Poof A Month Vanished – and Fuzzy Socks

Posted on September 27, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

I apologize for the quiet here. A month has slipped away from me, and I’m not entirely sure where it went. Of course, there were things to do in the garden this time of year and some canning to finish up. I also treated myself to a lot of reading on the porch, which was just wonderful. (I might not give up on that anytime soon. I’ll be out there in my fuzzies when the first snowflakes fall! LOL!)

I have been sorting and organizing, too, which seems to be a fall impulse for me. The girls are getting some new accommodations, so they won’t be standing on the bookshelves all the time (getting dusty). I’m doing some sewing for myself again (yay for fun clothes that fit) while I continue to knit on the endless black sweater in Kidsilk Haze. I may never take this one off once it’s done.

I’ve been thinking, also, about my Noro Mitred Jacket. (le sigh) The colour is pooling, each square taking repeatable increments of the colour gradation. I’ve reached the end of the I-cord, which is a bit tighter than would be ideal, and am debating the merit of taking it all back, then reknitting it, planning the placement of the squares.

And yes, the pattern does display an order of working the squares, but I never read that bit until now. I’ll guess the designer noticed the same thing, so my result is entirely user error. Those two leftish ones that start with fuschia and end with green, in the second row from the bottom, really irk me, as do the four mirroring each other on the other sleeve opening. (Pink through purple to pink, with pink through green to blue immediately below.) Still thinking on that. On the upside, it looks as if it will fit which wasn’t at all a sure thing.

Finally I’ve been knitting myself a pair of fuzzy socks. (Hmm. I cast them on before I even realized the reading-on-the-porch plan.) This may be my fave way to make socks right now, so let’s talk about that today.

A few years ago, I made a number of pairs of the Snowshoe Socks from Knits about Winter. (The first link goes to Ravelry and the pattern. The second is a link to the publisher’s website and wow, the book is really on sale right now.) Essentially, you carry two strands of Kidsilk Haze or a similar yarn along with your sock yarn. The three strands held together make for a thick fuzzy and warm sock. Here are those pair – I made three for myself and one pair for the mister. I think there was a fourth ladies’ pair in teal that went to my SIL.

Here’s my original blog post about them from 2020.

Snowshoe Socks by Emily Fogen knit by Deborah Cooke

Snowshoe socks, designed by Emily Foden, knit by Deborah Cooke

You can see that the orange and the purple pair for me are quite generous through the ankle. I find them a bit sloppy to wear. The first pair, OTOH, which I knit from a smaller size, are a bit snug. The mister finds his too hot so doesn’t wear them much.

While two strands of silky mohair make for a cushy sock, my current experiment is a pair with just one strand of the fuzzy stuff. That makes two strands overall. I’m also using my regular sock pattern, but I dropped the stitch count to 64 stitches instead of 72. Still knitting on 2.5mm needles but the socks come out a little bigger with the two strands and so, they’re going to fit me perfectly. Ha. No baggy ankles this time. Having just the one strand doesn’t influence the final gauge as much, but you still get a fuzzy sock.

Here’s where I’m at, just after turning the heel on the first sock.

sock knit by Deborah Cooke with The Alpaca Co's Paca-Ped and Halo Watercolors

These yarns include alpaca fibre, so the socks are going to be really soft. Both are from The Alpaca Yarn Co. – the sock yarn is Paca-Peds in Purple Rain and the fuzzy one is Halo Watercolors in Picasso. Those are Ravelry links but The Alpaca Yarn Co has an online store right here. Here is Paca-Peds on their site, and here is Halo Watercolors.

I love how the colours become muted when the two yarns are held together. The sock yarn is space-dyed so I knew it would want to pool, probably in a swirl, so the fuzzy yarn softens that a bit, too.

The project bag is one I made from quilting cotton in my stqash. This is the free pattern. It’s a very easy sew, and you can subsequently play with the size of the bag. I’ve added a zipper into the seam between the two colours, too.

