Milano sweater.

A week ago I finally finished this project - Milano sweater by Caroll Sunday.
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/milano. 

I've started thinking over it in spring, and now it is ready to wear. I've tried it - the colors look great and it is very warm. 

For this sweater I chose Garnstudio DROPS Alpaca Mix yarn (100% alpaca, 167 m/50gr). It doesn’t have exactly the same colors, so I’ve ordered all the colors I liked and chose this combination. I was afraid to make a color combination which would become tiring, irritating, but still I like the colors. I think it's a right alternative for the original colors. 

I couldn't resist the temptation and started this project in May, knitting it now and then, as it is perfect for travel.

I didn't purchase the pattern as it was easy, and I was using different yarn. 

For the back I cast on 170, for the front - 182, later I decreased them on the front part of the neckline. I knitted 9 rows for one stripe instead of 8 rows. 

During summer months I knitted the front and the back part, and this November I "was ready" to finish the project.

I found online what does the “cable decreases” mean, finished the neckline, washed the main part and started the sleeves. Here I was hesitating whether to follow the pattern or make changes. 

Recalculated the sleeves, knitted half a sleeve, starting with the upper part. Honestly I don’t like the idea of long sleeve on boxy shaped sweater, and I don’t like the rib knitted with this yarn.

At the end I've knitted the wider and shorter sleeve with some rows in garter stitch instead of the rib. And I undone the rib on the main part replacing it with the same garter stitch. 
What else can I say - I like it(:

"Unfortunately", the idea of oversized boxy sweater on slim body cannot be appreciated a lot on me for now, so I have to wait some months to see if it looks really good on me. For now I'll ask my cousin to be my model. She is a bit taller, so the sweater and the sleeves looks shorter on her. 

Striped blanket.

For years I was waiting for an occasion to knit some baby blanket, and finally I don't find any reasons to wait. This blanket might be used on the baby bed as well as on the bigger teenager bed. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/striped-blanket

After looking through all my "Le copertine piu belle" magazines of Mani di Fata I chose between 2 patterns, adapting them to my taste. I used Garnstudio DROPS Baby Merino yarn (100% merino, 175 m/50gr). It has a great choice of colors and it's perfect for making blankets, as it grows a lot. I had bad experience with some other yarns, when after washing the garments were reduced in their size. I wanted to have a knitted fabric which grows rather than shrinks.

I used colorways 24, 02, 09. 17.

Here is the summery of the work done: 
27/09 Started the border. 
29/09 Finished the first stripe. Even if the blanket is planned to be rather big (90cm per 120cm), I think it will be enough 1 skein of each color and 4/5 skiens of cream. Still I have to order a yellow color. I like the stitch pattern and with the rest of the yarn I can do some hat and scarf, and even little jacket. 
30/09 I‘ve started the third, green stripe and I’m not sure I need a yellow one. Maybe instead it would be better another brown, and then green, blue and brown again. 

02/10 I’m on the middle of the lenght (9 stripes instead of 8 in total). Not bad, but for knitting 2 stripes I need a little bit more than 1 skein, so I have to reorder one skein of brown. I’ll definetely order more skeins of this yarn to make matching cardigan, hat and scarf.

04/10 The green stripe is on the needles, blue and brown are left. It is much quicker project then I’ve expected. But I need more brown yarn to finish it. And I haven’t ordered it from Fiordilana still (they make 25% discount on it till the 7th of October). So, now I’ll start the hat for me.

07/10 Ultimate stripe, the yarn has just arrived. Then the border, and my biggest (for now) blanket is completed. And then, what should I start? Umaro III (even bigger) or Market jacket? 

11/10 Feeling a bit tired to cast-off, but tomorrow it will be fresh off the needles.

After washing the blanket I had a couple of days of anxiety. The reason was that the blanket has grown more then I had expected, and as I don't have any surface big enough to be able to block the garment in the better way, I had to wait till it had shrunk to its expected size. That was really a stress. 

Scroll lace scarves.

Here is one of my favorite patterns, Scroll Lace scarf by Ysolda Teague. I'm so glad that finally I've decided to try it, and now I have two of them done already. And I would knit some others, as this pattern will look gorgeous with any yarn, gauge and color.

The first one I knitted for myself, it's a lighter version.

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/scroll-lace-scarf

I used Cashwool 2/30 super melange RP yarn for machine knitting and larger needles size (6mm) as the yarn shrinks a lot after washing. Also for this reason I repeated the lace pattern 32 times instead of 28, and made more short rows on the main part. 

Also I knitted the main part in garter stitch, as it has more volume and looks better than my stockinette. 

To my shame it took me some time to stop doing mistakes and restart this shawl. May be it was for the blame of my numerous WIPs. 

I made one error - I’ve attached the yarn on the RS, so, that the picot border is on the WS. It looks nice as well. 

