My knitting and crochet goal…

Last year I said that I was going to crochet and knit every design from this japanese book:

And while I’m not good at keeping promises or craft goals or any goals in general,  somehow I’m keeping this up. The reason might be that it’s not a serious oath, neither something that fiddles with my everyday life and I don’t feel any pressure from it. Why do I bother with such a small goal? Well, my theory is that if I find what keeps me on completing it, then I might use the same mechanism for every abandoned goal, oath, promise (believe me, they’re so many) that I’ve had in the past and I might make them complete. Could it be that I find this particular goal easy to keep because it gives me pleasure? Could be…

Back to the book. This summer I’ve finished two more patterns from it. One for me and one for a friend. And they’re both made with the lovely Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy yarn in color 023. I love this yarn. First, it’s cool for summer, second, once washed it softens and drapes beautifully, and third, it comes in wonderful deep colors.Plus it looks like it will never be worn out or destroyed…

This time I made the front cover tunic for me. That was an excellent pattern, easy and fast! And you get a look that everyone you meet will compliment (and feel jealous if they can’t make it for themselves).

and look how cute the scalloped edges look:

The next object is one of the two hats of the book and I really believe my version came out cuter.  Here’s my friend modelling the gift:

I added a button to the crochet flower and also a pin on the back so that she can remove it and wear it somewhere else if she wants to.

And now that we’re talking about hats and this book I remembered I have actually knitted the second hat design on this book earlier this year. I made it for a Ravelry Swap prize and it’s already mailed to its new home in northern Europe.

I’ve made many changes to this pattern.  I omitted the visor and knitted ribbing at the end in order to make a simple beret.

I used undyed greek cotton that I dyed red after knitting. I think it came out quite nice and summer-y!

A reminder: all patterns can be found at the japanese book: Easy Knit Wardrode Spring / Summer (ISBN: 4529045234)

 

iknit

This blog has seen better times. But there are times when life is too sad, hectic and stressful and the blog is one of the first things to go. It’s been so long that I’ve visited my dashboard since the last time that wordpress logged me out. But I’ve used that away time to learn a new craft.And that is always a good thing. Last year I learned how to crochet and that was enough. I said to myself: You’ll learn how to knit when there’s a need for it. When you’ll find a project that you can’t crochet. Because I need a strong motive if I’m going to learn a new skill. It’s hard work since I always teach myself and it takes time.

The story is that I found a crocheted cardigan that had ribbed waist, sleeves and collar. And it was the right time to grab a pair of needles and start practicing. I tried many styles and ways to hold the yarn and move around the needles and I finally found what was so annoying with my first attempts. It’s impossible for me to coordinate my moves with english knitting method, like I learned as a kid and like most people in my country knit. But when I  tried continental for the first time it was a revelation. I could be effective, fast and pain-free. English method makes my right hand hurt soooo much.

I used some scrap yarn for my first tries, because I didn’t want to practice on  my cardigan. This is my fourth try and the first succesful one:

Then it was time to move on to the real project.  It took a lot of time to finish because that’s when life became sad, hectic and stressful as mentioned above. But I did finish it last week. It’s a pattern from my new favorite knitting book by Ondori (again). The designer is called Asae Misono and the english title is KNIT.

It features 21 absolutely fabulous everyday-wearable knitting and crochet projects (mostly knitting though)  and they’re the kind of designs I would be determined to pay a lot of money to have them bought (if I could find them around). But since I can’t find and buy them, I’ll make them.  Maybe all someday, who knows.

My version of the no.4 project “cardigan” is right here:

I like the intentional long sleeves, the crochet pattern and especially the big collar. I also like that you can find many ways to wear it, looser, tighter,different pins to close it in the front. I was afraid after the first rows that the color would look a bit army-like, but it looks much more moss-like and I like it. I used Cascade Bollicine Etoile mohair/nylon blend that I bought on sale a year ago. It’s nice and soft and VERY warm. I love mohair. And good yarns on sale. And the collar. Oh, I already mentioned that:

Now, inevitably, I’m hooked on knitting. I know how to knit, purl, rib, increase, decrease, how to knit into forth and back, how to do a stitch called brioche and that’s all for now. After this cardigan I also knitted a scarf, a beret and a turban hat. I’m gonna show you in the next post. ok?

 

Brown Dress with Pockets

I said that one day I would sew all the projects from this japanese book. This is the third pattern from the book and the 4th finished project.

My adjustments: Shortened the length to below-knee instead of the ankle-legth of the original. I just don’t wear maxi-dresses, that’s all.

The fabric: a wool-cotton blend maybe, I forgot to ask, very soft and drapey and denim-like.

The collar: I love anything with a raised collar. I can’t help it, it’s fetish. I feel safe in it. I used medium to thick collar interfacing to achieve the looks of this one.

