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.

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...

Whole Wheat Cardigan - Finished!

I am incredibly behind in posting this cardigan. I actually finished knitting it in February, and bought the buttons for it when Social Sewing went on the Road. And then the cardigan hung in my wardrobe and the buttons in my desk drawer until a few weeks ago.

The pattern is the Whole Wheat pattern on ravelry, and you can see my previous posts about the cardigan here. I lengthened the sleeves to be 3/4 length for a bit more warmth though.

This cardigan was quite different from my first cardigan, as it was knit in pieces then seamed together. The pattern was written very differently as well, which was interesting. The miette pattern was written out line by line, but this one was written to things like 'knit until piece measures xx inches', which made me more worried about making it the right size.

I really love the lace and cables design that makes up the 'fabric'.

However the fit of the cardigan itself ended up a bit off, the shape of the sleeve head seemed wrong when I was knitting it, it seemed too flat at the time but I decided to be a good little knitter and follow the pattern. The sleeves ended up coming out a big baggy in the upper arms. I considered at one point taking the seam in to make it tighter, but after wearing it a few times I decided that I didn't care that  much.

Another issue was the shoulders being a bit wide, which I did end up fixing. As the neck band around the back was knit separately and then joined to the cardigan, I unpicked that join, unravelled an inch or so from the neck band and rejoined it, easing the top of the cardigan onto the shorter band. This narrowed the shoulders enough so it doesn't fall off my shoulders anymore.

 

It's not perfect (there are a few mistakes, that I'm not going to point out to you), but I'm pretty happy with it considering it's only my second knitted garment. 

PS: Have you seen Lizzy's beautiful version of this pattern? We started knitting these at about the same time, but she finished (and blogged) hers waaaay before me.

Wrap Cardigans

 

You may have noticed from my Me-Made-May posts that I've made myself a couple of new wrap cardigans.

 

My intention was to copy a black RTW cardigan that I have (pictured on day 9). The cardigan pattern seemed pretty simple, the front pieces were basically just big triangles that wrap around your back, so I had a go at making my own pattern.

 

I started with my basic t-shirt block, modifying the pieces as follows:
- Shortened the front and back to have the hem sit at my upper hip (in the picture below left I'm indicating my waist with my finger)
- Widened the sleeves so they had a straighter shape and are bigger so they can be worn with another layer underneath
- Made the cross over front by extending the v-neckline down to past the other side seam.

 

I am intending on putting together a little tutorial of exactly how I did these alterations (particularly the changes to the front piece) and the construction of the cardigan in another post.

 

I stitched up the pale blue cardigan first, with some jersey that I had lying around in my stash to test out my pattern before making it up in my fancy merino jersey, which is what the grey version is.

After making the blue version and wearing it for a day I was happy with the overall fit, but I decided to lengthen the ties slightly, because I could only just tie them behind my back as they were (see the teeny tiny knot in the above photo). Everything else was great though, and after extending out the tie a couple more inches I cut into my Merino Jersey.

    

I constructed the pale blue one entirely on my sewing machine, using a combination of the triple-stitch to sew the seams, and a zig-zag around the neck band to hold the layers together. The jersey wasn't going to fray so I didn't finish any of the other seams. I also added clear elastic to the shoulder seam like I do with all my t-shirts.

The grey version was sewn up on a combination of overlocker and sewing machine. I don't currently have an overlocker, I just don't have the space. However Helen very kindly let me use hers at the last social sewing day.

        

The seams were all stitched using the overlocker, with the sewing machine only being used for the hems around the bottom and on the sleeves.

I know that the sewing machine finish is perfectly strong and will last, but the overlocked one really does look neater inside doesn't it! *sigh* oh to have the space for an overlocker...

Anyway, I am really happy with my new wrap cardigans. Hopefully you like them too and will be interested in the tutorial for making one.

Whole Wheat - Gauge Swatch

After finishing my Miette Cardigan I was so happy with it that I've decided to move onto another cardigan project. So, one day after work I took another trip to Morris & Sons and exchanged the two leftover balls of yarn from my Miette and bought some lovely merinogold yarn in pale blue, to make a Whole Wheat cardigan.

When I got home I bought the pattern online, and over the weekend started knitting a gauge swatch...



This gauge swatch really highlighted the difference before and after blocking. Above is before, below is after...



I'm happy with the gauge, and even happier with the texture of the pattern!



This cardigan uses very different techniques to the Miette that I've never tried before. It's knit as flat pieces that are seamed together at the end. The pattern is also written very differently - much less 'spelled out' than the Miette. Wish me luck with working out how to do it all!