If you’ve never knit socks with two strands – and your feet get cold – then give this a try. Your usual sock pattern should work out just fine, but use two strands of yarn instead of just one. Like me, you may want to go down a few stitches in circumference. It depends how tight you like your socks.

A New Perspective on the Stash

Posted on August 16, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

Although I’ve been busily knitting, I’m currently trekking through the (endless) wasteland of stockinette stitch on two different projects. It’ll be a while before I have a finished project to show you. I’m alternating between my Hebrides cardigan in black KidSilk Haze (this may be my last black project ever) and the Water shawl. (Those are Ravelry links.)

I’ve finished the fronts, backs and bands of the cardigan and am making progress on the sleeves. (I knit sleeves both at once.) It’s possible that I’ll have it finished in the right season to wear it, which would be great. The Water shawl is finished as far as the directions are concerned, but because I changed the yarn and needle size, it’s too small. I’m adding more repeats – I’ll probably extend it to nine pattern inserts, as I like the idea of the ninth wave.

As I knit along, I’m thinking. 🙂 Today, I’ll share what I’m thinking about knitting stash.

It is the middle of August, and each year, Koigu has a tent sale around this time. (It’s this weekend.) I’ve gone for a number of years, but decided not to go this year. I had the (incredible) thought “I’ve got enough yarn stash.” That’s new, and interesting, so I had to think about it a bit more.

I didn’t attend many yarn events during the pandemic – we went to Koigu last year, and it was lovely to be at a knitting festival again – but I still have most of the yarn I bought at those events. The last time I went to the KW Guild’s Knitters’ Fair, I was on the hunt for a gradient dyed yarn to knit Nim Teasdale’s Don’t Panic, a shawl pattern published in 2017. (That one’s a Rav link, too.) I found it, caked it up, and haven’t cast it on yet. It’s sitting in the stash with the pattern, waiting on me. My Ravelry project page shows 23 projects on my needles, incomplete, but I think there are more than that. Then there are the lots of yarn in project bags with patterns, like Don’t Panic, waiting to be cast on. I have a lot of string.

I generally don’t buy for a specific project, which explains both the size of my stash and the fact that when I choose a project, inevitably, I don’t have the right yarn – in gauge, colour or quantity. So, I’m going to switch things around, and think of my stash in a different way. I’m going to look at what I have, and find a project or pattern to suit that yarn. No more buying a ball of this because it’s pretty, or a sweater-quantity of that because the price is right. It’s time to use it or get rid of it.

And that means that if/when I go to knitting events, it will be to browse and get ideas, not to augment the stash.

I like the plan. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll also start sharing some reliable stash-buster patterns here. I’m thinking of one right now, a pattern of my own for fingerless gloves that is a perfect use of half a ball of sock yarn. It’s scribbled on a torn sheet of notepaper. I can envision it – now all I have to do is find it – and once I share it here, I’ll know where it is.

What’s your stash like? Is it extensive or under control? Do you buy for specific projects or do you add to your stash because you like the yarn? Do you think (gasp) that you have enough stash, too much or not enough?

A New Girl in Town

Posted on August 14, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

Two new dolls joined my collection last week, so we’ll meet one of them today.

Mattel Sapphire Anniversary Silkstone Barbie

She’s the Sapphire Anniversary Silkstone Barbie. She’s still available on the Mattel website for members, right here. At right is one of the official pix of her and it’s linked back to their landing page.

I had mixed feelings about this doll. I prefer the older Silkstone bodies over the articulated dolls, but was attracted to the idea of getting a new doll. (That explains my other two articulated Silkstones, too!) In the end, though, I ordered her.

The finishing of the doll itself is disappointing but that was true of the other articulated girls, too. I suspected I wouldn’t like the jacket and I didn’t. 🙂

But I love her blue hair and sparkly eye make-up. The dress is darling, although it has a crunchy lining in the skirt. I may try to copy it in another fabric. This time, they put clear plastic disks between the earrings and the doll, presumably to keep her face from being scratched. (It’s the metal pin in the head that gives dolls green ear, so it won’t prevent that.)

