Two Finished Cardigans

I have finished the cardigan which is a present for my mother.  I hope she will like it.  Normally she puts a new cardigan in a drawer – to keep for best and carries on wearing her usual ones.  I am the same in a way – if I don’t immediately start wearing something new – I forget about it.

 

This second cardigan has been unfinished all year – but it is also now finished because I have sewn on the buttons. 

I found during lockdown that I had a button shortage – I have got a lot of buttons but none of them were suitable for what I was knitting.  As soon as Banbury Sewing Centre reopened – I went in and stocked up on metals buttons which can be used with any yarn.

This week I have also ordered a Christmas present for me!  During this lockdown I have had a chance to think about what I would like to knit next.   When I say next – I probably mean next year.    I choose some more shades of Rowan Felted Tweed with the idea of knitting 2 shawls and a scarf.  I did an email order to Oxford Yarn Store and my parcel arrived on Friday.  I haven’t opened it yet.  I will save that for Christmas day.

Ella by Sirdar

For the last few weeks I have been knitting a cardigan as a birthday present for my mother.  Her birthday is in December.   I have knitted this design before a few years ago.  I am not sure where the pattern comes from – it has been cut out of a magazine.  It suggests various Sirdar double knitting yarns that could be used.   My mother needs something that is machine washable which will also survive the tumble dryer.   

The yarn I chose is Stylecraft Life dk Vintage Look which is 75% acrylic and 25% wool.  This shade is called Prairie.   Unfortunately the yarn is discontinued.  When I saw it in my local yarn store – it reminded me of my mother because these are the colours she normally wears.  I only bought 4 x 100g balls.  I thought it ought to be enough – mainly because that was enough last time I knitted this design in the smallest size.

Yesterday I was doing that favourite knitter’s habit of knitting faster because you think you are running out of yarn.   It was very close. When I finished the second sleeve – having already done to neck and front bands -  I had about 2 metres of yarn left!

I did have a plan B for if I ran out of yarn.  The first plan B was to unravel the whole cardigan and knit a design which used less yarn - but that was  bit drastic if it could be avoided.  My second plan B (or plan C) was to reknit the sleeves making them slightly narrower.  I always find that shop bought cardigans have much narrower sleeves than handknit patterns – so there is always scope to do this without the sleeves being too narrow.  However – I am really glad that I haven’t got to do it. 

All I have got to do now is sew it up.  I had better get on with it rather than start knitting anything else. 

Vanessa by Marie Wallin

Vanessa is a cardigan that I have been working on for more than a year.  I first noticed the pattern in November 2018 when I was in Oxford Yarn Store with my World War 1 Memorial Quilt.  I wanted to have another go at knitting a fair-isle cardigan. I still haven’t actually finished it.  I have finished the knitting unless I need to alter the sleeves but the garment is still in bits.

The cardigan is knitted in several shades of Rowan Felted Tweed – which is a lovely yarn.  I made a mistake and used the purple colour for the diamonds when I was supposed to use blue.  The chart is so small – I misread the symbol.  However I think it looks more cohesive to use the purple twice.  Also it demonstrates a point that Kaffe Fassett makes that colour look different depending on the colours that they are next to.  I think the purple looks like a different shade further down the pattern when it is next to the pink.

I don’t think I have ever finished a fair-isle cardigan  for an adult – I remember trying to knit a Debbie Bliss design in cotton.  I never finished that.  I have knitted lots of little fair-isle cardigans for babies and small children and I have knitted a fair-isle jumper that I don’t think I ever wore. 

In order to make this cardigan more wearable I have knitted the sleeves downwards (so I didn’t exactly follow the pattern - I knitted the instructions backwards).  This means that if the sleeves are too long (or too short) I can unravel or knit more rib.  I know I should measure them and I do but somehow I often still have problems. 

I have been to my local yarn stores more recently – and on one of my last visits to the nearest one (Banbury Sewing Centre) – I bought a lot of buttons.  For many years I have said I must start a cardigan with the buttons and then get the yarn to go with them because I always have problems the other way around.  Also although I have a lot of yarn and lots of odd buttons – if we have another lockdown – it would be good to be able to finish garments because I had already bought the buttons.  I still haven’t finished a jacket I knitted during lockdown because although I have now bought some buttons – I haven’t sewn them on.  I need to keep up the momentum on a project or it just drifts.

I have started knitting a few things for Christmas.  I did do some in April but now the deadline is a bit closer.  This is good because it does focus the mind on finishing them.  I hope I am doing better this year because – at least it isn’t December yet.  Unlike some knitters who are still knitting on Christmas Eve – I have to be more organized because most things need to be posted – so I have to complete them before the last posting date!

