#SummerOfBasics – Progress Update

It’s now the middle of August and I’ve made some good progress on my outfit for the Summer of Basics. The only spanner in the works (albeit a lovely spanner) is that I’m going on holiday tomorrow for ten days and this will mean that I have under a week to complete my makes on my return. I’m hoping I can pull this off!

The Cable Hat

I ordered some beautiful yarn from Jamieson and Smith in the silver grey colour. The yarn is 100% Shetland wool and is apparently “perfect for cables”. I’m hoping I’ve made a good choice for my hat, I’m no expert on choosing wool.

The hat I have decided to make for this make is from the Craftsy “Fall” (Autumn for us here in the UK) Knit-Along from last year. Although I have only listened so far to the “preparation” parts of the tutorial, I have been really enjoying the course. Kate Atherley explains everything so well.

The reason I chose this project is that I am desperate to make a hat that fits. I have an extremely small head and I have a hard time finding hats that fit in the shops. As a general rule only children’s hats fit well, but can be a bit prone to pinkness and bows. Kate’s guide to swatching is great and I’m confident that after knitting two swatches I have a needle size that suits the wool and is right for the pattern. This should bring the size of the hat to the size suggested by the pattern. However, I’m still tempted to take out one of the cable repeats to achieve the suggested fit of 5cm less than head size, for a snug fit.

I suspect I’m not going to start my hat until I come back from holiday, but I have all my tools ready – circular knitting needles and a cable needle. I’ve never used either so this will be fun.

The Black Jeans

I think a whole post needs to be devoted to my jeans, but I thought a little update might be useful here. I’m using this Burda pattern to make a pair of skinny black jeans.

I’ve made the front including the fly and the back. These have now been sewn together at the inner and outer leg seams. This just leaves the waistband, the belt loops and hem. Sadly, I’m not going to get to take these on holiday, although I suspect that a pair of black jeans was never in contention for a holiday in 30 – 40 degree heat!

#SummerOfBasics – The Plan

It’s getting to the end of July and I thought I’d review how far I’ve got with my summer sewing. I have managed to make my Hack It outfit for The Monthly Stitch. Here are the more detailed posts for the Moss skirt and the Tonic T-shirt.

My next task is to get to grips with my Summer of Basics outfit. Summer of Basics is a make-along where participants make three basics items for their wardrobes over the three summer months (June, July and August). The garments can be knitted, crocheted, sewn or a combination. They don’t have to be summer clothes as such and the definition of what “basic” means has really been left up to participants. More details can be found on the Fringe Association site.

I know that many participants are already posting their updates on their blogs and Instagram. I have made some good progress, but I’ve yet to post anything yet! First of all though, I thought I’d write a little about the selection of my three intended garments. As the challenge is all about basics, my thoughts turned to the types of clothes that I think fit this description. When I think basics, I think of clothes that I will turn to again and again and that complement my existing wardrobe. For this reason I gravitated to patterns that that were casual and relaxed in style, in fact clothes that could be worn every day.

The pattern for my first make comes from the November edition of Burda Style. The top has long sleeves fitted with elastic cuffs. A round neckline with a slit at the front and a long tie that can be fastened at the front, side or at the back, whatever you prefer.

I have found a few versions of this top on line. Allison C has made a beautiful metallic version. There is a stunning red version by Ellen and this lovely version is made from a very stretchy rayon in maroon by Lisette at La Cubanista Cose.

I noticed that a couple of the versions above have missed out the slits where the raglan sleeves join the top at the front, but as Allison C points out in her blog, these just show bra straps and I am inclined to leave these out too.

There is also a sleeveless version of the blouse, which I really like as well. Perhaps I’ll sew that up some day.

In the magazine the top appears to be made in a jersey, but being a relaxed fit, woven fabrics with drape are also suggested. I bought a beautiful double-gauze for the top at Sewn Bristol. I’ve never sewn double gauze before, but I’ve heard wonderful things about it. It is beautifully soft and I’m really looking forward to wearing the top.

My second make will be a pair of skinny black jeans. Again, I’ve chosen a Burda pattern. No real reason for this other than it is a PDF I bought ages ago and had been knocking around on my account unmade. There isn’t much I can say about this pattern other than it is a classic 5-pocket pair of jeans.

I’ve have spent a long time deliberating over fabric for the jeans, because finding denim with a good stretch is not a small task. I found this Super Black stretch denim at Fabric Godmothers. Handily, they detail the percentage stretch which makes it easier to pick out a fabric suitable for skinny jeans. This particular fabric has 40% stretch which is quite high, but should make super skinny jeans.

My last make will be a hat. As the Summer of Basics encourages mixing sewn, knitted or crocheted items for your outfit, I thought I would knit a hat. I’m a very shaky knitter still, and I hope I have chosen an easy make. At the end of last year, Craftsy brought out a free Fall knit-along which included three small knits – a hat, a cowl and a pair of fingerless mittens. I signed up for it in the Autumn, but never started it.

Given that the knit will be my first hat, it seemed a safer bet to go with a pattern that has a make-along video with it. The hat pattern is available in two slightly different designs – a beanie hat and a slouchy version. To stretch my knitting skills it has a cable design. To fit in with my other two makes, I’m intending to knit in a dark grey or black. I’ve yet to buy the wool.

