Royal Blue Myrna

Today I am sharing my latest finished knitting project. The yarn is Morris & Sons Empire Merino in 10 ply in "Imperial". I originally bought the yarn to make another Miette as my first two have been such successes, but instead of the cotton I'd used previously, I wanted to try using some wool.

I say intended because when I checked my gauge with the merino it was waaaay off for the required gauge for the miette; while the stitches were right, the rows were out by a LOT. So, rather than risk ruining the cardigan, or try and work out how to alter the raglan sleeves of the miette pattern to work with the number of rows I have, I decided to use a different pattern; the Myrna.

Another beautiful pattern from Andi Sutterland, the myrna is knit in one piece, top down, with set in short row sleeves. I'm a really big fan of this method of construction, as the one time I've tried seaming I really didn't like it. And, since I've actually learnt how to pick up stitches properly (I found this video really helpful), and also used the tips in this post.

I really like the simplicity of the pattern. The row of holes around the edge gives the cardigan some interest but it is still a nice 'basic'.

I knit the small, which is probably a little too small across the bust, but the next size up would have been too big. If anybody has any tips on how or where I'd add some extra stitches into the front to give a tad more ease I'd be very grateful.

I omitted the keyhole in the upper back and also added a couple extra repeats to the length.

Wearing it with a dress it's a good length, but wearing it with a skirt this week it was that tiny bit too short, and I think for wearing with skirts I would prefer it about as long as the ribbing again.

How do you decide on your ideal length?
Do you think this cardigan would be too long with dresses like this if it were longer?
Do you have skirt cardigans and dress cardigans?

  

The last change I made to the pattern was the sleeves. I wanted long sleeves on this cardigan, so I substituted in the sleeves from the Aiken pattern, which Andi assured me on Twitter would work out fine and it thankfully did. To make the sleeves the right length I just kept going, at the same rate of decreases until they were the length I wanted.

I was really pleased when I'd finished the sleeves, until I realised that I had forgotten to add the row of holes before the ribbing... I asked my instagram followers if they thought I should fix it and it was a unanimous YES, so I begrudgingly unravelled the ribbing and added the holes into the sleeves.

And lastly, the buttons. Oh the buttons. They really are so beautiful. The buttons are glass buttons from Buttonmania, that I was informed are from the 1940s. They have a lovely flower pattern in them with a foil back which makes them really shine.

Aiken Jumper (plus bonus pencil skirt)

Today I want to share with you another successful knitting project from an Andi Satterlund pattern. This pattern is the Aiken and went completely smoothly and was a very quick knit. In all honesty, it took less time to knit the jumper than it did for me to get around to writing this post after taking photos *looks ashamed*

A testament to the speed of the knit, is that I knit my guage swatch and cast on on Christmas Day, and I'm not sure exactly when I finished the jumper, but it was sometime early February. So speedy!!

 

I didn't make any alterations except for adding some extra rows of ribbing around the waist. Ideally I would have made it a smidge longer still, but this was how much yarn I had and I was too lazy to go buy some more.

I find that the jumpers I have with a high neckline like this don't get worn much, but this jumper has proved to be an exception to that, especially since I adore the lace detail.

The yarn I've used is a merino yarn so is lovely to wear and snuggly warm.

 

Also, the skirt I'm wearing in these photos hasn't been blogged before. It's another Jenny Skirt, and the reason it hadn't been blogged is that when I originally made it (which was who knows how long ago) it was too small. I could get it on but couldn't really move, and certainly couldn't sit down; I'd forgotten to account for this fabric having no stretch.

Anyway, I've managed to lose a little weight this year and now the skirt fits through the hips! Hurrah! However, the waist was too big, so I unpicked the zip and took it in at the centre back to make the waist fit better.

The skirt fabric is a silk suiting that I got from the fabric store. It was interesting to work with. It's very soft and decadent, but fray terribly and holds creases like nobody's business. I wouldn't sew with it again!

Anyway, an incredibly successful jumper and a salvaged skirt. And hopefully my next post won't come at quite such a big delay after my last one.

Miette Number Two

Since finishing my first Miette Cardigan a little under a year ago it has been in heavy rotation in my wardrobe. It was an incredibly successful knit and very quickly I knew that I wanted to make another version of the pattern. Thank you to everybody that chipped in with an opinion of which colour yarn to use when I asked, I ended up choosing the "Flourite" colour.



Most of the cardigan was knit while I was on my holiday in Europe. I cast on while we were waiting to leave Melbourne Airport, and had got quite a lot done before we even got on the plane due to a 4 hour delay. I was impressed how much I was getting done and started worrying that I hadn't packed enough yarn in my carry on bag, only to find that my stopping factor was that I had packed my extra cables in my checked luggage, so when I got to the point where you have to split for the armholes I was forced to stop.

I made some alterations to the pattern, based on my last version. The first alteration was to start the bust decreases about an inch lower than the pattern states, so that the 'dart' starts just below my bust, rather than higher up (similar to the principle you would have with darts on a sewn garment).



I also lengthened the cardigan by one pattern repeat This was so that it would finish slightly below the waist rather than right on it, allowing me to wear the cardigan with skirts that sit on the waist without getting a gap between the top of the skirt and the bottom of the cardigan.



However, as this would mean that the ribbing would sit below my waist, and as the ribbing was quite tight on my first version, I added some increases in at the side to bring the lacework around the bottom of the cardigan and the ribbing up to the next size in the pattern so that it wouldn't ride up or be too tight. These increases aren't ideal as they actually start slightly above my waist, but that was necessary to get them in before the lace and ribbing started, as I didn't know how to do the increases once I got to that point.



