Knitting - Hubby's giant yellow scarf

Pattern: Made up as I went
Yarn: Home Farm Wensleydales "Big Wool" in Amber
Needle: 9mm
Size: About 8" wide and 6+ feet

What I did:
Hubby requested a chunky scarf to go with his navy overcoat for winter, and said he was open to having an interesting colour. I found the Home Farm Wensleydales stand at the British Wool show in York, and they had the perfect chunky yarn in the perfect yellow.



We browsed for a pattern which he liked, but most of the patterns he chose were for lighter weight yarns, so I took those as inspiration and charted a 6-strand cable. After I knitted the first repeat I got hubby's feedback, and he was concerned it was too wide. So, I started again with a narrower cable, a bit more garter stitch, and a nice fast knit!

I realised quite early on that the three balls of yarn wouldn't be enough for the length of scarf that I wanted, so I got in touch with the owner of HFW who confirmed that they had some of the same dyelot left, and that she'd be happy to send me some. Resisting the temptation to buy lots more of their yarn (it's seriously scrumptious!) I ordered just one more ball.



Verdict: I love it. He loves it. It's going to be super warm!

If you like this pattern, it's available in my Ravelry Store.

Knitting - Gradient Socks

Pattern: Basic sock pattern, twisted rib cuff, genuine afterthought heel.
Yarn: My hand-dyed gradient 4ply, approx 100g.
Needle: 2.5mm

After I dyed the gradient red/cream sock yarn, I couldn't wait to start knitting with it! So, I dug out a pair of 2.5mm circulars out, and cast on! I decided to put the darker red at the bottom as it would hopefully hold up better to wear and general grubbiness that socks have to deal with.

This was the first time I have done an actual afterthought heel. Normally I leave a line of contrasting yarn where I intend to put the heel, but as I didn't know exactly how long I was going to knit these socks (I wanted to use the whole gradient!) I had to do it properly.
Once I had finished the main sock body, I decided where the heel needed to be based on that.



Since I'm a bit of a stickler for my socks matching, I counted the number of rows so that I could replicate it for the second sock.

Yarn Harlot describes how to do the afterthought heel much more eloquently than I could.

And there you go. Gradient socks, uninterrupted gradient, genuinely afterthought heel.



A note about afterthought heels
Afterthought heels are especially useful if you want to preserve a stripe sequence or colour flow. Normally if you work a heel in a self-striping yarn as part of the knitting of the body of the sock you get an interruption to the stripes where the heel takes up some of the stripes. You can see this on the below picture where the brown stripes narrow over the top of the foot where the heel has been worked.



So, to avoid this, if you knit the heel afterwards you can be sure to preserve the stripes. The other way is to stop at the end of a stripe, knit the heel and then wind off the yarn to the next sensible place to start once the heel is done. This seems wasteful to me, and wouldn't work on a gradient like this.

Sewing - Simplicity 1458 Amazing Fit Dress

Simplicity are running a bloggers' challenge; there are four patterns and five categories in which sewists can participate.

I requested the patterns in the "newcomer" and "dressmaker" categories, in the hope that I would be able to make at least one of those successfully. I went back and checked the rules and realised that I've actually been sewing for too long to be considered a beginner! Oh well, I'm still going to make that skirt!

Aside from the excellent service I've received from Simplicity, I also find the patterns in both the New Look and Simplicity ranges to be easy to follow. I love the fact that the pattern sizes are stacked because it allows me to trace a pattern in one size at the waist, and taper out to a larger size at the hips, since I'm very much a pear shape! I didn't need to do that for this dress, though, as it comes with an option for a "curvy" bottom half!

In the dressmaker category the pattern is 1458 - Amazing Fit Dress.

I decided that I wanted something which would look interesting and fun, something I could wear to the office or to a nice event. Looking at the shapes in the pattern, I thought that using a contrast colour for the side panels could look really interesting, though it would mean that my seams would need to be matched up well! I chose pink and black because I like those colours (you might have guessed that, if you've seen my other makes!)

