Free: January 2011 Archives
Meet the January Cropped Sweater. This is my solution when cold days meets flowy tunics that are all the rage these days. I was tired of my empire waist tunics and dresses bunching up or bulging under my sweaters and cardigans so I set out to design a sophisticated cropped sweater that could hold its own style-wise but no be so bold as to distract from the whole. The January sweater features a diagonal rib pattern boat neck and a zigzag pattern down the arm. Deep ribs hug the sweater to your figure so no waist shaping is needed. The deep ribs on the cuffs ensure that brisk winds won't creep up your sleeves. The sweater stops just at your natural waist so there is no need to worry about bunching of billowing blouses. The fitted nature of the sweater will keep you looking slim while accommodating trendy tunics and dresses. The details are subtle. The cropped sweater is knit with 4 balls Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky, but with additional 2-3 balls you can increase the length of your sweater to waist length. If you want to add color you can opt for a color change for the neckline or just the cuffs. Go for coordinating colors like Dark Blue and Light Blue or something bolder: Light green and Teal. I have been sporting mine for a little over a week and it works really well for most of my wardrobe. The fitted nature also fits under all my coats without added bulk. I really enjoyed designing and knitting this sweater. The Chunky Yarn knit up quick and the added warmth was perfect during the recent snow storm.
The January Sweater is advanced beginner. You will need to be familiar with knitting in the round, increasing, decreasing and switching needle sizes. The pattern is simple to follow but you will need 4 balls of Lion Brand Wool Ease Chunky, sizes US 10, 10.5 & 11 needles, tapestry needle and waste yarn. If you want to make a full sweater, bump up your yarn to 6 balls. This sweater is best knit on Interchangeables to make the needle changes easier.
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I dislike pinning, sometimes. When it comes to stitching a long seam, I like the security of pinning (I don't yet have Holly's courage). But when it comes to laying out and cutting out my pattern pieces, I hate it! I always feel like pinning distorts my layout and skews my cutting line. Just that little bit of fabric puffed up by the pinning process and what fabric is used to hold the pin in place is just enough to throw off some of my seams, darts or hems. It may just be me, but ever since I tossed the pins (when cutting out pattern pieces, that is) and went with pattern weights, my sewing has reached a whole new level.
Being the industrious seamstress that I am, I began my adventure with pattern weights with whatever was to hand. But after a few weeks of serious devotion to PWs (my short term for Pattern Weights) I decided to make my own. I cut out several 5 in. squares of quilting cotton and interfacing of coordinating prints (the weight pictured is in a lovely Moda) and on one side I attached a piece of 5 in. ric rac. Wrong sides together, I stitched the 2 squares together leaving an opened to turn and fill. I clipped the corners and turned it right side out. Using a handmade funnel of printer paper, I filled my PW half way with dried beans and topped it off with poly fill so it can serve as a pin cushion as well. I hand stitched the opening closed.
Many years later, I have somewhat reverted back to my origins since my PWs are attractive to not only me but my wee child as well. Leaving me back to using whatever is to hand since she has not yet learned the value of returning object from whence they came. I follow rule after a few bad turns:
1) Don't use your coffee cup (especially when there is coffee in it)
2) Don't use anything bigger than your fist (if you start with small it you can use it for even the smallest bit of your pattern and won't have to keep searching your house for another PW)
3) Don't use toys. The owner will come looking and demanding the return of their property leaving your without a PW)
4) Don't use your cell phone. You will forget why it is holding your fabric in place when an important (or not so important) call comes in and either your fabric will fall off the table or your pattern piece will get caught in the breeze mid cut.
5) Don't use anything alive- they are just plain unreliable.
My favorites are an unused and tightly capped bottle of fabric dye, a previously used glass that held water and needs to make it down the kitchen but hasn't in some time, and my own hand made PW (when I can find it). There are plenty of other handy PWs hanging about your house but if your schedule allows make some of your own, they are ever so much fun!
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Bunting: A lightweight cloth material often used for flags and festive decorations
In honor of St. Valentine's Day (or Single's Awareness Day, as I have
seen it referred to), I have whipped up a most festive bunting to celebrate
love. My history of Valentine's Day has always made it more of a celebration
than an anxiety-riddled day of examining single life. My mom would always give
up little gifts and cards before we left for school. There was also the huge
PAR-TAY in grade school that equated Valentine's day with cute cards, lots of
candy and my favorite color at the time, Pink. It wasn't until Middle School
and High School that Valentine's became the black mark on the calendar. I
decided shortly after a bad break-up that I wasn't going to celebrate it any
more. I held to that all through my courtship with my husband and since.
However, now with a daughter of my own, I long to recreate the joys of my
childhood and that especially includes Valentine's day the way Mom taught me.
This project started with an idea: bunting. It is such a favorite in the
craft world, I think, for 2 reasons: insanely customizable, relatively quick.