The last change that I made to the pattern was to lengthen the sleeves to be full length rather than 3/4, as I thought that this change would make the cardigan more wearable as it would be that little bit warmer. To do this I just kept knitting, and trying it on intermittantly kept decreasing the sleeve as I thought I needed it, making sure that I ended up with a number of stitches that worked with the lace repeat.



I've said it before, but I'll say it again; this pattern is really well written and it yields a fantastic cardigan! I really want to knit some more of Andi's patterns, the problem comes with choosing one! Have you seen her newest pattern, the Hetty, it's just as gorgeous as all the rest, making the decision even harder.



Anyway, now I have stopped cheating on my Parcel Sweater with this Miette, I need to get that finished too! So much for getting it finished before winter is over. I don't think I'm cut out for having more than one knit on the go at a time... but then I think I used to say that about sewing too...

Indecision Strikes Again... Help Me Choose Please!

With the end in sight on my current knitting project, I'm already thinking ahead to my next project (that I'm hoping to take with my on my holiday). Since my first Miette cardigan was so successful, I've decided I want to knit up another one (and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly influenced by the Handmaker's Factory knit-a-long going on at the moment)

Around clockwise from the top: Flourite, Turquoise, Azurite, Antimony, Garnet, Sapphire, Tanzanite. and Corundum in the middle.

However I can't decide what colour to make it. I am going to use the same yarn again, Avalon from Morris and Sons, and have managed to 'narrow down' (in the loosest sense of the term) the colours from the 47 options down to 8...

Top Row L-R: Corundum, Azurite, Turquoise, Flourite
Bottom Row L-R: Antimony, Tanzanite, Sapphire, Garnet

Which of these 8 colours do you think I should choose? (bearing in mind that my current knit is a jumper that's a dark teal colour, despite how it appears in some of the photos).

Top Row L-R: Garnet, Tanzanite, Sapphire, Corundum

Bottom Row L-R: Azurite, Turquoise, Flourite, Antimony

I have sort of narrowed down this list of 8 to 3 or 4, but really haven't decided yet, so all opinions and suggestions welcome!

Miette - Finished!!

Guess what I finished last weekend?? Yup, that's right, my Miette!! And since Claire and Mindy were kind enough to assist me as photographers I have some pics to share too.

The knitting portion had been finished for a bit over a week, and the cardigan was just waiting on buttons. I bought some buttons that blend in with the yarn, and also added some ribbon to the back of the buttonband that has the buttons on it.

Hopefully the ribbon will stabilise the front of the cardigan. I wasn't sure about adding it to the button band with the buttonholes, so have left it off for now and will see how it goes.

Overall I'm really happy with the cardigan. I love how simple it is, but also really like the lace detail that stops it from being boring. The fit is pretty good. It probably could have done with being a smidge bigger (there's a fair bit of negative ease!). The shoulders look a bit lumpy in these pics, but that's not the cardigan it's because of the sleeves on the dress I'm wearing under it.

If I were to knit up this pattern again I think the only thing I'd change is to start the bust decreases about an inch lower than they are on the pattern - they start a bit too high on me I think. I'd also possibly consider adding one more repeat of the lace to add a couple more inches in length, but i'd have to decide on that after seeing how wearable this one is at this length.

In case you're wondering if I went back and fixed the sleeve lengths - I did! Below is a pic of the very scary process of cutting off the cuff (easier as I'd already weaved in the ends), ravelling back and picking up the stitches again. I cut the shorter sleeve and re-knitted it to match the length of the longer one.

And just to finish this post, I wanted to share a couple more of the pics taken during this photoshoot. Encouraged by my friends behind the camera to try some silly poses, I channeled my inner Amanda as best I could...

  

Nowhere near as crazy as some of her photos but a galant first effort I think.

(apologies if this has appeared in your feed again, and for the lost comments, I accidentally deleted the post)

Miette - Tiny Whoops!

Not one to only show you my successes, I thought I'd share with you a failure / oops today.

This little tale begins last night when I was tidying up my knitting stuff. Earlier yesterday I had finally gotten around to looking up how to do a stretchy cast off, and had cast off the bottom edge, and ends of the sleeves of my cardigan. Each sleeve used up a little under a ball of yarn, so there were two small piles of mostly unravelled yarn where I had been sitting doing my knitting; one from each sleeve. To tidy up I balled up those two piles, at which point I noticed something funny, can you spot what it was:

Yup, my two little balls were different sizes; whoops!! I got out the cardigan again, and laid out the sleeves flat, and lo and behold the sleeves are different lengths! Now, I will admit I did loose count of how many rows I'd done while I was knitting up the sleeves, but I tried my best to check the length of the second against the first as I was going, and definitely before I started the lace rows! I don't know how it happened but the sleeves are about an inch different in length!

I spent most of today hoping that it wouldn't be too noticeable once I was wearing the cardigan, and this evening while watching some TV finished off the button and neck band and tried it on... unfortunately the different is a bit much and I don't think I'll be happy with the cardigan unless I fix it. Here it is on me; you can particularly see where my elbows are bent the difference, on one my elbow is where the lace is, on the other the lace is on my forearm:

And here it is with my arms down straight - you can definitely tell the difference:

So now I need to go back and fix it... problem is, I don't know how!

Does anybody have any advice on the best way to go about unravelling the shorter sleeve back to the beginning of the lace (bearing in mind I've cast of and woven in my end)? And any easy/good/accurate methods for working out how many rows I need to add in to make them the same length?

Also, any tips/methods (or gadgets) for keeping track of how many rows you've done when the pattern requires heaps of stockinette rows like the sleeves did?

All help very gratefully received!