Saturday, April 11, 2015

Knitting Blues


 
 
 
Knitting needles have been busy.  This is Traveling Buds Cardigan, a free download from the Cascade Yarns website.  I have not knit all that much, but so far my favourite yarns come from Cascade. I prefer to knit with 100% wool. This was a superwash sport weight wool; it is a wee bit soft for my liking. The concern will be how this will wear.
 

 
 
After completing an Aran cardigan, I needed something simpler to knit while watching TV. This pattern was just the ticket. The majority was knit and purl with a pattern that became fairly easy to remember after a short while. 
 
I would like to become more proficient at seaming knits. When you are a garment sewer for the most part, seams are important. And my not-so-pretty seams in knits leave much to be desired.
 
I found a wonderful tutorial on Susan Crawford's blog.
 
 
Her knitting is lovely, and if I can learn to knit and sew knits like she does, I will be one happy camper. As they say, practise makes perfect. So another sweater has been cast on. I have sweaters that I haven't even worn, I seem to just like knitting them.
 
A sewing friend of mine once said that she sews for the love of sewing, she has many things she has never worn. Then she said that her husband fishes for the love of fishing and he is an advocate of catch-and-release. I guess I can count myself a knitter who casts off and releases.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Nesting Dresses


Sort of like those stacking dolls that you can get, the Russian ones that are painted so beautifully. This dress for Hannah and one in the matching fabric for her little sister Sarah will be mailed off this week. Just have to buy some buttons for the little dress. The little dress is Simplicity 5580, an out-of-print pattern.

Amazing how you can have hundreds of white buttons and there just aren't 7 the same that are nice enough for this little dress. I would love to get some nautical ones, but our fabric store has slim pickings when it comes to buttons, so I will just some nice very white ones to accentuate the piping that I put along the opening edges of the dress.

Their mom will take a photo and send it to me, I am sure.

 
My husband commented that I should make a third dress, smaller yet again, to complete the set. Perhaps a doll's dress should be added.