Coco by Martin Storey

At the moment I am knitting a sample garment for Oxford Yarn Store.  It is a fairly plain cardigan design called Coco by Martin Storey from a booklet called Ocean Blue.  I can’t show you a picture of it because I only have a typed pattern.

The rib is quite interesting – you knit into the back of the stitches on the front – which makes the rib stretch out more than it usually does.

The yarn is Rowan denim revive.  It is made with recycled denim and recycled cotton.  Officially the yarn is 95% cotton and 5% other fibre.  I think the original garment was knitted in a shade of blue but this is a off-white.

I would like to show you a photo of a finished cardigan next week – but that is probably wishful thinking. 

Vanessa by Marie Wallin

Last year I greatly admired the Marie Wallin collection called Bloomsbury.  If I had endless amounts of time I would love to knit several of the designs.  They are knitted in Rowan Felted Tweed and are a mixture of Fair-isle and texture.

I decided that I particularly liked a Fair-isle cardigan called Vanessa and received the yarn for Christmas as a present.

I had intended to start knitting immediately – full of enthusiasm for a pile of beautiful yarn and a complicated pattern.  I have a lot of holiday in January – so  I should have plenty of time to work on it.  That was the plan but then I got ill and remembered the Creative Cables throw that I started last year – and so I haven’t got very far with this cardigan.  I think it could take some time but if I finish it – I think it will be the adult-size first Fair-isle cardigan that I have ever finished – I usually unravel them!  

At the moment I am still trying to follow the pattern.  When I have knitted it once I can copy my knitting instead of having to peer through a magnifying glass at the chart.  I did try to look at the photograph but the chart and the photograph are different – they shouldn’t be but they are.  I think it is the chart that is correct – the sample garment has been knitted with the pattern starting in the middle rather than at the beginning.

Apart from the chart – I have had problems with my tension.  I know I knit loosely but I can’t go down too many needles sizes when the needles are very thin to start with.  I have decided to knit the smallest size with the correct needles – hopefully this will work out.  Otherwise I will be unravelling again!

Christmas Jacket

I have made a start on my Christmas jacket.  Generally I am not keen on Christmas jumpers – but we are encouraged to wear one at work during December – so I thought I would have a go at making one.  Rather than doing something silly – I thought I would knit the Patricia Werner Mola Jacket pattern which I used earlier in the year as inspiration for my English Adventure throws.

These shapes are much smaller than those I used for the throws.  I thought the sparkly yarn was ideal to create a kind of Christmas bauble effect.  I am mainly using Stylecraft Cabaret which is a DK yarn with a plain green for the background colour.  I am using oddments of other sparkly yarns for the linking pieces.

So far I have completed most of the pieces for the back of the jacket.

It may be some days before I get on to the fronts as I have been asked to knit some more tea cosies.

A Summer Cardigan!

I have finally finished something instead of constantly starting things and then moving on to something else.  Earlier in the year – in early summer – I knitted a cotton cardigan in 2 shades of Noro Kibou – it has been mostly finished for a couple of months but I hadn’t sewn on the buttons nor the pockets. 

This year I spent some of my birthday money on a decorative mannequin.  “She” is modelling the finished cardigan.

I am still knitting several other things but at least one is finished.  I probably won’t get to wear it until next summer.

My friend who owns the quirky gift business All the Fun of the Fair wants me to knit her some more tea cosies so I will be starting them before finishing anything else. 

Multi-coloured Knitting Samples

This week I have been continuing my latest attempt to reduce the amount of stuff that I have accummuated.  I haven’t looked at my wool.  I know I have got a lot of it – but I will knit it one day!

I looked under the bed (I have got one of those beds with drawers at the bottom and the sides) and found a few things that I knitted about 10 years ago (and then put under the bed).  I don’t actually remember knitting any of them.

I know that when I knitted this jacket – I was trying out a blending technique involving knitting with 2 yarns at the same time.

The following photo shows a little Fair-isle jacket that I knitted as a sample.

And this is a little jumper I knitted using a two-colour technique – I suppose it is Fair-isle as well – but it may have another name.

I have sent the first 2 to charity – but I have kept the last one for the moment.  I love this technique – many years ago I knitted a black and white jacket that was like this.   It was much admired and I would like to make another one.  It will go on the list!

Summer Cardigan – Progress Report

I think I am doing quite well with my summer cardigan.  I have done the back, 2 fronts and 1 sleeve so far.

I haven’t done as much as I thought I would this week as I have been distracted by other things.  Something knitting related is that I have been reading the latest edition of Knitting magazine.