This has been an excellent learning project for me, as it's encompassed several firsts. I inserted my first genuinely invisible zip, I under-stitched my facings for the first time, and I used the blind hem foot to do the hem for the first time.

Sorry about the weird pose, I was sinking into the grass with those heels!

The fitting instructions in the patterns were very helpful, and allowed me to reduce the excess fabric both above and below my bust (I'm apparently a funny shape). I also took away a little more excess through the side seams to fit a little better at my waist/hip, tapering out to the bottom of the skirt.

I'm really pleased with the dress, I look forward to wearing it!

With hindsight, I may have made it a little more fitted across the waist/back than the pattern calls for, but with my shapewear underneath that won't be a problem.

I don't know whether I'll make another of these. The neckline is a bit higher than I would normally choose in a dress, but it does look great on. I've made this one quite fitted, so I could try a lighter or stretchier fabric and a less close fit. The option for sleeves is appealing as the autumn starts to make itself felt. The great thing about making your own clothes is that you can choose whether to make them fit closer, and exactly where to make the fit closer.

Sewing - Simplicity 1418 - Dress

Simplicity 1418 Dress with bodice options

I sewed this dress as part of an outfit-along. It goes with the Saffire shrug I knitted. However, I didn't take any decent photos when I wore it, and so I had to wait until the next opportunity to wear it and take photos!

The pattern is a nice one, where you can mix-and-match to get the bodice that you want. I'd never made anything with pleats in the skirt either, so that was a nice new challenge for me.



Modifications:
I didn't use bias binding on the edges, I faced them instead. A bit of a pain, but it looks good. I did this because I couldn't find a binding to match the dress fabric and I didn't want to make my own.
I also fitted the zip a bit differently and put a hook-and-eye at the top.

Things I'd change:
I would do the zip as written! I find it uncomfortable under my arm there. I'd also do an actual concealed zip, which I didn't know how to do at the time.
I'd love to try this in a knit fabric, I think it could be lovely. Then I would omit the zip entirely.
Also, I've lost weight since I wore this first time around, so I might have to take it in a little around the bust. I think it still looks pretty nice though.

Now I've got it out and tried it on again, I plan to both wear this one again, and hopefully make another, maybe even in a smaller size! 

Knitting - Yoga Socks

Pattern: Made up as I went
Yarn: Noro Kureyon Sock; S184
Needle: 2.5mm

What I did:
Instead of knitting a heel, I put some stitches onto waste yarn and then continued in pattern down the foot.
I picked up around the heel and worked eight rounds of ribbing.

I measured my foot, the length of the cuff and leg should be the same as the length of the foot and toe cuff, for these socks. I wound the Noro into four small balls. I cast on my usual amount of stitches (64) and worked a ribbed cuff, two at a time from two of the balls, changing colour every four rows, for twelve rows.

Once the foot was long enough, I went back to just one ball of yarn and worked twelve rounds of ribbing, then cast-off loosely.

Verdict: I'm pretty pleased with them. I'll be wearing them to my yoga retreat, so I may update with how they fared in the wild.

Update: 
If I were to make these again, I'd add a toe-tab to keep them in the right place, I also think I could have made the foot/cuff a little longer.

Sewing - Overnight Duffel

I little while ago I signed up to go on a yoga retreat, and I've been looking forward to it. But, looking at my various luggage options there wasn't anything which made me think "yoga retreat" or that would be the sort of size/style I wanted.
I browsed Pinterest (here's my yoga retreat pinterest board) for some ideas, and I thought that the Overnight Duffel from The Stitching Scientist was a good fit.

Once I had decided that this was the bag for me, I had to find some appropriate fabric. I wanted something hardwearing, but also attractive. After a brief search I found this lovely Rose and Hubble Paris inspired fabric at my favourite online fabric store, Remnant House. I also picked up a nice cotton for the contrast and lining.



