Mat's Hat

Hello again! I've been a tad behind with the blogging due to an increased addiction to making, it seems. So here is the first of a few long overdue posts and photographs..

Back in January I agreed to make a hat for Matt Carver, a local electrician, with his business logo on it. Here is the original post. The logo for Lucas Electrics is a kangaroo and I was looking forward to getting stuck into a bit of fair isle knitting. This isn't something I'm massively accomplished at and I really wanted to give it a go.

However it didn't really work in the round, as I realised I'd be using up far too much wool carrying the yarn around when I wasn't using it, and it would make the hat unnecessarily thick. Also I was messing up the tension and spending far too long on it!

In the end I settled for knitting the beanie in the round and then swiss darning the logo on afterwards. This gave a lot more scope for detail and the end result I think is great. I haven't got a photo of Mat in it yet but he does seem to wear it a lot, which can only be a good thing! It's also 100% Merino so it should keep him warm in the winter months.

It also managed to grab the attention of Aussie comedian Adam Hills and played a part in his show! He mentions it in his blog here

Chris's Shirt

I've been wanting to write about this one for a while but I've had to wait until I gave it to a certain someone for his birthday before I could make it public!

I loved making this shirt, the fabric is beautiful and it felt like a proper challenge to get all the checks to match up. I changed a few of the design features - omitted the pocket flaps after deciding the fabric was too heavy for them, changed the shape of the front yokes and added small darts from the pocket down for extra shaping.

Making this has made me seriously think about going into menswear as it was so nice to put together. I've taken an order for one more in plain fabric, which should be a lot quicker, so watch this space :-)

It fitted it's recipient perfectly (phew!) though I still need to get a photo of him in it to prove this (when he'll let me..)

4ply Beanie Hat

As the weather started to warm up a bit I went decided that what I really needed on Brighton beach one evening was a new hat, not of the huge chunky variety I made over the winter, but something I could scrunch up in my bag and have handy in case it got chilly. Being one that feels the cold easily (and how boring my knitting habit would be if I didn't) a warm but thin hat was calling my needles to get twitching.

And so this was born - a 4 ply hat made with Regia sock wool and a few random remnants, it took a few attempts to get the size right but now it's just right. It's unfortunately a tad too warm to wear it now though!

Summer Dresses

Remember back in May I posted a photo of a model in a magazine and said I was going to copy the dress? Looky here to recap. Well here's the dress, I finally got around to posting up the photograph (courtesy of Helen Tinner Photography)



Also Helen shot a better photo of me in the floral dress I blogged about last May



And the tulip dress I was in the middle of making in June

Kangaroo Beanie

So this is what I'm doing right now, amongst other things. I've been asked to make a beanie hat for an electrician with his logo on the front, so I'm quite excited about designing this.

This is what I've been given to work with



And this is the chart I've made so far. (I don't have the right colour pens but I know where I'm at!) I've changed the pattern around the kangaroo slightly as it's going to be a wiggly stripe that goes right around the hat.



I gotta go out now and buy some new needles!

Last Year's Other Aran Cardigan

I must have finished this in February as it practically saved my life in Poland, yet I also never gor around to uploading photos of this cardigan either. The wool is Rowan, I bought it cheap about 5 years ago as it was discontinued (I don't even remember what it was called). This cardi I based on the shape of the first aran I made, but basically made it up as I went along (and no, I didn't think to write any of it down.) I wanted a high neck so I could wear it under a coat and avoid having to wear a scarf, but I also wanted something that would look slightly like a jacket top when it was half open. So this neckine design was born, buttoned up to the top it is snuggly and warm, or half open is smart and a little bit different. I looked everywhere for the chunky buttons, and eventually found them at the Stitches and Crafts show at the Brighton Centre.

Catwalk Debut

Ok, I can't really call it my catwalk debut as it isn't my design, but anyway here's a couple of pics of the jumper I knitted for JessyLou's collection at the Brighton Frocks Theatrical Catwalk Show last weekend. As I mentioned in a previous post I just did the knitting part, so I can't take the credit for the rest!

Unfortunately I couldn't stay long as I was working elsewhere in the building (coincidence or what?) So I snuck in for 20mins armed with a camera and got these pics. Its a shame I couldn't have stayed because the whole event looked fab, I'd have loved to have sat in there and eyed up all the outfits!

Brighton Frocks

Just thought I'd post up what I've been up to in Cyprus - it seems ridiculous making such a chunky woolly jumper in such heat, I've been sat outside in my spangly new bikini knitting like a mad thing to give this to JessyLou at the weekend. It's a jumper she's designed and employed me to make for her collection at the Brighton Frocks Theatrical Catwalk show, she's going to sew pom pom's and a ruffle onto it, I'll post up her illustration later.

Full Flared Floral Frock

I had this lovely fabric from my pattern cutting tutor and thought I'd attempt the party dress again but with much more flare. I also lengthened the original design and made the middle panel slightly wider - this was actually a mistake because I thought the fabric could do with more ease, but it turned out that it was just right if I rouched it.

*Edit* See here for a better pic!

Sunshine.. A strapless dress, and a matching bikini

Its been ages since I wrote anything on here - I was about to embark on my aran cardigan, which I assumed would be a massive project yet in fact took only 3 months! I don't have a picture handy right now yet I still feel compelled to write this, so I'll carry on and add it later.

Recently it's been hotting up and I've had an overwhelming urge to create all things floaty and floral. The dressmaking and pattern cutting courses I've been doing since September have got me totally hooked and now I'm in there I can't get out!

A few weeks ago I found this pic online and thought I'd try and make something similar...



So I ended up with this :-)



I'm pretty chuffed with it, it's the first thing I've made without a pattern, and it fits just perfect! I just need to sort out the net petticoat underneath so it flares out a bit more.

So then I got carried away with the scraps left over and made an itsy bitsy bikini ready for my trip to Cyprus - its done quite well! Here it is catching a few rays on my Mum's balcony:

Probably the best fitting bikini I've ever had! Though the fabric isn't really stretchy enough for swimming. I'm scared to attempt anything with jersey fabric at the moment so I think that'll be something to get to grips with when I get home.