Bonbori Curio

I love Curio for its dolman sleeves and wide ribbed band on the model.  Yet, I was not sure about the design when reviewing the schematic.  Looks too wide? 

 So, I tinkered on it.  This time, I was quite sure how I want to change it with the yarn I wanted to use.  The original uses Rowan Kidsilk Trio, very airy, soft and super light, yet bulky.  My yarn is Noro Bonbori, not airy at all.  It is definitely bulky and light.  Not super light, however.  So, the instruction of gathering the knitted fabric does not apply to my yarn. 

 

Changes made:

• Cast on fewer stitches (78 stitches) and increased every 6 rows 6 times after switching to the stockinet stitch (90 stitches).  Once at underarm, the length of the gathered fabric was knitted, not the flat fabric.  Then, I decreased at each end to shape shoulders by casting off 4 stitches at the beginning of every row for 12 times, and 6 stitches two times, with 30 stitches left on the needle. 
• Sleeves were knitted per instructions, except I did not cast off stitches at the end.  I grafted live stitches onto the bodice to reduce bulk.
• For the assembly, I used half stitches for seam allowance in order to reduce the bulk of the seam.

I love the result.  It was a rather quick knit as well.

Katia Lace Pullover

I love this lace pattern.  Something different from other lace patterns I've knitted. 

The edging with double or triple strands worked well.

I think it might be very interesting when combined with stripes. 

Sewing Mojo

I have been struggling with motivation.  Not for knitting but for sewing.  Having had eye sight problems since January of this year has been one factor as sewing require good eyes.  But, I might be making that an excuse for my lack of motivation.  Well, I had frozen shoulders and that compromised me more than I can think of.  So, I just need to nudge myself back into sewing slowly.  I tend to think of sewing as one long and continuous process.  That is the major issue I need to amend.  I do not have such continuous time for myself.  I need to learn to feel comfortable with planning multiple steps into a sewing project.  I tend to get frustrated easily with sewing when I cannot accomplish intended tasks.  So, here we go.  I am going to take a few steps at a time in sewing. 

I have a beautiful black wool double knit for about 2 yards, probably a bit more.  I have been meaning to sew it into skirts.  I do not have warm black skirts.  I want something different than a simple tube skirt, a skirt with rectangle piece sewn together on center back seam and an elastic band casing at the top to go with.  So, what did I choose?  I purchased Christine Jonson's Pencil skirt pattern. 

The pattern package includes two long skirts, Pencil skirt and Slit skirt, both very stylish and with slits in the center back.  They have quite a lot of negative ease both at waist and hip.  And, they are for cotton lycra knit fabric with 100% recovery.   

I have enough fabric to make both Pencil and Slit skirts.  So far, so good.  Nor really.  Actually, it took me such a long time to decide on the pattern that I don't remember when I took out the fabric and decided that I need skirts.  It might have been a year ago or more.  Sigh. 

Next task, sizing.  Although my black wool double knit is not very thick, it does not have the recovery required by the pattern.  So, I chose one size larger for my measurements.  I shortened the skirt length by 4" and I made the hem width a bit wider for Slit skirt.  I was so indecisive and took me too long to make up my mind on sizing: a few days, on and off.  This indecisiveness makes me feel very unproductive and makes me feel like going back to knitting.  I had to fight it out by telling myself that I need black skirts.

I hope to find some time to cut the fabric this week: two to three hours for two to three skirts should be possible, right?  Wish me luck!