Stitching Beautiful Things

A First Dress I Knit: Options And Desicions

September 23, 2024 No Comments

I wanted to knit a dress. My daughter wanted a dress. The thing is that we BOTH wanted to see a knitted dress, and the question was who will be the lucky recipient. You can quickly guess who won.

Sadly, the pattern I really liked for my daughter was only in Norwegian. It is called Sohokjole by Ingunn Myklebust. Click here if you want to see it on Ravelry. I liked it so much that I reached out to the designer in hope that there is a chance of the pattern being translated into English. The answer was negative. Maybe if you are an experienced knitter, you could wing it as it did not look particularly challenging. However, at my stage of the knitting journey it was not the case, hence I had to abandon the idea, at least for the time being.

After much thought, I decided to knit a Woodland Fairy by DROPS design. It is a free pattern, and I thought I could easily knit this dress. However, it was not ANY woodland fairy but a Christmas looking one. We chose a proper Christmas red colour (21) in the newly developed yarn – Drops Daisy. Knitting the dress was fun and quick. Relatively easy lace motif did not slow down the progress. The only issue I encountered is not having enough yarn, but it was fixable enough by Woolwarehouse shipment. Apart from that the dress literally flew off my needles.

Now it is bright and shiny waiting for that festive time of the year when anyone can wear as much red as they desire.

Knitting, Sweater

Super Selene Sweater: Love of Scandinavian knitting designs

June 29, 2024 No Comments

Inspired by the success of Woodsmoke sweater I am yet again after a sweater, this time for myself. I am trying to restrain myself by thinking that I might not be ready for something advanced and buying some yarn instead to knit a dress for my daughter.

New discoveries

At the same time, I am on the journey of discovering that YouTube could be a useful platform for getting to know and being inspired by other knitters. I particularly enjoyed watching the first knitting episode of a lady from Denmark (Danish Musings channel), where she showcases all the sweaters she has knitted in 2022. I watched that video a few times simply because I could not stop being in awe with her knitting journey. She was the one who introduced me to the whole world of Scandinavian knitting patterns and specifically to Anne Ventzel, a Danish knitwear designer. There are quite a few of her patterns which I wanted to knit but I thought I needed a bit more experience before I could embark on something so beautiful.

Then suddenly it turns out that Anne Ventzel has a cancer and is undergoing the cancer treatment. The knitting community decides to support her by organising a knit along (KAL) of her newest sweater pattern called Super Selene. A shop owner from the UK has organised an English-speaking KAL and I am seriously tempted to participate. It is an opportunity to ask questions should I have any and to having the support means a lot to a newbie. So, I have purchased the pattern, more needles, some yarn. Hence, another sweater started right on the first day of the new year.

Participation in KAL

Being limited in time, I could not acquire the suggested yarn. The yarn I used is Drops Air in combination with Drops Kid-Silk. The former is quite bulky in comparison with the merino I used for the first sweater. So, while everyone seems to be complaining about using 3mm needles, I found that size quite comfortable to knit with (even if it takes longer to finish an object) and had to purchase a whole set of interchangeable needles to accommodate for the larger needle sizes. I just did not have any needles of that size.

The Super Selene sweater is quite oversized and while I was after the simple Nordic pattern, I did not really want my sweater to be that big. It is here where my knitting tension came handy. I still knitted the smallest size (and skipped a couple of rows in the yoke to lift up the sleeves) and the achieved look was roomy but not that of the other pictures of the sweater I have seen. I am super happy with it and most importantly, it is AMAZINGLY warm. For someone who is constantly cold it is just perfect.

There is a special sort of feeling of being able to wear something you have created yourself. I found that it makes me rethink about my buying patterns and oddly enough to slow down and rather spend the money on yarn instead.

Knitting, Sweater

My first knitted sweater

January 29, 2024 No Comments

Green sweater — Woodsmoke Sweater made by me / Pattern by Jessica McDonald

After knitting endless socks for the whole family I felt that it is time for a challenge. That challenge had to be knitting a sweater. Any sweater. However, I simply did not know where to start as I have never knitted anything that complicated. I browsed a few patterns and videos of people knitting but was left wondering where do I start?

This is when I came to a YouTube video by Jessica McDonald who just released a video with a title How to Knit Your First Sweater. Bingo! I have found a four hour long video tutorial on knitting the whole sweater from start to finish. It was exactly what I needed. I promptly purchased her pattern and some yarn and started knitting.

I ran into problems almost immediately. My knitting tension is generally tighter than what patterns call for, so my gauge was quite far from the intended for the pattern. Luckily, the pattern is very accommodating and has a lot of sizes available. The sweater was intended for my son, so I decided to knit one size up in order to keep the yarn I purchased and not to complicate things too much.