I then began my search for all the other bits I needed. I knew I wanted a zip which would open in the middle, a must for a bag like this if you ask me. I also wanted to add a shoulder strap to the bag as I'm often carrying or holding hands with a toddler and cross-body bags rock for that. This meant that I needed some extra hardwear, specifically a strap adjuster, D-rings, and clip ends for the strap. On the advice of my knitting/sewing online friends on Ravelry, I also got some fuseable fleece for the main bag, and some medium-weight fuseable interfacing.

I printed out the pattern, but I ended up with pieces which just didn't look big enough. So, instead of trying to re-print them (given the difference could be US Letter paper vs A4, or my printer, or the PDF scaling, or a number of other issues) I decided I would simply create my own pieces, but then follow the instructions. The main difference in doing this is that I have redrawn the ends as rectangles with semi-circles on top (for ease of maths) rather than ovals. This also means that the pockets are square. I did a bit of maths to ensure that all my pieces would fit on the fabric, and worked out a layout to cut the pieces.

The two-ended zip that I bought was an X zip - so when you open it the sliders come from either end.



However, I wanted them to come from the middle, so I followed Thread Riding Hood's tutorial to do just that.



The other main thing I did differently was when inserting the zip. As written, the pattern suggests sewing the main body inside and outside pieces together, then turning them, then inserting the zip between them. However, this would still leave the bare edge of the zip visible inside the bag.
I simply sewed the zip in at the same time as making the top seam of the pieces. This was a little tricky because it meant that when sewing the other side seams of these pieces, I had to fold and pin the other half of the bag sides out of the way. I think it was worth it though.



Making the shoulder strap has been quite a learning experience. It's important to attach the hardware in the right order. As the swivel-clips don't have a gap to thread the strap through, these have to be inserted and sewn on. The strap adjuster also needs to be sewn on, with the end of the strap looping around the middle bar of the adjuster. I think it works well, but in future I will consider webbing for the straps.



Verdict

The pattern is nicely written, and if I'd followed it exactly I would still have got a great bag. My modifications just personalise it a little bit.

Adding fuseable fleece was a great idea, it makes the bag seem quite luxurious! I did fleece and medium interfacing on the bottom piece for extra strength, and I'm pleased I did that too.

I might make another of these bags, though if I do I'd consider making it a bit bigger to hold a weekend worth of clothes for everyone. It's been a nice introduction to making bags though, with no interior zips to worry about or strange fastenings.

I especially like the interior finishing, achieved effectively by sewing all the lining pieces to their outers before construction of the bag. I think if one wanted to add more pockets this method of construction would lend itself to doing so quite efficiently. I liked the canvas, but I found it quite hard to sew. Even with my walking foot it wasn't always feeding through evenly with the cotton. This would probably be less of a problem if both fabrics had been craft cotton.


Fitting the ends into the tube made by the bottom and sides wasn't easy either, partly due to some fit issues I had (the base wasn't quite wide enough, I think because of the conversion from oval to D shaped end.

I also had to think about placement of the tabs for the D-rings, Attaching these had to be done after the end pieces had been assembled, which was made harder by the fact that I wanted to sew them below the top of the pockets.

I'm looking forward to giving this bag its first outing at the Yoga retreat. I just wish I'd made it big enough to hold my Yoga mat too! Oh well. Maybe next time...

Spinning - Willo Fibers kid mohair

So, I spun this a while ago during the TdF, but I've only just got round to uploading the photos for it. I bought the fibre from a festival because I liked the colours.



When it came to spinning it, I thought it might be nice if I split it up and spun it as a gradient, from yellow through pink/orange to black (well, deep purple)



Details:
Length: approx 125 yards
Type/weight: 3ply DK (ish) yarn
Spin/ply direction: Z spun and S plied on an Ashford Traveller, standard maiden, middle whorl.
Verdict: I like how the colours have come out. The darker colours are much more purple than they seemed in the fibre, but it still works. I think this may be destined to be a hat.