too much yarn as well, if that's possible!)

what is it?

Is it a bird?



Is it a plane?



...ahem... none of the above... it's

SUPER SWING DRESS!!!

Or, hopefully it will be super!

Picture this, but longer and swingier:



Both are modified from a pattern in Knitter's Universe mag from 2005.

Both are made with Berroco Suede on 5 mm addis (which are, in themselves, superthings!)

Stay tuned...

rainbow dress - done!

The rainbow dress (based on the Rectangular Fitted Tunic from Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits) is done! For specs, see below:

Self-portrait


Front of dress


Back of Dress



self-portrait


How it went: I'm more or less happy with the outcome. Not as fitted as I wanted it - this was a side effect of working with so many different yarns. The tunic part of the dress is knitted from side to side (which I loved) and then I added short row shaping at the sides and bottom for the skirt. This was partly a stashbuster and partly a way to try out some new yarns. The experiment in this regard worked quite well, I think. I wasn't sure how it would turn out considering that I used quite wildly differing weights and types of yarn.

Specs:

Yarns:
Berger Du Nord Belle Print (100% silk)- worsted weight
Fleece Artist merino sock yarn - sock weight
Fleece Artist sea wool (100% merino)- sock weight
Handmaiden Sea Silk - fingering weight
Claudia Handpaints (100% merino) - sock weight
Handmaiden Silken - DK/worsted weight
Alchemy (100% silk)- fingering weight
Needful Elba (100% nylon - ribbon)
S.R. Kerzner "Sari" ribbon (polyamide)
Rowan Calmer (cotton/acrylic) - worsted weight
Romni linen (100% linen)

Needle sizes:

3.25 mm, 3.75 mm, 4.0 mm, 4.25 mm

Other notions: 6 buttons

Finished size: 35" bust, 32 inches long at longest point.

Pattern:

For the "bodice" and most of the dress, I adapted the Rectangular Fitted tunic pattern by Stephanie Japel with the following changes:

* instead of the "morse code" pattern, I put in black stripes with linen to separate the colours. [I love the morse code pattern but didn't think it would show well with so many colours)

* I made the "small" size but increased the length to 26", excluding the hem.

* instead of seaming the sides, I used a provisional cast on and then 3 needle bindoff.

To make the "skirt":

(a) I added some short row shaping to the bottom of each side of the tunic (starting from the hip shaping down)... the short rows were worked in 4 stitch increments)

(b) I then added short rows to the bottom by dividing each piece in half (both front and back) and working short rows in 4 stitch increments - deepest point of the triangles to the outside.

(c) I then added more short row shaping to the bottom, reversing so that the deepest part of the triangles faced to the middle.

As a result of this dress, I now have 3 new favourite yarns:

(a) the Berger du Nord Belle Print (which was sent to me as part of an online swap. Thanks, Ruth! )

(b) Handmaiden Silken

(c) Handmaiden Sea Silk (I know, I know... I've jumped onto the Handmaiden bandwagon).

Victoria's Secret...

...or, What I Did Over the May two-four weekend! a work in progress:




This is a dress I'm trying to make based on the Rectangular fitted tunic from Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel. I know, I know - it's looking a bit rough! Rather overzealously, I thought I might actually finish the dress. I did, however, have a few other things to do! (sigh).

It is fun for me to see how it is coming together although I'm not quite sure how the finished product will look. Colourful, at any rate. ;-) The working title is either "Muppet Explosion" or "Pride Dress". At this point the length is 26" approx so I will have to add some more short rows along the bottom (and another sleeve, I guess).

Oh... and due to the work on this, I did not manage to drink a twofer on the long weekend - only a 6. I did however watch the Bob and Doug reunion which was worth a laugh ("take off, eh?")

Julie McC tagged me!! Seven random things...

Julie McC tagged me in what I gather is a virtual chain letter (am I showing my age here? Do chain letters still exist in paper form?). So, in order to avoid bad knitting karma, I'm passing along the message -TAG - you're it! (see below).

Please see the end of the post for the Rules.

And, if anyone else is interested (?!) please feel free to post a comment to this post with your 7 things.

Now, to see if I can come up with seven things about myself! Hmm...

1. I have a black thumb, meaning that I kill everything green and living that I touch and am banned from going anywhere near the flower boxes on the balcony!

2. I worked as an exotic dancer for 3 years to save enough money to put myself through graduate education (a cliche, I know, I know...)

3. I taught myself to knit when I was 12 because my grandmother (rest her soul) refused to teach me.

4. Being greek-canadian, I actually do break plates on occasion - to make mosaic covered furniture (see 2006 page on this blog if interested).

