Soldotna Sweater

 Now that the winter has set in (or as much as it ever does in Coastal California) my thoughts have turned to knitting. This is the Soldotna sweater, designed by Kaitlin Hunter.

I'm pretty much a color work newbie, but this pattern seemed very straightforward. The charts were easy to follow and, with no sleeves to bother with, I feel like I finished it in no time. By which I mean, in about 6 weeks. 

The trickiest part for me was choosing the colors. The charcoal was a given because I had 4 skeins of Louet gems in that shade that had been lounging in my yarn stash for probably at least 20 years. I thought it might be enough for this sweater, and it was, easily. 

So I just needed to find 3 colors of similar weight yarn that had enough contrast to show up. I ended up with cream, light grey and what looked in the yarn store like a new leaf green. Once the knitting commenced, though, that green read more as yellow. Which isn't one of my colors, but it's not right up against my face so I'm trying to think of it as my pop of color. It often seems like the pop of color in my projects ends up being a color I'm not too fond of. I guess because the ones I like are always the ones I choose for the main colors.

I made a couple easy changes to the pattern. For one, I lengthened the body quite a bit. Like by about 7 inches. When the designer says "cropped," she means cropped. I also fiddled with the charts a bit so that I didn't have any long floats on the backside. I'm not good at tacking those puppies down so they tend to catch on everything.

My goal is to watch some YouTube videos and learn about float management by the time I do my next color work sweater. I actually had enough fun knitting this sweater that I've already scrounged up yarn for my second version.

My Ravelry notes are here.

Quick and Easy Burdastyle Blouse

 I was quite pleased with the December issue of Burdastyle. There's a nice pair of high-waisted trousers, a cute skirt and a few nice dresses. And also this loose, boat necked blouse.

Here's the line drawing. Simple shape, loose fit. I like the neckline, and also the little pleats at the the cuffs. They give it a little something extra. The sleeves are kind of dropped, which may or may not be your jam. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the shaped hemline, but I think I kind of like it.

Here's a look at how loose that fit really is. You want a drapey fabric, that's for sure. I used a polyester something that I bought at Hart's some time ago. I loved the print and the colors. I had a hard time finding the right pattern for it though. I wanted something with no darts to break up those chrysanthemums. The fabric was very light, with a crepe texture and just a bit of stretch, so I didn't want to have to mess with buttonholes. This pattern was just the ticket.

Here's a side view. I like where the hem sits.

I especially like the length in the back. I just covers my butt, which is always a plus.

I finished it just in time to pack for our weekend in San Francisco. I wore it out to dinner with some navy StyleArc Barb pants and I tucked in just the front. Is that what they call a french tuck? It felt comfortable but just fancy enough for dinner in SF.

I'd be happy to make another of these if I find the right fabric. I might even be brave enough to try it in something fancy, like silk. The sewing is simple enough that I could focus all my anxiety on fabric handling. 

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.

More Kid Sewing

My niece, Isabella, came out for her first post-Covid visit at the end of October. We planned a bunch of fun activities: Monterey Bay Aquarium, dog walking, dinners out. And, Isabella wanted to sew another dress. Last time she visited she made this little number, and we had a blast doing it. 

This time we did some emailing back and forth ahead of time to zero in on a pattern and fabric. That way we could spend maximum time at the machine. 

Isabella is a young teen (a.k.a. tween). I pawed through my back issues of Burdastyle and  I was a bit surprised how few of the patterns are aimed at tweens. There are tons for babies, girls, and boys, but only a few for the young teen. We settled on dress 133 from the June, 2015 issue.

It was recommended as a good pattern for the beginning sewist, so right up our alley. Just a couple of pattern pieces, and with a loose enough fit that I thought we could make it work in the short time we had available. Isabella found a couple of fabrics she liked by perusing the Hart's website. I picked up a few yards, got the pattern traced out in what I hoped would be her size and we were ready to hit the ground running.

There were just a few bumps in the road. For one thing, the pattern was drafted for a woven but we would be working with a knit. I figured the design would adapt pretty well, but we decided to beef up the straps by inserting some elastic before attaching them. 

The second issue was my bad. I bought the recommended yardage and pre-washed it, but I didn't try laying out the pattern pieces ahead of time. Wouldn't you know it, the fabric had shrunk enough that we couldn't quite make things fit without doing some creative jiggering. I told her parents we were doing sewing with some bonus math. By shortening both the overlay and the skirt, we were able to make it work and still keep that maxi-dress spirit going.

Once we came up with the pattern layout, Isabella took over and did the whole shebang herself: cutting out, pinning and sewing. Here she is, working away at the machine. Even working with knit fabric and seams on the bias, she kept everything accurate and tidy.

And here she is, wearing the finished dress. Beautiful, am I right? 

Isabella is a dancer, so she really knows how to rock a swishy maxi-dress.

I bet by next visit she'll be into the lady sizes and then the sky will be the limit.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.