I wouldn’t say my garments are particularly summery, but they are definitely “basics”. All are going to be made in grey or black, which for me are ideal neutrals in my wardrobe. They are also typical of the types of clothes I wear frequently either at home or work; comfortable and practical. They’ll also be ideal for mixing and matching with other items in my wardrobe.

#1Year1Outfit – Walnut Circular Shrug

I’ve been knitting frantically with my Walnut-dyed wool this month. Sadly, my knitting pace is rather slow. I can totally understand why beginners, like me, rarely choose a jumper over an accessory on only their second knit. But giving myself a challenge has never put me off before!

I’m making a shrug using this Circular Shrug pattern I found on Ravelry (you’ll need a login to view that, but here is photo of it). So, how am I progressing? I’m probably half way through now. I have completed the first ribbed section and I’m well into the mock rib section now. I’ve really got the hang of the two different stitches that are required by this project. However, I do find that I’m not very good at counting to four (K2P2) and I do make the odd mistake. This is good as it has forced me to get familiar with correcting problems – changing a knit stitch to a purl or vice versa.

When I dyed the wool I had to split it into two batches as I didn’t have a big enough saucepan. This meant that my two skeins were of slightly different shades. I decided to change from the lighter to the darker shade when I changed stitch. Hopefully this would either make the colour change less noticeable or indeed make it look as if I intended to make the change. I’ll switch back to the lighter shade when I change back to the rib stitch. Is the change noticeable in the photo?

Another thing to mention are my make-shift stitch markers. Last month I took apart some old bras and saved the rings and sliders. They’ll be perfectly usable for bra making. Anyway, they were hanging around on the coffee table and I really needed to keep track of my stitches and decided that the rings could make convenient stitch markers!

I like this knitting pattern a lot; it’s simple to construct, requires only one body measurement and it could be a good project on which to practice new techniques. I’ve looked at quite a few of the Ravelry projects that have used this particular pattern. It seems to be a versatile starting point and there are several knitters that have made interesting variations on the project. They have introduced a cable pattern or a lace pattern instead of the mock rib stitch or even long sleeves have been added.

In other news….

I’m half-way through a sewing project too, but trying to squeeze my intended make out of the fabric is causing some pattern re-design and I’m taking my time with this project.

I’ve been a little preoccupied with knitting this month and have been browsing for recycled yarns. I spotted this Billie Jean Yarn from Wool and the Gang which is made from recycled denim from the textile industry. I then did more hunting and found a yarn from recycled denim textiles from Portugal on the Hooked website and chunky recycled cotton yarn in a wide range of colours from India on the YarnYarn website.

I’ve also been thinking a little about where I’d like to go next with my knitting. I saw these adorable hats on Fringe Association. Not only do they look great, but each hat has uses different techniques so they would be a fantastic way to build me skills at knitting. After doing lots of ribbing on this project, I think that perhaps the Seathwaite hat with cables, or perhaps the Laurus hat using two colours would be a good next step. Too many potential projects, so little time…… I’m sure I’ll be back sewing again soon and dreaming up more projects there.

#1Year1Outfit – A tentative toe dipped into the world of knitting

I’m sure if you are a follower of Seamwork you will have noticed that the April edition (yes, I’m a month behind here!) includes an article called Finding Local by Nicki from thisismoonlight. It charts Nicki’s journey from initial thoughts (I wonder whether I can make a locally sourced garment?) through to the completion of a complete outfit. It’s amazing what she has achieved without resorting to any recycled components or “cheating” like I did for some of my notions and tailoring supplies. There is also a photo round-up that shows all the participants in all their fantastic outfits (me included!)

The same month’s Seamwork also has information about sourcing naturally and locally with an article about the Fibershed project and Spinning. Both worth a look, if you are considering how to source your yarn and textiles.

When I last wrote about #1Year1Outfit I mentioned that I was hoping to take a closer look at wool this year. I have been working my way through the KnitLab Craftsy class. I think I have the basics sussed and I’ve started on some real knitting! The first Craftsy course I looked at was Classic Tailoring: The Blazer by Stefani Lycecum. I very much enjoyed this course and found that it was pitched at just the right level for me. The KnitLab course though has been a little more challenging. I am a complete beginner as a knitter and I really struggled to get the hang of casting-on from the lessons. The video was just too quick (or I’m too slow). The handy “repeat last 30 seconds” feature was getting very heavy use.

I think the problem with watching while replicating, is that you have to look down and by the time you look up again at the video it is too far ahead. As for trying to pause the lesson whilst trying to knit, forget it, that would require three hands! Altogether it took me several days to get off the ground with casting-on and I had to look at some youtube videos too. However, one thing that the course does very well, is to introduce concepts in a sensible sequence, so that by lesson 4 you’re knitting your first garment and you can see your skills growing.

So, after a shaky start I have now completed the lace scarf, which is the first garment in the course. I’ve chosen to knit this with the 100% wool from bluefaced.com that I previously dyed with onion skins. I did have to re-knit some bits and it’s a mystery how I got so many stitches cast-on during the lace process (too many according to the pattern). Still overall, I think the scarf is quite acceptable as a first garment. I’ve not decided what to make next, I’ve still scanning Ravelry for ideas, but I’m feeling quite enthusiastic about my new skill.