5. I used to smoke 3 25-packs of cigarettes a day (see #2, above). I am now down to 1 pack of 25 (Dunhills, if there is anyone else out there foolish enough to keep smoking).

6. My favourite humourist is David Sedaris, followed very closely by Rick Mercer.

7. My favourite breakfast is a toasted all-dressed bagel with peanut butter and crisp bacon. In a pinch, pretty much any other type of bagel will do unless it is fruit flavoured (I do not believe in fruit flavoured bagels).

PHEW!!!

***************************************************
The rules (as posted on Julie's blog) are here:

List 7 random things about yourself on your blog.
Tag 7 others.
Leave a comment on their blog to direct them to your site to get the rules.

Probably, just like the real life tag game, there are no "tag-backs". (Or is it "punch buggy, no punch backs..." - ah, all of these fond memories lost in the mists of time...

And... the lucky winners are... (drum roll, please...):

PrairieGirl
RaeKnits
Haley
Clarabelle
Jocelyn
Carol
Sonya

I suspect now I will go down from 8 readers to 1 (there is one reader with no blog). SIGH. And - my apologies if I've tagged someone who has already been tagged. Apparently this tag game has gone rampant and many of those I tried had already been hit.

Cheers!

colour my world...

I seem to have gone colour-mad! First I started this:



(the wonderful - and decivingly simple - Bacardi pattern by Barbara Gregory in No Sheep for You... and thanks to Barbara for preparing me a chart with my personal colours!)...

...but then starting hitting the stash and got some wonderful small samples in a swap from an online acquaintance from Knitty. Also, bought another book called "Fitted Knits" by Stephanie Japel:

So, now I have started turning this:



...into this:



The finished product, goddess willing, will be a dress. And then it will be back to the Bacardi...

new dress!

I'm sad to say that I have not been able to photograph this in a way that does it justice. However, I'm quite happy with the result (although I would tweak it a bit)...

(headless wonder shot)



(fuzzy attempts at self-portrait in a bedroom which was really supposed to be cleaned this past week during our week off - oh well...)




(on the hanger - doesn't look as good there as on, I don't think)...



Yarns: Trendsetter "Segue" (polyamide ribbon) and Fleece Articst Curlilocks
Needle size: 9 mm plus 7 mm crochet hook
Time spent: 10 hours approx
Design by: ME!

I am motivated to keep working on the design and can already see where I went "wrong" and what I would like to change. I think I'll try it next in some Berroco Suede (which I bought to do a very funky handbag, before making about 50 other funky handbags... would rather make a dress. Plus, another excuse for a trip to the LYS as I will not have enough to finish the dress).

a week in the (so-called) life...!

Well, actually, I must confess that it has been a great life this week and accordingly I've been able to allot a disprortionate amount of time to knitting! Ribbing section of a sweater, two tank tops and other WIPs later, here is the progress report:

I kicked off the week in uncharateristically selfish fashion by starting on the He Gansey from the No Sheep book for DH:



... but then I got bored with the colour, which was DH's choice (sorry, DH, I should never have asked your preference...) so I turned my thoughts to the other items posted below... and to colour choices for the Bacardi cardigan from the same book for ME...



... which I will probably start on Monday or Tuesday after I have finished this little dress...



... and also this (which involves no little frogging of the way-too-large boxer shorts)...



Colour me (apart from the grey gansey yarn) obsessed!!! It has been a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing week (and I did even manage to fit in a few social events and a trip or two) - and I will have great difficulty going back to the office on Monday. But - I've got to pay for all this yarn somehow... ;-)

more sale yarn...

...led to this new summer knit (I don't think I've knit as many summer things in all my life as I have this week!).



And it is my own design, so I'm feeling quite chuffed as they say in the UK (I think, anyway!)

Yarn: South West Trading Co Phoenix Soy Silk and Kerzner Sari ribbon (2 skeins of soy silk, one skein approx of ribbon)
Needles: 6 mm circular + 4.5 mm crochet hook

The tank was knitted in the round - no sewing!! (did I mention I hate sewing?) It was my attempt to avert the twin disasters of not liking the ribbing I had picked and realising about a thrid of the way through that I would have only enough of the soy silk to finish halfway up the armpits. After panicking and running around my apartment like a jackass for about 20 minutes I raided the stash and found the sari ribbon which I had bought (just because it was so pretty and it cost only $1 per skein). So, all was good again.

