Yellow Girly Dress

Here's another piece that I finished ages ago...a cute little yellow dress for my half-sister's daughter. I haven't given it to her yet, for reasons that I shall explain below!


Pattern: 76. Neulottu Tytön Liivimekko (Knitted Girl's Dress)
Designer: Arja Viitala
Source: Novita Lehti Kesä 2009 (Novita Magazine Summer 2009)
Needles: 3.5mm
Yarn Details:

• Novita Bambu
• 68% bamboo, 32% cotton
• 50 grams = 135 metres
• colour #217
• about 270 grams (5.4 balls) used

The first week of working on this pattern was very enjoyable, but geez the skirt part became tedious after a while. After I hit the bodice section, though, it was smooth sailing all the way to the end. An easy pattern with very little finishing required.

This is for my niece, who is two and a half years old. Somehow, somewhere along the way, this dress became big enough to fit a petite (adult) Asian friend of mine, so I think it won't fit my niece for a while to come! But of course it's better that clothes for children are too big rather than too small. So that's the first reason why I haven't sent it yet, and the second reason is that it's Winter in Australia right now and she won't be able to wear it anyway, even if she has grown like crazy.

I still have a few balls of this cool summery yellow left, so I think I'll make a sunhat or perhaps even a little cardigan for her.

Sorbet Vest

Yep, I admit it - I've been laaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzyyyyyy!

No posts for the whole month of May...naughty naughty! But here I am at the last minute, pulling out this vest, which I finished almost three months ago! Dear me.

Pattern: Neulottu Salmiakkiruutuinen Slipoveri
Designer: Anne-Maija Immonen
Source: Novita Magazine Spring 2009
Needles: 4.5mm and 5.0mm bamboo straights
Yarn Details:

• Novita Rose Mohair
• 65% acrylic, 35% mohair
• 50 grams = 189 metres
• colours #337 (green) #705 (lilac) and #011 (white)

Here's what the original looked like. See all of those diamonds on the front? That means ELEVEN bobbins of sticky mohair getting tangled all over the place!

I lasted a measly four rows with eleven bobbins before ripping back and deciding on a simpler approach.

There was also a slight modification with the sizing in that I cast on for the second size but increased for the third size by the time I reached the underarms.


I like this one a lot and have worn it quite often.

Coming up soon: a little yellow summer dress!

Another Pinwheel Blanket

I've been finding myself repeating some patterns...the Drops Baby Jacket (here and here), several pairs of Endpaper Mittens (here, here, here and here), and now another pinwheel baby blanket.


Pattern: Round or Pinwheel Baby Blanket
Designer: Genia Planck
Source: Knitlist
Finished Measurements: 110cm diameter
Needles: 6mm dpns, plus circulars in 80cm and 150cm lengths
Yarn Details:

• Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora
• 80% cotton, 20% angora
• 50 grams = 79 metres
• colour #15508
• about 360 grams used

This pattern is so easy and seems to grow so quickly, until the end, that is...those last few rows are the killer! By the end of this one, I had to go up to a 150cm-long circular needle in order to keep the stitches in order. One round = 20 minutes.

Just like the last time, I took the edging pattern from a Nicky Epstein book: Knitting Beyond the Edge. The pattern as written in the book would work best with a lighter yarn and didn't look good at all with this cotton, so I made the 'waves' a little smaller than the pattern instructed.

When I started making this, I had no idea to whom I would give it, but in the end it found a good home with a friend's brother's little girl. I've seen pictures of the little one lying on it and apprently it is being put to good use, which pleases me to no end!

Finally - Vestish!!

Another long-ago project that is now getting some air time! Here she is, my VESTISH!



Pattern: Vestish
Designer: Robin Dodge
Source: MetaPostModernKnitting, Spring/Summer 2008
Needles: 3.5mm and 3.75mm
Yarn Details:

• Hjertegarn Lima
• 100% wool
• 50 grams = 100 metres
• colours #211 (darker brown) and #282 (lighter brown)
• 285 grams used
  

I really like the design of this vest and how the v-neck melts into the straps. The original design has little pockets at the front and it was always my intention to make them, but when I finished the main part of the vest, it looked cute enough as it was!

This was started in the middle of September last year and finished at the beginning of November. As I've mentioned before, there is a distinct lack of sunlight here during the winter, which makes photo-taking decidedly tricky. Hence it's now...geez...April, and I'm finally posting about it. The polar night can account for the time up until about the beginning of March...and the rest is just me.

I did make a rather large boo-boo on this one: the decreases for the arm holes are made every other row, and I in my excellence made them every row. So the v-neck is a bit shallower than planned, but not at all unacceptable. From memory, I was already working on the v-neck ribbing part when I realised my blunder - and there was no way I was going to rip it back!

