OAL2015 - Vianne and Cambie Dress

Last year I watched the Outfit Along, hosted by Andi of Untangling Threads and Lladybird but I didn't participate because I didn't see myself wearing the dress they had picked.  Then I discovered the Sewalolic dress patterns that have pockets in them.  So this year when the Outfit Along came up I knew I wanted to make the Cambie dress.  I had just enough of this purple fabric in my stash to make the dress.  The purple fabric is a polyester, thin fabric and it is lined with a gray cotton/rayon blend.

The fit on the dress is amazing!!  I think I will only ever make this dress in different fabrics.  It has pockets, the neckline is very modest for me and doesn't gape when I lean forward!  I had to adjust the bust darts slightly but that was easy to do when I sewed the lining.

The official knitting pattern was the Vianne cardigan, designed by Andi.  I thought it would look good with the dress so I decided to knit it in a yarn I had from Tanis Fiber Arts, the DK weight. 

The lace panel at the front is is simple and pretty.

The mesh panel at the back is neat but I felt it was too much on the whole thing.  I just stopped knitting it when I joined at the armhole.

Very nice pattern.  Andi has s different style of writing patterns but I do like the end results.  This is the third sweater I've knit from her patterns.

 The whole outfit!!  Most of the time I will wear this with flats.  It will be the perfect transitional outfit for the fall!  And now in the heat of the summer the dress is wonderful on it's own.

Curling Sweetheart

 I love to watch to watch curling. I've only curled about twice in my life but I love to watch curling and knit.  I think I like it because it is a slow paced game but there is always something to listen to. Perfect for doing while knitting so I decided to call this my Curling Sweetheart.

 I started knitting this at the beginning of the Canadian Women's Curling Championship, called the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.  I knit through the Men's Championships, the Brier and continued to knit through the Women's World Championship and finished up before the end of the Men's World Championship.

Pattern: Sweetheart Pullover
Yarn: Swish Bare Bulky by Knitpicks

 I think my favourite part is the neckline.  I like how wide it is and the details.

 It's really comfortable.  I love the yarn.  If I was to make it again I might add an inch or two in length but overall I really like it.

I made some modifications for the edgings and raised the neckline.  Here's my Ravelry page.   I thought it would be too warm to wear at this time of the year but actually with the 3/4 length sleeves it's just the perfect layer.

This is sweater number 4 that I've finished this year. I think my favourite thing to knit is sweaters? Anyone else love to knit sweater?

January Kid Sweaters (and some sewing!)

 So this is what happens when I get out my button box to find buttons to put on sweaters. My daughter wants to learn how to sew buttons and my son throws them everywhere!

 After the kids were in bed I managed to get the buttons sewn on.

 Baby Sunnyside Sweater adapted to a pre-school size by using a worsted weight yarn instead of a sport weight yarn. I did a test swatch and some math and figured out if I knit the 6 month size and added length I would have sweater that is big enough.

 Perfect fit!!  I used a Knit Picks Swish yarn and dyed it myself with food colouring.

 My daughter has gotten taller recently.  All of a sudden all her t-shirts looked like crop tops . . . not a look I like for little girls. She mostly wears t-shirts as undershirts right now but she needed some new ones. I bought this pattern, Zee'sTee by the Tie Dye Diva in a pattern bundle.  I love it.  Its got 12 month to 12 years.  It has two t-shirt versions.  This yoke version here and a pocket tee.  It has short or long-sleeves.  The yoke version is great for using up off-cuts from other projects.

For my son's sweater I made the Latte Baby Coat By Lisa Chemery a.k.a Froginnette

I made the 12 month size and made the arms and sleeves longer.  For the buttonbands at the front he pattern calls for a lattice stitch.  This time I used a seed stitch.  I only did one row of buttonholes but I think I might need to  rip it back and add the second row because it is gaping a bit.

Still warm enough to layer under winter jackets.  So far this is my favourite baby knit.  What is your favourite knits for kids?

10 Sweaters - 10 months

 I started out the year with just 2 handknit sweaters in my closet that I actually wore.

I had several sweaters knitted that I didn't wear because they weren't quite right so I frogged all of those ones and started out to rebuild my handknit sweater wardrobe.  I didn't intend to knit 10 sweaters in 10 months but somehow it happened that I averaged a sweater a month.  Some took longer than that and others less time but here I am in a new year  with 12 new or re-knit sweaters that I love.  I'll link to my Ravelry Project page if you want to see more details and I'll list the yarn if I remember what it was.  I wasn't very good at keeping yarn labels.

January

En Pointe Pullover, a fingering weight yarn I bought several years ago.

