Light Asherton Scarf

I have one more sewing project, finished in 2021, to photo and show you, but here is my first project, finished in 2022. It is a scarf I cast on December 27th and knitted hurriedly through the last days of 2021 and the first days of 2022, so that Gaby could take it with her, blocked and dry, to Vienna, as a present for her boyfriend.

The yarn is again Italian bobbin yarn, 90% merino ultrafine and 10% cashmere. It is very thin, 1500 m / 100 g, so I wound it in four balls and knitted the shawl in four threads. After blocking it softened and the cashmere content fluffed, so the texture became very nice to the touch. However in retrospect, I wish I had knitted it in 5 or even 6 threads, as it came out a bit thin and light.

The pattern is probably my most favourite men's scarf pattern - Asherton, which I already knitted once several years ago. Not only is this pattern beautiful and swanky, but it is also free! The chart is fairly easy to follow and it produces a subtle and interesting reversible relief. The original pattern is written row by row and stitch by stitch, but as I am a visual knitter, when it comes to instructions, I prefer charts and proportions and despise garrulous wording, so last time I knitted this scarfI drafted a chart, which I published on my Ravelry page. This time I simply printed the chart again and after one repeat memorized it and followed it without any need of consulting it. I really don't know how people knit without charts!

 

Pattern: Asherton Reversible Scarf

Yarn:  Filatura Papi Fabio Dorotea, 1500 m / 100g, 130 g in four threads

Needle: 3.5 mm

Time to knit: one week

Blocked size: 23 cm wide x 173 cm long

Because my yarn is very thin and I knitted the scarf only in four threads, it came a bit light, more suitable perhaps for Vienna autumns and springs, rather than winter. Still, I hope it is wide and long enough to provide adequate cover. Now I am in the process of designing a suitable hat to go with the scarf, as I have plenty of the yarn left.

Purple Dotted Rays

One more Purple Dotted Rays! I love this pattern and I love Stephen West's designs, so addictive!

I started this shawl at the beginning of February this year and happily knitted it in less than ten days. 

The yarn is Italian bobbin merino, white, which I dyed in various shades of red, purple, brown and grey. I am truly in love with the combination I was able to achieve.

When I cast on the shawl back then, I was in a frame of mind towards turning my hobby into a small business and registering a shop on Etsy. So the shawl was to be one of a dozen of items to be listed in the shop. However, after attending several seminars and reading further on Etsy businesses, I became convinced that it was not for me, I simply lack the entrepreneurship enthusiasm, required for such a shop to succeed. So, for now, the idea has been abandoned and the shawl remains the sole item I made for purchase. I intend to keep it for myself, or possibly gift it to Gaby.

But why am I showing it today? Because, back then in the middle of February, I finished the shawl at 99.9% Yes, I ran out of yarn some 20-30 stitches before I finished the I-cord cast off.

I still have over 300 g of the original white yarn and I tried at least 5 times in the course of the year to dye a small amount of it to match the colors of the shawl. But it is so difficult to recreate such a random and colorful combination. The attempts came out too purple, too red, too violet, always strikingly different.

Then, after dyeing my Berry Punch Yarn earlier this month I tried again. My first attempt was sort of orange-purple, but a good base for further retouching. On the following day I added some blotches of grey, bordeaux and brown and I declared it finally good enough to have the shawl finished.

And here it is, in all of its glory on another very cold, bleak and windy December day, in combination with my new purple corduroy skirt and my beloved black Grasser sweater.

Pattern: Dotted Rays by Stephen West
Yarn: Merino Extrafine 150 g, hand dyed
Needle: 3.5 mm circular Addi
Time to knit: 10 days + months of hyatus

Burda Black Dress and Purple Dotted Rays

This is my second Burda #114 06/2021, this time in black ITY fabric. I used the corrections I had made to the pattern when I worked one my leopard tunic earlier this month, introducing a further sway back adjustment. The fit is quite loose, but I find it very comfortable and as the fabric is drapy and fluid, the dress actually looks elegant, not too baggy, despite the amount of positive ease. However, when I make this dress again, I will try to go down a size by self-grading to the next smaller size (the smallest provided for this pattern is 36).

I've always been a staunch advocate of natural fabrics, but this ITY polyester is actually so nice and soft next to the skin and so breathable, that I've been reevaluating my fabric preferences for the summer and now I want a long dress in floral ITY, if I can find such fabric here in Sofia.

Pattern: Burda #113 06 / 2021

Size: 36

Fabric: ITY, 100% polyester

Time to make: 2 days

 And a few pictures of my old new Dotted Rays shawl. Three years ago I knitted my first Dotted Rays, using various yarn remnants. I loved the bright and a bit brave color combination, but the past three year showed that it was not well suited for my wardrobe and I was not using this shawl as often was I wanted. So this spring I decided to unravel the stripes up to the purple part of the old shawl and to overdye the yarn in purple and bordeaux colors. 

The light and darker blue and greenish stripes took the overdyeing quite well and looked in harmony with each other, however the bright yellow yarn kept clashing with the rest of the colors, no matter how much dye I added to it, until it turned dark brown. In the end I decided to leave it aside and dyed a new ball of the same yarn (white merino extrafine) in light purple (the fourth color stripe).