I do wear this, but unfortunately not so often, because the fit is a little boxy; I tend to prefer more, shall we say, 'curvy' designs. So if I were to make this again, I would add in more hourglass to it.


Last but not least, this yarn is fantastic! It's nice and soft and was easy to work with. I think the gauge I worked at was tighter than is perhaps desirable, so with a slightly looser gauge it would be even softer and more pliable.

Garter Stitch Baby Jacket

Geez, back in October 2008 I started this baby jacket. Worked on it a bit, put it away, worked on it a bit more, let it gather some dust...six months down the line, I was fed up with looking for my 3mm bamboo circulars and finding them attached to a work in progress. I finally decided to bite the bullet and finish all of that garter stitch and reclaim my needles.



Pattern: Jacket in Alpaca
Source: Drops Design
Size: second (6-9 months)
Needles: 3mm bamboo circulars
Yarn details:

• Novita Nalle
• 75% wool, 25% polyamide
• 150 grams = 390 metres
• colours #43 (grey) and #574 (red)
• about 200 grams used

I've made this jacket before. Last time I suspected that the recipient wasn't too thrilled with it, probably because the colours were dark green and gold, and all of the other clothes she had bought for her little girl were pink and white. Woops.

This time around I mailed a picture of the finished product to a friend of mine whose wife just had a baby a few weeks ago, and asked him if he liked it and if he would like to have it. He knew the whole story of the previous incarnation and understood why I was asking him!

He was very happy to receive it, which makes me all the happier for having given it to him.


The buttons were a gift that came from Vienna and have been waiting for a good project to attach themselves to. I like how they're a bit radioactive-like in the way they 'glow'.

Itsenäisyyspäivä Sukat

There's nothing quite like a deadline to motivate the stitches to get moving.

I'd had some blue and white self-striping sock yarn for quite a while, with the thought of turning it into knee-high socks. Blue and white are the Finnish national colours, so what better way to celebrate the Finnish National Day than with some self-made Finnish socks?

Pattern: Knee-high Socks
Designer: Mary Jo Hamilton
Source: Society Socks
Needles: 2.25mm bamboo and 1.5mm metal dpns
Yarn details:

• Schachenmeyr Nomotta Regia Nation Colour
• 75% new wool, 25% nylon
• 50 grams = 210 metres
• colour #395
• 115 grams used

Even though the finished socks weigh 115 grams, there's not that much yarn left over from my original four balls because I had to do lots of snipping of colours to get the socks to match.

The pattern came from a sock designer called Mary Jo Hamilton. I can't remember exactly where on her website I found the information, but she had a knee-high sock pattern available upon request, so I emailed her and she was kind enough to send me the pattern. From memory, the reason why I chose the pattern was because it used the exact same yarn as I had, and the calf size was adjustable.

Getting the heel right was a real challenge, and finding a good calf size wasn't too easy, either. In the process, I ended up knitting at least three socks because of all the frogging.

The deadline of the 6th of December was looming large and I was having so much trouble with the heel...it was a close call, but after switching the panic button to ON, I finished them off at about ten o'clock on the evening before the celebrations.

They stay up on my legs really well and cope with maching washing perfectly. If I were to make them again, I would have fewer stitches on the foot part, as they're a little loose for my liking.

Diagonal Lace Scarf

I work with a lady who likes to wear what I call 'indoor scarves'. They're not substantial enough to wear outside in winter, but are a nice accessory for indoors. She has a nice collection and looks great all the time, so I thought I'd steal her idea...here's what I came up with:

Stitch Pattern: "Diagonal Lace"
Source: Harmony Lace and Eyelet Stitch Guide, page 248
Needles: 4mm bamboo straights
Yarn details:

• Novita Luxus Cloud
• 65% wool, 35% bamboo
• 50 grams = 97 metres
• colour #571
• 170 grams used

I searched around quite a bit to find a pattern that I liked and was also in my library. The Raha Scarf (Ravelry Link) from Nancy Bush's Knitted Lace of Estonia looked like the winner for a while, but in the end I wanted a fabric that was more or less reversible. I tried a few different stitch patterns from the Harmony guide, with mixed results, until this one worked out well and I didn't keep stuffing it up all the time.

This yarn has only just come into the shops up here recently and I wanted to try it out. It's lovely and soft and gives a good drape and comes in a small selection of nice colours. What I should have realised, however, based on the yarn and the stitch pattern, is that the length of the scarf would extend dramatically after washing. My 130cm-long scarf ballooned out to 180-odd-cms...starting to be a little too long for indoor wear. Nonetheless, I like the scarf and even if I don't wear it indoors here, it will be a good spring-summer scarf.


As a side note, the yarn bled like a severed artery when I washed it. It took a good ten minutes for the water to run clear.