An update on knitting

I haven't been doing a lot of knitting lately.  I feel like I'm a bit stuck.  I started a sweater back in March/April. I knitted the front and back, but then ran out of the main "Marl"colour.  I decided to forge ahead and knit up the sleeves using the other contrasting colours I was using, but at about bracelet length I ran out of the those colours too.  So now I'm struglling with how to finsih it off.  It really just needs cuffs on the sleeves and a neckband.  I've tried buying more of the  Marl colour but I can't find any!  Maybe I'll go back and see if I can find any more of the blue.  But I don't want to start another big project until I've finished this off.  

Looking at these photos I'm wondering if I can get away with black to finish off the cuffs and the neckband?  

In the mean time - as it sits there waiting for inspiration - I've knitted a couple of pairs of socks.

I bought a ball of sock yarn called Queensland Collection Perth in the colourway Kings Canyon.  I think someone's a bit confused about Australian geography! - but what do you expect it's made in China.  It's a 80% superwash, 20% nylon and the colours are beautiful - that's the main thing.

The first pair of socks I knitted using my standard foot and heel pattern with 4 simple cables running up the leg and finished with a 1 x 1 rib.

The second pair was made with the left overs from the yarn of the first pair.  I felt like doing something a little different so I added a lace section running along the inside of my foot.

I added tiny little 1 x 1  cables to the ribbing around the ankle. and then just added a couple of rows of stockinette to the top to create a little roll. 

The length of these was dictated by the amount of yarn I had available so they are just ankle socks.

Then I decided that I needed to learn something new and decided to try some brioche. 

I found a pattern on Ravely for the Triangular Brioche Cowl.  It was listed as a beginner project but with some interesting design.  I pulled a couple of left over balls of Caron Simply Soft glitter out of my stash in blue and green - I love that colour combination.  For this pattern you start knitting at the tip of the triangle and I found I was really struggling with all the increases with all the new notation etc so I went back and did a swatch just to figure out all the terms and so I could see just what each stitch was doing and why.  Once I had that down I got to work.  I followed the first section of the pattern ( the set up part) exactly  as written, but It was starting to get really long so once I got onto the repeat part I decided to add in a few extra increases so that I got to my goal number of stitches faster.  The pattern calls for 6 repeats of the pattern, but with my extra increases I only had to do 4.  I then also left off a repeat or two of the "in the round " section,. doing the repeat 2 times instead of 4 (I also ran out of yarn at that point).  

A quick google search and youtube tutorial showed my how to do a two colour bind off since there was really no instructions in the pattern - it just says bind off with main colour - and my cowl was done.

And the back.

Maybe its just that I'm not used to it, but it feels quite awkward to wear - too much at the front and not enough at the back.  The good news is that L loves it - so I think it's going to be given to her.

But I've now learnt how to do brioche knitting - next step is to design a new pattern using my new skills.  Hopefully I can figure it out!

The continuing Bra saga

 I wanted to do a quick update in the continuing search for the perfect bra.  I've got a number of pretty good contenders here.

The first I actually made probably a year ago, but I wanted to include it for completeness and so I can go back and remember what I did.

The fabric I used for this is a bright pink cotton jersey with pineapple print.  It has about 50% stretch in both directions.

I used exactly the same pattern as I did for my previous bra  - two piece cup, front bridge with seam up center,  full coverage back, full lining and non stretch wide straps.

The straps are made of a black cotton sateen, both sides interfaced with iron on interfacing for a nice supportive strap.

The lining for the bra is made from black swimsuit fabric which has 50% stretch  in one direction, but only 20-30% stretch in the other.  I cut all lining pieces with maximum stretch running up and down and minimal stretch across the body.

The biggest change i made to the pattern was to cover the bottom elastic with my main jersey fabric.  This makes the elastic so much more comfortable.  For this bra I used basic 1" wide no roll elastic.

The majority of the edges in this bra are finished just by sewing in the lining, but I did add a strip of 1/4" wide elastic to the neckline seam.  The elastic is stitched to the seam allowance from one strap to the other before turning inside right.

I really love this bra - It's super comfortable with just enough support for everyday wear.

However during the heat this summer I've found that having the full coverage back can be a bit annoying at times - whilst It's great once it's on - and I love the smooth lines it gives me, trying to get it on after getting out of the pool or shower can be a struggle - everything bunches up - it's not pleasant.

So I decided to try a different solution.

For this second bra I used exactly the same pattern pieces for cup and bridge, but the back I curved down from the strap placement to the center back and separated the two back pieces so that it's now only the elastic band that connects at the back.

I used a poly lycra fabric for this bra which has 40-50% stretch in one directions but minimal to no stretch in the other.  The outer cup, bridge and back pieces I cut with the stretch going up and down, then fully self lined the bra with the fabric with the stretch going across.  

The straps are again made from cotton sateen but with no interfacing this time.

The bottom band is 1.5" wide plush elastic which is super comfortable so I didn't cover this band with the fabric.  The band closes at the back with 4 snaps. 

Unfortunately the straps on this bra do not stay nicely on my shoulders - without the coverage on the back the straps slide off my shoulders constantly.  I may need to add an extra cross piece on the back - I'm thinking a piece of elastic sewn across the upper back.

And so I tried again.  

Same type of fabric with 40-50% stretch in one direction and little to no stretch in the opposite - cut so that the stretch runs one way on the inside and the other on the outside.  This time however I cut the back piece to include a 1" wide strap across the center back.  This made construction more difficult - trying to finish both the top and bottom edges of that strap was a hard task, but it I did it.

Again I used the 1.5"wide plush elastic for the bottom band with two snaps to close at the back. The straps were made from some cotton batik material as I'm all out of the black cotton sateen I've been using.

I also left off the elastic on the neckline for this bra. This definitely changes the way the bra fits. I think next time I'll go back to adding that elastic.

Flanno shirt for DS

 My Son J and I have been trying to get outside for a walk/jog each morning for the last couple of weeks.  It's been really great, but that last couple of mornings it's been getting a bit cool and I've felt the need for a light weight long sleeve shirt to wear over the top.  I've been grabbing one of my flannelette shirts but we reaslised that J doesn't have anything like that - he's got sweaters and jumpers and the odd long sleeve shirt, but no light weight over shirts - so I figured it was time to remedy that. 

I decided that since I was going to have to start from scratch with this shirt I may as well do like I did with my daughter and make a moulage.  It was much easier for J not having to worry about bust darts etc and I got a moulage made up in a morning, then I had to make the pattern.  Figuring how much ease to add was the biggest issue.  I knew that he wasn't going to want it tight, but how tight is too tight? how loose is too loose.  In the end I added 1.5" to each side seam for a total of 6" ease which is probably excessive, but I knew he'd prefer too baggy to too tight.

I used the Cashmerette Harrison shirt pattern to create a collar pattern to fit the new neckline but then used the sleeve placket/cuff pattern that I drafted ages ago for my very first flannelette shirt.

The sleeves I made extra long as per J's request.

We wanted to make the shirt out of a plaid flannel, but I didn't have any in stash so I decided to muslin it in the blue and white checked fabric that I picked up from a fabric swap a year of so ago.

I did some basic pattern matching down the front and the side seams and the yoke, but didn't bother with the plackets and collar etc as I'm not sure that this will ever get worn, but I decided to make it fully anyway -  it'll do for our walks until we can get to the fabric store for some good material.