I'll call it "Silken Sunset", I think. ;-)

Neckline and hem are crocheted in 2 rounds hdc. The armhole edging was knit in with a slip stitch pattern.

the one-day tank

Well, thanks to kind people on the Knitty Board responding yesrterday morning to a plea on what to do with some sale yarn": here is the result!!!

Pattern is the Ribbon X-Back (found on the Knitty webiste at Knitty.com)




Yarn: Rowan Cotton Tape - most of 4 skeins for the x-small - I combined deep pink and purple which is what I had bought on sale

Needle size: 8mm

Time spent - total 5 hours!!

A GREAT summer pattern!

Samus, redux

Here it is: based on the Samus pattern at the Knitty website: http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTsamus.html




Yarn: (body) Super 3 (Kerzner - discontinued - mercerised cotton, aran weight) - 650 g approx; (edging) Newport Pima Cotton by Classic Elite Yarns (mercerised cotton)
Notions: 5mm circular needles; 3.5mm crochet hook

I had committed some kind of sin some months back by knitting a cardigan for DH where I knew I would want to use the same pattern again for myself (see my post on 25 October 2006). So - the challenge was to make sure that the two, seen together, did not look some some cutesy "his n hers" deal. I think I've managed, more or less. How?

Some notes:

- when I first saw the pattern (which was knitting in roughly the same orange colour as you see above), my first thought (with no offence to the designer at all) was "Who would knit a gorgeous sweater like this in the colour of a pumpkin"? Answer (with the cold light of 20/20 hindsight): *I* would... at least if I came across a Super 10 like yarn on sale!

- I changed the cable pattern on the bottom from the original, partly in aid of avoiding the "his 'n hers" syndrome. The pattern I used is located in the fabulous book "Cables Unlimited" by Melissa Leapman.

- the edging choice was torturous and expensive (considering that I spent only $45.00 or so on the yarn for the body). My initial thought was fuschia Super 10, then lime green. I ended up buying two skeins each of fuschia and KELLY green (the latter "by mistake"). I couldn't find the lime green (one of my favourites) and ended up buying another scarlet coloured skein yesterday. After all that, the Super 10 did not work out well for me because the gauge (DK) was too different. AND I now have spent more on the Super 10 than I did for the original yarn! (probably just my subconscious telling me "Buy and hoard Super 10... buy and hoard Super 10...)

- re. edging: I'm also a bit sad because my ultimate choice, the Classic Elite, did not work well for the i-cord eging specified as there was not enough give and the slip stitches seemed to pop out. I was particularly peeved at this as I had wanted to do a cable I-cord edging. Oh well. I resorted to the handy old crochet needle - at which point I could not find a way to make the edging 100% even. This, I will term a "design feature".

- there are no fasteners. I will be using this as a spring/summer light jacket and find I don't do up my other jackets in the spring and summer anyway.

- the sweater has not been properly blocked. This is because I am lazy and impatient and hate blocking. (I must reserve any energies I have for seaming, which I also hate). I did throw the knitted pieces into the wash after finishing and steam-ironed the crocheted edging and trim. I'm sure it would look much better if blocked, but I can't be bothered.

- the sweater was very fun to knit (as was DHs) and I would highly recommend this pattern for people relatively new to knitting who want to try out a cable pattern for the first time. The one in the actual Samus pattern is quite a bit more intricate than the one I chose, and ultimately looks better with the cardigan... but I'm happy with this one as well and it was quite a bit simpler.

Now, on to the He gansey from No Sheep and to figuring out how to convert some sale yarn (polyamide wide ribbon, Rowan Cotton Tape and Pheonix "soy silk" into cute little tank tops... I don't know that I have enough in quantity of the latter two nor that I have the mathematical brain required to compute the stitch count for wildly different gauged yarn in the tank top patterns I have... SIGH).

pics of older stuff

Here is a dress I designed - have not worn often because not 100% happy with it, but good for a first effort at knitting a skirt, I think:



Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece



And here is a photo of a "phony seam" on a sweater knitted in the round...
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece

what to do?

I wish I had never bought the No Sheep For You book by Amy Singer. Not because I don't like it - but because I'm having a difficulty getting to work with all the great patterns. And - the stash which I had successfully started to bust is now burgeoning again.

Plus: also I am loving working on a Samus-style cardigan (Knitty website) I'm now facing the dreaded SSS (second sleeve syndrome and just want to start something else.

