Knitting - Lady's Work Mittens by Sarah Bradberry

Pattern: Lady's Work Mittens by Sarah Bradberry
Yarn: Fyberspates Space Dyed Sock Yarn, Fiesta, 1 skein (approx 328 yards) - I used less than half the skein.
Needle: 3.5mm and 4mm

This yarn was part of a multi-buy I picked up ages ago, but then sold on in a destash to a friend of mine. That friend has sadly died and when her fiance was sorting out her stash I reclaimed it. The start of the yarn was a bit kinky, as though she'd already started something with it, but then re-wound it.
Anyway, the weather got cold here, and I had no mittens. I have some gloves, but I've been meaning to make myself some mittens for a while. I've always wanted some flip-top mittens!



Modifications and Adjustments:

• I didn't cast off at the gap, I moved the stitches onto a holder. I then did a provisional cast-on for the other side of the gap. Then I was able to pick up the live stitches to work the ribbing.
• I only picked up 19 stitches (not 20) for the ribbing, so that I could have both ends worked as knit on the outside, to make it look neater.
• I also did provisional cast on for the extra stitches for the thumb.
• I worked an extra round of decreases on the fingers, giving me a little bit more length.
• I ignored the number of rows for the thumb and just knitted til they were long enough.
• I made the mittens two-at-a-time

Verdict:
I'm really pleased with these. My little girl has asked for some, though I think I'll make her just regular mittens if I do. They fit me really nicely, which is unusual as I normally make mittens for myself too small and end up giving them away!

Sewing - New Look 6242

New Look 6242 Misses corset top with variations, Wide leg pants or full skirt

I like dressing up, and I like making my own costumes. We were invited to a 1980s themed fancy dress party and having looked at my options I decided that I was going to be the Princess of Power! But then I found out that the birthday girl was going to be She-Ra, so I switched out to Tinkerbell.

Fortunately I could still use the same corset pattern, just adding a skirt part to it as part of the construction. This posed a few challenges, as did my choice of fabric, a shiny top-layer to the dress over poly-cotton and a cotton lining.

The shiny top-fabric was very challenging to work with, it split easily, and frayed badly. It also pulled threads very easily when sewing (I should probably have switched out to a sharper needle). I also had some trouble with the invisible zip, due to the splitty fabric. It worked out fine in the end though.

The New Look pattern was well written though, I knew exactly what it wanted me to do at each stage. Since this was my first time boning a corset I appreciated the detailed instructions. I traced off the corset patterns and then lengthened them all based on the waist-line to skirt length. I left the bottom of the skirt straight to begin with.

Once I'd sewn everything together, I drew a zig-zag hem on the bottom, sewed that, and then trimmed off the excess fabric so that the points could be pressed out.

One set of inexpensive wings and some sparkly shoes later, and viola!



Modifications

Other than lengthening the pattern pieces and then adding the zig-zag edging, the only major modification I made was that I did boning on the front center, front side, and side panels, and put the zip in the back. I understand why the pattern has it in the side though. I also ended up putting a dart in the top of both side panels so that the dress sat flush with my chest instead of sticking out. If I had made a muslin I would have known to reduce the side panels accordingly.

If I were to make it again

I don't like the shape of the front center piece, I'm not sure if it was my wonky sewing though! It seemed to bow upwards rather than running straight across.

I think I could make this pattern again quite happily, though I don't have a lot of call for wearing corsets these days! I might make the She-Ra version I was planning, as I could wear it to York Comicon next year.

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.