Her stocking-boots are interesting – there are shoes secured in the bottoms. I saw a photo of her with the 60th anniversary pink Barbie which appears to have the same stocking-boots. (That’s an Amazon link.)

She came out of the box and waited just a day before I surrendered to temptation and took her hair down. I don’t know what they use to keep the hair in place, but it leaves the hair stiff and crunchy. (Maybe it’s just glue.) We had a good wash and comb, then another couple of washes. I didn’t boil-wash because I was hoping to just tame the curl not lose it completely.

And here we are:

Sapphire anniversary Silkstone Barbie with her hair down and washed, redressed by Deborah Cooke

Her lipstick is evenly applied – it’s just the angle of the morning sunlight that makes it look otherwise. I trimmed a few scaggy ends from her hair, but otherwise, it’s how it came down. She borrowed the purse from Dusk-to-Dawn and it’s possible she won’t give it back. The dress is the one from Trench Setting. I definitely need to make her some black and blue separates.

Do you like her hair better up or down?

A Cabled Cardigan for Tyler

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

Another post about the girls this week. I’m knitting for myself, too, but it takes a lot longer to finish up a project. Right now, I’m knitting the sleeves for a cardigan in black Kidsilk Haze, using the Hebrides pattern. I’ve knit it twice before, and it’s a gem. These little jewel-necked cardis aren’t terribly exciting, but I do get a lot of wear out of them. I’ve wanted a black one for a while, though this may be the last time for black Kidsilk Haze to jump onto my needles. I have the fronts and backs done, and will pick up the buttonbands in daylight on those 2.75mm needles.

I also finished the Storm at Sea quilt, which feels like a huge accomplishment. It’s been a finished top and unfinished quilt for so long. I’m working on the hand quilting for the Pineapple Star – just two corners to go, then I can bind it. It’s time to get all these unfinished tops done.

In the meantime, I finished a little top-down cabled cardigan for the girls and that’s what we’ll look at today. Here’s Tyler modelling it, along with the top from McCalls 3701 and pants from Tyler Wentworth 3522.

Cabled cardigan knit by Deborah Cooke for Tyler Wentworth

I didn’t have a pattern for this, just cast on with sock yarn and made it up as I went. I kept notes so I can do it again. I also kept the cables simple on this one – it’s a two-stitch cable with a purl stitch in between each one – so I could keep track of the counts better. Now that I’ve figured them out, the plan is to make another with more elaborate cables. Those are working buttons with buttonholes, though the small holes are tricky to find.

My favorite detail is the pockets in the fronts. You can just see the one on the left side (the doll’s right). I put the stitches on a holder where the pocket should go, then cast on the same number in the next row. That gave me a slit. I continued to the hem and finished the body of the sweater, then went back to those held stitches. I knit down to make a square, then sewed its edges to the inside of the sweater. Pockets!

You can see the cables better on the back of the sweater, as well as the single stitch on the raglan lines. I worked purl-knit-purl on each raglan line, and increased before and after it. As soon as I had two stitches for a new cable, I started one. The cables are turned in opposite directions on the left and right, then the center back cable is four stitches on each side of the central purl stitch.

The wool is some leftover sock yarn and I worked on 2mm needles. The only change I’ll make when I knit it again is to add a few rows to the collar – it wants to curl up – and I’ll play with the cable patterns, too.

These are the patterns for the sewn garments.

Tyler Wentworth sewing pattern 3522 Weekend Wardrobe — Tyler Wentworth 3522

The pink shirt is made of French shirting cotton, which is really lovely and fine. The weft is a slightly different colour, so it changes in the light. (Yes, I made a shirt for myself of this fabric once upon a time.) It’s actually a bodysuit but made of woven instead of knit. It was a little tricky to turn those collar points but a nice little project. Those buttons don’t work – there are snaps behind them to close the fronts.

The pants from 3522 are the ones I’ve made multiple times in pleather for the girls. This pair look a bit like jeans thanks to the fabric choice, but I’ll need to add pockets to the back of the next pair to complete that illusion. They are quick basic pants to sew.

