Sunday, September 20, 2009

FO: Candy

I finished my jacket :D It's not perfect - I was working from my own gauge so I really should have made more of a plan before I started knitting, and I changed things and made them up as I went along - but I'm pretty darn proud of it anyway. I was mildly hungover in this photo - that's what I'm blaming for the slightly confused expression. The plastic furniture background has to be blamed on my camera, which spazzed out and over-exposed EVERY OTHER ANGLE in the garden. Hey ho.

Pattern: Based on Candy, before being fiddled around with a bit.

Yarn: 100% wool bought from the Knitting4Fun stand at last year's Woolfest.

Modifications: Well, since I changed yarn weight, pretty much the whole garment, none of which I have notes for. I added some short rows around the back and shoulders to bring the neckline up a bit, and finished off with a couple of rows of pink before casting off.
The ribbing at the bottom edge was too small to meet in the middle due to my impressive grasp of what negative ease actually means, so I had to rip back and replace it with stocking stitch with some increases over my hips. I didn't knit enough ribbing on the bottom of this bit, so if I wear it unzipped it flips up at the back. Rats.
Finally, and again because it was a little too small without, I picked up along the edges and knit a band to give myself an extra inch, and decided on a zip rather than risk it straining and gapping around buttonholes. It is...not as easy as it should be to guess how long a finished zip band is going to be when you're deciding when to cast off the main body. Makes it somewhat awkward when zips only come in certain lengths. So yeah, it's a little longer than it should be and makes weird angles at the top and bottom. Who cares. I shall wear my first finished jacket with pride anyway.

(and the next one will be better thought out)

Sunday, September 13, 2009

FO: Oliver Theo's Baby gifts

I have decided that I love making baby garments. I am going to start locking all the couples I know in cheesy lurve boudoirs until somebody else gets pregnant.

These are all knit in Rowan Extra fine Merino DK, which I think is discontinued now. Dang. I'm sure they have something similar though. The cardigan is based on Daisy, done in 2 row stripes (which I LOVE, no more ends to weave in!), with a moss stitch border added at the end.


The leftovers went into Seamless baby booties...

...and an improvised top down hat. I did initially start with a bottom up hat with a roll up brim which was fairly stupid as I used so much yarn on the brim that I ran out of green while I still had a bald patch sized hole to fill in. Top down makes much more sense. Plus my hat has a nipple.
*snigger*