The shawl came out longer then the original, and I can turn it around my neck several times to show all the beauty of the lace part, using decorative pin to fix it.

The second shawl was intended to be warmer and bigger

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/scroll-lace-scarf-2

I've started it for myself, but now it belongs to my Mom. 

I used the mixture of Pexorka Peruanskaya Alpaca (50% alpaca, 50% wool) and Tricot Filati Superkid (80% mohair, 20% nylon). At first I've tried another pattern of Ysolda, Peaks Island Hood, but it wasn't made for me, and I used these yarns for my second Scroll Lace scarf. This time I used 5,5 mm needles.

Baby blanket - Copertina verde.

To my surprise the photo of my recent WIP had a success after publishing it on Facebook. Some knitters had asked me for a pattern, so I decided to write it down. It is simple and quick, but still of a great effect. It was "inspired" by a pattern from Mani di Fata magazine, but after trying to knit the original slipped stitch pattern I gave up and found this simple leave stitch pattern in one of stitch dictionaries. 

The blanket is knitted with Garnstudio DROPS Merino Extra Fine yarn, using 4,5 straight needles (I knit very tightly). 

The pattern is:

Cast on 120 st.

Knit 10 rows in garter stitch

Continue knitting 6 st in garter stitch, 13 st in main pattern till the late 6 st, 6 st in garter stitch.

Then knit 10 rows in garter stitch. 

Make the necessary number of stripes and finish with 10 rows in garter stitch. 

Main pattern:

1, 3, 13 rows - Knit.

2, 4, 12, 14 rows - Purl.

Row 5: K2, yo, K3, K3tog, K3, yo, K2.

Row 6: P3, K3, P1, K3, P3.

Row 7: K3, yo, K2, K3tog, K2, yo, K3.

Row 8: P4, K2, P1, K2, P4.

Row 9: K4, yo, K1, K3tog, K1, yo, K4.

Row 10: P5, K1, P1, K1, P5.

Row 11: K5, yo, K3tog, yo, K5.

Then you can knit a border if you like. I'll knit one. 

Cove hat and cowl for VIcka.

As I have already posted here  http://vintagecasahandmade.blogspot.it/2014/10/cove-hat.html,

the second Cove hat I knitted was a present for my cousin Vicka. Garnstudio DROPS Nepal yarn is perfect for this project, smooth and bulky, but easy to drape. As it was too bulky to knit the matching scarf, I decided to knit a cowl. The result - warm cowl that can be worn over a jacket or a coat, with or without a pin.   

Waiting for an inspiration...

Finally I'm able to enter my blogspot page! I'm not very clever in computers. It took me one hour to understand and resolve the problem - my browser was not updated. For a miracle I've managed to install the Google Chrom and now here I am. 

While waiting for a nice occasion to make some photos of my last completed projects (one of them is of my own design and before publishing the photos I have to publish the pattern on Ravelry) I want just to make a few notes on some WIPs.

Today I'm not in the mood to complete any of them which need any concentration or adaptation. Besides my little daughter is at home and I can't concentrate on my work.
Some examples?

1) Quaking Aspen Shawl http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/quaking-aspen-shawl:

I'm not sure I like the colors and it doesn't help to continue, even if all I have to do is to complete the border. I've tried for a couple of times this morning, but I didn't like the original lace pattern. May be I'll find another matching lace pattern. I'll think about it... next week.

2) Milano http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/milano:
To start the sleeves I have to calculate stitches and rows. I'm not able to do even this simple math.

3) Ena's sweater http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/enas-sweater-2,
Come una volta II http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/come-una-volta-ii,
To wear with a summer suit http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/to-wear-with-a-summer-suit:

I have no idea when my waist will be thin enough to wear any skirt, so both this projects are not actual (sometimes I'm practical and knit the things which I REALLY need). 

So, today is dedicated to Umaro blanket http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/umaro-3, which has become rather boring to knit (taking into account the size and the name of the project). It would be nice to get rid of this WIP - it occupies a big packet in the middle of our living-room. 

 

Some other knitting plans? When I'll get my straight 7 mm needles I'll definitely knit Market jacket

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/market-jacket, 

and next days I should knit legwarmers for my daughter. For now I chose this simple pattern

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/undercut-legwarmers.

Cove hat

This hat was intended to be a birthday present for my cousin Vicka (born in August), she liked this model, I bought the yarn... It happened in May... Now she finally is to come to visit us in December, and it's time to knit it. 

For her hat I chose Garnstudio DROPS Nepal yarn (65% wool, 35% alpaca, 75 m/50 gr). 

But before knitting a hat for Vicka I decided to knit a test hat for me, with another Garnstudio DROPS yarn - Alaska (100% wool, 69 m/50 gr), very similar to Nepal.