Malia Dress for 12″ Dolls

Posted on August 1, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

Malia pattern for Silkstone Barbie by Hankie Chic patterns

A day late on this post because I didn’t have pictures done. I took one inside but it was dingy – yesterday was sunny so I got a second one.

Malia is a pattern for 12″ fashion dolls from Hankie Chic. (That’s an Etsy link.) There are two skirt variations included for this dress – a fuller below-knee skirt and a straight full length skirt. The bodice has pleats over the shoulders, which form short sleeves. There’s a long-waisted bodice piece, too.

I made this from a cotton with a tiny print in navy. I ordered this fabric from Charlene Lu’s Etsy store, and she has it in several colours in 70 x 50cm squares. It’s really a very delicate print, a great scale for dolls.

This dress is lined with cotton voile and was machine sewn – except for the bodice lining, which I sewed by hand. The pleats that are formed over the shoulder open up when the dress is on the doll in a very attractive way.

Malia pattern for Silkstone Barbie by Hankie Chic patterns, sewn in printed cotton for Silkstone Barbie by Deborah Cooke

Isn’t this a pretty dress?

Here’s the dress off the doll. (I’m not sure the details are more visible, though that was the idea.) It has a couple of snaps at the back waist.

I have another one cut out in cotton, also with the full skirt. I’ll have to try one with the long straight skirt, in a shiny fabric. The one on the pattern image looks like it might be made of that Chinese brocade, which is beautiful but also quite thick. I’ll probably try a crepe back satin first, even though it’s slippery stuff.

Storm at Sea Quilt

Posted on July 24, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

This is one from the vaults. Last year, I went through all of my unfinished projects and found this quilt top, which I’d forgotten about. It’s a pieced quilt top in the Storm at Sea pattern, which was always one of my favorites. I bought cotton for the backing and folded it up to put it away, maybe 30 years ago.

It’s not a perfectly flat top by any means, so I layered it up to quilt on the machine. I figured it would be good practice. Here’s where I’m at.

Storm at Sea quilt, pieced by Deborah Cooke, quilting in progress

Of course, I had to use a stripe with red roses on the border to liven up that blue and white. I just love red. 🙂 I haven’t decided on the binding fabric yet. Looking at it here, maybe it should be navy.

This might be the test quilt that I toss in the washing machine to see what happens.

You can’t really see the quilting in the photo – maybe a bit at the top right – but it’s about half done. I decided to do a wavy pattern on the diagonal that turns back at the centre – so overall there’s a big X and I never have more than half of the quilt under the arm of the sewing machine. I quilted the Escher quilt that way and it was comparatively easy. Big difference there, though, as the top was absolutely flat. (This one has some puckers and tucks.) That was a good size for machine quilting – as a max – so that will be my new benchmark.

Escher quilt from kit pieced by Deborah Cooke — Finished Escher quilt

I’m using my vintage Singer 185 for this, because it’s such a rock. My stitches are more even this time – progress is made! – so that’s a good thing. The thread is a Gutermann cotton quilting thread in variegated shades of blue.

I don’t love machine quilting. I don’t love how it looks and it’s hard work – my hands hurt after doing a bit of it – so it’s teaching me to make fewer quilts and certainly to tend to smaller ones.

After this is done, I’ll quilt the mermaid quilt, which is a teensy bit bigger. More diagonal lines turning back at the middle, methinks. I’m debating whether I should quilt the blue dragon myself or not. I’m also wondering with those two whether I could do the borders of the blocks on the machine, then quilt inside the blocks by hand. Hmm. So many details to ponder!

Mermaid Quilt pieced by Deborah Cooke — Mermaid in blue jeans quilt

In the Beginning Dragon Quilt Kit pieced by Deborah Cooke — In the beginning blue dragon quilt

I still have a couple of quilts that I’ve started to quilt by hand, which need to be finished up. The pineapple star has corners now and is about half quilted – in lime embroidery thread. 🙂 The ourobouros dragon banner needs more quilting on the black background. The dragon is done.