I am happy to report that the decision was right and the garment fits him quite well. I, on the other hand, is delighted that I am capable of knitting such a large item which does not look too rustic. The recipient was also happy to receive an item made specifically for him.

Knitting, Socks

Knitting socks for the whole family

January 28, 2024 No Comments

I embarked on yet another tapestry, but more on it later as it is still in progress.

Still, a holiday in Spain was scheduled and I wanted to take something with me. I was envisioning some down time and wanted to spend it on something useful yet enjoyable for myself.

Pink Socks

My daughter needed some proper winter socks in order to keep her feet warm. However, the latter is a challenge as she never wears slippers no matter how many I have purchased over the years.

I thought that knitting socks is a good idea as taking the supplies with me will not require a lot of space in luggage. Also, it did not stop me that outside was 35+ C every day. I bought some lovely sock yarn, Drops Nord in colour Blush(20). It is a lovely pink colour, robust yet feminine and delicate enough to look good on smaller feet.

While every yarn shop in the area was shut for summer break which prevented me from exploring the local yarns, I brought enough with me to make a pair of socks. Now I know that summer holidays are perfect time for sock knitting!

When we returned I promptly knitted a pair of socks for myself using the same pattern and yarn, yet in different colour. This time it was Drops Nord Deep Ocean Mix (09), another beautiful colour.

After such a success my husband approached me to say he needs a pair as well. So, I had to knit a pair number three (though with his “flipper” size it took a lot longer).

It has got significantly colder and with working from home, he quickly realised the benefit of the warm woollen socks. Hence, the socks get a lot of use.

I, on the other hand, decided that it is time to upgrade my knitting skills to a new level…and knit my first sweater.

Embroidery, Tapestry

Daugter’s cushion

November 12, 2023 No Comments

Once Poppy Field cushion was completed I wanted a bit of a break from tapestry. However, it could not last long as my daughter was after me asking (and rightly so!) when will her cushion will be ready.

I still took a couple of months and then embarked on my next tapestry creation, again designed by Hannah Dale (Bothy Threads). It is called Practically Perfect and depicts a lovely peacock in bright blue colour scheme. For some reason this cushion took me just a couple of months to complete,I surprised myself how quickly it all came together! However,It took another month to sew it into a cushion. So, all in all, it was a quick job and a sheer delight to work.

Now I felt that I’ve delivered something for my children Its time to create something for myself.

Embroidery, Tapestry

Never enough cushions, or my next tapestry creation

September 24, 2023 No Comments

I was so in love with the first cushion that it was only a matter of time before I embarked on the next one. My kids were a bit disappointed that such a lovely piece has left our house and before long I promised each of them one cushion each. Looking back, iIt was a big promise. While I am not one who does not fulfil one’s promises, kids are also there not to let you ever forget. I was asked on a regular basis when I am going to start and even more when will the cushion be finally ready.

However, even before all that there was a task of choosing the designs. I was quite keen on working with Bothy Threads as the previous design was a success and suggested they choose one of the designs by Hannah Dale. Kids chose Poppy Field Fox and Practically Perfect designs and I ordered them straight away to avoid any unfortunate surprises later.

I started working on the Poppy Field design first, on and off for probably about six months. Sometimes I just checked colours using the canvas, sometimes when I wasn’t sure or there were a lot of similar colours, I would refer back to the stitch diagram. All in all It was an enjoyable experience and I could not wait to get the backing, cushion and to finally present it to my son. This is how the cushion has turned out.

Embroidery, Tapestry

My First Tapestry Cushion

August 31, 2023 No Comments

With the onset of COVID I was one of those people who were sweeping off the shelves knitting needles and yarn in order to find some inner peace in the turmoil of the unknown. I was lucky enough to acquire all I needed so it was a question of remembering the basics.Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!

It was amazing to find something to busy my hands with and I knitted a few snoods and hats for children. These will probably last them long enough until kids are old enough to be embarrassed to wear them!

Before long, I felt brave enough to try something more challenging.

Thinking ahead of time about Christmas, I decided to embark on a task of embroidering a cushion cover for my mother-in-law. I looked at a few designs and fell in love with Bothy Threads Jolly Robin Tapestry. It was festive and Christmas looking so I purchased the kit and a frame and started. Quite quickly I realised it will take me a while to complete the piece, so I persevered.

Then I realised that not only I need to finish the embroidery but to sew the backing to make an actual cushion! Luckily, a friend of mine is quite clued up in this and helped me enormously. Hence, the cushion was all ready and delivered in time for Christmas!