Between the last Masters I did and finally finding a job with decent hours (love my job, by the way!), the last few years have meant that I have had to scale back my knitting alot. Sewing has had something to do with it, but not as much as you’d think…usually I sew when I can’t knit and vice versa. I’ve also had a recurring tension problem in my left arm that is often exacerbated by knitting, but not by sewing. Anyway, all this to say that I still knit almost every day but it tends to be very plain and easy to knit!

Example one: a wool shrug in Jamieson shetland.

The pattern is called ‘Biston’ and it’s a downloadable from one of the Wool People magazines. This is perfect TV knitting and just as well, as I’m working with 2.5mm needles. It’s slow going.

Example two: a replacement pair of Welsh Country socks. I was really upset when my brown and cream pair shank. I invested in two balls of Brown Sheep Wildfoote, which washes beautifully. I finally got to the toe of the second one last night. These I found to be hard work on my hands – 2mm metal dpns are unforgiving.

Lastly, I casted on for yet another shawl in the Blue Sky Alpaca ‘Silkpaca’ (correct me if I’m wrong, I’m not sure of the name). This stuff is just heaven! Love! Considering what I have planned for summer sewing (an unmentioned jacket maybe…) this will really for the bill.

I think another part of my knitting slow down is alot to do with the fact that I have many, many hand knit items that I love to wear still and don’t find myself lacking too often! Aside from one or two ‘top up’ sweaters or cardigans, I will probably devote much of my summer and autumn knitting to adding to Alb’s and my Dad’s currently measly collection.

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I have a lot of things to take photos of – my pink jumper, a shawl I finished and blocked over a fortnight ago, socks…and a polka dot top and my kilt, shown below.

I’m happy to have indulged my kilt whim as I learned far more than I expected from it! The top I have looked forward to making and it was a fun, quick project. Looking forward to showing both.

I also sewed up a muslin for my Mum’s blouse. Sorry about the poor light, it’s been dismal weather.

I need her to fit it on before I cut out the actual fabric. I measured it and it should be in the money but best to be sure! And so that we’re all on the same page, THIS is the fabric (not the other one, Mum).

Nice, isn’t it? It’s a polycotton I got in Murphy Sheehy’s last summer but couldn’t find a pattern ‘perfect’ enough for it. I’m training myself out of that. Sometimes, you should just use it. Anyway, this works out in Mum’s favour! It’s definitely her colours.

The other thing I have to show you is this funny little thing I’ve been meaning to make since I got Bertha (my bike). I finally found clips in Hickey’s the last time I was there and made this up in about ten mins.

It’s a piece of elastic inside a cotton casing, attached to two clips…and it works like this…

It keeps my coat over my knees when I’m cycling, with still enough leeway to put my foot on the ground when necessary. In windy weather, my coat flaps open and when it’s raining, results in a very wet lower half. I’ve been using it constantly and it works perfectly. The clips were about €3.

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This outfit-a-month thing is working well for me. I made a blouse to go with the spring pants I showed a while ago. It’s been a heck of a week for me – I was hoping to have this finished a good while ago – but that’s how things go.

The weather has finally warmed up enough to make wearing the pants an option some days now. They have pros and cons: they’re amazingly comfortable and pliable (you can see that they already look a bit looser from having been worn a few times), but they wrinkle and tend to pick up fluff. As for the blouse, here are the details!

Pattern: Alma blouse by Sewaholic.

Fabric: Cotton poplin from Murphy Sheehy’s. I used about 2m because I wanted the full-length sleeves. The trim I got from Rubanesque. The total cost was somewhere in the region of €20-25. I didn’t have to use the trim but I think it’s nice and was happy to pay for something unique.

I made a few modifications. I (thankfully!) made a muslin first, cutting a size 2. The fit at the neckline and shoulders was great but too fitted throughout the body. It was only a bit – I could still squeeze in and out without needing a zip – so when I cut my actual fabric, I cut 2 for the neckline and collar, and 4 for everything else, including the armholes. This was a good adjustment.