The pockets: woo-hoo. They are great and the metal detail adds character to the dress. At least I think so. But I will have to stop this bad habit of mine of filling pockets with stuff and then forgetting where they are…

The garment: I love it. First, it’s cozy, second you can wear it all four seasons with different combinations of t-shirts, pullovers, knits, long-sleeves, short-sleeves, 3/4 sleeves and so on. It looks great with all my shoes (very practical). It makes you feel like you’re going to the country for a walk to harvest wild-berries.

The weird fact: It has a 30cm zipper on the back. The instructions called for it and I didn’t question them, until I finished the garment and realized there is no need for a zipper, since you can just pull it over your head. So, why did the pattern called for it? Design reasons? Psychological ones? Who knows. The most important thing is that the method for placing it, was different than the usual zipper instructions you find in books and that resulted in THE BEST ZIPPER I HAVE PLACED SO FAR. Really. I’m adopting this method for sure.

The invisible fact: I used purple thread for the sewing. I did. I thought that since it had many decorative stitches, it would be nice to have a little color variation. Well, you can’t see it. Why? This purple thread on this brown fabric becomes invisible. If you don’t look at reaaaaally close, you see nothing. I must remind myself to frequently take two steps back from any sewing project and look at it from a different angle in the future.

 

Japanese books collection and my new linen dress

At first there were just 3 of them. Then another 2 came and they had company, then two more from ebay, then 3 more were sent with a swap, 4 more were approved and 2 more to accompany the set of rakuraku hooks in their long trip fron Japan. And now they sit and talk all together in their native language and from time to time I take them off the shelf to just browse or consult or meditate thinking what my next project should be. And ofcourse I’m talking about my ever-growing collection of Japanese craft books. There are so many projects I want to do in them that could be enough for a life time of crafting. Yet, I want more. They have stopped serving their usual role as patterns and inspiration and we have moved all together to the collector’s land. I’m usually grabbing books about sewing and crochet, rarely knitting, felting and when I’m done with these, I’m gonna start origami and paper crafts.

Since I have them adorning my craft book shelf, I thought, why not giv’ em a review. They deserve it after all. Once in a while (meaning when I find time and I’m not sleepy) I’ll try a simple review of them, after all not all of them have “see inside” features, if you try to figure out online which one would be useful to you and your craft. If there are any, I’ll show off a thing or two I’ve managed to complete from said book.

I’ll start with one of my favorite books so far. Comes with ISBN-10: 4309280196 and it’s translated into “sewing with straight stitches or lines or something”. And guess what: there’s not a curved line anywhere in this book.

No ready patterns are available but the drawings are more than enough to make your own. Don’t be easily put off by it, it’s as simple as doing elementary math and using the ruler right. Each design comes with a simple math calculation that has to do with your bust and hip size. Then you apply your number to the design and just enlarge what you see with your found measurements. Illustrations for the process are enough, if you have some experience in sewing. Each design has a drawing of the amount of fabric needed and how to cut the pieces and then numbered ilustrations of each step you’ve got to make.

The book features mainly dresses. Unique ideas about how to transform a rectangular piece of fabric to a lovely dress or tunic. There are 15 basic designs and most of them have two variations like long/short, sleeves/no sleeves and other decorative ideas. All of them count up to 26, numbered with the english alphabet A-Z. And trust me you’ll want to make most of them. Light summer clothing, with linen, cotton and simple colors.

For me it was the kind of book I fell in love simply by looking at the cover. Even if anything else inside was useless, I had to get it for the cover dress. In the meanwhile, a flickr and swap friend posted another creation from this book and I was convinced. Right now I’m currently working on three projects from it. The first one which is finished is, guess what! (insert suspense drums here) The cover dress!!!

Made with linen (I love linen dresses for summer), I impovised at the closure and used buttons with the same size but wiht different colors from my stash. The interfacing was really important for this pattern. Don’t even think to omit it. It will give shape to the neck and button closure. I regret not having used a thicker one, but I can live with it.

Math worked great, sewing it was easy. I made a small mistake at the neck size, just remember that you’re gonna have to calculate it according to your measurements, don;t count on the numbers given. Who knows maybe it was written somewhere… in japanese. So here it goes. (shoulders don’t look so good on the sewing dummy, look better in real life)

(back side)

You’ll have to excuse me for not ironing it to perfection before showing off. But you know linen… and you don’t know how hot a Greek summer is… Hot summer and ironing don’t match, I tell you. And what for anyway, in the end it’s gonna turn like a linen dress that you wear in real life in no time. sigh.

Verdict: a simple rectangular piece of linen, shaped at the waist with the attached cord, fabulous side button closure, neck that you can wear closed or open. Beautiful.