« May 2008 | Main

Both pleated and bunchy!

Materials: Simplicity 4233 pattern. 1 yard each main print, from Super Buzzy and/or Reprodepot and/or another online fabric vendor that's escaping me at the moment. Contrasting and matching broadcloth from JoAnn's. Invisible zipper, matching thread, interfacing, etc.

Time: 2 hours each for the gathered ones, 3 for the pleated ones, not including cutting time.

Cost: Maybe $20 each?

I was heading home on the Metro today when I had the revelation that I never got around to photographing the rest of the batch of 2007's Summer Skirt Wardrobe (begun here), which has also served me well this year. And my love for my invisible zipper foot continues unabated.

Anyway, after my first batch of skirts, I got a bit cocky. I wanted to use some of the super-cute prints that the internet has to offer, but I also didn't want to spend too much on them. So, I decided to buy a yard of each fabric for the main part of the skirt and stretch that as far as it would go, then use matching / contrasting cotton to make the hems and tops.

For these two, I did the pleated version contained within the pattern, and bound the edges with homemade bias tape. Pleats weren't nearly as hard as I'd imagined, and the cotton I chose for the edging made easy-to-handle tape.

For the next batch of skirts, I shortened the waistband given in the pattern. (It's got a bit of a dropped-waist sort of thing going on, whereas this is more of a dirndl. Perhaps unforgiving, but they are fun!) Word to the wise: this adjustment worked fine, except that I forgot to extend the zipper correspondingly farther down the skirt, which makes putting both skirts on a bit of an exercise in calisthenics. But just because I'm too lazy to redo the zipper properly.

The length and overall poofiness makes these particularly airy. I think that's a discreet way of saying that you need to be careful during sudden breezes. But whatever, they're cute.

The last skirt was rather a pleasant surprise -- I ordered a lightweight cotton lawn, which I didn't realize at the time, which gathered really beautifully (though you can't see that in the photo). I added a heavier border to it to anchor it down a bit.

Cute woodland creatures for the coffee table.

Materials: Leftover Wool of the Andes from KnitPicks, plus 2 skeins of each color (Golden Bark and Butterscotch) Peruvian Highland Wool from Elann. Size 5 DPNs. Knitty's Woodins pattern.

Time: A month or so.

Cost: $10!

The Woodins were a fixture on our coffee table in Madison, and inevitably perplexed yet enthralled visitors.

"What are those?" they'd say dubiously. "Are they toys? Or what?" Five minutes later, they'd be playing with them nonstop. The Woodins have a knack for making friends.

They even look at home with the cats.

Manly socks, take 2!

Materials: 1 skein Hazel Knits Artisan Sock in Chocolatier. US 1 DPNs. My own (!) pattern.

Time: A month or so.

Cost: $25.

Some time ago, right before ordering some Sailor's Delight sock yarn for myself over at Hazel Knits, I sat staring moonily at the Chocolatier colorway. "That's a nice brown," I mused out loud. "It's hard to find such an attractive brown yarn, you know? But it's a bit sedate for me." "So you can get it to make socks for me!" Pete replied. And, despite the debacle that was making the first pair of socks for him, I listened to him. It was really nice yarn, you know.

Surprisingly, this pair was really easy to make, and ended up fitting perfectly. I'm not entirely sure whether I used size 0 or size 1 needles (probably size 1). For my own future reference, though:

1. Cast on 60 sts in the round.
2. Work 3x2 rib for the leg.
3. Heel: follow instructions for the French Heel in Knitting Vintage Socks. (Heels were done in some slightly tweedy Lang Jawool, which comes with a wonderfully convenient spool of reinforcing yarn. Which I also used.)
4. After heel, continue rib on top of foot (while decreasing on either side of heel back to original 60 sts).
5. Toe: also in Lang Jawool, also from Knitting Vintage Socks

I'm not sure why these fit so well, but I'm not questioning it. Instead, I will continue to use this pattern for every pair of socks I knit Pete in the foreseeable future. And as an added bonus, they've held up great in the wash.

Fingerless mittens for a cold apartment.

Materials: 2 skeins KnitPicks Elegance in some now-discontinued color. US 5 DPNs. Knitty's Fetching pattern.

Time: A couple of weeks during the winter.

Cost: $12.

It seems like everyone and her brother has knit these mitts, but I only got the idea to do so once winter set into our drafty Madison house and my fingers began to freeze at the computer. I figured that a pair of fingerless mittens out of some extremely soft yarn, like the Knitpicks alpaca blend, would be in order. And, indeed, the finished product is wonderfully soft.