Putting the trim was a pain. At first I wanted to use some piping because that’s what I had to hand and I thought it would be nice. It was but I didn’t really know what I was doing. In a desperate attempt to smooth out lumps, I trimmed my seam allowance too closely. Then in an attempt to salvage that, I topstitched the whole thing. It was a mess. Thankfully I had just enough fabric left over to cut another collar. Then, using this excellent tutorial on applying trim to a peter pan collar, I carefully got my new trim to behave itself. It wasn’t that hard.

As you can see, the collar lies pretty well. I have had all sorts of nightmares with peter pan collars. I think they are so pretty but my narrow shoulders don’t work well with something so curved.

The only other thing I think is worthy of mention is the cuffs. The instructions for the placket and cuffs is pretty limited. It’s fine if you’ve sewn them before, but if not, watch out! Look up a youtube video before progressing. It’s not particularly difficult but the diagrams are not at all clear. I discovered when I finished that I don’t even need to open the cuffs to get my hand through so if I make another long-sleeved version of this, I will probably leave off the cuffs altogether. Nice to have the option though.

I love to see how blouses with collars lie underneath a top layer such as a cardigan or pullover. Such photos are hard to come by so I thought I’d start the ball rolling maybe! Here is a very typical I’m-a-piano-teacher outfit.

So, two thumbs up for the Alma pattern! I’m looking forward to sewing up some other variations.

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The green jacket was quite the disaster – the neckline was too wide, the armscyes too deep and narrow. Despite my best efforts, I could not salvage the pattern. So, I decided to cut my losses and start again. Luckily the shop where I got the cotton to begin with had a little bit left (1.2m) and it was plenty for a second version. I used the pattern for this blouse as the basis. I traced off the front panel and added my own lapel, using the dimensions from the other pattern. Then I traced off a facing for it. It wasn’t very difficult at all.

The angle of the photo doesn’t reflect the fact that the hem of the jacket is parallel with the bottom of the waistband. It doesn’t look it but it is. I swear!

I was in a shop last week and I saw a Ted Baker coat with running stitch on the collar. I thought it looked nice so I used the same for my lapels. It killed two birds with one stone because it keeps the two layers together and stops the bottom one rolling out. I used the same thing for the hems of the sleeves.

You see that I used a floral ribbon for the hems. This was partly to give a bit of life to the insides and also to help keep the shape of the hems.

The whole ensemble works really well together and I’m glad I persevered with the jacket! No modelled photos today because the weather is awful -the light is poor and it is too chilly to strip off! Hopefully at the weekend conditions will improve.

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I love learning new things. Of course, part of this is making a lot of mistakes, getting stuck and having to figure it out.

Fitting. Lots of fitting.

Basting and re-basting. Discovering that my hand-stitching does not hold up under the weight of the fabric. I could probably persist but I think some plain old top-stitching will sort this out.

It is difficult to learn new things about the same things – therein lies the challenge.

Searching for a better way to work decreases in an uneven rib. Still not perfect but better than it was.

A birthday hat for a friend. Challenged myself to learn a new cast-on for rib and I love it. Challenged myself to do something a bit different for her with a honeycomb texture. It didn’t quite work out but now I know what will work and it’s better than what I imagined initially.

I’ve been living in this since the weekend. Yes, it’s a small blanket. Yes, it’s the dreamy cloud that is Malabrigo Lace and yes, it has already started to felt into itself! The pattern is Quill. I wear it doubled over with a shawl pin and then open it out over my knees when I’m sitting in the evening.

Over the last few years, I have become increasingly aware of people saying the same thing to me: That’s amazing! Do you sell what you make? I have had many conversations about this with people in different areas – dress designers and tailors, fellow knitters, non-crafty friends and strangers alike. On one hand, it is difficult to price attractively that rewards your time, skill and materials. On the other, there will always be a market for high end, hand made, well made, unique things. So, I suppose it’s about balance, marketing properly and being aware of the value of what I make. I am thinking about these things an increasing amount as I move into a new phase of my life. I am finished my music studies and I have music work that I love and that is about as secure as it can be right now. Alb encourages me to consider all the things that I can do and not get boxed in by doing just one thing. The more things I can do to make a little money, the better. It sounds like the perfect summer project if you ask me.

What do you think?

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