February 

Icy Blue Cardigan , Swish Bulky Yarn, dyed with Kool-Aid

Spoked Cardigan

 

March

Long Sleeve Grey Cardigan  Americo, copeto medeo

April

Grey Star   Knit Picks swish worsted

May

Regatta Tee , ** cotton/wool blend worsted weight

June

Gathered Front Tank: pattern from Interweave Knits - hand dyed yarn bought at my LYS 

(This one I only fixed the straps on, I didn't re-knit the whole thing)

July

 Sweet Tee, ** Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino

 

August

Coral Rose Cardigan, Sweet Georgia Yarns DK

This is my third favourite sweater.

September

I Heart Purple  Tanis Fiber Arts Green Label

This is tied for my most favourite sweater. 

October

Grey and Sunnyside  Tanis Fiber Arts Yarn Green Label

And my other most favourite sweater.  I wear this all the time!

And that's when I lost steam.  I still can't believe I knit 10 sweaters in 10 months for myself.  My last 3 sweaters are my favourites.  I've learned that I like v-neck cardigans or shawl collar, rather than round-neck cardigans.  I like cardigans.  I like mostly seamless designs.  I like patterns with some detail, but not too much detail.  I am more motivated to knit when I have a pattern to keep track of and rows to check off.

I will be going back to work full-time as a kindergarten teacher in March so my knitting time will decrease drastically.  I'm going to knit some sweaters next year.  A really warm brown one, a lighter brown one, a white one and a blue one.  I have the yarn for all but the white one.  Knitting in those colours will let me mix and match with most of my wardrobe I wear for work or home.

And I will be then only knitting much smaller things, socks, scarves, hats . .  .and sweaters for my kids as they grow.

If you are reading this thank you for following along and if you are a knitter I hope you sneak in a few rows each day. 

Lady Sunnyside

This is me when I first finished the sweater just in time for then end of the KAL being hosted by Tanis

Better daylight pictures

Lady Sunnyside Sweater by Tanis Lavallee
Yarn: Green Label Aran "Granite" by Tanis Fiber Arts

I got the pattern for free on Ravelry when it was first released. I bought the yarn during an Etsy update of the TFA store.  I love this yarn.  I'm going to have difficulty buying yarn from anywhere else. 

I love this pattern!!  It's like Tanis wrote a custom pattern just for me.  The seamless construction is fantastic.  You start with the cabled neckband and then pick up the sweater stitches from there.  I extended the length to come down to mid-thigh so it would be a nice warm sweater for this winter.

My favourite sweater yet!

I Heart Cardigan Finished

Pattern:  I Heart Cardigan  by Tanis Lavallee
Yarn: Tanis Fiber Arts Yarn - Green Aran Weight - Colour: Plum
Modifications: sleeve length 19" otherwise knit according to the pattern.

I finished this just before the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend and I wore it all weekend.  I wore it on the beach, for a hike, to supper.  It is just so comfortable to wear.

My photographer on our beach walk

Back cable detail

Looks a bit short here but I'm wearing a tunic length blouse.

Great Blue Heron on the beach in front of my parent's house.

I absolutely love this sweater!  The pattern is written perfectly for me.  The yarn from TFA is so nice to knit with.  The colour is incredible.  I can see myself making this pattern again . . .maybe with a different cable pattern on it!  

Helen Joyce Cardigan

My first DK weight sweater I've ever knit!  I tend to stick with worsted to bulky weight yarns for how fast they knit up. I found this yarn at my LYS and couldn't help picking up a skein . . . then going back and getting 2 more because I loved the colour so much.

Neckline too low and wide

When I finished it according to the pattern instructions I could barely keep it on my shoulders and it was really low around the back neckline. I tried adding a little panel at the front to pull it across.  I'd see something like this on a shrug and thought it looked neat. NOPE . . . not working. 

Attempt to pull sweater together at front

Pattern: Helen Joyce Cardigan by Taiga Hilliard Designs
Yarn: Sweet Georgia Yarn DK: Coral Rose

 So I pulled out my cast-off and starting increasing the border.  I did several short rows to increase the neckline and the back and add in enough width to have it sit nicely on my shoulders.

I loved the lace pattern at the bottom of the sweater.  I read other people's modifications and lowered the seed stitch band to be below my bust line.  I don't like cropped sweaters so I added length so it sits at my hips.  

Now: perfect, I love it.  It is the perfect weight cardigan, makes a pair of jeans look dressy and goes well with dresses or skirts.  After I knit all the heavy-weight yarn in my stash I need to get some more light-weight yarn. Onto my next sweater: I Heart Cardigan by Tanis Lavallee