Pineapple star quilt pieced by Deborah Cooke — Pineapple star quilt in progress

Ourobouros quilt banner by Deborah Cooke — Ourobouros quilt in progress

Then there are two big ones to go to the long arm quilting place. Phew. I think I’ll leave that until the fall. I got all the borders on the Moonglow, so it’s ready to go, as is Jumpin’ Jack Flash.

Elenpriv Jacket & Pants for 12″ Fashion Dolls

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

Elenpriv jacket and pants for 12" fashion dolls

When things go awry in making for myself, I often make for my girls instead. This is a pattern available on Etsy from Elenpriv, who also makes and sells finished garments for fashion dolls. It’s a pdf download without instructions – which means I made a mistake or two. 🙂 I’m pleased with how it came out even so.

At right is the garment picture on the pattern download.

You can see more pictures in the Etsy listing, right here.

This is a double-breasted tailored and lined jacket, with matching slim pants. In the little video in the Etsy listing, you can see that she uses narrow Velcro closures on the jacket and pants. I don’t like getting velcro close to my girls, so I used plain old snaps.

Here’s one of my Silkstone girls, modelling her new suit. This is Best in Black Silkstone Barbie, but she has a new do – all the girls have ponytails for the summer. The colour is a bit dingy because we’re having rain like it’s time to build an ark.

Elenpriv jacket and pants for 12" fashion dolls sewn in silk for Silkstone Barbie by Deborah Cooke

I cut the suit out of a yarn-dyed stripe silk, and lined it with Bemberg rayon. I used rhinestone buttons on this one. As you can see, I ended up with a notch collar instead of a shawl collar. Evidently, I should have seamed those edges together. Maybe next time.

I also added pleats to the front of the pants and darts to the back as they had no waist shaping. I’m not sure how the pants would have fit into the waistband otherwise.

Next, I made a lined sheath dress of the same fabric – ha! I drew my own pattern for this! – so B has some options. It even has a little ribbon belt and yes, it’s lined with the Bemberg rayon.

I made the necklace from beads and a quartz crystal. The purse is from a Zuru Surprise MiniBrands ball. (It was in the second series. This is an AMZ link.)

Here’s the suit flat. It’s much more of a pale mauve-pink than it appears here.

Best in Black is an articulated Silkstone, which means she has a thinner body sculpt. This suit fits the regular Silkstone girls, as well. The pants run a little short for Jade, who is a Fashion Royalty doll and has a different body sculpt. The main difference is that Jade is taller, so when I make her pants, I’ll cut them a little longer. Sleeves are perfect for Jade just as they are, probably because they’re a teensy bit long for B.

All in all, a good pattern and one I’ll make again.

Bye-Bye Tegna

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

Tegna is a pullover designed by Caitlin Hunter – that’s the pattern picture on the right, which is linked to the Ravelry page.

I cast this on with Koigu KPPPM in colourway is 534 a long, long time ago, but this week, this story had its resolution.

The pattern is unusual in ways I didn’t anticipate.

First off, every size sets up with an odd number of repeats in the lace pattern at the hem. My size requires a cast-on of 340 stitches which means (20 sts per repeat) 17 repeats of the pattern at the hem. So, the front and the back will be different and the side seams – there technically aren’t any, but there is a midpoint on the side to divide for the armhole – will be in the midst of a pattern repeat. I knew this would drive me nuts, so I cast on 320 stitches, putting me between sizes. This way there are 16 repeats, which is 8 for the front and 8 for the back, a change that gives me joy.

You might remember this pic of my Tegna on the needles after I completed the lace hem. I really wasn’t loving this colourway or its inclination to pool, so I began to switch between three skeins for the plain stockinette body.

Caitlin Hunter's Tegna knit by Deborah Cooke in Koigu KPPPM

The biggest issue is that I thought the t-shirt had an a-line shape, but it doesn’t. There are decreases over the lace – I decreased from 340 stitches to 224 – but then the body of the sweater is knit straight to the underarms. So, it’s actually more like a straight shirt with a frill on the bottom.

