Despite appearances, I haven't been lazy. To prove this, I'm posting two - yes two - projects today: the Miette cardigan and the Birdy skater.
Summer is definitely not the time of the year for knitting, but after finishing my Castle Pullover, I decided to make a summer cotton cardi. I wanted something cropped and with short or 3/4 sleeves to wear over dresses as an extra layer. Andi Satterlund's designs are super cute, to the point where I couldn't really decide which one I wanted, so naturally I went for the free one.
The pattern is really well-written and well-designed - I particularly liked how it all comes together through the addition of the button-band and collar. The only modification I made was to made the sleeves a little shorter, which was a good thing because I almost ran out of yarn (7 skeins of the Drops Paris). Annoyingly, I didn't write down what I did for the first sleeve so I almost ended up with mismatched sleeves, but thankfully noticed the discrepancy soon enough. I also skipped the ktbl in the rib and stuck to plain k2p2 rib instead (out of laziness, I will admit).
I wish I had made it a little shorter though, but that might be the cotton rather than the pattern. The cotton yarn also means that it doesn't lay as nicely (the lace detail around the button-band and collar doesn't lay that flat and is not so obvious) and the whole thing is a little big, probably due to the lack of springiness.
Even so, I have already worn it twice, so it clearly serves its purpose well. But perhaps there is a cotton yarn out there that has a bit more springiness (I'm thinking Blue Sky Alpacas, which is meant to behave like wool, although it is very pricey). Or I should just stick to cardi patterns that don't have any lace.
Underneath the cardi, you will notice a new version of the Lady skater, or in this case Birdy skater.
I loooove this fabric! I got it from GirlCharlee after much deliberation, and its certainly exactly what I wanted when looking for a t-shirt-style fabric as well as being very soft and very pretty. However, it certainly had all the qualities of knit fabric that make people scared of it. It curled quite a lot while I was sewing it, the pins kept falling out, and I think I may have stretched it in a few places.
After last time, I got the Colette Guide to Sewing Knits, which had a few good tips and made me think that I should explore the other stitches in my machine that may work better than a simple zigzag. I discovered that I have a knit stitch that does indeed give it a fake-overlocker (and therefore more professional) look. It did, however, eat a lot of threat, was slower and needed a bit of help to move along right at the start of a line of stitching. Also, like with a real overlocker, picking stitches when making a mistake was a pain. But it definitely feels sturdier so I think its worth using.
I also tried a stretch straight stitch for my hem (which I think just back tacks while sewing straight), and it gave it a nice edge, probably one of the best hems I've sewn. But I'm not sure its good for knits despite being a stretch stitch, as the hem ended up being a bit curly.
Summer is definitely not the time of the year for knitting, but after finishing my Castle Pullover, I decided to make a summer cotton cardi. I wanted something cropped and with short or 3/4 sleeves to wear over dresses as an extra layer. Andi Satterlund's designs are super cute, to the point where I couldn't really decide which one I wanted, so naturally I went for the free one.
The pattern is really well-written and well-designed - I particularly liked how it all comes together through the addition of the button-band and collar. The only modification I made was to made the sleeves a little shorter, which was a good thing because I almost ran out of yarn (7 skeins of the Drops Paris). Annoyingly, I didn't write down what I did for the first sleeve so I almost ended up with mismatched sleeves, but thankfully noticed the discrepancy soon enough. I also skipped the ktbl in the rib and stuck to plain k2p2 rib instead (out of laziness, I will admit).
I wish I had made it a little shorter though, but that might be the cotton rather than the pattern. The cotton yarn also means that it doesn't lay as nicely (the lace detail around the button-band and collar doesn't lay that flat and is not so obvious) and the whole thing is a little big, probably due to the lack of springiness.
Even so, I have already worn it twice, so it clearly serves its purpose well. But perhaps there is a cotton yarn out there that has a bit more springiness (I'm thinking Blue Sky Alpacas, which is meant to behave like wool, although it is very pricey). Or I should just stick to cardi patterns that don't have any lace.
Underneath the cardi, you will notice a new version of the Lady skater, or in this case Birdy skater.
I loooove this fabric! I got it from GirlCharlee after much deliberation, and its certainly exactly what I wanted when looking for a t-shirt-style fabric as well as being very soft and very pretty. However, it certainly had all the qualities of knit fabric that make people scared of it. It curled quite a lot while I was sewing it, the pins kept falling out, and I think I may have stretched it in a few places.
After last time, I got the Colette Guide to Sewing Knits, which had a few good tips and made me think that I should explore the other stitches in my machine that may work better than a simple zigzag. I discovered that I have a knit stitch that does indeed give it a fake-overlocker (and therefore more professional) look. It did, however, eat a lot of threat, was slower and needed a bit of help to move along right at the start of a line of stitching. Also, like with a real overlocker, picking stitches when making a mistake was a pain. But it definitely feels sturdier so I think its worth using.
I also tried a stretch straight stitch for my hem (which I think just back tacks while sewing straight), and it gave it a nice edge, probably one of the best hems I've sewn. But I'm not sure its good for knits despite being a stretch stitch, as the hem ended up being a bit curly.
Very nice work on your projects :)
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work :)
Thanks!
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