My bunting would be, of course, made of valentine-y colors (pink, red, white)
but also some new colors to spice it up. As usually happens as I was assembling
my supplies (I should not that I wanted this project to use up scrapes and remnants
from other projects) I found out that I was depressingly low on ribbon. I had
no pink, red or white ribbon at all! I was too ashamed of this circumstance to
even show my head in public. To serve as a ribbon to hold the bunting together,
I decided to take strips of my chosen fabric and braid them up. To determine
how long I would need it, I cut out my flags (roughly 6 in. W by 8 in. H) and arranged
them. I then measured across the top and added a little extra for hanging. To
make the braid, I cut strips about 2 in. wide (if you just snip into the
fabric, you can rip it the rest of the way down and it will be perfectly on the
grain). I then knotted 3 together and braided. When one strip was about to run
out, I would knot it together with another. I continued to my desired length, knotted
and trimmed the ends. I then cut ½ in. by 4 in. strips and stitched them to the
top of the flags and tied the flags onto the braided fabric.
I cut out the letters from various colors of felt and glued them in
place. Too late I realized I could have used my Cricut for this. You could also
use a blanket stitch to secure the letters or Heat n Bond. I added big hearts
at either end because it just felt right.
Materials needed:
½ yd of quilting cotton in various colors (½ yd makes 3 flags)
Three ½ yds of quilting
cotton in various colors for the braid
3 sheets of 9
x 12 in. felt for letters
Deep into winter as we are (some more so than others) I
think it is essential to arm all knitters with a good hat. Hats
are my favorite to knit because they are so warm/comfy and quick/easy. Usually
once I get quite bored with knitting them it is time to start the decreases and
then the hat is done. Knitted hats come in all shapes, designs and colors but
they all start with a basic pattern. I will share mine with you.
First choose your yarn. It is most important to start with the yarn though you may have a basic idea of how you want your hat to look in the end- it all depends on the yarn. You may want a chunky hat with a cable but first you must know your yarn so you may base your math and needle size from the yarn. Next, using the needle size suggested on the ball band, knit a 4 in. by 4 in. swatch. Once complete, take a good long look at your swatch. Does it give the stitch definition you are looking for? Is the fabric thick enough? Will it give you the look you want? If the answer to any of these is no, consider switching your yarn. A smoother yarn will give better definition- essential for cable and textured stitches. If you fabric is not thick or dense enough go for a smaller needle. Next, count your gauge and multiply it out to the circumference of your head or the head of the hat wearer. My head is 22 in. around, for example, and with a chunky yarn giving me 12 Sts over 4 in. means I must cast on 66 Sts for a hat.
Now if you have a chosen stitch pattern that you want to incorporate you must accommodate this into your cast-on. Say, I want to use a lace pattern that repeats over 14 Sts. I start by dividing 66 by 14 and get 4.71. Rounding up to 5 means that I will have 5 repeats of the pattern if I cast-on 70 Sts. Adding the extra 4 Sts will only increase my hat circumference by roughly 1 in. If this is an issue you can always add on a ribbing with a smaller needle before starting the lace. The ribbing knit with a smaller needle will make the hat a little tighter along the bottom edge.
Knit until you reach the crown of your head (for me this is 7 in.) and then it is time to start your decreases. I prefer to make mine even across the stitch count and widely spaced so it will not distract from the patterns. A k2tog decrease gives a nice dome shape that will fit your head very well. To determine where to place your decrease you must divide into your stitch count and determine the highest number available to fit your pattern. Given the example above, I could divide 70 by 10 which would give me 7 decreases or I could divide by 14 which would give me 5 decreases. I would choose the 5 decreases since it would blend in with my lace pattern which has 5 pattern repeats. I would then *knit (in pattern) 12 sts, k2tog and repeat from * to the end of the round (12 sts plus the 2 in the K2tog gives 14). The next round would be knit in pattern without decrease.Each decrease round subtract 1 from the knitted stitches: 2nd decrease round knit 11 sts then k2tog, 3rd decrease round knit 10 then k2tog, etc) Decreasing and then skipping a round gives a nice gradual crown that fits the head smoothly and comfortably. I would repeat these 2 rounds until I was k2tog the whole round. Then, you break the yarn leaving an 8 in. tail. Using your tapestry needle, weave the tail though the remaining loops following the direction of knitting and pull tight. Turn your hat inside out and weave this tail into the hat to secure the end.
Your hat is now finished! You can use this basic hat pattern to make any number of hats in any design or fashion. It is a trusted and true pattern that has served me well. Pass it on!
You
can follow us on Twitter! Get the scoop on Fabric.com Deals by following @fabricdotcom
or you can get the inside scoop on my projects,
see their progress and get extra tips and tricks by following me@tdangermiller