Here’s the schematic from the pattern:

It’s also intended to be a cropped sweater, but that’s not for me. I knit three inches more before dividing for the underarms. This is when I began to really doubt my pattern choice.

When you split the work for the underarms, the instructions are to add stitches at each side, front and back, for several rows after the split is made. I’m not sure why this would be, as it’s already got a dropped shoulder. I knit this and frogged it back. (On Ravelry, some knitters say this made a little bulge at the underarm. Hmm.)

I don’t love sweaters with dropped shoulders as I feel they look frumpy on me. Instead, I had a look at my gauge and stitch counts, and dug out my Hebrides cardigan pattern. The needle and gauge is the same. I’ve used those decreases to convert this sweater to having a fitted shoulder.

I would need to use the sleeve pattern from Hebrides to figure out a sleeve for this modified Tegna, so that the sleeve cap fits into the shoulder. I could start just below the cast-off for the underarm in the Hebrides pattern. I could go with a plain sleeve that is more-or-less fitted, or put the lace on the hem so it flutters a bit more. I was thinking this would result in a swingy top with a fluttery hem.

At this point, I’d made enough changes that I began to doubt the outcome. Plus, the sweater looked small. Here it is, fresh off the needles with the back done.

What’s interesting is that switching skeins didn’t seem to avoid the pooling of the colours – each skein more or less lined up, light and dark, with the others, creating the swirl. That’s either a strange coincidence or some kind of magic.

I gave it a soak at this point and blocked it out to check the sizing after all my mods. It did stretch, as Koigu does, and you can see the lace pattern better even though I didn’t block it hard.

And here it is with a t-shirt that fits me well, for comparison.

It is a straight t-shirt with a frilly hem. I decided to chalk this up to experience and frog it.

I also have the pattern for Latitude, which is a swingy sweater with stripes. This Koigu might end up there, maybe alternating with a solid-ish dark blue that I have in my stash.

I’ve thought for a while that I might like Latitude, but without the long sleeves. Just with fronts and backs, it ends up with a kind of short sleeve. I’ll wind up this Koigu, have a look for that blue and think about casting on.

Vogue 7010 for Barbie – View C

Posted on July 3, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

Vogue Craft 7010 is another sewing pattern for dolls that is out-of-print but available as a downloadable PDF from vendors on Etsy. I’m not sure which vendor I bought this one from, but it’s one of the better downloads I’ve ever bought – there’s a measuring tape on each page of pattern pieces. It’s also kind of nice to have a pattern with cutting layouts, line drawings, grainlines and dots to match on the individual pieces. Yup, call me old-skool.

Although I bought it for view E, the first dress I made was view C. That’s the little teeny one in pink. It has a great yoke – but then a lot of the designs in this particular collection have some great seaming details.

It’s just so cute. Here are the girls in their new dresses and sunhats.

Vogue 7010 for Barbie view C (front view) sewn by Deborah Cooke

The pink one is a quilting cotton, lined with cotton voile. I made the hat with two layers (the pattern specifies one) because I wanted to finish the inner circle rather than just gluing it (as specified.) The inside layer is the same quilting fabric as the dress, while the other is a plain white linen. I put the two fabrics right side together, sewed the inside circle using the pattern piece as a template, trimmed the middle so there was a 1/8″ seam allowance, clipped the curves and turned it. I pressed it, then topstitched around the inner circle. The outer binding on the edge is a bias-cut strip of coordinating cotton voile in hot pink. I sewed it to the linen side, then turned and pressed it, hand-stitching it on the pink flamingo side.

I wasn’t crazy about the order of the seaming on the dress, so I cut another one of green quilting cotton with green cotton voile for lining. On the pink one, I followed the directions, sewing the dress and the lining fronts and backs, then the shoulder seams. I sewed them together at the neck, sleeve holes and hems, then sewed the side seams and the back seam. I ended up doing a lot of handstitching on the lining because it was very tight to manage on the machine.