So - I'm posting my WIP photo of the Samus to re-invigorate myself:



Yarn: Super 3 by Kerzner (discontinued) - purple is for the i-order border and is Newport Pima Cotton (mercerised)

And with all greatest intentions, my plan was first to knit the Bacardi pattern, calling for Super 10, in order to engage in some stash busting - it's getting to the point otherwise where I could probably open a Super10 store:



....but then I went on-line and bought Rowan cotton for the following two projects:




What's a girl to do? Good thing I've got this week off work... but the danger is that I will never go back! However, no work, no money for more yarn... such a dilemma.

And, on the upside, I just rescued a 3 drawer plastic "file cabinet" from my apartment disposal which will help to contain the stash...

... but on the downside, I still have two bags to sew together and line... (I HATE this part)...

;-)

Calmer vs. Elastico...

Some info about my recent geeky quest to finding a cheaper substitute for the Rowan Calmer called for in the Morrigan pattern (from No Sheep For You - highly recommended). I had come across Lana Grossa Elastico - like the Calmer, 50g = 160 m. The results from my tension sample tests are in...(pardon the stripes from my balcony railing - my camera works better in natural light). The tangerine colour is the Calmer, the yellow the Elastico. All samples were knitted on bamboo circular needles. The tension sample is taken from Chart R3 of the Morrigan pattern from No Sheep for You - meant to yield a 4" swatch from 40 sts. and 44 rows.


1. Comparison
The two adjacent samples were knitted on 3.25mm as the pattern calls for. The smaller sample on the top was knitted on 3mm needles.








2. Calmer
This tension sample worked out just about right - 4" x 4" approx.










3. Elastico - 3.25mm

When knitted on the same size as the Calmer, this sample worked out to a touch over the right width (4.2" approx) but quite a bit too long (at over 4.5")...






4. Elastico - 3mm
... so I tried the Elastico again using the next size down of needles. I got lazy, though, and only finished 1/2 the sample (the row length is 22 rows instead of 44). Results still not 100% - width right this time at 4" but length still too long (at 2.25" approx for 1/2 the sample).




You may also notice that the Calmer has knitted more evenly than the Elastico. No doubt part of this is due to my own (lack of) skill :-). However, the difference in quality is quite pronounced in my samples. If anything, the Elastico sample closest to the appropriate tension is the most uneven.

So, for myself, I think I would have to stick with the Calmer. A surer cable knitter than myself might have some luck with the Elastico, though.

A note about the relative characteristics of the yarns: the Calmer was quite a bit "thicker" (read: fluffier) to the feel than the Elastico and also had quite a bit more stretch. I liked working with both equally but they were quite different.

Another note: I felt quite clever with myself by managing to knit part of these samples without using a cable needle! (I did the Calmer sample half and half, and can't tell the difference between the two parts myself. For the technique, see the new book Cables Untangled by Melissa Leapman).

in progress...

It's been a while since I posted. Have been too busy knitting and being depressed with the lack of sun. Now the sun is back... !!!

1. Periwinkle Bag

I need to put in some lining yet...



Specs:
yarn: Burley Spun - Brown Sheep, one skein
needle size: 10 mm
time to make: 2 hours approx

2. Samus-style cardigan (in progress)




Specs:

Yarn: Super 3 (discontinued) - Kerzner - aran weight mercerised cotton. I plan a border with lime-green Super 3
Inspiration: Samus pattern from knitty.com
Needle Size: 5 mm

3. Tension sample for Morrigan



This is my attempt to see if I can substitute yarns for the gorgeous Morrigan sweater in the new book No Sheep For You by Amy R. Singer. Designer = Jenna Wilson. More to the point, it's my endeavour to see whether I actually have the guts to try the sweater. This is a sample based on chart R3. Not the colour I would go with... I just had this lying around, which is 1/2 the price of the yarn called for (Rowan Calmer). The tension sample (meant to be 6 inches) is about 1/3 inch too wide. Height was OK.

Specs:
Yarn: Lana Grossa Elastico
Needle Size: 3.25 mm.
Time Spent: er.... don't ask... 2 hours.

the perfect sweater!

... many months in the knitting (well, actually, only about 3 days in the knitting but spread out over a long time). The pattern is found at masondixonknitting.com.

This is a detail of the LOVELY yarn:



Specs:

Yarn: Fleece Artist Kid Silk 2 ply (70% kid, 30% silk) - most of two skeins (total weight approx. 450 g). Colour is called "blue rainbow"
Needle size: 4 mm (bamboo)
size: small

I loved working with this yarn - and the sweater will be luxurious to wear. For once, am hoping for cold weather tomorrow.

And - the sweater fits as though it were made for me!

;-)