When I say “reading” – I really mean looking at the pictures.  It is a men’s knitting special and it is the first time the magazine has had a man on the cover.  It has lots of patterns that I would like to knit.  I don’t like frilly patterns and prefer the more classic or plainer styles which are aimed at men but can be uni-sex.  There is a 4-ply cardigan that I particularly like – but if I decide to knit it – it will take months and my blog will not be very interesting.  Perhaps I could knit it in stages and knit other things at the same time.  I suppose I could finally get around to tackling the partly finished items.

A Summer Cardigan

Last week when I visited Oxford Yarn Store I bought some more Noro yarn for a summer cardigan.  It is called Kibou.  It is 54% cotton, 34% wool and 12% silk.  It is aran weight. 

I am using 2 shades of it to knit a light-weight cardigan.  These are Shade 7 and Shade 9.  I have made a start on the back.

I have given some thought to knitting a cardigan that is half one colour and half another – perhaps next time – however I have decided to mix the 2 colours to produce a more balanced design.  I think it will be the sort of garment that will seem different depending on what colour you wear with it – eg a red T-shirt will accentuate the red in the yarn, and a green T-shirt, the green and so on.

I have only just started it and I am already thinking about what I am going to knit next. 

Rowan Brushed Fleece Cardigan

I have finished my latest Rowan Brushed Fleece Cardigan.   I am pleased with the finished result and I did decide to use the buttons that I bought in St Albans.  The cardigan is such an odd colour that it was unlikely that I would find any that were a better match.

 However, I did have a few problems with this cardigan because some of the balls were faulty.   They looked OK from the outside but when I started using them the yarn suddenly became thin and had lost all its fluff.  I had to keep taking rows out when I realised how thin the yarn had become. 

The other problem was knots – I used 9 balls for the cardigan and about 4 of them had at least 3 knots in them.  This is not good either.  Rowan yarn used to be better than this.  However it is not just Rowan – I bought some Sirdar yarn to knit a child’s cardigan and the first ball I looked at had some paper glued to the yarn – so I had to cut a length out before using it.

When I buy cheap yarn and it has faults – I think – well you get what you pay for – but I expect better of the well-known yarn companies.

Rowan Brushed Fleece Cardigan

Things have not been going that well recently.  I have been ill for several days and am still trying to carry on as normal.  I don’t even seem to have the energy to knit.  However I have finished this cardigan as a present for my mother.

I had done most of the knitting in October but I hadn’t sewn it together.  The yarn is lovely – Rowan brushed fleece – which is 65% wool, 30% alpaca and 5% polyamide.  This is shade 254.  It is sort of a dull brown – not at all exciting – but I am hoping my mother will like it.  I think I should call it “understated”!

The pattern is a very old one from Littlewoods.  The original design did not have pockets, but Mother likes to have pockets so I have added them to the front hiding them in the pattern. 

Every year I seem to forget how tired and stressed I get in December – note to self: do not knit Christmas presents next year!

Some More Noro Kureyon

I have finally finished the jacket I have been making.  I am not sure that the collar is exactly how Debbie Bliss intended it to be but I am happy with it.  I find that knitted garments fall into 2 categories – either I finish them and wear them immediately or I put them in a drawer and never wear them at all.  I finished the jacket on Tuesday morning and then wore it immediately.  

I went to Oxford to visit Oxford Yarn Store, and owner - Karen Draisey took a photo of me wearing it. 

Karen’s shop was full of beautiful yarn and it was lucky that I knew what I wanted (more Kureyon) so I just tried hard to concentrate on that.  It would have been very easy to buy something else as well that I hadn’t intended!

You may have seen the “Hearts” throw that was in Issue 5 of the Noro Magazine (Fall/Winter 2014) –when I saw it I liked it but instead of knitting hearts - I have decided to have a go at knitting poppies.  I have done a little chart on graph paper which I have altered several times.  My first sample is shown below.

I think I am going to take it out and make it a bit narrower.  I originally intended the squares to have more background and less poppy – but I quite like a fairly large poppy.  It is odd that this square looks much smaller than the garter stitch squares I was knitting last week but in fact they are a very similar size.

Noro Kureyon Jacket – Progress Report

I am still knitting the Noro Kureyon jacket that I started last week.  I have knitted the back and the 2 fronts and I am now working on the sleeves.

I decided to knit both sleeves at the same time so that I can make sure that they end up similar.  I was going to say “the same” – but that is very difficult to achieve with this yarn – I just want to make sure that each sleeve has a similar number of stripes and that the colour changes on approximately the same row.

With Noro yarn you can either try to achieve a match or you can go completely the other way and make sure the sleeves and fronts of a jacket are not similar at all.