For the green one, I sewed the side seams first. Fronts and backs, seamed at the shoulders, in both the lining and the dress, then sewed them together at neck and sleeve. Then I sewed the side seams, and the back. I sewed the hems, turned it through the open center-back skirt seam, then hand-stitched that closed. I’ll use this method in future.

Here are the backs and you can see the linen side of the sunhats, too.

Vogue 7010 for Barbie view C (back view) sewn by Deborah Cooke

This dress also has a placket at the back for the overlap, a very nice detail. I cut it of the lining for the green one to reduce the bulk, which worked out well for bulk – though it was tough to sew the snap to it.

The girls also have had their earrings removed. I knew the regular dolls could get green ear from the earrings – and had noticed a teensy mark on my repro ponytail girl – but saw a horrible pic of a Silkstone, never removed from box, with a bad case of green ear. It’s possible the vendor had never even opened the box. What a nasty surprise! So, all the girls had their earrings removed this past weekend. Only one pair was actually finished well enough to save – the others were already corroding and/or broke into bits while being removed. Why doesn’t Mattel include earrings in a little bag for the dolls, stapled to the inside of the box, like other vendors? Why don’t they stop making earrings of cheap metal that corrodes? These are the questions. In the meantime, take out your girls’ earrings.

Next up, the shirtdress from this pattern, while I hunt down something suitable for that leopard print evening coat. 🙂

Quintessential Cardigan – Done!

Posted on June 19, 2024 by Deborah Cooke

And it’s finished! (Not blocked, but finished.)

Quintessential Cardigan knit by Deborah Cooke in Jody Long Alba

This was a kit of the Quintessential Cardigan designed by Churchmouse Yarns & Teas. The yarn is Jody Long Alba in the colourway, Moss. I knit the body two inches longer than the pattern specifies. (There’s another blog post about it here.)

I quite like the sweater and it fits well. The colour is great and I love the tweedy flicks in the yarn. It was a bit tedious seaming it up, but that’s always the way – and yes, this yarn was almost as inclined to snap as Rowan Felted Tweed. One great thing is that the sleeves fit perfectly into the armscyes. Yay!

Here’s a detail shot of the front buttonhole band, which has slipped stitches on the wrong side.

The colour’s not very true in this pic – the wool really is that lovely lime shade. In this shot, though, you can see that my miscalculation, the one that made the last button before the collar band a little higher, isn’t really that bad once the buttons are sewn on.

I don’t love this slipped stitch on the band. It looks too different from all the other ribbing, although I understand that it’s intended to keep the button bands from being too long. Another way to avoid that is to pick up the stitches for the button band after the fronts are done and knit them sideways.

It took 3.4 balls of yarn or just under 1200 yards.

I do have another kit in Plum so will be making a second one, with a few changes.
• Since I lengthened the sweater, the waist ribbing falls at my hip, which isn’t ideal. I’ll change that to a garter stitch hem or a moss stitch hem instead and let it be a bit swingy.
• The cuffs are on the narrow side – it’s fine when they’re worn down, but I always push up my sleeves. I’ll make them a bit wider on the next one. I’ll work them in whatever stitch I decide to use instead of the waist ribbings, too. (I don’t love ribbing on my sweaters.)
• Because of that slipped rib stitch on the button bands (which is over 7 stitches), the buttons aren’t centered on the band. You make the buttonhole on stitches 5 and 6. This kinda drives me nuts. 🙂 When I work the button bands in another stitch – to match the hems – I’ll put the buttonholes in the middle of the band, over stitches 3, 4, 5, which will also make them a little bit bigger. It’s snug to get these buttons through the holes, but I don’t think smaller buttons would look good.

Overall, I’m pleased. It’s a very basic sweater, but the colour keeps it from looking frumpy.

I really want to cast on the plum version immediately, but am trying to finish a project first. We’ll see how I manage with that goal!

Alive & Knitting

Knitting and other tangled webs we weave