You can find this project here:

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/cove-hat 

I didn't buy a pattern, it was too easy, I just tryed to copy what I saw on the photo. 

I wanted to add the rib, I was afraid that the had would move, fall down on the face. But it would have made another effect. Instead I slipped every first stitch on the needle to take in the border.

First I knitted one skein with 7 mm needles, and then I reknitted all the hat with 8 mm needles. After washing the yarn became smoother and the hat became exactly like I wanted, not too heavy to fall down. Vicka approved the project, my Mom wants the same (for her it should be modifyed a bit, making the upper part shorter, creating a turban). 

Modern vintage.

There is a rather famous vintage pattern called "Your victory jumper". On Ravelry you can see some interesting interpretations of this sweater...  

As an alternative there is feather lace jumper by Sirdar.

They are both very simple - it's enough to choose the right color combination.

Waiting for knitting my own version, I bought this Chloe's sweater.  

This look is pretty vintage, isn't it?

Long forgotten skirt.

As I've already mentioned in previous post Nederdel., recently I've bought a marvellous sweater by MaxMara. To my joy it fits perfectly my skirt that for some years was waiting in my wardrobe for a right companion - slightly modified according to my size and fabric design pattern 108 from Burda Style May 2007:

The fabric is a fine spring linen-wool, it was a little too warm to wear with any summer T-shirt. And now I'm happy to revive this skirt.  

Nederdel.

Finally I'm in a mood for knitting my second Nederdel skirt. 

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/nederdel---lace-tiered-skirt-2

I've knitted one several years ago, using 2 threads of rather crisp cotton yarn. 

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/nederdel---lace-tiered-skirt

The fabric is very resistent and keep the shape (no "bubble effect" when one stands up). 

But this time I wanted to do something longer, may be more delicate, elegant. 

Some months ago I bought a cotton yarn Liliya of Moscow Yarn Company of a beautiful ochre-choccolate color. http://www.ravelry.com/people/Natie379/stash/liliya- And I remembered my old decision to make another Nederdel skirt. 

I've decided to use all 3 skeins, so the final lenght was limited with 1171,3 meters. 

I repeated the first pattern 12 times, omitted the second stripe, and made the decreases of the third stripe according to the amount of the yarn I had.

I wanted the first stripe  to be as long as possible, but now I need to find a linen as the skirt is rather transparent. A kind of shapewear skirt.

When I finished the skirt I realised that it didn't look good with any simple T-shirt, not even with any hand-knitted garment. It's very different to combine 2 hand knitted garments, and for me if the skirt is tight, the sweater should be loose and vice versa (especially if you are not a model). Fortunately I found this MaxMara silk-linen assimetrical sweater that fits my skirt perfectly. The color is gorgeous too. And it has a beautiful construction which I'm going to use one day for a handmade sweater.

Halcyon blouse.

This project took me almost a year to be finished. 

Well, sometimes we knit just for the process of knitting itself...

14/07 This project is planned to be a travel one. And I’ll start it only after completing the Little Chris. For now I’ve knitted one piece for testing the pattern and prepared the yarn balls. 3 ply should be enough. 

05/08 Finaly it is on the needles. The first thing to change is the size of the needles. I’ll knit the rib part with 2,75, and the rest with 3,25. 

08/08 Last night (or this morning, it was almost 4 o’clock) I made the first 24 rows of the pattern. Now I should understand the increasing part. It was easy, but i realised that 2,5 and 3 needles are better. So, back to the rib part. 10/08 This morning I’ve finished the bottom part, 366 stitches. This time without any mistakes. It took me less time that I’ve expected, and the lace pattern was easy to remember. It looks great, I was planning to make it in yellow, but wasn’t sure of the amount of yarn. But this color looks even better. My Mom likes it, and this matters a lot. After 366 stitches 172 stitches of the main part seems nothing. I made the provisional cast on for the rib part, so I picked up the stitches for knitting the main part. 

12/08 Today we are leaving for Moscow. Ultimate photos at dacha, the first photos of my Halcyon. 

26/08 172 stitches seem to be not enough for the original loose shape.  But I  like it the same (I can’t not like it, I’ve knitted too much to  restart  it).  A added 34 stitches to  knit the front part. Maybe, I’ll make the sleeve shape to make it less bulky in  the shoulders. At  least  the  original (almost) pattern remains. 

28/08 The front bottom part is done. 439 stitches. It looks great but needs so much time. With all those beautiful paterns I have in my queue... Will I wear therm when I'm 70 years old?

03/09 The front part is almost finished, I've got back to the back  front (i found a mistake  in the 4th pattern repeat, so I had to undo it). I have to finish it by the middle of this month. Sardegna should see it. 

20/06 Almost a year has passed... Yes, this sweater has travelled even to Sardegna, knitting is a great idea to spend hours on the ferryboat... And now we're in Civitanova Marche to make some photos. 

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