New pattern of mine: Fall Colors Poncho and Scarf.

Last night I've finally published on Ravelry  a mini-collection of patterns, including Fall Colors Poncho and Fall Colors Scarf.

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fall-colors-poncho

These garments combine romantic lace pattern with modern structured edge which make them suitable for any occasion and any style.

For the poncho I used short rows technique which permits to create the warm garment that follow the body silhouette without adding weight to the shoulders. 

Knitted in one size, both of the patterns can be easily modified adding more stitches or rows.

It also allows you to experience with different yarns.

For the poncho I used mixed Alpaca yarn (Peruanskaya Alpaca, 50% wool, 50% alpaca, 150 m per 50 gr), which gives it especial warmths.

I've knitted different versions of Fall Colors scarf, experiencing with different size of needles and different mixture of yarns. 

There is a one important thing about using yarns for machine knitting - the fabric tends to shrink a lot, so for my ultimate Fall Colors Scarf III  I used 7 mm needles with 6 strands of 2/30 yarn (2 brown, 1 green and 3 senape), which after washing and blocking give the impression of using worsted yarn with 5 mm needles.

In any case, this pattern is universal for any kind of yarn.

Knitting these garments, I was thinking of the fall, my favorite season, rich in colors and sensations. I have always imagined them in different shades of green, orange, brown, the colors of the falling leaves... Fall Colors.

Special thanks to my cousin Vicka for these nice old-fashioned photos. 

Ena's sweater.

01/03/2015 Finally, finally, finally! 

My Ena's sweater is completed: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/enas-sweater.

This project was started 11/04/2014. I took the yarn (with other different projects) to Moscow to have fun during my latest visit to Moscow. I fell in love with the idea to knit this sweater with contrast stripes on the yoke. And I think to make an excellent choice: Garnstudio DROPS Alpaca 7323 and 6309 look great together. It gives such a joy to knit with this colors. And it allows to combine this sweater with different garments and accessories.

Unfortunately, I  made an error, instead of making 6 and 7 repeats for the back and front parts I knitted 7 and 8, so I had to undo the front part. The back part became the front part. I don’t like the raglan sleeves, so I continued to knit straight in stockinette after the armholes inserting some blue stripes. In May I took aside this project as it was already too warm to wear it, hoping to proceed in autumn, but I restarted it only in February, tired of knitting only baby garments. 

Now as it is completed, I can’t wait to try it on. Still don’t have a matching skirt, but it would look nice even with jeans. Maybe I will add a kind of band or other little decor on the neckline later.

25/04/2015 I still have to regain my shape but this sweater is so nice and warm and perfect for fresh spring days to wait to be presented. I combined it with 7/8 vintage dark blue jeans, Chie Mihara shoes and tiny Furla bag (so gorgeous but absolutely useless for neomamma). 

There was even rather vintage looking pendant in my dresser. 

Selfie idea, "stolen" from Chie Mihara site.

A new vintage pattern...

Today I looked through the photos of April Burda magazine and was happy to find this beautiful dress pattern which reminds so much of 20s'. This pattern can be added to the collection of VIntage patterns from Burda., as well as to my sewing queue.
There are 3 versions, made of silk or linen, long or short, with or without a bow.
The most classic version would be the long silk one, with a bow on the neckline.

Striped cardigan with anchor.

A couple of months ago I was thinking about knitting a cute striped set from Phildar N 465

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/phildar-no-465-layette-printemps-ete-springsummer-2007.

I called it "Set a righe":

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/set-a-righe-2

After knitting the main part of the sweater I lost the interest for this project, it seemed to be too small, not very easy to put on a little baby, but I still wanted to knit something with the stripes. So I decided to knit a classic striped cardigan, the model for all the times:

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Natie379/striped-cardigan. 

I used the same cotton blu and yellow-green yarns, with 4 threads and 3,5mm needles my gauge was 27 st. per 10 cm. I couldn't resist making the bigger size then needed. 

To accentuate the nautical theme I added a little embroidered anchor, the scheme I found online.

I think it would be a perfect outfit for summer evenings, now all we need is to knit the matching hat.

Dreams, dreams, dreams...

I've just finished watching the 5th season of the Downton Abbey series. And I fell in love with this yellow lace sweater Edith wearing in some scenes. This is one I should definitely knit next year. It's so simple and elegant, easy to knit but of a great effect. I think that Drops Lace Alpaca silk yarn would be perfect for this.  

Baby blanket - Copertina verde II.

Some weeks ago I've published the Baby blanket - Copertina verde. pattern. 

Now I would like to share with you the photos of this blanket completed. 

The size is 57cm x69cm. 

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.