I am extremely pleased with the final result and now I intend to use this new Dotted Rays as much as it deserves - it is the perfect shawl for slightly cold weather

or as a summer evening cover. And although the temperatures these last days have risen drastically here in Sofia, it did come in handy yesterday evening after this photo session, while we were shopping in the cold storage area of our local supermarket :)

Pattern: Dotted Rays by Stephen West
Yarn: Merino Extrafine 150 g, self dyed
Needle: 3.75 mm circular Addi Lace
Time to knit: 10 days

Hipster Shawl and Burda 105 01 2020 Dress

I have not one, but two FOs today - I knitted a shawl and I sewed a dress. And I think they combine into a cool autumn outfit, so I hurried to take pictures of them today, while it is still autumn, as we are expected to enter into real winter weather next week

The dress is Burda #105 from January 2020 issue. I actually made this dress back in February, but I didn't like the fit and the collar. The pattern comes in the petite size and it was probably the major factor that attracted me, plus the A-line skirt, which is cut on the bias. However, although I believed 18 was my true size, it came too wide at the waist - I mean some 10 or more cm positive ease. Then the bust darts, which are French darts, turned too high for me. The high collar and the long sleeves, combined with the dark color of the fabric, made me look like a nun.

I tried several things to remedy the issues - I shortened the sleeves, which helped a bit; then I took in the waist darts at the back and made a sway back correction. Still, the dress was too wide and frumpy, so I abandoned it for a while. I was planning to cut the neckline and make it with a round neck, but in the end I realized it was not worth it, so I just added an elastic at the waist and called it done for good.

Pattern: Burda # 105 of 01/2020

Size: 18

Fabric:  viscose poplin

Time to make: indefinite

My next make, which I am much more happy with, is my second Hipster shawl. In November 2018 I knitted a chocolate color Hipster shawl, which became an immediate hit. The "problem" was, that Gaby kept borrowing it and when she left for Prague, of all the shawls I've bought and knitted for her, she chose my chocolate Hipster. Of course she could have it, I can always knit myself another one. And so I did!

The yarn was gifted to me and it is one I have used several times before - Zegna Baruffa Kent, 100% merino, Italian bobbin yarn. The original color of the yarn was grey-blue, the same as the cardigan I knitted for Gaby a while ago. When I received the yarn, my first impulse was to make it into a sweater and as i did not want a sweater the same color as the cardigan, I overdyed the yarn forest green. And then decided to make it into a big, squishy warm shawl.

Pattern: Hipster Shawl by Joji Locatelli 

Yarn: Zegna Baruffa Kent, 100% merino, 900 m/ 100 g, in two threads, 220 g

Needle: 4.5 mm

Time to knit: 10 days 

 

As my needles and yarn were smaller than what the pattern calls for and as I wanted the shawl really big, I made an additional repeat of the pattern. Two repeats made it on the small size and as I didn't want to finish the shawl in the middle of the garter stitch section, I made a full third repeat and now my shawl is really big - it measures 61 cm in width and the full wingspread is 235 cm. That is a lot of volume around the neck, when I need it!

Odyssey Shawl

Yesterday we hiked again to one of my most favourite places in the world - Lake Pchelina and I took advantage of the beautiful scenery to photo shoot my latest shawl - Odyssey by Joji Locatelli.
Initially the shawl was meant as a present, but Gaby liked it so much that I decided that it would be wiser to gift it to someone who really wanted it, so it is for her.

As my yarn is different from what the pattern calls for and I wanted to use up all of the 200 g I dyed for the shawl, I didn't follow strictly the pattern and made my straps of garter stitch in between the lace straps wider. And I'm so proud that I was able to calculate it so that finishing the last picot bind off row I had zero yarn left!

Pattern: Odyssey Shawl by Joji Locatelly (free on Ravelry)
Yarn: Italian Bobbin 100% merino, hand dyed, in two threads, 650 m / 100g, total 200 g
Needle: 4 mm
Time to knit: 10 days

Recent Makes

A few of the things I've been working on lately:

A semi-wearable muslin for the Scoop Top - a free pattern and tutorial by Kristin at the Skirt as a Top blog. I don't have a coverstitch, nor a overlocker machine, but I was curious to try my ordinary sewing machine on knits. For this top I cut an old T-shirt of my husband and used the fabric to create this cute easy top. It is amazing what a difference using the right stretch sewing needle made - now I'm encouraged to buy some knit fabric and try my first real knit top. And I learned some  useful lessons with this muslin, like cutting the neckline band really shorter than the neckline, not just 2 cm shorter, but at least 5 cm shorter, to make it lay flat. Here I had to insert an elastic thread in my neckpiece to make it stay around the neck.

A few days ago I dyed 200g of Italian bobbin merino in this semi-solid teal color and cast on Joji Locatelli's Odysey Shawl. My intention was to make the shawl in gradient teal colors, dyeing the next sections darker and darker, but I loved the first color so much, that I decided to leave it as it is and make the shawl in just this one color. It is a very easy and fairly quick project, I like garter stitch projects, they are relaxing and perfect TV knitting.

A quick macrame necklace out of the yarn for my mother's Christina. I made this almost a month ago, but I keep forgetting to show it on the blog. The idea is from here:

And finally - Christina is done and ready to be gifted to my mother. I plan to make a proper photo session of it later this week, using Gaby as a model.