The Elegance of the Hedgehog

It's been so long since I knit something for myself that I can't actually recall what my last project was...something that predates both my Ravelry site and our computer's digital photo library, apparently.   Last winter, I was lucky to receive some Rowan felted tweed DK yarn for the purpose of making my own Paper Dolls sweater.  The pattern's author is from Edinburgh and blogs widely on the history of textiles, British wool production, knitting over the ages, and more.  Definitely a more intellectual read than most knitting blogs.

I love Kate Davies' writing but I did not love knitting up her pattern.  Everything took a terribly long time (casting on alone exceeded a two-hour car drive, which is pretty much a month's worth of knitting by my current standards).  I made matters far too complicated by trying to use a different yoke color pattern (hedgehogs) than her original pattern (paper dolls).  This meant adding lots of stitches in order to do the hedgehog repeats, and then having to fudge all of the yoke decreases to get back down again.  I guess I was just mad with desire over the versions I'd seen on Ravelry.

The sweater features two of my favorite colors (apple green and purple) and fits like a glove.  I stretched it a bit while blocking to try and give myself some more breathing room.  The patterning above the hedgehogs is very warped-looking, which I can't explain.  Rowan's yarn left fibers everywhere I knit but was very forgiving when it came time to block and dry.

While hedgehogs are a bit childlike for someone heading precipitously towards 40, I think they're sweet.  Since my classroom is uncontrollably overheated, I'm hoping that a short sleeved sweater will be a wearable garment as winter approaches.  When the temperatures dip below the mid-80's here, I will include a picture of me wearing my hedgehogs.

P.S. Have you read The Elegance of the Hedgehog?  I read it in French but didn't love it.  Maybe that should have told me something about knitting this sweater!

Big robe-y + blouse for me

My husband agreed to buy this vintage-y cotton floral lawn for my birthday, even though I'm pretty sure he thinks it's hideous.  I was able to squeeze a blouse for myself and a dress for Miss L out of two yards.  I know that some sewists consider that ridiculous ("I always chuckle inwardly a bit at the people who walk up to the cutting table with a pattern envelope in hand and ask for 2 3/8 yards of something. Newsflash, Everyone: It’s not going to kill you to pony up and buy that extra 1/8 of a yard and call it an even 2.5 so you have a little room for shrinkage/error!!!" from Rae's blog post, for example...) but I love using up every last scrap of something.  Probably because my children's closet is bursting with dozens of fabric scraps already, leaving little room for their toys.  The fabric (Robert Kaufman's London Calling 2 in vintage) is something I saw and loved in this post.  I thought the fabric would be a good match for the Lisette market blouse, which I made last year and wear all the time.  The best compliment I've received on that blouse, or on anything I've sewn for myself: "Is that Boden?  What a cute top!"  Personally I don't love hearing, "Did you make that?"

The original market blouse from last summer

Market blouse 2

This time I cut the blouse 2" longer (faithful readers know that I feel that all tops are too short these days, even though I have the World's Shortest Torso) and lengthened the armbands by an 1" to stop them from cutting into my upper arms.  The crowning achievement here is that the center front button band matches the pattern exactly, and is thus invisible.  

Having used up all my precision and fussiness on the blouse, the dress was in for a bit of a rougher ride.  It's the Oliver + S birthday party dress pattern in a 3T to maximize wear.  The dress is too long but otherwise just fine for a two year old.  Here she is modeling it at 6 a.m. this morning:

This pattern is ranked as rather difficult, and there are lots of fancy details: front box pleats, rear buttons, faced hem.  I used a different fabric for the hem since I was cutting it so close with my yardage, and had a very hard time getting the hem to lay flat - essentially, I ended up gathering it in places and just stuffing it in.  Here's a peek at the contrast hem and box pleats, which you sew inside to keep in place after washing (really hoping that works or this dress is not going to get much wear!).

The button tab is in beige linen (left over from big brother's pants) and the buttons are pale pink.  Don't ask about the seam running down the middle of the center pleat, okay?

Now I just need to remember never to wear my blouse on the day she's in her dress!