the New Years Resolution a.k.a UFO #3

I am not too bad with New Years Resolutions to be honest. I usually pick one thing that is achievable, but that I keep putting off. At the beginning of this year I decided to take a break from the blanket making and thought it would be nice to actually make something wearable for myself. I had a whole lot of cotton yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills and plenty of possibilities in terms of patterns.

In the end I decided on a simplified version of the Feather and Fan Flare from the Knitter's Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters. It's a beautiful pattern, but I simplified it by taking out the actual feather and fan bit and knit straight down.

One big problem is that it is too large. When I started reading the book it talked about design ease and that it is recommended to have 2 inches wearing ease and I just kept nodding along. I started the sweater and by the time I finished the yoke I realised it was bigger then I like for a number if reasons:

a, I don't wear my knitwear with 2 inches wearing ease, I wear it with 0 or negative ease.

b, despite my gauge being spot on (yes, I actually tested the finished sweater) it's still bigger overall, not sure why, but hey, it's one of those mysteries I suppose

c, I have a small upper back, so next time I need to take out a substantial number of stitches there (the picture below shows the back)

However, by that time I didn't want to unravel it all again, which in hindsight was a mistake as I then had considerably less enthusiasm for the project. I omitted the 10 stitches each side that were supposed to be cast on under the arms and I inserted some ribbing on the side to make it less obvious that it is too large, but I still know.

It was definitely a test garment and I have learnt a lot. I have a lot more of the yarn left (I used 1.5 balls of the 12 that I have), so once I have washed it a few times and it becomes obvious how the yarn behaves, I'll see whether I make the same pattern again or whether I'll try a different one from the book or whether I might give the Miette Cardigan a go. Ultimately it will be something that I'll wear on top of some long sleeved shirts, so it probably won't make too much of a difference that it is too big and slouchy is in :-)

UFO#2 the Space Shorts

When I started these shorts in February I was so proud. I did both inseam pocket and back pocket and it was fiddly and hot and I persevered ... and then my son tried them on ... and ... and ... and ... they were TOO SMALL.

I was somewhat crushed, okay I nearly cried and my son, my beautiful baby boy, offered to go on a diet to lose some weight so I didn't have to change them. Since at that point he was positively underweight, I made some cake instead and put the shorts away to alter another time.

Well, the time has come ...

One of my issues was that I didn't actually know how to make them bigger in the best way. That was solved when Sewaholic released her Tofino Pants that have a panel on each side. It is hardly noticeable and I was able to keep the inseam pockets.

Each panel is about 4 inches across so in fact I added 8 inches to the original waist size. It wasn't that much too small in February, but he gained considerable weight on his last asthma drug and I wanted there to be room from growth.

Sadly that cheering is not for me, but rather the Ashes and a golden duck. I am not even quite sure what that is, with cricket not being my thing. My husband has tried to explain the various details on the game many times, but it just hasn't captured me at all. I have this theory that if you are not into sports then cricket may as well be an instruction manual written in Swahili for some doohickie that carpenters use. :-)