I am glad that I had so much yarn because I have found that several balls have knots in them.  This wouldn’t matter so much if the ball then continued with the same colour but it doesn’t.  I can understand that the yarn might break in production but I don’t understand why it isn’t knotted at that point instead of attaching a completely different colour.

I want to try to finish this jacket before I get bored and start something else.  I still have 3 partly-finished jackets on the bed in my spare room – I don’t want this to be another one.

I read in the latest issue of Simply Knitting magazine that designer Rita Taylor likes to knit while listening to sport on the radio.  This week I have been doing the same.  If the sport is on the radio – it is being described to you and so you can concentrate on your knitting without having to look at the screen!

Noro Kureyon Jacket

About 3 years ago I bought 22 balls of Noro Kureyon in Shade 242 – which is black, grey, red, green and brown.

I intended to use the yarn for a coat using a Sally Melville pattern.  However, I didn’t start it and now I think I probably wouldn’t wear it – so I have found another pattern for a jacket instead.  It is a Debbie Bliss pattern from her book called Home.  I was surprised to find garments in this book – as the title suggests cushions and throws etc.  It does have those as well, but it has a few clothes.

I have started the back.  It is double moss stitch and I may take it out yet, but at the moment I am happy with it.  I was a bit worried about the sizes – I was going to do the middle size of 3, but I have decided to make it a couple of inches smaller – and so I am now doing a size which is larger than the smallest size, but not so large as the middle size!  This means I will have to alter the fronts correspondingly.  I am terrible – I can’t leave a pattern alone. 

Modular Knitted Cardigan – Progress Report

I haven’t done much knitting this week – I have been spending my spare time on my second love – family history.  I have spent quite a lot of time thinking about knitting and what to do next and have spread the cardigan out on the floor so that I can see what I have done so far.

I have now done the majority of the back and some of both fronts – and I am now working on the sleeves so that I can share out the yarn between the different pieces.

As you will have gathered from this – I have still not decided on the final design – it may be determined by how much yarn I have got!

Back of Modular Knitted Cardigan

This week I have been steadily working on my modular knitted cardigan.  I have knitted 5 columns of arrowheads – 3 for the back and 2 for the fronts.

This photo shows a section of the back - 2 columns of arrowheads joined together by diamond shapes.

 

I decided to do a different decrease on the diamonds – I am purling 3 stitches together on the back of each shape whereas the arrowheads have the decrease on the front.  This may seem a bit odd but I decided that after I had picked up the stitches for the diamond I needed to decrease on the first row or the shapes would be too bulky.  I intend to finish each column with a triangle shape to level it off.

I am not sure what the front is going to look like yet!

First Shapes of Modular Knitted Cardigan

I decided to base my cardigan on a jumper design in an old Colinette pattern booklet called Portmanteau.

 

I bought the pattern booklet because I was attracted to the jumper and I was going to knit it – but I can’t leave a pattern alone.  I thought wouldn’t it be better if it was different – if it was a cardigan, if it had more arrow-head shapes etc.

This is what I have done so far.

 

I have knitted L-shaped modules many times but I don’t think I have ever knitted them as “arrowheads”.

I haven’t done a finished design – I am making it up as I go along!  I currently intend to do 3 columns of arrowheads on the back and one of each of the fronts – but this may change.

Yarn for a Modular Knitted Cardigan

I have decided to get back to modular knitting.  I had thought about tackling one of my unfinished items, but then I changed my mind and decided to have a go at making a cardigan from the yarn I bought last September from the Oxford Yarn Store.

 

This photo shows some Rowan, Noro and Colinette yarn that I intend to use.  The Colinette is prism in a shade called Blue Parrot.   The turquoise green is in fact - Artesano aran.  I have not used this yarn before - it is very soft.

I was a bit worried that the colours were too similar and that I needed to add something red.  In December I found some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and bought a couple of balls of that.

I am not sure that I have enough yarn for a cardigan, but I could add some Noro from my stash or I could buy some more yarn!  One of the advantages of modular knitting is that dye-lots often don’t matter.

Modular Knitted Cardigan

I have finished it!  I had to take it out again because I was running out of yarn – so I had to do larger needles and less stitches.  It has worked out well because it means the fabric is less dense and therefore less heavy.

 

The back is formed from 9 mitred squares using 7mm needles and 24 + 1+ 24 sts pattern.  I decreased by knitting 3sts together on the front facing rows.  It is all garter stitch apart from the pocket linings.  I did the sleeves in all garter stitch and the fronts have small 8+ 1+8 squares each side of the button and buttonhole bands.  I reused the buttons from the previous version of this cardigan.